6 - 10

Chapter 6: The Long Road A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 6

I was sized for my legion armor. The tailor was a bit handsy, but it fit perfectly when I got the armor three days later. The commander pulled me from training, and Damian spent time with me in the morning going over my duties for mage Castile. I was to be a porter for potions and the unit funds. Since dimensional spaces did not have time progression, I would be carrying an array of various potions for the mage. I would still be expected to fight, but only at the mage's side. The only good news he could find is the unit allowed each soldier to use their preferred weapon.

Most mages in charge of a unit had everyone wield the same weapon, so they looked uniform, but Castile wanted her unit as effective as possible. The rest of the news was not good. Mage Castile typically replenished 6-8 legionnaires a month—a fairly high fatality rate. My orders came, and I was to make the best speed to the Agorian front to connect with my unit. I would be traveling with part of a regular army detachment headed to the front. I would be the only legionnaire in the group.

I was marching alongside 124 men down a dusty road two days later. I was wearing my new leather armor, and soon the rubbed shininess was covered in dust, and my sweat and body odor muted the fresh leather smell. The captain of the army unit moved to walk beside me, and we talked most of the first day of the march. He informed me we had about a week of marching before reaching our destination. He also freely shared what he knew.

The Agorian front was the border of our kingdom and the troll lands. It wasn't the trolls that required constant subduing though, it was the marsh goblins and troglodytes. The trolls bred slowly while the other two races bred prolifically, and surging populations attacked the border every few months. When I asked why we didn't eradicate the source, he said the land was mostly swamps and useless to humans. Also, there were so many underground marsh settlements. Eliminating them would be dangerous, and they would miss some and breed back to a nuisance over time anyway.

My legionnaire kit had a small personal tent, a cook set, rations, and a bedroll. All the equipment in the backpack weighed over fifty pounds. Walking in the new leather and carrying the backpack had me achieve new pains and chaff marks in places I cared not to discuss. We camped outside of towns at the end of a day's march. I wanted to fill up my dimensional space with my kit but thought it best not to advertise my ability.

I was able to eat from the soldier's meal cart and conserve my hard rations. Due to this, after setting up my tent the first night, I moved the ten pounds of rations into my dimensional storage, lightening my pack nicely for tomorrow's thirty-mile march. The food wasn't too bad. Some type of sweet cabbage with potatoes and celery. Minimal salt seasoning, but it still was filling.

I was up and packed at first light, well before the soldiers. Even though they were not carrying backpacks, they were in much rougher shape than me. Complaints flew freely when the officers were out of earshot. I just kept to myself, not wanting to put in the effort to make friends I would never see again.

The captain chose to walk with me again the second day, and I made an effort for a conversation by asking him about himself. Captain Lucian was the third son of a career army officer. His father commanded a garrison in one of the large cities. He was young, and this was his first command. He was going to command the overnight watch at one of the forts along Agorian swamps. It was an easy assignment, according to Lucian. After one year and he would be recalled. I asked Lucian what was a hard assignment then. He told me about the active war fronts. The constant skirmishes with the other human, elven, and orc kingdoms. Defending and expanding those borders was a constant sink of soldiers.

I asked him if women were allowed in the army like the legion. His response was calculated. It had been tried but always failed eventually. The legion had more discipline and did a much better job of policing themselves. That was all he said on the subject.

The days on the road started to blur. I spent my nights alone in my tent and, oiled my armor, sharpened my two spears and short sword. I practiced what Damian had taught me. I wished I had another spell to work on. I did have high affinities that I could try to manifest a new ability. My displacement affinity was at 61. Displacement was essentially teleportation. The problem was Damian had told me teleportation magic took a lot of aether to use, and aether was one thing I did not have.

On the third evening, I started practicing with the spear. It was best not to get too rusty. Captain Lucian came over and practiced with me. He was good from ten years of experience. I was still able to hold my own. When we switched to blades, he far outclassed me. Thankfully the captain was open to teaching me, which I appreciated. The soldiers watched us as we practiced, but if they were not ordered to train, they would just rest from the long day's march.

Six days and nearly two hundred miles, the sprawling fields and woodlands transformed into dead wood and foul-smelling stagnant pools. We had reached the edge of the Agorian Swamp. We reached a square wooden fort on the morning of the seventh day, but the fort the soldiers were going to was a larger central fort another tent miles down the road. That was where my orders had ordered me to report as well.

The pace picked up as the destination after long days of march was close. The end meant rest to the men. The central fort was massive when we approached it. It had forty-foot-high stone walls. Stone walls in a swamp indicated there had been a lot of expense in building this fortification. It was massive inside as well. The baily was filled with two-story buildings that were civilian businesses. Captain Lucian described the lower part of the fort as having enough variety to keep a thousand soldiers happy and collect their free coin.

Captain Lucian pointed out a stone building near the citadel on the far side of the bailey. "That is your destination. The legion offices for the fort. Every military fortification has a legion office, but this region rarely sees members of the legion, so I am not sure what is inside."

I walked the shops slowly before heading up the incline to the Legion building. Two brothels, a general store, three taverns, and one inn. The businesses were active with off-duty soldiers. I had no coin, so I moved to meet my new commander.

