Sally POV
“..lly! Sally! Wake up!”
Huh..? Whoa!
Cough! Cough!
Shit.
That was all I could think while trying cough out the bathwater that I just swallowed.
“Come on, girl! You are going to be late if you don’t leave now. Or would you rather go hungry till morning?”
“Shit.”
I had fallen asleep at the bath. After thanking the brown haired, short girl, I ran out to the dressing room, to dry and dress myself, before quickly heading to the mess hall with the still damp hair. I really should have cut it shorter back then.
Half way there my thighs decided to remind me of their state. Soaking in hot water had masked their pain for a while, but it was starting to come back, leaving me no choice but to slow my pace.
By the time I reached my destination, some of the fast eaters were already starting to leave. I took one of the last few remaining filled food trays from the cook, but refused the desert and the salad. It was a shame that I had to pass on the fruity bone broth, as it was only served once every 3 days. Another one of the rules was that you could take anything to eat, no matter how much, but you had to finish it. Auda wouldn’t leave it unpunished if the cook reported you for wasting food. That bitch never left anything unpunished.
I managed to spot Colin, and the girl he had been fucking, Amy eating in one of the tables, halfway done. It seems they were also running a little late, but not as much as me.
After couple minutes of shoveling the meaty soup into my mouth, all the while listening to their dry conversation, we were out and heading to the last activity of the day, the class.
It took place inside the giant Main Hall, not far from the barracks and the mess hall. The main hall was a building with 3 floors, but we were only allowed in the first floor. The classroom was a big circular room that could seat almost 100 elves, and it was on left wing of the Hall.
Everyone else was already here by the time we reached our seats, and we only had wait a minute or two until the teacher also entered. I stood up; legs pushed together, arms glued to the sides just like everyone else.
“At ease, Recruits.”
We waited till Lieutenant Reba took her place in the podium to sit, as it was another one of the useless rules we had to follow. She was our teacher, while also being in charge of the entire facility. She had said that in the future, when some of us were unfit to serve in the front lines, we would be transferred here, to teach the next generation of soldiers.
“Now, Recruits, last time we learned about the army units, and the reason behind their sizes. And today, I am going to teach you about ranks and their roles in the army, so you can finally understand why you have been calling Drill Sergeant Auda by that title.”
I could see the ears of the listeners rise up in curiosity. Some of the classes had been boring, especially at the beginning. But they were starting to get more interesting by the day.
“Officially, the ranks are grouped into 4, Privates, Field Officers, Commissioned Officers, and the Generals. Of course, it’s much more complicated than that, but it’s a nice start. As always, I will give you lot an overview, before going into the details. First off, Privates, the grunts who do little besides fighting.
Private, Private Second Class and Private First Class are 3 of the 4 ranks included in this category, and have no difference between them except their wages and the number of lines on their shoulders. They fight when told, shit when told and eat when told. The same is also true for the last rank, Corporal. As long as you don’t screw up anything, it’s a given that you will reach the rank of Corporal in less than 10 years. But promotion after that will depend on you.
Corporal rank has 3 lines in their insignia, just like the Private First Class, PFC for short, but there is also a diamond on top of it. They are usually the vice leaders of their squads, which are made up of 4-7 elves, if you remember your lesson from yesterday. To become one faster, you should get to know the squad that you will be assigned well, since your sergeant’s approval will make it easier. But there is one easier way to get this rank, which is to fulfill the requirements and learn to use special weapons. Also, in the future, any Tier 2 mage who joins the military will automatically get this rank.
That is all for the Private ranks, which is the most straight forward. You don’t have to use the precious heads of yours to rank up, but only to heed the commands of your superiors. Any questions?”
There was a slight buzz in the room. It was not a lot to take in, yet, but it wasn’t too little either. And it left many questions to be answered. Colin, who was sitting next to me raised his hands, and asked one of them after a nod from the lieutenant.
“What kind of special weapons, Sir? Do you mean the magic crossbows?”
Sir Reba answered a second later, after lowering her eyebrows that had risen. I was still not used to the fact that we had to call our female officers Sir, instead of Lady or Madam.
“They are called Firearms, Recruit. And no, Firearms will be the main weapon of every soldier; no one is to graduate without being able to use one. Special weapons will be introduced in a later date.”
It was my turn now, after receiving permission, I rose up.
“Sir, will our ranks be Private after graduating?”
I had a few more question, but this was the chief one.
“Excellent question, Recruit Sally. Answer is no. Depending on your performance, some of you will be Private Second Class- PSC, or maybe even PFC if truly exemplary.”
Few more predictable questions later, we moved on to the Field Officers.
“The ones at these ranks need to be both fit for combat, and use their brains, all the while commanding respect from their privates and superiors. Sergeants, the lowest ranked Field Officers tend to be squad leaders and nothing more. Next 3 ranks; Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant and Master Sergeants also lead squads, but besides that some also stay in backlines and keep the bases running. The last ranks of the Field Officers, First Sergeants, are mostly second in command of platoons, meaning they lead up to 30 elves to battle. While the orders are given by the Commissioned Officers, First Sergeants are the ones who apply them in the field, giving commands to junior Sergeants and soldiers. Any questions before I move on?”
