Salvation Through War: Chapter 1 – Training to Become Deadlier

Chapter 1 – Training to Become Deadlier

My classmates and I stand in the fiery wastes near the top of a volcano with our teacher, Zephan, standing at the top even as lava flows from it.

“Why do you timidly stand there with such blanket faces?” Zephan says. “You may be children but you are the children of the fierce people of Canis whose land and people are blessed by God for His specific and unique purposes. You should not fear the fires around you. Instead, you should embrace them. Observe.”

Zephan sticks his hands into the lava and then takes them out. Once the lava falls from his hands, we see that they haven’t been harmed one bit.

“Haha! The look of surprising children and foreigners by our people’s resilience never gets old. No other kingdom’s people can do this. Only we are. That is what makes us blessed and why only we are the rulers of this hostile land. Now that you see you have no reason to fear the flames, come closer and look into the volcano.”

We do as Zephan says and I see nothing but black smoke and faint lights.

“This is one of the many volcanoes where we obtain the crystals that we put into our weapons to make them even deadlier than they already are. So, who wants to jump in first and claim their crystal?”

Seeing that no one is volunteering first, I jump into the volcano. The fall wasn’t as high nor is it as hot here as I thought it’d be. I’m used to the heat after all. Not even the lava I’m walking in every other step bothers me much. Around me, I find a variety of crystals that are various shades of golden, orange, and red.

“Thatta girl, Freya!” Zephan from above.

Everyone is coming down now so I quickly look over the crystals to pick one out. One crimson-colored crystal catches my eyes and feels like it’s calling to me so I take it as my own. As I look into it, I wake up from my memory of the past and am back in the present.

“Your match is ready now, Freya,” a fellow countryman says.

“Finally,” I say before putting away my crystal in my pocket.

I take a practice axe and walk out into the arena filled with cheering people from Canis and green men and women, the orcs, from Bernhard. My opponent on the other side of the arena is wearing light armor with clear gaps in it. He smiles at me in eager anticipation and I return the smile for the same reason.

“Up next is Freya, the wildcard for this competition and an up-and-coming soldier, facing Jarvinia, the reigning champion and seasoned soldier. Let’s see how the newbie faces the expert,” the announcer says.

Jarvinia and I bow to each other before beginning our duel. He immediately starts attacking me with his short sword with large slashes to keep me at a distance and short stabs to push me away when I get in close. It’s impressive to me how he can use his offensive capabilities for defense as well. If that’s not enough, he also has a small shield as a backup. As far as I know, I have only three options. Be faster, fiercer, or strategic and I choose to be all three.

To implement all three, I dodge and attack more, strike harder, and only do the previous two when I see the right moment. My way of fighting starts to get on Jarvinia’s nerves as he tires and starts to get reckless, which is what I was hoping for. He overextends himself with a quicker than usual attack giving me a wide opening to cut him with my axe that I immediately take cutting the side of his chest.

“First blood has been drawn! The victory goes to Freya!” one of the judges says.

The crowd cheers for me as the announcer gives me a medal. Jarvinia hits the ground with his sword a couple of times before looking up to the sky for a couple of seconds and coming up to me to shake my hand and bow his head.

“You did great. It was an honor to duel you,” he says with a smile. “We should fight again some other time.”

“Maybe during the next competition,” I say.

“Deal, but next time, I’ll win.”

“We’ll see about that.”

We both smile at one another and then go our separate ways. I go into the festival where the people of Canis and Bernhard trade and enjoy the fruits of each other’s culture whether it’d be food, art, and clothing or more important things such as weapons, armor, and sparring. The competition that I was in was for the general public as various other competitions are spaced out around the festival such as duels between nobles, soldiers, higher-ranking military officials, and even religious leaders. While walking around, someone puts their hand on my shoulder and I’m surprised to see who it is. It’s my teacher, Zephan.

“Freya!” Zephan says as he hugs me and I hug him back.

“Zephan! I was hoping to see you here,” I say.

“I saw your duel and I’m glad to see how much better at fighting you’ve gotten. I also recognized that you remember my advice that works for all fights.”

“Be faster, fiercer, and strategic,” we say at the same time.

Zephan looks just how I remember him even though he has a few new black marks and scars on his sun-kissed skin and bald head. When he was teaching me, he was eighteen and I was ten, and it looks like he hasn’t aged since the twelve years that have passed. His orange and yellow eyes, which are a color combination shared by everyone born in Canis are looking fierce as always and his light crimson and dark orange armor of a lieutenant is striking especially the shoulders that look like the mouths of dogs.

“Anyways, I’m here to personally help you on your final steps to becoming a soldier. When we go back to the church, you’ll receive your blessing and black crown,” Zephan says.

“Huh. I thought I was going to go in a group with everyone else,” I say.

“Because of your prowess, you have been selected to see if you’ll become blessed by the white flame of true hatred and become an elite soldier.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We need more white flame soldiers especially since fewer and fewer people are becoming soldiers and guards.”

