Aldelmo felt as light as a feather.

 

After over three weeks of pain and suffering, he finally had a day off. Today was tryouts for joining the subjugation squad. While freshmen were allowed to try out, it was almost unheard of for a freshman to join, unless you were well connected. The well connected frequently came with small squads of body guards to keep them safe. Everyone else would have to prove themselves.

 

So that he'd be at his best, Ryan called off training yesterday and gave him a full day to recover. He still ached and felt stiff, but it was nothing compared to how he felt two days ago. Death warmed over would have been an excellent description of his previous condition. Now? He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. Yes, he had black tattoos all over his body, forming arcane sigils and patterns, but beneath the enchanted filigree carved into his flesh were muscles he could only have dreamed of having a month ago.

 

True, he had basically been through a month of constant hell, but at some point he figured he went insane. Now that he's gone a day without training, he actually feels a bit twitchy. He REALLY wants to get back to working out. He misses the pain, because he now knows that the pain was a small price to pay for these results. He turned around to look at himself from behind and wondered if Monique liked men who were, as Ryan put it, ripped.

 

He sighed and put on his shirt and noticed a problem. He flexed a bit and noticed that his shirt wasn't fitting. He finished pulling on the rest of his clothes and headed back to his room.

 

Ryan was assembling a long pole when Aldelmo walked in. Aldelmo nodded and walked past him to his wardrobe. He started searching through his shirts, "Damn. I don't have anything that fits anymore." Ryan finished putting the sectional pole together, then took it apart and started attaching different accessories on it. Ryan commented without looking up, "I popped for some leather armor."

 

Aldelmo looked over, "Really? Hey, thanks." Ryan shrugged, "Wanted to practice enhancing armor without using mana stones to power it." Aldelmo looked up, "Hold it. Did you forget? I can't activate magic items. I might have an aura core, but I can't channel into your axe, remember?"

 

Ryan finished assembling the pole, having turned it into a spear. He tossed it to Aldelmo, "Catch." Aldelmo reached out and caught the spear with one hand. Ryan nodded, "Now force mana into the mana channels in the palm of your hand."

 

Aldelmo stood there, then stared at his hand holding the spear. He could feel the mana surging out into his tattoos. It burned, but each time he did it, it hurt a little bit less. The mana connected with the spear. He felt it shooting up and down the spear as it became one with his hand. He stared at it enraptured, "By Mira... I can activate it."

 

Ryan nodded, "That's why I added the new channels in your hand. It should also make projecting water bolts easier as well." Ryan pulled his tattoo machine out of its box and loaded in a vial, "Keep the shirt off. I'm going to make two new channels into your shoulders. It should allow you to connect with your new armor in the same way."

 

Aldelmo sat down and forced himself to relax. This was going to burn like liquid fire, but by now pain was an old friend. In fact, he had begun enjoying the endorphin high that would kick in after getting repeatedly perforated. Ten minutes later Ryan was finishing up some touches to Aldelmo’s feet.

 

"I'm still working on your boots. Didn't have time last night to finish them, but hopefully I can finish them on the road." Aldelmo finished clenching his teeth and let out a soft shudder, "Hate it when you use it, but damn does it feel great when you stop."

 

Ryan packed up the machine along with a few more odds and ends, "Well, take a few to heal over those tats and let’s get going. I don't want to be late for tryouts. You know they are going to give us shit." Aldelmo nodded and finished packing up. He admired the craftsmanship of the sectional, modular weapon he had been given, "This is nice. Is this why we were focusing on fighting with staffs?"

 

Ryan nodded, "The less experience you have, the longer your range needs to be. So to start, use it as a spear or quarter staff. We'll work on blades when you get good at that. Plus, I'm not sure if you are quite ready to kill, so it might be easier to whack someone with a stick than stab them."

 

Aldelmo nodded and looked at the spearhead, wondering what it would be like to use it to end a life. He finished securing his pack and slung it over his shoulders. A month ago the weight would have crushed him, but now it felt like nothing. Most likely because he had been forced to carry twice as much in rocks while hiking for miles on end. He shuddered at the memory and jerked his head to the side as if the very action could cause the memory to fly right out of his head.

 

Ryan either didn't notice. He simply shouldered his own pack and headed for the exit, "Don't forget your keys. We won't be back for quite a while."

 

---

 

The academy stadium was partially filled with many enterprising candidates.

 

Those who arranged things ahead of time had already been processed and would arrive later today. These were tryouts for those who didn't get fast tracked. There were only so many slots available, but there was always a need for more porters. As long as the subjugation went well, there was usually a good payout for porters, since they often got called upon to handle all the work the main force couldn't be bothered with. Cooking, cleaning, transporting, butchering the slain critters for harvestable parts, that sort of thing.

 

However, any subjugation could go horribly wrong at any moment, so even those tasked with hauling gear and handling the day to day grunt duties needed to be able to fight, thus the tryouts. You started at one gate, moved forward to the processing table, then they would send you to either the close combat or ranged combat testing area after getting your information. How you did at those areas determined if you would have one of the few openings, or wait and try out for the next subjugation.