It was another recruit who I still didn’t know the name of that raised her hand. I was too busy thinking to try to recall her name.
“Sir, what are the wages of each rank?”
“A Private will earn 7 ears per month, and it will increase by 1 ear each rank. Sergeants will get 20, and it will increase by 3 each time. The lowest Commissioned Officer, Lieutenant, earn 100. Anything else?”
No other question was asked. By this point I guessed that everyone had 100 different thoughts in their heads, but it was better to wait until the detailed explanations of each rank.
“Now, other 2 rank categories will be taught tomorrow. Before I start to go through each rank in more detail, there is one more thing to explain. Honorary ranks.”
Our old county also had honorary ranks, such as knight or baron, given for valor in battle. But I doubt that it would be same. Nothing was same here.
“Honorary ranks are given to soldiers who show exceptional results, but are not fit for increase in ranks. For example, if a corporal were to be talented enough to reach Tier 3, but had no capabilities to act as a Sergeant, he would be given the rank of Honorary Sergeant. It is the law that any military member who reaches Tier 3 to be given Sergeant rank, and Lieutenant at Tier 4. After all, not many elf of such personal strength will accept to pay respect to ones below him in strength. Similarly, if you manage to show good results in battlefields, your honorary rank will increase, even if you don’t have the qualifications. In this case, that person will still act as a Corporal, but will get the respect and wages of a Sergeant. Honorary ranks are marked with silver signs, instead of the usual golden ones.”
At this point, her ears drooped a little; it was unclear to me whether she was embarrassed or sad about what she was about to say.
“If you pay attention, you will see that my rank is silver color. To take charge of this facility, I have been given honorary Lieutenant rank. Besides me, there is one more in similar situation, and a single genuine gold Lieutenant. It’s will be taught tomorrow, but for one to get this rank, he or she will need to be at Tier 3, and be taught how to think strategically. Without my fingers, I don’t have the strength, not to mention I am yet to be taught battlefield tactics.”
We had one Lieutenant? Yes, Galdwin had mentioned that there was one more Tier 3 warrior, but he was supposed to be companion to that bitch, Auda, who was a Sergeant. Besides him, there was Lady Mary herself, but she had already taken over the council, and had no need to rank herself.
It was sad what had happened to her, yet, she would still be able to kick my ass in a second if I were to fight her. We have only been taught how to use daggers and fists for few days and compared to her, it was lacking.
“Any questions?”
An idiot raised her hands to ask a question she shouldn’t have. For one, what happened to her hand was known to almost everyone in the village, and second, it was taboo to ask personal questions to your superior. Especially one that was literally 10 ranks above you.
“Sir, why didn’t they use health potions to fix your hand?”
Thankfully, she didn’t take it in a bad way.
“My fingers were cut in midst battle, Recruit. By the time battle finished and we found them, it was too late. It’s not possible to re-attach them, so it needs to be re-grown. And for that, I need either ridiculous amounts of Class 3 healing potion, which only the Counts have access to in small quantities, or a Class 4 one that’s only sold in the Empire.”
Thanks for the chapter! Don't mind the longer POV swaps. Personally I think they are one of the best parts of stories like this, getting the "wow" effect when new technology or ideas are introduced is so very juicy.
Your comment makes me a little nervous. If you have not done so already I'd suggest sketching out arc goals and overall direction you are taking your story in.
Keep up the great work.
Oh no, I have the bullet points of the story in mind, its just that the second next chapter requires me to write romance/seduction, which is something I suck at.
@Monk_Origins When I came to this comment section I was going to comment about wanting to go back to the "good stuff" with mc (although I too enjoy the "wow" chapters, I find military ranks tedious (though probably necessary for communication/understanding of titles/roles later in the story)), I like them more in small doses. there has been a lot of Sally lately, and even if she becomes a major person later, it is good to introduce her POV more slowly (like your originally planned 1 chap), the military rank could have been mentioned as a part of the mcs tangent thought process showing the firearm demonstration partly from his POV)
But now you have me looking forward to that second next chapter even more since it is an addition of a new plot element that adds depth to the characters and their relationships
@kallavin_stormborn Glad to avert a small disaster.
@Monk_Origins wow, you replied fast, by the time I finished editing my comment - clarifying my though process (yes, I am the type of person to over-complicate everything), you had already replied
@kallavin_stormborn Yeah, as I am talking with fellow reader in discord, I noticed it in my second monitor when the notification popped up. :) Yes, I don't like to write about her too much either, so she won't appear for sometime. I had to introduce her as a character, since neither Silva or MC is in military. Without a (wo)man inside, it would have been very hard to write about future military campaigns.