[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”Emily shivered as the boys ran ahead of her towards the middle of a grassy field where the Sergeants were waiting.She’d asked around, but all she’d been able to find out was that the Sergeants only taught one class at Whitehall and never had anything to do with anyone outside their classes.Emily couldn’t decide if that was a good sign or not, but as they came into view she had to fight down the urge to swallow hard, or to run.The first Sergeant looked thoroughly intimidating.He motioned for them to form a line as he studied them, his one good eye catching Emily’s before he looked at the next student.The Sergeant looked like a gym teacher from hell.He was easily the most muscular man Emily had ever seen.His left eye was missing, leaving burned flesh and scars that seemed to have become part of his skin and his right eye kept flickering around the field, as if he expected to be attacked at any moment.There was no hair on his head at all.The second Sergeant looked rather more reassuring.He was a short man with brown hair, a friendly face and–as far as she could tell–an undamaged body.She met his eyes and realized that, no matter what he looked like, there was a formidable personality in there just waiting to explode.“Greetings,” the first Sergeant said.“My name is Sergeant Harkin.This is Sergeant Miles.I served in the Rangers as a Pathfinder, then as a Sergeant, for twelve years; Miles served as a Combat Sorcerer for nine years.We have both fought the monstrous armies raised by the necromancers, which means, for those of you who care to understand, that we know what we’re talking about.Those of you who still think you know everything need to forget that attitude right now.“Whitehall insists that we give you all a written test.This test will have no bearing upon your potential skill as a soldier of any kind, even if you intend to try to become an officer, so we will be happy to hand out cheat sheets to anyone who wants to pass the exam with a perfect score.The reason we offer these is because the exams are not important to your success.I intend to graduate you all as potential combat sorcerers and we don’t have time to waste.”Emily heard gasps from four of the boys.They looked older than her–they were older, unless they’d advanced faster than Emily believed to be possible–and they would be coping with endless tests and exams as their studies solidified into specialties.Being told that an exam was useless.it would be a shock, even though Emily had grown up in a universe where almost all basic exams were useless.The Sergeant had merely put it into words.“There are three sections to Martial Magic: Drill, Tactics and Magical Combat,” the Sergeant continued.“Drill is where you young children learn to obey orders, and then how to keep your bodies primed for the fight.You do not want to have an unhealthy mind in an unhealthy body if you intend to follow a military career.Some of you will not be used to the concept of obeying orders.We suggest that you forget that attitude as well.You cannot be trusted to issue orders unless you first understand the need to obey them.“Tactics studies military combat and operations throughout the ages and how to apply them to the current situation.Instead of a written exam, you will be tested in the field and given practical problems to solve.We will be judging you on how quickly you adapt to a sudden change in the situation, how well your plan works when it actually encounters the enemy and how you manage to convince your classmates to follow orders.Failure need not be a problem as long as you learn from your mistakes.“Magical Combat involves magic specifically designed for military uses,” he concluded.“You may have used charms, hexes and jinxes in your earlier years; they are nothing more than jokes compared to the curses written specifically for military use.A charm intended to make a person’s clothes fall off their body is a practical joke; a curse intended to maim or kill an enemy is a lethal weapon.“As we know that you are young students, we will not move on to Magical Combat for several weeks.This is so that we can run you through Drills and Tactics and teach you little monsters how to obey orders before you start experimenting with military spells.We want you to develop the discipline to handle the spells before you blow up yourselves, your classmates or–most importantly–us.”His voice turned to ice.“This is not a place where you can horse around without consequences.The spells you will learn here are not jokes.Seeing that you are young and therefore idiotic students, the first person to misbehave in this class will be stripped naked and horsewhipped from here to the burned oak”–he pointed towards a tree in the far distance–“and back again.If that isn’t enough to deter you from misbehavior, any further examples will result in immediate expulsion from the class.This is your first and last warning.“For the first three weeks, any of you who wish to leave this class may do so without consequences.After that, anyone who leaves–either of their own accord or by being expelled–will have a disastrous effect on their squad-mates.The military is not a place for rogue assassins or lone wolves.The military is a place where you must be able to depend upon your fellows and have them depend upon you in turn.Half of the exercises we will make you do will be impossible to solve without working together.If your fellows are in trouble, help them.If you can’t think of a solution, work with them.You never know who will come up with a good idea in the field.”The Sergeant’s single eye fell on Emily and she shivered.“For those of you who are of the fairer sex, be aware that we make absolutely no distinction between boys and girls in this class.There are combat sorceresses who have been a credit to the army.They all went through the same course and passed with flying colors.None of them found it easy.If you have problems or injuries–if any of you have problems or injuries–I expect you to inform us before it becomes a major problem.You’d be surprised at just how many famous soldiers swallowed their pride in training and admitted that there was a problem.”His face twisted into an unpleasant smile.“That’s enough blather from me,” he said, pointing one finger towards the burned oak in the distance.“All of you, when I give the order, run to that oak and back here.” There was a pause.