New Rivalry

'Left or right,' Doevm thought as he stood between two bridges. Past the bridge to his left was the elevator. Now that he was a squad leader, those guards surely wouldn't stop him. He would only practice the one spell Oliver showed him. After, he would just return to base. Past the bridge to his right was the barracks to squad six. He had orders straight from the captain to go take over. If he didn't do so now, he ran the risk of punishment. Frey had already left to find his squad's barracks.

'I don't have a choice,' Doevm walked along the right path. His mind was burning up with theories on healing magic, but he needed to stay focused. Earlier, his mental state nearly made him kill a fellow soldier. If it wasn't for Frey, Doevm would be in prison or executed. When he got to the barracks, all the remaining members of squad six were in their hammocks except for Hopi. Their heads were downcast. Only a few looked at Doevm when he arrived, which let him see their tearstains. Bloody and sweaty armor was piled up next to the lockers.

Doevm held up the scroll pronouncing him captain: "Wade and Frey are no longer part of squad six. Frey was promoted to squad leader and Wade was promoted to the captain's advisor. As you all can imagine, that left an open spot here. I was promoted to fill that empty spot. I know we've only been back for an hour or two so there will be no training today. Your first order is to go wash yourselves and your equipment." He knew morale was down but was still shocked when no one moved. They didn't even look at him. "Hey, Attention!" Their heads slowly swiveled to his general direction.

"Doevm, can you just let us rest for a minute?" One complained. "We're mourning for the loss of our comrades. Please understand."

Doevm sighed and suppressed his urge to strangle his new subordinates. He walked to each and every hammock and flipped the person out of it. When his soldiers complained, he smacked them. After everyone was up, he kicked over the pile of their armor. "Doevm, what the hell? What's gotten into you?"

"All of you quiet!" Doevm took a deep breath. "Do you know why I'm so angry, why I can barely hold myself back from killing some of you? It's because you're all so god damned ignorant. Day one, what did you promise each other?" He turned to the one who complained. "I hear your mouth running the most. How many men did you say you would kill on day one?"

"It doesn't matter." The man sighed.

Doevm kicked him in the gut with a tiny amount of life essence. He collapsed and puked up his breakfast. "How many?"

"Five damn you." He stood up, not daring to hit back.

"Did you think that would make you a hero, if you killed people?" This time Doevm didn't hit him, but the man looked like he had been slapped. "You wished deep inside that this war would make you famous. You want to be a hero. All of you want to be a hero. You want this war to end as soon as possible so you don't have to see more of your comrades die. There is a contradiction here." He imitated Wade's walk as he paced between each soldier.

"A hero is not a shining example of justice that can have no flaw. A hero is someone who has suffered more than anyone yet keeps moving towards their goal. From the looks in your eyes I can tell none of you will become a hero. Most of you won't live past this war. You'll die and pass on your wishes to your closes comrade. They will, in turn, live a little bit better. When that person dies, they will pass on their wishes to the next person. The one who becomes a hero embodies the will and wishes of those who have died. That's why heroes never stop fighting. Heroes are the most mentally damaged, stubborn, toughest bastards alive."

During Doevm's speech, the soldiers' gazes were lifted off the floor. The sadness turned into anger at themselves. 'Why can't I keep going? Why am I sitting here on a hammock?' they thought. Doevm read them like a book. Their fists circled up and their frowns grew worse.

"So you can all guess as to why I think you're all ignorant," Doevm continued. "It's because the hero you all fantasize about is underwhelming compared to the real thing. It is a hollow image. Only those who know blood and death can realize how great a hero really is. You were ignorant, but now that you know blood and death, you understand. The reason I tell you all this, is because I'm going to give you two choices: be beaten or follow me. I am not going to be a squad leader like Wade. I am going to push and break all of you. If I die on the battlefield, I don't want some lazy ignorant hick from out in the sticks to hear my last words, I want someone who can embody my wishes. Are you all some ignorant hicks?" 'Time for the final blow. After the battle, they've changed. There are conditions on activating life essence, and they've met them.'

"No!" All soldiers said in unison as they saluted their new squad leader.

'They don't even know how to use life essence. I can use this opportunity to both teach them and inspire them. Two birds with one stone.' "You can feel it in your souls, right? You're not the same hick from day one. Your confidence is shaken, your comrades died, but you all the stronger for that. Will you remain weak?"

"No!" they yelled.

'I'm so close,' Doevm thought as he smiled. 'They're mentally alert. Now I need to rouse them just a little bit more.' "What was that? To yell, you raise your ribcage, focus on your stomach, and draw out every last bit of air from your lungs. Again!"

"No!" They roared. With the shout, every soldier let out a transparent puff of green life essence. The roar turned into stunned silence. Doevm stood at the front of all his subordinates.

"Congratulations. You are no longer hicks. Go wash yourselves off." With renewed moral, the soldiers grabbed their gear and walked to the bridge leading to the river, but Doevm stood in their way.

"Doevm, can you move?" One asked.

"On second thought," Doevm shook his head at his entire squad. "I think we will spar a little before the baths, seeing as not one of you called me squad leader or said, "yes sir"." Everyone groaned as Doevm smiled. 'I hope Frey is getting used to his squad. I can't rely on him very much anymore. It's disappointing I was only able to use him for a day after all that effort. Oh well, I just need to keep moving forward. Maybe we'll cooperate on a mission sometime.' He thought too soon. When he and his squad got near the training field, Frey was there as well with his new squad.

"Why are you here?" Frey asked. "Shouldn't the squad be recovering."

"You know I don't hold back. I am not giving them breaks," Doevm responded as he stepped ahead of Frey. "I can guess why you're here, to show everyone in your squad that you're the strongest."

"That's right." Frey stepped in front of Doevm. "To do that, I need the training field."

Doevm stepped in front of Frey. The two squads behind them looked at each other. Squad six was shaking their heads. "Go somewhere else. We got here first."

Frey stepped in front of Doevm and opened the door to the training field: "I guess we'll have to somehow settle this." Fire burned in his eyes.

"Guess so." Doevm said as he kicked Frey through the doorway without using any life essence.

"What's happening?" A person from Frey's squad asked.

"Frey came from our squad." One from squad six said. "He and Doevm always spar. Come and watch. It's always amazing." The squads walked inside and circled around the two sparring opponents. They had thrown away their armor and weapons and gotten into stances. Blood red life essence shot out of their fists.

"Ready?" Doevm asked as he planted his feet.

"Go!" Frey ran forward. Both squads watched in awe as two blurred figures grappled against each other. The dirt was ripped from the ground with each step. Each punch shook the training field a little bit. The two squads backed away to the walls. Whenever the two got close to someone, the person sprinted away. Each hit made a sound that reverberated off the metal walls. After fifteen minutes, the two slowed down enough for people to see. After an hour, they were both on the floor breathing hard. It was a tie. "Alright…" Doevm huffed. "I guess we'll share from now on." He winced at the bruises on his ribcage.

"Sure," Frey lay in a small crater. "Now that I look around, I think this space is big enough for both our squads."