The General's carriage. Black wood with gold painted wood sculpture flower patterns decorating it. On both its door, was a white plaque with black-lined emblem.

The emblem of a fiery wolf's head.

Even as they are sitting inside their luxury carriage, even as they are on their way towards the Husky Fortress, they still cannot believe it.

They cannot believe their shut-in bookworm of a son. One who naively said he could learn all about war and fighting just by reading. That son suddenly declared he wanted to go and train with the army?

And that with only a month left before Ignition Ceremony?

"Urmm...Jet?" Aelius broke the silence.

Immediately, four pair of eyes snapped towards Aelius. Oh yeah, Quidel and Angus were also present. Aelius and Loina did not want to trouble them, but they insisted. In fact, they gleefully said that they cannot miss this.

An answer to which Aelius could only roll his eyes to.

"Yes, father?" Jet answered. The same charming boyish smile on his face.

"Urm...are you sure about this? The training could be hard, you know?"

Jet smiled. He understood his father's concern. His change was too sudden. Thinking of his past life laziness and immature naivete, Jet could not helped but cringed.

"Yes father. You know, I finally understood what you've been saying to me all this while."

Aelius's lips were smiling, yet his forehead was frowning. "Oh? I must have said a lot of things to you all these years. Which one that made its way into your brain, I wonder?"

"Hehe. I understand the need for a more practical approach towards things like fighting. Although my love for books was unrelenting, not every answers is available on its pages. Thus, I conceded."

Everybody was elated. Especially Aelius. "Hahahaha. So you admit it finally? That you're method is wrong? Good, good. A warrior should know when he is defeated."

"Heh, really? Well I did kill the Zap Boars using nothing but the information on the books. So I wouldn't say I was wrong."

Jet chuckled when his father clicked his tongue and pouted. Inside, he was relieved. The excuse was accepted. Which means he could avoid disclosing about his Deathwish core.

If only they knew how many times he came close to death, all in order to train his core. Of which relied heavily on honing the struggle for survival. Growing stronger the closer you are to the boundary between life and death.

"Well, I think it's great. Who knows. Once you activated your arma core, you could practice your swordsmanship in Skadi." Loina excitedly joined in. Of which Angus enthusiastically nodded.

"Oh pfft, would you relax about that darling. I mean, he could've activated his mana core instead." His father interjected. Blatantly exposing the wish a father had for his son to follow his footstep.

"Are you kidding? Have you looked at the slashes on the hide of the Zap Boars. He is clearly an auror. Imagine that. A barbarian who uses aura. He would be unstoppable in Human Nation Alliance."

"He is not a barbarian. He is a Brandr."

Loina shrugged. "Fine. A barbarian Brandr who uses aura. There. Happy?"

"That's not what I said."

And so, Quidel and Angus spent the rest of the journey calming down the childish fight between the two.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Jet meanwhile, could only smile bitterly. For he already what the result of the Ignition Ceremony, which will be held a month later.

Ignition Ceremony. A Cherith ceremony to welcome the New Year. Where every twelve year old Brand would awaken their cores. Also known as the beginning of Jet's descend into the darkness.

It was then and there that Jet received the most devastating news. That he had no core whatsover. No mana core. No arma core. Nothing.

Imagine this. You hung your hope on this one day. Doing nothing else in order to begin at that point of time where your future began, and all of that was totally crushed.

Now imagine you know when your hope will be crushed. And there's nothing you can do about it.

###

Husky Fortress. One of the many fortress-style army barracks lining up the freezing Cherith beachfront. Although, compare to the rest of them, Husky Fortress had a...'reputation'. Especially it's nickname.

Husky Fortress was better known among Ottilian soldiers as the Bottom Line.

It was a cruel name, albeit an apt one. Here lies every soldiers with awakened mana and arma cores. Yet with no way to utilize those powers.

The healers have found out that, aside from the bloodstreams and nervous system in a human's body, there's also an energy pathway for the cores. These energy pathway carried mana or arma energy to the targeted body part.

Say you wanted a punch enhance by Earth arma. Just channel it from the arma core in the stomach, and channel it to your fist. And there you have it, one mighty punch.

Only that these guys cannot do that. Luckily, one of the ancestors of King Zander created a magic circle to recharge an elemental crystal. So the buildup of energy inside these soldiers could be channeled to the used crystals.

It was already mid morning. The recruits had just gone back from their running. With nothing but shorts and sleeveless shirts, they will ran through the snow-laden beaches. Ran too slow, and you will risk freezing.

Now is the highlight of every soldier in service. Chow time.

"Hey Jake, have you heard the news?" Logan placed his tray and sat across his friend.