The symbol of the Legion of the Lion was on the door. When I entered, a middle-aged woman was in commoner clothes behind a long bar. A few tables were in the room, and only one table had two men in worn and aged leather armor. One graying man pointed at me, "Are you the raw trainee porter?" He asked gruffly.

I nodded slowly, as I figured out that described me pretty well. The other man stood, knocking his chair to the floor with a thud. He drained his tankard, "About time. Magus Castile left two days ago for Formica, a large mining town nestled north of here in the Ironspine mountains. I will get the horses ready. We will leave shortly."

Still a little in shock at the informality, I was silent. The first man to speak was looking at me, evaluating me. He finally said, "Elaina can bring you back to the storage room. Resupply your pack and take anything else you want. Castile is not someone to be kept waiting, so be quick about it."

I did not tell them that I did not know how to ride a horse. I figured I could figure it out on the way. I had gone on a trail ride or two as a kid. The woman motioned me to the back room, unlocked a heavy door, and then left me. I went inside and found two rows of deep shelves stocked with everything a soldier could possibly want. I turned back, and she was gone. Could I just take anything I wanted? Would I be charged for the items like my armor? Was there some type of registry? I slowly closed the door and started walking the aisles. One aisle had foodstuff, and the other aisle had clothing, gear, and weapons.

I didn't have much time, and I was told to resupply. That seemed like an open-ended order….

Chapter 7: Welcome to the Legion A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 7

I looked at the door a few times before deciding to go for it. The forty-foot-long corridor had two wide aisles and deep shelves packed with gear. A lot of the gear had a layer of dust. I grabbed two large Legionnaire backpacks and went to the provision aisle first. My dimensional space was immune to the passage of time, but all these items already had a long shelf life. The shelves were neat and orderly as I started filling the two packs.

One 5 lb sack of peppercorns, three 5 lb bags of sea salt, five jars of berry preserves, six 5 lb sacks of flour, two large bags of dried mushrooms, two large bags of potatoes, a bag of onions, two massive blocks of hard cheese, a dozen thick links of hard salami as large as my forearm, two 10 lb bags of sugar, four sealed jars that I was fairly certain were yeast

After checking the door, I moved both of the stuffed and extremely heavy food backpacks to the dimensional space. Then I grabbed two more backpacks and went to the clothing aisles.

Two heavy black oiled cloaks used as rain gear, Two heavy black wool cloaks with soft linen linens used for warmth, two heavy wool blankets for horses, six underwear, one dozen pairs of wool socks, six light undershirts, four linen pants, six leather belts, two pairs of boots that were already broken in

The clothes were bulky and filled the two backpacks, so I sent them to my dimensional storage after rechecking the door. At the end of the aisle, were large twenty-gallon casks. Most were marked as water, but a few were marked as rum or whiskey. I looked at the doorway again. It was still closed. I shifted one rum and one whiskey cask into my dimensional storage and then two water barrels. I only had enough remaining mana to open my dimensional space one more time. I thought it best to conserve it even though I wanted a lot more in this warehouse.

I suppose I should actually carry something out as well. I grabbed a satchel and a few more things, a black leather bound book with lined sheets to use as a ledger, small vials of ink and quills, a bag of apples, and a large bag of candied nuts to snack on.

I walked down the weapon aisle, adding some knives for cooking and two nice short swords, when the soldier poked his head in, "You ready? The horses are out front." I nodded and hustled to him.

"Do I need to show what I took?" I asked, indicating the room.

"Nah, not out at a crappy outpost like this. Most of the shit in here is spoils of war. The legion patrols the trade routes north of here, and stuff just finds its way here. In the larger cities, you need to be more careful. Marta just lets us take whatever when we come through here."

"I thought her name was Elaina," I asked, walking out with him.

"Elaina and Marta both run this outpost for the Legion. Marta is a retired legionnaire. Elaina is her daughter," he informed me.

I followed him outside, and the other legionnaire was already mounted. The man who had come to get me mounted a horse, leaving me a large red mare. Two large empty saddle bags were draped across the rump. The two soldiers started laughing as I tried to mount the horse, still wearing my backpack, and satchel, and holding my spears. Finally, the older of the two said, "Wylie, help him, or we will never leave."

The younger man came off his horse and helped me fill the saddlebags and secure my spears, and three short swords so I could mount the horse. Wylie said, "This is a fine mount, well trained. I sense you are not familiar with riding. Firth will not have the patience to wait, so I will do the best I can to teach you as we go."

I was soon uncomfortably in the saddle and trotting out the fortification. I asked Wylie, "I didn't know the legion rode horses."

"Most don't," he replied. "You need to move with the horse, become one with it. Otherwise, you are going to have a miserable ride." He spent the next hour teaching me on the ride how to handle the reins, move with the horse, and guide it with my heels. The horse was definitely well-trained. He picked up the earlier conversation when he thought I looked somewhat capable on the horse.

"The legions are not real fighting units. We are more guards for the royalty and mages. Our charge is Master Mage Castille," Wylie paused, considering what to say, "She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. She takes on the dirty missions and gets things done."

