7. Combat Training
A eden was panting and out of breath by the time he reached the open field on the west side of the campus.
His worse fears were realised when he saw that their lesson had already started.
He had been pacing the halls frantically trying to find the room where their class would be, but it seemed everyone else was already in their classes and thus he had no one to ask for directions by the time he had grabbed his bag from the dining hall.
There was no chance of sneaking in the back of the class unnoticed, as Master Storme had all of the students lined up in formation side by side as he addressed them.
It was all Aeden could do to line up next to the others and stand to attention like the rest of them. Luckily for him, Harrison was standing at the end.
“How are you late?” Harrison whispered, not moving his head or lips.
“This place is huge, and everyone was gone when I got back,” Aeden said.
He was still flustered – timekeeping was something he was precious about, and he hated not knowing where it was he needed to go.
What made it worse was that it was also Master Storme’s class, who he had a feeling wasn’t his biggest fan already.
“Harrington, glad you could join us,” Master Storme said, his hands behind his back and his chin raised. He seemed calmer and less aggressive than earlier, and Aeden felt a weight lift off him; he had anticipated a beasting.
Then Master Storme took a somewhat stricter tone. “Discipline is something I abide by more than anything else. It is something that can mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield. That is what we’re all here to train for.”
He started walking down the line of students away from Aeden as he continued to address them all collectively.
“As Supports, your numbers are already dwindled. It will take years to recover them. For this reason, your combat training needs to be more intense than any years prior. You need to know that no matter the situation you are placed in that you are equipped with the skills to fight. This class is not going to be easy. It is going to be tough. It is going to be dangerous. Some of you will die during training. I am sure you are aware of this.”
Master Storme stopped in front of a short male student that looked like a bag of bones, who stood trembling in front of him.
“You look like you’re going to piss yourself,” Master Storme said, leaning into the terrified student’s face.
“You better toughen up quick, because if you fail on the battlefield, you fail your squadron, and if you fail them . . .” He stood tall as his voice trailed off, his eyes becoming vacant for the briefest of moments as if he was tracing a distant memory.
“It can lead to more deaths than your own.”
Aeden listened intently as Master Storme started making his way down the line of students towards him. It was an encounter that he was now dreading even more than when he had been racing to find the class.
Master Storme stopped in front of him, his gaze weighing down heavy on Aeden’s shoulders. “Discipline,” he said with a growl. “This is my fundamental rule for my classes in combat training, meaning you turn up on time, and you follow instructions.” He leaned down into Aeden’s personal space.
It took all of Aeden’s concentration to keep looking forward and avoid Master Storme’s vicious gaze. He wanted the ground to swallow him up, but the best he could do now was prove Master Storme wrong, prove to him that he could be disciplined.
“And most of all,” Master Storme continued, “be wearing the right fucking clothing for class.”
Aeden’s heart sank as he looked down at his blazer jacket. He looked to his left to see the rest of his class wearing black combat pants and tops for training in. He could have kicked himself.
Master Storme continued to stare at Aeden as if he was trying to make him burst into flames. The hatred was already dripping from him, and Aeden swallowed down hard.
“Sorry, sir,” he said.
Master Storme laughed loudly and stepped away from Aeden.
“Did you hear that? Harrington here says he’s sorry.
Well, I’ll let the rest of you decide what you think of his pathetic, meaningless apology.
” He looked up and down the line of students.
“Run. You can all run around this field until Harrington gets back here in the correct clothing for class. GO!”
A collective groan came from his classmates as they all set off at once, a couple students voicing their displeasure with Aeden as they passed him.
“What are you waiting for, Harrington?” Master Storme said, his voice stern and unapologetic. His attention then returned to the students, who he started jogging behind.
“Changing rooms are in the lodgings over there,” Harrison said, pointing at a wooden hut on the other side of the field. “Please be quick.” With that, Harrison set off to join the others.
Aeden felt bad for what he had forced on the others. Seeking to make amends as quickly as he could, he set off to the wooden hut.
He nearly took it off the hinges when he burst through the door.
Out of breath and sweaty, he got undressed as fast as he could and found the last remaining pants and top hanging up on the wall.
A pair of black shoes were waiting on the floor.
He tossed his own clothes on the bench, quickly got dressed, and headed back out to the field.
The wet ground caused him to slip as he raced back towards the class. His chest was pounding as he joined up with them, waiting to meet Master Storme’s furious eyes so he knew he had returned.
“You all stop when I say stop, now that Harrington has graced us with his presence. ”
Everyone groaned disapprovingly, and Aeden felt like everyone’s eyes were burning into him with the same hatred that Master Storme seemed to reserve for him.
He had them run multiple laps of the field, not allowing anyone to fall behind.
To give the class their dues, they ran like their lives depended on it, all of them wearing tired and pained expressions as each of them looked ready to throw up at any moment.
Master Storme, however, seemed to be relishing the situation; a wild grin was plastered to his face as he ran at a steady pace behind everyone else.
Aeden’s legs were burning and heavy as the students continued to run through the wet grass, which was becoming muddier and muddier as they ran their circuit.
He knew he had a good level of fitness compared to rest of the Supports, but he chose to remain around the centre of the group, a short distance behind Harrison, as they continued their punishment.
