Niall swiped to pull his Testimony back up. It had returned to normal and the changes section reflected his choice.

Class Evolution: Battle Militia Level 1: +5 Strength, +5 Endurance, +3 Agility, + 3 Perception. First into the fray and the last to retreat you are a pure fighter who is prepared to do whatever it takes to defend your home and your family.

Spear Level +5

Short sword Level +5

Shield Level +5

“Am I reading those right? That is a serious upgrade.”

“Do not expect to see the benefits immediately. Niall will need to train for a few days in order to consolidate his skills. Also, the Skill increases are a one-off gift from the evolution. As Niall levels the class, he will just get the increases to his Attributes. To level his Skills he will need to continue to work”

“Well anyway, now we’ve got that sorted you have to agree that I’m looking good, right Pobble?”

“It is painful to admit, but despite Niall being an unquestioned weakling when Pobble first encountered him, he has proven to have an aptitude for hard work. His efforts have paid off. It helps that Niall has Pobble as a mentor, advisor, hero and exemplar, but Niall has also helped himself in a minimal way.”

“Wait. Was that a compliment?”

“No.”

“Fair.”

“Against all the odds though, Niall actually has Attribute levels that are higher than the average person.”

“Does that mean that increases in my Attributes are going to increase more slowly now?”

“Pobble did not realise it was a race. In any event, that is not necessarily the case. The level of training that both Niall and his entire company is going through, is unusual for any militia and so they have all levelled up faster and higher than most militia ever will. Now you are in a war that should continue to bring opportunities for increasing Attribute levels as well as the associated risks.”

“Are you trying to say I, ahem, have some mad skillz now?”

“Please do not ever talk again.”

“Sorry. Honesty though, I know I’m a special snowflake, you don’t have to massage my ego.”

“I don’t think Niall appreciates how unusual this is. He has passed through Militia 10 and evolved. Not only that, but a number of your colleagues are also there, or will be there soon. The last time Pobble saw militia evolve like this was with a dwarven village. The miners had delved too deep in the wrong place and broken through into a cave complex that was the homes of several tribes of gnolls. Faced with an external enemy, the gnoll tribes stopped fighting each other and turned on the dwarves. The dwarves’ village was attacked and besieged for a year. In that crucible almost all of the militia evolved into Advanced Classes like yours, and many into Elite Classes.”

“What happened to them?”

“Oh, they were wiped out to the last child. They took a lot of the gnolls with them before the last one was killed. So that is something.”

“That’s a truly heart-warming story.”

“Well, it is just an example. In any case, it will take a stiff breeze, not just a cough, to knock you over now.”

Niall had a quick look at his full Testimony before swiping it away.

TESTIMONY: Niall Vendra

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 71

Endurance: 82

Agility: 53

Will: 47

Perception: 43

CLASSES:

Junior Smallholder 6

Apprentice Blacksmith 6

Healer 2

Hunter 6

Brawler 2

Battle Militia 1

- Short sword 18

- Spear 19

- Shield 16

- Light armour 11

- Patrolling 9

- Field Camp 7

UNALLOCATED SKILLS:

- Flow 14

- Leadership 4

- Meditation 6

- Steelmind 12

- Telepathy 1

It was deeply satisfying. All of that hard work had paid off.

“So Pobble, it looks like I owe you an apology.”

“Almost certainly. But for which particular egregious breach does Niall feel the need to be granted absolution?”

“I wasn’t in the best place when we left for this place and I took it out on you. I’m sorry. It looks like we’re going to get through this without having to fight for real.”

“Ignoring the fact that Niall has already had to fight some Bulvine ‘for real’, why does Niall think he will not have to do any more fighting?”

“We only have a few weeks left here, right? Surely we would have heard by now if we were going to have to take part in an attack.”

“That is not now the military works, Niall. There is no advance warning before there is an attack. The generals will decide, and the first the ordinary soldiers will hear of it is when arrows start to fly over.”

Niall sat upright. “What do you know?”

“Nothing specific. However, does Niall really think this force has been brought all the way out here without the intention to deploy it?”

Niall lay back down and shut his eyes again “Well as long as they don’t do it in the next couple of weeks then I’m looking forward to going home tanned, but safe.”

“Pobble has always admired Niall’s optimism.”

***

With the additional level to his Skills, Niall was itching for an opportunity to try them out. The days following his evolution he found he had to concentrate harder than usual during his training to be able to consciously manage what his body could now do; however, the results were beyond his expectations. He was able to fight for longer and he knew his blows were landing with more power. It was not just his raw increase in Attributes, it was also the extra levels that his Spear and Short Sword Skills had gained that allowed him to use those Attributes to the greatest impact.

More importantly he was able to hold his own for far longer against members of Squad 15. They could still beat him handily, but he could tell they were now pushing themselves to keep up without the use of their Spirit powered shield Skill. After seeing them use it the attack in the woods he had asked Argon about it, but all he would share was that it was the signature Skill of the Gwilish Elite Infantry and its precise details were a military secret.

Niall was taking a water break halfway through a training session when he heard Pobble speak urgently in his mind.

“Niall needs to be careful. He must not be goaded into something he will regret.” Then Pobble’s voice was gone.

Niall realised the normal chatter and laughter that accompanied the breaks had fallen silent. He stoppered his waterskin and turned around and joined everyone else to watch the figure that approached. A small part of Niall’s mind noted the figure was accompanied by the Lord Chandris and Lieutenant Bligh. The former had a genial smile on his face while the latter was scowling. Behind them walked two healers who both had grim looks on their faces.