 

Aldelmo and Ryan stood in line, slowly moving up to the front.

 

"Next!"

 

Ryan stepped up to the table. Behind it sat a grizzled veteran adventurer, He had three scars that lightly went down the side of his face, narrowly avoiding his eyes. He was a big, black haired, fuzzy man with steel grey eyes. He took one look at Ryan and said, "Next!"

 

Ryan frowned, "Hey! I'm here to try out! We've been working for weeks to get ready!"

 

The man behind the table laughed, "Weeks? Only Weeks? Son, I'm Maxwell. I'm the one in charge of this subjugation here. I've been doing this for YEARS. So come back when you you can see over the table without standing on your tiptoes." He looked at Aldelmo, "NEXT!"

 

Aldelmo didn't move, but instead looked at Ryan. Ryan stared at Max for a few moments, then past him. Ryan pointed, "Say. Those targets. That's for people trying out for ranged support, right?"

 

Maxwell looked over his shoulder to where Ryan was pointing, then back at Ryan, "Ye- Huh?"

 

Ryan had pulled out a heavily modified staff while Maxwell's back was turned. He was staring down the length of the staff through a scope he had attached to it. He aimed it past Maxwell as he adjusted the scope slightly, "So... what would you say... a hundred yards?" He adjusted the stock against his shoulder.

 

Maxwell raised a single eyebrow quizzically, "I'd say more like a hundred and twenty." Ryan nodded, "A hundred and twenty then." He continued to squint through the scope, "Thanks. I suggest you look at the furthest bullseye." He made one more fine adjustment, "Blink and you'll miss it."

 

Maxwell pulled his head back as if trying to figure out if the kid was insane. He had barely turned his eyes towards the targets when one suddenly exploded, "Sweet Mira Above!" As the explosion echoed throughout the entire stadium. Everyone stopped and looked towards the target except for Maxwell who just slowly turned to look at Ryan. Ryan relaxed his shouldered weapon, licked his thumb, then cleaned the tip of his staff, "Allow me to introduce you to Bertha. She might not be much to look at, but she's got it where it counts and she never fails to satisfy." Ryan rubbed his cheek against the shaft, "I'd marry her if it was legal."

 

Maxwell nodded slowly, "ooookay..." Then reached out, "Can I see her?" Ryan offered Bertha up, "Be gentle. She kicks like a four year old mule." Maxwell took Bertha gently indeed and looked her up and down, "I don't see where the mana stone goes." Ryan nodded, "You are observant." He looked at Ryan, "You power this with your own mana pool?" Ryan nodded, "Don't worry about Bertha failing to put out." Maxwell looked down the scope, then jumped back a little, then looked through it again, "Holy..." He looked over the scope, then back through it, "What is this?"

 

Ryan reached out to tap the attachment, "It's called a scope. Expensive, but doesn't require any mana to use. I make them. If you want one, we can talk about it later." Maxwell looked up at Ryan, then handed back Bertha, "I think I will. You can have a spot with ranged support. Head over there and have them take your information" Ryan nodded. Maxwell added, "Let them know Maxwell is waving the test." He motioned to Aldelmo to come closer. Aldelmo stepped up and handed over his papers identifying him as a student.

 

Maxwell eyed him up and down, "Hrmmm... first year, eh?" He looked at Aldelmo's eyes, "And a water mage, eh? Well, we can always use more water mages. Pick either ranged or hand to hand and if you pass, I'll put you in support." Ryan held up a hand, "Whoa whoa whoa... My student here is aiming for front line skirmisher." Maxwell half laughed, half snorted, "Wha-? Kid you-" He paused then looked at Aldelmo, "Wait... can you do what he does?" Aldelmo shook his head, "No, sir. I can't do ice-seven like Reed-Sensei" The guy sitting next to Maxwell softly repeated, "Ice... Seven?" then glanced back at the exploded target.

 

Maxwell nodded slowly, "So... just water. Well. It's your first year. We almost never put first years in front line skirmishing. Take a year as a porter, get some experience-" Ryan interrupted, "ALMOST... being the keyword here. So what could my student do to prove himself?" Maxwell looked at Ryan, "I don't know. It's unheard of."

 

Ryan thought for a bit, "What if... My guy here beats his opponent... without using a weapon... without armor..." Maxwell looked incredulously at Ryan, "AND... without casting ranged spells." Maxwell repeated his snort-laugh, "What??? You-" He did a double take then hooked a thumb at Aldelmo, "This guy?" Maxwell slowly shook his head, "You know what? Sure. This I gotta see. You're on. If your boy here can put his money where your mouth is, then he's in." He pointed over to the hand to hand testing area, "You go wait over there until I'm done, because I'm not going to miss this."

 

Ryan just smirked, hit Aldelmo in the stomach with the back of his hand, then started walking over to ranged tryouts, "Maxwell, you won't be disappointed.”