Vivienne was at the front of everyone else, while Serene, Aiden noted, was towards the back of the group.
“That will do,” Master Storme shouted as they completed what Aeden counted as their sixth lap of the open field.
The run had given Aeden the chance to observe what looked like a large wooden obstacle course in the centre of the field.
Looking at its sheer size was intimidating enough, and that was before he noticed the spiked tracks that he could make out from this distance.
He was not looking forward to getting up close and personal with that.
The class stopped their run, and nearly everyone folded over in half as they stretched and collectively heaved. One or two of the students started throwing up.
Master Storme stood with his hands on his hips, watching over the class and shaking his head disapprovingly. “You think we’re done?” He laughed. “That was just the warm-up.”
The look of horror on the rest of the students’ faces was apparent, and Aeden felt even worse than he already did. Was all this really because of him, for Master Storme to prove a point about discipline?
“Everyone on the floor where you are,” Master Storme demanded.
He watched as everyone got into position and started doing push-ups. The ground was cold against Aeden’s hands, but he couldn’t show weakness. He had to prove that he was physically strong enough, that he could survive the bonding ceremony.
By the time they were done, Aeden’s arms were trembling and weak, and he had lost count of how many push-ups he had done.
“That will do. Everyone take a rest.”
All of his classmates collapsed onto the floor, exhausted from their exercise.
“Except Harrington,” Master Storme said. “I’d say you have a little catching up to do. Say, two more laps and fifty more push-ups.”
“Yes, sir.” Aeden jumped to his feet and set off for the laps without complaint.
Digging deep, he pushed as hard as he could.
It was only a few more laps and then he would be done.
He had to show Master Storme that he was up to the training.
The last thing he wanted was to fail at the academy, especially in the first week.
That wouldn’t help with his plan, and he had spent too long preparing to get to this point.
As he reached the far side of the field, he felt a strange sensation come over him – an emptiness, like he was completely alone in a darkened room with no escape. It was instantly overwhelming, and his legs gave way underneath him.
It was the same feeling he had felt when he connected to the weave for the first time. He wanted all of this to end. He wanted to be with his family. He wanted to feel safe, but he felt anything but that.
Aeden couldn’t focus as his hands slammed into the ground.
He looked around him, trying to identify the source of this sensation.
It was a strange energy that he couldn’t fully understand or explain.
It was like a piece of rope had been cast around him and was pulling him towards something.
The feeling made his stomach lurch, like it was physically pulling at his insides, as if the flood gates had opened to release a wave of emotions that weren’t his own.
Looking around him, Aeden noticed the students watching on, wondering what he was doing. Master Storme was standing with his arms folded across his chest, looking less than impressed.
Then Aeden glanced the other way, towards the far side of the field that led to a forest. The trees were tall and lined up uniformly along the outer edge of the field’s boundaries.
More than anything, Aeden felt a compulsion to charge into the trees, to search for the source of this sensation he was feeling.
It was like a primal urge had overcome him.
With trembling arms, he pushed himself up from the ground and started running again, fighting against the urge and making his way back to the others. He glanced over his shoulder one last time at the forest as the knot in his stomach slowly lessened.
“Welcome back, Harrington,” Master Storme goaded .
Aeden trudged past him, his legs almost collapsing again as he finished. Determined not to be broken, he dropped to his knees and began his remaining push-ups right in front of the teacher.
When he counted towards thirty, he didn’t think he had anything left to give. This had been brutal, but he was determined to keep going, despite the voices in his head telling him to stop.
“That will do, Harrington,” Master Storme said.
But Aeden ignored him and kept going; he had said fifty, and that meant he was going to do fifty.
His body desperately wanted to quit, his legs and arms burning, trembling as he fought to complete his punishment.
He could feel everyone’s eyes burning into him.
They wanted him to fail as recompense for them having to do laps because of his mistake.
Master Storme had done a brilliant job at making him feel isolated from the rest of his peers.
Still, Aeden felt he had a point to prove, not just to himself but to Master Storme, too.
“Ready to give in?” Master Storme said. “If you want to quit, that’s fine. It’s best that I know who’s strong enough for the training now, rather than wasting my time with you only to watch you fail when it comes to the bonding ceremony.”
Aeden knew that he was baiting him; Master Storme wanted him to fail, and that gave him all the motivation he needed. He was not going to fail at the first hurdle.
His push-ups were so low to the ground that he could smell the sodden earth underneath him. His lungs heaved as he tried and failed to control his breathing.
He would never be late or dressed inappropriately for training again .
When he finished the push-ups, Aeden climbed back to his feet, fighting the nausea that was forcing its way through his body.
“Consider lesson number one taught,” Master Storme said.
“I am not here to make friends, and I do not give two shits whether you like me or not. My job is to make sure your combat skills are in line with academy standards. These next few weeks are going to be some of the most brutal that you’ve ever experienced.
Consider this a warm-up.” A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
There was a sinister look to him that made Aeden question how he ended up being at the academy.
Why would he want to be here if he hated the students so much?
“Now, shall we get started on the next part of your lesson today?” Master Storme turned around to face the large open field behind him that they had all just been lapping. Looking over his shoulder towards the students, Master Storme said, “Who is ready to see an Aer-Kin?”