Sally POV

“What, not even a fast one? We can spare couple minutes, I am sure of that!”

Standing in front of me was Galdwin, in his troll leather vest. He would have looked even more dashing if he had his zorikanium sword on him instead of the little one dangling below. He spoke while putting on his pants.

“We can’t, you know that I want it, too. You also have to get dressed and be out in 10 minutes if you want to join the training. Auda will be tough on everyone, and you do not want to be late, believe me.”

I get that it would be hard, but did they have to do hold the initial meeting at the sunrise? Would it kill them to do it sometime reasonable?

“So, this is it, huh. No more Mum or you for 6 weeks.”

He was already at the door by the time I managed to untangle myself from the blanket.

“Oh. I wasn’t supposed to say it, but I will be there in 2 weeks. Prototypes of the weapon I mentioned are done. It’s going to take some time to get enough of the powder, through. Make sure not to tell anyone, as it’s a secret for now.”

With that, he left for the village square. Apparently, we weren’t going to get the usual training, which was how to march and how to swing a sword or use spears. What we were getting was training from another world, a way to fight with ‘guns’.

 6 minutes later, I was out of the house, leaving behind a tidy room. The idiot had told me not to bring anything with me, but still left it to me to lock the door. So I pushed my spare key afterwards into the house through the slit at the bottom of the door. The village had sprung through faster than I could imagine, but because of that, workmanship was shoddy at best. Chairs wobbled, windows and doors never closed just right, roof shingles let in light. The first few houses which was built before the cement, with wood, were horrible. They leaked light and air from every single wall, and even worse, they didn’t have a fireplace, just a pit in the floor to lit fire in.

“Yaaawn.”

I realized that I was just a street away from the gathering place when a rude yawn made me lose my train of thoughts.

“The heck?”

The village center was full to the brim with elves. There was more than hundred! 3 seconds later, I realized that not all of them were here to join. Most were probably family members or observers.

“Alright, alright, silence please!”

It was Galdwin, who stepped up to the elevated stage, sandwiched by 2 Tier 3s, Horst and Reba. Reba was an old woman, not any younger than my mother. She was the only Tier 3 among the newcomers, but she had lost 2 of her fingers on her dominant hand. Her disability made her unable to continue as a warrior, but her gentle yet strict demeanor had made her easy to like, allowing her to earn the favor of the village non the less.

“First, anyone who aren’t interested in becoming a soldier, please go to the back and let the ones who want to come to the front.”

I managed to squeeze myself through the retreating crowd, to the front.

I counted 64 elves that stood next to me. It was a huge number, considering that we didn’t even have 500 in the whole village.

“Now, Tier 2s, if you have been a guard or soldier, or have experience with weapons, please follow Horst. He will guide you south, to join other guards.”

Galdwin said as he pointed to the male Tier 3 standing behind him. 12 men left with Horst with their ears held high with pride, under the claps of the crowd. After gesturing to the crowd to be silent, Galdwin continued.

“Before we lead the recruits to training, I have to repeat the requirements, and clarify some points. First, requirements are as written on the notice: One must be Tier 1 or above, and under the age of 55.”

No one moved, as they were familiar with what was written on the notice board, waiting for him to finish speaking. I knew what he was about to say, so I chose to observe the elves who stood beside me, rather than listen to him.

“There are 3 things. For one, the generous salary promised won’t be paid if you, the recruits can’t finish the training. Second, any soldier who finishes the training will have to serve until the 2^nd month of summer. During which, not following orders will result in either imprisonment, exile or execution. And lastly, the training will take month and a half, and it will be hard.”

Murmurs were everywhere, both from the ones standing next to me and the ordinary elves behind. Amusingly, half of the ones standing next to me either had gone white or had their ears twitch in worry. Some were even sweating. Amusing or not, it was understandable. It should have occurred to me when I saw that there were so many of them. Some of them were here to get the free cores and training, or the easy money. After all, what was some hardship when there was so much money, especially when they didn’t have to fight any greens with their life on the line. Galdwin spoke once again when I saw that some of the fellow ‘brave recruits’ starting to take small steps back.