I decided to broach a concern, "I heard that the fatality rate among her legionaries is high."

Wylie winced, "Yeah, you could say that. There are twenty-six of us. The veterans have been around for a while, but the raw recruits tend to get themselves killed or severely injured. You don't need to worry, though. With your ability, Castille will keep you out of the most intense combat—maybe."

I shifted in my saddle, starting to get uncomfortable and finding no way to alleviate it. Firth turned to us and had a grin I didn't like, "Let's teach the boy a light canter." He spurred his horse forward, and Wylie shook his head and followed.

When I got my own horse moving, I was bouncing around like crazy. I could not find the new rhythm. The weapons, although secured, were swinging slightly and tapping my back. When Firth mercifully stopped, my inner thighs were burning and cramping. He motioned for us to get off and walk. I collapsed to the ground, unable to hold myself up as my legs cramped uncontrollably. Firth chuckled, and Wylie smirked slightly, "Don't worry. You will get used to it. Firth isn't the bad sort. That was just over an hour. He will let you walk it out and do it again." And we did.

I fed my mare an apple from my satchel every time we went walking. I named her Ginger after her reddish-brown coat. She was definitely well-trained and seemed to like the name.

The swamps began to fade into scrub plains, and mountains appeared in the distance. Firth turned and said, "Sorry, recruit. We are going to push to Formica to get there before dark."

The town was a sprawl of buildings with no wall surrounding it. A large pen of horses were on the edge of town. That was where we went. Firth commanded, "Show the recruit how to care for the mounts." He then turned and left for one of the larger buildings.

Wylie showed me had to unsaddle and groom the horses. Also, where to look for chafe marks to treat with a salve. It took almost an hour to do the three mounts. I gave Ginger an apple which caused all the horses to line up requesting one as well. I had to cut the apples into quarters to get all of them, and I only had three apples left when I was done. Wylie had left me after he had trained me.

It was late in the evening, and I guessed I should head for the large building that Firth and Wylie went to. Entering it, I found a large common room. Legion soldiers were lazing about and drinking. I did not see either of my road companions, so I asked the nearest legionnaire where I could find mage Castille. He looked me over and pointed to a door in the back.

I knocked on the door, and a harsh female voice said, "Enter!"

I opened the door to find a middle-aged woman hunched over a map on the table with two legionnaires flanking her. She gave me a hard stare, "Yes?"

"Legionnaire Eryk Marko reporting," I said somewhat uncertainly. As my training had been cut short, I had never gone through the protocols or etiquette for someone in the legion.

"About time. Adrian, go get the company's potions." One of the men left the room and the mage paged through some sheets on the table. She finally stopped at one. Looked at me and said, "Fourteen inches?"

I assumed she was referring to the size of the space. That sounded about right. I nodded. She continued, "Good. Your most important job is to hold the potions for the unit. They will not lose their efficacy in dimensional storage. Also, you will hold the unit's funds and accounting logbook for unit pay and expenses."

The man she had called Adrian returned. He had a small black wooden chest and placed it on the counter. He opened the chest and pulled out wooden slotted trays. The potion vials were round with a large cap. On the cap was a lot of script. I didn't have time to examine it before I was ordered to place the two trays with 25 potions each into my space.

I did so, and after they disappeared Mage Castille smiled, erasing the age lines on her face, "Excellent. Adrian, get the unit's ledger and chest." The man left once more and returned with a much heavier chest. "Eryk add these," she ordered.

Much like the potions, the coins were seated in trays, like poker chips. One tray was full of large gold coins, and the remaining five trays were small silver coins. I did my best to estimate how much a 16-inch cube could hold and not get over that amount. The thin ledger was last, and Castille watched me hawkishly as I added the book.

With everything in my space as a tight-fitting cube, I looked up at the smiling mage. "Excellent, now retrieve one of the blue-green potions," she ordered. She held up her hand, "Just the one potion." I thought about it, and she gave me a hint, "Search your dimensional storage with your mind. Choose just the item you want to bring out—highlight it if you will. I can tell you are opening your entire dimensional space every time you put an item in. That is a massive waste of your stored aether."

I was getting a lesson in magic. I only had about 12 aether and had used two aether every time I accessed my space. I did as she asked and focused on the tray of potions and then just the single potion. I reached out and willed that one object out of the dimensional space. It appeared in my hands.

I smiled brightly, realizing I had done it and used only a fragment of the aether, much less than before. Before, it was like I was opening a closet and routing around it. This was closer to just reaching it and taking the object off a shelf. Much more efficient.

Mage Castille smiled as well, "Good work. Practice removing and placing potions. In battle, you should not hesitate in pulling the correct potion." Her face went serious, "Adrian, here is our logistics officer. If anything is missing from the unit funds or potions, then you will be accountable."

"Come, kid," Adrian said. "I will get you settled."

I was almost twenty-five, so I would not say I was a kid, but I did not argue. He introduced me as the unit's new porter in the large common room. A lot of eyes studied me. I had the unit's money and healing potions, so I was definitely a person of interest.

