Second Life as a Soldier

Once everyone started their daily training routine, instead of joining them, I found a table on the side and started drawing the runes and designs I had seen on the shields, as well as writing in detail about the symbols in the runes, their supposed use, and the final effect generated from them.

As I did that, a few things became clear. The runes on the shield had somewhat the same function as my new shield, only at least ten times less effective.

The runes on my shield allowed me to cover the front of my shield with a film of mana, as well as expand that mana film, increasing the size of the shield and making it strong enough to block Tier-3 beast attacks, whereas the runes on these shields just created a very thin film that would fail against the physical attacks of Tier-2 beasts. If I had to guess, the function of that thin film was not to protect against physical attacks but against elemental attacks.

I also deduced the use of the small holes in the shields. They had two functions. One was to conduct mana smoothly to the front for the mana film, but more importantly, those small holes connected the runes on the back side with the front, and all of those runes had metal symbols, meaning these were responsible for strengthening the shield from the outside and the inside—once again, a highly efficient and effective technique.

I am going to apply these runes to all the shields I got, making them permanent weapons for my squad, and in the future, if I want to return them—it is not like the army is going to punish me for improving their equipment.

“Sergeant,” I heard Silas’s voice, almost scaring me.

I was so focused on recalling memories and analyzing runes that even with that, I did not sense his approach. Without showing any emotion on my face, I turned to him and nodded, signaling him to proceed.

“Sergeant, last time we sparred, you told me that if I worked, there was a possibility of me getting a scout class,” he said.

His voice felt like he was scared, but there was also a hint of anticipation mixed into it.

“Yes, and I also said we should get some sensing skills. Is this regarding that?” I asked.

“Umm… no, Sergeant. I was thinking as a scout, other than sensing skills, long-range attack skills could also be useful. Barry and I both have approximately the same amount of wind affinity, so we were trying to develop a knife-throwing skill. Can we be allowed some time to train on that?” Silas asked.

I will give him that, he is clever.

“You know I have read more books than you know of, right?” My question extinguished all the anticipation he had in him. His expression changed, ready to accept rejection. “To be a scout, you do not need long-distance attack skills. As long as you have tracking and sensing skills combined with some combat capability, a scout class becomes possible.”

I paused, looking at Silas, who was ready to leave, just waiting for my dismissal. I continued,

“But I like the idea,” I said, catching Silas by surprise. He looked at me with wide eyes. “But I have one condition—Barry will have to teach you Silent Step as well.”

Silas nodded vigorously. “He is already teaching me.”

This time, it was my turn to be surprised. What had happened for Barry to offer his own skill without being convinced? It had taken me a mana oath and the bribe of a rune knife.

“How did you do that?” I asked, making no effort to hide the surprise in my voice.

Silas smiled. “I was the one who came up with the basic design for the skill. In exchange for sharing that, I asked him to teach me his skill.”

He sounded proud of convincing Barry, and honestly, I was proud too. I could just imagine the amount of back and forth it would have taken to convince him. Looking at Silas’s proud smile, I decided to have some more fun with him.

“If you were already training in the skill, why are you mentioning it to me now?” I said, pressing my mana on Silas to intimidate him. Listening to my question, the color drained from his face.

“W—we were practicing on our own. We are almost on the verge of getting the skill, but if we do not practice in an open area, it will take too much time to get the skill, and I want to get it before my class trial,” he said.

“Hmm…” While I pretended to think, I kept maintaining the mana pressure. After a few moments, I dropped it—that was enough fun for the day.

“It is alright,” I said, smiling, leaving Silas in confusion. Instead of clearing his confusion, I asked, “What is the concept behind the skill?”

“I know a few people in Stonegate who use compressed wind to increase knife speed while throwing. There is a special design of the knife—by making the end of the handle blunt, the throw becomes more effective. Here are some knife shapes we carved using wood,” Silas said, showing me the practice knife.

As soon as I saw that, the first thought that came to mind was that these were kunai.

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The only difference was that they were smaller in size, and instead of having a hole at the end, they had a blunt head providing a place to rest the finger, and using compressed air to push it forward.

“What is the range you expect using these knives?” I asked.

“From what I know, they could go up to 50–70 meters, but Barry was telling me with practice we might get good accuracy up to 100 meters,” he replied.

“Clever design,” I said, finally standing from my seat. Patting his shoulder, I continued, “Get the skill, and I will make sure you both get a sufficient amount of throwing knives.”

“We will, thank you, sir,” he said with enthusiasm.

As Silas started leaving, I said to him, “Can you send Peter here? I have something to discuss with him.”

