Divine Fury
"Move it, cadets! If it were up to me, you'd be carrying water up mountain steps!"
It was the morning of the second day, first light, and the cadets had been roused from sleep by trumpets. Around and around they went, running laps under the watchful eye of Sir Kiev. When they first started, most cadets, still drunk on the bliss of sleep, shambled almost like zombies for the first half lap. Soon enough, the adrenaline perked them up like a hard slap across the face. Noah was used to this kind of routine and tried to appreciate it. It was a cool morning, pleasant, one best enjoyed before the sun erased the dew.
That said, he was choosing to enjoy it from the back of the crowd, where he was less likely to be noticed by others. Only around half of his swordsmanship class would be able to pick him out of a group, but he wanted to hold onto every shred of anonymity he had left. On the plus side, it let him listen to a lot of the gossip and rumors going around, but unfortunately, he mostly just heard complaints. Like swearing, it was a time-tested painkiller, and various cadets would try to ease their burden by griping and grumbling to anyone who would listen, while making sure their voices couldn't be heard by Sir Kiev. Noah had found that around one out of ten soldiers would be lifelong complainers in most militaries.
At the front of the pack were the more elite and driven cadets, such as Alexis, Prince Seraph, and others, and upon completing their tenth laps, they went inside for breakfast. In the mess hall, Alexis had just settled in at her usual spot with a tray of food. On the other side of the room, she saw Sophia, bound to Galvin as if by invisible chains. With them, Prince Seraph, as well as their friends.
As much as Alexis wished she could pull Sophia out of the snake pit, she was forbidden from coming close. All the two of them could do was find comfort in each other's eyes. Galvin, noticing this, grabbed Sophia's hair and pulled it sharply, dragging her back to reality. Where she was sitting, Alexis's hands balled tightly into fists. Her dining knife, how easily it would...
"Good morning."
She perked up as Noah set down his tray across from her. "Huh? Oh, excuse me. Good morning."
"Is something wrong?"
"It's... don't worry about it."
Noah wasn't convinced, but he didn't ask anything further. After breakfast, he was scheduled to study potion brewing and made his way to class. The room he entered reminded him of the various apothecaries he had visited in this world. It was full of countless ingredients, all bottled, hung to dry, and displayed. He and the rest of the cadets flowed in and found seats among various tables while waiting for the teacher. He soon arrived, an old man with a braided beard and a robe smelling like a used napkin belonging to the witches of Macbeth.
"Greetings, everyone. I am Sir Brume, and I shall be teaching you how to brew potions that will serve you as you serve the nation. I'm sure many of you have been told that knights are forbidden from using potions in all but the most severe cases, but that is only half true. There are many recipes deemed safe for you to use, though it is advised they not be consistently relied on. The potions you'll be making may be used to restore your health and improve your natural abilities, among other things.
Any questions?"
From there, he continued with the orientation, first going over the tools and equipment they'd be using. As expected, there was the traditional cauldron, the mortar and pestle, and mincing knives, but he went on to label tools whose functions interested many cadets and disgusted others. Everything looked like it either belonged to a voodoo priest or a coroner. He described the various processes they'd be learning for preparing ingredients, such as boiling, grinding, and dissecting. This was basically an intensive cooking class focusing on bitter-tasting soups. Having a great amount of experience as a chef, Noah was more concerned with the potions themselves than the effort of making them.
Soon after coming to this world, he had developed a method of magic training involving repeated mana depletion and restoration in a physically exhausted state. It greatly multiplied his mana reserves, but the long-term effects of potions proved detrimental to his ability to use magic. When he first learned to project his illusory clone, he could move considerably far from his location with a minor increase in mana expenditure. After weeks of dangerous training, combined with all the potions used during his dungeon crab raid, the range and duration had decreased considerably. He was recovering, but it was a slow process.
Outside, the familiar sound of metal on metal as Valia hosted her swordsmanship lesson with a new batch of cadets. Just like before, she was gauging their skills in the best way she knew how. One by one, they'd step forward with a borrowed sword, and she'd spar with them for a few minutes, toying with them like a cat batting around a captured mouse. She never drew blood, but her swings would always come within a hair's breadth of their bodies, showing them how easily they could be killed.
Among the cadets, it was Alexis's turn to step forward. She was nervous, a feeling she wasn't used to, and the hand with which she gripped her sword was shaking. Fighting in a life-or-death battle with a herd of ogres hadn't scared her at all, but every time she looked at Valia, she felt a fluttering in her stomach. With any luck, the reddening of her cheeks wouldn't be noticed.
She faced Valia and bowed down farther than she intended, and shouted when she only meant to speak. "I am Cadet Alexis Veres, and it is a great honor to meet you, ma'am!"
"Ah yes, Veres. I believe I fought alongside your grandfather in the Battle of Pheron. Does he still brag about that scar on his face from the griffin?"
"At every harvest festival, ma'am!"
"That sounds about right. Anyway, cadet, let's see how you compare. Ready yourself." Both women assumed their stances, blades raised. "Now come at me."
Alexis lunged in the first of a flurry of swings and stabs. Her speed and concentration were pushed to their limits as she fought to impress. Her sword collided with Valia's faster than the other cadets, but her attacks were deflected and blocked effortlessly. Simply keeping the elf on the defense was like trying to run on ice. Still, she didn't give in. Having experienced countless lessons in combat from skilled teachers, as well as actual scenes of battle, she knew how to maintain her footing, control her center of gravity, and keep her nerve when attacking and defending. Archery was more her talent, but swordplay was nothing she wasn't used to.
She thought back to those lessons, the stances and forms drilled into her when she was a child. She slid herself back into those memories, trying to recreate the movements perfectly. Her attacks were majestic and precise in their execution, awing several cadets and making Valia smile in amusement. Then, without warning, Valia lashed out, and Alexis could barely block. Valia leaned in, keeping Alexis pinned with their swords grinding. There, Alexis saw it, the scratch on Valia's cheek from her fight with Noah, a feat which looked all but impossible from where she was standing.
Valia went on the attack, unleashing a storm of swings and thrusts like Alexis had done. The critical difference was that she displayed little effort, and despite moving faster than Alexis, she was still holding back, humoring her with every attack she allowed to be blocked or dodged. Alexis struggled to form a solid guard, just as she had struggled in her attacks. Her moves, despite her skill, were all textbook techniques, so rigidly performed that it became harder and harder to transition between them. Finally, the battle ended. Alexis tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she stared at the blade held just under her chin.
"You have good footwork, and you've clearly received prior training, but I get the sense that a sword just isn't the weapon for you. Still, you are definitely something I can work with. I look forward to watching you grow."
"Thank you, ma'am! This has been a true honor, and I look forward to studying under you!" She had yet to regain control of her voice, something which would have earned laughs from the cadets, if not for the fact that she had fought better than all of them. That fact did not ease the embarrassment she felt. She returned to the group, only to receive a hard shoulder bump as the next cadet stepped forward. He was someone she knew, and though she flashed him her furious gaze, he scoffed and strode past her.
"Let's do this," he said as he faced Valia.
"Cadet, I will not tolerate such disrespect to myself or your fellow students. Choose your words and tone carefully. Now, state your name."
"Seraph Albion, not like we've never met before. You and all of these talentless rats already know who I am, and now, they're going to watch me beat you."
"Yes, I have watched you grow up as a prince, but you stand before me as a cadet, and you will learn respect, no matter how harshly I must teach you."
