Chapter 311 - Special Training

Reivyn stepped up to the edge of the small hill he was standing on, the squad of soldiers training to act as a special unit standing behind him. He glanced over what he could see before turning around to address the mercenaries.

“Alright, step up to the edge, look over the surroundings for one minute, and then sit down and draw a map,” Reivyn ordered. “The map should include the terrain we’ve traversed to reach here as well as everything you can see. Include as much detail as you can, but you only have five minutes to draw the map.”

Setting a time limit on drawing the map was semi-arbitrary. He didn’t want to get bogged down on one thing for too long while outside the camp, but he also wanted to instill a sense of urgency in the squad’s actions. Everything he made them do, he didn’t give them enough time to complete satisfactorily. Sometimes some of the squad members had enough Skill in a task to do so, but for the most part, he was intentionally handicapping their abilities.

There was a sense of growing frustration among the mercenaries as they never got the sense of accomplishment from completing a task, but it was paying dividends. Their Skills were growing much faster than he had anticipated.

Reivyn stepped back from the edge to allow the mercenaries room to survey the surrounding terrain. He glanced back where they had come from, the camp unseen behind more hills and trees. They still had a week’s worth of Marching to cover the distance to the front lines of the conflict, so he was taking advantage of not having to worry about being ambushed by enemy patrols.

Reivyn had stood back from the overall command of the Mercenary Company since the very beginning. He kept up to date with the orders the company received and the commander’s intent, of course, but he didn’t interfere or offer any advice to the captain. He was focused solely on the special squad he was nurturing.

After the success of unlocking Hiding with their game of Hide and Seek, Reivyn had given the additional training over to Teilon as he helped more and more of the mercenaries unlock the Skill. The two of them had worked in tandem to isolate the mercenaries with the highest talent towards clandestine Skills over the course of a couple of weeks.

With the huge influx of allies to the kingdom, it took time to coordinate everything and get their orders. They had been camped outside the local capital city for over a week before they were ever told where they were headed and what their mission would be.

Captain Caivel had continued to coordinate with General Makvaun and the others, too. There was some jockeying for position on where each unit would be sent, and General Makvaun did a pretty good job, in Reivyn’s opinion, of securing the right people for the right spots. Some of the regular army officers from some of the allied kingdoms were definitely overestimating their soldiers’ capabilities, but General Makvaun kept them reined in with practicality. There was still a bit of disparity between assignments as the Adventurer Mercenary Companies, the Wispan Mercenary Corps notwithstanding, were assigned to lesser roles.

Reivyn didn’t disagree with the assignments. The other mercenaries would need to prove themselves capable before given more responsibility, though Reivyn was also skeptical of most of the regular armies, too. None of them were veteran units, as far as he could tell, and he could only base his judgment on their discipline and leadership.

Reivyn and Teilon had eventually sifted through all the mercenaries and handpicked those with the appropriate aptitudes. They assembled a squad of fifteen mercenaries. Some of the squads in the company lost more than one member, but it was pretty even across the board, and some others were shuffled around to make up for it. Overall, scrapping together the squad hadn’t negatively impacted any of the platoons in any meaningful way.

Reivyn turned back and watched the special squad sketch their maps hurriedly. Reivyn noted Brinaeth scrabbling at her parchment. She was among the best at remaining inconspicuous and going unnoticed, but she lagged behind the others in standup fighting. That was fine, though, as Reivyn wasn’t planning to use them for that kind of combat.

When they did mock exercises where Ambushes were used, though, she stood out. If she could get the drop on her opponents, she could take two or three at a time, easily, even if she could hardly hold her own in a straight one-on-one spar. She was once again on a short list in Reivyn’s mind, this time for Squad Leader.

Competence breeds respect, and respect breeds loyalty, Reivyn contemplated. The others respect her, but we’ll have to see whether or not she has any flair for leadership.

There were a couple of other prospects he had in mind. They weren’t quite as competent as Brinaeth, but they weren’t too far behind her. If they showed more leadership qualities over the coming weeks, he would have to pick the best fit for the position. Just being the best wasn’t good enough when you were in charge of others.

“Stop!” Reivyn commanded.

The Special Squad members immediately stopped making their maps. Reivyn could feel the frustration on some of them, but most had started to resign themselves to his shenanigans. They had learned early that when he said stop, he meant it. Nobody had made the mistake of trying to squeeze just a little bit extra in when the time was over after the first incident.

Reivyn hadn’t physically punished them or anything like that. He had simply given them over to Refix and exercised them into the dirt, and that was only the beginning of the “training session.”

“Line up and show them to me,” Reivyn ordered.

The mercenaries quickly formed a line and stepped forward, offering the parchment to Reivyn one at a time. He could scan them all instantly if he wanted to, but he was keeping his Divine Sense to himself.

He looked over the first map handed to him. It was crudely drawn, but he could at least understand it. He nodded and handed it back to the man. He continued checking each map, not giving any word of praise or criticism as he did so. To be honest, none of them were that well done, but they all accomplished the task he had given them.

Reivyn stared at the assembled squad for several long seconds. He kept his gaze focused on them until he started Sensing the first nervous twitches of their muscles. Reivyn finally nodded his head.

