“You’re almost late.” She leaned forward slightly as she spoke, lending an extra edge to her monotone voice. Taelien paused in his step and saluted. “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am.” He had taken an extra few minutes to prepare his equipment, but he was relatively certain he had arrived at least ten minutes before he had been instructed to. He knew that arriving earlier might have given him more of a chance to gather information about the test, but he felt that being better supplied would be even more important. His message had implied that he was about to be sent on a mission immediately, so he had packed for potentially leaving the city. That meant food supplies, water, and miscellaneous camping equipment. Fortunately, he had most of those supplies readily available in his storage chest – he simply needed to organize them and throw them into a backpack. The lieutenant crisply returned his salute, allowing Taelien to lower his own hand.
