*** Patrick ***

  Patrick opened the Red door and paused for a second. Ruth was sitting at a small round table with one empty chair, her large tablet desk was off to the left. A small bookshelf stood behind the desk, the shelf’s contents were hidden through some blurring effect.

  ‘I wonder if the doors are teleporting us, or if the rooms are rearranging themselves. On the one hand such casual teleportation leads to all kinds of insane implications. Even if magic is real, teleportation is so overpowered. On the other hand I have never felt any acceleration from the room moving around.’

  Ruth smiled gesturing to the empty chair, “Welcome Patrick, please come in and have a seat. Given the importance of this conversation we will continue in English. If you decide to continue with us though, all future official communication will be in Draconic.”

  Sitting down Patrick said, “Thanks, to be honest this is a big decision to make on such short notice.”

  “To an extent that is by design. Since you have arrived we have been clear that this was a job opportunity and that there was a month evaluation period, which brings us to today. This is a big decision for you, but it is also a big decision for us. We will be heavily investing in your training and development. As you saw in the information packet, you can leave the service at any time during training, but you would be held responsible for all of the costs incurred.”

  “We have recruited people for many eras, and the decision would not be any easier if you were given a span of time. This is a vocation that you must fully commit yourself to,” pausing for a moment, “ or decline the offer and find a different path.”

  Patrick swallowed and let her words sink in. He had already decided, but he wanted to center himself for a couple of breaths before responding, “I’m ready to join the Dragon Riders.”

  “Excellent. The work that we do to support Sol benefits trillions of people throughout the galaxy.”

  “For most recruits the next step would be for you to join an corps training cohort.”

  Ruth then handed Patrick a booklet, “Given your excellent placement on the leaderboards you qualified to participate in Dragon Knight training. We have another day until we reach the transfer station and you have until then to decide.”

  “I will give you a brief introduction to the program, and you can review the Dragon Knight packet after this meeting. Dragon Knights are detached service units, which just means they are trusted to operate with more independence, in smaller groups, accomplishing tasks that are more nuanced than what the corps takes on.”

  “You have not qualified to be a Dragon Knight, you have qualified to participate in their training program. Dragon Knight training is more difficult, but also more rewarding. The training is a semester long, about six of your months. During the training there are a number of exhibition events where recruiters from different factions would be scouting potential Dragon Knight recruits.”

  “During these events not only are the recruits competing to showcase their talents, but the trainers are competing to showcase their training programs.”

  Patrick asked, “Why? If you have been doing this forever, hasn't the best approach already been figured out?”

  Ruth grimaced, “Good question. Yes, we have been doing this forever. What is best changes over time though. There are two main drivers of the changes, first as the galaxy’s ley lines shift the rules of magic change. The second is that recruits’ souls differ based on their background. For example, because you lived in a no-magic environment for all of your life, your soul has greater growth potential than most people. There are several different schools who have different philosophies about how to unlock all of that potential.”

  “The corps has a standard training protocol that has been in place for eras. For average recruits the protocol is very successful and produces well trained competent soldiers. For recruits like yourself a Dragon Knight program is likely to provide at least 50% more power after the semester of training, and sometimes it provides much more. Just being offered a spot in the program means that you are a cut above the standard recruit. Dragon Knights are at least an order of magnitude more powerful than the average Dragon Rider.”

  Patrick: “How much more expensive is it? Am I responsible for the additional cost if I don’t become a Knight?”

  Ruth: “Another good one. No, the extra expenses are covered by the schools competing. They get a commission from the factions if one of their trainees is recruited. The events also subsidize the programs by serving as entertainment.”

  Patrick: “Is there more information about the schools? Can I choose one?”

  Ruth: “No, since the schools are competing the assignment of recruits to schools is randomized. There is a meeting tomorrow morning for all of the recruits who are joining. If you go then you will be randomly placed with a school at that time.”

  Ruth looked off to the side at something Patrick couldn’t see, “Once again, welcome to the Dragon Rider Corps, whether you choose the Dragon Knight training or not you will be providing a valuable service to the galaxy and its peoples. That is all the time we have for our meeting. Please return to your room and you have until the morning to decide on your destination.”

  Patrick felt like he had some questions about the Knights, but nothing specific and important enough to go against the clear dismissal.

  —

  Back in his room Patrick opened up the Dragon Knight booklet.

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  ‘She wasn’t kidding when she said everything would be in Draconic now.’

  He could read the booklet, but it was slow going. By 10 he had gotten through it once, but because of how much work it was to translate he didn’t feel that he caught everything.

  ‘First I need to go back to the first information packet and read the history and politics sections more closely to understand the Knights’ role better.’

  Patrick learned that the Dragon Knights were who the empire used to solve problems that didn’t require hundreds or thousands of troops. The word “empire” was never used, but that is how Patrick viewed the political structure. Reading between the lines, dragons are extremely possessive and the Great Dragon Sol viewed the whole galaxy as his. Sixteen other dragons, without the ‘Great’ designation, claimed different sectors of the galaxy. There were also wyverns, drakes, and wyrms with progressively smaller domains. The documents presented them as one big happy family. ‘Hopefully worrying about politics is above my paygrade.’

