I'm Slowly Being Converted. Goddamn It!
As a few months went by, I had slowly gotten accustomed to this new way of life and was slowly starting to appreciate how good the service was. I learned a lot in all of my classes, and I was starting to accumulate a lot of helpful information. Things like how frequently the Leader came to visit, or the kinds of events that were held here. My most burning question, though, was the relationship between my grandfather and the Leader.
As of now, I still didn't have enough clearance to actually access those files. Maybe if I did well in the war, which was happening a few weeks from now, I could rise in ranks. There were two separate ways to go up in rank. First, you could do well in your schoolwork and other classes, which I was already doing. Finally, you could play a major part in wars.
There had been a lot of political instability going on in places around the world, primarily because of the rifts between the different kingdoms. We were exploiting those to create further division between the different political factions. We utilized the underworlders to reopen wounds. They profited from weapons of war, and we profited from the chaos that ensued. Even though all of them were Pro-Royalists, few wanted the Kings and Queens back. It's just that royalty was better than the Leader since he left no voice in the people.
The Leader was kind of like an absent father in the government, usually leaving it up to small governors or the military to do his bidding. The instability had to do with a conflict of interest between land and resources.
Of those the Leader hadn't conquered due to the risks of them banding together being high or not wanting to waste manpower on them, the Leader just waited for them to tire each other out, and then doused the flames thoroughly. He didn't bother setting up governments or taking over them, but instead, took away all the big weapons and allowed them to continue ruling themselves. Especially this year, there were a lot of small battles due to various groups of rebels seeking revenge or just being greedy.
What made it worse was that most of the factions mentioned earlier didn't have their Kings or Queens to govern them. The Leader had captured most of them in earlier conquests. Even though he let them self-govern, he didn't give them their rulers back.
Another interesting thing was that the Leader kept building these strange rectangular pillars. They were about the size of an outpost as well. Every time a base was captured, he'd build that strange thing. Was it like a memento or something? On the weekends, I'd sometimes see him on TV, and when he put his hand on the pillar, a ray of light would erupt. We never got to see what the light did. Even when the camera panned up, it didn't even seem like there was any change.
For now, I didn't worry about it. I focused on doing well in my classes. I had been able to keep up with the Sergeant for a while now, so I started to teach some other students as well. One of them was named Bucket. I remember earlier, how he used to get scolded a lot by the Sergeant. But now, he was quiet. He hated the Sergeant with a burning passion, but he really was in good shape now. He was no longer fat, and he was a really good fighter. Even though his preferred weapon of choice was a shovel.
He had the quality of a survivor. He was very good at adapting and changing rather quickly. He was a pig when I first saw him, but not even a week later, he had completely switched his personality. He liked to eat lunch with me, and we got along quite well.
In my Circuits/Enchantments class, I was really good at writing precise enchantments quickly. That was probably the only class that everyone could do well in because the teacher was so helpful. If anyone needed help, he'd split himself into clones and then go to them. I'd say he would be my favorite teacher.
In my art class, everyone mastered the art of making incredibly realistic portraits, kind of like what detectives do. We learned sewing and stitching, and basically the things that came with it. Surprisingly enough, this class was basically forensics because we learned how to identify broken locks or stitches, what kind of weapons made them, and the traces that they left behind.
Meanwhile, in the supplemental portion of that class only taught to a select few, we learned how to make fake skin masks, do forgery, and the art of disguise. It was all incredibly exhilarating, knowing that you'd one day use it at some point. Every kid imagines being like their favorite superhero or spy, and I was living the dream!
Michael had also been released into the direct army. He hadn't gotten formal training and had been sent right away into the battlefield. It seemed that this fortress only kept the ones who could survive. Even if you were chosen to stay and learn, the classes were super difficult. You might be sheltered, but you'd still be freakishly strong and very intelligent.
Normies(Those who didn't go into the Fortress), on the other hand, if you managed to survive the battlefield without any formal training, then you were picked to stay and serve under the captains and commanders. You would even be granted cradle kid privileges if you did well. (They called us cradle kids)
Another good change was that I finally got to meet with the Builder. We had a weird interaction, though. It happened when I was running an errand for the demon. I had gotten the highest score in the class somehow since I'd read the entire textbook instead of the chapter, and I had the privilege of carrying 500 pounds of what felt like lead in 2 huge boxes to Lieutenant Finn's office, whom I had also been frequenting. As I ran up the stairs into the hallway of his office, I bumped straight into a bearded man.
He had bulging muscles with various scars on them. He had long and silky brown hair that went all the way to his shoulders. He had green eyes, which were stern but now looked rather pained. He wore a gray shirt and a black apron.
I, on the other hand, was flat on the ground with the boxes now all over the place. He tried to lift one of them up, but was barely able to.
"Good, god! What's even in your boxes?" he said, with a kind smile.
"I don't even know, sir, Ms. Damon just told me to carry it to Lieutenant Finn's Office."
"Damon?! UGH! That stupid B****! She knows his office is the farthest building away. Let's see what's in the boxes. I do believe you deserve to know this much."
Knowing that he felt sympathy over a common enemy, I played the role of being a good student, especially since I knew he outranked her, I wanted to play a little bit..
"Won't I get in trouble? I don't want to do something that I'm not supposed to" I said innocently.
As I expected, he saw through me and said,"Aren't you studious? Well, guess what, I outrank her. I'll introduce myself later."
"I guess you're eager to know, aren't you? Well, I guess we all have our reasons, especially since that would make it easier to uh... have a talk with a certain someone."
The smirk on his face when he heard me was pretty scary. He went ahead and opened up the box. Not only was it not lead, but it was the last thing I expected. It was her paperwork. Files and notes at the top were addressed to Damon, and she was just dumping all of it on him.
"Heh heh! This cadet is pretty interesting, I should talk to the Lieutenant about this... shouldn't I? Especially since he was caught doing this last time."
"If one were to use this against her, surely, she wouldn't be in a good position?" I answered with a rising smile.
"Surely! Y'know, I'm starting to like you, cadet. What's your name?"
"Me... I'm Veris Kalerin," I answered confidently.
"Nice to meet you, Veris. Now, don't be shocked, but I am known as the Builder."
I just smiled and stuck out my hand. He shook it, but he also said, "It also seems you knew all along, am I right?"
"Well, that's how I knew I could get away with what I just told you," I replied.
"You... you should come to hang out in my workshop. I think you and I could really get along over our hate for that demon. Are you any good in her class?"
"I just got the top score on her last test."
"That's impressive. Does she not grade it anymore?"
"Heh... her TAs have taken over since her pass rate was so low. She still teaches, though."
"Serves her right. Anyway, catch you around... Veris"