The next day I was called to the headmaster's office and so was Helena. That was curious. I had been to Erik's office plenty of times but mostly alone.

As we knocked we heard his friendly voice: "Come in, come in."

Both of us saluted. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

He nodded. "At ease. Now, both of you are probably curious why you are here. It has nothing to do with the new tier threes that you have created. Although, I would ask you to not go overboard with them."

I nodded. They had not been part of the plan but it was probably not a great idea to mention that.

Erik continued: "This is about the field trip. It is essentially a command exercise. As you know, we have had trouble during the last year. There is still a lot of tension at the border. We had a few small skirmishes and a lot of our troops have been moved there. While it does not look like there will be a full war soon, a lot of our resources are tied up at the border. That is why many lords have hired mercenaries, or adventurers, to deal with the nightshade infestation."

I had not considered the potential manpower problem that the tensions with Illestria had caused. But at least nobody had tried to kill me in a while.

"For the academy that means we will have less support from the military to secure the field trip. Both of you are senior mages and you have some combat experience. You have performed well with your group. Also, you had special group fighting lessons last year, meaning you are a lot better prepared than the average second year. I think you are ready to get some real command experience. I have decided to put you in charge of actual soldiers."

My eyes widened. "Sir? We are supposed to lead soldiers?" I asked.

"Indeed. One problem the army always has is a lack of mages. Regular soldiers are needed for many tasks but a lot of monsters require some magic. Unless you are ready to accept heavy losses. Both of you will be part of the force that clears an area for the actual field trip. You will be in command of experienced soldiers. There will be an officer with the main group, so you won't be entirely alone. But as senior mages I expect you to be able to handle the threats."

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"Sir, is it allowed that I take one of Koyuki's undead with me?" Helena asked.

"Yes, you can bring your cat." Erik confirmed. "Both of you will leave two days before the field trip starts. Your job will be to clear the bigger threats from an area and leave weaker monsters for the first year students. Then you will ensure that nothing big wanders into the area while the students do their hunting. The officer in charge will be Captain Sarah, I think you know her."

I smiled. She was someone I trusted, we would be in good hands.

"Sir, what about Skadi and Cassie?" Helena wondered.

"They will be part of the normal group and oversee a few first years." Erik replied. "Oh, and Koyuki, you can bring as many undead as you want. Try to not blow everything up with your exploding chickens though. Remember, we want some of the weaker monsters still around and not start a forest fire."

"Sir, how are we going to handle transport?" I asked.

"You are allowed to ride but there will be supply wagons and the soldiers march." Erik replied. "The trip will start in three weeks, I recommend that you read up on some monsters you might encounter. Dismissed."

We saluted and left. I was still digesting the information but Helena seemed really excited. "We have our own real command! Not students, soldiers!" She said.

"And we have to make sure they don't get eaten." I replied.

"Hm. Maybe I should work on a protection spell? I can do the ice armour I used on you but that would be too much for a group. How big will our command be anyway? Damn, I should have asked that. Oh well, I think I can learn something smaller for a group…" Helena pondered her options.

"I am not that great at defense. I guess I will just send the undead in to take hits. I am not sure about the Iron Beaks if we are in a forest but I can bring my skeletons." I mused. "Hey we are going to the Korrah Forest again, right?"

"Hm, I think so." Helena replied. "Although it might be a different part of it. You think we will see more spiders?"

"Maybe. Hey, maybe I can get interesting corpses out of it." I suggested.

We met with Cassie and Skadi and gave them the news.

"So we get to babysit the first years." Skadi stated.

"They are only one year younger than we are." I pointed out.

"I pity Archibald's group. Do you think they will be eaten?" Cassie wondered.

"There are not enough first years to give everyone a group. Maybe he won't get one? How is this decided anyway?" I wondered.

"The teachers have to think you are capable enough. It's not just about leading, you have to keep everyone safe. So if you did not do well in your first year exams you don't get a group, I think. Some have to wait till the third year." Skadi said.

I guess it did make sense. Not every second year was equally strong.

"The important part is, we know about crackers. This year we will be prepared with better food." Helena noted.

We all nodded in agreement.

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