We went upstairs and into one of the rooms. Two bunks were in here, "The army usually uses this building, but Castille kicked them out. Get some rest; we leave at first light."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We are looking for a Baron's son in the mountains. His little adventuring group was hunting for a griffon nest. Wanted to give his father a griffon egg for his birthday. Instead, we are probably looking for his remains," Adrian told me truthfully. He smiled, "Don't worry, only one nesting pair was spotted in this region. It's not like we will have to deal with a flock of the buggers."

He left, and I went and picked up my backpack and got my bedroll. The bunks were just planks, no mattresses. I rolled it out and undressed. My thighs were raw from the ride, and the muscles knotted. I tried to rub them out, and two fellows entered the room. Their things were already on bunks.

"Damn, mate, if you need some time alone, we will be back in half an hour," one of the men said.

The other guy laughed, "Half an hour, Felix? I bet this one just needs five minutes."

"I am just trying to loosen my muscles. It was my first time riding. Name is Eryk," I tried to end the banter.

"Just joking. I am Mateo, and this is Felix. We are to keep an eye on you and help you settle in. Adrian said you were raw and even pulled before you finished training?" He sat on the hard bunk.

"Yes, I was shipped off as soon as I got my dimensional space," I continued to stretch while talking.

Felix spoke next, "Well, you got into a fine unit. It has a bad rep due to our high mortality rate, but that is mostly the new recruits," he put his hand over his mouth like he was saying something secret. "Don't worry, Eryk. We will keep you safe and sound."

They set up their own beds and were soon lying down. I took out the candied nuts and started eating. It was late, and no one offered me a meal. My two roommates took liberties, and soon the nuts were gone.

We talked about the unit; the best part was that Mage Castille had her own siphoning shield for the essence. She kept all the magical essences for herself but rewarded the men of the legion with all the physical ones and some of the mental ones. The men were also paid six silver a week instead of the normal five silver and forty copper. Although, Felix seemed to think that was mostly due to Adrian wanting to make his bookkeeping job easier.

I ate an apple before falling asleep and wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Chapter 8: Bulette for the Win A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 8

Felix woke me, and I tried to stand. My legs would not cooperate, and I collapsed to the floor and used my arms to pull myself up. Mateo chuckled at my discomfort. I slowly got my legs working and could feel every raw area of skin from yesterday's ride. Felix offered some advice, "Use the horse salve on your chaff marks. It smells mighty pungent but works just as well on you as your horse."

I started packing up, but Felix stopped me, "No need. We are just going along the range to the south and looking for signs of the griffons. If we are lucky, someone will spot one flying around, and we can trace it to its nest."

I shambled outside and saddled my horse Ginger with some help. Setting the girth straps took some skill. Too tight, and the horse would get chaffed. Too loose, and you were not going to remain in your saddle. Breakfast was a meaty mashed potato porage. Only fifteen men rode out with mage Castille. Mateo explained, "The others will also ride in the other direction looking for signs. This is our second day searching. The griffons were last seen about nine days ago taking a sheep from a farmer."

I wanted to cry when mage Castille took our column to a heavy gallop. My body was being pounded day after day and had not had time to heal. I wished I had a healing spell instead of a stupid dimensional space spell. Thankfully after about six miles, the road ended, and Castille slowed her horse to a walk as we remained parallel with the mountains. Now at a walk, Felix could talk to me again.

"Damn, Eryk. If I didn't know better, I would say an ogre was making you his bitch by the look on your face," he chuckled as a few others heard and laughed at his joke.

I responded in a clear voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were an expert on the subject."

After the men processed, the laughs started raining in, and mage Castille turned around to see what was so funny. It was Adrian who spoke nearby, "The raw recruit just gave Felix the verbal beating of his sad life." She just nodded and focused forward again. It was a good amount of time before things calmed down. We were all looking to the mountains for signs of the griffon.

Another soldier spotted a carcass that we rode toward and dismounted. Five legionaries moved to make a perimeter. I wasn't sure what to do, so I followed the mage and four legionnaires to the carcass. One of the legionnaires knelt close, and I got just close enough to get a whiff. Visually I could handle the sight, but my olfactory senses were unprepared, and I quickly vomited my breakfast. Apparently, losing my breakfast was not unexpected. The others looked green but held it down. The kneeling man spoke, "Four days old…good chance it was one of our griffons. It ate the organs and chewed off a haunch. Probably to bring it to the nest."

I got enough of my faculties back to move upwind and asked, "What the hell was that?" I was talking to myself, but the tracker stood and answered me.

"It was a stone bear. Fairly common around here. Maybe 1200 pounds. Most likely killed by a strike through the spinal cord at the base of the next from above," he spoke, and I moved close, and he spent time explaining what details led him to his deductions. Everyone else had wandered back to their horses, and Castille looked to be considering what direction to head.

We were riding a short time later on the same path, and I ate my last two apples and gave the cores to Ginger. It was mid-day when our troupe stopped for lunch. Everyone had packed a small lunch except for me. My roommates had told me to leave my gear behind, but I was supposed to pick up a prepared meal from the unit's cook—I didn't. At least I had my satchel and had some apples earlier. Mateo took me to stand sentry while everyone relaxed, and the horses drank water at a stream coming down from the mountains. Seeing my predicament, Mateo gave me some slices of sausage and cheese from his own lunch. I took a few drafts from his canteen as well.

