A handful of people could be seen in front of the east exit of the walls of Canaban. Some were holding swords and bronze shields, others carried spears or bows and one of them had a small rod with a spherical ruby at its tip in his hands.
All of them were facing in the direction of a tall man, with great armor, a great iron shield on his right arm and hammer on the left.
- I'm the commander Trilel. – he started . – I'll be supervising you during the combat against the colony of slime which, as you know, every month is conducted to evaluate our warriors.
After a pause, resumed his speech:
- Try not to die. This may be the first mission of many here, but does not mean that you should run straight to the enemy. That would be suicide - and glanced at Sieghart. He noticed and cringed.
- If you are not sure you will beat the enemy, run. It is better to live, train harder and get stronger than to die. Those between you with a purple band are more experienced soldiers, so do not worry about leaving them behind. Each one of those with the band will accompany you and replace them if they need to escape. Remember, this is training so there is no dishonor in leaving the battlefield.
Soon after the commander stop talking, the comments started: "How is this still a training if we're on an attack mission?'' ''Come on, we trained six months to go attack a bunch of slimes?'' ''Slimes? I could kill an Amon soldier by myself!'' ''What? Those ants? I could deal with 20 them if I wanted!'' ''Yeah, yeah'' ...
The Commander:
- And remember that discipline is also taken into account for promotion in the army. I don't remember having finished talking...
Everyone went silent.
- Our gray eyed companion – said, referring to Sieghart, who then straightened to hear "gray eyed" – seems to think he is an exception to being in danger. Do not follow his example unless you want to almost die from bleeding, break your left arm and left twice and three different ribs.
The spiky-haired young man felt the pressure from the looks of all the other students facing him. Much more unbearable than inside the town. Soon he started to hear the whispers, which quickly grew louder and louder. In his mind, he cursed Trilel for the unnecessary attention.
"It is him after all!" "Didn't I tell you?" "Gray eyes and black hair... Sieghart!" "The Kriewalts' Black Sheep!"
Kriewalt was his clan. Recognized throughout Bermesiah as one of the most powerful clans, its most striking feature was the naturally red hair of all of its members.
Sieghart stared at the ground, not daring to raise his eyes or head. The pressure from the looks of others surpassed by far his urge to direct his vision to Trilel. The commander had made that comment on purpose, and the situation turned into exactly what he wanted. Weren't those endless sermons from all of the "adults" punishment enough?
Finally, the commander began to march towards the slime colony that they should destroy and the topic of the conversations started to change.