Jake's face was nonchalant. "You mean about some bratty young lord that wanted to join us? Yeah, I heard it somewhere. Is it true?"

"Probably. Some of the guys said they saw the General's carriage approaching Major Pairo's quarter."

Jake was disgusted. "Urghh, so fucking annoying!"

"Ehh, I won't worry about it." Logan shrugged. "So the spoiled brat wanted to dig his manicured fingernails in some mud. Why would that bother us?"

"No but, think about it." Jake edged closer. "His father is the General. That kid could go anywhere he wants. Other fortresses had better facility. Hell, a better bed even. Why here with us rejects?"

"Hey, cool it with the 'r' word." Logan jokingly scold Jake. Causing the soldiers nearby to laugh. But inside his head, Logan's gear started to click.

"You know what I think?" Jake paused to sip his ale.

"What?"

"I think that kid thinks that we are just a bunch of pushovers. He can't boss around those so called elites on the other barracks. He came here to throw his weight around."

The laughter stopped. At this point, most of the soldiers had already surrounded the both of them. All of them were feeling something mutually.

A feeling of anger and annoyance.

They were always regarded as the rejects. At the battlecamps, they were treated like servants. They don't even got to fight in wars. Their contribution on the battlefield was the shining swords and armors. Some even became punching bags for the rest to vent their frustration.

And now even a core-less twelve year old kid wanted to bully them?

"Not happening!" Someone suddenly shouted. The rest nodded along in agreement.

Jake's eyes also went wild with enthusiasm. "I say, we should show that kid how tough we are. Show him the training of a soldier. Show him our effort, out strength, as the soldier of Ottilia. What say you?"

"YEARGHHH!" Everybody shouted. Fists pumping in the air. They have been a punchline for so many years.

Now it's time for someone else to get punched.

Even if that someone was just a kid.

###

Major Pairo stood on the front stage, admiring everything. The sound, the view, the uniformity.

In front of the stage, all one hundred and thirty two were marching in their spot. Their feet stomp in uniformity. Eveybody exhaled curtly, yet there's blatant toughneff in every huff.

"I think you had enough fun already. Right, Major?" Aelius chided.

Pairo smirked as he glanced beyond his left shoulder. Then his head snapped forward. "Attention!" His voice echoed throughout the square.

Immediately, everybody stopped in unison. Standing straight, hands clenched tightly beside their thighs. With fierce looks on their faces.

"Good!" Pairo was very satisfied. If you looked closely, every member of Husky Fortress jad a hint of joy interwoven between their serious expression.

"The reason I call you out here this evening, is because I had something to announce." He turned to Jet, gesturing for Jet to approach him.

"This is the General's son, Lord Jettard. From here on out, Lord Jettard have requested to join us in fighting training."

As soon as Pairo finished his assignment, the atmosphere turned sour. Pairo could feel the air turned heavy. The expression of the men was...not great.

"Oh? What's this? Is there something bothering you about this?"

Silence.

"Heh, I thought you lot only don't have the means to use mana or aura. I didn't know you also lose the balls to speak." Pairo pushed further.

A few moments of silence later, somebody shouted from the back. "We are not weak, sir!"

"Nobody said you are." Pairo calmly replied.

"Then why do you turned us into some kid's punching bag?"

Pairo did not know how to reply to that. Indeed he was also thinking about it. He agreed to it because the General asked for help to train his son. But he can't help but thought that the General had sacrificed his integrity for his son.

The General wanted to say something, but Jet held him by the hand. "If you say anything, it will only make things worse, father."

"But these men. They..." Aelius's voice was barely audible between his clenched teeth. Clearly holding his anger.

Jet was calm. "Don't worry father. I'll handle this." Before Aelius could say anything, Jet stepped forward and stood where Pairo once stood.

"If you became someone's punching bag, it is due to your own lack of strength. You shouldn't blame the Major on your own weakness."

The jaw of everybody on stage dropped to the floor. They cannot believe this young kid would blatantly said something so hurtful. With a calm face, at that.

"How is that better than what I was gonna say?" Jet heard his father mumbling and gestured for him to relax.

Everybody down the stage had a different expression. One of anger. They faced ridicule from other commanders, from other nobles, even from their own peers. To be mocked by a snot nosed spoiled brat? That is the line right there.

"You think you can turn us into punching bags? Without relying on your father?" A soldier stepped forward, and looked straight at Jet.

"Why? Do you want to be the first?" Jet was unrelenting. He went head to head against a demon. A man six years older than him was not that terrifying.

"Come on down then. Show me how you're gonna turn all of us into your personal punching bags."

If Lightbringer saw Jet's face right now, he would be very amused. For his grin was not unlike a demon devising a devious torture for a soul.

Only this soul was a live one.

So it's double the fun.