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A Soldier's Life - 217 - Fatherly Advice
🕑 Added 2024-06-21 17:56:33 +0000 UTCChapter 217: Fatherly Advice
“I don’t understand,” I replied cautiously.
We were out of earshot of the others, and the nearby window had the white noise of the ocean’s waves crashing against the rocks. Konstantin was irritated and not hiding it. He leaned in closer to me and whispered, “You held back in our contest, and I’m not talking about your spell forms. Your archery was adequate in Macha, and now you’re steadier with a bow than men who have been shooting for a decade. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess an ancient elven warrior possessed you in the city and is puppeting you.”
I resisted saying, you figured me out. Konstantin’s eyes were too serious and he has a fascination with the undead. “My archery in Macha was adequate?” I asked instead with an arched eyebrow.
Konstantin waved his arm dismissively, “For the general army, not for a legionnaire. What happened to you in the dungeon?” He pressed, but I didn’t fail to notice his other hand was below the table, out of my sight, and that shoulder was tense.
Konstantin’s curiosity was clearly eating him alive, and he had doubts that needed answering. I think the realization that I had surpassed him in swordsmanship was what triggered this unexpected meeting, so I focused on that. “I spent a lot of time practicing in the dreamscape, and I had time to practice with the legionnaires at the Imperial Legion Hall. I even crossed blades with Primus Scorpio.”
“Primus Scorpio, that pixie prick? You must have been at the morning sessions.” Konstantin let his loathing for the man bleed through in his words.
“His spell form is about predicting what his opponents do before they do it,” I summarized what I gleaned from the encounter.
“Not a secret and not his only spell form. But you are avoiding my question. The dreamscape—fine. But you are faster, stronger, and much better conditioned. Do you find an artifact or a cache of apex essences? Maveith mentioned a few of the creatures you killed when talking to others in the company but shut up after being pressed by Brutus.” He focused on me like a Truthseeker.
I tried to deflect, as was my inclination to do. “Was the company sworn to secrecy on the location of the Shimmering Labyrinth?”
Konstantin nodded, “And its existence altogether. Keeping Mateo and Benito’s mouths shut is Adrian's full-time job. I am sure others have talked as well, but we were allowed to keep our gains from the dungeon in return.”
“I was worried someone might come after the company for the runic weapons,” I said, concerned.
“It is a possibility, but Castile and Adrian are alert to it. If they were not quartered in a city now, I would be with them,” Konstantin admitted defensively. He did have some loyalty to the men and Castile. “I am sure most dukes are aware of what Castile’s company carries now, and it will filter down through the ranks of the First Citizens. I expect Brutus and Donte will be gone when I return. They are too foolish to realize that all the First Citizen want is their runic weapons when they take them into service.”
“But Brutus doesn’t even have a runic weapon,” I said, confused.
Konstantin chuckled, finally relaxing a little, “And whatever First Citizen he falls into the service of will be disappointed when he learns he lacks one.” Konstantin refocused his eyes hard again, “Enough banter. How have you grown so much—so fast?”
“Why does it matter?” I replied defensively.
“Why? Because, besides Truthseeker Yanis, there have been no less than eight requests for your service since we returned from Caelora. Most can be attributed to that centaur’s ass First Citizen Boris trying to get his hands on your amulet. But Duke Tiberius wants you to serve as his granddaughter’s personal bodyguard. Duke Octavian filed a formal request for your service after the Gnoll Garden incident as well but deferred to Duke Tiberius as a favor to him. Everyone else has too low standing even to be considered. If there are enough whispers, eventually, your name will reach the Emperor’s ears.”
Konstantin’s argument was compelling. He whispered harshly, “You need to stand out, not outshine all the other stars in the sky like the sun. You continue this path, and you will be tested on a reader.” He added the last as a veiled threat. I think he assumed I would be afraid of showing my magic affinities, but there was also a sizable increase in the potential for my physical and mental attributes.
I nodded slowly in understanding that I should have held back some. Konstantin relaxed visibly and continued, “There are three men among the pups that you should be wary of. Truthseeker Yanis didn’t have the aether to question them more in-depth, but Castian, Hadrius, and Savino were all sponsored by allies of First Citizens Boris Angella and Justin Cicero.” He paused for a moment, “They were sponsored after your own reference was accepted to the Hounds.”
