Sweat poured down Callum's face as he stood in a horse stance holding two 10kg weights in each arm.
When the Seventh Captain said morning, he hadn't exactly understood how early she meant. Fortunately, he went to bed fairly early while exploring his system.
Waking up at what he guessed to be 4AM to the shrill ringing of a bell. Callum gathered with the others in the training ground for some light stretching which was quickly followed by strength training.
They had been in this position for a few minutes now and he felt his legs shaking but he stayed firm. As his muscles broke down, he felt that warm relieving sensation throughout his body giving him a pleasant feeling and forcing him to push himself some extra.
The loud voice of the Seventh Captain resounded as she walked around them while Guards in black metal armor stood by the sides.
"You are not the Army. You are not Nobles or mercenaries. You are what remains after loyalty has faded. When all else falls apart and the Throne becomes a relic, we remain standing. Who are you?" She asked in a loud voice.
"Integrity!" The trainees replied firmly.
"What is the ultimate consequence?"
"Blood!"
"Whose?"
"Imperial Blood"
"And thus you must protect what?"
"Imperiality!"
The Seventh Captain stopped, now standing before them in the dim light of lit candles. She took a deep breath.
"At ease, take a sip from your bottle" she instructed.
At the sound of relief, they all groaned in response as they struggled to stabilize themselves.
Callum accepted his bottle from a Guard and took two small sips before returning it. He really wanted to sit but the Seventh Captain had long forbidden it.
"Imperiality as a concept is not the Emperor or Imperial Blood but the right of Sovereignty, the right to rule the Empire, the right, along with honor and responsibility. A heavy weight and a great privilege. You protect that responsibility and privilege. This is what you guard, not just Imperials but their rights" the Seventh Captain continued softly as her eyes roamed around observing them and taking note of those listening to her.
"Assemble!" Her tone suddenly turned stern once again and they all rushed together and stood in three lines of three.
"Accept your weapons!" She ordered and the surrounding guards hurriedly handed over long swords in sheaths.
"You must never unsheath your sword unless explicitly ordered to do so" she warned.
"Watch the following demonstration and follow every order"
A black guard marched to stand in front of them as she stepped away.
"Five feet distance!" She ordered and the trainees stepped away from each other making a space of five feet between themselves.
"Observe" she shouted and they all paid attention to the Guard before them.
"Pose!" The Guard straightened holding the hilt of the sword on his waist with his right hand.
"Draw!"
"Stab!"
"Swat!"
"Hold!"
The Seventh Captain continued with a series of strict instructions and the Guard followed promptly with fluid movements.
"Thrust!"
"Hold!"
"Parry!"
"Hold"
At every command to 'hold' he would pause at a pose and stay in it until ordered to change.
"Return!"
"Sheath!"
"Hold!"
Turning to the trainees, she instructed, "Now follow along".
"Draw!"
"Hold!"
Callum was at once shocked at the weight of the sword, perhaps it was because of the sheath or the short length of the sword but it was way heavier than he had anticipated, definitely more so than the weight they held for the horse stance.
At drawing, it tipped his balance so that he almost stumbled but thanks to the weights he wore, he weighed more and this helped him stay grounded.
He held his draw, anticipating the order to change position but it never came. Holding the sword drawn from his waist still pointing towards the ground in a slanted shape from his chest, he struggled with the weight as the Seventh Captain went around observing their forms and adjusting it with a small cane in her hand.
He expected to be whipped by it but thus far, she seemed very tolerant. She constantly helped them adjust their forms without any scolding or whipping which surprised him because according to his father, Bootcamp always included whipping. In this moment, Callum was starting to realize the great difference between the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Army.
"It is important that you conduct yourselves in a manner befitting your identity as Guards of Imperiality. From the Decorated Guards, to the Watchmen and Gate Guards, we represent this concept and authority."
"Thrust!" The order came so suddenly when everyone was taken in by her speech that some including Callum, hesitated to execute.
"Hesitation means more time doing this and meal time gets postponed." The Seventh Captain reminded.
Unfortunately, this meant everyone shared in the mistake of one, Callum understood this, he glanced sideways at the female Soldier by his side and noticed her looking at him, she seemed to understand this too.
"What are you looking at Seventy-Seven?!" A stern voice came from behind and Callum promptly turned ahead almost giving himself whiplash.
"Maintain focus" the Seventh Captain ordered.
"Parry! Stab! Swat!"
"Turn left!" The orders came in such rapid successions, then suddenly the last one completely out of place threw them into disarray.
With barely enough time to adjust themselves, the next order came through.
"Hold!"
And there went their uniformity. The lines were a mess all facing different directions and holding their swords in odd positions.
