KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

Ares returned to the representatives. “Are there any complains from your people or anything you wish to speak to me about?”

“We have yet to hear of what we will be compensated with.” One called out.

“I shall discuss that in the evening, right before the entertainment.” Ares smiled. “Is there anything else? Any questions about what you have seen so far?”

“What is the need for a uniform?” One asked.

“I find that a uniform relaxes my mind and gives me great strength. I am hoping that it will do the same.”

“Such a thing is truly so important that you wouldn’t have them work on the leather packs and boots?”

“Boots are also part of a uniform.” Ares chuckled. “It’s important enough that I have asked for such a thing to be made.”

“What of the drums?”

“What of the drums?” Ares asked.

“What are they used for?”

“To bring hell.” Ares grinned.

The representatives fell silent and many held a look of confusion. “You will see soon enough.” He chuckled and then crossed his arms. “There is a method to my madness, I assure you.”

“What of the medals?”

“The medals will be given to those that earn them. They aren’t quite coins, more a symbol.”

“A symbol of what?”

“Devotion, honour, faith, a many different things. They will be given to those that have gone beyond the call of duty. Those that have sacrificed many things for our people. They will not be given to just anyone.”

With no one else having questions, Ares gave a closing remark. “Bring to me once more your most veteran warriors. Along with them, I want a hundred adults that wish to become soldiers. I do not care if they are inexperienced, if they wish to be soldiers, bring them to me. I do not expect one or two from all of you. If no one from a clan wishes to step forward, that is fine by me, no one will harass them for such a thing, and no one will force anyone to join. This is purely for those that wish to gain honour for themselves and us, as well as those that wish to make a name for themselves for history.” He bowed his head and then walked off to the carpenters that had been patiently waiting.

They led him down the path, revealing various temporary shelters that they had created with large tarps hung over to protect the occupants. However they had also revealed a large building they had managed to create over the passed few days. Ares stepped inside and then saw how they had partitioned each room.

“Good, good… well done.” He said as he then tried to push the house down from various points. He was careful of his strength. He was sure he could push it down, but that wasn’t the point. He wanted to make sure it was sturdy for use, not against a god or someone with such powers. He smiled. “Alright. Now, there are a few things I’d like to ask of you.” He then informed them about making various community buildings. A public bathhouse, a place for waste, and then a very large open building for them to gather around.

“Those will be the first buildings. I have much more I wish to speak to you about, but let’s stick with that. I don’t want to overwhelm you. Thank you for your hard work.” He smiled.

Once he was done with them he returned back to the shrine were there seemed to be a small commotion. A few of the warriors had started to fight, and the First Century and Ten were watching as they did. Ares sauntered over to the small group of oxfolk and wolffolk that were partaking in their free for all and then he grabbed onto one and tossed them back.

“Enough!” He exclaimed at them, though the fighting continued. He glanced over to the others, his brows furrowed in surprise. “Hm.” He then raised a hand. Everyone else grew tense as water then flooded the area of the fight and he trapped the fighters in the dome of water before dropping them down, watching them gasp for air as they coughed up what water they had inhaled in surprise.

“Do you know what the penalty for not listening to your King is?”

The fighters looked over at him in surprise, though remained on the ground under him.

He then looked out to the people around him and then beckoned a member of the First Century forward. “What happened here?” He asked.

“There was a challenge, Ares-kin.”

Ares nodded. “A challenge?”

“There were some grumblings between some of the recruits. Honours were questioned, and so they began to fight.”

“Oh, is that so.” Ares smiled. “Alright, well seeing as they have no pride for themselves, each and every one of them can leave. I want one First Century to accompany one of these idiots back to their clan and tell their representatives that if they wanted to spit on my face, they could have done it during the meeting. I asked for recruits that wanted honour, not those that lacked honour.” He hissed at the group on the floor. “To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. I wanted soldiers, not children. Leave.” He stepped aside as a few members of the First Century took them back.

He then looked out to all the others. “Alright. Now. I shall inform each and every one of you the structure of the military that will come into place now. Listen carefully. Six soldiers will form a squad. One of those six soldiers will be the Leitenant. Each Leitenant will be responsible for dealing with their soldiers. They are above them in rank, but that means they need to take care of their soldiers. There will be six squads for one team.”

He then began to move them around to display the six soldiers and then pulled one forward. Then he did so once more so that there were six rows of six, thirty soldiers and six Leitenants. “So far so good?” They watched patiently, nodding their heads. “If at any point you don’t understand what’s going on, please do speak up. I will do my best to explain it and it is vital that you all understand.” With no protest, he continued.

