CC5 ~ 8!

8

Before the platoon could get too wild, another voice rang out and made them stop what they were doing. For some, that included attacking the wall, while others were digging, and a few were even attempting to send themselves to respawn. “All of you will immediately halt, get into formation, and prepare for selection! Some of you will become Officers today, and there is not one pyrite-blasted thing you can do about it!”

So much whining came from the group that the Dwarf speaking to them actually covered his ears. “I know, I know! None of you want to crack the seal on the unused space between your ears; that is why you don't have a choice! Or is it…”

The clearly high-ranking Dwarf came into their range of vision, and Joe glimpsed a smile playing around his lips before returning to stoic grimness. “Perhaps you are just not up to the task? All right; in that case, if you think you are too weak and pathetic to become an Officer, and you’ll give this opportunity to someone else without a fight, I'll open the gates right now! Any takers?”

No one moved, and Joe would have applauded the Dwarf if he thought he could get away with it. The Dwarves around him seem to be having an existential crisis, staring at the ground, their hands, or each other as their ideals clashed. On one hand, there was no way they wanted to become an Officer! On the other… a female Dwarf piped up, “Officer bro, I’m not weak! You can send these other flawed specimens home; I’m at peak performance! They don’t deserve the chance!”

“Dudette-!” another Dwarf called at her in shock.

Before he could finish his outburst, a full dozen of the other mustachioed Dwarves spoke up in unison. “What do you want?”

Joe shook his head when he realized that every single squad had at least one member named ‘Dudette’. The Officer spoke up calmly, rolling right over all the shouting troops. “First test is attention to detail. Drop as flat as you can get.”

“Oof!” Joe knocked the wind out of himself with how quickly he slammed his body to the cobblestones below. An instant later, half of the platoon had something knock into them hard enough to send them flying toward the outer wall of the fort.

“Well, that’s half of them disqualified.” Joe probably only heard the mutter because his perception had increased above the one hundred point threshold. “You think I should send in the war golems? Not yet? Stone spikes in their head? Alright. Let's see how fast they can get up with all their gear on.”

The voice of the commanding Officer erupted once more, “Stand-”

Joe was on his feet in an instant, as the rest of the words escaped the bearded mouth “-up!”

An instant later, a metal-tipped stone spike erupted from the ground where his head had been. Looking around, Joe gulped at the sight of corpses pinned to the ground everywhere around him. The second voice coming from somewhere came once more, “Pretty decent reaction speed on these ones, and we’re down to ten now. Check the dexterity on that one after this. Do the skill test; doesn't matter how well they can follow orders if they can't do anything.”

“Good. For those of you still here, it's time to figure out if you are worth anything to the Legion’s Officer Corps. We don't need Officers that can only fight. Crafting, building, leading, strategizing… these are all important factors!” The Officer spoke out an instant after the other voice had finished, leaving Joe wondering just who it was that could order this clearly decorated Officer around. “Gather around me now. It's time for… the test!”

Joe scanned the group, finding that he recognized none of the surviving Dwarves. He thought back to his party and shrugged lightly. He’d had fun with them, but clearly something had been very wrong with the training environment. If he got out of there and spent time around more highly-specialized professionals, Joe wasn’t going to be upset if he didn't already know the people he was training with; he liked meeting new people. The Officer started walking down the line, holding up a slate.

The powerful Dwarf would touch the slate to each forehead and mumble a few words. Joe could hear him clearly, as the Dwarf was not trying to hide what he was doing. “Leadership at the Expert level… locked until level thirty. No crafting; strategizing at Beginner ranks, starting at twenty-five… combat is the only way back for you. Disqualified!”

Just like that, the Dwarf he was testing was tossed toward the entrance of the small fort, and the Officer moved down the line. “Weapon smithing at the high Expert ranks, locked till twenty-three? Not bad… oh, a weapon-specific profession unlocked at twenty-five? Welcome to Candidacy!”

The Dwarf he was speaking to went pale, then was tossed by an unseen force deeper into the fort. The Officer continued down the line, “Disqualified… abyss, absolutely disqualified… disqualified, you’re in, in… huh. A human?”

“Yes, sir.” Joe saluted casually, knowing that the Officer was used to casual or blatant disregard for the rules from the troops. At least he was not expected to slam his forehead into the person testing him.

“Well… this affinity slate isn't going to work on you, now is it?” The Officer put away his testing device and pulled out a pad of paper and a quill with a grimace. “That shows us the skills and talents that can be regained over time if one of our people comes back to us. Sometimes it's just too far away to bother trying to regain it. Most of the time, in fact. How about you? Leadership skills? Crafting? What have you got that would make you a good Officer Candidate?”

“I've been learning how to create buildings, and-”

“How cute, humans making buildings.” The Dwarf snorted and struck a line through his paper. “Anything else? Don't you want to be an Officer? You seem like the type that would enjoy… I don't know, just sitting in a dark room and thinking for a few days straight?”

