Coincidentally, everyone arrived at the meeting spot at the same time, though Brewary and Jakson found each other first and started walking together. After the initial fist bumps, nods, arm slapping and handshakes, the 4 stood in a circle to observe each other;

Brewary had a large, worn but serviceable 2 handed-sword. He wore chainmail that was patched too many times, with leather gloves and boots that looked just as patched and worn.

Demit wore priest robes, with blue lines on white and carried a staff with a weighted head. She was the least scruffy looking of the lot. Priest tunics were issued brand new, though the staff was not.

Jakson wore some kind of worn-out cloak. His arms would have been bare if not for the black shirt with the three white lines he wore underneath. There was a dagger at his waist.

"You good with that bow, Marksman?", asked Demit. She stood straight, both hands behind her.

"I did out-shoot a Hunter, but I trained only on mannequins, so I'll have problems with moving objects."

"Outstanding. Your gear good?", she said, looking at Brewary.

"It's hideous, the sword's too broad and heavy. Can't wait to start earning. Miss you too, Paprika".

"You good, Broski? Where you hit?". Jakson shook his head and pointed to his side. Apparently Thief training was quite abusive. But then Roland's arm and fingers did still hurt. There was a kind of weariness in the group. 7 days training was very physical for all. Except for Demit. She looked like she just came back from a vacation.

"It's gonna get in the way of your movement?". Jakson nodded again.

"Slow when fighting dagger", he said. Demit walked up, made a sign on her forehead, placed her palm over the injury and spoke;

"O Light, may Lumiaris's divine protection be upon you... Cure." Jakson's eyes widened in surprise, but he stood straighter. He nodded in thanks. Demit returned to the circle.

"Fireteam Alpha, we earn or we sleep in the dirt tonight."

The 2 Veterans and patrons of Sherry's Tavern suggested Mud Goblins as the best place to start. They headed to the forests south of Alterna, into the land that was known as Grimgar. Demit talked about her training;

"It was a fucking vacation, man. I was expecting some kind of test of faith, to be sleeping in the fucking mud and not get grub for 2 days, then some motherfucker would show up with food and say we'll get it if we just said 'no' to Lumiaris. Maybe get some fucking kid and some old fucker and make us choose who to save in an invasion or some shit, but it turned out to be classes", she laughed.

"Long-ass lectures where some old dude told us stories about Lumiaris and some No-Life King, and the code of the Priests. Few curveballs here and there when the priests ask questions to see if you're paying attention. Easy. We get to beat the shit out of each other with staves for a bit, then learned to heal whoever we hit, then meditation to restore magic. Wake up the next day for prayers, then more classes and on and on and on". She then told them of the No-Life King and the undead he created, of a big war of undead kings and humans and how those who died had to be cremated or risk being undead. There was an Undead Empire somewhere north which fractured and Alterna was born.

"Sounds like fun", said Roland.

"Fuck yea! To bear true faith and allegiance to Lumiaris. To fulfill my obligations in duty. To treat people as they should be treated. To live up to the Priest Guild values. To do what is right. To face fear, danger, and adversity. I got bunk and I got hot grub. Exactly what I signed up for, Hooah!"

She then asked Brewary what his training was like and he answered that all the testosterone in one place made him giddy, especially some hard-case named Renji. Damned good in a fight, Brewary was the only one of the trainees who could stalemate the man, but choose not to for very long because 'he was so adorable, maybe I'll try to tame him and make him do all the fighting for me'.

Roland said that he was made to carry wood to Alterna every morning, which Brewary found adorable. His arms hurt slightly from the exercise and pulling the bow. He had to explain the difference between a Hunter and Archer; A Hunter is more silent, used traps and could also fight close combat with all the added wilderness survival skills. Archers are a specialized support role that carried harder hitting bows and could shoot farther and even penetrate armour better. Hunters and Archers all practiced archery but Archers did it better over the long term.

Roland noticed a dark look pass over Jakson when he was asked, and he tried playing it down by just shrugging and making one of his sounds. He would say no more. He deflected the issue by saying,

"So everyone not allowed to talk guild training", which got some chuckling.

Mud Goblins are hideous creatures, some naked and others wore a loincloth. They travel anywhere between 1-4 at a time. They keep what little possessions they haved in pouches around their necks. Their armament is simple; the odd short sword, shivs, the occasional helmet or leather panel, an axe or buckler. Roland was relieved to see that none carried bows to shoot back. In the forest, chatter died down and eyes were open.

Demit looked at Jakson and he understood. He disappeared into the bushes as the party advanced as quietly as they could. Demit and Roland made very little noise, but there was the giveaway chainmail rattle from Brewary. He noticed it too and was visibly annoyed. He really did hate his gear.

