War of Dawn

Chapter 7: The Test

Hilda sleeps like a rock, snoring the night away. That is, until 02:00 when Ryouma opens her door and shakes her shoulder. Unlike before, this time he's wearing a white gi, a pair of black woolen pants and a green sash around his waist with his own katana tied to it. This sword is far more impressive than Hilda's: a white silk grip with a dragon-like adornment under the wraps, a grey square guard and a black polished scabbard decorated with the images of golden fishes.

"Wake up, Hilda," he says, prompting her to mumble something unintelligible before covering her head with her bed-sheet.

He sighs before going back into the corridor outside and opening up a nearby window – it is right above the moat that runs around Valarheim. Following a quick glyph, a wind current lifts Hilda's bed off the ground, moves out the window and, with a twist of Ryouma's hand, drops the sleeping girl into the cold water.

"Ät skit och dö din!" she yells after swimming to the surface and seeing Ryouma's smiling face over by the window.

"I tried waking you up nicely," he says, conjuring another gust of wind to bring her back up. "It's time for one last test to see if you're fit to be deployed. Go get ready and we'll head to the Hall of Soldiers."

As Ryouma pushes her back into her room soaking wet, Hilda seethes at his rude awakening. How hard would it be to murder a general...? she wonders

Running her hands across her face and mumbling a few more expletives, she changes into a dry set of clothes and shoes before grabbing her sword.

"This really couldn't wait until morning?" she asks him with a very vexed look on her face.

"Scions can be sent into the field at any time, so consider this part of your training," he answers with a nod. "Why are you so tired anyway? I ended things earlier precisely so you could conserve your energies for this."

"Greta..." she answers and Ryouma groans with sympathy.

"Oof. You did something to set her off, did you?"

"Owen and I got into a big argument and she didn't like it," Hilda says. "Three hours of nonstop work..."

"I feel your pain," Ryouma places his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, a guy there said you also had some problems with her before. What happened?" she asks, watching Ryouma's face shift into a look of pain she'd only expect to see prefacing a combat story. "At least tell me that if you're waking me up at two in the morning."

"Well, it was about ten years ago. This team I was working with had just cleared this big Valnr enclave and we felt like celebrating." he sighs. "We had a handful of pints to drink and, soon, I decided I should throw a roasted pig at this guy so he could show off his new attack."

"That sounds like a terrible idea."

"It was. There were bits of pig all over and you can be sure that Greta was not amused..." he continues, that quasi-thousand-yard stare returning to his face. "She ranted at us for an hour before making us spend another five counting grains of wheat in the storage room, on threat that we'd all be banned from the dining hall otherwise. I couldn't stand the smell of bread for an entire year after that..."

"Wow," Hilda's starting to think that she got off easy and takes a mental note to never, ever get on Greta's bad side again.

A few minutes later, they arrive at the Hall of Soldiers – the room filled with glass orbs that Hilda passed through when she first arrived in Valarheim.

"Where are we going, then?" Hilda wonders.

"You'll be accompanying me out into the field for this test but, also, there's something I want you to see out there. Now, put these on before we go," he says, handing Hilda some Alterium armor: a pair of bracers, a pauldron for her left shoulder, a simple breastplate and a pair of leggings. They're initially quite heavy and don't fit too well but that's easily fixed with some quick manipulation of the metal.