Nearly two weeks passed with a routine setting in. Gregory let each squad rotate through the obstacle course twice. The men progressed with their naginata training on the third day, getting through the stances. Gregory then started them on the katas, which sent them right back into struggling to progress. None of the men complained, though; they kept pushing forward to improve.
Gregory was making improvements in his horseback riding, as well. He felt marginally better in the saddle, and his thighs weren’t always so sore afterward. Happily, he hadn’t fallen off the placid mare, but he had no idea how Davis handled the more spirited stallion.
~*~*~
With the Peaceful Fist done, Gregory looked over his unit of guards with a bright smile. “You’ve all made me proud. The work you put in before I was here helped ease my fears of this year. Since I’ve taken command, your dedication to learning and improving has been awe-inspiring. I know you all want to get more proficient with the naginata, and we’ll work on that, but today, none of us will be training that way. I’m sure your sergeants told you that we’d be running the course as a full unit? You’ve all run it twice, while myself, Lieutenant Williams, and Captain Willof have not run it at all. We’re correcting that now.”
He could see the questions, but paused to let them ponder for a moment.
“All of us are going over to the course. The three senior officers will run it once as a group. Then, the full unit— minus Captain Willof— will run it until the cooks need to stop to prepare dinner.”
The surprise was clear on everyone’s faces except Willof, Davis, and Gregory. Even the sergeants hadn’t heard of the wrinkle, but Gregory had warned the other two about it last night.
“We’re your commanding officers, but we have to be as capable as you if things go badly. We cannot let training go by without us. However, with all we are responsible for, Lieutenant Williams and I will only run it with the entire unit after today. Sergeants, get the men moving. I know there’s a spot where the course is visible. Oh, and I won’t be using foresight to help me, so don’t be surprised when I fail just like some of you do. Just keep the laughter to a dull roar.”
The men were even more shocked that he would fail, much less be okay if they ended up laughing at his blunders. When the sergeants called them to march, they moved in sync, marching away from the communal area.
“That was very generous,” Willof said softly. “You might be teaching them bad habits. Laughing at magi can get them killed most of the time.”
“He’s right,” Davis added. “I doubt the men will laugh, but it’s not safe to let them think it’s always acceptable.”
“Have a word with the sergeants. Let them put the damper on it,” Gregory said.
“Yes, sir,” Davis said.
“You don’t have a water hazard, but they go stagnant without a water magi on hand,” Willof said as the three of them trailed the men. “It was a good choice to forgo one.”
“Don’t need them getting sick. There’s a spot where it’s clearly marked as a water pit they would have to wade through. The sergeants made sure the men understood that it means moving at a very slow walk when going through it,” Davis said. “The men were just as happy to not have it actually filled with water. The first time through the course, the sergeants stood by it, yelling at them to remind them. They don’t have to do that anymore.”
“The goal is to reach the end as fast as possible. If you fail any obstacle, you get penalized, correct?” Gregory asked to verify that he remembered.
“Yes. The sergeant is responsible for keeping track.”
“I’ll take care of that for us,” Gregory said. “I can keep count easily enough while running.”
“Better for me. I always lose count and have to guess, normally adding time to compensate.”
“The academy has a timekeeper for the tournament,” Willof said before grimacing.
“We knew the course would be included, so it’s not a surprise,” Gregory said to soften the man’s disappointment to let the comment slip.
“He’s right,” Davis added.
“Thank you, but it was an error on my part. One can’t improve if they can’t admit their faults.”
“Fair enough,” Gregory agreed.
~*~*~
The course went around the back of a ridge. It gave anyone on the high ground a good view, but otherwise obscured it from being seen by the camp. Gregory had checked on it the day it was completed; stakes with ropes defined the path for those running, which helped lead them in the right direction. The square-mile of land had enough potential paths that no run would be the same day to day.
“They’ve been changing it up every night, just like you wanted,” Davis said as the trio of officers came around the ridge. “It started a kind of… competition between them to find the most challenging layout for the squad to do the next day.”
“Which changes depending on who that squad is,” Willof said.
“Start deviating who follows who for the course,” Gregory said. “This way, no one can feel like the squad in front of them had it out for them. That’ll work if the sergeants don’t tell their men who follows them, so put a bug in their ear to keep it quiet.”
“Can do, sir,” Davis nodded as they approached the entrance to the course. “How are we doing this?”
“You’re the lead, as I’ve never run an obstacle course before. I’ll just copy you. Willof, can you follow me to correct as needed?”
“I can do that,” Willof said.
“Got it,” Davis agreed. “Just hold your hand up when ready. Once we all signal the sergeants, one of them will call us to begin.”
Stopping at the clearly marked entrance, Gregory looked over the course. Taking a slow breath, he knew he could do it easily if he used his aether, but that wouldn’t challenge him, nor help him learn and grow— it’d be a crutch. It was the same reason he didn’t use it when he played Empire’s Gambit. Davis and Willof raised their hands beside him and, after another slow breath, Gregory did the same.