Joe opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak a couple of times, but not knowing exactly what to say. It was a bizarrely effective insult. “My base class is a Ritualist. I have taken up ritual-specific smithing, alchemy, enchantment, matrix creation, and my first specialization was as a Rituarchitect. I can bring up any building, provided I have the blueprints and materials, or bring down any building, given enough time. My second specialization was directly approved by my deity, and I am a champion of that same deity. I also have healing spells at a decent skill level.”

“You're a ritualist, you say?” The Officer paused, looking into the distance.

That same small voice reached Joe’s ears very faintly. “He might be after the Grand Ritual Hall. Boot him.”

“Well, sorry to say, I just don't think you offer-”

Joe cut the Officer off before he could get another word out, “One of the things that I built in the previous Zone was a Grand Ritual Hall. Artifact rank. It has the ability to upgrade to Mythical, provided I can meet the criteria to make that happen. Go ahead and let your boss know that I have no interest in stealing secrets from your Ritual Hall.”

Silence filled the air between them. Joe knew that the Officer was hoping for direction, and the other person involved was doing their very best to ascertain if Joe could hear them when he talked. Joe watched the silence turn slightly darker, and remembered that he had something in his ring that might work to sway opinion in his favor. Luckily he had none of the strange performance issues that had been occurring recently; the Dwarven automaton, ‘The King that Might have Been’, appeared in a heap on the ground.

The Officer stroked his beard and nodded consideringly as he stared at the damaged device. In the next moment, the automaton vanished, and a light gasp came across whatever communication channel was open. “Fine. Welcome, Candidate.”

“Thank you, sir.” Joe nodded and peered deeper into the Fort. “What’s next?”

“OCS.” The Dwarf grinned at Joe’s blank stare. “What, you don't know what Officer Candidacy Selection is? If you thought being a Legionnaire was difficult… well, you’ve got an interesting time coming at you.”

Joe felt a thump, and found himself flying through the air. It felt like he had been kicked in the behind by a giant, but he did not know where the attack had originated from. He hoped that somehow, somewhere, whoever had just done that to him had gotten a shadowy slap to the face. He landed flat on the ground, his chin bouncing twice on the cobblestones, and found himself staring at a pair of boots.

He lifted his eyes only to be greeted by a red, twirling mustache. “Looks like you are going to be the last recruit? Good. You’re making me nervous, listening in on my conversations and messing with my people. Let's use that to make the Elves nervous; what do you think?”

There was no time to answer, as she turned and started shouting in the direction Joe had flown in. “This should be plenty, gotta leave room for others. Well, what do you think it takes to become an Officer?”

The lady Dwarf scanned the others’ faces and nodded. “I'm glad no one answered. If you had, it would mean that our secrets are getting out into the world! Then we would have needed to determine if you were a spy, or just talking to spies! Ha!”

Each of the other Dwarves joined in on the laughter, but her face firmed up as soon as they started. “I am General Mayhem, and I can tell you what it takes right now. Quest, issued!”

Quest gained: Ranker. You have been given the chance to become an Officer of the Magisteel Legion! An Officer has full citizen rights, and privileges befitting their station. To succeed, you must demonstrate not only your willingness, but your ability, to benefit Dwarvenkind. Your starting rank will be determined by your accomplishments when you return to your superior Officer to complete this Quest. Rewards are as follows:

Lieutenant: You have benefited a Company-sized contingent. Your reward is a rank, and lots more work to come.

Captain: You have benefited a Battalion-sized contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 1000 reputation with the Dwarven Council.

Major: You have benefited a Regiment-sized (2-3 battalions) contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 2000 reputation with the Dwarven Council and a small homestead.

Colonel: You have benefited a Brigade-sized (6+ Regiments) contingent. In addition to your rank, you will gain 3000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

General: You have benefited the Legion as a whole. In addition to your rank, you will gain 4000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, a command of your own, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

Noble (Major General): You have completed a task, or created something that benefited the Dwarven Oligarchy as a whole. In addition to your rank, you will gain 5000 reputation with the Dwarven Council, a small homestead, a command of your own, immunity from past crimes, and a large plot of land to do with as you will.

Higher ranks of nobility are theoretically possible.

Failure: fail to create benefits that would gain you a Lieutenant ranking within six months. Penalty: demotion to the Legion as a private, and a gag order on all Officer requirements.

“I'm not sure if you are getting a clear picture of what this means.” General Mayhem shouted in their faces as they stared at the reward list hungrily. “You do whatever it takes to get the highest rank you possibly can. If you go crazy, if you make everyone in this entire world hate you… but you benefit all of Dwarvenkind? Instant nobility. Forgiveness for what you needed to do to get there. I will tell you now, I will tell you clearly, and then you will never hear it again…”

“We expect you to make any sacrifices you need to make, so long as we win this war against the Elves!”