As the camp comes into view, Fein approaches with confidence, while I trail slightly behind. The guards notice us quickly, and, noticing our state, scramble around, looking for something. Right. we're both still half naked from being in the forest. Being this way for the last week, it slipped my mind easily.
The guards walk quickly, and send various glances my way. I change into the given clothes swiftly, same as Fein, before she heads into the camp. She leads me over to one of the empty spare tents. "You'll have to be sleeping here until you can get a meeting with the general. The current plan is to stay here for at most a month, so I'll see if I can work something out." Her militaristic attitude shows up much more prominently then before, and it was already a large part in the first place.
"No problem, ma'am. I've been through worse." While being serious and "monotone", in a way, isn't something I am particularly good at, I am a pretty decent actor. Fein seems slightly guilty about the arrangement, but I give her a comforting smile, showing that I truly don't mind. "I will be departing now then. if you require to see me for some reason, most of the guards are likely to know where I am." With that, she leaves, walking towards the middle of the camp, and into a two story, wooden building.
Well, this adds more evidence for my other theory. I always knew Fein was someone important, but the respect the guards showed her is unusual. And an unannounced meeting with the general on top of that, I can't really call it speculation at this point. Making sure to remember the location of the tent, I start walking around the camp.
Though calling it a camp wouldn't really be accurate. More like a small village filled with nothing but soldiers, with the only food source being rations sent over seas, and anything they catch from the ocean. Being made of mostly one story wood buildings, with facilities like barracks, cafeterias, and other essentials, the camp had a total of just under eight hundred people, according to one of the guards roaming around. Not an insane amount, but definitely a decent amount considering where this is.
Since the sunset is getting closer, some people are eating in the cafeterias, likely the first watch for the night. Most of the guards are wearing either all leather, or leather with metal braces at the weak points. The craftsmanship is decent quality, but nothing crazy. A couple of people can be seen sparring towards the back, and I watch as they move. My swordsmanship is ok at best, as it stands, so learning more doesn't hurt.
Just before the sun sets completely, I walk up one of the ramps connecting the ground to the wooden walls surrounding the camp. A few of the guards give me strange looks as I look at everything curiously, but nobody says anything, probably because they know I arrived with Fein. Makes me wonder a bit about her reputation here.
"Her reputation? She's one of the best soldiers I've ever seen, that's for sure. She doesn't talk much, but her excellence in battle is beyond what I thought possible." Most of the soldiers had about the same response. "Cold and calculating", "Strick, for sure. I haven't been here for too long, but I do know that about her." She's even more militaristic then I thought before! From what I can tell, nobody dislikes her, but I can see why her serious and no nonsense attitude would scare some people.
I make it back to the tent a little bit after the sun has set, but the hectic events from earlier, combined with the safety of where I am, knocks me out instantly. I don't even realize I fell asleep until the sound of marching and yelling ring out about the camp. Leaving the tent, I notice that the sun has just risen, and all of the soldiers seem to be doing morning exercise and work. One in particular is looking annoyed when he sees me leave the tent.
"I hope you have a good excuse for sleeping in for an extra two hours, soldier. I suggest you get to work, before your punishment gets worse." He leaves with that, looking about the soldiers who are working hard. Barely containing a smile, I head about, doing as told. It might be the outfit, but for some reason he thought I am a soldier. I was planning on doing work either way, I just didn't know they got up that early.
As the day went on, I learned a decent amount about this world. The humans and demi-humans here can be grouped into three groups. The weakest, who's average strength is much lower then an average person from earth. The middle, who are about twice as strong as a normal person from earth. And last but not least, the stupidly strong. Most of the people in the last group are either dormant for some reason, or have reached ascension, making them gods.
Becoming a god grants a lot of power, but you also get a large amount rules and restrictions that you must follow. From what I can tell, I place well above the second group, but nowhere near the third group. Which is fine. I don't plan on becoming dormant or ascending any time soon.
Just after lunch ends, which was hard bread and lukewarm soup, I finally see Fein again. Walking over, I come up with an excuse on the spot.