“And you are just telling me this now?” I said tersely.
“I have been keeping an eye on them, and you have been locking yourself in your room at night. We will be starting the hunts soon, so I thought you should be made aware.” Konstantin noted smugly.
I rolled my eyes to show my irritation. “The hunts?”
Konstantin grumbled under his breath as I continued to sidestep his questions. “Yes. We train you to track a man. One pup is released into the wild, and the rest have to find him in a twenty-five square mile area. We marked the borders two days ago. With so few trainers, it is going to be hard to track all seventeen of you. Normally, a Hound is shadowing each pup; we lack that luxury.” Konstantin explained, exasperated at my unwillingness to answer his question.
I needed to give him something to satiate his curiosity. I removed my glove and showed him my shiny silver ring. “A ring of sustenance. I found it in the dungeon. It feeds off aether, and I only need a few hours of sleep and much less food.”
Konstantin’s eyes brightened as some understanding came to him. “Put the glove back on.” He eyed the back of a soldier washing plates. “And it works in tandem with your amulet?” I nodded. “So, you still have it then. Medusa’s curse, Zyna.” He said angrily. “She was supposed to take it from you and promise to return it after your training.” Konstantin’s mind was racing as his eyes darted at this complication.
Finally, he ordered, “Don’t use it. Don’t bring anything out of your space in front of the others, in fact. And I hope you didn’t tell anyone you had it with you, for Saturn’s sake.”
“I have been careful,” I said defensively. And wasn’t he the one pressing me for answers right now?
Konstantin waved his hand, annoyed, “You have Durandus’ collector in there as well?”
I tried to maintain a stoic, impassive visage but slowly nodded, admitting it. Konstantin wasn’t surprised. “Gods above and below. I had to kill Flavius to keep that secret. If the opportunity arises during training, I will give you a window to use it.” I was in shock at so many things just said that I couldn’t speak.
“Do you want the essence?” I asked when I finally recovered.
He chewed on the question. “If you see fit to give me one, I wouldn’t refuse. Seeing Maveith train this last month, I assumed you two had quite the harvest in the Shimmering Labyrinth. Maybe I underestimated how great a harvest.” He rationalized my gains were solely from essences and started to stand, waiting for me to say something else.
When I didn’t, he added, “Always keep your secrets close. I thought I taught you better than this.” He turned and left with a purposeful stride, and I think I was supposed to feel guilty. The soldiers doing dishes averted their eyes to their task as he climbed the stairs. I rose and descended to my cell.
When I was in my room, I couldn’t decide if Konstantin was angry at me for not confiding in him, that I had surpassed his swordsmanship skill, or that I was showboating in front of the others. I ended up assuming it was a mix of all three. I took my two essences before settling in for the evening. Even though Konstantin had told me not to use the amulet, I did keep to my routine but only spent enough time inside to create the tomes in the library.
The next week was as Konstantin had told me. The morning beach training was shortened as we just ran two miles to the salt flats and back. The salt flats were large, very shallow pools the soldiers filled with saltwater. The sun evaporated the water, and the soldiers scraped the salt. The pools themselves were extremely old, from a long-forgotten empire. The soldiers sold salt for a little extra coin.
My own taste for Empire salt greatly diminished when I noticed the sea birds liked to bathe and shit in the shallow water pools right after they were filled. I had thought salt came from salt mines, but the Empire had no salt mines when I asked Hearne. And being surrounded on all sides by enemies meant importing rock salt was only doable by sea.
I managed to restrain myself in combat practice. I never lost, but fought down to the level of my opponents. It was almost frustrating facing the other pups as I was not getting any better from it. Konstantin had chosen not to cross blades with me again, but Hearne and Jansen were willing.
Both men relied on their speed in combat. Before the Simmering Labyrinth, I would have been at a disadvantage against them; now, I assessed their skill at a step below Konstantin. Seeing this, Konstantin frequently had both men attack me at once. The two worked well together, and I usually gained a bruise or two after a contest against the pair.
