Dressed in his royal blue uniform with a black cape billowing from his shoulders, Dillon took a final look at the pinned schedule on his wall. Having memorized every room number for his general soldier courses, he put away his phone as he walked out of the room. His one lecture of the day, Barrier Strategies Intelligence, would begin at 2:30 in the afternoon in the Combat Intelligence building all the way across campus. It was also the main building for holding strategy meetings of all ranks and general soldier gatherings, if they needed to huddle up or to attend an event of any kind.

He was anxious, but more than that, eager to learn a new field of combat and strategics. Lord knew he needed the instruction on how to lead and guide his combative, proud team members. Plus, he had heard great comments about their instructor—his simple lessons, digestible content, and affable personality. There was no lack of integrity either, according to a few of his past students. Cedric, for one, praised this when Dillon found out which courses he was taking. Barrier Strategies Intelligence was a mandatory course for all new general soldiers and it also had limited instructors, so it wasn't hard to guess Dillon's instructor.

Soldiers took their own strategy courses as well, learning how to brainstorm, form, and plan out their course of action in a short amount of time, in the case of an absent leader. He wondered how the intelligence field would play out for general soldiers, how different the higher rank would be. When adrenaline and stress-fueled soldiers adapted a blank canvas in the midst of sudden change, tension, or danger, Cedric would signal for them to follow a Plan B, C, D, E, or any strategy with a name that could fill them with energy and confidence to tackle the new battle head on. They would follow his command without hesitation or confusion. Dillon could not say whether it would turn out the same for him; he had never led a full group for such a long period of time before.

He grabbed his second cup of espresso from the store counter, musing with anticipation about the morning's General Soldier Strategic Meet. Rookie general soldiers would be introduced to a group of veterans, and they would have an overview of how the strategic meets worked, followed by the rookies watching the veterans do their work as usual. They would learn by using their observation skills. Cedric had explained this to him two weeks prior.

As part of Team 0-26, he would meet teams 0-16 to 0-32 for the general soldier meets. As a result, he would not be seeing his former superior, General Soldier Reynard from Team 0-13. They had parted on negative terms, with Cedric putting in a somewhat urgent transfer request into his team. Dillon had done his best to get on well with his first team, sticking through the toughest times, declining all transfer requests from general soldiers that pitied him. Once, he had lost control of himself when an ally he was close to was killed. Reynard had not taken kindly to it at all, turning in yet another complaint report and marking his record. Unable to improve and move on from the grief, he had given up and pleaded for Cedric to transfer him.

Remembering the worst days of his military life, he sighed and shoved them aside. Cedric would arrive soon and no doubt pick up on his gloom, as he was wont to do. He took a sip as the one from his musings set a ure[1] into Dillon's palm. It was his favorite fruit, and Cedric often received them from his family. Hence, he would offer them to him.

"Why so glum this early in the day?" Cedric asked, smiling. "Don't tell me you're worried about the meet. Haven't I drilled it into you more than enough the past two weeks?"

He really could smell the mood in the air from miles away! He had just about faked perking himself up when Cedric entered the store area and ordered his food.

"No, I'm fine. I'm looking forward to it," Dillon said. He used a knife to slice the ure open. "Thank you for this. Let me guess, to 'commemorate' my promotion?"

"I'll get you more, don't worry. Baskets of them." He gulped down his iced crystal water. "So, why so glum? When are you not glum?"

"I'm fine! I'm just a little nervous about the lecture. Will it go well?"

"You'll be under Captain Foright; it'll go great. He's not strict about assignments. Not that you'd have anything to worry about, ace student who's never late with deadlines."

When Cedric's name was called, he fetched his breakfast and returned.

Leaning on an elbow, he poked the furrow between Dillon's brows and grinned. "Maybe one day I'll get to see you laugh. Not a fake laugh when you don't know what else to do...Like truly crack up. How do I make you? Does your lady from Gettua City know the answer? Is this facade of yours because of the people we've lost? Osaic?"

Dillon leaned away and chomped on the fruit. "Leave it. Nosy."

"I shall. For now." He poked his egg and bit into a toast. "You eat already?"

"Yes."

"Well, let's go then." He stood up and disposed of his plate, half-eaten toast still in his hand.

As they left the area and walked down the hall, heading for the staircase that would take them to the third floor, Dillon looked at him. He asked, "I was wondering...How did you know about, well, my friend in Gettua City?"

Cedric grinned. "Curious? I'm a mind reader, of course. You're an open book to me."

"Answer me."

"What a stickler." He shook his head. "You told me once several weeks ago. You were invited to go to an open-view aquarium before the recent war happened. Was what you were going to do on your day off. I deduced it was a female 'cause you were glowing. You never glow."

Dillon arched his eyebrows. Glowing? He was? "You remembered such a small thing? Well, you're wrong. It was a man that time. His name is Fay. A friend."

"Are you serious?" He halted in his tracks, grabbing Dillon by the arm. "Really?"

The truth was that Anita had been with them as well. He shook his head, dropping his eyes. "I'm serious."

"So you have both a lady and a friend." He sighed. "Here I thought I was your only friend."

"We are not friends."

For the first time, his smile faltered. "Don't joke like that. Coming from you, I might think you're serious. "

Dillon turned away, coughing to resist his laughter. His statement was not entirely a joke, but he would keep that thought to himself. He let Cedric finish his food in peace as they went up the stairs, their footsteps echoing on the glass.

