Einherjar

13

The days began to blend together as training began. It was the same schedule, every day, except on Soldagr, which was a day of rest, a day where the recruits were allowed outside the walls of Vigrid to enjoy the sunshine of spring.

The day started with a long morning run around the walls of Vigrid and Asgard, where Blader got to stare up at the beautiful walls surrounding the city of the gods and also see the colossal, scarred trunk of Yggdrasil. It was breathtaking, which wasn't ideal seeing as Blader needed all of his breath for that run.

Breakfast was served before history class, which went over both the history of the Old and Reborn Cosmos', the most important things einherjar had to know. Blader remembered a lot of it from his years of schooling, but to see what the gods thought it important to know was interesting. There was also a section where the teacher, a female einherjar in her late fifties, talked about the Reenactment.

Sodull asked his question about Dyr Gunar first chance he got, on the first day. The teacher regarded him for a moment, eyebrow lifted, before answering. "Recruit, Dyr Gunar was deemed fit to be a recruit and the Reenactment affirmed he had the integrity needed to serve. And if you examine his service record, you will see that his five years after the Reenactment were blemish free. Only in the year leading up to the Battle of Sigra were any irregularities in his behavior noted. So no, the Dyr Gunar case does not prove the Reenactment faulty – it only proves people are."

Sodull did not look satisfied with that answer, and neither was Blader.

After history came dueling, where the recruits armed themselves with their swords and shields and practiced the art of sword fighting. A lunch break came after that, followed by survival training – learning what plants served as food and which ones were poison, how to follow a trail, whether human or animal, how to build a shelter, and other essential skills. Wolfsted excelled in survival training, which made sense with him being from Aldri.

Group maneuvers were next, allowing them to practice moving as a unit when marching or charging into battle. Horseback lessons came after survival training, and Blader always enjoyed this time of the day. It was where he could pretend he was back home on Fjorsen, helping Hilda round up the cattle. His years of riding made him one of the experts in the class.

Basic weapons training occurred after the horseback riding, where spears, axes, and bows were introduced to the recruits before the general workout. This was where the recruits were allowed to create their own workout schedule to best suit their weak points and skills, although there were certain areas in which they were required to train. A cooldown happened after the workout, which was followed by cold showers.

The short social period following dinner was the only time during the day when Blader had any time to just think. If he didn't feel like talking, he would barely listen to his friends as he let his mind wander. It never got far, however, before his attention was yanked back to the present by a question or a comment.

Their group remained the six of them, Blader, Sodull, Erik, Skalfi, Wolfsted, and Vandri. Despite their differences, they stuck together at meals and in the evening, talking about their training and asking about each other's pasts.

Wolfsted came from a large family of bounty hunters. His three older brothers and one older sister were all hunters; it was the family tradition. The Kyll family had been bounty hunters for as far back as Wolfsted could recall. He himself would have been a hunter, but he had decided the einherjar would be a better opportunity for him. Aldri was filled with the bounty hunters that crossed the border into Jotunheim to hunt among the mountains, but those same hunters also could be paid to track down elusive criminals. There was more money in the army, he told Blader.