"So, how long will we search for griffons?" I asked as he explained how to maintain the watch and which direction I should be focused on based on the other sentries' positions.

"Castille doesn't give up. She is probably using divination magic every few hours. She will l find either the griffons or the body of the baron's son," he said. He suddenly stood and focused on something in the distance. I looked where he was looking. The ground was surging into a mound about a quarter mile away.

"What is that?" I asked softly. Mateo blew a whistle around his neck. I guess I needed a whistle. Everyone looked where Mateo pointed.

The mound started moving toward us. A few seconds later, we were rushing to our mounts. Mage Castille was screaming, "Bulette! Get on your horses and spread out. Make for Formica!"

I mounted a nervous Ginger and started galloping back the way we came. What the hell was a bulette? If it was scarring the mage, then it had to be bad. I didn't have anyone to talk to as our group was spread wide apart as per orders. I looked back, and the damn thing was getting closer.

Many of my companions were pulling away…all of them were. I was dead last, I urged Ginger to a run, and she complied, sensing the danger coming at us. I tried desperately to find a different riding rhythm at a faster pace. At least my surging adrenaline completely muted the pain. My growing fear made it hard to focus, and I started bouncing out of synch with my mount. Ginger leaped expertly over a large shrubbery. When she landed, I went forward, not ready for the jarring landing. I do not know exactly what happened next other than I was on the ground rolling, and Ginger continued to race away, now free of her passenger. My first thought was I had given her all those damn apples, I thought we were friends.

I stumbled to my feet. I was alone. Everyone was at least a quarter mile away or more. I turned to face the mound of earth moving toward me. Something that resembled a shark fin emerged in the center. Was this an elemental earth shark? I pulled out my only weapon, a short curved dagger in my belt. All my other weapons were secured to Ginger.

The ground erupted in a shower of earth and stone, and a massive creature was flying through the air and planning to crush me. Time seemed to slow as my death was clearly before me, my muscles paralyazed at the sight. An armored quadruped that looked a mix between a rhinoceros with a massive head of a snapping turtle soon blotted out the sun. I met my fate by opening my ten-foot dimensional cube, waiting as long as I could, and then shifting as much of the bulette's underside into my dimensional space. The earth thudded around me, everything went dark, and I was covered in fluids and knocked to the ground by the force of impact. I was alive and inside the cavity of the beast.

The beast seemed uncertain about what had just happened. Its mass twitched around me, and it tried to move. I had gutted it, though. I was trapped in its hollowed chest cavity, but the beast no longer had essential organs—like a heart. My dimensional storage would not activate as the cost of pulling in so much bulette flesh had drained my aether. The fact that either mass or a creature resisted being forcibly pulled into my storage was good to know—albeit after almost being crushed. After a short time, I started digging in the earth with my dagger to tunnel my way out. Thankfully the fluids softened the earth and made it feasible to quickly gain my freedom before suffocating.

I squeezed out under the hard shell and looked at the armored beast. It was a lot bigger than I remembered. The beast had an armored hide, short stubby legs, and massive black digging claws. It reminded me more of a tank than anything else. I could see why the mage had decided to retreat.

I oriented myself to the mountains and started walking back to Formica. When I had recovered enough aether, I dumped the 10x10x5 section of the bulette on the ground, spreading out like a squelching deflating balloon.

I did not think bulette blood was considered a good topical agent for all my raw and bleeding chaff marks. I came to a wide stream and decided to wash up. I remained vigilant as I stripped naked and began the process of cleaning everything. I focused on my leather armor as I had plenty of clean clothes to charge into. I managed to scrub almost everything out of the material. It appeared our uniform was treated with something that made cleaning blood out of it easy.

This got me thinking about a lot of the clothes I had taken at the fort. They all were well-worn, so I guessed they had come off of dead legionnaires. As long as they were clean now, I could handle the thought of wearing a dead man's clothes. When I finished, I dressed in my damp clothes and armor.

The bulette stomach had occupied the top half of my dimensional storage and had not disturbed all the other things I had placed in my dimensional storage. It was getting close to sundown as I sat on a rock, wet, tired, bruised, abused, and—alive. I took out a ration bar and munched on it, getting prepared to leave when Ginger came trotting up to me and drank unconcerned at the stream next to me. I shook my head, "Oh, now you show up! Well, I am out of apples."

Chapter 9: Riding Lessons A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 9

As I rode back to the mining town, my clothes and armor dried off. The blood acted as a great detergent, and my clothes smelled nice and earthy—although I presumed not all the fluids that had soaked me were blood. Ginger seemed to be expecting an apple to return to me, but the only thing I had that she might enjoy was a jar of berry preserves. When we paused, I fed her the jam, and her long tongue cleaned the heavy jar clean. It was about two quarts of jam, and my horse definitely had a sweet tooth.

I did not see anyone from my legion as I walked Ginger back to town. When the town came into view, a rider came out to meet me. It was Mateo, "Damn, Eryk. You are alive?"

I fished for a response, "Yeah, got thrown from my horse and made my way into a river. The ground shark-turtle thing did not seem able to swim. It eventually left me alone, and my trusty mount returned to me." I patted Ginger's neck.