Butterflies fluttered through his stomach again at the thought of the meeting looming ahead of them. He still felt a bit intimidated by the amount of material he would have to learn and memorize, though Cedric had reassured him multiple times that he would get it all eventually, knowing how diligent and studious he was. They knew what the true problem was: if he could handle the pressure of being a leader, despite Dillon's many experiences in leading Team 0-18 when it was his turn. Back when he learned of his promotion to becoming a general soldier, he had wished for a team that had multiple general soldiers so the work would not be as overwhelming, but those teams were few in number.

"I can smell your worries in the air. Don't give me indigestion," Cedric sighed. Several rooms down the hall of the third floor, he peered inside a room while Dillon hung back. "Not everyone is in yet. No one will ask you questions during the introductions, so don't fret about the prying today. Just state your name, team, former team, and goals, then watch us talk magic."

He followed him in, but when he tried to go to a desk at the back of the room, Cedric stopped him as he pulled a chair out next to his.

In the room full of metal desks, about ten people chatted among themselves. Cedric wasted no time and turned his attention to another neighbor, who Dillon supposed was a friend of his based on their expressions and energetic body language. They waited half an hour for the meeting to start, while Dillon kept his eyes shut and maintained a meditative state. He was later nudged by Cedric.

At the front of the room, a tall soldier with slicked white hair, dressed in a chestnut brown and white uniform, and sky blue tie and diamond badge on his outer sleeve, stood, waiting for all attention to focus on him. He smiled, which made him look pleasant and younger. "At ease, soldiers. I am Captain O'Rielle. While we're here, call me Daniel if you wish. I'll be overseeing all of your strategic meetings and providing assistance and information to those in charge of you. General Soldiers Ledes, Iowe, and Aster from Team 0-16, 0-17, and 0-18 respectively, are in charge of these meetings from this point forward." He pointed at each of them to indicate who they were, while they nodded as he pointed. "Today I'll take a more active role as speaker since this is the first meeting with many of you. If you have concerns about any of the ones in charge, please discuss that with them and hash it out. If, for some reason, you cannot do so, come to me. However, remember that you are all leaders of an unruly group of power-driven, headstrong, competitive soldiers...So act like one. Crush those ridiculous, petty grudges you hold—because those don't mean a lick of crystal out in the fiery battlefields where anyone can drop like flies!"

Cedric whispered to Dillon, "Hey, I wonder if he's talking about your good ol' Reynard?"

Dillon kept his gaze forward.

"And if it's me you got a problem with, let's handle it at the Games, yeah?" O'Rielle bared his teeth. "I'll tear you apart until you don't have even a drop of anger left in you."

Dillon couldn't stop himself from widening his eyes, and glancing around, many seemed to have done the same. Turning to Cedric, he noticed the all-knowing smirk and glint in his eyes. It was apparent they knew of O'Rielle's outrageous personality.

What was with soldiers and their overconfident power-tripping egos and threats? The Volcanoes weren't the only ones with them. Low-ranked soldiers weren't the only ones.

He glanced at Cedric, who flashed him an amused look. "He's playing."

Dillon returned the smile, not believing him, as he glanced back at his notebook. He had written the names that O'Rielle gave them, as well as what teams they were from. Only a handful of the other general soldiers were taking notes. Shame on the others if they regretted not doing the same later.

When all of the novices got their introductions out of the way, O'Rielle claimed the attention of the room again.

"Our meeting today will cover several topics and one pressing issue. First, as a reminder, please remain vigilant for signs of all incoming emergencies and wars, and be ready to enter the battlefield as soon as you are called, or when you hear an alarm. That includes during the Games as well; if you are called or hear the alarm, drop all of your plans, discontinue participation, and gather with your team on the outskirts of the stadium. Those of you not at the Games should head to the site of the Games." When he noted the soldiers' acknowledgement, he continued, "There's been increasing strain as of late, so tensions and workload are at an all time high. Be cautious of conflict and violence on campus. Some of you may know of this already, but there has been one report of a notable incident since the recent War of Towers 19 to 24 Juieland City. The offending soldier was suspended for the severity of damage he inflicted. Every leader, including you new kids, is expected to take control of such incidents if you encounter one. Should you need assistance or advice on how to go about it, see your previous leader, or one of the veterans here. But really, it isn't much different than how you would deal with your own team being unruly and rebellious, other than that those soldiers being a potential stranger to you."

I imagine all of you are enrolled in Captain Peare's Control in Leadership course this period, given it's mandatory. His lessons will be helpful to you when it comes to such situations, among other things. If the situation escalates for some reason, say because you are not as strong or are injured, and no one else is in the vicinity, call in Security or Special Armed Forces via 0-0-2 on your comm. There should be at least one of them available on the grounds at all times, even in a crisis. Grab a voe[2] if you really need to find help."

He nodded at a man who raised his hand. "Yes, Lucwid?"

"Will it count against us in our performance review if we perform poorly and don't handle the situation well?"

"As you are new to your role, the first couple of weeks will not affect your review score or results. We don't expect you all to do it perfectly from the get-go, but you do have experiences in your former team, and once you've attended a few lessons in the upcoming weeks, we will expect you to learn quickly and put your studies into action. All of your superiors, your former leader included, will be supervising you. Many of you will be shocked by how keen their eyes are. Also, missing your lessons or failing in your attendance will be inexcusable, even if you are still, say, grieving. The only exception is in the case of an emergency like contracting an illness or the death of a close relative." He smiled. "Any other questions?"