History lesson

The Inductees were soon ushered back into the mess hall. Once again, Cain sat at the end of the red table. Again, Horrow joined him.

Cain's entire body was sore. He had never felt such tightness in his muscles or joints before. He had tried to stretch out his body to no avail; no amount of stretching would alleviate his pains. To his right, Horrow looked similarly fatigued. Cain was too curious but to ask,

"Horrow? This may come off rude, but why is your stamina so poor? I thought nobles trained since birth. I would assume that's even more true for someone of a Patrician family."

Horrow looked over, seemingly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I'm not offended. Yes, I did train when I was younger. Long story short, my father realized I wasn't cut out for becoming a warrior. I've always enjoyed history, music, and the arts more to be completely honest with you. Ever since then, my father hired tutors so that I could become a scholar. That is, of course, before I was sent here."

Horrow looked down at his hands.

"I see. Is there a reason why your father didn't send any of your other more, uh, physically inclined siblings?"

Cain still remembered Horrow's introduction. He had said he was the second child of direct lineage. And Cain assumed Horrow would have more siblings. One thing he realized about nobles, they loved having children. Strengthen their family and make a potential assassination less detrimental to their future. To Cain's question, Horrow let out a sad chuckle.

"Well sometimes I wonder that myself. I'm clearly not fit for life here. Never been particularly fond of violence. Obviously, my older sister must study at the capital and learn directly from the Patriach. Get ready to take father's position. For my younger siblings... I'm not sure. My younger brother is a year younger than me, but I trust he would have fared much better than I."

Cain didn't know what to make of Horrow. Every noble he had the displeasure of meeting had always been arrogant. Or if anything, completely indifferent and oblivious to the comings and goings of commoners. But as Cain got to know Horrow better, he realized that he was not simply a meek boy. He was incredibly honest. Perhaps even nice. The nobles Cain knew would have never admitted their flaws. But then again, Cain knew few nobles of those he did, none acted like Horrow. He glanced at Eleni. Now she was a special case. Everyone and their mothers knew the Bellona. They were incredibly popular in Laconia, being praised as a strong family that upheld security and the law. Not a single Nomal has crossed the Line under their rule. In Cain's eyes, Eleni seemed like a battle-hungry monster. Far from the image of the fair Bellona. He could physically see the glee in her eyes when she got to swing her sword around. But she didn't act arrogant. Almost as she didn't have time for it. He then looked towards Jorn.

Jorn was an anomaly. A commoner from birth, his family ran an influential blacksmith that forged blades exclusively for many noble houses. According to the gossiping from some of the other squadron members, apparently their swords were even sought by families in the central continent. Maybe that got to his head, but Jorn had showed masked anonymity towards Cain and some of the other commoners. Almost as he felt as he was above them. If there was anything Cain hated more that a snot-nosed noble, it was a commoner who looked down on his fellow countrymen simply because they were more successful.

Brushing noses with nobles doesn't make you any less of a commoner, brat.

But Cain would never dare to say that out loud. Better not to make an enemy of the largest Inductee in the company.

Once again, workers entered the hall to serve lunch. The food was similar to breakfast. Again, Cain and the others tore into their meals. This time, Cain made sure to eat quickly. He wasn't going to waste good food every again.

Once time was up, the workers moved to clear the plates. But at the same time, they also distributed small notebooks to each of the Inductees. Small ink pots were placed on the table with a set of dozen quills. Cain picked up the notebook in front of him. It was small, just larger than his hand and no wider than five centimeters. The cover was made out of what seemed to be old leather, a small strap keeping it closed. He then picked up one of the quills, observing its gentle curve. It was his first time seeing one in person. He had learned the basics to reading and writing along with basic arithmetic back at the orphanage. The sisters taught the children every once in a while, not really to provide an education but so that the children could do their tasks more effectively. Back then, he used to use a sharp rock to practice writing on the temple floors. That got him into a lot of trouble.

A door to the hall opened, and in walked Head Instructor Neptune. He walked up to the podium on the stage in front of them.

"Attention!"

The Inductees all stopped moving and looked towards Head Instructor Neptune.

"Welcome Inductees to your first lesson with me. If any of you forgot, you may call me Head Instructor Neptune. I will be teaching you one thing, and that is everything to do with our Empire. How it came to be, how it is now, and what it could possibly be in the future. More specifically, however, I will be focusing on the history and current state of the bastion cities and Line."

It hadn't even been a minute since the lecture began, but Eleni already looked incredibly bored.

"Some of you may wonder why such lessons are provided here. While the Institute may be a place to create soldiers, warriors, it doesn't mean your education has to be neglected. If anything, understanding the geography of the Line and the Greatwoods can be valuable in your future service. The logistics of guarding the Line is another thing I will touch on. Of course, history isn't the only thing I will teach. Wouldn't you like to know everything about how the Nomal live? How they fight?"

That got Eleni's interest. Even Cain himself was curious as to what he was going to learn in Head Instructor Neptune's lessons. To be completely honest, his education prior to the Institute was lacking. Disregarding the little he learned at the orphanage, most of what he knew about his city and the world was from word of mouth. Gossip and sayings of other orphans and temple goers. Cain always had a desire to learn from a young age. While he had initially dreaded inducting, he realized now that it may provide an wonderful opportunity to quench his curiosity.

