Castor blew his whistle and the Snow Lions formed up into their layered shield wall in seconds.  With another series of whistles, the unit was given the signal to begin marching forward, which they did in near-perfect unison.  More blasts on the whistle brought them to a halt.

Turning right, left, back up, tighten the formation, spread out a little, all commands given by Castor via his whistle were carried out quickly and precisely.  Various other formations were signaled, and the Snow Lions carried them out with practiced ease and precision.

The three watching Instructors were suitably impressed.  The Snow Lions had been in Heavy Infantry Training for four months and were moving with the same confidence and skill as career soldiers.

“Splendid!” said the Senior Instructor.  “Go ahead and relax!  You third-tier boys come with me!”

The Snow Lions relaxed, letting the formation disperse as the trainees assembled into their usual friend groups.  Alphonsus, Castor, and Leon, meanwhile, followed the Senior Instructor about a hundred feet away from the unit.

The Senior Instructor began with some rare praise, “That was a good showing, the time you all have spent training has clearly not been wasted.

“However, there’s always room for improvement.  Heavy Infantry Training ends today, but don’t neglect it going forward.”

“We won’t, Sir.  We know the importance of this training,” Castor said.

“Good.  Moving on, next week begins your study of the common monsters you’ll face as knights.  We can’t exactly go out and grab a vampire or werewolf for practical training, so these classes will be almost entirely theoretical.  It won’t be as exciting as the more active classes, but the Academy still expects the same effort you’ve been giving in your previous classes, got it?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Good.”

---

Their monster hunting classes began the following Monday.  Rather than reporting to the training field in the morning, the entire training battalion made their way to the same huge hall that most of the first-tier trainees had been using for Magical Theory.  First thing on their schedule was the most dangerous and insidious of enemies that knights of the Royal Legions would be expected to face: vampires.

For a week, the trainees learned all about how to identify signs of vampiric behavior, how to identify vampires themselves, and the general tips to fighting them.  Fighting a vampire was remarkably similar to fighting a mage, only a vampire uses power gained from a demonic contract and augmented that borrowed power with blood.  Of course, this blood magic would invariably involve consumption of blood—or more specifically, mana—and the point a blood mage became a vampire was when their bodies adapted to this foreign power and became dependent on blood.

Most of what Leon learned during these classes he had already picked up from Xaphan who, being a demon, already had a robust knowledge of the demonic pacts that granted vampires most of their powers.  Xaphan had never actually forged a contract with a blood mage, but he had been close to a great many other demons that had made extensive use of the practice during his days as a Lord of Flame.

The second week was devoted to werewolves.  They were a little easier to learn about since they were only humans who had contracted a communicable curse, but that also made them more dangerous than vampires in certain ways.

The stone giants in the east were the subject of the third week.  They were about three to four times the size of an average man and made entirely of stone.  They had incredible resistance to most kinds of magical attacks and had a great affinity for using earth magic.  Given their size and nature of their bodies, they were also much physically tougher and stronger than mages of an equivalent magical tier.

Their final week was devoted wrapping up with a few summaries and tests.  And with that finished, the trainees were just about ready for their field training exercise—the FTX, the Academy’s final test before they left for their squireships.

---

The weekend after their monster classes finished, Leon decided to make his way back to the capital.  He wanted to see Elise, of course, and endured Xaphan’s relentless teasing in good cheer on the way, but the practical reason for heading into the city was to get a set of armor commissioned.

The Royal Legions would issue him a set of standard armor if he needed it, but given what he’d seen of Legion armor so far, while practical enough, he was far from impressed.  After the monster classes, he could no longer deny the need for quality armor.  If he wanted to live long enough to find the one who’d ordered his father’s death, then he needed better than standard issue.

Fortunately, Elise was more than willing to take him on a leisurely stroll through the capital’s ironworks districts.  They did little else but talk as they window shopped, and Leon didn’t make a choice of smith until they returned to the Tower.  He needed the armor, but he wanted to spend time with Elise, and the opportunity to do both wasn’t something he could pass up, even though he knew that he wanted Heaven’s Eye’s guarantee of quality right from the get-go.

It was also going to be one of the last times he’d get to spend a day with Elise before the two-month-long FTX, and he relished every second.

---

The last few classes the Knight Academy taught its trainees during their training cycle were a random mash-up of various other aspects of a knight’s job that the trainees would have to know.  However, since their squireships would cover much of these areas, the Academy only touched on them lightly.

The first class was camp construction.  Leon had an easier time with this class than most of the other trainees, thanks to Artorias’ education.  Artorias had used most of the same principles in building their fortified home in the Forest of Black and White as the Instructors were teaching in the Academy, and he had made sure to teach Leon those same principles.  As a result, Leon’s squad was able to build their camp wall and tents during their practical exercises faster than anyone else in the battalion.

