The next morning, Sol headed to the northern gate and saw a big gathering of over a hundred people.
Most of them were adventurers, easily spotted by their clothes and armor of different styles and colors with no real cohesion as a group. The other people were soldiers who had a different air to them. They all wore standardized leather, metal, and cloth uniforms depending on their specialty, and they weren’t randomly all over the place but instead surrounding the perimeter and entrance of the courtyard.
Three lines of different lengths formed at the entrance, but not knowing which one to wait behind, Sol walked to the nearest posted guard to ask them.
’He looks familiar, but it’s hard to tell.’
Before Sol could ask the guard where to go, the guard addressed him first.
"Line up ov- oh wait! You’re that man we met at The Rusty Bed. Sol, right?"
Sol realized that the man looked familiar because he was one of the soldiers he met at the open stage night.
"What a coincidence! I almost didn’t recognize you with your armor, Oliver."
"Glad you’re here. So what’s up?"
"I just wanted to ask which line I should get behind."
Oliver nodded and then pointed over to the shortest line. "That’s the one for healers. As you can see, we are sorely lacking in healers, so any and all are appreciated. I’ll be counting on you."
Smiling back, Sol responded, "Of course. I will do my best."
Sol then went to the shortest line and waited for his turn. As he waited, he overheard the conversations between the soldiers and the adventurers of other lines.
The female soldier attending the fighter’s line was running on autopilot and asked, "Name, rank, and specialty?"
The adventurer brandished his sword and proudly exclaimed, "D-Rank, and I am the best swordsman in my rank."
Not even addressing the latter half of what he said, the soldier responded, "Alright, you’re in the backline, protect the ranged adventurers."
Clearly not happy with his placement, the adventurer grumbled, "Wait, put me in the frontline. I can take down those orcs easily."
"Yeah, I think not. Even if I wanted to, D-Rank can only be placed in the backline, so go to that group or leave."
Simmering in his anger, the adventurer begrudgingly nodded and walked over. He originally wanted to be part of the vanguard to accrue a lot of merit for the rewards but was shut down before he could even try.
Sol’s line kept moving, and he arrived in front of a male soldier.
The soldier looked at him with a displeased expression.
"Hey man, you’re in the wrong line; fighters are in that one."
"Huh? I’m here as a healer."
Hearing the word healer, the soldier did a 180, and his attitude became significantly nicer.
"Wait, really? Sorry about that; your outfit confused me. Do you have a type of sword talent as well?"
Sol looked down and saw his leather armor and sword strapped to his belt. Realizing what caused the confusion, he laughed and explained.
"Haha. No worries, I also have the [Sword] talent."
"I see, again my bad, too many fighters have tried lining up here thinking it would be faster. What’s your name, rank, and specialty?"
"Sol, D-Rank, and Water magic."
"Great! You will be put in the second healer group. Your group will stay at the fort to take care of any wounded."
"Where does the first group go?"
Not bothered by the question, he responded, "The first group will accompany us to the frontline for immediate medical attention. Those who are wounded but aren’t as urgent will be transported back to the fort for you to heal. If you really want to, I can move you to the first group, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were C-Rank."
"Isn’t there a rule that doesn’t allow D-Rank in the frontline?"
The soldier nodded, "Yeah, but that only applies to regular fighters. If they aren’t strong enough, they will simply get in the way. Healers are different; while you are closer to the action, a lot of soldiers will be protecting you. But even if we are protecting you, I wouldn’t recommend it as anything can happen in battle, so you need sufficient strength to protect yourself as well."
Sol then contemplated on what to do.
’While I am probably stronger than the average C-Ranked adventurer, that’s only if I use all my skills at my disposal. Currently, the talents I’m pretending to have are [Sword] and [Water Affinity], so I can’t use any other magic or skills. Let’s not risk it before I can protect myself from powerful forces.’
"You’re right; I’ll stay with the second group."
"I’m glad. You have a bright future ahead of you; there is no need to risk your life so soon for some merit." He then looked over to the first healer group. "Sadly, not everyone listened to my advice."
’I declined for a completely different reason…’
Obviously, Sol won’t disclose the real reason for declining, so he thanked the soldier and made his way to the second healer group.
On the way, he recalled how differently they treat normal fighters and healers.
’It makes sense; while these fighters are here to simply beef up the numbers, healers are essential, and nobody wants to antagonize them.’
If a soldier is bold enough to pick a fight with a healer and they happen to get injured, the healer can just choose not to heal them. There have been cases before of this happening, and it has led to very humiliating deaths. The healer would also get in trouble, but as they are too important, the punishment tends to just be a decrease in payment. People have learned from these incidents to never mess with the healers.
Nearing the second healer group, Sol saw a total of 50 cloth-wearing people gathered around and talking between themselves. Sol’s arrival was received a little awkwardly as he does not look like your average mage or priest.
One of the healers walked up to Sol and asked, "Umm, are you a healer?"
"Yep, nice to meet you all."
Sol then joined the second healer group and got to know them. Eventually, one spoke up over his equipment.
"Weird you don’t have any spellcasting equipment; will you be okay later?"
"I should be, why?"
"Well, having nothing to increase your mana or mana regeneration will affect how much you can cast; I don’t know if you can keep up with the wounded without it."
Unlike normal leather or metal armor, cloth or robes tend to be the favorite choice for spellcasters. Not because of their defense values, as even rare robes only add 10 defense, but the additional effects it provides to casting magic. The effects provided vary depending on the equipment, but the most common ones are increasing wisdom, mana regeneration, and empowering spells to do more for less. So while mages and priests can wear heavy metal armor, it doesn’t benefit them as much as a good robe.
While dressed unconventionally, Sol has the advantage of maxing out [Increased Mana Regeneration], which is much stronger than the average robe’s effects.
"It’s fine. I think I’ll manage."
"Alright, if anything, others can pick up the slack anyways."
After an hour of waiting for everyone to be registered, their group got on carriages and left towards the fort.