3 months they had risen before the sun appeared.

3 months they had been scolded for not taking good care of their equipment.

3 months they had fought with each other.

3 months they had trained themselves in everything from monster theory, to how to survive in the field.

For 3 months, Captain Fatan had been hounding around with them and knocking everything they needed to know into them.

3 months they had spent in the same barracks, slept in the same beds and eaten the same food. During these 3 months in hell, they had gotten to know each other as if they had grown up together. Everyone knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and everyone covered for each other.

Here they stood now. After 3 months of hard training, the general had come to inspect them. each a beer belly was burned away, each an unruly hair under control. every rail and every buckle was polished to perfection, and every blade sharpened to perfection, and every hammer now bound in leather, and plastered. There was nothing to put on these soldiers standing in line as if they were statues.

“Well, I've seen what I need. as usual, there is not a stain on your people. ” Commented the general calmly as he walked down between the rows while the captain stood stiff and proud looking at his soldiers. "But one is that they can look great, another is whether they can fight." Continued the general while studying one of the wolfkins' armor.

"Requests to switch to frontline form." Shouted the captain loudly. The general could not completely hide his smile. "Should I understand it this way, that this is not their battle formation." Asked the general even though he already knew the answer. “Yes sir, this is their gala form, not a weapon is present and not a shield is raised. If a monster showed up right now, they would not have a chance against it. ” The captain's answer.

The captain was known for doing this, he was often heard saying that a soldier must both know how he, moves around between the noble’s guests and how he rips his way through a horde of monsters. This concept of two different sides of the same soldier, he had driven to the extreme. "Permission granted, let me see them in their front line formation" replied the general as he was out of the ranks again.

Without further ado, the captain took his hammer out from his back where it had hung. The astute would see that the whole company at once tense their muscles, ready for action. "Monsters on the horizon, get ready to fight." Shouted the captain.

With one the formation opened up, out sprang a mix of elves and wolfkins with large deadly bows ready to make needle pads out of anything that moved. A mixture of humans and dwarves calmly slipped one step further and raised their shields. Around and over the shield berries, a large group of people pointed their weapons in the direction of where the enemy should be. Sparks had all got their own level 1 magic on their first survival exercise outside the wall. There was everything from small fireballs to tiny lightning bolts, to one who had a small water elemental sitting on his shoulder to one with a green mist around his hands.

The one who stood out the most was Dave. In the middle of the formation he stood leaning forward, with one finger against the ground. Around him, a complex map began to be written down into the ground without him moving a millimeter, while the air suddenly stood completely still just around him.

"As always, it looks great to see your people glide in formation, I see you have a lot of sparks here, some good ones between them" The general asked briefly. "Yes we have one that already has two sides active, a level 1 wind and a level 2 ground." replied the captain as he pointed to Dave.

"Why is he so curled up, he can not possibly react if something happens." Asked the general, thinking he had found a weakness in the formation.

"Because he does not have to look around constantly, you can try to attack him." Replied the captain scornfully, and handed the general a bow. The general could not cope, the captain's buttery smile, so without taking care of the consequences, he shot the arrow straight at Dave.

When the arrow was somewhat close to the formation, a human jumped forward and grabbed the arrow in the middle of the air and threw it to one of the archers, who nodded and put it in his bundle of arrows. The general, stood a little shocked and looked.

“Try again sir. No one is blocking Durue, let him show why we are not afraid that something will happen to him. ” Shouted Fatan, before handing the general another arrow. The general was well angry now, so without thinking further about it, he shot arrow number two off towards Dave, while the arrow was still in the air, he fired another arrow off. The first arrow missed Dave but only a few inches as he moved his head a bit without looking up. The other arrow hit a stone shield that had sprung up out of nowhere. "As you can see, you do not have to worry about durue surviving." Commented Fatan confidently.

“Okay so he can somehow feel where I am and track my arrows. but what is his fighting force, what does he do if he can no longer dodge and his earthly shields can not hold. ” The general grumbled angrily, only now did it dawn on the captain that the general they were dealing with was the son of one of the nobles who had taken part in taking everything from Dave. "I will let him show you himself. I need a volunteer to fight Durue. ” Shouted Fatan.

No one volunteer to start with. Everyone in the line stood stiff and just stared at their posts

"Let's say it's without magic." Elaborated the captain.

After a brief moment, one of the dwarves, with a deadly hammer in his hands, took a gentle step forward. "I report to be beaten," he shouted, though his voice trembled, it was still full of courage.

"What do you mean by that soldier?" Shouted the general.

