"Huff… huff… huuuuuh ," Tasha struggled, her brown eyes full of resentment.

"There it is—there's the fighter we expected."

Tasha's resentment grew deeper at the sound of Corporal's voice— of course, his voice was as smooth as his looks . Her complaints were silent and internal, but her eyes wrote volumes. Corporal wasn't her type, but all the women of her still-forming platoon saw something in him,

she couldn't and wouldn't stop raving about.

He's just a snake , Tasha mumbled internally. With his dreamy doe brown eyes and chiseled body—ugh, it doesn't help that his blonde-brown dreadlocks actually look good , she continued to complain.

"Giving up, Not-Yet-Private Tasha? Hmph, I knew the likes of you weren't suited to be an Imperius Soldier," Corporal mocked, his dark brown boots shifted past her head and toward another soldier. His voice was decently deep, not the deepest Tasha had heard, but adequate for his tall body and built frame. "Amin has more spunk than you," the Corporal's trailing words entered her ears. "…and his stamina has vastly improved in the last three months—if you can't take this pain… then how will you dismiss your class later today?"

Tasha clenched her teeth, struggling to push up her body. Their training the past few months was simple: run until their Stamina Points were exhausted, breakfast and a stamina potion to recharge, push-ups until their Stamina Points were exhausted, lunch…, and so on before they rinsed and repeated. And, during the evenings, they would do the same for their Mana Points.

Physical exercise was one of the many ways one could gain Attribute Points outside of leveling, and it saw an increased benefit for those who were low-level to begin with.

Tasha's arms burned, and {Fatigued} had long since settled over her body and made itself known in her status sheet. Tasha didn't care; she slowly pushed herself up and then down. She was part of class 403—fourth division, third squad—her uniform let everyone know as they each wore unique uniforms to the division. She wasn't an Imperius Soldier, but she had been accepted into the Chosen's army.

UP, her mind screamed.

DOWN, her muscles responded.

She shot a glance at her stamina in her HUD.

'Ten points left, I can't stop. I can't stop. I CAN'T STOP!'

So Tasha didn't stop, she pushed and continued to do so until the very last stamina point left. And, as it did so, so did Tasha's consciousness. What Tasha didn't see was the acknowledging gaze from the Corporal and the recommendations he wrote next to her name.

TASHA — [Shoe Maker: Level 29]. Will Grade: [Heroic]—normal. Pushes herself until the very last Stamina Point, holding nothing back. Takes orders and prodding well—remains nonaggressive to superiors but doesn't hide annoyance. Loyal to the [Chosen]—holds no ties to her home, Laguu, Oni-land. Lacking magical talent—can be fixed or adjusted. Lacking bloodline [Uncommon]—can be fixed or adjusted. Works well both alone and in a team—doesn't seem to have a preference. Highest accomplished physical: 1142 pushups, 17-kilometer run, 174 pull-ups—two stamina potions used, completed all in the same day. Recommendation: STRATIOTI—I believe she has hopes of surviving the training planned—Goddess willing.

AMIN — [Brawler: Level 35]. Will Grade:[Heroic]—special. Pushes himself beyond—and has survived having no Stamina Points using sheer will, verification can be checked with Corporal #665019 and Sergeant #773045—unbelievable, I've never seen anything like it. Aggressive but follows orders well—aggression is kept in check and can be directed. Fiercely loyal to [Chosen]—holds no ties to a home outside a younger sister in Laguu, Oni-land. Lacking magical talent—can be fixed or adjusted. Lacking bloodline [Uncommon]—can be fixed or adjusted. Works well in teams, and excels with younger women—we believe this stems from his sister. He pairs well with Tasha. Highest accomplished physical: 1523 pushups, 13.5-kilometer run, 205 pull-ups—two stamina potions used, completed all in the same day. Recommendation: STRATIOTI—I believe he has the will to survive the training, planned—Goddess willing.

*****

A silent hum and rumble awoke Tasha. Her eyes remained closed as she did a casual sweep of her body. Surprisingly, there was no pain. That meant a [Priestess of Madris] had seen to her last night and removed all her negative debuffs. Slowly, she opened her eyes and immediately frowned at the unfamiliar area she found herself in. Tasha didn't panic as she spotted Amin, another member of the 403, quietly sitting on his bunk with a newspaper in his hand.

"An' I thought ma snorin' was bad… huh," Amin voiced, not taking his eyes from the newspaper. "But you…? If I ain't no know better, I thought you was some slumbering beast."

"Oh, hush Amin—I won't put up with someone who snores like a donkey's laugh!"

Tasha fully sat up and gazed around the room. The silent hum and rumble continued. There were several other bunks and Tasha recognized members of the 403, but only a sparingly few. Out of the faces she knew personally, only Amin and one other were present. The 403 division held hundreds, while her squad had ten assigned to it.

They were in a slim room with beds extending from wall to wall. Tasha counted around thirty people present, some faces were familiar, but the majority weren't. Her bed was soft, far more comfortable than she was used to, and the smell of breakfast traveled through the air. Another thing she wasn't used to as they were usually given cold meals.

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Tasha turned back to Amin, her stomach growling, but there were more important things than that. She frowned and asked, "Where are we? I thought today we were letting go of our class."

