At first, everything was easy for Finn. He just had to go back and forth the well on top of the mountain and back to fill his tank, while holding two dippers in his hands. But after a while, his steps started to feel heavy, and he wobbled from time to time. It felt like someone was holding his feet and dragging them down.
He couldn't count how many times the others went past him. He didn't have the energy and strength to look at them anymore. He forgot that this was part of the training. The only thing in his mind was how to finish this or he wouldn't have enough water for that day.
Those two hours felt like years. His tank was only half-filled, and he already lost track of the time. But when he made it back, he saw that everyone was done, and were only waiting for him to finish.
"Is my time over?" he asked through ragged breathing. Before he could get to his tank, he tripped on his own feet and stumbled on the ground, spilling the content of the dippers. Unable to use both hands, his face hit the ground with a loud thud.
Day was fast on her feet, and helped him get up. "Are you okay?"
The others couldn't help but laugh at the scenario before asking if he was okay. They had never seen someone trip on their own feet aside from a baby learning their first steps. Seeing a full grown man stumble was amusing to them.
On the other hand, the man in his thirties shook his head and mumbled, "Lame." He didn't laugh, but he didn't help Finn either. He was just staring down at him, like he was belittling him.
Finn felt more embarrassed as he tried to stand on his own. "I'm okay. My knees went weak for a second."
"Are you going to be okay?" Day asked, genuinely worried about him. "The training's not stopping until lunchtime. We don't have a break this morning."
Finn tried not to panic about the revelation. It was only around six in the morning, and thinking about having to go through with training for another six hours without rest made him feel like collapsing.
He prepared for the worst. He knew that the training to become a katona wouldn't be easy, but he didn't expect it to be this harsh. Living in Fract, he didn't have to go back and forth the mountain like this. He just had to do it once everyday.
Yet he was disappointed in himself. What was he doing these past few years? Why was his body so weak? He couldn't even keep up with the women here. He felt small.
The next training was a little easy, at least he tried to convince himself. They had to swing a wooden sword for an hour, without stopping. They needed to swing it at least a thousand times or more. Failure to do so would lead to a punishment. No one was telling him what the punishment was, but he didn't want to know.
It wasn't a walk in the park either. Swinging half a thousand from the left, and then another half on the right, wasn't easy for Finn. And he somehow understood the reason. Since he could think straight now compared to a minute ago, he had the time to inspect the surroundings now.
The air in this place was different from Fract. It was thicker, and more gloomy. The sun should be up by now, but the sky was still as dark as the night. It was also quite eerie, like someone was watching them from behind.
Finn wasn't sure if it was just the surroundings, but something was definitely different here. It felt like this wasn't part of the dazzling Flexure anymore, which he liked to call it now. This was more like the depressing Fract now, if not worse.
After an hour, they started shooting using a customized gun. Since this was the first time Finn held a gun, he asked Day how to use it.
"This customized gun has two buttons here on the side." She showed her the little protruding buttons and clicked one of them. "This triggers the magic circle inside the gun. One click, it changes to the magic circle to injure a murklin, another click to injure a caelum, then a cerise, and so on and so forth."
"Wait. Magic circle?"
Day inhaled. "You don't know what a magic circle is?"
I just discovered that immortals exist yesterday, Finn said to himself. "You can say that." He scratched the back of his neck.
"Day," Ronin called, "since Finn is new, I'll allow you to skip shooting today. Teach him everything he needs to know."
Day beamed beside Finn. "Roger that!"
After that, Day started explaining enthusiastically. "A magic circle is casted by chosen people like us. Meaning, ordinary mortals can't cast them for their own safety, and to prevent it from being used for evil. You should know how to cast them by now, but it looks like you don't know how."
"How do I learn about it?"
"Later at Aria training. We learn and memorize different chants and spells. There are spells that we can use to fight different immortals, and chants to fight mortals."
Finn nodded. "I understand now, but would we need to fight with mortals too?"
"This world is also filled with cri.minals, Finn. There are mortals who learned how to create magic circles and use it to harm others. Unfortunately, some ex-katonas are teaching them to mortals without proper authorization like us night hunters."
"So, Aria is those who use chants and spells to create magic circles, did I get that right?"
She nodded. "And Aria is now officially included in the list of katonas. I, for one, am an Aria. I use spells and chants to fight during battles. We act as a support in the team. We boost their magic spells and weapons, and act as the healer of the group."
Finn nodded, fascinated with the information he was hearing.
"Knights are those who use swords to fight. Dragoon is for gun shooters, and archer for bow and arrow."
Finn didn't know any of this. He didn't know that there were positions like this in an elite team. He thought there were just the major, the commander, sergeant, private, and the others under them.
Not to mention magic powers. No one in Fract used magic, none that he knew. His parents hadn't told about it as well, even though his great grandfather was once a katona. Or maybe no one told them as well. He didn't know.
And he would never know.