Looking at Silas’s retreating figure, my thoughts drifted to the creativity of Barry and Silas. Even with low affinity, both of them created a skill that would increase their combat prowess.

Maybe I should use those arrow runes I saw yesterday in the library. If there is something that can reduce air resistance on the knife, this could increase their range further, and hopefully it could inspire others.

Rokan, Daren, Oren, and Brakk—all four were earth affinity—and Kael and Garran were fire affinity. If all these people start working together, they might be able to create some interesting skills.

I also understood why not everyone tried to create new skills with their elements. The biggest reason was limited information. Combined with our low affinity, it allowed them to manipulate only a small amount of their element, making it hard to experiment with them.

In my case, I was not even able to create a small film of wind to cover my hand. So I had given up on experimenting with elements a long time ago.

I saw Peter walking toward me, so I took my seat and motioned him to join me.

He saluted and took the seat. “Sergeant, you called me?”

I nodded. “Yes, I had some important things to discuss with you, and later with the rest of the squad.”

Peter straightened up a little. “What is it?” he asked.

“I am planning to convert all the squad members with criminal backgrounds into my permanent unit.”

Listening to my statement, an involuntary scoff escaped from Peter.

“Sorry, Sergeant, but getting a permanent unit means at least one lieutenant considers you to be potential lieutenant material…” As he continued speaking, he started to trail off. “But looking at your face, you already have. Congratulations, Sergeant,” he finished with a small smile on his face.

While he was able to read me efficiently, I failed at doing so. I mentioned only the force conscripts because I wanted to see what Peter’s reaction would be.

Would he be relieved that I did not mention his name, or would he feel regret at not even being considered? But I saw nothing.

“I did not talk to Lieutenant Ceciro about whether it is possible to get you placed in my team because I wanted to talk to you first. Unlike the rest of the squad, you are not someone bound to this squad, I am sure there would be other lieutenants lining up for you. So I would not take away any better opportunity you might have. Especially, I would not want you to be stuck somewhere with my background.”

A bitter smile appeared on his face. “There is no one lining up, Sergeant. A few sergeants from noble houses did contact me, but no lieutenants. Joining your permanent squad is like joining a lieutenant’s squad. Even my father, as a captain, does not have the ability to guarantee me such placement, and even if he could, he would not do so. But do you really want me to be in your team? You know my combat prowess is limited. You can find a far better intelligence private,” he said.

What is going on here? I am concerned about him missing a deserving opportunity, and he wants me to look for other privates for almost the same reason.

Cutting all this polite nonsense, I asked directly, “Do you want to join the squad or not?”

He paused for a second, then replied decisively, “Yes, sir.”

“I will talk to the lieutenant about including you as well,” I said.

Then, changing the topic, I asked something I had noticed during the conversation. “You seem confident that I would become a lieutenant. From what I know, the process requires more than one lieutenant to recommend me.”

To be a lieutenant in the army, you need recommendations from at least two lieutenants and have more than 2 years of experience as a sergeant. After that, there are special training, contribution, and tier criteria depending on the unit. For example, there are supply lieutenants who are Tier-2, whereas to be a sergeant in the Vanguard, you need to be at least Tier-3.

This is why getting a permanent squad is a big deal. It is like a declaration to the army that here is a potential lieutenant. But this also increases the attention given to you from higher up.

“Well, with Lieutenant Ceciro’s background, I don’t think there would be any problem,” Peter replied.

“You know his background?” I asked in surprise.

He shook his head. “Not exactly. All I know is that he’s from one of the old noble houses—the kind that helped found the kingdom. Even baron-level families from those houses hold more political power than newer counts. Moreover, he has served in the northern region of Avalon for more than half a century. I doubt there’s a captain or lieutenant who wouldn’t take his recommendation seriously.”

I nodded. That explained some of it, but honestly, all this old noble and new noble talk was hard for me to understand. To me, every noble house looked old. The newest noble house I knew was Peter’s, and it was more than 50 years old. From what I know, Captain Darrow’s house was also considered a new house but was more than 150 years old. None of the history books I read provided any information about what year of founding makes your house an old house.

Shaking my head, I smiled. “Well, that makes things easier for us. Thank you, Peter. Also, Peter, can you send Kael, Barry, Varric, and Garran?”

The lieutenant had agreed to place them in my squad, but I wanted to make sure that they did not end up working for me for the rest of their lives unwillingly. Those four have very strong personalities. I will not force them into commitments they are against.

Moreover, while I was able to handle them in the wild or against barbarians, I am not sure how well they will function in cities or villages, and if my posting takes me to a civilized area, their unwilling participation could become a liability.