>>6030838>>6030857>>6030859"I think you're accomplishing that well enough already. If you think of an army as a beast, we are the organs. The mind that thinks, the storage for memories, the hands, mouth stomach and intestine which gather, process and distribute that which makes and sustains the everyday activity and finally there are the claws or teeth and the hide. You can find time for the cooking team at your leisure, but aside from the mages that will be doing the killing you ought to become at least a little familiar with the foot soldiers whose job is to hold against the enemy's attacks so that you can feel be confident they will do their job when plans fall apart. Some sort of bond is needed to hold every piece of an army together, even if it makes the losses that much harder."
Vikar sighs heavily and there is a glistening in his eyes for a moment.
"Now regarding survival, that is unfortunately not something the individual has much choice in. But if you're being kept in the camp as an advisor or assistant as I suspect then you are as safe as you can be. The biggest dangers on the battlefield are being in the group that takes the brunt of the enemy mage's attacks and underestimating the enemy force. When the stage is set, I can give more specific advice..Though if there is one thing I would tell you to do if you were to end up in the position where it was between you and the enemy mages, it would be to avoid letting them get their focus on you, because if they do you will likely not survive."
You make a mental note to not lose your head in the coming fight, figurative or literally.
After your talk with Vikar, you are put to work as something of a servant to the lord, providing refreshment and fetching things while he speaks to others about matters of command. You find time between your duties to become acquainted with the cooks and still sleep in the same area as the rest of the peasants during the nights so you have some time to become acquainted with them too, but you might be able to squeeze in some more time for it down the line. During and as part of your duties you study reading and writing, starting with the alphabet and simple pronunciation rules. By the end of the week you've already surpassed the commoner's level of literacy, which is to say enough to get by in the simple subsistence life in a village or town. When you do have any other free time, you decide to spend it among the mages, getting to know them more on a personal basis and what their duties are which it turns out aren't much at this stage. For the most part, they only need to break away from a routine of practice and rest to help when it is urgent, because they have to be at full capacity during the battle. Simply put, mages try to avoid being located until they've eliminated the enemy's mages, then they smash the rest of the enemy.
After a week, the peasants are still not excellent at fighting but they've received as much training as can be afforded
Part 1
