Heizen's encampment, Plateaus of Haui, Peacius, 5th Day 1st Phase 1457th Set

Teiga walked out of the tent and looked up at the sky to see an orange canvas with flocks of birds flying overhead back to their own nests. "Ahhh, it is almost time for the feast and I have not showered yet." thought Teiga as he hastily went back in to pick up his given garments. Before making a move to the showering area. Reaching the showering area, the scene presented to him was in stark contrast to that of the main camp. Soldiers who had fierce, depressed, scared, stress or anxious faces were all now smiling and laughing while sitting naked in a depression in the ground filled with warm grey herbal water. Other soldiers were just pouring buckets of water over themselves while wearing only loincloths and talking leisurely to their fellow men. It was as though the showering area was a city public bath where people of different standings could break the invincible barriers and communicate with each other. The sight was so familiar that a reminiscent smile appeared on Teiga's face that had droplets of sweat rolling down his smooth cheeks and forehead. From behind him, a large hand threw itself onto Teiga's shoulder. By instinct, Teiga tried to reach for his wooden katana that always used to hang beside his hip but grabbed a muscular thigh instead. Realising that the person who had his hand on his shoulders bears no hostility. The young man looked up to see a towering figure with defined muscle curvatures that wrapped around his body.

"Heh, are you into men or something?" jokingly asked the towering figure as he began to lean in towards Teiga.

"Erh, no. Whenever someone grabs me or surprises me. I have the reflex to unsheathe my sword at that person. By the way, I am Teiga Ura." Teiga replied with an embarrassed face.

"Oh well, welcome to the showering area where all the Verserien soldiers and new enlistees can throw away their background. I am Hanco Juin, the person who was thrown by the Veteran General and your platoon mate. Pleased to meet you."

"So you're the person who fought with the dual-wielding guy. Why were you sparring with him anyway?" Teiga asked inquisitively as he unknowingly opened himself to his platoon mate.

"Let's go wash ourselves first with the buckets and relax in the bath before I tell you," suggested Hanco with a slight tint of happiness in his tone. "Oh yeah, remember to put your change of clothes in one of the wooden buckets given over there by the side of the bath."

After changing into the loincloth given in the bucket, Teiga walked awkwardly towards his waiting platoon mate. He looked down to avoid any eye contact with other soldiers and noticed that the ground his sandals were stepping on was totally barren which led him to think back on what he saw in the main camp. There were no signs of plant life anywhere. From what he had learnt in his home tutoring sessions, the Plateaus of Haui were supposed to be brimming with life. Now, Teiga's face turned into one filled with curiosity and suspicion. He shook it off immediately by trying to think that the battalion made it barren to make way for the encampment. But deep in his heart, he knows that that was not the case.

"Let's go then!" said Hanco as he wrapped his hand around Teiga again and guided him to the washing point. That gesture brought the doubtful man back to reality again.

Soon, yellowish-orange torch lamps were being lit up as Teiga and Hanco sat in the warm bath with mist rising up continuously into the now violet sky that had a crescent moon hanging lazily from a passing cloud. Immediately after the torch lamps were lit, the sound of a battle horn reverberated through the encampment for 10 seconds and some soldiers in the bath jerked up simultaneously. They proceeded to get out of the bath and change into their tunics and trousers before running towards the canteen.

"What's going on? A drill?" Teiga asked nervously hoping that it wasn't an enemy attack.

"AHAHAHAH. No, my friend. That horn specifically called for those soldiers to prepare for the feast." reassured Hanco.

"I see, I see. Now, is it okay to tell me about the spar?" said the young man as he stroked his chest gently to calm himself down.

Hanco then proceeded to spew out everything about the spar. With some parts, his face was as red as a tomato while other parts he was just laughing out loud and slamming the water.

"So, long story short. That dual-wielding guy called Trius Kevn insulted our vanguard platoon because he is jealous of us?"

"In essence, yes," said Hanco with a sigh of relief following the sentence. It was as though he placed down a huge boulder after walking a long distance with it. "Feels good to let out my side of the story. Now we should probably get out of this bath and get ready for the feast. Those soldiers prepare the food fast."

Teiga nodded in agreement and got out of the bath in unison with Hanco. Large ripples formed around the overly muscular man and swayed Teiga who only had a medium build. Regaining his stability, the young man waded through the opaque grey bath water and walked promptly towards his bucket and changed into the tunic that had a totally different texture from the ones that he wore at home. The soldiers' tunic and trousers were brown, rough and thin while Teiga's usual tunic and trousers were silky smooth with a multitude of colours and thickness. Noticing that the other buckets also had the same garments, he felt more comfortable wearing it knowing that it is the same for others. However, for Hanco, the clothes were binding his giant body and on the verge of ripping apart with just the slightest movement of a muscle. Yet Hanco moved just as he normally did without any sign of discomfort.

"Come on, let's go back to our own tents and meet back in the canteen. It is almost time." insisted Hanco as he made his move first.

Teiga followed along in the giant's shadow and realised that they actually belonged in the same tent when they both stopped together in front of green tent 9.

"AHAHAHAH. What a coincidence Teiga! I sleep at the front and right of the tent. Have you met the guy who keeps saying damn?"

"Oh yes, I have met that guy. Don't know if I can get along with him though."

"You will. I am sure of it. Then what about the guy who sleeps here." said Hanco as he pointed to the temporary bed at the front and left of the tent.

"No... At least not yet."

"Heh, you will soon. At the feast."

