THE MILITARY IS HELL
I woke up at 5 AM TO A HELLISH WORKOUT
MILES UPON MILES OF RUNNING, PUSH UPS, SIT UPS, SQUATS,PULL UPS, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I COULD VOMIT THAT MANY TIMES ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!?
It was 4 hours of utter hell. I didn't want to go through that again. Unlike the people who practice yew, that was all the physical training I had to go through.
The rest of the time I was implored to train myself because there wasn't an instructor for dew.
As I learned, most people who use dew are taught at academies and school and have sufficient information by the time they come to serve in battle. At which point they have to teach themselves and grow their own skills.
Ergo, the only way for me to learn was to learn from other trainees and staff here.
As I slumped out of the baths, I dressed myself in my new clothes. Simple brown pants and a white collared shirt, it wasn't anything special but it did the job plenty.
"Heyyyy buddy~ I saw how you were dying in training! Coulda sworn you were a horse with a broken leg while you ran the last few rounds~" Lance popped up behind me as I was startled once more
"HOL- LANCE STOP THAT" I yell at him as he snickers at my reaction
"No can do bud~ you're a whole buffet of expressions~" he says cheekily as I just laugh, exasperated at how he is
How the hell does he move so silently anyways?
"Eitherrrrr wayyyyyy, I reckon you get your shit together~ I got some training of my own for today so I suggest you do your own research, there's a library here. The librarian is really knowledgeable too, maybe they can help!" Lance tells me as I ask him out of curiosity
"They?" I ask Lance, pointing to who he was referring to
"Somnia, no one knows anything about em! Not even their gender! But they are incredibly knowledgeable, albeit a little scary…" Lance says while stroking the back of his head as I nod at his words
Maybe the library is where I can learn more words? Or more about dew in general
I bid my farewell to Lance as he wanders off to god knows where, I make my way around the fort as I make it to the library.
There I spotted a person at the front, a red haired person whose hair drooped over one of their eyes, only showing one blue eye, they seemed to be quite tall and an air of regalness to them.
I slowly and cautiously approached them
"Um Hi, I am Cato, Cato Adrenna. I am assuming you are Somnia?" I say as they look straight at me, their one visible eye boring into me
"New dew user I see, what can I do for you?" Somnia says, almost emotionlessly
"How'd you know I am new?" I ask them, genuinely curious as they shook their head
"At your current level, you are incapable of understanding" Somnia says mysteriously as I slowly nod, a little confused
"Ohhhh kay…? Well since you know I am new, any way that you could teach me some stuff I should know?" I ask them as they shook their head
"I don't see much worth in expending my time on you, I do not. I can, however, ask a fellow trainee of yours to help you." They say as I slowly nod
"Winsley Gelum, would you come over here?" Somnia called out to the basically barren library as a woman popped out of the back, hidden away
She was wearing essentially the same clothes as me, army issue pants and a white collar shirt, she had long hair however, hair that stretched to her lower back, white hair that I could swear had a hint of blue to them
"Cato, this is Winsley Gelum, of the Gelum house all the way over in the north. Winsley, Cato was drafted in the army but has started learning dew very recently, could you please teach him a little?" Somnia explained to her as the woman looked over at me
Walking over to me, she quite literally looked down at me.
I was an average height of 5 foot 9 while she towered at 6 foot 1 i believe
"I do not mind, however if he isn't worth teaching, I won't continue." Her cold yet firm voice hit me like a truck as I suppressed a shiver up my spine
"Uh yeah! I'll do my best" I said, not completely confident as I curse myself on the inside
"Wonderful, now please leave me alone." Somnia commented one last time before Winsley walked away without saying word
I was left staring between them both for a second before I ran after Winsley further into the library.
Unbeknownst to both the teens, Somnia's gaze lingered on Cato as they uttered a single sentence
"Duality's cost I see…."
Back with Cato and Winsley
"How much do you understand about dew?" Winsley asked me as soon as we sat down, my physically exhausted self plopped down as I barely registered what she said before replying
"Dew is power granted to us by god that we can use by speaking god's tongue" I explain as she nods her head briefly
"Somewhat incorrect but acceptable nonetheless. Dew is indeed power granted by god but it doesn't have to be used with just God's tongue. Do you know of your field?" Winsley asked me as I nodded
"And did that require a word of God?" she asks me as I felt heat crawl up my face
It hadn't. I was able to manipulate dew without speaking
"Get rid of the notion that all things related to dew require god's tongue. Whether it be imbuing objects with dew or manipulating dew itself, to manifest dew on a physical level, you do require God's tongue. But even then, you needn't speak it" she explains to me as I nod
As I nod, she brings up her hand and a crystal of ice appears on it, floating.
"I did not speak, yet I manifested dew. How?" she asks me as I thought about it for a bit
"Because you spoke of it in your mind…?" I ask her, uncertain of my answer as she sighs
"Close but not accurate either. I understand the word, I have performed it god knows how many times. The feeling of manifesting it is second nature to me, manipulating ice as a whole is part of my being I might say. Understanding the word is required to use it." she explains to me as I nod thoughtfully
"Also, out of curiosity. What word is the word for ice?" I ask her as she narrows her eye at me
"Please do not tell me you are unaware of etiquette. It is incredibly rude to ask that." she says to me coldly, her voice cutting me like a dagger
"I don't understand what I did wrong here….." I say sheepishly, definitely scared of this girl.
She glares at me before reverting back to her emotionless state
"Ice and many other forms of dew are are coined as unique and they are god's gift that are secrets of a lineage." she explains to me as my eyes widen
"You guys copyrighted magic?" I ask, utterly flabbergasted.
"No, not in that sense. It just made sense to shield our identity and keep our strength. As such, I'd rather not share my family secrets with you. Besides, who calls dew magic?" she explains to me as I slowly nod
Motherfuckers in this world have copyrighted magic, i can't believe it.
"I am honestly in shock. Don't affinities exist? What if someone's affinity was ice but couldn't learn the word because you chose to keep it a secret?" I ask, curious about the point
"Then I hope they can find a synonymous word for ice, I know they exist somewhere in the word but finding out any word of god is hard. Even harder is understanding it to be able to use it." Winsley explained to me, her cold explanation cutting me
Synonyms….?
"WAIT, THERE ARE MULTIPLE WORDS FOR A SINGLE SPELL?" I ask her as she nods at me, a little taken aback by my outburst
"Yes? Why does that surprise you?" she asks me as I slump into my chair
"Nothing. Just nothing." I say, feeling tired by this explanation.
"Either way, have you found your affinity yet?" she asks me as I shook my head
Yesterday night I had talked to Lance and probed him about it, affinities are magic that a person is most attuned with.
All magic in some form or way is attuned to an affinity and people who have said affinity have a much easier time with that set of magic.
Lance told me his affinity is a secret, Winsley's affinity is probably ice
My affinity? My affinity is a mystery for now, it isn't one of the four basic elements, so it is probably a rarer element. For better or for worse.
"Havent found it yet, it isn't one of the four basic ones at the very least." I say as she nods briefly
She begins turning her head as she begins speaking
"Well that's all for now, best I can suggest is for you to practice casting, learn chain casting, understand how God's words work and be able to just fight." she explains to me as I quip back
"Hey I can chain caste!" I say as she looks at me once more, narrowing her eyes toward me as her icy gaze locks eyes with me
Her blue eyes pierced my soul as she simply says
"You can? Well allow us to have a spar." she says as I stare at her, questioning God why he brought me to this world.
Author's note
CATO IS FIGHTING THE ICE QUEEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER YALL, IM SO EXCITED TO WRITE THAT