"Ugh, dammit," I couldn't help but mutter in response to the slight headache, even as a hand gently yet firmly held me down and prevented me from getting up from the thinly covered bed I was laying on.

  The elf seated next to me had a confused look on his face, even as he asked me something, before calling for the guy who spoke beastkin. Well, when I say 'spoke' I was being generous. The guy only knew about twenty words.

  Still, it was enough to get the point across.

  "Water?" asked Olid, I think his name was.

  "Water, and food," I replied slowly, miming eating something as he nodded and quickly brought over a plate filled with various cuts of meat, roasted till they were almost burnt, but I wasn't in any condition to complain, as he helped me sit up, leaning back against the headboard. With a plate of food in front of me, and my hunger making itself known, I started out taking small bites until I gradually ate more and more until I practically inhaled whatever was before me.

  Once I had finished sating myself with a large gulp of water, the interrogation began, or at least tried to begin, as I heard my name used repeatedly with lost of questioning tones thrown around.

  Thankfully, I couldn't understand any of it so I wouldn't have to explain anything. I never thought I'd be grateful for a language barrier, but hey, sometimes things just work out like that.

  Finally, once it became clear they wouldn't get answers right now, I was left alone to recuperate...and for me to bask in the fact that my space affinity was finally unleashed, and I could feel its passive effects already.

  For starters, I could feel everything within a few inches around me, a spatial sense. The moisture in the air, the wood used in the bedframe, even the movement of essence. I was aware of it all in a way that was difficult to describe, like I had just acquired a new limb and was only know figuring out how it worked.

  My musings were cut short as the leader arrived, her sorrow unmasked and clearly visible on her face, as she slowly helped me up and guided me back to the place where they induced my spatial affinity into being.

  Olid was there to provide answers, thankfully, acting out everything as he said it, leaving me to gather any meaning that I could from him.

  "Rhaaj, warrior, house."

  ...okay, what?

  Rhaaj warrior house. Warrior house...barracks? Now?! Are you serious!

  My expression at least indicated that I had some form of understanding and they all nodded or waved at me, as I felt a familiar sensation take hold of me, but that I could appreciate in a far better manner now that I had the ability to properly sense what was going on.

  I was being teleported, only now, my space affinity let me feel what was happening along the way. It was...astounding, feeling the connection to the invisible yet ubiquitous element that surrounded me...that surrounded everything. Even if I could feel what was happening, though, I still didn't have the knowledge to understand the process.

  The closest thing I could equate it to was falling down a tunnel without gravity pulling you down.

  I was whisked away and just as quickly returned to solid ground. As soon as I landed, I heard a rough voice shout in beastkin, "Out of the way boy!" Believing whoever spoke was talking to me, I quickly walked towards an empty corner in the room I found myself in, one that was filled with people moving from one place to another. People of all races were present, going about their day in a way that only seemed to add to the chaos of the area.

  Small hand-sized formations on the wall lit up and dimmed down as the people beside them jotted down words before handing them off to couriers who snatched them all and stuffed them into a satchel before they ran out of sight with the sheaf of papers. Other teleportation formations in the room saw constant use, as people and packages were sent to and fro, with everyone following some kind of order that prevented any accidents from happening.

  "You, over there, why are you here?" a tall human man in dented plate armor shouted at me, the same one who yelled at me earlier, judging by his voice. I walked towards him, assuming he was in charge here, while trying not to interfere with the flow of people moving around.

  "Uh, my name's Rhaaj. I was recruited by the Aschel family as one of their elites," I said. "Some kind of elite recruitment program?"

  "Aschel? Isn't that one of the elven lords? Why is a human fighting under a --? No, it doesn't matter. We need every body we can get. Bastards are getting smarter by the day."

  "Right...sir," I replied.

  "For now, just stay put. I'll send a runner to the command tent to ask about your situation. Actually," he paused, giving me a scrutinizing glance, "you're a mage, right?"

  "Yes, sir." I replied.

  "You know anything about enchantments, formations, runes?"

  "No sir."

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  "Shame, the formations need maintenance every so often and while there's less glory in the rear, there's less of all that death and destruction going around, am I right?"