“You all need work, but you accomplished the mission,” Reivyn said. “When we get back to camp, go to your tents and refine your maps. Having accurate maps will be incredibly important at all times when we’re operating away from any form of support or behind enemy lines.

“Going forward, I want all of you to try and hold a mental map in your mind throughout the day. Each evening, before going to sleep, you are to update your maps to include the new information. I will check the final maps when we arrive at our destination.

“Let’s head back to camp.”

—

“Close your eyes,” Reivyn ordered the Special Unit. “Place your hand on the shoulder of the mercenary in front of you. I’ll lead you in.”

He guided the first man forward. He led them into an open area where dozens of other mercenaries were milling about.

“Open your eyes,” he commanded after having them lined up.

The Special Squad opened their eyes and quickly surveyed everything around them. Reivyn gave them five seconds.

“Close your eyes!” Reivyn turned to the officer overseeing the mercenaries standing around. “Thanks. Get your men out of here. Quickly.”

The other mercenaries immediately began filing away under the orders of the officer and his NCO’s. In only a few seconds, they had emptied the open area back to their own tents.

“Alright, you can open your eyes again,” Reivyn said. “Take out your notebooks.”

Reivyn waited for them to retrieve their papers and writing tools. They stood ready with pens to paper, waiting for Reivyn’s next command.

“To the best of your abilities, record how many people were just here,” Reivyn said. “I want you to put down how many were equipped with spears. How many had swords. How many had other types of weapons, and what were those weapons. What about shields and armor? Who were the NCOs and officers? Who was the highest Level?

“What was the layout of the surrounding tents? How many tents were there? What about campfires? What was the best way to approach the group or flee from them?

“I want you to recall everything you can about the group and record everything to the smallest detail you can. You have five minutes.”

Once again Reivyn gave them a difficult task. They had only had a few seconds to even look at what was in front of them, and now they had a short time to list everything possible from memory.

Reivyn needed the Special Unit mercenaries to be able to make snap decisions. They had to be able to survey a situation and make the appropriate decisions instantly. There would be no time to contemplate and formulate plans in some situations, and when there was time for that, it was his job to do so.

Reivyn knew exactly how many mercenaries there had been. He knew all the details that he had asked of the Special Unit. Other than training them to take all the information in as quickly and accurately as possible, Reivyn also wanted to see if anyone included additional details he hadn’t asked about.

“Stop! Line up and show me what you have.”

The mercenaries lined up and handed the reports over one at a time. Reivyn quickly scanned through the writings, gratified that they were all at least approximately close to the actual numbers. Nobody got the exact right number correct, but approximations were acceptable.

Reivyn perused the last list and handed it back to the mercenary.

“Good enough, for now,” he said. “We’ll work on it. Everyone got the rough number of people in the group, but noticing the smaller details, like weapons and who the leaders were, was lacking a bit.”

For the first time testing the mercenaries in this way, Reivyn was happy with the results. They could build on the foundation and increase their ability to quickly assess situations. He would have been discouraged if they hadn’t been able to even get the rough number of people down.

—

Reivyn held his hands up as he and Kefira walked toward the closed gate of the city wall. Several men stared down at them from the ramparts, holding bows ready to be brought up at a moment’s notice.

“State your business!” One of the soldiers called down from above.

“I’m Major Reivyn, with the Wispan Mercenary Corps. We’re with the reinforcements arriving in a couple of days,” Reivyn called up. “We came ahead of the main force to discuss something with the commander. I have a copy of our orders and authentication here.”

Reivyn held up a scroll for the soldiers to see.

“One moment!”

The soldiers bent their heads together to discuss the situation. One of them ran off after a moment, and Reivyn continued to wait patiently. The man must have run to report to the leadership as a moment later, the portcullis raised and a squad of soldiers approached them.

One of them was clearly a higher rank than the others, his armor a bit more fancy, and he held out a hand toward Reivyn. Reivyn held the scroll out to the man who accepted it. He unfurled it, read it, and then produced something from his pocket that he scanned over the paper.

The man looked up at Reivyn, scanning him from head to toe, before nodding his head and handing the scroll back to him.

“Welcome to Fort Diagris,” the man said. “The commander can be found in the main building.”

“Thank you…” Reivyn trailed off.

“Lieutenant Ofham,” the man replied.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Reivyn stored the scroll in his storage pouch. He shared a look with Kefira, and the two entered the fort under the watch of the guarding soldiers. The squad followed them in, the portcullis closing behind them.

Reivyn and Kefira walked through the shadow of the tunnel. Reivyn noted the murder holes spaced across the stones all along the sides and tops of the tunnel as they walked through the wall. The fort’s walls were much sturdier and suited for war than any of the other walls around cities Reivyn had seen. This was clearly not a civilian town or city with a military contingent attached to it.

The fort was located on a flat plane carved out of the side of a mountain, sitting overlooking a cliff. The direction Reivyn had arrived from was only slightly lower in elevation with a gentle rise leading up to the fort walls, but the other side was a sheer cliff with a river and untamed forests down below.