Mateo was speechless. He just looked me over and finally said, "Mage Castille has called in an earth mage to help. For now, we are fortifying the town. You can rub down your mount, get something to eat, and see Adrian for your defense position."

He rode back to the town next to me and continued, "The other detachment found the griffons. They are nesting about 20 miles north into the mountains. No sign of the baron son's party yet. We can not make a move until the bulette is sorted out. Those things are a menace, and it is surprising that this one is so close to the mountains. They usually hunt in the plains or along the border of dessert since the earth is softer, or so Castille says." He admitted, "I do not think she has actually fought one before, though. They are quite rare."

I remained silent as we got closer to the scent of cooking meat got my stomach rumbling. Mateo pointed out where the townsfolk were setting up and the building where Adrian was organizing the defenses. I rubbed down Ginger and grabbed something I would describe as a thick pita filled with roasted veggies and thinly sliced meat. I ate as I walked to talk with Adrian. It almost felt like I was a veteran after just one day.

Adrian quickly brought me down to earth, "Eryk, you fell off your horse? Castille would have found your corpse and killed you again for that. Since you are alive, you will not be joining the defense. Instead, go see horse master Lucien. He will train you nonstop until he is satisfied you will not fall off a horse again." The pita stopped halfway to my mouth. He turned and walked smugly to a fortification.

I walked the defenses and knew all this preparation was worthless as the bulette was dead. Not something I was going to tell everyone and reveal my secret. I grimaced at the thought of endless riding when I was already walking bull-legged, and my inner things burned like a merciless fire. I took the advice of using the horse salve on my raw and partially scabbed skin. It felt like putting alcohol on an open wound, and I was sure it would leave a scar.

Lucian was not a kind man. Every second of daylight, I was learning to care for Ginger or riding her. My body was never going to heal at this rate. What irked me the most was that Ginger loved all the attention even though I was suffering. I even found some apples in town to give her; as Lucien said, a happy horse was an ally. I was starting to gain some semblance of skill at grooming, riding, and farriering. After three days of horse torture, the earth mage finally arrived with his apprentice.

The man looked like a typical wise wizard with a long white bread and and heavy robes. I was currently learning how to jump while mounted under Lucien's strict guidance when he arrived and was told to take a break. I watched as the wizard rode in on a white stallion, and his young female hooded apprentice had a small black mare.

They went right in to see Castille. Lucian muttered, "Guess we will be leaving in the morning. Rub her down and get some rest." I gratefully rested in my bunk alone and napped for the remainder of the day.

The unit was assembled in the morning, and Castille said, "We are leaving on a dangerous mission. Bulette are a scourge. None of you have fought one before, but they are faster and stronger than should be possible for their size. They can jump forty feet in the air and crush you in an instant. Their jaws can cut you and your horse in half in a moment." She let her diatribe sink in. "These two earth mages are going to turn the earth to stone and trap the beast. We will not have much time to get spears forced under the armor plates before it breaks free. Be decisive and attack when ordered. I will attempt to blind the monster with darkness and fire. That is the plan. Mount up!" Castille swung up to her horse and led the way. She certainly emanated confidence.

The earth mages were right behind her. I was ordered forward to ride in the lead element. All the soldiers around me were extremely tense, so I tried to match their nervousness. As we walked, Castille spoke, "This is Legionnaire Eryk. He escaped the bulette by going into a river. He said the bulette would not follow him in."

The white-haired mage's eyes went up, "True, the beasts don't swim but do not fear water. Like rock turtles, they just walk on the bottom due to their density."

Had I just been caught in a lie? I tried to roll with it while not telling a lie, as I knew mages had such spells from when I first arrived in this world. "I can just tell you from my experience. The beast emerged from underground, and before I realized it, I was soaked. It left me alone after that."

The old mage seemed to contemplate my words and just nodded slowly. Mage Castille made introductions, "This is High Mage Dacian. He is one of the Empire's most powerful earth mages, if not the most powerful. He was just telling me this was his sixth bulette hunt." Great, I had an expert on bulettes dissecting my story. I bowed my head slightly toward him but did not change my story.

Lucien came up from behind, saving me from further scrutiny, "Eryk, I want you to practice sprints with your mount over the uneven terrain." I gave the middle-aged man an exasperated look but turned to do so. I think he took pleasure in administering drills that hurt my body—although today, I did not feel quite so beaten as my body was recovering quicker.

The procession made a steady walk with everyone tense and on the lookout for the bulette. At this pace, I was not even sure if we would reach where I left the carcass. After Ginger built a light lather, Lucien had me stop my sprinting practice. Adrian came up next to me, "Eryk, Horsemaster Lucien said you are doing a fine job. Mage Castille has decided you are to remain under his tutelage for the foreseeable future." I let out an audible groan.

Lucien reached over and patted my back, "Do not worry. Once Lucien has trained your horsemanship to a suitable level, you will just be helping him take care of the mounts."

"Do I at least get an increase in pay?" I asked, but it was just banter. This legion unit seemed much more informal than I was expecting, more like a group of mercenaries.