"No one has ever won over Durue." The dwarf replied as he double-checked that his armor was as it should be.

"For that matter, no one has hit him with a single attack, he's too fast for us, and he just got even harder to hit after he got his wind magic." The dwarf continued as he inspected his hammer.

"I'm not that bad," laughed Dave.

"You were close last time, and this time I must not use my magic." Continued dave as he got ready.

While the dwarf lined up in a standard fighting position, with the hammer resting on his right shoulder, Dave lined up like a monk about to pray, with his hands placed one on top of the other.

"At my signal, ready… ... start!" Shouted the captain, but nothing happened.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to run into an attack when you stand with your hands ready like that." Asked the dwarf angrily.

“I am allowed to hope. But if it does not work, then I just have to attack "laughed Dave before he let his hands fall down along his side.

Before there were any who could really grasp what was happening, Dave had reached the dwarf. With distress the dwarf managed to take a quick step back to get away from the claws that Dave had tried to plant in the dwarf's chest and swung his hammer down against Dave's bare shoulder.

The next moment, Dave was gone again the only sign he had been there were 5 tear marks in the stone floor. The next thing the dwarf discovered was the sensation of sharp claws against his throat.

“Your turn was too slow and you did not keep your eyes on me, you are dead, next time then hit me with the end of the handle instead, you had already seen I was too fast for you to hit me with the head of your hammer. ” Dave whispered, from the dwarf's back.

"Again, this time I want to see Dave draw his weapons." Shouted the captain.

"Send reinforcements I've come across a speed monster I can not hit." Shouted the dwarf as he kept his eyes on Dave. The whole company froze and everyone first glanced back at where Dave normally sat, then straightened their eyes at their captain.

"So help your friend." Shouted the captain, but everyone could hear him amused. Out of the herd sprang a man with a large broad sword, and a wolfkin, with two daggers ready for battle. From the side of the formation, an elf stepped with his bow ready to shoot Dave.

"This is going to be so funny," grinned Dave, turning away from the sword that would separate his head and body from each other. A turn turned into a jump and then the hammer was avoided, the hammer then became a starting point for Dave's left hand so that he could twist free of the two daggers that were hitting him in the back.

As he hung there about two meters up in the air, there was a bang from an arrow that jumped free from a bow. Instead of the loud bang that the general had expected when the arrow found its target, only a muffled tuk sounded. In the middle of the air, Dave had twisted around and grabbed the arrow. "Close" Dave laughed before starting to turn around in the air.

When Dave landed on the ground again, the general had expected that his opponents would have taken advantage of the fact that he was out of balance and thereby, an easy prey, but instead of attacking, they jumped far away from him.

"Why flee from an opponent who is out of balance" shouted the general furiously.

"With respect sir, they're pretty stupid if they attack an agility monster like Durue when he comes down in a controlled landing like that" shouted the elf who was still standing some distance away from Dave.

"What are you raving about soldier, any chance of killing the beasts must be taken." Shouted the general. The captain could not help but shake his head and mumble to himself "this is the problem with people buying themselves into a rank, no sense of what it looks like in reality."

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“If they had not moved, we would have had a wide sword lying at your feet, and two of them would have had long claw marks all over their faces, which might very well have cost them an eye or two. Our brave dwarf here would have had his own hammer right in the face and the aforementioned hammer would then have flown directly towards our archer. ” Hissed Dave mad.

"If you do not believe me, ask Kvist over there." Dave now shouted furiously as he aimed one of his steel claws at one of the elves still standing in the formation.

The general's eyes quickly found the elf and gasped loudly. The beautiful face, which usually radiated grace and strength, was mutilated to the point where it was only his ear and height that revealed him like elves. One of his beautiful eyes was missing and his nose was broken in several places and was clearly not healed nicely.

"What in the dark has happened to you, private?" Shouted the general in astonishment. It took a while before the elf responded. “I could not let go of my pride and arrogance. I was taught the hard way that there are many things in this world I do not understand. ”

The general looked very incomprehensible, waving his hand as if to say tell on. The elf swallowed a large lump in his throat before responding.

“Until 1 month ago, I was fully and firmly convinced that elves were superior to humans and that men were better than women. I came in my foolhardy ignorance to comment that we elves were so much better than humans that I should just be able to take what I wanted, especially human women should just be my toy. ”

Answer the elf, and everyone around him tense in their body.

“But it's not the worst. I then came to open my mouth and comment that the princess looks good and is old enough now to bear children, so I would like to get my fingers in her. Here, our local agility monsters became furious, and challenged me to a duel.

