The Heart Of Gaia - Chapter 31 The Fortress

“Argh, I have to get up early,” I grunted.

Slowly, I sat upright and rubbed my eyes. I stood to walk towards the window, I opened it, the breeze of fall came in enveloping my upper body with a sudden chill. I gazed at the view for a few moments since it felt familiar then I remembered my own window back at Yorkburgen, I was a little homesick, but I had no home to return to. Bardel Fortress was the closest thing to home I had.

I shrugged off these trivial feelings and went to open the wardrobe, there I saw a number of garments but below the hanging clothes was a box. I pulled it out and saw my clothes from home, the one I wore the day we escaped. It looked like it had been washed since the faint smell of lemons was emanating from it.

I took the boots with my right hand and took a change of clothes with my left then proceeded to dress properly. I tightened my boots, buttoned my shirt, and dusted my pants. I went to face the mirror while trying to fix my ginger curly hair which was hard because the hair was tangled.

The necklace was resting steadily on my chest as I stared at it. I pulled my hair back just to see the marking on my neck but to my expectation, it wasn’t there.

“Hmm…”

Does it only show when exposed to Viscorr? plus how in the world did a person put this on my neck? I took my necklace near my ear since it was there I last remember its location.

*Knock* *Knock*

“Chowhall Recruit! on the double!”

Shouted by the person beyond my door, It was probably one of the daily employed knights to supervise over me. I tapped the tip of my boots on the floor, trying to make sure they fit before I step outside.

I opened the door only to leave me surprised, stupefied, and shocked.

“What?!” He threatened.

My eyes laid examining this person in front of me, he stood slightly taller than me, and I wasn’t any higher than five feet, five inches tall. That shaven side of his head that faded away to the bottom, folded right sleeve to expose his tattooed arm and those fierce-looking brown eyes. It was Harrison Trawly, otherwise known as Hackmann.

“N-Nothing,” I said in reply.

“Come on,” He said followed by a gesture.

He turned around and went walking without leaving me a chance to catch up. From the moment I caught sight of him, I knew that he wasn’t liking the situation. I hurriedly tried to catch up to his pace but he was deliberately speeding away from me.

“W-wait,” I pleaded.

He stopped midway and then turned stomping towards me. I could tell from his expression he was not happy, by happy, I mean really irritated. Our faces met as the awkwardness stirred within me that I couldn’t help but avert my eyes.

“Don’t get too comfy kid, I don’t like this as much as you do so shut the fuck up, and follow me.”

I nodded out of fear as his intimidating face made me really queasy, he turned around as we descended down the steps to the Great Hall of the Fortress. There was a buckler hanging behind his back, it was shiny, indicating it was still new.

We turned to the right, there was a large hall that continued, it was filled with Knights and personnel of every kind. Most of them were humans, but every now and then were other races.

“Welcome to the Chow hall, here everyone can get a hearty meal despite rank. They serve breakfast, luncheon, and supper.”

Although he wasn’t enjoying himself, he still did a great job of introducing this place to me. I think Sir Bardel put him up to this, what were they thinking. I can hardly think of us getting along.

The Chow Hall was just a bigger version of a tavern, it was meant to house a lot of people at once. Tables, and chairs lined from our side all the way to the other end while Viscorr chandeliers numbered the ceiling.

Bardel banners hanging on the walls in between the windows, it was separated by the bar in the middle, where people lined up to grab food. A top of the bar was a stained glass that shone bright colors inside the central area.

We soon moved deeper into the bustling tavern towards the bar. Afar, I could see a big man serving the meals for each individual that passed by to get a meal.

“Over there, is a way into the Barracks,” He pointed.

As my eyes rolled towards the direction he pointed at, I bumped into someone passing through, He was probably one of the recruits.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

He just stared at me while nodding, then proceeded to move away.

“Well, that was rude,” I thought to myself.

He had a peculiar look, short, and dark-purple hair that had bangs covering one side of his forehead. Glasses that hid his steel-gray eyes underneath that matched intricately with his pale skin. As he moved farther away I could tell he was almost the same height as Hackmann.

“Hey! Recruit! Eyes over here!”

Hackmann pulled towards his direction.

“Pay attention, you insolent little brat!”

“R-right, I’m sorry”

“As I was saying, over there is the Barracks.”

He pointed towards the end of the Chow Hall, there were double doors that had a sign above saying Barracks. After he made sure I knew where it was, we made our way towards the bar that was manned by a few people.

It was busy as they kept moving, serving the hungry men and women that lined in front. It was a wide bar that could hold twenty people that wished to eat there, behind the counter had a lot of kitchenware and the person cooking inside the counter was a big man with long braided hair.

Beyond him was a small window peaking into the main kitchen, there was one way to the back, and it was the pathway on both ends of the bar. I guess bigger orders were made inside the main kitchen while the small cooking area the large man was using was probably for single orders.

“This is the bar, you get your food here. They’re only open for three meals a day exactly.”

“Anyway ask that big guy for your meal,” He said.

He went zooming away as he said that, Didn’t even give me a chance to speak as I hesitantly approach the bar to line up. After a long while, I could finally ask for a meal. I didn’t know how to approach this man.

“U-Uhm, excuse me…” I meekly said.

