~January 1st, evening~

“Hey Commander!”

Major Eric Plamen turned around. Facing the thirty soldiers all lined up in their full uniforms. “What is it now?”

Captain Jane Calida shook her head. If it's any other army camp commander, all thirty of them would have been severely punished by now. Just for casually talking to the commander.

But this is Helldoor camp. Since this particular camp was unlike any other in Ottilia, the members were a bit unruly. Decorum is not their strong suit.

Luckily, they have the Major as their commander. He understood the ‘special’ predicament of Helldoor. Thus, he would forgive them for forgoing things such as this. They, in turn, follow his every order.

“Oh, come on Commander. Stop being so uptight.” The soldier jested. A chorus of chuckles echoed behind her.

“Just…what the fuck do you want, Ida?” Eric asked louder. A sigh escaped his mouth. Causing even Jane to chuckle a bit.

“No, we were just wondering. See, those that came here, the Brandrs that was sent to Octagon Manor, all had…discipline issues. So…we were wondering…”

Eric cut her sentences short. “You were asking what is the crime of this one? To be banished out of Brandrs Palace? Outside of the Lightning Wolf Military Complex?” He said mockingly.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

All thirty of them nodded. Even the captain lean closer to hear better.

Even though she was the vice commander, the order was only received by the Major. She knew nothing about this as well. And it's been quite some time since a Brandr was sent here. So of course, people were talking.

And yet, the Commander was clearly reluctant to dish out the details. “And what does that have to do with you?” Eric said. It's surprising that he can produce legible words through his gritted teeth.

“We…hehehe…had some bets going on. So please, Commander. Please tell us what he do?”

It was silent after that. The soldiers, and Jane, were waiting for an answer. The Commander was contemplating on the pros and cons of telling them.

Finally, he sighed. “Fine. He…he had a similar situation like you.”

The silence continued. Only, if before, the silence was of anticipation. Now it was due to shock.

“You mean…he doesn't have Energy Veins in his body?” Surprisingly, it was Captain Jane who asked the question.

“I don't know about that.”

“Huh? But you said…”

“I said something similar to them. I did not say it was exactly the same.”

Jane, and the rest of them frowned.

This is what's ‘unique’ about Helldoor. Apart from Eric and Jane, these soldiers are unable to use magic or aura. Although they have mana or arma cores, they are born without Energy Veins.

There's a book, written by one of the healers in Caelum, that discusses a human's anatomy. The book talked about these tiny little tunnels inside the human body that made up a network for different bodily functions. There's one for the brain, one for the blood, and there's one for the energy core as well.

Energy Veins was what it was called. Already present inside a human's body the moment they are born. Waiting for either the core at the stomach(arma) or the brain(mana) that will sprout and grow into an energy core.

“What do you mean, Commander? What could be worse than not having Energy Veins? What, does he not even have an Energy Core or something? Hehe…”

A soldier, who was impatient, jested. Everybody began giggling. And then, the giggles stopped.

The Commander said nothing. But his bitter smile was more than enough of an answer. Causing shock to ripple across everybody.

“What the fuck…”

“Now that you know, that will be the end of that discussion. All you need to know is, although he will be staying on Ember Hill, he is one of us. Hence, the General have asked for him to be allowed to train with us.”

Colors went back inside their faces. The pale, stunned expressions were replaced with joyous grins.

“Don't worry Commander.” Ida said. “He's our little brother now.”

Eric smiled. The one thing he could count on, is that Helldoor will always treat its people right. “I'm glad to hear that.”

As they were getting ready to welcome Octagon Manor's newest rare occupant, a red horse drawn carriage with golden phoenix motif decorating it was approaching Ember Hill.