Amin shrugged, flipping the newspaper's page. "I ain't sure—the breakfast staff won't tell us none, but if I ha' ta guess we're on'a train being transported somewhere. It looks like we passed they little test," he smirked.

Tasha's frown deepened. The slow rumbling of the train didn't do anything to dull the noise her stomach made. Amin gestured with his chin down the hall. She'd have to pass most of the rooms' inhabitants to get to where the smell of food was coming from. Strangely, she had once been nervous at the thought, but three months of a constant, hectic, brutal training regime had dulled the fear in the young woman.

In the fourth week since Tasha left home, it became obvious that the Chosen's men were testing her for something, not just her, but many other individuals. She wasn't sure what it was, but strangely, she passed whatever it was. Many had dropped out against the tough pushing of the Corporal and others. They tested Tasha and the rest through everything—intense, sleepless nights crawling through muddy waters and avoiding the creepy crawlies of the night—extreme training in which they pushed them to test out of their limits, doing simple exercises until they collapsed. As Tasha made her way to the front, these thoughts, and others, continued to pass through her mind.

Strangely, she found the exercises to be familiar, not in the movement but repetition. Although Corporal and others tried to make things difficult, Tasha easily found the repetition that they did by the fourth week. Most [Commoners] were far weaker than the average knight—hell, even an [Uncommon] guardsman was vastly superior to an [Uncommon] artisan. Their physical training had dumped a few hundred points into them by three months of intense training. And, the confidence Tasha felt in her body was unlike anything before.

It was that repetition that shared influences from her father's teachings when it came to show-making.

"Diligence is important, Tasha—Goddess Madris, Praise Her Three Faces, has taught us the patience of a warrior to strike only when the moment is right—to wait in the rain, snow, heat, carefully awaiting an enemy's mistakes. That's what it's like when carving a shoe. Some leather is tough and needs more Power to break through stressful areas. Others require a more delicate touch to ensure the leather isn't ruined by force. Using repetition, we can extend our skill to the level of those beyond [Uncommon]."

She smiled at the thought. For years, her father had her practice on cheap leather, learning this repetition and diligence. She'd had an outburst when leaving, but those skills remained a core trait of who she was.

She nodded to Jordan, the young lady in her squad. The woman's dark eyes stared at her for a moment before a small nod was sent back. She was a person of few words, and the scars and bite marks on her body told a story of prostitution and other horrors that. Tasha remembered seeing her during her first week, she remembered her lifeless eyes.

…

That was gone.

…

Nothing but a fierce determination burned in her gaze now.

Tasha saw many other faces, none of them held a distinctive marker that made them stand out from one another. Some, like Tasha, weren't the tallest but somehow found themselves here. Others like Amin were bulky brawlers who'd participated in many fights to pay for their way through life. And, although rare, a few like Jordan were here through a sheer will that not even Tasha knew could be achieved.

There was one thing they all shared in common.

…

Their eyes burned bright with determination to walk this path.

…

Their eyes burned with the desire to change their station in life.

…

Their eyes burned with the desire to… Be… Come… More.

…

Tasha received a few more nods as she passed through, and she nodded back respectfully. They weren't warriors, yet, as no combative arts had been taught to them, but they all held the rudimentary formation of a soldier's mentality. Tasha didn't think she could reintegrate with society in the same manner after her intense training. She moved past them and to the door, carefully sliding it open. The light of the outside barely passed through as she entered another train car—large blockages prevented her from seeing anything about the outside. Tasha swallowed. This wasn't her first experience with trains, as after their initial test in Laguu, they'd long since left on one. This experience was far different. There were no windows, no nothing that told them where they were headed.

Tasha wasn't scared but excited. The smell of food intensified as she entered the room. A large selection of food was propped against a wall, small heaters were placed underneath it to keep it warm. Servers came and restocked the empty containers, while chatter was heard at various tables in the cart. Tasha's eyes brightened, and the smell of warm food made her stomach rumble stronger.

"Haha, looks like another of the 400s is joining us! Come, sister, grab a plate an' join us!"

A loud, boisterous voice immediately interrupted Tasha's thoughts. She looked over to spot a lion of a man sitting down with a number of other soldiers of the Chosen's Army. Her eyes lit up—tall, dark, and handsome? He looked like a warrior from Oni-land—her favorite. Tasha didn't hesitate to grab a plate, stuffing it with assorted meats, honeyed flapjacks, and freshly cut fruit. This was a feast that she hadn't had an opportunity to enjoy in months. Tasha wouldn't hesitate to eat her fill.

The tall man pulled a chair from another table and placed it on the other side of him. His table was nearly beyond capacity, as a large majority of the inhabitants of the room sat near or close by. The moment she got settled in, she was greeted with warm smiles and the large, booming voice of the lion-like man.

"What's your name, soldier? I'm Reinhardt Orgunna, they call me [Lionheart]—it's a pleasure to see another 400 make it this far," Reinhardt boomed. "Terra, grab our new friend a beer."

A lithe woman with dark hair and blue eyes nodded, but only after rolling them while Reinhardt watched. Her hips swayed with obvious exaggerated movement, catching the attention of not just Reinhardt but other men and women in the room.

‎ Tasha cleared her throat, bringing the attention of most back to her. Her eyes had also been on Terra—three months of intense physical training had… made her miss some things. "I'm Tasha… the [Shoemaker]."

*****

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