We started our tracking lessons in earnest as well in the afternoons. One Hound would hide in the twenty-five square mile zone, and we would all have to find him. At first, they would leave obvious signs of passage but got more and more devious and stealthy. When they started setting crippling traps, we learned this was no longer a game. I stepped on a concealed small pit and got two metal nails through my foot when I was sprinting after Cato in the low light. I cursed as Konstantin didn’t want me to heal in front of the others and was forced to limp and find healer Lithe.
Konstantin was also right about Castian, Hadrius, and Savino. They shadowed me under the pretense of staying close to the prodigy and constantly hinting that we should form a pack together for the hunts. Maybe it was Konstantin’s warning, but I sensed their duplicitous nature now.
The most useful part of the day was Hearne’s lectures on the creatures of Desia. It felt like there was a never-ending stream of horrors that could kill you: goblins, giants, elementals, owlbears, gnolls, dire animals, dryads, undead, giant insects, dragons, drakes, wyverns, gargoyles, trolls, troglodytes, ogres, pixies, golems, bugbears… the list seemed endless. Hearne had over one hundred creatures he planned to educate us about. I wanted to follow up his lectures by reading my own bestiaries in my mind space for comparison, but I was limited to leaving notes from the lectures to review later.
We finished archery practice against targets on a big rope swing. Hitting a moving target was magnitudes more difficult than hitting a stationary target. Still, with the slower-swinging targets, I was accurate at 25 yards. Distances over 30 yards or with faster-swinging targets, and my hit rate dropped considerably. Hearne told me it just took practice, and soon, it would become instinct on where I would need to aim.
Konstantin suddenly stopped the lesson. “Enough time with your bows. Retrieve your arrows!” Everyone rushed as his tone indicated haste. As we were inspecting our retrieved arrows, Konstantin roared, “It is time for your first Pup Hunt! Whoever catches the prey tonight gets tomorrow off!”
Everyone was silent as we were told this was coming. The gleam in Konstantin’s eye told me I was not going to like his next words. “Tonight’s quarry is Eryk. You have a two-minute head start! Starting now!” Fuck you very much, old man. I shouldered my quiver and sprinted into the trees.
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Comments
Erick Thiemke
he has a sphere of obfuscation from his time in the Caliphate
Kit
Okay, finally someone calls Eryk out for now keeping his secrets. It's still difficult to reconcile though, because I don't understand why Eryk has been so lax. People could be scrying on him
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Steve
I am disappointed that he still isn't even considering scrying, it should be obvious given his background
Steve
He doesn't know what his attack spell is so he didn't think he could clear as much of the dungeon as he did
Robert Biederman
Hahaha I love this this is going to be fun
Robert Biederman
The MC is too dense he isn't dumb Nore is he stupid he just doesn't think ahead think outside the box
Robert Biederman
Why is Constantine asking such a dumb question here in the first paragraph he knows that the more essences you take in a specific area you're going to improve and since he has been living under the roof with can't remember her name now except that she was in charge of the mage college one of them I've been away from this book for a while and my memory is really bad sorry but she would be the source for all the essences that he would have access to which would make this very believable
J S
Better run!
Ivan Kanewske
Even though Konstantin had told me not to use the amulet, I did kept to my routine but only spent enough time inside to create the tomes in the library. I did kept to my routine Should be keep
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /setting crippling tracks/ => /setting crippling *traps*/
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /I did kept to my routine/ => /I kept to my routine/ or /I did *keep* to my routine/
Tetsu-nii
Minor suggestion: Instead of repeating "for the evening" in /for the evening before settling in for the evening/, consider changing the second to "for the night".
Cícero Daniel
nao confio em konstatin
Karnnie
I was thinking that he might be caught really fast and on purpose for that very reason.
JollyRodger
Pup hunt!!! Erik has half a deck up his sleeve. I can't even keep track of all his cards. I just wonder how hard he plans to run. Probably best not to shine real bright in this. Add a new card so he can pull a real runner in the future.
Silver Beard
From the crippling trap- this isn't a game. <b> Eliminate them all. The hound trainers will save who they can, but some will just die (which might be K's intention)</b>
Silver Beard
IDK- if he truly got in trouble, running is still on the table. Let' the hounds chase if they ever do. War on three fronts; it's a big world if he can get far enough away.
