At the castle, a few months of travel away from the frontlines. Messenger hawks arrived, landing right next to an old man. Dressed in fine robes while wearing a convoluted hat, he appears to be the King's Advisor.
"My Liege, we have received reports from Commander Wallace." The old man waved the scroll that he just received.
"Good news, I hope. Those Green-skins have been a thorn in our empire's side for quite a while." The king scoffed.
The Advisor's expression darkened. "To the Markluzian Empire as a whole, we vastly underestimated their numbers. Fortify every wall, defend the main cities. All I can see now is an ocean of green… May the Goddess bless us all!"
The fortified towns north of the empire, nearing the borders of the Orc territory are proud forts of the Markluzian Dynasty having lasted for at least a few hundred years. On this day, these proud towns and every living man or woman in the area would feel the wrath of the Horda Verde. The Green Horde.
Every martial clan and noble house was mobilized. Even the royals themselves were forced to make a move. The "Easy" war that they were expecting to win in the north was everything but.
At one of the manors near the castle, the fourth prince appears to be having tea with the orphaned girl that he bought just a few weeks ago.
"Eliza, my dear. It seems that father is asking for us to move." The blue-eyed prince grabbed her hand.
Her right eye twitched at this gesture, but she remained composed. The last thing she wanted to do was to anger her "owner." The fair-skinned teen distracted herself by breathing in and focusing on the prince's next words.
"We will be heading north, we must stop the invading forces of the orcs." He gave her a pat on the head. "But you need not worry my beloved, the men that serve under me are some of the best that our kingdom has to offer."
The prince then proceeded to pull her closer, forcing her to an embrace. Eliza could barely hide her disgust.
Eliza was living a life that most others could only dream of, yet satisfaction or even a trace of a real smile were nowhere to be found.
---
As night fell on the second day, Hektor's plan would soon come to play. With the main key to his plan being reliant on his new preset.
[Carrion Feeder – Cost: 500 Mana, 5 Souls]
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With the layout of their makeshift prison, he knew that for his plan to work the old veteran on the other cage had to be on board. Luckily, the old man was easy to collaborate with. They bided their time until after dinner was served. Hektor enjoyed the slop that they served him for the last time as he finally activated his ability once more.
[Manifest Minion]
With his hands still tied he pressed the button with his nose.
A carrion feeder is a low tier undead that has the ability to slowly recover from its wounds through the consumption of flesh. With a face that not even a mother could love and decaying skin, the only feature that Hektor found useful was the claw-like appendage that it called an arm. It was smaller in size than even the common goblin and it served its purpose nicely in freeing him. With the wooden cages still present he ordered the little monster to cut the ropes on top of his cage, it squeezed through the gaps of the cage rather easily.
"You better do your end of the plan, old man." He said as he placed his left hand across their two cages and summoned a second carrion feeder inside the old man's cage. "Free him and head up to cut the ropes right after. We don't have much time."
With a thousand points of mana spent, Hektor saved the remaining 500 of his small pool to brace himself for impact.
He watched as the old man covered his fists with Aura, opening up a clear path for him to go outside. With another punch the man did the same for him. The boy, used to seeing aura only used through weaponry and to enhance one's speed was astonished by the display.
"What… the- whatever there's no time." He quickly caught himself before ordering his two new minions. "Both of you, distract the guards."
Hektor hopped down and created a blue barrier made out of mana to soften his landing, which costed him 200 mana.
"If you want to get out then follow us, I couldn't care less about anyone who doesn't want to leave this shit hole!" Hektor barked out, inciting the other prisoners.
The minions he summoned have performed well, but he knew that they were feeble monsters that even a civilian with no experience can take down. Their current purpose is to distract the guards, while he and the old man headed for the supply room.
The other captives followed their lead, taking out their foes through sheer numbers. Taking over the supply room was an easy task.
Hektor found most of his belongings, with none of the funds and supplies. He took up his spear once more. "Hoho, so the young soldier is a spearman." The old man commented before picking up a sword.
"We don't have much time, the aura users among them will get here soon." One of the other captives stated as the chaos outside continued.
"We'll force our way through, they can't get all of us!"
Hektor knew that in single combat he could take on most of the bandits. He was worried about facing one of the two stronger ones, Murgclaw who holds a lot of aura and his right hand man Sikal the swordsman.
The group of prisoners gushed out of the supply tents and it was every man for himself. The old man and Hektor exchanged a glance before the old man rushed towards the behemoth of a man that was Murgclaw.
Hektor with his spear and shield wielded rushed towards an exit, only to be blocked off by the same lanky bastard that placed him in this situation in the first place.
"Thought I'd let you go just like that little buddy?" Sikal brandished a knife along with his machete.
Hektor steeled himself once more. 'Two shots, I have two shots of Mana Bolt left.'
Mana: 300/1,500
"Bring it on, you long-jawed freak." Hektor responded with a deadpan expression.