“The kingdom always wants more soldiers and guards. What you heard is just a rumor.”

“Maybe, but it’s a rumor that our leaders keep talking about to me and to each other though you got a point. Our kingdom’s main trade is war and conflict so there’s no such thing as having too many soldiers or blacksmith factories to make weapons. Still, it doesn’t help that the times require more people to put their lives on the line for God and their loved ones. It’s a shame really and festivals like this where the army and guard recruit more people have to happen more often now to get more volunteers.”

“Regardless of the reason, I appreciate them happening so I can see all the people and fight in the competitions. Speaking of these times, what was it like outside of Canis?”

“It was alright. I had to wear a heavy jacket everywhere I went and I didn’t see too much action though I did get these scars and burns when I got too reckless.”

Zephan opens his chest armor to reveal the cuts and black burn marks on his chest.

“Oh,” I say while touching the injured areas and then quickly pulling away my hand. “I’m sorry. Do they still hurt? Are you okay?”

“Not at all. I should be the one asking if you’re okay. Your face is all red.”

“I’m alright,” I say while looking away.

My face feels noticeably warmer than usual probably because of my love or rather crush on Zephan. He makes me feel a certain way that no other man can when we’re together and the way he smiles makes me want to capture the moment and keep it with me forever. Together, we head to the church where military councils and blessings are held. There I find a crowd already waiting for me in the pews consisting of military counselors and priests all of whom look at me as I enter and then forward where a priest garbed in all shades of red and armor is standing by the altar. I walk up to the priest and as I kneel, I can feel Zephan ’s hand on my shoulder as he kneels with me.

With hands extended over me, the priest says, “Blessed are they who love God and hate sin and the bastard children it produces. Blessed are they who fight and kill to protect the innocent, the sanctity of others, and the honor of the Church. Blessed are they who tirelessly wage war on the weakness within themselves and the vileness of the world outside of them. They are the righteous who earn the crown of holiness in Heaven. You, Freya, have proven yourself worthy so far in life. May your teacher, Zephan, guide you to greater glory on your life’s journey, and may this blessing give you the strength to embrace the white flame of truest and purest hatred cleanse your soul, and be found worthy to become a perfect soldier and weapon of God. Amen!”

Everyone in the church including me say, “Amen.”

Zephan puts a medium-sized red cloak around me, a long red skirt, and, finally, a black spiky crown of long metal pieces.

“Rise, Freya. Go forth and be who you were meant to be. Unsheathe yourself through your journey so that you may slaughter the enemies of truth and love, and bring the justice of God upon those who deserve it,” the priest says.

“Amen!” the crowd responds.

I stand up with a fire of excitement in my chest that I’ve never felt before. It makes me smile and gives me an extra stride in my step as I exit the church and am met by three flame mages who are controlling flaming knights. A crowd surrounds us to watch what is happening along with those who were in the church with me.

“What better way to start off your journey than a baptism through combat,” the priest says. “These three conjured flame knights are your first challenge in your journey to become a true soldier. Defeat them to prove your worth or your worthlessness.”

Looking over to Zephan, he smiles at me and nods. I do the same, put my crystal into my sword of volcanic rock, and ignite it. My sword lights up with flames similar to that of the lava that spewed from the volcano I got it from and makes me even more excited to fight, so I don’t wait any longer and head straight into it. The knights meet my attack with a counter of their own as they sprout their weapons of flame from their black armor. One wields daggers, another uses a sword and shield, and one uses a large axe that it wields with two hands. They immediately attack me all at once and then one at a time before moving to flank me on both sides. To get some distance, I fight fire with fire and use my left hand to spew a ring of protective fire around me that gives me the distance I need.

Since I’m going to need a boost for this, I use another flame spell to energize myself with the strength of fire. The feeling hurts, and yet, I feel more than ready to fight, so I run through my ring of fire and start attacking the axe-wielding knight. Since he wields a larger weapon, he’s slower to attack and needs distance to be effective, which I take advantage of as I attack quick and from close quarters. The other flame knights try to help this one out, but I manage to keep them away by throwing fireballs to their faces until I manage to decapitate the head of the axe-wielding knight who falls to pieces after his head comes off.

Now that the odds are more in my favor, the fight becomes easier with one less enemy to worry about as I weave between fighting the last two knights using my agility to dodge their attacks and fire magic to keep them apart. Nothing is in my mind other than being faster, fiercer, and strategic at the same time. Eventually, before I know it, I cut the heads off the last two knights and victory is mine. The crowd cheers for me along with Zephan who makes them chant my name. He then gets out of the crowd and lifts me on his shoulders for me to sit on as we make our way out of the town, the gates of which the crowd stops with the last of them wishing me well and then going back to their daily business. With a map in hand and route in mind, Zephan leads me on my journey to become a soldier and there’s no one I would rather go with than him.