A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 462 Looking for Gold - Part 7

"Is this uhm... your first Command class?" Aime asked amiably, now that she'd made eye contact with him, it would have been awkward to continue without making conversation.

"It is indeed," Oliver said.

"Ah, then, I think you'll be surprised by it. I was the first the time I saw it," she said.

Oliver had no idea what 'it' was referring to, nor did he have time to ask, for the professor was already marching into the room, with a book clutched tightly to his chest.

His long black tailcoat trailed behind him. The man seemed to exude elegance. He was an old man, and Oliver wondered from the look on his face if he was the first man to ever master the snooty noble look.

Professor Wyndon he introduced himself as, and the man spoke every bit as snootily as he looked. He clutched his book as he spoke, but made no effort to reference it. It seemed he held it more as a fashion statement than an actual object of utility.

He began referencing the things that they'd done in the class in the past, in the most grandiose way possible. Oliver began zoning out halfway through it. There was simply too much information to filter through, and he didn't even have a puzzle piece to begin with.

It wasn't until the professor moved towards a chest and began drawing out large boards that Oliver finally started paying attention again.

"I feel, the best way to start today – given the addition of a new member to our class – is with a demonstration."

But it was just sooo strange. A moment after the professor had given the command, the entire front row of spear infantry marched forward. The whole row together, at a reasonably fast pace, covered that four square distance.

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Lasha did the same in response. "Spearmen, front row, forward – as far as you can go."

She said it confidently, clearly. Was it Oliver's imagination, or were they taking longer to respond for her? Even when they started moving, they seemed more sluggish. Not only that – it was not the entire front row that had obeyed, but only three units.

"Now we see the difference between Lady Blackthorn's grasp of Command and my own. The Gods hear our ability to command, and respond accordingly," the professor said, reaffirming information that the students had not likely heard themselves already. "It is the same mechanism through which Generals command their soldiers on the battlefield, though through different Gods.

Leadership is present in many different professions, and different Gods retain the ability to deliver it."

Oliver was transfixed now. Not magic, but Blessings. Something of the same sort. Yet, they'd been activated according to those same mana crystals, hadn't they? There was a puzzle there, but it wasn't one that he couldn't necessarily solve for himself. For now, he sparkled with interest.

This was the Blessing of Command that Blackwell had spoken of.

Blackwell had mentioned Varsharn, Goddess of War. He'd explained that the Stormfront men knew the Goddess of War in a certain capacity. She would praise their unity as they went into battle. It was a different sort of Blessing to the one that he had received from Claudia. This was a relative Blessing, increased by the more troops that he was able to command.