“You have 10 minutes to decide to whether to join or not. If you decide to come with me, say your goodbyes to your friends and family. Also, make sure that you don’t have anything with value on you.”

His words were saving grace to some standing beside me. At least they didn’t have to turn back and leave while the villagers were watching. Not showing up in 10 minutes might hurt their pride, but at least they wouldn’t be ridiculed as much now.

Indeed, at the end of 10 minutes, only 30 showed up, including me. But their eyes were bright, and ears proud. This group of 30 elves demanded more respect than the previous group of 50, just from the demeanor. Most of them were young, with very few being older than 35, if you were to go by their looks. Also, almost everyone was a woman. There was only 4 males.

“It’s more than I expected. Reba, they are yours from now on. I have to join the other group.” Galdwin said to the old woman, who was next to her on the stage, before turning to us. “This is Madam Reba. She is in charge of the training facility, and that makes her your superior. From now on, any disrespect towards your superior will be met with punishment. Whatever she orders, you must respond with ‘YES SIR’, or it will be counted as disrespecting her. Am I clear?”

There were many positive remarks and nods from the group, but there wasn’t a single ‘YES SIR’ among them. It had been a week since I had made up my mind and had the talk with my mother, and during this week Galdwin had told me many things about the training the human, Lloyd, had come up with. But I didn’t answer properly either, since I wasn’t expected to. It was a trap for the recruits, a small one. And not falling for it would be read as me showing off, at least for now. In the new military, only your achievements would matter, not how clever you were.

Reba didn’t comment on the group’s breach of the new military etiquette, only smiling for a second before stating:

“Recruits, from now on, you are to call me as Officer Reba. Now, get in 3 lines of 10 and follow me.”

It took a minute for us to get in line, and another 3 to reach our destination, a concrete facility just outside the village. It was big, almost as big as a small castle, but this wasn't the training facility. Galdwin had said that it was north of the village, near the river.Officer Reba stood near a door inside the courtyard and turned to us.

“Inside, you will find your new uniforms, and a backpack. I want you to take off everything you have and wear the uniforms in 5 minutes. Put anything else in the bags and come out. You won’t like it if you don’t come back out in 5 minutes, believe me. First line of 10 from the left, get in now!”

First group was the one I was in. I was 3^rd to enter the room. Once inside, we found hundreds of clothes in neat piles. There were many piles of each item, all in different sizes. To my eyes, only thing to note was their color, all green except the underwear, which was black. But it looked like someone had another opinion.

“Goblin skin? Ah, the boots are Orc leather…”

It was a male, near my age. His arms were a little buff, but nowhere near Galdwin’s. He was a little short too.

“Is it wrong for it to be goblin skin? They look good enough to me.”

“Ah, no, no. They are quality stuff. This kind of leather is a bit more durable than cotton, and it’s stretchy too. But it doesn’t protect against cold very well, also, it’s very easy to puncture it. Soldiers usually get orc leather. My father used to be a tanner, so I know a bit about them...”

“Hmm… That’s interesting and all, but I would start getting dressed if I were you. She wasn’t kidding when she said to be out in 5 minutes.”

I found a matching set after rummaging a bit. The pants and boots I chose were both marked with a small 3 inside, while the shirt had a 4. Size 3 shirt would have also fit me, if not for my breasts. A cursory look told me that it was same for most other girls too. The leather was comfortable and almost for fitting, but as a result, it was chafing my nipples. An undershirt or cotton lining would have taken care of it. Perhaps I should tell it to Officer Reba before reaching the boot camp. Galdwin was more than clear enough that it would be better not to show weakness to Auda, who would act as the instructor, ‘drill sergeant’, as the human put it. It would be much better to tell the Officer.

Monk_Origins

I totally didn't spend 6 hours yesterday watching videos and researching about boot camp and military training. Nope. I didn't.

Updated regional map:

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Also, don't forget that authors feed upon your energy when you <3 the chapter. Without it, authors would die. DIE I TELL YOU! ?