“So now we have six Leitenants, and thirty soldiers. From these six Leitenants, we will have one Captain. Similarly, the Captain is the highest ranking member of a team, and they are responsible for everyone else. So if there is a disagreement between Leitenants, the Captain is responsible for dealing with the issue. I would continue, but we don’t have enough people here to explain the rest of the structure here. Right now my goal is to create a few of these teams that will be able to move around with minimal input from the top. Each squad will train together and eat together. You will become brothers and sisters, and those that break such trust, I will personally hunt you down.” Ares stared at them all.

“Each team will be responsible for their own food and gear. However, if another team is in trouble, I expect the teams to work together. You will obey your superiors, if they need your help with setting up camp, you will help. The superiors will be subject to discipline only by those of higher rank. Since Captain is the highest rank, I will be your superior for now. So if you guys start fucking around, I’ll be the one to discipline you. Discipline will consist of extra training or duties, not physical punishment. Any dismissal will be confirmed by me. If there are multiple issues, they will be brought up to me. If they are of extreme severity, they are to be brought up to me. Does everyone understand?” He waited. “Good.”

Ares then looked up, taking a second to gather his thoughts. “Alright. Those that wish to leave, please do so now. This includes the veterans. Those that remain will be chosen to form this experimental type of army that I have in mind. Even if you stay, it doesn’t mean you have to join, you can listen in. If you want to listen in, but do not wish to join, please stand aside. If you change your mind, you can join back in. If you are interested now, but then lose interested but want to listen, you may go back. Do not move whilst I’m speaking, I will motion for you to do so like this.” He clenched his fist and crossed his arm over his chest and then brought it down.

Quite a large number left, mostly those that were part of the fifty veterans. Most of the fresh ones remained, and he was left with about ten veterans. “Who has already been a soldier, hunter, or warrior before? Rather, who hasn’t?” He then motioned with a hand for them to gather. He counted a little over twenty that were new to this. He waited for a moment and then he made the signal for them to move between the group of interested and not interested. At least all of them were interested.

He pointed to the closest member of the First Century. “Step forward. State your name and the name of your unit.”

“Orndu son of Arndu! First Century!”

Ares snapped his head towards the oxfolk. He was a tall man, with long black hair that went down his front. He was one of the most handsome men he had ever seen too, his muscles had been carved out of a statue, that was for sure.

“Orndu? Do you know of the oxfolk that had come with me up Dragon’s Spine?”

“Yes. My grandfather.”

“Oh…” Ares said, suddenly growing awkward. “Right. Anyway…” He quickly turned back to face the rest of the group.

“Those that will join this army will have specific duties. You will be responsible for policing the community, I would like three teams out of you, but I’m not sure how many of you will wish to join. You will train for two hours, then you will police for eight. The rest of the time will be yours to do as you please. You will be given equipment that will be your responsibility. In times of war, I will expect to call upon you. As for compensation, I will speak of such things when it comes to the evening. If you wish to drop out, I will give you the option to after you complete a week of training.” He then brought a hand up to Orndu.

“Orndu will be judging you. You will start with basic training, and those of you that cannot complete it will be sent to me. You will not be punished, this is so I know who can complete basic training. You are allowed to fail the running portion of the training, though I expect you to walk the rest of the way. If you cannot walk back, then you will be considered to have failed basic training and will be sent to me.”

He gave the signal for them to shift around and then waited. A few had walked over. “Very well. Those that aren’t interested may leave, the rest of you will be participating in basic training. For now you will do without armour and such, but you can pick a spear and a blade.” He then piled out the spears and blades he had in his ring, about a hundred of each. “Carry the blade with you always, and keep the spear at home if you are not policing or training with it. Any questions?”

A few began to speak and Ares raised a hand. “One at a time.”

“What is the First Century?” An older woman asked.

“The First Century will be the most elite soldiers. They will be in charge of patrolling and taking care of the upper area around the shrine. They will be the ones that are first to fight and last to flee. To be a First Century is to go beyond basic training. They will be full time soldiers and part time soldiers. Where as each of you will be full time soldiers and part time crafters or whatever. Speaking of which…” He thought about it for a few minutes. “For now, you will continue as I have said. Any other questions?”

“May we join the First Century?” The older woman asked. She was a veteran from the wolffolk.

“I will think about it. For now, the First Century will undergo a change, including their name. I will deal with it later though, we have more important matters at hand.”

“What other matters are at hand, Ares-kin?”

Ares smiled. “I have to see if I’ll still be the King after tonight.”