The Fox, Red

074 - "Officer" Red Welch

5 am revelry! I'm up! I'm on the line! Staff Sergeant Wegener emerges from his office to give us the same orders I heard yesterday. Ivy gets us together for our march to the mess hall. Breakfast is a breeze and we head back to the barracks. I'm still bringing up the back being the new guy. My rack is the furthest back so I have to pass all of them. I hear Terrison bark up, "Hey! Welch! When did you have multiple tails?!"

I got so comfortable with them being magic users that I forgot my illusion spell. "Right! I had it hidden before. It was easier to just keep the one visible."

"That's cool, man. I've heard of split tails and they're pretty rare but three is almost unheard of."

I mutter, "Three?"

I look back as best I can to see one... two... three! Three! "Uh, yea. It's super rare." I try to play it off as best I can but this is new to me. What happened? How did this happen? Ivy comes up to inspect. "That's really cool. You kept these hidden until now?"

"Yea. It was easier that way."

"I'm guessing illusion magic." He pats me on the back, "That's cool stuff. I would keep that up though. You can mention it to our instructors but there are some non-magic folks on base."

I nod in agreement. I just wonder if I can keep the illusion going on two tails. I have a short while to figure this out. I get it figured out before we have to leave for morning classes. It feels weird. It's like before where I have the extra weight behind me but it moves with me. I'll have to adapt to it like before but I want to know what happened that another tail showed. The last time was with Marcus in the foyer of the manor. I tapped into that power and it seemed to bring forth the second tail. There has to be something to this.

I have more pressing matters to attend to. I follow Ivy and the others to one of the buildings where we are shuffled into a small auditorium. There are a few others already here. They all look fresh-faced like I do. They have to be here for the same training. Ivy guides me to the other side of him where he can whisper to me. "I'll try and get you caught up as we go."

"Who are these other people?"

"Some are from other squads. Some are officers learning how to teach magic users. Some are here because they are going to be getting magic users assigned to them."

He points around the room to a few who apply to each of the groups that are sitting. The door on the opposite side of the room opens and everyone stands. I jump up to match everyone else as everyone yells "Good morning, Sir!"

"As you were."

A grumpy-looking mop of a gray dog walks in. He's got a star on his collar! This guy is high ranking and he's here teaching us? "Welch, calm down. He pioneered this program but he's a humble guy."

There was no pause. The projector kicked off the lesson immediately. His voice carried across the room with ease as he started to explain an underlying theory of magical force. It sounded rather familiar. Maybe I touched on it when I was studying by myself. There are very few people taking notes during this lecture. That seems odd to me. Ivy leaned back with his arms crossed. Brant seems to be scribbling away in a notebook trying to keep up. I didn't bring anything with me. I don't know what to do other than to listen.

It's a good hour before he dismisses us to practical application. Ivy takes the lead and shows me where to go. There are a few rooms off to the side where there is another aardvark standing there waiting for us to show up. "Every group has its own practical instructor. Those that don't have magic but are learning how to deal with magical folks will oftentimes teach these portions. We have Corporal Davis today. He's a good dude."