Roberto Dias
I like the way the MC is stumbling along. Being hampered by his own actions: Using the amulet in front of the first woman he slept with was very stupid Showboating in archery and swordsmanship in front of the whanabe hounds was very stupid. If not for the help of the likes of Konstantin, & Kastile, & Zina, he will be murdered by now. He goes in a power trip of his new stats, while his friends are puting fires for him. killing people and risking theirs lives to protect him.
Silver Beard
Set an ambush. Use the orc bow/arrow in storage...they were painted black, no? Ofc if pups think Orc pathfinder s around...might lose their nerve. Wager the 3 will try to kill him; hoping to expel his inventory. Time to quit messing around. Konstantin needs to get over himself.
Silver Beard
Tempted to suggest he allow himself to get caught quickly before leaving the group too far behind. Might lose some standing but Konstantin just pointed out that he needs to be less. If he gets caught quickly there'll be less chance of someone abusing the opportunity.
Scion
He would have to get his ability over 10 and it would take him a very very very very long time even with the dream amulet to learn a single spell. I think it will balance itself
Daniel kanevsky
U listed drakes twice
Caledon Smith
On that point, you could have Konstantin point out as he walks off, that if anyone did some digging into your background they would have some hard questions of how someone who just a year ago didn’t know how to hold a sword let alone ride a horse, could end up being such a shinning star. Those questions have very few answers, all of which you (MC) do not want pondered. Especially not those who have been requesting your personal appearance.
Caledon Smith
I enjoyed the chapter until Eyrk just caves and tells Konstantin he has the ring and even worse the essence maker. Eyrk himself has said dozens of times that he shouldn’t share that information with anyone, even if they do suspect it. He was told my Castile and Konstantin not to tell anyone even himself. He’s doing a fine job of deflecting, and it would have shown some growth if he kept doing so. My recommendation is to alter that paragraph with him deflecting some more and end with Konstantin congratulating him on growing up a little sense they first met. Maybe something along the lines of, “you know, 6 months ago you would have just told me everything I wanted to know. I’m glad to see you have grown some. Just keep in mind actions tell more of your secrets than your words.” This way we can see that the MC has grown some and Konstantin will still know everything you want him to know with out it being spelled out. It would remove some of the awkwardness for those two moments as well.
Jesus De Guzman
https://youtu.be/BEG-ly9tQGk?si=d8NoiWUdwGFlY8Gy Your prior sense of what archers could do, coupled with magic, wasn’t far off in my opinion. This guy, Lars Anderson, using what he calls ‘instinctive archery’, recently holds the record of most arrows into a key hole…. Just follow your writing instincts on this one topic….. This is regular human doing incredible feats, now imagine a magically enhanced one. Edit; here is a link to the composite recurve bow that was available to archers in 3,000 BC. It took years to make, had typically had 150 lb draw, punch threw armor at 100 yards. Effective lethal range of 450 yards plus a maximum flight distance of 950 yards. Effectively a super weapon made and used by regular humans. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-composite-bow-the-medieval-precursor-to-the-rifle/
Andrew
Thank you!
Prinny Knight
I suppose he could make some distance here and there without leaving any tracks by running and jumping off his air shields.
Skyra
setting crippling tracks -> setting crippling traps. drakes, wyverns, gargoyles, trolls, troglodytes, ogres, pixies, drakes, -> drakes is here twice
TKC iCorey
It can't be, I'm addicted to this story
Faa Diallo
Based on this chap though I still contend Eryk should not learn magic for a long time at least, if not at all. He's waaayy too broken right now and his potential with just his ability to absorb essences is way too high. And I think Konstantin agrees with me ;). If he learns spells he can simply learn a spell to solve any situation. It's much more interesting to see him use different combos of spell forms to get out of sticky situations.
Faa Diallo
Really good chapter. I really liked how Konstantin was kinda upset about Eryk surpassing him. But you can still see the care come through. It really showed his character/he feels real.
Erick Thiemke
2nd of four for cycle. I ended up going in a different direction with this interaction than planned after reading the comments. I will also edit the last chapter a bit to make his bowmanship skills a little reigned in. 75 yards is an Olympic distance, and they have compound bows with sites and stabilizers
