Chương 144: Chapter 141 - A Sergeant's Chores

I got over the lieutenant's yelling at me pretty quickly, even though it was his first time losing his temper at me. After being in the recruits for almost a year, and for almost the same time being a private under Sergeant Fenward, getting yelled at without any reason was nothing new. Before joining Lieutenant Ceciro, I half expected all my supervisors to behave like that.

Stopping under a tree's shade just outside the command building, I made a mental task list of the things I had to do today, and the first thing on that list was to check my skill upgrade.

[Mana Manipulation (UC)] → [Mana Manipulation (Advanced)] Type: Core Mana Control Skill (Projection / Precision) Associated Attributes: Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower Description [Mana Manipulation (Advanced)] refines the user's control over mana to a significantly higher level, transforming rough handling into precise, stable, and efficient flow management.

The user develops deeper resonance with mana, allowing for finer adjustments, smoother transitions, and tighter control over output, while reducing waste and instability. I selected the upgrade without even giving it a second thought. While [Mana Manipulation] at uncommon-tier allowed me to actively manipulate my internal mana, the advanced-tier mana control would increase it even further, allowing me to create finer threads with greater stability, which is exactly what I need to train my mana shield spell.

It would help me reduce the time to shape mana into a spiral shape and create runes from mana. Closing my skill selection screen, I made my way to the fort library. It was already late afternoon, and I was tired from the journey back, leaving me with neither the time nor the mental capacity to research runes. For now, I decided to check the quality of the literature they had, so that next time I wouldn't waste time browsing and could decide what to study beforehand.

At the door, I showed my 2-star badge to the soldier to gain access and asked for the location of the rune repository. While the library was small, with three wall-to-wall shelves in a moderately sized room, the rune section was smaller than I expected; it was only one compartment on the shelves located in the far corner of the room. Browsing through the material, I found the literature available to be disappointing.

Most of it was on runes used for Fort Darrow's defense—the things that Master Vey had already taught us during the rune workshop—and some manuals about rune basics, which I had already read in Stonegate. By the time I was finished browsing, I found some new runes to learn—nothing that would help me in creating new spells, just something I had not explored in the past. It was material on runes used in rune cannons. Once again, the information was limited to maintenance-level.

There were a few more runes I did not know about, one of which was specifically designed for arrowheads. After identifying the runes I wanted to study later, I left the library and made my way to the supply office, where I exchanged my contribution of mammoth eggs for mana crystals, collecting 15 in total. With this windfall of mana crystals, I can provide one for each squad member, with five remaining, which I plan to use to upgrade our equipment.

By the time I left the supply office, the sun was already setting on the horizon, the perfect time for my last and most important task of the day—dinner. I was starving. It had been a long day. I had eaten lunch in the wild, and now, finally, after more than 15 days, I would be eating inside the fort without worrying about looking over my shoulder. Honestly, to me it felt like three months.

We did spend a few days in Fort Dunvale, but with the whole traitor debacle, I hardly got a feeling of safety and comfort there. Making my way to the mess hall, it was noisy as usual, filled with soldiers joking around, sharing stories and gossip. After getting my dinner, I found a quiet corner table away from people. Taking my first bite, I regretted romanticizing the meal as soon as the boot-like taste of meat from some beast I didn't know hit my taste buds.

Maybe I should just stay in the wild and force Silas to cook every meal, I thought, forcing down my punishment of a meal. Once I was done, I washed my plate and returned it to the counter. While making my way out, I saw a familiar figure sitting at one of the dinner tables eating. At first glance, I dismissed it, thinking there was no way one of my friends would be here. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. When I looked a second time, I confirmed it was Farid.

"Farid!" I shouted, my happiness evident in my voice. Farid turned around. Looking at me, his expression matched the happiness in my voice. Excusing himself from his squad, he made his way toward me. Giving him a bear hug, I asked him,"What are you doing here? When did you arrive?"

"Well, with personnel shortage here at the fort, my scout squad was transferred here. We arrived a few weeks back," Farid replied.

"Good to see you. How do you like it here?"

"Good enough." There was a tinge of discomfort in his voice. I frowned and gave him a questioning look. Farid sighed and made his way out of the mess hall, away from all the noise, then continued, "Barrack life in Stonegate was tough for me, but at least I got free days. I could explore the city and enjoy food at taverns. Here, there are no real breaks. Even when the squad gets some days off, I feel stuck here." Listening to Farid talk, a laugh escaped me, prompting Farid to punch me.