"Sure, if Lucien dies and you take over the role of horse master for the unit. You make as much as a second already," Adrian stated. A second was like a lieutenant, directly under mage Castille in the command structure. Adrian and Delmar were the two unit's seconds.

"How much does a second make?" I asked, having never actually been told how much my pay was.

"Castille pays her men six silver a week. If you have been with her for five years, it is eight silver. Delmar and I earn ten silver. The company's magical porter earns ten as well. The horse master, arms master, and armor master make an additional one silver a week." Adrian spoke conversationally. He then added, "Castille is generous, Eryk. You will have the opportunity to be rewarded essence for exceptional service." He rode away.

My roomate's had already told me about the essence bonus. As it was getting close to dusk, we finally spotted the corpse of the bulette. We all spread out at half a mile, but soon mage Dacian ended the prep and rode forward. The unit followed. Basketball-sized beetles were swarming the bulette.

Mage Dacian swore, "Pig-fucking marrow beetles. They will have ruined the carapace. It also looks days dead, no chance of an essence." He looked pointedly at mage Castille.

Castille asked the older mage, "What could have killed it?" She ignored the high mage's anger and scanned the skies. "Definitely not a griffon. Dragon, maybe?"

Dacian calmed quickly, realizing perhaps another apex predator was around. He said, "The dragons should all be in the southern reaches as it is mating season. No, whatever killed this bulette probably surprised it. Besides the bite marks in the shell from the beetles, I don't see any damage." He walked around the corpse, sending earth spikes through the beetles, clearing the outer shell of them.

After two circles, he spoke again, "At least the claws will be salvageable."

Castille dismounted, "I apologize for dragging you out here for nothing High Mage."

He waved her off, "It happens. It wasn't a false alarm either."

Castille offered, "Since you were unable to get an essence from the bulette, maybe you want to join the griffon hunt?"

The old mage looked up perplexed, "No, I don't think an old earth mage would be of much help." He looked at his apprentice, "Apprentice Renna. Go with mage Castille. Try to learn something about running a detachment of soldiers."

All eyes turned to the cloaked young woman. She pulled down her hood to show shoulder-length red hair and crystal clue blue eyes. She might have been attractive except for the scowl and her paleness. She did not protest, "Yes, Master Dacian." I had flashes of his padawan talking to her Jedi master.

Dacian turned to Castille, "I am traveling back to Varvao. Send her there when you are done with the griffons. She has potential, so make sure nothing happens to her. Once she is trained, the Emperor has plans for her. She has strong affinities for all four of the elements." Dacian mounted and road away just like that.

I remembered the story of the peasant girl with high affinities in all the elements. I guessed this might be the girl as she looked in her mid-teens. But that had been a few months ago. How much could she have learned in such a short time? She did not look happy being left behind. Castille turned to the unit and eyed all of us. She pointed, "Felix. Mateo. The girl is your responsibility."

Felix rolled his eyes and surprisingly talked back to mage Castille, "I thought we were watching the raw recruit?"

Castille's eyes narrowed, "You can watch both pups. Do a better job that one almost got himself killed," she pointed at me. It seemed discipline was relatively lax in the company.

We spent four hours freeing the claws to be sent to High Mage Dacien in Varvao City. Then we all returned to the Formica. A very perturbed red-haired young woman now occupied the open bunk in our room.

Chapter 10: Renna A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 10

When we got to the bunk room, Mateo asked Renna, "Top or bottom, your mageness?"

The young woman did not appreciate his humor, ignored him, and took the free bunk above mine. She opened her satchel and pulled out two large tomes. Although I had gotten a lot of experience speaking the language, I only recognized some basic words. The alphabet was somewhat similar to what I was used to. Most of the letters were written strangely, but it was close enough for me to read, albeit extremely slowly.

On examining one title, it was a book about learning how to learn spells, and the other text focused on manifesting innate spell forms for your affinities. Renna was focused on the second, so I asked, "What affinity are you trying to develop an ability for?"

She looked at me with some surprise. "Earth. That is why I am traveling with master mage Dacian. I already tapped my air ability. Once I gain my earth affinity ability, I will be assigned to fire mage next."

I asked, "Were you the young woman with all those elemental affinities over seventy for the four elements?"

Renna smiled shyly, "I can not believe I am famous enough for even a legionnaire to know who I am."

"I did not know your name, just that there were a number of people excited about your potential." I tried to keep the conversation going as Renna seemed to back away, "What ability do you have with your air affinity?"

She had a bright smile, "Flight!" My roommates were quickly interested in the conversation, asking her dozens of questions and overwhelming her. She admitted her ability gave her flight as fast as a horse, but her aether stores only allowed about 20 minutes of flight.

"That is still amazing. All I can do is store items in a dimensional space," I responded.

"You are a porter? That is rare!" She looked dubious suddenly. "Show me. Make something appear out of thin air."

I pulled a tray of coins out, watched her eyes bug out, and put them back. My roommates also had magic envy—or maybe the tray of large silver coins was a lot of money for them.

"How big is your space? Do you have any other abilities?" She asked, sitting next to me on the lower bunk, now interested in me. She was sitting really close to me, so that our hips touched.