“RUN!”Emily jumped, just as the line of students broke up and started to run towards the oak.Catching herself, she ran straight towards the oak, feeling her heartbeat racing as she ran.Her entire body started to ache a moment later, as if she hadn’t run in years.and she hadn’t, apart from a handful of gym classes.The ground felt slippery and unsteady under her feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.”Emily shivered as the boys ran ahead of her towards the middle of a grassy field where the Sergeants were waiting.She’d asked around, but all she’d been able to find out was that the Sergeants only taught one class at Whitehall and never had anything to do with anyone outside their classes.Emily couldn’t decide if that was a good sign or not, but as they came into view she had to fight down the urge to swallow hard, or to run.The first Sergeant looked thoroughly intimidating.He motioned for them to form a line as he studied them, his one good eye catching Emily’s before he looked at the next student.The Sergeant looked like a gym teacher from hell.He was easily the most muscular man Emily had ever seen.His left eye was missing, leaving burned flesh and scars that seemed to have become part of his skin and his right eye kept flickering around the field, as if he expected to be attacked at any moment.There was no hair on his head at all.The second Sergeant looked rather more reassuring.He was a short man with brown hair, a friendly face and–as far as she could tell–an undamaged body.She met his eyes and realized that, no matter what he looked like, there was a formidable personality in there just waiting to explode.“Greetings,” the first Sergeant said.“My name is Sergeant Harkin.This is Sergeant Miles.I served in the Rangers as a Pathfinder, then as a Sergeant, for twelve years; Miles served as a Combat Sorcerer for nine years.We have both fought the monstrous armies raised by the necromancers, which means, for those of you who care to understand, that we know what we’re talking about.Those of you who still think you know everything need to forget that attitude right now.“Whitehall insists that we give you all a written test.This test will have no bearing upon your potential skill as a soldier of any kind, even if you intend to try to become an officer, so we will be happy to hand out cheat sheets to anyone who wants to pass the exam with a perfect score.The reason we offer these is because the exams are not important to your success.I intend to graduate you all as potential combat sorcerers and we don’t have time to waste.”Emily heard gasps from four of the boys.They looked older than her–they were older, unless they’d advanced faster than Emily believed to be possible–and they would be coping with endless tests and exams as their studies solidified into specialties.Being told that an exam was useless.it would be a shock, even though Emily had grown up in a universe where almost all basic exams were useless.The Sergeant had merely put it into words.“There are three sections to Martial Magic: Drill, Tactics and Magical Combat,” the Sergeant continued.“Drill is where you young children learn to obey orders, and then how to keep your bodies primed for the fight.You do not want to have an unhealthy mind in an unhealthy body if you intend to follow a military career.Some of you will not be used to the concept of obeying orders.We suggest that you forget that attitude as well.You cannot be trusted to issue orders unless you first understand the need to obey them.“Tactics studies military combat and operations throughout the ages and how to apply them to the current situation.Instead of a written exam, you will be tested in the field and given practical problems to solve.We will be judging you on how quickly you adapt to a sudden change in the situation, how well your plan works when it actually encounters the enemy and how you manage to convince your classmates to follow orders.Failure need not be a problem as long as you learn from your mistakes.“Magical Combat involves magic specifically designed for military uses,” he concluded.“You may have used charms, hexes and jinxes in your earlier years; they are nothing more than jokes compared to the curses written specifically for military use.A charm intended to make a person’s clothes fall off their body is a practical joke; a curse intended to maim or kill an enemy is a lethal weapon.“As we know that you are young students, we will not move on to Magical Combat for several weeks.This is so that we can run you through Drills and Tactics and teach you little monsters how to obey orders before you start experimenting with military spells.We want you to develop the discipline to handle the spells before you blow up yourselves, your classmates or–most importantly–us.”His voice turned to ice.“This is not a place where you can horse around without consequences.The spells you will learn here are not jokes.Seeing that you are young and therefore idiotic students, the first person to misbehave in this class will be stripped naked and horsewhipped from here to the burned oak”–he pointed towards a tree in the far distance–“and back again.If that isn’t enough to deter you from misbehavior, any further examples will result in immediate expulsion from the class.This is your first and last warning.“For the first three weeks, any of you who wish to leave this class may do so without consequences.After that, anyone who leaves–either of their own accord or by being expelled–will have a disastrous effect on their squad-mates.The military is not a place for rogue assassins or lone wolves.The military is a place where you must be able to depend upon your fellows and have them depend upon you in turn.Half of the exercises we will make you do will be impossible to solve without working together.If your fellows are in trouble, help them.If you can’t think of a solution, work with them.You never know who will come up with a good idea in the field.”The Sergeant’s single eye fell on Emily and she shivered.“For those of you who are of the fairer sex, be aware that we make absolutely no distinction between boys and girls in this class.There are combat sorceresses who have been a credit to the army.They all went through the same course and passed with flying colors.None of them found it easy.If you have problems or injuries–if any of you have problems or injuries–I expect you to inform us before it becomes a major problem.You’d be surprised at just how many famous soldiers swallowed their pride in training and admitted that there was a problem.”His face twisted into an unpleasant smile.“That’s enough blather from me,” he said, pointing one finger towards the burned oak in the distance.“All of you, when I give the order, run to that oak and back here.” There was a pause.“RUN!”Emily jumped, just as the line of students broke up and started to run towards the oak.Catching herself, she ran straight towards the oak, feeling her heartbeat racing as she ran.Her entire body started to ache a moment later, as if she hadn’t run in years.and she hadn’t, apart from a handful of gym classes.The ground felt slippery and unsteady under her feet [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]