  "Yes sir." Did this guy just try and sideline me? And was he doing it out of goodwill, or something more malicious?

  "Us humans have to stick together, right?"

  "Yes sir." So he was a bigot, got it. As long as it didn't cause problems, I couldn't care less what this guy's tendencies were.

  "Sir, may I ask why you're speaking in beastkin? And how you do it so fluently?" I questioned him.

  He rolled his eyes. "I'm not that smart. It's a," he dropped his voice and looked around the room before speaking much more softly. "It's some kind of enchanted device. Made by some team of genius elves somewhere secret, so don't ask me how it works, but it allows whoever wears one to understand and speak a different language. It takes time for it to work, though, and for some reason they decided to use beastkin tongue for the first versions instead of human or elvish, but it's still a pretty handy little thing. The headaches are a bitch to deal with, though."

  Huh.

  "Is there any chance I can get one for myself, sir?" I asked him hopefully.

  "For now, it's restricted to ranked officers only, but I've heard whispers that mass production is coming soon, so you can look forward to that. Let me get a runner first and then we can talk about your situation," he said, as he flagged a passing courier and sent him off to headquarters, or wherever it was the leadership was.

  We stood there chatting for a while, as the knight introduced himself as Sir Levitt. This busy little corner was actually considered part of the rear camps, and despite my first impression, I was informed that today was actually a slow day. Hence, why Sir Levitt here was willing to shoot the breeze with a recruit like me in the middle of the day.

  He mostly dealt with logistics, which was a fancy way of saying he oversaw this teleportation hub and authorized all the personnel and supplies that moved through it. This particular hub connected to many others to form a communication network, but it was limited to the scope of the battlefield and its surroundings. The higher-ups were doing some shuffling around, according to Sir Levitt, and shifts and posts had been changing for a bit over a month, which I took to be their response to the appearance of the alien parasites.

  The war had already dragged on for years, nearly decades, and introducing the possibility of spies or traitors this late in the game could only be bad for morale, not to mention the obvious effect of the possibility of losing.

  But that wasn't something I had to worry about. As far as I knew, I just had to get through training and then kill every vorander I could lay eyes on.

  The runner that was dispatched returned with a folded message that he handed to me, surprisingly, after which he was dismissed and resumed his other duties.

  "So, everything cleared up for you?" Sir Levitt asked after giving me a minute to read through it.

  "Let's just say I'd rather fight on the walls than follow through on these...orders," I muttered.

  "You do know the walls are the easiest position to defend, right?" he asked with amusement.

  "Eight weeks of training, after which I'll receive my assignment."

  "Sure, training sucks in the beginning, but once you get over the second day, it's -"

  "And my unit is entirely made of nobles," I deadpanned.

  The knight was silent for a while before he burst out laughing.

  "Oh, man! You're lucky! Seeing noble brats whipped into shape firsthand? Damn, I'd pay to see that!" At a confused look from me, he expanded on his reply. "If you're thinking that the nobles will just do what nobles do, you couldn't be more wrong. All training officers are retired veterans with years of honorable service behind them...meaning each of them has the same influence as a duke." He grinned at me, and I could tell that Sir Levitt held no love for nobles himself in that smile.

  "Permission to leave, sir?" I asked.

  "Hmm? Why are you talking like that?" he asked in confusion.

  "Isn't that how you're supposed to talk in the army?"

  "I think you've read too many novels," he shook his head.

  After a brief farewell, Sir Levitt told me to care of myself before giving me directions to the barracks, where I had to report to my training officer.

  I nodded goodbye to him as I made my way out of the deceptively large building I was in, and looked around for a signpost or a map of the area. Unfortunately, nothing so convenient popped up, so I followed the directions I was given as closely as I could.

  When I passed the third 'blue tree with an arrow in it', however, I had to admit that I was lost and asked for directions. Thankfully, there were plenty of people on this well-trodden dirt path going both ways that I could ask. I considered myself lucky that it only took four tries to get a decent answer, the first three either scoffing and moving on or too busy to notice me.

