Chapter 2 - First Training (1)

It was morning as I wake up and saluted my master and father, it would be a harsh day of training.

I woke up, prepared myself and went directly toward the training field, it was 5a.m.

No one and the sun would be here in the next five minute, they'd rather hurry up or they may cough up some blood.

Seeing their skills, I might as well just give them a class about magic. Even though I may not be the strongest mage or whatever, I am still a really good fighter. I may not know many spells, I may not know the strongest spells, but all of these are useless. What is the use of these enormous fireballs when it would still hit you? None you goddamn fucker! The stupid mage who said that being a strong mage on the battlefield was using spells like Blazing Inferno or other flashy spell was just one who never set a foot on an actual battlefield and stayed in his tower making researches.

How, in the bloody world, can a mage, as powerful as he may be, cast a freaking high ranking spell when he has to concentrate, stop moving, watch his every direction and be careful of long range attackers at the same time?! It's goddamn impossible or else just go on and send a fucking meteor rain and stop wasting time coming here!

That is also why there is so few battle mages.

Too become a battle mage, one couldn't be reliant on only his magic, take me as an example, I am no really good mage, however, I am an excellent battle mage. Indeed, my father taught me how to use the rapier and the dagger, I may not cast tremendously powerful spells, but simple spells are sufficient, else, how could I become commander? I do suspect my father played some role in it but still, my capacities are still real.

After all, if we resumed magic, it has quite some ways of being cast, the first one is chanting and movement, those are like memories palace, the memorization technique, when you say the right word or make the right movement, the information about the spell and all the calculis related to it flashes in your mind, this obviously require a lot of practice and time as one need to repeat it over and over.

The second way of using magic is calculating it, it might take more time to cast but it is the most precise and powerful form of using magic in conventional ways. Indeed, with this method, the accuracy of the spell is taking the terrain into account as well as temperature, pressure and all of these minor values which could, in theory, change a fight as other way of casting are using medians variable to make the spell.

The third way is to just calculate it approximately but accurately, it is a method only accessible to geniuses but it is the most efficient way of using magic in an actual fight. As an example, you may think of a thing like 15², you can either do like me and know that it is 225, calculate it by adding 15 to 15 and all, or else, you just have a logic and quick spirit doing it like 15²=15*15=5*15+10*15=225.

I happen to know all of the square numbers from 1 to 20 by learning them as no variable are involved.

However that is the way I would use if you asked me 21².

Lastly, there is a fourth way of casting magic, one that my father taught me, extremely dangerous but efficient, it is the one I am using. Simple, you fuse the three methods listed above, you need to remember the spell, do accurate calculations with the second method, calculate approximately calculate with your instinct using the third method, calculate the median of the three. I changed it a bit as I am recalculating it with higher coefficient for the third method as I am very confident in my capacities.

These are the four known way of casting magic. Obviously there are sub-branches like parchment creation, which requires to inscribe the spell's instruction onto a support with high magic capacities, this is why paper parchment are so costly. Paper as a bad magic conductivity, this is why parchment craftsman usually infuse them with gemstones according to the magic type or would rather use special bones of magical creatures or small wood planks refined from a magical tree's wood.

Enchantement is barely the same but generally on a weapon or armor, you engrave the spell's command on it, however, it is near impossible to engrave a high level spell on a weapon or a defensive gear as, habitually, magic conductive materials aren't the most reliable to craft these, so, they aren't used for blacksmithing, even for metals. And so, the magic conductivity being not high enough one can at most engrave spells like Fire Aura to create a flaming blade. The only true high level spells engraved on weapons and armor are on metals like adamantine, however, a single ingot of such metal would cost the same price as a normal house.

But it doesn't mean one should underestimate the worth and use of these disciplines.

–---

Five minutes passed like that as I was thinking and contemplating about magic.

There was now 43 men standing with their heads high and a certain, uncovered, disdain in their eyes as they gazed at me.

On the front was the woman whom I nominated sub-commander. I knew it was the right choice to nominate her as she was the first to come this morning, after me obviously.

If I nominated her, it's because it's a woman. Not that I care about gender equality or whatever, but imagine being the sole woman within a group of 46 men and still persist. I made a bet on the fact that she probably felt isolated, suffocated by having fewer than few common points with others and the hope that she had unstopping determination.

Because if she did, I would have got her a way out of this horrendous situation, also, when I become a respected figure in their heart, her position as the sub-commander will rise too, she will feel proud and so come to respect and obey me even more. Finally, I gave her hopes of reaching a new height, so, in the immediate instant, she was my ally, my only ally there for now. If I bet right, she would be a very useful pawn.

Except for my regiment, none where there, after all other regiments usually started their training at 8a.m. One shall not forget that it was currently 5a.m.

As the sun rose in the horizon, I took a step forward and declared in a loud, commanding voice :

"We will now start the first training of the 7th Battle Mage Squad, I will personally conduct it. However, before any of you move, I think I said something yesterday about being late and regretting it."

I smiled and squinted my eyes. Indeed to make a realistic smile, one has to squint his eyes while curling his mouth upward.

It was at this very moment the three late soldiers arrived, it also was at this moment that I would explain the truth about military fights and squads to my soldiers!