"You are not soldiers. Here we do not break your spirit by drilling you into patterns to develop combat reflexes. Here, you think, here you adapt, you are Guards, you protect from ambush, from hidden plots and open schemes. Your enemies are smiling at you, they are sometimes of Imperial or Noble Blood. Here, you learn to draw the sword of your own volition against a perceived threat and you learn to deal with the consequences of your choice. Right or wrong, there will be a consequence." There was a long pause and then the solemn voice of the Seventh Captain.
"This! Is! Integrity!"
Those words resonated deeply in their souls. Right or wrong, there will be consequences but they had to draw their swords.
"Adjust freely!" She ordered and they quickly got back in order.
"You are each powerful independently and powerful as a unit. You work well together and alone. So you must think alike and act uniquely."
"Return your swords!"
"Two steps forward!"
"Three steps back!"
"Stab! Hold!"
The training continued until the sun began to rise and on the first day, they realized that the schedule she told them was subject to change as they continued this until there were minimal mistakes. They had breaks to take sips of their nutrition fluid but that was all they had for breakfast.
The sword training continued until the sun came up then they were given training bows to draw and hold till it began to fall and only then could they have their first meal of the day.
Sitting under the newly constructed canopy in the mini free-market, Callum started to observe his system in depth for the first time. All his skepticism was gone after this morning's training.
The aid from his minor healing ability was enough to prove to him the value of this utility system. Otherwise, he doubted that he could endure for so long by his own will.
"Status" he called.
[Status Window]
[Strength: 11]
[Stamina: 19]
[Endurance: 18]
[Agility: 14]
[Dexterity: 13]
[Discipline: 9]
[Intelligence: 16]
[Tactics: 3]
[Grace: 5]
[Health: 20]
He was at first confused by some on the list but focusing on them prompted an explanation.
Tactics referred to his methods of fighting. Discipline refers to his overall body, emotions, and expressions. Grace referred to the optics of his movement in battle, which was subject to the fluidity of his moves and the visual beauty of his fighting styles. And health was his overall physical condition, which would be affected by things like injuries or sickness but not by fatigue or exhaustion. A person with a healthy body would still die from a neck stab and a person with an unhealthy body and a health value of 0 was not necessarily dead.
And while 20 was the upper limit for a normal human across the board, 5 was the lowest. However, it was understandable that some people could fall below this so-called lowest. A terminally ill person for example could fall below 5 as would someone like Callum who had no education on military or fighting tactics and had not even been in school long enough to learn from history so he could infer.
His other windows were pretty much bland and empty except the Ability Window which only had the [Minor Recovery]. Abilities were different from skills in that while skills could be trained and learned, abilities were innate, gifted, or gained and could not be improved by practice.
The Shop Window was closed because he had no Battle Points yet and his Inventory had only the (Sage's Guidance) which he was not ready to accept here.
Receiving the Recovery ability and moaning in his tent was enough warning about receiving things in public.
As he ate his vegetables and proteinous diet a figure approached and sat in front of him.
"So what's your secret?"
Callum raised his head to see the female Soldier seated in front of him with her tray placed on the table.
Looking around in confusion, he returned his confused gaze to her.
"What?"
"Don't act confused. Sure a kid sustaining themselves so well is impressive but certainly not so much to receive as much attention as you are" the female Soldier explained while stuffing food in her mouth. Somehow she managed to do so gracefully even while talking.
"I'm sorry?" Callum was truly confused.
"Don't stop eating, that bell might ring at anytime" she quickly reminded gesturing towards his meal with her fork before stuffing salad in her mouth.
Callum saw the wisdom in her words and quickly returned to his food at the same time realizing that she wasn't being antagonistic or she would not have reminded him.
"The Guard at the gate, the Seventh Captain. You're getting special attention, don't tell me you haven't noticed"
Callum considered her words as he ate. Indeed, he had been getting special attention.
"Either you caught the eye of an Imperial or you are being groomed for a specific role. I think the latter is more likely" Fifty-eight suggested.
Callum's mind immediately drifted to the child he saw in that carriage two mornings ago. He felt an instant connection with her in that moment their eyes met, almost like he knew or understood her.
Although he felt it was more likely she was an Imperial, he did not say a word to correct Fifty-eight.
Fifty-eight finished her meal and relaxed after taking a sip from her nutrition fluid.
Callum finished soon after and leaned back in the chair.
"Hey" Fifty-eight suddenly called and he looked up at her.
"You are young but that doesn't mean you should settle for less. I see you pushing yourself, don't stop, don't become a Decoration only to stand at doors in nice armor. Let's go for great things" she wore a contemplative expression as she advised.