"First off, use those notebooks that were handed out to write down anything you deem important. The books are small enough to fit into either your breast pocket or thigh pockets. There will be no evaluations for the lessons I teach. Use the notebooks at your leisure."

Head Instructor pulled out what seemed to be a charcoal stick from a pocket. He cleared his throat.

"Let us begin with the Empire's general history. Before the Empire, there is little to no information on the nations of that time. Any written records up to three centuries before the Empire's founding are almost nonexistent. The only information we have are from old songs and stories. The few records that we do possess is from ancient literature preserved by the sisters and brothers of the great temples. But those are more fiction than fact. And I am not the one who will teach you of the gods. The Empire began with the crowning of at the time King Legalos Arcilian circa year 1014. He was the king of the lands surrounding the modern day capital. He was the one who began a near two century long conquest to unite the continent.

"Written records of those times are scarce too. Historians did not record King Legolas's exploits until much later in his life. I could dive into the details, but I will keep it simple. He succeeded. He became the first to ever unite the central continent, where kingdoms were numerous and fighting was deadly. It took him approximately five decades. By the time he was done, he was old and could no longer lead his armies. Therefore, he abdicated his throne and his son, Emperor Archimedes took his place. This was our current Emperor's grandfather. Emperor Archimedes and his son, Emperor Polithia, were the ones who managed to conquer the cities we were born in. The bastion cities. Long ago, there were once many prosperous cities between the central continent and the Greatwoods. According to preserved documents and artifacts, there were around three great kingdoms that lay claim to the land. During the Eighty Year War, close to twenty major cities were razed while the Emperor's legions marched east. To this day, the ruins of many cities lie between the Green river that flows through the central continent and the bastion cities.

"Nobody knows exactly why or how those cities fell. But now only five remain. Our great bastion cities, the last line of defense from the Nomal hordes if the Line falls. The old rulers of the bastion cities surrendered and pledged fealty to Emperor Polithia around year 1130. It is generally accepted that today's ruling families of the bastion cities are derived from the original three kingdoms of these lands. Soon after their fall is when the Line began construction. Emperor Polithia's son and our current Emperor, Emperor April Arcilian was the one who conquered the southern city states excluding the city of Hei'fong. His campaign began around 1170. The war finished a mere thirty years ago. Now, he has turned his attention west. As you all know, the war effort is still ongoing."

While Head Instructor Neptune had been explaining, he had been drawing on the wall by the stage. He drew long sprawling lines, pointed triangles, circles, and squares. Cain realized that it was a map of the continent. Cain started furiously copying it onto his notebook.

There was little known of the continent. All records from before the Empire was lost or nonexistent. And every since the Empire's founding, the people of the continent had been at war. Not exactly much time for exploration and cartography. At the continents center, Head Instructor Neptune drew a star. The capital. The city of Babylon. It sat right at the fork of the Green river. A incredibly large river, it started from the ocean in the south and continued north until it reached the capital. Then it branched off, one end going to the west, another further north into the mountains. An incredible mountain range dominated the north, creating an impassable barrier for anyone who dared attempt to cross its daunting peaks. It stretched east past the Line into the Greatwoods and the unknown. It stretched even further west, where the map seemed to disappear. All Head Instructor Neptune wrote was 'Western Front', beyond that it was blank. To the south was the ocean. The coastline was incredibly jagged, multiple peninsulas stretching out, with small islands by its shores. Even further south far from the southern shores, a large circle was drawn. 'The Great Island'. Finally to the east, five large circles. The bastion cities. And next to it a long thick line. The Line. Then then Greatwoods. Again, beyond that, the map was blank.

"That was the abridged version of our Empire's history. Any questions?"

Cain sat there amazed. He always assumed the Empire had existed since the beginning of time. But who knew that it was come to existence not even three hundred years ago? Out of all lessons so far, he found this one the most interesting. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. To his right, an older looking boy raised his hand. Head Instructor Neptune nodded at him.

"What is the Great Island? I've never heard of it before."

"Ah good question. To be honest, not much is known about the Great Island. All we know is that the southern city states occasionally trade with the inhabitants of the island. While the historian and scholar in me would like to knew everything to do with that mysterious land, the city states are known to be incredibly secretive and isolated. Even more so after the war. They do not take kindly to strangers. The scholars of universities in the capital had tried to ask them to no avail. The Emperor could potential force them, but he has his hands full in the west. Any other questions?"

Cain's and four other Inductee's hands shot up. Horrow looked incredibly excited. He tried raising his hand higher than the rest. Head Instructor Neptune spent the next hour of so answering the Inductee's questions. At first there were only a few, but as the Inductee's got more comfortable, the amount of questions began to increase exponentially. Even Eleni and Jorn asked a question each.

"It's great to see a batch of Inductees eager to learn! But unfortunately, my allotted time is up. If there are any more urgent questions, you can come find me later. Ask your Instructors for permission and perhaps I can spare some time after my lessons. But for now, you still have another Head Instructor to meet. And he will be teaching you all something that even I consider is of greater importance."

He gave them a sly smile.

"He will teach you everything about Blessings."