As their name was Mud Goblin, it was sensible to seek rivers, streams, lakes or any place that was muddy. A quiet 'ssst' was heard from Jakson, who lead them to a stream. There was a lone goblin, peeing into the stream. Its sword was on the mud. Roland nocked an arrow and drew, the creaking of the bow causing the goblin to turn around. It was too late for the goblin as the arrow landed centre mass. With a gurgle, the goblin fell into the stream. It had to be followed a bit and Brewary fished it out by grabbing it by the arrow stuck to its chest.

"First blood, Roland. Well, that was easy", said Demit, giving him a thump on the back.

"Static target", answered Roland.

A whistle was heard from somewhere by Jakson. The party turned to see that 3 more goblins came out of the forest and charged.

"Contact! Give Roland line of fire!", said Demit. Roland realized she was left-handed when she held her short staff like a spear. Her left hand was at the base of the staff, with the right somewhere before the middle. Brewary slogged forward 2 steps and Demit stood beside him. There was space for one more to stand between Demit and the stream. That was Roland's clear line of sight. His arrow missed the goblin as they had this peculiar way of running that made their heads and small figures harder to target. The mud was a natural defence for them. Their lighter weight and wider feet did not bog them down, unlike booted human feet.

"Centre mass, damn it", Roland cursed himself. The first goblin to reach the line was against Brewary. He swung horizontally and missed as the goblin ducked under the sword and swung its own. It hit the chain mail and Brewary grunted in pain. The second goblin aimed for the gap between Demit and the river but was swatted and it fell in. Roland fired where it landed, hoping to kill but there was no blood. With a twirl of the staff to reposition, Demit jabbed the third one and held it at bay. From the way she handled the staff, it was like she had muscle memory of using something that was like a short spear. Brewary side-stepped and his sword swung again, upwards from the ground. This one hit Mud Goblin 1, and it staggered back with angry noises. An overhead chop from Brewary was narrowly dodged with a tumble. It entered Roland's line of fire so his arrow killed it. The last goblin was in a parrying match with Demit. It had some blood on its face from being battered, but it swung its weapon madly from her assault. Trying to back away, Brewary's blade caught it in the back and killed it. Roland felt a sharp pain in his right leg. With a scream of pain, he saw the goblin knife in his thigh. After being swatted into the river, the goblin swam upstream to flank the party. It clambered out of the water and jumped on Rowland, pushing him into the mud. Realising that its friends were dead, the goblin left the knife in Roland and bolted for the bushes, only to be kicked back into the mud by Jakson, who then landed on it with the full weight of his body behind a dagger.

"More coming", he said.

"Pick yourself up, soldier. Pick yourself up, now!". Roland rose with an adrenaline-infused grunt. He could stand but there was no walking till that dagger came out.

Goblins 4,5 and 6 were attracted to the noise of the fight. They were all armed with swords. Goblin 6 had a buckler. With the river being in the 12 and 6 o'clock position, the formation was now Demit at 11 o'clock, Brewary at 10 and Jakson at 9. Roland had no line of sight, so he dropped his bow and pulled out his hatchet. He heard a sound from the stream and looking up at him was Goblin 7, who was slightly larger and less silent than Goblin 2. Roland used Chop and aimed for the goblin's collarbone. As it was still half in the stream, it could not avoid the slow and heavy swing of the axe. He hauled it out of the stream by grabbing one of its ears. These pouches better be filled with loot.

Brewary parried the sword the goblin was swinging at him. Being bogged down by mud, it was hard to hit the more agile creature. Brewary was actually being hit for every 2 or 3 attacks he parried. His chain mail saved him from cuts, but his shins bled as the shorter goblin learned of the weakness and aimed lower. Demit was in the most trouble. Goblin 6's shield was protecting it. She was in a shoving match with the goblin, the staff keeping her away from its sword. The pain fuelling his frustration, he had an idea.

"Brewary, bow ready!". With a grunt, Brewary gave a wide slash that the goblin dodged easily and dropped to his knees. Goblin 5 gave a yell of victory, but dodging meant jumping back and now that the tall Brewary was kneeling, there was an opening. An arrow sped through and took Goblin 5 in the chest.

Roland couldn't take the pain anymore so he fell on his rear in the mud and grabbed his leg, trying to slow the bleeding. Abandoning his sword, Brewary threw himself at Goblin 4. The short sword and goblin nails raked uselessly at Brewary's chain mail as he shoved his leather gloved fist into the goblin's mouth so it couldn't bite down. Jakson appeared and killed it by stabbing its side. Brewary picked up his sword and trudged towards Demit, who was starting to tire. The buckler was battered, but held. Jakson headed back into the bushes. Brewary's swing tore the buckler from the goblin's hand. It avoided Demit's jab and Brewary's second swing. Demit's second jab caught it in the face. Seeing its friends dead, it turned and ran. The mud sucked at their feet so they couldn't pursue. It managed to run 10 steps before Jakson burst out of the bushes, catching the side of Goblin 6. He pinned down the sword arm and twisted the dagger. Goblin 6 struggled and bled away.

