How to war

The Inductees were lead to the mess hall where they had their initial orientation. Once again, they sat at their respective tables. Cain sat at the end of the rectangular red table. Horrow came up and sat besides him. Cain glanced at him, to which he gave a sheepish smile. Horrow held out his hand.

"Salve, uhhh, hello! If I remember, your name is Cain? If you forgot, my name is Horrow."

As if I could forget the name of a direct descendant of the Fabii family!

Cain took his hand, and shook it.

"Well, its nice to meet your Horrow. Got to say, its not everyday you meet a noble of a Patrician family."

Horrow let out a quiet laugh.

"I guess so. To be fair, I think you're the first commoner friend I've made. All the commoners I knew were servants."

First commoner frie... wait friend? Since when did that happen? Also, servants...

As Cain opened his mouth to respond, the doors to the room suddenly burst open. Once again, workers pushing carts of food entered. They placed steaming dished in front of the Inductees. Any questions Cain had for Horrow disappeared in the presence of fresh warm food. He didn't even realize how hungry he was. Maybe it was the training.

After a quick Prayer, the Inductees started digging into their food. While not as grandiose as last night's meal, there was still meat and bread. Both were definitely a bit tough, but Cain didn't mind. It was a lot better than the meals at the orphanage. He couldn't stand to look at another bowl of porridge.

Cain was three bites into a lamb chop into he realized Horrow was the first person he truly talked to after their measly introductions last night. He wasn't sure if becoming friends with a potentially exiled noble was a good idea, but he supposed the potential connections would be useful.

Maybe one of his rich friends or family members would invest in my idea for a cafe!

As he chewed to the fantasy of running his own shop once finishing his service at the Line, a sudden voice shattered his daydream.

"Time's up, let's move!"

But I still have a loaf of bread left!

...

Once again the Inductees were escorted into a large courtyard. This time, it was completely outside the Rock. They had taken a back door that lead them further north. They all sat on wooden benches that laid along the outer walls of the Rock. In front of them, a sprawling field stretched further out into a dense forest. Beyond the forest, the imposing cliff rose high up into the sky.

Another Head Instructor stood in front of them, her pins shining in the late morning sunlight. The feeling this Head Instructor gave off was completely different from Sir Bradforth's. While he stood relaxed, this instructor stood proud. Standing at parade rest, her dark brown eyes were sharp like a hawks. She looked similar in age with Sir Conduit. There were slight wrinkles by her eyes and mouth, yet she was most definitely beautiful. Like a graceful wolf. No, perhaps handsome was a better word. She had prominent cheekbones and a tall nose. A lateral scar ran across her forehead. Her short brown hair was neatly combed over to the side.

"Attention!"

Cain instinctively sat up straighter.

"Welcome Inductees. My name is Head Instructor Love el Junpar. You may call me Head Instructor Junpar. I am the instructor in charge of teaching you one thing. Making war."

She turned and began pacing from one end of the benches to the other.

"Head Instructor Bradforth is responsible for improving upon your individual skills. Simply put, I teach how to improve your collective skills. I will not teach you how to swing a sword or throw a knife. No. I will teach you how to apply said skills in battle."

She stopped in front of Cain and seemed to stare right into his eyes. Cain just managed to stop himself from gulping.

"War is messy. It is loud. Only soldiers with discipline and proper training can work together seamlessly in the chaos of battle. Communication, teamwork, leadership. Forming a cohesive unit. That is what I teach."

Head Instructor Junpar stepped away from Cain, this time standing in front of Eleni. She stared back in what seemed defiance. No, resolve. To that, Head Instructor Junpar gave a small smile.

"I have personally served at the Line for ten years. Six at smaller northern fortifications, then four at Fort Bellona. I have participated in thirty-six excursions into the Greatwoods. I have personally lead eight. I have personally slain over twenty Nomal savages. But I grow old. My body has accumulated too much damage to effectively lead on the front lines. A weak soldier is a liability to her unit, remember that."

Head Instructor Junpar stepped back from the Inductees.

"You are all already organized into squadrons no? Today we focus on getting familiar with each other. That means moving as a singular organism. Each Inductee will have different strengths and weaknesses. It is your duty to cover each other's weaknesses and bolster each other's strengths."