The second class was horse-riding.  This one was much harder for Leon, as he simply couldn’t get the damned beasts to do what he wanted, and the horse he was trying to learn on kept throwing him off.  Leon quickly decided that horse riding wasn’t his thing.  He could fill in many roles within the Legion just fine, but a cavalryman wasn’t in his future, he didn’t think.

He was mostly fine with this realization, but it didn’t make the embarrassment of having to pick himself out of the dirt every time he was thrown from the saddle any easier to endure.

Fortunately for Leon, the next class was an introduction to the signals used to command Legions on the battlefield—a significantly easier subject than riding horses—and Leon picked up on the signals easily enough.

And, when the last day was over, the training units retired to their towers to rest.  They had the next week off, and then it was on to the FTX.  Two months out in the field, not allowed to leave to head into the city, putting everything they’d learned in their time at the Academy on display for the Instructors before they were shipped out to serve as squires for established knights.  The FTX would involve all ten units fighting against each other with the goal of seizing as many banners as they could.

Practically speaking, the stakes of the FTX were little more than honor and pride, but the results would still have a major unofficial consequence on the trainees: where they would be sent for their squireships.  Since most lords and higher-ranked knights kept their former squires on as knights in their own units or retinue, where the trainees would be sent for their squireships was essentially where they would spend the majority of their career in the Royal Legions.

Thus, most trainees considered it of the utmost importance to perform well, so that they could be sent somewhere pleasant.  ‘Most’ trainees, of course, meant the commoners; the nobles were confident they’d be sent somewhere befitting of both their nobility and education in the Knight Academy regardless of their performance in the end.  But that wasn’t to say that they didn’t take the FTX seriously.  For nearly all of the nobles, the honor and pride of winning or losing was motivation enough.

The Snow Lions were no exception to the general state of things in the Academy.  Every trainee in the unit wanted to win, a desire that was amplified by the fact that they hadn’t done any fighting since seizing the Deathbringers’ banner; they were ready for a good fight, and the FTX was the perfect opportunity.  To that end, Leon, Castor, and Alphonsus convened in the third-tier common room to discuss their strategy going forward.

“We’ve been passive for too long!  We need to go on the attack!” Alphonsus said emphatically.

“I agree,” added Leon, “and the sooner the better.  The longer we wait, the more chances everyone else will have to not only find us, but also to dig in and fortify their camps.  So let’s hit them hard and early.”

“Indeed.  Fortunately, we already have a fortified camp…” muttered Castor.  “Any idea about who we should attack first?”

“The Black Vipers!” answered Alphonsus immediately.  “Tiberias took part in that attack on our tower, and we haven’t gotten our revenge yet!”

After a silent moment of thought, Leon said, “Works for me.  The Black Vipers still have their banner, a surprise attack on the first night might work…”

“Hmmm…  I was actually hoping to go after the Steel Century for that ambush they pulled on you back then,” Castor said while looking at Leon, “but if the two of you are in agreement, then we can go after the Black Vipers first.  Then the Steel Century.”

Alphonsus laughed in anticipation, but Leon only nodded stoically.

“Beyond that, how do you two think we should fight?” asked Castor.  “I’m thinking we ought to go out as light infantry and archers, attacking at night and disappearing during the day back into our caves.  Thoughts?”

“I like it, especially the nighttime raids; however, I think we should also have a couple squads of heavy infantry just in case,” Leon said.

“I can certainly take the heavy infantry in that case,” Alphonsus said eagerly.

“Alright, Al your squad will take that role.  Choose another squad to join you.  If anything should go wrong, you’ll be our shield wall that’ll buy us time to escape.  Hopefully, we won’t need you…” Castor said, to Alphonsus’ glee.  Castor continued, turning to Leon, “And you, I’m going to put you in charge of archer contingent.  I think you’ll be able to inflict plenty of damage with them.”

“Most definitely…” said Leon with a sinister smile.  “I also have a few more ideas about how we should proceed after the attack on the Black Vipers, whether win or lose…”

The three stayed up late that night planning their moves, but for all that they agreed, there was one final detail that they knew wasn’t going to go over well with the rest of their unit.

The trainees were going to be given the final week before the FTX as a break.  They’d be out in the field training for two months, so this was going to be their last opportunity to party and relax in the city.  But Leon and Castor both agreed that they would rather use that time fortifying the caves they’d stayed in earlier in the cycle.  It took Alphonsus quite a bit of persuading to get him on board, but in the end, he caved to their pressure.

The Snow Lions would forgo their week off and prepare for what they were sure was going to be an eventful FTX.  They were quite possibly the most notable unit in the entire cycle at this point, and with two banners to their name, they were a juicy target.  So, if they wanted to win—and they most certainly did—then they had to play to win.

Many of the other Snow Lions were about as enthusiastic as Alphonsus—which was to say, not at all.  But eventually, Leon and Castor got them on-board with promises of victory and cushy squireships afterward.

And with that, it was time for them to face the FTX.  They were as ready as they would ever be, and they intended to win.

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