"Haha, I just find it funny that someone who used to talk about exploring the wild and running ahead to find danger. Right now, you sound whiny. I cannot wait for your squad to have a month-long scouting mission."

"Fuck, don't remind me of that. The sergeant said we would be getting one of those missions soon enough. And honestly, I am fucking dreading it," Farid said, shivering at just the thought of a long mission in the wild, making me laugh even more. Farid only shook his head, seeing me completely unaffected by his plight.

"You have become an asshole after living one year here at the fort."

"Hey, you cannot blame me. I just spent more than two months in the wild. I cannot wait to have someone who is not my subordinate, someone I can talk about shitting in the wild with," I replied with a grin. Listening to my statement, Farid's expression turned serious. Looking at me with concern, he said, "I heard you are a sergeant now."

"Yeah… but why do you look concerned?" I replied, trying to understand the sudden change in Farid's mood. He shook his head and said, "Not your promotion. I have been hearing rumors about a private getting an Iron Medal and becoming a sergeant in less than a year, and how, unfortunately, he is leading a squad of criminals. Initially, I thought it was someone else with your name, but looking at your sergeant badge, it is you. Are you alright?"

I relaxed after listening to him and replied with a smile, "Initially, I was afraid of that as well, but honestly, my squad is growing on me. While there are some uncivilized elements in my squad, most of them feel good and innocent to me. You can meet them if you want." He nodded.

"Well then, congratulations on being the overachiever of our group—getting a medal, becoming a sergeant, and most importantly becoming one of the most well-known sergeants of the whole fort," he said, patting my back as if he were an elder proud of his junior.

"Oh fuck off. You know Leif is soon to be a noble, right?"

"Yeah, he left a letter while he was crossing Stonegate. But for me, he got demoted—he once again became a recruit. Heck, worse than that, he became a student. I would say Eric has achieved more than him. Eric is a sergeant now."

"Really? Eric? How?" My eyes widened. I ignored Farid's logic on achievements and focused on the information about Eric.

"He shined in the supply squad. Within 6 months, he had become the right hand of his sergeant. Later, when his sergeant lost his life in the beast tide, along with most of the veterans of the squad, in the absence of leaders and with the help of Henry, Eric acted as the leader for the remaining members of his squad. Their squad handled various supply-related tasks across the city."

"Looking at his performance, he was promoted to the sergeant position instead of being assigned to a new squad. Now he and Henry, as his right-hand man, are leading a supply squad. Though unlike you, he is still in Tier-1, so his squad is mostly assigned safer routes, and they have yet to visit the frontlines."

"This is great news. Maybe I should write a letter congratulating him," I said, happy to hear Eric got promoted, but even happier that Eric and Henry are working together.

"Yeah, you should. He will be happy. For some reason, he does like to brag about his promotion. Otherwise, knowing him, you would have already gotten multiple letters, most of them trying to recruit you," Farid encouraged. I could guess multiple reasons Eric was not bragging about his promotion, but instead of letting my thoughts wander to negative topics, I concentrated on other things.

"What about you? How is your progress looking?" I asked Farid.

"My class is at the threshold. I should break through in mana cultivation within a month or two," Farid replied. At this, I patted his shoulder, copying his expression of a proud elder.

"Good job, son."

"So, how was the intensity of the great beast tide at Stonegate?" I asked. Fort Darrow was situated inside the forest in the beast migration path, but I was sure no matter how precise and strategic the location, it would not stop 100 percent of the beasts.

"For me, it was intense. First time seeing so many beasts. From what I know, the city watch and royal army combined lost at least 15 percent of their soldiers." Then he looked at the soldiers walking with a solemn expression.

"But coming here, I realized we were the lucky ones. Everyone I meet here has a horror story to share. Your letters did not do justice to the losses here at the fort." I sighed.

"Yeah, well, when I wrote them, I myself was recovering from my own losses. I just wrote whatever came to my mind at that time." Farid patted my shoulder. We stood there in silence for a minute, neither of us sure what to say. Even after trying not to think about negative things, I failed in just a few minutes. What was clear to me was that, just like me, Farid was not good at consoling.

From that point, the conversation revolved around negative topics like the losses we suffered during the beast tide or on missions, and the injuries we had gotten. Once both our happy moods were destroyed, we decided to part ways. Farid took a deep breath and said, "Well, I should go to my squad. Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, you too. Come find me at the sergeant quarters if you get some free time," I said as we clasped hands. In my conversation with Farid, I had forgotten that I needed to give mana crystals to my squad, and especially to Brakk so that he could attempt his class trial.