In the coming weeks of joining the Imperial Army, Ophelia was assigned to Officer Spencer Spade's troop. She found out that Spencer was actually the son of one of the generals, when first assigned Ophelia had assumed that the officer's troop would've been given the easiest tasks. But on the contrary, Spencer's troop was often assigned the most intense hard labor tasks. 

Nothing that Ophelia was personally unused to. Growing up in the church and being so naturally strong chores that required lifting and pulling often fell to her. So while others in the troop struggled and complained. Ophelia found the work fitting and liked that she didn't have to think too hard about it.

It helped that she had a warm place to sleep and nice clothes to wear. Back in Flat Trench, she had to make accommodations every night. Very few people were willing to let her stay on their property and the church didn't have the room to keep her there. While Ophelia hadn't thought too hard about it, it slowly began to occur to her how unfair her situation had been. Whenever she could get a roof and a bed at the local inn they overcharged her.

While the little omega man had been a bit of a trickster she supposed it all worked out for her in the end. Ophelia decided should she end up with a title she was going to aim for the land of flat trench. It'd be quite amusing to see the looks on their faces when she came back as the new lord of the land. So she worked hard, finding the thoughts just motivating enough.

Outside of work, she was trained, though it was difficult to properly train her in battle. Ophelia was a large woman, larger than most of the men in the Imperial army, her natural strength made it even more difficult for anyone to keep up with her. So more often than not, Spencer would have to coach her on the basics as she did exercises. But before long, she was able to go toe to toe with General Lionel Lewis. The only other man in the army equal to her size.

Ophelia meeting the general had been something that happened by mistake. She was headed to her tent to settle in for the night when the general stepped out of the strategy tent as she was passing. They nearly ran into each other.

"Sorry." Both of them spoke at the same time, Lionel was an older alpha man with a thick gray beard and long hair to match. Ophelia tilted her head dealing silently with the shock of seeing someone at eye level for the first time. "The church must have fed you well for you to grow this tall," Lionel remarked looking just as surprised. "Whoever fed you must have done the same." Ophelia furrowed her brows unsure if that was an insult or if this guy was picking a fight.

"You strong girly?" He asked, Ophelia, let out a snort through her nose, "Sure." She replied, Lionel grinned, "Meet me in the fighting pit!" His eyes lit up with a fire that confused and startled Ophelia. "The fighting what?" She asked just as the general grabbed her wrist dragging her off. Before she knew it, she and Lionel were hitting each other with wooden staffs as if sword fighting. 

"Keep your legs further apart kid! Makes you more stable!" Lionel shouted at her as he jumped towards her with a downward strike. Ophelia stumbled back and fell on her behind, she happened to glance behind her and saw Darius standing there watching a bit further back beyond the small audience. He smiled at her and Ophelia narrowed her eyes, she turned back to General Lewis and decided to take things seriously. The last thing she wanted was the little prick to be able to poke fun at her for 'not being skilled.' 

Ophelia threw the ridiculous training that Spencer had put her through aside and decided to fight a bit more naturally. Holding the staff closer to the end, Ophelia was able to create distance between her and Lewis. She switched between using both hands to using just one. Creating motion and speed that was fast enough to cause whooshing noises in the air. 

They clashed against each other, fighting for several minutes, Lewis with his experience was not to be trifled with but Ophelia was not about to play fair. Striking his ankles quickly, the general fell to the ground, "That's not an honorable fight at all kid." Lewis laughed looking a bit winded after the intense fight they had. Ophelia who held the end of her staff at his neck took a deep breath. 

She wanted to say a million and one things but, she decided not to. Tossing the staff away she then headed back for her tent without saying a word. She felt a familiar stare dig into her back, she smirked. How was that for skilled? She wondered to herself.

While at the time Ophelia had not realized it, those fights would quickly become a weekly event. While Darius wasn't able to attend all of them, he was there for some. The other soldiers quickly formed factions cheering on Ophelia or Lewis. Betting pools were made every week because it was always a toss-up to see whether the general or Ophelia would win. 

Ophelia didn't take too much mind to that, the fighting made her better with an actual sword, and as she got to know Lewis better, the general made time to tutor her. He even gave her a large broad sword, which Ophelia appreciated, she found the small swords that were standard issue too flimsy.

Strangely it also seemed familiar, Ophelia eyed the sword after Lewis handed it over. "This isn't from the dukedoms," Ophelia remarked holding it out in front of her. "No, I actually got this from a traveling merchant. He didn't know where it was from either but, when I remembered I had this I thought it would suit you!" The old man laughed. 

"I like it, thank you, General." Ophelia replied giving a slight bow, "Bah! Don't call me General! I hate this rank bullshit! My name is Lionel!" Lionel smacked his chest with a grin. "Thanks, Lionel." Ophelia chuckled, "Don't mention it, kid! I just found the owner of the sword that's all, it would've made it to you eventually!" Lionel laughed.

"Owner?" Ophelia was amused as she sat next to him on a bench, "Yeah, it sounds crazy but these weapons have a mind of their own." Lionel explained, "My father was a blacksmith." He looked over at Ophelia before looking back at the setting sun. "A good man, he was a beta, didn't know what to do when his son grew up to be an alpha!" Lionel laughed. 

Ophelia chuckled listening to Lionel talk about this family, the older man loved telling stories as Ophelia found. She didn't mind, she wasn't much for talking herself, so listening suited her much better. 

Peaceful days continued to pass as they marched through Spade territory. While the imperial army was small, other than in passing Ophelia never really got the chance to see or even speak to Darius. Though the memory of her going back and forth with the small man popped up in her mind every so often as she passed by the strategy tent. 

It was a strange exchange that was normally out of character for Ophelia... But once she opened her mouth, before she knew it the two of them were bickering. A true testament to the omega man's power and confidence, he was unbothered by any challenges to his ideals. Hell, he even managed to get her to follow him even after her criticism. The whole situation felt like some sort of strange ritual as if they were both testing each other. Ophelia wasn't sure what she was trying to test Darius for... But Darius had seemed pleased with the results.

It was almost as if there was a silent conversation under their arguing that could be summed up by one question. 'Do you think like me?' Ophelia knew that the villagers of Flat Trench were shocked when they heard her speak like that. She normally kept silent and that led to her being described as dumb, stupid, or even passive. But she was none of those things, she just preferred not to waste her breath and listen. 

But there was something, Ophelia still didn't have the words to explain it. Something about Darius snapped her out of that daze she so easily fell into. Made her alert and... It was strange, Ophelia didn't know what to do with herself. She didn't hate the feelings she got, on the contrary, it felt nice... For the first time since she could remember she started to actually feel alive.