"Okay, it should be nearby." Benjamin looked at the letter, he got. There were instructions how to find a gathering spot. Some time later he found it. The gathering spot was a cluster of tents, there were also some primitive fortifications placed. The soldier appeared in front of him, and was ready to attack.
"Who are you? You shouldn't be here." Benjamin showed the letter to the soldier.
"I was called here, this letter is my proof" Benjamin did get closer to the soldier. When the soldier finished reading, he put down the weapon.
"Come in" Benjamin walked to the middle of the camp. It was crowded with the soldiers. He saw one that was taller and older than the rest. That soldier had a scar on his face from his left eye to the right chin. The man turned and looked at Benjamin.
"I'm captain Rex. You are Benjamin, right? You look better than in description." In the letter Rex got, Benjamin was a frail boy, but the boy standing in front of him, had quite a lot of muscles, and steady posture. 'Probably outdated information'
"I was weaker in the past, but probably I was just a late bloomer." Rex nodded. It was very possible in his opinion.
"For now we need to wait for the rest of the people. Just sit around the campfire" Benjamin nodded and sat down. 'If they wanted me, someone who, by their data, is practically a defenceless boy, others cannot exceed, senior knight/mage level. Which means the situation isn't that dangerous. I can exclude people who visited me in past weeks, as people who send me here. Otherwise, the data would be accurate.' Benjamin was deep in thoughts.
...
"Why there are so many beasts." Aura spat on the ground. She was on the way towards gathering point, but she was attacked one time after another. She was already tired, but if she loses focus, some beast can attack her.
Aura used aura to clean herself from the beast blood.
"Although I cleaned the blood, the smell is still on my clothes. It will only buy me some time. The faster I get there, the quicker I will clean myself." Aura heard movement in the forest. She quickly ran towards the gathering point.
....
"I'm close to the gathering point. Soon the will of the lord will be fulfilled." Herman said with zealous tone. He was running through the forest with high speed, thanks to magic. He was also using invisible magic, to not alarm predators. Although it was consuming large amounts of mana, there was not any other option. "If only I had a knight by my side. Well it's not, I can't make an undead puppet in the future." Thanks to Herman being able to absorb memories from the living, he amassed a lot of knowledge and spells. He even had some forbidden spells in his sleeve.
....
A few hours later, both Aura and Herman arrived at the gathering point. Rex nodded, and make everyone gather. He then started to explain the situation.
"We got reports that the activity of the monsters in this area, became chaotic. We didn't find any traces, of battle between rules, or migration caused by mating season. So the most likely scenario is that something unnatural is happening deep in the forest. You, three, will be sent into the forest to find the cause. My men will keep beats here in check. Do you have any question?" Rex looked around.
"Did mages find some black magic?" Benjamin asked. Black magic is a term used to describe magic that is connected to death or destruction, like cursed or necromancy. Black magic isn't forbidden, but most of the problems caused by failed experiments are caused by black magic. Rex shook his head.
"They didn't find anything, but it could be caused by some concealment magic." Aura then asked her question.
"What is the level of the threat?"
"Mages estimated it on middle of senior stage." Rex replied. Herman didn't ask a question. If mages of the kingdom didn't find anything, he also wouldn't at least not past him. He was confident he will find something that they couldn't.
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"Did kingdom send some supplies for us?" Benjamin asked. Rex nodded, and ordered his men to bring them. A few minutes later, his men brought sealed boxes with the Phoenix Kingdom emblem. When the soldiers opened one of the boxes, three of them opened their eyes in surprise. Rex smiled when he saw how greed appeared in their eyes.
"That's right. You got prototype weapons, made by his majesty Jax." Rex said. He himself wanted these weapons, but he knew it would cause his death. The box contained three weapons. The first one was a sword made entirely from the aura crystal. It would give them ability to compete against with master knight. The second one was also a sword, but this one was made from completely unknown metal. It could cut the strongest metal with ease, and was light like a feather. The third one was a magic staff, that had a glowing crystal inserted at the top of it.
"So this is explanation of each weapon. Mister Herman will take the staff, that is obvious, but who will take which sword." Rex said.
"I want the metal one." Aura said, Benjamin was satisfied and nodded. He was extremely interested in aura crystal sword, so this was very good for him.
"I would recommend you to still have, your old weapon by your side. His majesty give instructions, that these weapons are still a prototype, so they could break at any moment." Rex said, and handed each of them a letter that explained how each weapon worked. "You will be sent to investigate in a few days. We need to create proper fortification, and you will help us. Until you are needed, you are allowed to train with your new weapons, and do whatever you want." Rex then went to his soldiers.
....
"How people reacted to our contract with human kingdoms?" Asked a woman with bunny ears, and bunny tail. A man with similar body features like her smiled brightly.
"At the beginning, they were scared and disliked it, but over time when they didn't need to go to mines or do other dangerous jobs, they got a lot happier. Also, the technology and techniques of making new types of alcohol and food, cemented this expression." The woman smiled.
"What with the slaves trade?" She asked. Her kingdom sent 100 hundred bunny beastmen, but she was afraid it was too little.
"The creatures, said that this is sufficient, and that this amount is good enough. Also, the creatures passed information, that if our people suffer from deadly diseases they should go with the creatures, and there is a chance to make a cure." Man replied. The queen of bunny kingdom was extremely satisfied with the results. 'These old stupid countries lost the opportunity to receive such powerful aid, and workers. I will never betray human kingdoms'
.....
Similar situation occurred in other countries that accepted the deal. Powerful countries instead were furious, and wanted to destroy rapidly growing, small countries, but they were afraid of getting attacked by human kingdoms.
....
"Jax, I, will, break, your, bones." Malcolm was talking in his sleep. He dreamed of breaking Jax bones, for throwing him into marriage. But then in his dream he felt that something is stopping him. He tried to move it, but he felt that it was soft. And then he heard a small laugh. Malcolm woke up to see glowing eyes in front of him.
"So you finally touched my body, husband" he heard Enna's voice. He tried to move her away, but she held his hands against the bed.
"Wait, we can't do that!" Malcolm said.
"You already touched my body, a moment before. It's not like you didn't enjoy it. Also, it's not like I can't tell that 'someone' is honest here" Enna smiled.