At roughly twelve thousand square metres, the training field was one of the largest green areas in the section. Whilst there were technically no dedicated parks or fields for communal use, the roofs of various apartment buildings in the city had dedicated some portion of space for its residents or guests to enjoy the oft forgotten beauty of nature. One particularly prominent hotel had even hired a promising young gardener with an ability to influence the movement and growth of plants to ensure their displays were always breathtaking.
However, it was fair to say that the Salamanders 41-43 had the largest area dedicated to recreation. The whole roof was covered in a mass of soil and turf to allow the group to participate in the glorious pastime of rugby. Although many traditions had been lost from the time before the spirit beasts, this one had remained, or at least within the Salamanders faction.
"Pass," shouted Private Briggs, alerting the ball carrier to his presence.
Just before the tackle made contact, Lieutenant Martin had off-loaded the ball.
Private Briggs caught it and made a sidestep to avoid his opponent. Although they were unallowed to use spirit armour during the matches, the Private's usual speed enhancing boots had allowed him to train his reaction speeds to be quicker than most. However, following quickly after the first, a second tackle was made and found purchase, a shoulder slamming against his waist.
Falling, he quickly off-loaded the ball, passing to Private Davies, but the pass was intercepted by Major Keenan, who palmed off two tacklers on his way to the try line. There was a celebration from those wearing red bibs, and those wearing orange sighed in resignation.
"Good game," said Lieutenant Martin, sweat dripping down his face. He'd recovered quickly from the tackle, but was unable to match the Major's speed, and left the backs to deal with him, unsuccessfully.
Major Keenan was stronger than anyone had right to be for someone his size, much like his second-in-command, Captain Pyre, who would lead the other training session this evening. It being a Sunday, the sessions were generally lighter and less combat focused than most. Although truth to be told, the sessions were still fairly intense, even without abilities, with so many egos on the line.
The Major was surprised to see the captain approaching him from a corner by the barrier.
"Captain, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You got a minute?" he asked, his face looking serious.
This was so against the captain's usual affable nature, the major simply nodded, and they went downstairs into his office. No words were spoken en route, which simply added to the sense of unease his commanding officer felt.
When Major Keenan got into his office, he sat in his chair and gestured for the captain to do the same.
"So, what's this about?" the major asked.
Captain Pyre paused for a few moments, considering his words, then finally said: "I need to take a leave of absence."
"What for?" he asked.
"All I can tell you is," started the captain. "I'm involved with something that it would be better not to drag the faction into."
The major was not particularly happy with this response but knew it would have to be something important for his best man to get involved. He could insist on greater transparency, but the two had a close bond, being the only men he knew of to lead a local faction from outside of the family, both of them marrying into it.
"I hope you're not in over your head?" said the major.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," he replied honestly.
The major frowned, wondering what could be so serious as to be a threat to a great warrior of the Salamanders. As the cogs turned, he began to suspect that another faction were involved somehow.
"This isn't blackmail, is it?" he asked, worrying one of his men might be compromised.
"Nothing like that. I need to protect someone."
The major knew he was not a man to give away his loyalty easily, especially outside the faction, so whoever was involved must have been quite close to him.
"You can have a week," said the major. "I can't cover you longer than that without higher ups asking questions that I don't have good answers for."
"Thank you," said the captain, standing up.
"Wait," said the major. He reached inside his drawer and pulled out a bracelet and threw it to him.
"What is it?" asked the captain.
"That's a monster tier bracelet. The only monster tier item I own. Using it will provide an incredibly powerful healing effect, but it'll completely drain you of spirit essence."
The captain nodded, wondering if a serious fight would be left with enough spirit essence to use such a thing. After all, like most elemental users, they tended to utilise their powers directly, rather than using weapons.
"Its effect is also somewhat passive," the major added.
The captain smiled. A passive healing effect of the monster tier would certainly give him an advantage in what was about to come. Maybe it would be enough?