Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The chilly breeze of the morning made up for the lack of coffee in this world. If I found that damn plant you can be damn sure I was going to invent the morning pick me up I needed. I was also going to pump it full of mana to make up for all these years I missed out on.

Walking next to me were Tom and Kate, both of them had their own training to look forward to for the morning. I was going to be spending a good amount of time cleaning, and parsing all the mana that will be used by all the mages and healers.

As we arrived at the reception the guard on duty gave me a strange look.

“Tom, have you brought us a new recruit?” he said “You know we don’t start sign ups until the tenth bell.”

“Not really sir” Tom said, fidgeting slightly. “ You see, commander Grievous said he can train in the courtyard every other day if he joins the cleaning crew.”

He raised an eyebrow at “Did he now? And how exactly is he going to take part in any training since the cleaning crew are always busy all day?”

This seemed to bring my brother up short. He told me last night that he hadn't spent any time as part of the cleaning crew since they were outside hires of the guards. It seems the commander was just having some fun at my expense.

“A-Ah” Tom stuttered “I’m not sure, sir.”

“I’ll answer that one” A strong voice said from behind us.

The commander was standing there in his full metal gear yet from their reaction not one of us had heard him sneak up half a foot from us.

“It seems both of them passed my small little test” His eyes bore down on my brother, it seems Kate’s guess about the vampire’s level was spot on. “ I was half sure that a future hunter from a small village wouldn’t bother playing cleaner just to get to train in a courtyard. Have him join the cleaning crew for the morning round and the training group with the new recruits in the afternoon.”

“Yes sir” the receptionist said “what’s your name kid and how high is your vitality stat?”

“My name is Ajax, and why do you need my vitality stat?” I suddenly asked a lot more weary.

“Need to make sure the instructors know how much you can take before they have to send you to the healers tent to get patched up, some of you newly of age don’t put any points in it and we want to avoid any unfortunate accidents” he freely answered, I was clearly not the first to be skeptical of this.

“Oh, I have 18 vitality” I made sure not to mention the half point.

“Ajax” I said, taking the hand and feeling a strong grip.

“So, how did you end up training with guards?” he asked.

“My brother is one and the commander got me a spot as long as I clean for free in the mornings.” I had no reason to lie. “You?”

“Dad sent me and my brother here for the baron’s eldest son's wedding.” he seemed bored at the prospect. “My brother knows some people his age but I just unlocked my stats yesterday so I thought I might as well get some training. The instructors here are pretty good.”

I quickly shut my mouth and took a good long look at him now, invitation for a noble’s wedding and that expensive looking armor, this had to be a noble.

“Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected, I’m Viscount Flameheart’s youngest son” he said to fill in the awkward silence. “This here is Shifty”

“Scree”

“He’s a changeling, I’m trying to get it to bond to me. He seems to like me fine but I haven't gotten the skill just yet.”

At this the bird flapped up to his head where it changed into a puppy. The feeling of mana I got from the change was very faint. It felt like a ball of magic that had just just wirled and got a new outer layer. I felt my eyes widen at this and a smirk grew on the boy's face, clearly this was the effect he wanted from his pet.

“That’s awesome” I said, suddenly feeling more interested in making friends with him. “But how do you know you can get that skill, I thought you had to have talent in something to get a skill.”

“Bonding is one of the talentless skills, as long as you have a magic companion willing to bond with you.”

I was going to ask him more questions but the instructor made his way back over to us. “Alright you two, for today we’re just going to have you fight with whatever weapons you feel comfortable with so we can get an idea of your level. No need to hold back as me and the other two instructors have a skill to keep an eye on your health and will step in as needed.”

As he finished speaking he turned his eyes to the puppy sitting on Cadmael’s head and did a double take. “ Didn’t you come in with a bird, milord?”

“Shifty here is a changeling, I’m just waiting for the bond.” he answered as we headed towards the group.