Stupid me, took up the challenge and attacked him. During the fight, he just played with me. Twisted around all my outcomes. I then manage to provoke him to make such a jump as what they have just seen. I was just stupid enough to attack him on his way down. It cost me my weapon, my one eye and my nose were broken. All of this happened in a split second, so I learned to give him space.

The worst thing for those he fights now is that he still has not pulled his blades, this is still his standard form, I'm glad I did not volunteer to fight him here if the captain wants to see him pressured to to use his blades. ” Finished the elf weakly, while several from the company patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, you have learned your lesson and we will not hold it against you." Said one of the men quietly before turning his gaze to the fight again.

“Replace, we will see him pressured, sparks attack. Durue you still must not use your spark, I will see those blades in action. ” Shouted the captain. Suddenly, the dwarf and man quickly jumped two extra steps away before others took their place. One a human with a small fireball hanging by his left hand, and a small short sword, in his right hand. The other was a dwarf with a war hammer over his shoulder with a mysterious wind blowing around it.

"Good to see you boys, let's let the party begin" Dave asked grinning as he lined up in his monks' position again. "As always, it's a pleasure to meet you here in open battle Durue." Replied the dwarf calmly. "Yeah yeah let's drop all this cozy talk, I want to see if I can trip with him now." Pushed the man excitedly.

"Yeah, let's do it, everyone ready?" asked Dave with a raised eyebrow. His only answer was an arrow pointing in his left eye. Without blinking, Dave moved his head and the arrow missed him.

Wolfkin had taken the chance and stormed in to try to get a good attack in, but Dave, had already pulled his knives out of their hiding places, and blocked the attack with them. Man and the dwarf quickly joined the fight.

What followed was a long battle with small fireballs and strong gusts of wind that exploded out here and there. Several times there was rage roaring and the sound of steel against steel.

After just over 5 minutes, the team managed to pressure Dave to make another of his high jumps. This time it looked like they had a chance to take advantage of it. Dave twisted too fast around himself for the general to believe he could get the balance, but a low click, heard only by those standing just below Dave, made them retreat again.

Several months of training with Dave, had taught them to love and fear that sound. They knew that when it sounded, it meant he was finally starting to take them seriously. Everyone loved that sound, as it was one of the greatest signs of respect he could show an opponent, but at the same time, they all feared it, as it meant he was ready to start being offensive.

"Well boys it was a good warm up but let's start right" Dave shouted as he landed again. his landing was with such great force that he threw a cloud of dust up around himself.

"Attack him now while he is blind," the general shouted in panic. "You should be welcome sir, but I personally want to survive until tomorrow." Said the dwarf as he went and picked up his hammer again, which he had thrown away to get away faster. Before the general had anything more to say, the cloud of dust settled again.

Dave suddenly appeared again. Kneeling so deep that he had almost his chest pressed against the ground, he stood ready. All the muscles in he body tensed up like a giant spring. Lying over his shoulder blades, lay a long glossy katana.

"Good choice my friends, but think it's time for me to start my offensive, so give me everything you have." Whispered dave, but everyone heard him.

In an explosion of speed, Dave was over them. In a matter of minutes, he had disarmed all his opponents and marked them as dead. Even the elf who otherwise felt at a fairly safe distance from the fight had been given a mark on the cheek, eventually by one of Dave’s many knives hidden on his body, which he had thrown at the end.

“If I had, it would have been in that eye. You are all dead, but you have done well. if it was a monster that had not trained with you for several months, you would probably have won without the big problems. ” Commented Dave as he picked up his knife again.

The general just stood with his mouth wide open. He could not fathom what he had just seen.

"How is he so strong" was all he got out. “Durue is fast, far beyond normal, but it is a product of his upbringing, he has grown up in the city streets, so he has learned to move differently than others. At the same time, he has an incredible sense of his surroundings, even without his magic, he can almost always feel where everyone is. ” Explained the captain in a firm voice.

"Of course, he is built so thin that if he is finally hit, then he is almost done, and his armor does not give him much protection, but as long as he can move, he will not be hit." continued the captain before starting to laugh out loud.

"Well enough about that, I think you've seen everything you need, shall we just say it's fine and they're approved to go out in the field?" Asked the captain when his laughter finally died out. The general was too shocked to do anything but nod.

"well. Men gala formation "shouted the captain. In a few seconds, everyone had fallen back into formation and it was impossible to see that they had just been in an artificial battle. "One last thing, before you are allowed to rest for today, let me hear what makes us survive." Shouted the captain.