  The knights had their own structure directly under Sol, but also worked, ‘as contractors maybe?’, with the different levels of government. They all had their own local forces, but the knights were regarded as a cut above everyone else. There were several orders of Knights, although it wasn’t clear how or if they coordinated with each other.

  ‘I’m not thrilled about the program being more difficult, but there aren't any free lunches, if the knight training program produces better results, then it will definitely be more work. A semester is about six months, which is a long time, but since my term of service is over two millennia it will be worth it. In the worst case I don’t get selected as a knight, I will still have the better training. In the best case I join the knights and have more control over my life. I would still be taking orders, but it doesn’t sound like they are micromanaged.’

  — Day 33, 04:00 —

  Going through the Red door for the last time Patrick found himself in a medium sized room with sixteen recliners arranged in a four by four grid, with about four feet between them. In the front of the room was another recliner that faced the others. A tall, athletic woman with grey hair and middle-aged features stood at the front of the room, calling out in Draconic, “Take a seat and wait quietly.”

  People of various backgrounds and builds were emerging from the other doors on the back and side of the room. Patrick chose one of the seats in the middle of the second row while most of the others were milling about the back row.

  The woman loudly repeated, “Take a seat and wait quietly.” It wasn’t a shout, but was somehow strong enough to feel the vibrations in the air.

  Thirty seconds later there were still a few laggards, “We will be leaving in a minute, if you are not seated and buckled you will receive a demerit. Talking without permission will also earn a demerit.”

  She then got buckled into her own recliner, which had a line of sight to all of the other chairs. The last few were reluctant to take the front row, but they got situated on time.

  Shortly after, the whole room silently shifted up and forward, like a smooth aircraft take-off without the noise or smell of jet fuel.

  The woman got back up and addressed the room.

  “Welcome to training group 3. We have a four hour trip to our training facility and during that time I will bring you up to speed on what you need to know to succeed in this program.”

  “First, we are all soldiers serving Sol. We are part of the Dragon Rider Corps. That is who we are. Forget who you used to be and focus on who you are now and who you will be. You are recruits, and you are in this training program because you have the potential to be strong. You have the potential to be a Dragon Knight, to reach this potential you will need to work harder than you ever have before.”

  “As such, during the first phase of training you will not use personal names. You will be trained as part of a hexad ( 16 people ), and you will be addressed based on your role in the hexad. Recognition and names may be earned later. Until further notice who you are will be the role that you are assigned. As for me and your other trainers, as your commanding officers you will refer to us as ‘sir’.”

  “A hexad, squad, or quad’s success depends on all members working together as one. You will learn how to function as one, to think as one, and to react as one.”

  “We operate a tight ship, and all violations of any order or directive will result in appropriate punishments. The parts of the hexad are … “

  Patrick listened closely to her lecture. He wasn’t sure how easy it would be to give up names, but he had never been great at remembering names, so in the short term it might be convenient.

  The hexad structure seemed fairly easy. Roles were based on a person’s location in a formation, with a diamond being the default shape. A hexad was made up of four quads, and each quad had four members. Starting at the top and going clockwise the positions were called fire, wind, terra, and sea. Each quad in a hexad was also named the same way. To name people within the hexad both the quad’s name and the position’s name were used. The very front of the hexad is called fi-fi, and the others in that quad would be fi-wi, fi-se, and fi-te. The shortened versions were pronounced a little odd to make it easier, fire ( fai ), wind ( wi ), sea ( see ), and terra ( te ).

  After she covered various formations and how the hexad shifted from one to another, she gave some more information about the tournament. There were four events scheduled during the semester. The training program would continue with the Draconic standard of 16 hour days, with recruits working for 10 hours each day. The tournament events are equally spaced at 64 days apart, the first two encompassing what regular recruits would learn during the whole semester. The second two events will have opportunities for individuals and quads to showcase their abilities. Mostly individuals were recruited, but the top one or two quads were often recruited as a group.

  “During your assessment you learned that magic exists, but you know nothing about it. The first lesson is that mana, the energy associated with magic, can only be moved by creatures. There are no magical machines. All of the magic that you saw during the past month was done by Sol and his helpers.”

  “Learning how to move mana is the first step towards becoming a Dragon Knight.”

  Holding up a small blue pebble she continued, “This is a rank 5 mana crystal, it has about half as much energy as you use in a whole day. Mana crystals are expensive, most people could live for a month on what one of these costs. To help you grow as fast as possible we will supply you with these. Absorbing the mana from crystals will strengthen the connection your soul has to your body, help you to learn how to draw mana in from the environment, and provide a pool of mana to learn how to channel.”

  She tossed mana crystals out to everyone. Once everyone had one she said, “Watch closely as I absorb this one.”

  Holding it high in the air between her thumb and pointer finger the crystal evaporated. “When you absorb the mana, the crystal will disappear. Do not crush the crystal into dust. Hold it firm, but crushing it will not release the energy. Simply pull it into your soul. If you were paying attention you should have some feel for your soul from the tasks that you did during assessment.”

  “We have two hours before we arrive. You have an hour and a half to absorb the crystal. 30 minutes before arrival I will help push the mana into anyone who is not done. It is not pleasant, so I recommend that you accomplish it on your own. When you are done you may raise your hand for another crystal if you wish to practice more. Otherwise remain quiet and await further instructions.”