  Finally, I reached my destination, the unimaginatively-named 'Barracks 48', though a closed gate blocked my view of most of it. The two sentries at the gate were suspicious of me at first, until I showed them the orders I had been given, at which point they settled down and pointed out which building I was to report to.

  The barracks was apparently the name of the not-so-little compound I was in, as a giant empty field dominated the majority of the area in a wide circle that stretched at least as long as a football stadium, with wooden buildings situated on the periphery. None of the buildings were labelled or marked, so if I hadn't been told which building to go to, I would still be wandering around confused instead of heading to the quartermaster.

  Supply Depot 48. Why is this numbered too? It's not like there's 47 other depots in this exact compound that could be mistaken for this one.

  The supply depot was a squat wooden building that, according to my earth sense, extended deep underground. Three women sat on stools behind a counter that was built into the wall, with an array of formations and multiple doors with staircases behind them on the wall opposite. It reminded me of a bank counter, or the Work-

  "If you're not here for official business, then get out," one of the women intoned.

  "Sorry. I was ordered to report here, I think," I pulled out the paper I had been given with my orders on it and showed it to the lady in the middle, who seemed like the one in charge.

  "Rhaaj, huh? That has to suck. Wait a bit, I need to check the inventory." She said, as she hopped off the stool and placed her hand against one of the formations for a few seconds before walking down one of the staircases and emerging a few minutes later. It felt odd receiving some kind of affirmation about my name after so long, but I didn't have long to think on it as a pile of objects and weapons were heaped onto the counter.

  "Everything you need is right there. Three sets of uniforms, one pair of standard boots, shield, spear, and sword. Helmet and chestpiece are good, and...that should be it. Oh, let me see your orders again?" she asked, and I flipped the paper around so she could see. "Your sponsors are willing to pay for any other equipment you might need, which is mad -"

  You don't know the half of it.

  "- and means you can ask for whatever gear you need, or we can requisition it if it's out of stock."

  "Cool. Thanks for...everything," I said, storing everything in my space and hoping to pass it off as having a spatial storage item, walking towards the exit before turning around. "Sorry, but which of you is the quartermaster? Just so I know?"

  "Her," the lady who helped me pointed to the woman on the far right, who had fallen asleep and was napping with her head atop her arms on the counter.

  "By the way, I'm Alli, that's Ennie," she pointed to herself and her friend on the left before pointing at the sleeping quartermaster, "And that's Duja. She's the highest ranked officer here, and she has the authority to deny any requests for equipment, so remember to be nice and respectful to her in the future."

  "Thanks for the reminder. I'll see you around, then."

  Heading to the dormitory next, I was surprised by how clean it looked, both on the inside and out. Every surface was gleaming and polished despite being made of wood, and I could see no traces of mud or dirt on the floor, despite the conditions of the field outside. Wooden lockers were on each side of the wall upon entering and if the number was any indication, I would have forty or so people in my unit.

  There were no bunk beds in sight, for which I was grateful, but the rows of twin-sized beds pushed against the left and right walls, with just enough room to maneuver between them, gave off the feeling of someone trying to stuff as many bodies inside the room as possible.

  There were personal possessions dumped atop a few of the beds, but I didn't know if I was free to choose my own or if they were assigned somehow.

  Besides the dorms, about thirty steps away was a cordoned-off area with sheets propped up and covering the insides and trenches with water next to them.

  Are those supposed to be the baths? They're not even separated by gender, oh wait, yeah, there's a divider, okay. Well, it is the army. It's not exactly fair to compare it to the academy or the Aschel estate.

  "Considering how you've been wandering around the barracks for the past ten minutes, should I assume you're one of my recruits?"

  A man stepped out of the bathing area, pushing aside one of the sheets and magically dried himself before looking straight at me, still in the nude. He looked like a grizzled warrior, with scars and burn marks scattered across his body, well-defined muscles that implied a lot of training, and an aura that had just the barest hint of bloodlust. His stubbled silver hair showed his age, but if anything, that only went to show how adept the man was at surviving.

  "Well, kid? You gonna answer me or just stare at my sword all day?"

  And that's how I met my training officer.