My face felt hot, and I thought Mateo was going to say something, but I gave him a hard glare, and he kept quiet. I answered her, "A man never reveals his size on the first date. And I don't have any way to learn a new ability. I had the help of a spell book for the dimensional space."

"I was given a tuning stone," she reached into her satchel. "Just channel your aether into it, and the stones will light up if you have an affinity over 15. That is considered the requirement to manifest an ability." I remember that Damian had said the cut-off was 10 to learn an ability but did not challenge her knowledge. Renna reached into her bag and produced a circular disc. Three circles were inscribed on it, and each circle had seven gems. I wanted to use it but not in front of everyone.

I asked, "What do the gems represent? I mean affinity-wise."

She pointed at each one as she explained, "The inner circle is the rare affinities, the middle circle is uncommon, and the outer circle is common. This book lists them all, and these are the associated stones." She went through and identified all the stones.

Shaping Magic (Rare)

Space

Time

Displacement

Materialism

Worlds

Void

Convergence

Unaffiliated (Uncommon)

Charm (Mind)

Illusion

Clairvoyance

Protection (Guardian)

Necromancy

Celestial

Abyssal

Elemental Magic (Common)

Fire

Air

Water

Earth

Lightning (Energy)

Spirit (Healing)

Nature (Plant)

Renna smirked and took the device, and I felt the aether leave her into the device. It was the first time I had felt someone else's aether, and I think that was because our bare arms were touching. The gems that lit up for her were Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Nature. Five of the elemental magics. The air stone also pulsed over and over again, almost like it was blinking.

Renna pointed at it, "That pulsing means I have already developed an ability with my affinity. Flying around the woods does get you noticed," She mussed. She handed me back the disc. My roommates also seemed extremely interested in my effort and craned their heads.

I made a sad face, "I am still learning how to channel my aether. I can not activate devices yet," I lied.

Renna put the device on my pillow, "You can practice tonight. The disc is quite durable, so don't worry about breaking it. Do not lose it; I have to bring it back to Master Dacien."

A loud knock at the door came. Delmar, Castille's other lieutenant, entered. "Now that the bulette crisis is past, we are back to the normal routine." My roommates groaned, and I was not looking forward to the next. "Weapons training will be done two hours before dinner. Eryk, you are still raw; no weapon specialty was noted on your paperwork. What do you prefer to fight with?"

I hesitated momentarily, "Dual wielding short swords against humanoids and a spear against monsters." Delmar's brow creased, but he nodded as a smile formed. Felix slapped his forehead like I was an idiot.

Delmar said, "Not a dumb one then, eh? Fine. Three hours of practice for you, Eryk split time between the two. Firth can teach you the spear, and Konstantin can work with you on your dual wield." Mateo winced like he had been punched.

After Delmar left, Mateo said, "Firth is an ok sort. Konstantin is a real piece of work. One of the best fighters in our platoon. He does not talk much and hates working with others. His last sparring partner died in the Cyclops campaign. He volunteers for solo scouting missions, and we are all grateful for it."

A short while later, I geared up and went outside with two short swords and two spears. As I entered the training yard, the platoon was training with their weapons in an orderly fashion. I was surprised as everything we had done so far seemed to be done nonchalantly. This was serious practice. I was directed to a man matching my height and whose biceps matched his thighs.

"You are the raw recruit? Let's see if you can learn enough not to get yourself killed then," the gruff man intoned. He was not a bad teacher. He was extremely strict and did not like to repeat himself. I learned more in 90 minutes from him than I learned in three weeks at the training camp. I had bruises and shallow cuts to mark every time I did not follow his instruction in detail. I was told to see the company medic before my spear training.

We actually had two medics, Linus and Malcolm. Malcolm was more of an assistant. He gave me some of the horse salves for the bruises and large leaves for the cuts. They smelled like peppermint and acted like an antiseptic for infection, held in place by a wrap after they were soaked in hot water. Unfortunately, they would not prevent scarring. I really wished we had a healing mage in our company.

Firlth had me work my spear on a makeshift training dummy. He went over the common tactics for attacking beasts and defending myself. He was not as good an instructor as Konstantin, as he believed in repetition. My hands were already callused but still ached and bled slightly after a few hundred parries and thrusts.

I took a large bowl of mostly meat stew to my room to eat lying down as standing was painful. The room was empty, and I quickly used the tablet. I channeled my aether, and it glowed brightly. As expected, the inner circle had six gems glowing. The only one absent was materialism.

The middle circle had a single gem lit. It was the protection (guardian) rune. That meant I had over a 15 affinity in that magic sphere. The outer ring also had one gem glowing, and it was the most joyous sight I had ever seen. It was the spirit (healing). I could manifest an ability to heal. My eyes quickly returned to the center ring. The space gem was flashing, which was expected because I had manifested my dimensional storage space. A second gem was also flashing, indicating I had manifested another ability or spell-like effect.

It was the convergence gem that was flashing. Convergence was the magic affinity that dealt with drawing power from ley lines—at least, that is what I was told. I heard steps in the hallway and stopped channeling aether to the device. My convergence affinity was 74, so that meant I should have a powerful ability but what was it?