Rewards

After Casimir said his goodbyes to his squad mates, he was on his way to Officer Evelyn. He had become a regular for her office ever since their gradings had begun. His consistency and impressive talent for all things physical made it hard for anyone to believe he was just an orphan who began his training only recently. He had yet to come in second for any of their rankings but he suspected that sooner or later he would yield first in the physicals once or twice to at least Oscar or the girl from Nen, Cestane's neighbouring nation to the east, named Miriam.

At present, he was currently dealing with his own unorganized thoughts. Recently he had been fighting the urge to lay waste to anything in front of him. The impulse to destroy was coming more strongly and it took a lot of willpower to keep it in check. Their commanding officers had already mentioned this to the cadets. They had said in the early months following their awakening they would experience changes in their psyche that would range from new impulses to cravings for different things, in more extreme cases others would develop weird new character traits. Currently, Casimir was experiencing that as well as those around him.

'If a soul was a true mapping of one's very being, then obtaining an origin which anchors into one's soul then it shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility… I just didn't think it was this invasive.'

Casimir sighed mentally and rounded another corner. He was getting near Officer Evelyn's door. He was Currently in one of the main building's wings, where most Officers resided if they were not going to their personal homes. For their convenience, the higher-ups decided to place their on-campus residence in the same place as their military business working spaces.

'Why do I even think about these things, can't I just be a normal sixteen-year-old?'

He already knew the answer to that and did not bother having an inner debate with himself. He arrived at Officer Evelyn's door and knocked on it. After hearing her tell him to come in he entered. Her Office was as impressive as ever, however, it slightly differed from when he was last here. A wall of dark wood and rich carvings parted the lavish room into two. Brass plaques hung below the portraits of great men and women on the wall. Men and women whom Casimir assumed to be former or current military personnel. An antique desk, richly decorated in intricate designs, made from dark blue wood. A sharp hint of jasmine and honeysuckle wafted from the very attractive Lady that sat at the desk absorbed in her work. She was wearing glasses, Casimir wondered whether it was fashionable or she needed glasses although he was convinced it was the former, awakened did her much better senses especially those that possessed third-tier cores like Officer Evelyn.

'Maybe the lady back at the awakened society was trying to be fashionable as well.'

"Good morning, Cadet Nagid, I wanted to personally congratulate you on achieving first place in our military evaluations for physical criteria again for the third month running. Your hard work and dedication haven't gone unnoticed."

"Thank you, ma'am. I couldn't have done it without the training and support from my fellow cadets and My commanding officers."

"That's the spirit, Cadet. However, I must remind you that we have an upcoming campaign that will put your skills to the test. I'm not trying to scare you but you might lose some of you, and I don't mean that literally only, we as your officers will do our best to help guide you all safely. You need to remain vigilant and be prepared for any dangers you may face."

"Understood, ma'am. I'm fully committed to continuing my training and keeping my skills sharp for whatever we may encounter."

"That's what I like to hear. Keep up the good work and stay focused."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

"As for your rewards, you may collect them at the usual place, this time you were awarded forty crystals with enough ether to move you eighty up on your core quota."

"Yes, ma'am thank you ma'am."

"You will also receive a core this month I have it with me, Congratulations once again, cores are not uncommon but they are also not as plentiful as crystals and harder to obtain, as you know cores are good for several things such as weapon crafting, and an ether refining being their most beneficial uses so, and if you are lucky enough you might receive a weapon from killing a beast, I ask you to use the core wisely. Come here so I may give you your core."

Officer Evelyn placed a finger on Casimir's glabella and Casimir quickly checked his glyph.

[You have received An Artifact]

Casimir looked at Officer Evelyn with a confused look.

"Yes. The gods considered them as artefacts I don't know why and I'm sure you don't need to know either any questions cadet?"

"No ma'am"

"Then you are excused cadet."

Saluted his superior goodbye, Casimir left the officer and went to the dispatch center to receive his crystals. Like the journey to Evelyn's Offices, it was uneventful and finally, he found himself in the bustling room known as the dispatch center. An array of officers and dispatch staff scurried about, some mission set, others in a hurry and some just looking busy. Dispatch readouts, projected holographs, and weapons were everywhere. The interior of the room was a utilitarian hexagon. The desks and cubicles, long and rectangular. A large oval reception counter dominated the center of the room. There were a lot of ordinary people in this room and Casimir could feel it.

He made his way towards the pickup area and collected his crystals and then returned to his room.