“Begin!” Bunson shouted.
Davis was off the mark, running as fast as he could with his head up. Gregory was a second behind him, but he wasn’t running as fast as he could, because that would make him faster than Davis. The first branch came up and they were shunted to the right where a series of platforms were set for them to jump across.
Davis made it look effortless, and Gregory made a mental note to make the men do this with their gear after their trip to Grakle. If the course was part of the tournament at the end of the year, it would be best to prepare for it now. Gregory got a good look at the three-foot drop beside the platforms; they gave just enough space for a person to land, then jump again.
Gregory almost missed the last jump to finish the obstacle when a memory came back to him. It was a memory that wasn’t his, or at least not from this life. Dozens of men in full armor were running a similar— but much more elaborate— course. The platform jump was similar, but made of wood. One was canted at slight angles to make it harder, with the other being a teeter-totter. He was able to shake the memory off as he landed to clear the obstacle, sprinting after Davis.
Gregory saw the next bit coming and was curious about it. Luckily, he had Davis to show him what he was meant to do. The two-foot wooden walls had to be jumped at a run. If he’d slowed down, he could’ve just stepped over them, but that defeated the purpose of speed. If they’d had any full dwarves in the unit, the walls would’ve been a bigger challenge. It wasn’t difficult for him once he knew what to do— he could clear them with ease.
A small sprint after the walls had Davis diving to the ground. Gregory hesitated, then did the same when he saw the black dyed ropes just in front of him. He crawled after Davis on his knees, then down to his belly. Scrambling back to his feet on the far side, he was grinning; he had to admit that he was having fun.
The course kept going for a few more obstacles before the three of them finished the run. Gregory felt fine, but he saw the other two sucking down air, clearly winded. The exit to the course was close to the start, which was good for repeated runs.
“Thirty-three minutes and forty-two seconds,” Gregory said. “No idea how that compares to the others.”
“We didn’t have any fails, so no penalties,” Willof panted.
“I think the fastest is currently thirty-one minutes, sixteen seconds,” Davis grunted out. “Glasson’s squad did that yesterday.”
Gregory turned to the ridge, waving the men down. “Well, now that I’ve experienced it, let’s do it with everyone.”
“We normally give a break between to catch our breath,” Davis said, still catching his.
“You have time. They’re just starting this way. After each run as a unit, we’ll send a man from each squad to change the route. They’ll each get a choice, starting from the end all the way back to the start. That will help keep things fresh.”
“Good plan,” Willof said. “And doing it that way means the course has a clear start and end. I’ve seen people forget that it’s all connected. They’d change the start and it didn’t connect back to the rest.”
“Starting a maze at the end is always easiest,” Davis said, able to breathe easier. “I’d like to request that we all run it once a week, sir. I’ve realized that I’m a little more out of shape than I expected.”
“I wanted to, anyway. Willof, are you going to run with us or observe?”
“I’ll run today and observe later at times. I need an overview for my reports.”
“Understood. I hope they put the wall in when they change the route next. It’ll be the only use I get out of that bed.”
The other two laughed at his joke, then looked at the twenty-foot-tall wooden wall that was part of the course. The bed was set behind it so the men could leap off the wall onto a softer landing area.
~*~*~
The men were in good spirits at the end of the day. They’d had problems during the runs, but nothing serious. When one of them went down with a twisted ankle, Gregory had the others help him to the end before making a stretcher and carrying him through it once.
Willof had explained it was just like pulling a wounded man out of a fight so he could be seen by a medic. That stopped any grumbles that could’ve happened, as the men understood that training for the worst was to their benefit. The only man who was upset by it was the one who’d been injured.
Dinner was well received, and the men were informed that the schedule would now be a set rotation. They would spend five days with one of the squads on the course while the others trained the naginata. Day six would be for all of them to work on the naginata as a whole unit, and day seven was for the unit to run the course.
It was when Gregory was meeting with the sergeants that he had a question for them: “Davis, Willof, is it possible to have another non-guard attached to the unit, like the boys?”
“Depends on what you want them for and if we can afford it, sir,” Davis answered. He’d come to understand that being direct with Gregory was okay.
“I was thinking of a dedicated cook. That would stop the men from rotating the duty and give them more time to train. If possible, I’d like it to be someone who could stay with us when we leave the area.”
“My men would love to not have to cook again,” Milton said.
“Agreed,” Bunson grunted, “but can we afford it?”
Davis considered it for a moment. “I can ask around, but it probably won’t be before our first trip to Grakle.”
“I’ll want to meet them before we hire them, but start the process,” Gregory said. “We’ll go over the accounts tomorrow to see what we have to work with.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That was my only question. Anyone else, or are we good for cards?”
“Cards,” was the resounding answer.
