As he maneuvered around the battlefield, leaving death in his wake, he eventually found the dead corpse of the high variant flyer and confirmed his kill by taking its fluffy tail.
It wasn’t as large as its claws made it out to be and was only as large as a human but it looked more like a squirrel with large flabs of skin on it’s sides.
It’s muscly legs were used to gain some air and the excess skin around its chest was used as a glider. Its sharp claws were instead just sharp nails although the difference at such a speed was hard to notice.
A deadly demon for sure, one that certainly would fetch him some good army merits.
Happy with the secured kill he got back to work.
Morning arrived and the bright light of dawn came to Malum tired eyes. He looked upon the fields of dead bodies and at the blood soaked desert. On top of the corpse he was sitting on he could truly see a lot of the scenery.
His face was full of mud and dried blood, but it was scowl that unusual for Malum.
His army commander was right. The body he was sitting on was of another high variant. 029, Diplodocus. The only reason he even remembered the demons name was its absurd size.
It main body was as large as any house. Turned on its side and it long neck and tree-trunk legs could fit the whole block.
Its leg were like tree trunks and Malum noticed its arrival by the sound, and its long head swaying on the skyline.
The only reason the goliath beast wasn’t a higher variant was that it’s strengths didn’t play well against humans. Its head was its best weapon as its used its great weight to lumber its head along its great neck to deliver powerful blows, much like a mundane giraffe but when its attacker dodged them it didn’t matter.
He was like a fly, one which held a sword and continually did enough cuts with strong enough poisons to kill the damn thing and even then it took nearly an hour.
He took three of the beasts colossal toe nails and whilst it wasn’t a pretty operation, the sweet points he would get for his efforts made the process far easier.
Joy was met with unease as Malum thought of more high variant demons coming for his blood. 2 in a single wave was more than a coincidence. Perhaps next month it would be 5, then even higher.
Malum needed to know more information, but his rank wasn’t high enough to access such information. Jameson would perhaps know more and so Malum had to settle with that.
He continued to fight against the demons for a few hours longer, but it wasn’t long before the sun rose to its peak and the demonic wave was complete.
“Good to see you still alive Leader.” Malum said to a bloody Greives.
His reply consisted of him looking up and smirking at the boy, “Your looking chipper. How are you still energetic?”
“Good blood and whole lotta training. Used to call me Edura Boy at the training grounds.” Malum managed to catch himself before he gave away his actual identity. The Endurance Monster was dead, now he was another Malum.
“Training grounds? I heard you didn’t have training?”
“Private training, my parents were a Knight and a Maid under Baron Smith so I got sponsored training.”
Grieves simply nodded and said, “Fair enough, I got training down at Eastwood.”
“How was that?” Malum asked, steering the conversation away.
It worked wonders as Greives seemed to hold countless stories of his military career. It lasted until they reached back at the Outpost.
As Greives went to report about the Section as a whole, Malum went to trade in his extra kills and to check on his balance in general.
Several soldiers were lining up already but it didn’t take long before Malum was at the front of the que.
“How can I help you today?” Said the scholar sitting at the desk.
“I need to hand these in, and I want to check on my balance.” He placed the tail and nails on the desk and the staff quickly took it inside.
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The scholar made a few notes before he said, “That is a two variants in the 20s, that is 500 credits each making it a thousand total. You’ve had three total waves so far which have given you 3 thousand each which makes your grand total 10 thousand. Would you like to exchange that for your dismissal?”
That is what most would have done, Malum was definitely not normal.
“No instead can I look at the prices of faster promotions and titles.”
“Of course, here is a paper with them listed out.”
Malum took the paper and stood out of the que. The Scholar nodded at his actions and asked for the next person in line. He was going to take a second, and both knew that they didn’t want to waste anybody’s time.
Back to the paper and Malum was deciding what to do,
Ranks:
Squad Member: Free
Squad Leader: 2000 Credits + 5 waves completed
Troop Leader: 10000 Credits + 10 waves completed + Minimum Title (Knight)
Commander: 30,000 Credits + 20 waves completed + Minimum Title (Baron)
Anything above is directly appointed by the King, who can also assign any rank to any person at any time he deem fit. In times of war, Positions will also be given when needed to those command deems able to fit the role.
Titles:
Knight: 15000 Credits + 10 waves completed + Required at least ownership of 1 Town.