Thankfully the knife was some looted kitchen knife, its smooth surface making it easy to extract. Roland still had to bite on his tunic sleeve, though. Demit dipped her muddy robe sleeve into the stream and tried to clean it as much as possible before rinsing out the wound. She kept Cure on the wound for a few seconds, stopping and sealing the bleeding but there was still quite a bit of pain. Brewary's wounds needed cleaning too. One slow pass with Cure healed the shin that was more injured. Demit looked a bit dizzy.

"Got no more Cure, boys".

The other one had to simply be cleaned and then wait for the bleeding to stop. It didn't take too long, as did other scrapes they suffered. Meanwhile, Jakson gathered the goblin pouches and weapons.

"Everything can sell?"

"Only one way to find out, Sugar."

"You holding out anything on us, Broski?", asked Demit. Jakson looked offended.

"Nyet. Thief code not steal from party."

"What is the thief code, Sugar?"

"1 party, 1 thief. Not steal party loot. Not operate in other thief area. Not steal from other thief," Jakson explained. He and Demit were having a stare-off.

"Can we just go home?", asked Roland. He stepped between Demit and Jakson and headed for the pile of loot.

"At least get out of the mud", he picked up the pouches tied together.

"Just fucking around, Broski. Didn't mean nothing."

"Paprika, Sugar, play nice". Jakson cleared his nose and spat into some bush. Roland noticed a bit of blood. Demit was the last to walk out of the muddy bank, as she made a sign on her forehead for every goblin killed. Roland watched each goblin corpse. The one Jakson fought was bleeding quite badly at the wrist. Still, it managed to hold on to its weapon. More practice with the thief skill Slap and Jakson might be able to disarm anyone, provided the wrist wasn't protected.

The total loot of the first Mud Goblin by the stream and Goblins 1-7 amounted to 3 of the better looking goblin swords and the kitchen knife stuck into Roland. The pouches on strings yielded 6 silver coins with holes and 3 black animal fangs, also with holes. Roland then shot some fast moving, cat-sized rat with spiny fur who came out to nibble at the dead goblins. Its pack scampered as soon as the first one died. Maybe that can sell. When Roland went to fetch the dead rat, he saw that his training arrows could barely penetrate the spines of the creature. It was sheer luck that the arrow struck an inner organ and the rat died from internal bleeding.

No one bought food or drink for the journey so all they could manage was drinking at the stream (upriver from where the goblin was pissing, Brewary said he'd rather wait till Alterna) and the hungry walk home.

They were laughed at by quite a few at the markets. The goblin weapons were about as useful as scrap, which was already plentiful. The large rat was considered vermin. Its spiny fur could yield so many of what could be fishing hooks, needles and pins and it was easier to trap than hunt, so there was no demand for one. Still, one blacksmith and his tailor wife took pity on the muddy Fireteam Alpha and took the scrap metal and rat for 1 copper each, because 'bastard boy forgot to bring more scrap from the back and I got no bloody time -rest unheard-' and 'I could always use more pins, Masaka is such a playful child and he likes making darts from-rest unheard-'. 5 coppers for 3 bloody scrap metal swords, a kitchen knife and a damned rat. The coins and fang fetched much better prices, though. The silver coin sold for 30 coppers, which was quite disappointing. The party really did believe that the silver coin was considered 1 silver despite the hole in it. The fangs sold for a kingly sum of 1 silver each. In total, the earnings for Fireteam Alpha, on the very first day of Volunteer Soldiering was 4 silver, 84 copper. It was time to divide the spoils.

"Darlings, I'm really sorry I have to say this, we need to spend coins elsewhere this once", said Brewary.

"And why is that, soldier?"

"Now, Paprika's Cure won't last forever -no offence dear-, so we need bandages. I suggest we spend on bandages just this one time. Until it runs out, we can keep dividing the money equally as usual"

"Outstanding. There's also another matter. I'm sure you know a party pools resources to arm the Warrior?", Demit asked Roland and Jakson. It's what they learned at Sherry's, and what the 2 also learned from the Veterans. It was necessary but secretly not very pleasant to hear. After a long day's work out there bleeding and slogging in the mud, you came back to find that you get less than what was equal share.

With 10 copper deducted for the room and 20 more on clean fabric for bandages, the money was divided 5 ways, with Brewary receiving 2 portions. In total, it was short of a silver. Well, at least the money pouch is full, thought Roland. He also realised he had never seen a gold coin before.

Jakson said he'd be back later, so they all ate and drank at the market. They were all exhausted. It wasn't long before Jakson came home with a drink in his hand. They slept through the night, not even hearing the arrival of another party of trainees.