Second Life as a Soldier

We made our way back to Fort Dunvale.

Along the way, I kept scanning our surroundings more carefully, hoping to find another clue.

I found nothing.

As we drew closer to the fort, most of my hope faded.

So I made my way to Sergeant Cole. “Hi, Sergeant, do you know how this compass works?” It had been bothering me for a long time.

I was hoping to stop it from pointing to the patrol squad and make it point to other things, but it just kept pointing at the patrol squad. The compass did not even have any rune, just a box and a hair-like thing suspended by a thread.

“Yeah, it is very simple to make. That hair you see is a mountain rabbit’s whisker found in this territory. It is highly sensitive to mana. If you expose it to a specific mana for some time, it aligns with it and always points to it. Soldiers used it in the past to guide them to forts or outposts. Now they use runic compasses, which are more reliable,” he said, taking one out. “But it looks like barbarians still use these.”

“Hmm,” I nodded, turning the compass around in my hand. It was a great device, easy to create and cheap. My list of things I wanted to examine kept getting longer, but one day, I would like to compare this compass with a runic compass.

Suddenly, a huge amount of mana pulled my attention to the front.

“Sergeant, I hope the capital avenges us,” the words slipped out of me without even thinking, because I did not know who it was, but it was not an enemy we could face.

Three hundred meters away from us, on the top of a small hill, a hill which was not there on our way to patrol, stood a man looking directly toward us. The direction of the compass had changed, pointing at him, and just by the amount of mana, I knew he was above Tier-3.

“A mission without any loss, Cole. You are more competent than I thought,” as the man spoke, shackles of earth formed around our feet, locking us in where we stood.

Varric reacted first. He smashed the shackles as they formed with his hammer, ready to fight. I did the same with my spear.

“Thanks, Senior Lieutenant,” Sergeant Cole said as fire rose from his legs, breaking the shackles. Others did the same, but the Tier-1s were completely locked. No matter what they did, they could not break the shackles. “Everyone get ready to fight. We fight to buy Edward an opportunity to escape.”

“Edward, report this to the Captain and keep that compass safe.”

I did not know if I could run away from a Tier-4 with earth element. It would be impossible to escape, and even if I could, he could easily find me. But I would try my best to escape, if only to get this piece of shit executed.

The way he was looking at us, that smug smile, I knew the only reason we were dead was that he wanted to enjoy killing us. His next statement proved me right.

“Why would you not give up? I know Cole is a lost cause, but I hear the death squad is here, so here are your new orders: help me take them down. I can get you safe passage in the barbarian kingdom,” he said while the small hill he was standing on started moving toward us at a slow pace.

Garran and Barry looked at the surrounding soldiers, but then Varric laughed, interrupting everyone’s thoughts.

“Hahaha,” he said. “I would love to escape, but I am not foolish enough to trust you, and if I am going to die—”

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“VARRIC, shields front!” I shouted as spikes of earth shot from the ground, aimed directly at Varric’s heart. He placed his shield in front of it, but even that did not stop the spike, so Varric dodged to the side.

“GARRAN, duck!” I shouted once more as a spike shot for Garran’s throat.

“Oh, we have a sensor in the mix,” said the senior lieutenant, looking at me, then, as if he had lost interest, he looked at everyone one more time and let out a sigh. “Well, you all are no fun, and if I am missing for a long time, the Captain will get suspicious.” As he finished, I sensed a large amount of mana building in front of us.

This time, I did not even have to warn everyone. Everyone sensed it, holding shields in front, focusing on the spot where mana was gathering.

Then we heard a loud noise in front of us. All the mana that was gathering disappeared.

Looking ahead, I saw the small hill was destroyed, replaced by one person standing in the center, one hand covered with blue flame, holding the senior lieutenant by the throat with that hand.

“Fucking half-blood,” the man spoke as blue flame traveled from his arm, completely covering the senior lieutenant. Then, in one swift motion, he smashed the lieutenant into the ground, creating a huge crater. As he did, the flames subsided. I was surprised the senior lieutenant was not turned into ash.

“I have been keeping track of all high-level members of the forts,” the man said as he stood up, looked at Sergeant Cole, and nodded. “I would have liked to kill him, but he is Tier-4 and we do not have many of them. Good work, Cole. Meet me at the fort.” He once again grabbed the senior lieutenant, and with fire in his feet, he jumped into the sky, flying.

“That’s the Captain?” I asked. The sergeant nodded, seeing that we all fell down on our asses.

“You have guts, mouthing off to a Tier-4,” commented one of the vanguard privates to Varric.

“I would have left him, but I knew he would have killed everyone once this was finished. If I was going to die, I would die fighting,” Varric said, looking at me. Then he spat on the ground where he was sitting. “The bastard was playing with us,”

Everyone turned to me, waiting for a reaction.

I just shrugged.

For me, it was already a win that they did not attack us at the first opportunity they got. Because when the lieutenant gave them the order, it felt like my badge had lost its effect, and I was sure they had felt it too.

Resisting the urge for freedom was a tough thing to do.

I was here by choice, and still, every other month, I doubted my decision and thought about running to a small town.

“Let’s go,” said Sergeant Cole, standing up.

Once we arrived, the vanguard squad went to the captain’s office, and my squad made our way to the longhall.

“Guys, rest up. You all did an amazing job,” I said, looking at Kael, Varric, Barry, and Garran. “We faced two Tier-3s today and made it out alive while taking one of them down, and to finish the day off, Varric mouthed off to a Tier-4. All in all, a dream day for me,” I said, letting out a little chuckle.

we all shared a smile Kael, Varric, Barry and Garran walking inside longhall while Peter stayed. I looked at him. “You might have done well too, but I didn’t see the fight, so I would not know,” I joked once more.

“What with the jokes, Sergeant?” asked Peter.

“Nothing, I am just feeling lucky. I was ready to die when the senior lieutenant attacked,” I replied. “You are not here to discuss Varric’s response, right?”

He shook his head. “No, just wanted to check on you, and also tell you maybe I was wrong… about the squad.”

“Maybe?” I teased. “Thanks, Peter,” I said, patting Peter’s shoulder.

I turned around and saw Oren sitting in the corner, looking at the ground.

“Hey, Oren, how did the class trial go?” I could already sense he had broken through to Tier-2.

“I failed, Sergeant,” he said, looking up from the ground. He looked disappointed as he continued, “Looks like I will have to settle for a non-combat class again.”

“What was the class you were hoping for?” I asked.

“I was offered the [Shield Bearer] class, but in the trial I had to defend my target from a Tier-2 warrior,” he replied with a sad smile. I could understand the feeling; for most people, combat classes were what they always dreamed of.

“We can train together. The next trial might be tough, but we have multiple Tier-2s. I am sure we can prepare you for the trial,” I suggested. Listening to my words, Oren brightened up.

“Really? We can do that?” he asked, his voice filled with hope.

“Yeah, most soldiers have resources available in the library and can ask there about class and training. You guys don’t think this training is only going to help all of us,” as I was saying, I got an idea. “You know what, our whole squad can train together, spend extra time training, where Tier-2s can help all Tier-1s for the class trial so they are prepared for their class trial.”

If my squad had all Tier-2s with combat classes, it would make my squad strong. Combined with their natural fighting instinct, they might be able to go toe-to-toe against the vanguard. I do not see any harm in preparing them for the class trial.