A man at the bottom of the column shouted loudly. "Something on the horizon is moving, what are we doing?"

"We are getting ready for battle" was the roar of the whole company.

Another shouted loudly. "The enemy is hidden, what do we do?"

“We search together and wait. Never in the blind do we start an attack, ”was the answer from every man.

A dwarf shouted "Why do we always win"

"Because we stick together and keep our heads cool," it sounded even louder from the company.

"Who is most important to keep alive." Asked an elf aloud.

"We are all equal, no one is most important" shouted the whole herd now, with a strength that made everyone in the area hesitate.

"Why are we fighting?" Asked a wolfkin.

"To protect our homes, women and children" roared the herd.

Suddenly the captain shouted "One for all" and the answer made windows around the barracks shake "And all for one"

The general knows this number well. It was an old tradition to say it as part of the ceremony before having to leave the base and head out to the front line. What he did not expect was the next thing that followed.

An elf shouted loudly inside the middle of the company. “No matter what, we must live”

A human followed high. "We bear in common a man's words."

Again it was picked up by a dwarf "A promise he made, what a beautiful promise."

One man continued "We will help him keep that promise."

everyone in the company including the captain knew what was happening. Only one did not know what was going on.

"A woman so beautiful is waiting here for him to find when he comes home" Continued a man loudly.

"The nobles took his name and power" shouted the company together, "but when he comes home his name and princess must be his again" roared the company. while they all stomped hard into the ground, so that everything shook.

When Dave realized what was being said, tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"The Rue family should not die out, no it should flourish again stronger than ever" shouted the captain before turning towards the castle.

"Just wait, when we return, Davelius Serpina's Rue of Redstone will resurface and he must restore balance in this country." Shouted the captain as he clenched a fist and threatened the castle, where the nobles often sat and destroyed it for the common man.

The general was completely speechless, in front of him stood a group of soldiers, all gathered around a target. Instead of being united to just survive, as the normal companies were trained for, these men were united to get back together in one piece and with a man strong enough to take his power back again.

Ever since the young general was little, his father had preached about how the Rue family ruined everything for him.

Originally, he had blindly believed in his father, and adopted his hatred for the Rue family. He had grown up with stories of how that, the simple men of this Rue family wandered the city streets along with all the poor.

He had learned to see them to be smaller than himself and only see how weak they were when they needed to hide between beggars and merchants. His father had often told him how the only reason they were noble in status was because they claimed to have helped found the city.

But today had changed his view of all this.

Durue which he now went under. Had turned out to be spark carry and had shown he could figure out how to use it. Already now, without him having been on the front, he had at least 2 element under his control. Furthermore, he had seen this young Durue in battle. He had seen him overcome all his opponents without the big problems, even when he fought against other spark users, he had won the battle easily.

He had seen a young man twist around all attacks and won against what would be seen as impossible odds. Everything his father had said about them being weak and could not be used for anything, crumbled for every second the fight had lasted.

When he then thought he could not be more shocked, the company had declared that they were fighting, not for themselves and their own survival, but for him to one day return and regain his place among the nobles.

The general did not know how, but Durue had gathered this whole company around something as noble as helping him regain his rank. What gave the picture his father had spent so much time building the death blow was that the young Dave Durue ... no it was wrong, the young Davelius Serpina's Rue of red stone, stood and cried. It was so obvious that he had not planned this, he looked like someone who was as shocked as the general that the general could not say anything about it at all.

If the general was shocked, the captain and company were even more shocked by what the next general did. "Dave Durue step forward," he shouted hoarsely.

Dave feared nothing and confidently stepped forward in front of the general. The general swallowed a large lump when he saw the company's reaction to Dave being called that way. All the archers had at once stretched their bow and aimed their arrows at him.

“Dave Durue, I Kornelius Jakitu know that my father Gært Jakitu and his noble have taken your name and your status from you, but today I have seen that they have been wrong. You are not a problem, but a benefit to the city. I bend in the dust and beg you, Davelius Serpina's Rue of Red Stone, to forgive my stupidity and let me help you correct this corrupt society we live in. ” exclaimed the general as he let himself fall to his knees in front of Dave.

“Let it be known among all that you Kornelius Jakitu should not be punished for your father's mistakes. When I return, I'll be happy to have you by my side, so get up and let's be seen as equals again. ” Dave replied before reaching out to the young general.

“As equals we must stand. Until you return, I promise to protect what is rightfully yours. ” The general replied as he blinked at Dave. before hitting his head up against the castle.

After this exchange, the soldiers were given time off and told to party tonight because tomorrow they would go out into the wilderness.