Baron: 50000 Credits + 30 waves completed + Requires at least ownership of 3 Towns. + Character Letter (Explained below)
Viscount: Not available
Count: Not available
Marquie: Not available
Duke: Not available
Anything above is directly appointed by the King, who can also assign any rank to any person at any time he deem fit. Land is available in other sections and in the case of any Baron and above rank a letter must be sent to the king as to why the requester desires the title. All titles are hereditary for as long as the holders continue to contribute to the Kingdom.
Firstly, Malum cringed looking at the costs. He could barely afford to be a Squad Leader. Everything was expensive because everyone Malum knew who had those ranks were instead assigned to the position by the King or a higher up.
Greives was granted the position with his forced relocation. Jameson was capped at the Rank by the powers at the top.
The last line was something Malum was interested in as well. He would Jameson what it meant as he would likely provide more information than the scholar on the front desk.
Malum had time and he needed to remind himself of that fact more. He still had body reformation that needed to be done and he still had his entire mind to expand and grow before he could even think about becoming a cultivator.
He returned the paper to the desk and walked off towards his tent. It had been a long day, and learning how much further he had to go wasn’t a good way to end it.
At least he was alive, and with such a thought Malum refused to stay down. In death he had wished for life far more than he could even count. Being sad whilst living his dream was beyond any logic.
Emotion weren’t logic but the countless arguments that come from such a thought continued long into Malum dreams. The darkness washed him of his emotions, and also his logic. There only fantasy remained.
Inside of the command tent and Greives went to go and report to the commander.
He knocked on the door first and waited for the confirmation to enter. He then looked upon the great behemoth of a man before he saluted and said, “Sir, my report for Section B.”
The Goliath waved at him to come closer and Greives quickly did as he was told.
“Kendrich really does create such sticklers. Regardless, voice your report Squad Leader.”
Confused by the earlier comment, Greives took a second before he followed the order.
“Out of 5 initial members, 4 return from combat. Me, Malum, and the twins. Carl Frey seemed to have died at around 4 PM, with demonic beasts flowing into the twins side at an increased rate from that moment forth.”
Demons were attracted the nearest source of their desire depending on their senses. Weak demons had worst senses and led them to roughly where that was. Demonic bodies were a good source of those and so they choose the twins section instead of the dead Carls section for exactly that reason.
Davidson didn’t smile, but his frown deepened when he heard news of Carls death.
“Good solider that one. Do you have a body?”
“We do not Sir.”
Davidson breathe out. “Alright that will be one hole to fix, anything else?”
“Sir the amount of high variants increased across all sub-section. I experienced one variant 20, the twins saw 2 and Malum saw 2. Such an amount cannot be a coincidence.”
Grieves paused, and thought for a second.
He had an idea, but it was one he didn’t like.
“You will see a report on those increases by the next wave. Your team did well, although you will be assigned a new one next wave I hope you learned a thing or two about leadership. Enjoy your break Greives and relax a little. Your dismissed.”
Grives saluted the man on instinct but regretted it as he walked out the door. He had just been told to relax.
But how could he relax. Higher variants were rarely recorded down in the books he had read and whilst variations did occur he didn’t like even the possibility of the potential threat.
A Demonic Noble. That was what the book said.
God he hoped it was just a variation.
Davidson struggled to keep his stoic face. His mind hurt thinking of the report he would hand in and his heart struggled to cope with the numbers on the report.
Casualties were up 60% this wave. Mostly due to the raise in high variants.
He sat at his desk and pulled out a Calming Leaf smoker and set it alight. They were expensive but the smoke filling his lungs helped his mind relax from all the stress.
He wasn’t one for alcohol, not nearly as much as his squad mates were. Finally a smile appeared on his face. He remembered the laughs, the cheers, the ridiculous scenes they would create.
He also remembered their funerals.
One last prayer and his mind returned to the work at hand. First they would need to clear the mess created. He pulled his heavy greatsword onto his back before he lumbered his way out the door.
He whistled for his men, before climbing on his own stead. They met him outside of the gates and before the minute had ended he was riding down the plains looking for any demonic bastards.
They would do 4 laps of the Sector before the task was complete. With that in mind Davidson kept his head clear, his eyes sharp, and his sword ready.
A single demon slipping past could mean a life lost. He couldn’t allow that, not as a commander, not as a human.