The fort was placed in an incredibly strategic position, though guessing from the age of the fort that Reivyn could see, it was a happy accident. Once stepping through the long tunnel, Reivyn could see that there was a mine leading into the mountain itself, and he had heard that there was a Dungeon located within the mine.

They had gotten incredibly lucky with the location of the mine and Dungeon, and now they had a solid fortification overlooking a valley below with the ability to project their force to multiple routes at any given time. Reivyn nodded his head in appreciation of the setup.

“It looks like our deployment is going to be relatively safe this time around,” Reivyn commented. “The enemy forces will have a hard time pushing us out of this defensive position; Only if they breach the line elsewhere and circle back.”

Kefira simply nodded along. She could easily see what he was talking about, even without any expertise in warfare. The interior of the fort was mostly open space. There were barracks and other living spaces for miners and people visiting to delve the Dungeon. Reivyn spotted armories and other buildings he assumed served some sort of military purpose. There were no individual houses for families or the like. The officers probably had suites in the main building abutting the mountain.

The main building had a stereotypical castle design, though it was built into the mountain. There were additional fortifications above protecting the fort from either monsters coming down the mountain, or now that there was an invasion, enemy forces trying to descend.

Reivyn could see how it would be possible, and he would probably try to do so himself if he was tasked with taking the fort. The side of the mountain the fort was carved into was sheer for several hundred yards up into the sky. It would be easy to repel down, though it would be hard to defend oneself if they were discovered in the act. The hardest part would be getting enough people to the top of the mountain undiscovered.

Reivyn didn’t know what the terrain looked like on the other side of the mountain, but it was a solitary figure standing out in the land. It wasn’t a range that could be ascended elsewhere and traversed under cover. A simple lookout observing the cliff face and other side of the mountain would be all that was needed. There might even be a guard post on top of the mountain for all Reivyn knew.

That’s what I would do, Reivyn thought. It makes sense for the fort and castle to be where it is instead of the top of the mountain, considering the logistics and shape of the terrain, but to ignore putting lookouts up there in a time of war would be criminal.

He would find out eventually, but it didn’t really matter for his purposes, anyway. He wasn’t going to be tasked with commanding the establishment or be in charge of any of its defense.

“It’s actually quite picturesque,” Kefira noted, admiring the beauty of the fort and mountain. The gray stone of the mountain and fortifications contrasted well against the greenery of the forests surrounding it. Reivyn imagined the view was quite something from the very top.

“Yeah, it is,” Reivyn nodded along. “Kind of reminds me of our time climbing the Dagger Mountain. This is nowhere near as tall, but there are some similarities.” They shared a smile at the shared memory.

The two entered the castle after once again showing their copy of the orders. They were directed to the main office straight ahead. If it had been an actual castle, the main office would have been where the throne room would have been in Reivyn’s imagination. Instead, the interior of the castle was actually akin to a regular headquarters building. It was just the fortified nature and aesthetic that gave it the look of a castle.

The commander’s aide was sitting at a desk in front of the office. He looked up at Reivyn and Kefira’s approach.

“Yes? What can I do for you?” The man asked.

Reivyn once more handed over the scroll.

“Major Reivyn of the Wispan Mercenary Corps. I apologize for the abrupt nature of the visit, but I would request a quick meeting with the fort commander.”

The aide perused the orders, verified the authenticity once more, and then nodded his head.

“If you’ll wait just one moment.”

The man knocked once on the door and slipped through, barely opening it without a sound. After a brief moment, he opened the door fully and motioned for Reivyn and Kefira to step into the office. He closed the door behind them as he resumed his seat at his own desk on the outside.

“Major Reivyn,” the fort commander stood and walked around his own desk to hold his hand out for Reivyn to shake. Reivyn gripped the man’s hand and gave a quick pump. “I was informed the commander of the Mercenary Company was a man by the name of Captain Caivel.”

“That’s correct,” Reivyn confirmed. “He’s one of the company commanders and my subordinate. I’m here on a different mission, and I’m not in command. I am attached to the company, though, so you will have my services as a mercenary at your disposal.”

“I see, and what, exactly, is your ‘mission?’”

“I’m putting together a Special Unit within my Mercenary Corps,” Reivyn explained. “They’re going to handle missions such as spying, mapping, disrupting enemy supplies. Things to hinder the enemy aside from stand-up combat.

“In fact, that’s the reason for my arrival a few days ahead of the rest of the company. I’ve been training them in various clandestine operations as we’ve been traveling here, and I thought it would be a good final exercise, a test if you will, for them to infiltrate the fort on their own, unnoticed.

“For that, I would obviously need your cooperation. I wouldn’t assign them such a task without your permission.”

The fort commander leaned back against his desk and stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“Hmmm, that sounds interesting. Explain some more, and we’ll see if we can come to some sort of agreement on this training operation. It would be good for my men, as well, to get some experience looking out for infiltrators.”

Reivyn’s eyes gleamed at the response.

“Yes, mutual benefit would be optimal.”

Kefira made herself comfortable in one of the chairs, temporarily ignored by the other two as they discussed the role of the Special Unit and the plans for the test exercise.