Not knowing what to say to her, Callum simply nodded. He had come this far mostly thanks to his father's training. Although his mother never wanted him to join the Army, his father also never wanted a weak child. He and his sister were drilled endlessly by their father so much that military life seemed to Callum like the only life he knew.
To every son, their father was a hero who could hold up the sky. To Callum, his father was an honorable man who tried his best and gave his blood to do the right thing and serve the right way. His father's job was part of his way of life, a true soldier.
Only half a day into training and Callum was beginning to feel that these values his father lived by were drilled into him by the Altbourg Imperial Army.
The sound of the bell came and the trainees all hurried up and returned to camp, assembling once more at the training ground.
"Now you learn to rest" the Seventh Captain smiled at the assembled trainees.
Sandbags were handed to them one after another and they carried them on their heads as instructed.
Pointing at a tall ladder, the Seventh Captain continued.
"You will all climb up there and sit on those dangling plates. Each of them is connected so that minute movements from one person affect the rope and everyone on it. You must each counterbalance the other person. You will rest there until your food has settled and then training will resume."
Rest?
Callum looked up at the long ropes tied to two tall ladders with sitting plates arranged about seven inches from each other.
The ropes looked fluid and didn't seem like they could handle much tension and the springs connecting them to the ladders certainly wouldn't help. While this trained their balance it was most certainly no rest.
Worse still, they had sandbags on their heads!
He had done this exercise with his sister and knew that the difficulty increased in direct proportionality with the number of people involved. And with the sandbags making it difficult for each individual, how much strength could they have to guide the balance of the team?
"Go!" The Seventh Captain ordered and thus began a series of falling and re-climbing. Inevitably, some could not keep their meals down.
Fortunately, Callum did not fall once. He was experienced enough to keep himself on the rope but certainly not help others with their balance.
Things got worse when the Seventh Captain walked away, leaving most of them falling and re-climbing.
Callum took off the bag at some point placing it on his lap and hanging for dear life, he balanced himself on the rope swaying along with the motion as others got on and fell off.
It was bound to be a long day.
Midday was gone and it was now the hottest part of the afternoon. After so many tries, they had all managed to stay balanced on the rope at least for some time but there were still the occasional falls. Despite his best efforts to focus on himself, Callum also found himself on the ground a few times groaning from the pain of the sandbags falling on him.
It was only the first day after all, it was inevitable that success could not be assured for inexperienced people.
Endurance training came after this and it was nothing like what they had anticipated. It started with a sprint and slowed into a jog that lasted only so long then was quickly followed by odd poses they had to maintain with weights just like the horse stance that morning.
Minor regeneration was Callum's friend during all of this but despite it, his muscles still hurt.
Evening came and they were left to their own devices which Callum used to refill his Nutritional Fluid and take a nap. Until he was awoken by the ringing of the bell.
When he walked out of the tent, he failed to notice the glare of a maid who headed in after him. Apparently, by taking a nap with his sweaty body, the maids would have to clean his tent over again. Hygiene was an important teaching in the Empire after it suffered repeated plagues.
"What you will now learn is a series of moves that will prepare you for martial arts. Some of you have a fair background while others might have engaged in a fight at some point in your lives but as Imperial Guards, there is a standard you are to uphold. An aspect of combat rarely taught. Optics"
The Seventh Captain walked around the trainees once again assembled in three lines of threes. Her voice resounded clearly to each of them, a conflicting tone of firmness and gentleness.
"A brute fights to inflict damage, a soldier fights to eliminate an enemy, a mercenary often fights to kill and other times to kill in a way that completes their quest. An Imperial Guard fights to defend which means sometimes you must kill, eliminate an enemy, or simply defeat."
"The sword we use is a symbol of Imperial right. It is not simply a killing or combat weapon. So when you fight, you must do it gracefully, in a manner befitting a Guard of Imperiality, not a street goon or mindless soldier or blood thirsty mercenary"
"I will now demonstrate some poses and moves which you will imitate. While you do this remember, the key is to breathe as completely and as silently as possible. Feel each muscle group and muscle fiber, follow the rhythm of your mind, and let your body move freely"
As Callum and the others watched the Seventh Captain before then, their eyes widened in amazement and softened in stun. For the first time since they met her, they appreciated the beauty of the woman, a fact that while true had never surfaced in their minds until now.
Her body flowed despite the metal armor in moves that displayed great flexibility and exceptional discipline at the same time. Her control was impeccable and her steps were graceful. She was not dancing, they could see the lethality her body and movements held, yet they had to appreciate its beauty nonetheless.
"Beautiful things, can kill and Imperial Guards fight, defeat, and kill beautifully" she concluded and they all snapped out of their stupor.
"Now, your turn"