I got to the kitchen and found a table in the corner that was empty after I got my bowl of stew and a bun from the counters. Finally some peace and quiet I thought to myself as I started to eat and focus on what my life had been these last few weeks, I know I had kept myself as busy as I could so I wouldn't think about my mother and how much I missed her but this was my last day to do so, according to what Kace told me so far we would barely have time to sleep let alone think.
I remembered all the times she would play with me and all the things I didn't and now couldn't say to her, of all the things in the future that she couldn't share in it with me. I closed my eyes as I kept shoveling the stew into my mouth and chewed mechanically, I didn't want to show the ethereal glow that I could feel pulsing in time with the beat of my broken heart as tears started to cascade down my face in remembrance of what I had lost forever.
I kept my eyes closed till I heard a soft whisper from the other side of the table, "beautiful" was all the distinctly female voice said.
I quickly opened my eyes to wipe at the tears and that's when I saw Bell, the other girl that was with Hazel and the last member of our group.
She wasn't looking at my eyes she was watching the liquid fire coming out of one eye pooling into my bowl, it wasn't hot, it was magic, plain and simple. Turns out I had been releasing small amounts of pure Fire mana when my emotions had finally shown true through the mask I put on every day.
I didn't know what was happening so I quickly apologized to Bell, "sorry I don't know what came over me," I managed to mutter out after I had brushed the tears away.
Its no problem Bruni" she said as she watched the fire mana slowly disperse from the inside of my bowl till nothing remained before looking up at me with kindness in her eyes "I can't imagine what you are going through and I know we just met, but I can tell you are a good person if you ever need someone to talk too I promise I can help you." she said as she got up and nodded at me before leaving as quietly as she had arrived.
I sat at that table till last supper bell before making my way back to the bunkhouse, I arrived and found my stuff on the bed closest to the door, it looked like Richard had taken the room closest to the girls and had changed our sleeping arrangement without my agreement. I didn't do anything about it, I was just too mentally exhausted to deal with his shenanigans at this point and just wanted to sleep so that the next step in my life could start.
I awoke at dawn once again and headed to my usual breakfast kitchen, I went to different kitchens for different meals as I learned early that weak that what was cooked for breakfast was usually the flavor of the day as leftovers weren't wasted only added to the next meal so if I wanted any variety during the meals I had to change up where I went to wat to one of the several kitchens dotted in the outpost.
After a plain breakfast of gruel and eggs, I showed up to the training field that no longer had any more training rings set up about but now stood empty. I was the first to arrive as I had finished breakfast at first bell so I had 40 mins before 3rd bell, the appointed time for assembly.
Ten minutes later Commander Harriot and sergeant Kace came onto the field with more than a dozen more Sergeants as they began to prepare for trainee placement and other details that needed to be attended to before Assembly started.
Kace walked up to me as I stood near the edge of the field waiting for the appointed time, "early bird eh?" he asked as he came to stand beside me and looked back at his fellow sergeants. "so it starts today, nervous?'' he asked, all I did was nod at him while watching the scene play out in front of me.
After a while, the prep work for assembly had been completed and trainees started to walk into the training field in ones and twos but no groups larger than that. As they began to filter in, sergeants located at the entrance started to ask for names and consulted a paper and then they directed the trainees to the proper places and described what hard looking sergeant to stand in front of.
After the sergeants got all the trainees into the propper place Commander Harriot started to walk out from the side to the middle of a platform that had been moved into the middle of the yard. it was 4ft tall so everyone could see and hear her talk. Behind the Commander, a man I had seen before followed on her heels with a serious look in his eyes.
Commander Harriot started to speak as soon as she stood in the middle of the platform with her arms behind her back at rest. "you are the new batch of 'sparks' that I have been tasked with training for this rotation. I must have you combat-ready in 2 years," she spoke emotionlessly as murmurs started to rise at those words, most were along the lines of " two years? Thought Mage training was 3 years!"
Commander Harriot stated to explain why the training course had been shortened, that's when the king expects the war to start and they needed every skilled mage they could get their hands-on that included the valuable trainers and commanding staff of this outpost and many others besides. All assets were going to be mobilized because without doing so, the kingdom would lose the war horribly, they had to pull out all the stops, from heavy conscription of the peasants or the skilled labor of certain crafts and Trades like blacksmithing for weapons and armor, tailors for military supplies, tents, and all other material needs an army consumes during active deployment. many more trades were needed but those were just a few of the more notable ones.