However, all of that was in the background. To the foreground was the monster of a man they flanked. He was over seven feet tall but the rest of his body was in proportion to that height. On a family trip when he was younger, his parents had taken him and his sister to Florence in Italy. When they were there, they had gone to the Accademia and seen Michelangelo’s statue of David. Niall had not appreciated how tall the statue was and could still remember how it felt to look up at the perfection of the sculpture.

Looking at this man as he approached gave him a similar feeling. The man was dressed in what was clearly high quality, bespoke leather armour that not only left his legs and arms free, but also emphasised quite how muscled he was. At his side was strapped what was, to him, a short sword, but would be to everyone else something that required both hands to use. In his hand he hefted a spear that was taller than he was with a shaft the width of a young tree. His face was almost unnaturally handsome, but it was marred by a look of annoyance that spread across it.

Still scowling Lieutenant Bligh gestured to Sergeant Strang who immediately responded. “Militia Regiment. Patrol formation!”

By this stage it took less than a minute for all of the patrols to assemble in neat rows with the Patrol Leaders one pace in front of them.

Lieutenant Bligh started to speak as soon as they were in place. “Militia Company, may I introduce Captain Chandris, the heir to the Duchy of Lanton, who wishes to address you.”

Lord Chandris stepped forward with the smile still on his face. “Thank you so much Lieutenant Bligh, and thanks to you all as well. When the General suggested to my father and me that a militia regiment be included in this campaign, I don’t mind saying I had my doubts. However, the reports I have received suggest you have acquitted yourselves well.” His eyes flickered to Niall and away so fast that Niall almost thought that he had imagined it.

“As my father has handed responsibility for the frontier region of the duchy to me, I feel a particular responsibility towards you all. That is why I have asked my good friend, Champion Aketeon, to come to train with you today. To give you a few pointers before,” he paused and then continued smoothly, “well before you complete your militia training. I will leave you in the capable hands of your Lieutenant and the Champion.”

With that Lord Chandris took a pace backwards and gestured to Lieutenant Bligh.

The Lieutenant stepped forward with a grim look on her face. “On Captain Chandris’s order, for the rest of this training session you will be working without the 5th Light Infantry to make the most of the Champion Aketeon’s instruction. We reconvene on the training ground in five minutes. Fall out.”

As they fell out, Niall stopped as a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see Argon looking at him intensely. “Listen, Aketeon has a reputation. Don’t try to mix it up with him. If you fight him just lose as quickly as possible.”

Before Niall could say anything, Argon let go of his shoulder and walked away. Niall looked after him in confusion but then called his Patrol over.

“Listen,” he said to them. “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but Argon warned me to be careful around this Champion.”

“Well colour me shocked,” Huff said. “Any Champion could crush us like grapes. I mean look at that guy. He’s on our side and he still terrifies me.”

“I don’t think Argon was talking in the generalities, so just be careful.”

That was all that they had time to say as Sergeant Strang yelled at them to start sparring. By this stage Niall was far enough ahead of most of the other militia that he could fight them without having to give them his full attention. As he faced off against Penton he kept an eye on Aketeon. The huge Champion walked around the training field offering tips and advice to people as they fought. Niall could catch snatches of Aketeon’s deep voice rumbling across the training ground, from the little Niall could make out, the Champion was giving excellent pointers.

All in all, Aketeon appeared to be doing exactly what Lord Chandris had said he would. Reminding himself the Duke’s son was still here, Niall manoeuvred himself so he could see what Lord Chandris was doing. The young noble had retreated to under a tree and had procured what looked to be a goblet of chilled wine from somewhere. As he sipped his drink, he looked at the militia sparring against each other with a bored look on his face. Niall started to relax and focused on his own training. Despite Pobble and Argon’s warning this did not look as if it was anything other than a special training session, with the Healers simply being there due to an abundance of caution.

That hope was soon dashed when, after half an hour, the militia was called into the centre.

“Militia Regiment. Seeing as we have the Champion here, Captain Chandris has ordered we end this session with an exhibition fight between the Champion and some of the Patrol Leaders.” Lieutenant Bligh looked as if she had swallowed an insect as she spoke. “To that end, Patrol Leaders Vendra, Trintor, Velaz and Transven step forward.”

Niall could feel Pobble wanting to say something but then subsiding without doing so. He put it out of his mind but instead focussed on what was coming. As he stepped forward with Killip, Lupa and Trintor, he saw Lord Chandris put down his goblet and step closer with a look of anticipation on his face.

“The rules are simple,” Lieutenant Bligh said. “This is a fight to first blood. Conventional weapons only, no use of Elite or higher, level skills. If you get cut you have to withdraw immediately. The four Patrol Leaders will take Champion Aketeon on at the same time. The bout ends when either all the four Patrol Leaders have been cut or when they manage to open a cut on the Champion. Do you all understand?”

Niall gave a grim-faced nod that was echoed by the others, then he turned and faced the other Patrol Leaders. “Listen, to have any chance of winning we’re going to have to work together.”

“What did you have in mind, little man?” Lupa asked.

“If we spread out and attack at once from multiple directions, we have a chance of one of us landing a blow.”

“Sounds good,” Killip said. “I’ll attack from behind, Lupa and Trintor can take the flanks, you can take him head on, Vendra.”

Niall knew he was being set up but simply nodded. “Fine. Someone has to be in the front line. Just make sure you take advantage of any openings. I’m not sure I can hold him off for long.”

“Come on,” Aketeon’s voice rang out across the training ground. “I’ve got things to do.”

The four Patrol Leaders turned and walked over to the large open space that had been cleared in the centre of the field. Niall took a deep breath as took his place around twenty feet in front of the Champion.

“Begin,” Lieutenant Bligh called out.