The man didn’t really pay much attention as he was conversing with the other chefs through the small window. The clashing of his spatula and the pan didn’t really help my situation.

“Hello?”

No answer. His gaze was fixated on the frying of ingredients. He was large, in a sense of mass, or should I say big as his braided hair fell on his broad back.

“EXCUSE ME! SIR!” I shouted.

I became impatient and accidentally shouted instead of gradually raising my voice. Surprise at the height of my voice, he ceased his actions. The working men wore a shocked expression as they deliberately stared at me, I looked beside me and saw the same facial expressions from the people that surrounded me.

The hungry people eating on the bar stopped midway too, mouths full and slowly gulped their food. The man behind me leaned towards my ear.

“Y-You shouldn’t have said that,” He trembled while saying so.

My face was completely flabbergasted. I didn’t know what I did.

“Why? did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“Check for yourself, good luck.” He whispered.

He pointed behind me as his eyes shifted. I turned around saw this big man.

“Did you just call me Sir?!” He asked.

“I-I…”

“I SAID! DID YOU JUST CALL ME SIR?!”

I stared at him trying to process at what he meant until I realized that those huge pecs weren’t pecs. His muscular look had soft hints of female features on them.

How could a woman look so much like a man? her face was rugged that had few facial hairs? Her body was muscular that it was scary, her chest resembled refined bricks and those coarse hands.

“N-No, I meant–”

“HOW COULD YOU CALL A FAIR MAIDEN! SIR?!”

I slowly backed away as she leaned onto my face wearing a disfigured look out of aggression.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I amended.

Soon she fell on the floor then started bawling. I couldn’t do anything as I tried making things right with her, despite her tough look, she was really sensitive. While I was busy trying to make her feel better, I heard the bitter voices from the crowd.

“That kid is new.”

“Poor Bertha…”

“I can’t blame the recruit, it’s his first time.”

I lifted myself from leaning onto the counter and gazed towards the other men besides me.

“Can you help me?” I asked desperately.

He shook his head in disagreement then started bolting away with his tray. I took a look around and saw that the people had distanced themselves from me. They were already a few meters away but I didn’t know the reason why.

“Hey, Kid!” Shouted a nearby man.

My eyes shifted to my caller, there a man stood with his arms crossed on his chest. He wore an apron that said, “Kiss the cook.” He was standing before the crying woman.

“You better run kid.”

“W-what?!” I said quite perplexed.

“If you want to live, run.” He warned.

The ground trembled slightly, gradually increasing in force, I had trouble regaining my balance. The now eerily quiet bertha was standing behind me, I felt shivers down my spine as I continued to bolt away.

I didn’t take any chances to turn around, I knew what was coming for me and she could easily crush my small body.

“COME BACK HERE!” Bertha shouted.

The constant tremors followed me, I ran towards the Barracks entrance since it was the closest escape I could make. Right before I slipped through the doors, I bumped into one of the recruits.

“Sorry!” I shouted in a hurry.

I didn’t take my time apologizing since there was a loose behemoth behind my back. But, I caught glimpse of her, she had curly blonde hair that was pigtailed and had a tanned skin color.

When I arrived inside, I paid no mind to the girl as I slammed the doors shut and barred it from the barracks side.

*THUD!* *BANG!*

The double-doors shook from the force outside, I stood wearily looking at the door that might break down.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” She shrieked with a deep voice.

I waited for her to stop before I let out a sigh of relief.

“Maybe, I’ll apologize to her when she calms down,” I muttered to myself.

As I turned around, I saw the large crowd of recruits staring at me. Most of them were dripping with sweat while some are taking a rest on the floor.

The large area had training dummies aligned on the right, weapon racks were on the opposite side and finally, there was a spiral staircase on the farthest right corner.

Above was the four levels of lodging as sunlight shone through the glass roof, brightening the training arena in the middle of the barracks where most of them stood.

“Do you guys mind telling me where the exit is?” I asked awkwardly.

There was one guy pointing towards the farthest left, I heeded his instruction and went towards that direction. Finally, I was outside, the fresh breeze helped my breathing.

Inside the barracks was drowning, the pungent smell of sweat was overwhelming that I held my breath almost immediately. Thank Gaia, I was lucky enough to have my own room.

As I felt the fresh air seeping through my nostrils, there was something that I thought I had forgotten, but I didn’t know what. My face molded into disfiguration as I kept trying to remember what was it that I forgot.

Until someone tapped on my shoulder, I turned around to see who it was, but as I saw his face I didn’t know who he was. Somehow he was familiar but I couldn’t put my mind into it.

“Are you lost?” He asked.

“Well, not really.”

“You’re a recruit too right? Aren’t you coming to training today?”

That’s when it hit me, I completely have forgotten, I was supposed to have a meal then head to the training grounds.

“I am! I completely forgot about the training!” I worried.

“Are you a Class 3 recruit?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Alright, Why don’t you head to the training grounds with us?”

He smiled lightly, as the people behind him were obliging me to come with them. I stared at them and thought was it really this easy? to make friends?

“I…” I hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“N-Nothing. Alright, let’s go.” I happily replied.

Soon we made out merry-way towards the training grounds. They were friendly that made me feel comfortable around them as they kept striking topics for conversation. This indicated a new start for me, I wanted to make things right.