Head Instructor Junpar and the four overseeing Instructors got into formation. Initially marching in the field, then suddenly dispersing, organizing themselves into a spaced out pentagram. Then into a circle, then into a flat line. All Head Instructor Junpar had to do was yell a command, and they would all get into position. It was seamless. Nobody crossed each other paths. They each knew exactly what to do.

The Instructors walked back towards the students. While less impressive than the spar from earlier that morning, their coordination spoke to the amount the Instructors must have practiced.

"Now, head out into the field and gather with your squadrons! We will practice basic drills. March formation into line formation then back! The overseeing Instructors will direct you."

Red Squadron assembled with Instructor Thorne on the field. She was smiling at them evilly. Cain had no clue why. But it couldn't mean anything good.

The Inductees got into double file at Instructor Thorne's behest. Two columns, six rows deep. Cain stood in the second row next to Jorn.

"Now, this is marching formation. From now on, this formation will simply called march! On my mark, you will organize yourselves into the line formation. For now, create two rows of six. The current front three rows will combine into the first row of the line formation. The last three the second row."

Cain looked to Jorn. Jorn seemed a tad bit overwhelmed with the influx of sudden information.

"Line!"

Cain stood dumbfounded for a split second. How were they supposed to get into formation? Cain tried to move to the right of the row in front of him and proceeded to knock heads with Jorn, who tried to move left.

The yelps of Inductees behind them seemed to indicate similar confusion. The two in the front, Dormon and Klein, looked back in bewilderment.

It took the Inductees a total of twenty seconds to get into formation. There were a growing welts on a few of the children's heads as a result. Anastasia's pants were covered in dirt from tripping over another's foot. Instructor Thorne seemed incredibly amused. Almost as if she had experienced the exact same thing before.

Damn. She must've known this would happen.

Wiping what seemed to be tears from her eyes, Instructor Thorne chided the Inductees.

"Get into formation that slow and you would've been torn apart by an ambush. Don't expect the Nomals to give you time to get into formation. Now, let me help explain how this would work..."

With Instructor Thorne's guidance, the speed at which the Inductees moved increased. She gave tips and pointers, do's and don'ts. Slowly but surely, Red Squadron was getting used to moving in and out of line formation.

"Good! Now, left row, switch positions with the person in front of you. If you're at the front, move to the back."

The Inductees followed their instructions. Cain ended up at the front of march formation, to the left of Klein.

"Now, line!"

Once again, the Inductees found themselves struggling to get into formation. While Cain knew how to get into formation from his previous position, now that he moved up a row he didn't exactly know what to do. As such, it took them longer than their previous try.

"Now I'm sure some of you realize why I asked you to switch positions. The positions you stand in formation are not set. You may find yourself in different positions in march formation. You must be familiar and practice how to move from each position. It must become second instinct. And that's not even considering when you might be... missing some of your squadron."

The Inductees nodded their heads in understanding. Instructor Thorne made a good point. While Head Instructor Junpar's lessons may not be as interesting as Sir Bradforth's, Cain began to realize the importance of such practice. He could already imagine his squadron marching in the Greatwoods only to be ambushed by the Nomal. If they moved as slow as they did, they would've been slaughtered before even raising their blades. Moving slow was an incredible vulnerability.

"No matter how strong you individually may be, if you cannot work with your squadron, you immediately become mince meat. Doesn't matter if you're all Chosen, if you get ambushed by a Nomal horde, you die. Being able to function seamlessly with your comrades is the only way you will survive the Line."

I should have brought a notebook.

Cain's squadron continued the exercise well into noon. The sun was now high in the sky, warming his body from the wind's chill. They were getting better and better at moving between march and line. Instructor Thorne would shuffle their positions, and they would practice. Again, again, again. Before Cain knew it, it was time for lunch. Head Instructor Junpar once again assembled the Inductees at the benches.

"Now, I hope you understand the importance of learning how to move as a group. But this is simply the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more you must learn and practice before you have a chance as surviving at the Line. But we will continue lessons later. For now, heed my advice."

Head Instructor Junpar leaned in.

"Get to know your squadron. While it is not expected you all become friends, you are still comrades in arms. Do not sabotage each other. Learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. The better you work together, the higher the chances for survival. For victory."

Without further explanation, the Instructors lead the students back into the Rock. Cain looked back before he entered the building. Head Instructor Junpar's back was turned to him, hair fluttering in the wind. On her face was a grim expression, as if she was deep in thought.