It had been a week since Aelric first joined the trainees at Fort Talos. 5 trainees quit, and Aelric, and many others were on the verge of quitting. There was no motivation amongst the trainees except amongst Isaac, and a few others.

  Aelric stood at the brink of collapse. His legs were numb, and he was covered in his own sweat. The stamina training course included running 2 miles, non-stop, rope-climbing, and then sets of workouts. Then, they have to continue for another 2 miles, and then do a rock climb, and then run one last mile, and they would finish.

  Augustus laid down on the ground next to Aelric. Isaac stood in front of them, seemingly calm, and unphased. "Bloody hell, Isaac, how are you doing this without wasting your breath?" Aelric asked, wheezing. Isaac stretched. "This technique was passed down from generation to generation in my family. So, how you want to do it, is that you breathe in all the air you can and expel tiny amounts of it." Isaac said,

  "I don't know how, but it just helps me. Though, doing it requires heavy training, as when you start out as a beginner, it will hurt. You learn this simple technique, and you can last for hours in the most stamina demanding activities." Isaac continued, "Some of my ancestors were swordsmen, and they were relentless warriors who could fight for hours without end, as far as I know. It's not entirely perfected in our family."

  "Interesting. I'll try that during the next stamina training." Aelric said. "Terrible idea. Try it every day. That's how you really train it and get better at it." Isaac replied. Aelric glanced at Augustus, and realized he passed out. "Damn bastard passed out." Aelric sighed, a bit disappointed. He slightly kicked Augustus to see if he would wake up, but to no avail.

  A soldier arrived. "Attention, trainees! Commandant Varis requires your attendance at the stage." The soldier announced. The trainees groaned and left the area. "Hey! Isaac, help me get Augustus there." Aelric said. "No can do, you're on your own with him." Isaac chuckled as he walked away. Aelric was bamboozled, and his expression blank. "Are you serious?" Aelric asked quietly.

  By then, Isaac was already out of sight, along with the other trainees. Suddenly, he heard a voice. It wasn't a voice he heard before. He had heard everyone's voice, except for the new trainees that replaced the ones that left, but this one was unfamiliar. "Hey, if you need help, I can help." The voice was soft, and felt as if it could light up a whole room.

  Aelric turned around and faced her. "Sorry, it'd probably be weird if I didn't introduce myself. My name's Maddie. Nice to meet you, what's your name?" She asked. "O-oh, yeah. Nice to meet you too. I'm Aelric." Aelric replied. It felt as if his heartbeat stopped as he looked at her. She had brown hair that was tied back and hung down to her lower back. Her eyes were a verdant green and she had light freckles.

  "So, do you need help with carrying him? I can help." Maddie asked. "I, uh, yeah. He passed out..." Aelric said. "Yeah. Clearly." Maddie chuckled silently. She grabbed the unconscious Augustus by the heel of his boots, as Aelric reached under Augustus' shoulders, and together they lifted him up. "Goodness, he's heavy." Maddie said, her voice strained. "Yep. He sure is." Aelric said. They walked away from the area and onto a dirt road. "So, Maddie. Where are you from?" Aelric asked.

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  "Oh, I'm from a small village called Rusiti. It's actually quite pretty. I miss the place, that's for sure." Maddie said, smiling. "What about you? Where are you from?" Maddie asked. "Oh, I'm from Oakenhaven." Aelric said. "Ah. I hate that town. I've been there. The least friendly town I think I've ever been to." Maddie said.

  "Sure is. I was an outcast in that town. I still miss it." Aelric sighed, seemingly somber at this point. "Hm. That sucks." Maddie said and thought for a quick second "I was probably the most popular in my village." Maddie said. "Way to shove it in." Aelric chuckled. "Ah, sorry. Didn't realize." Maddie commented. Aelric seemed concerned. "It's alright." Aelric replied

  "Well, here we are. Let's drop him off here." Maddie said, as she gently dropped Augustus' legs onto the ground. Aelric swiftly dropped Augustus' upper half onto the ground. Maddie couldn't help but laugh. Aelric had a slight smile.

  Aelric looked back at the stage and saw a man. He had a scar on his right cheek, and had silky, white hair. Next to him stood Commandant Varis. "Attention, trainees! This is Commander Sylas Simmons. He is one of the best swordsmen in Great Eden, and the director of Fort Talos. We realize some of you may not be motivated, so he will give you a speech as to motivate you, so you all become fine soldiers." Commandant Varis said.

  Sylas stood there, his hands behind his back. He looked as if he had a serious demeanor, but something seemed somber about him, though Aelric wasn't sure why. "It's been a week since you trainees started bootcamp, and you may feel as if there is no point to keep on going." Sylas said, "But I assure you. There is. Here, you can become a soldier, and soldiers can make history. You can save people. You can change lives and become the reason others improve their lives. Be the light to the people's darkness." Sylas smiled.

  "That's why, I ask of you. Give your hearts! Become a hero to your hometown and make a name for yourself. Fight for the world of Great Eden. Be the reason that this world remains in peace and tranquility." Sylas concluded. Become a hero to your... hometown? Aelric never really had a reason to keep going, per se. He knew his reason to keep fighting.

  Become a hero to Oakenhaven. Redeem the disgraced family name of his that was wrongfully tarnished because of his great-grandfather. It felt as if he just had an epiphany. He was going to. Either that he'd become a hero to Oakenhaven, or die trying. "Ah, you made it." Isaac whispered. "Yeah, no thanks to you." Aelric groaned.

  "My bad. Was just talking to Eli and Julian. It's after this speech that every training session gets kicked up a notch and get more difficult." Isaac said. "No way. That's awful." Aelric sighed. "What's going on?" Maddie asked. "Isaac here was just telling me how this speech is supposed to mark when the training is supposed to get more difficult." Aelric replied. "What? Worried you're gonna fail?" Maddie asked. "No, just found it annoying, and mildly infuriating." Aelric said.

  Isaac nodded. Aelric looked down at Augustus. "He still hasn't woken up." Aelric said. "Yep. Well, we're going to the barracks, so I guess just lay him down in his bed." Maddie suggested.

  It must have been an hour later. Aelric laid in his bed. He honestly just set Augustus on the floor of the barracks since he didn't know where he slept, also everyone found it funny. Aelric couldn't help but think about the future.

  So, after that night. For the next 5 weeks, Aelric, and his friends, such as Isaac, Augustus, and Maddie, and some others continued through training. Finally, the last day of the 6th week arrived. The final part of bootcamp.

  Known as the most difficult part of bootcamp. Specifically designed to cull the soldiers that are the weakest. It was the Culling Trial. There would be a group of 8 trainees. The Culling Trial had 4 courses. One of them, which was definitely the easiest, was to run a mile in the full armor set that the average soldier would wear.

  The next course was to enter a field, and fight soldiers who volunteered to be actors for the course and eliminate all of them if possible. The next course would be climbing. The last and final course would be the most difficult. You'd have to fight enemy actors on a rough, mountainous terrain and free hostages, all while avoiding the actors who would fire arrows at you. Of course, they'd just bounce off.

  Once you completed the course, you'd pass, and the next week after some validating, and whatever else they have to do. You'd become an official soldier. Aelric stood in front of the stage with the other 32 trainees and was determined to do this. He hadn't spent those past weeks for nothing. This was it.

  He awaited to be put into his group as Commandant Varis began pulling out a list. This was it. He was going to pass the Culling Trial and become an official soldier. He took a deep breath, he was going to do this.