Ending the conversation, both soldiers returned to their temporary beds that were made of feathers and hay wrapped in a thin layer of cloth. They started to pack their own belongings with a small torch in the middle of the tent providing them with only the bare minimum of light. Upon arranging both their own things, they walked back out only to see a never-ending line of despondent, dismal and dispirited new enlistees making their way to the showering area guarded by multiple clones of the gatekeepers that Teiga saw earlier on. Some of the new enlistees were crying for their parents, some only slouched down with their belongings dragging along the ground while some were already struggling to walk. But each of them had a common appearance, a tattoo on the back of their right hand. It would seem that they were beaten into submission before being forced to enter the encampment.

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"What the hell..." mumbled Teiga, stupefied by the appearance of once happy and carefree teenagers or once satisfied adults being treated as seen by his eyes.

"I supposed that they were rounded up by the golems. They really shouldn't have ran away," said Hanco, it was as if he knew that Teiga wanted an answer to the scene. "The golems are the things with the magic circles on their cheeks."

When Hanco said "things", it struck Teiga that the Verserien army has an army of lifeless soldiers that never betrays, never disobeys and never needs any supplies except a constant flow of mana. These golems could easily replace actual soldiers and win almost every battle.

"Does this mean that this army has a lot of golems?" questioned Teiga worriedly.

"No, the golems that you see are the total number of them that Verserius have. It is only available to Heizen because of a mage," replied Hanco.

"A mage... Who is that mage to be able to create this many golems and sustain it himself? Maybe the barren fields have something to do with the mage? Maybe I can ask him to teach me more spells? Maybe..." thought the young man. Lost in thought, Teiga was not aware that he was being dragged to the canteen by the collar by Hanco.

The bustling canteen pulled Teiga's soul back to the encampment. The canteen was open air with more than 20 long wooden tables and benches made of planks. Verserien soldiers were already beginning to take their seats orderly, sitting down table by table once their own table had been filled. In their sitting positions, each soldier placed their hands on their laps and sat upright. On the tables were dull utensils and nearly broken dishes that laid orderly in front of every hungrily disciplined soldier. At the end of the canteen was a completely different table. It was only big enough to sit 4 people and it had a red cloth covering it, with shiny and clean utensils and dishes on it. Behind that table were flag poles that hung the different company banners. In the canteen, the aroma of freshly cooked delicacies swathed the area. Teiga could faintly hear the rumbling of some soldiers' stomach as he walked towards an empty table with Hanco, his new found friend. Finally, when the pair found an empty spot in one of the many tables, Hanco stood at attention while Teiga just followed suit, waiting for the table to be filled. When the table has been filled up, every soldier of the table sat down together and in an upright manner.

At last, every table except the small one has been filled. Even though it was supposed to be a feast, everyone in the canteen was extremely tensed and no one made a noise. Not even the rumbling of the stomach could be heard anymore. All that Teiga could hear was the sound of the crickets and the flapping of the banners in the gentle wind that occasionally blows through the canteen. The sky was a black canvas that seemingly had small holes punched through it. The crescent moon shone down on the torch lit canteen serenely, anticipating the arrival of Veteran General Tailun Maverus.

With a loud and quick blow of the battle horn, everyone stood up again quickly and placed their right hands on their chest. Even the new enlistees who seemed extremely reluctant to come to this encampment also stood up in unison when they saw other soldiers doing it. Suddenly, Teiga hands trembled in fear and some cold sweat broke out on his face as if searching for a better safe haven. A fierce and draconian aura swept through the canteen like a tsunami. Even the muscular Hanco also started to tremble. Accompanying the aura was the sound of boots walking along the line of soldiers towards the small table. It would seem that everyone dared not to look at the source of the sound, even those facing the group of people did not turn their eyes to look at them. The whole canteen was now filled with statues. After a while, the sound of boots died down but the sound of a group of people sitting down could be heard.

"At ease! Sit!" shouted an unknown person. The voice was deep and filled with strictness.

Hearing the command, every soldier sat down quickly without doubt. Now, with the command of "at ease", every soldier gradually resumed their conversations before coming to the canteen and soon the canteen was filled with noise. Teiga took this chance to look at the mysterious group of people who could silence the whole battalion without saying a word. In his eyes, Teiga saw a side of Tailun that he did not see in the fight, he was laughing so hard that his eyes closed when a cloaked figure beside him whispered to Tailun something. This sight made Tailun seem like he was around 28 Sets old. With one movement of Tailun's mouth, the cloaked figure pulled back the purple cloak to reveal a feminine face that pleasantly surprised Teiga. Her hair was silver in colour and looks like it was so smooth that water will just slide down with no resistance. Her pupils were brown in colour and filled with warmth, it was almost comparable to Henestia's eyes. From her appearance, she would appear to be around 25 Sets old.

"Psssh, she's the mage that controls the golems," whispered Hanco to Teiga's ears. "You don't want to mess with her."

"Wow, I thought that the mage was a male. Didn't expect the mage to be female."

By the side of Tailun, was the same man that stopped the fight between Teiga and the Veteran General. His hair was navy blue and still tied in a ponytail. The calm looking man took a sip of wine from the grail provided and started to ponder about something. On a closer look, the man with the ponytail seemed to be in his early 20s, like the mage.

"The man with the ponytail is a visiting Veteran General called Devius Hitoshima from the battalion of Vaex, the sister battalion of Heizen," said Hanco. "Apparently, he has urgent news for Tailun that's why he is making a visit here by himself. I don't know about the news though."

"Hmmmm..."

By the side of Devius, sat a relatively skinny man who seemed to be aged around 30 Sets. He sat down beside him silently as though Tailun was the one helping him to say anything. As skinny as he was, he had eyes that could seemingly kill anyone with a stare. The skinny man scanned the whole canteen looking for any abnormalities but to no avail. Finishing his scan, he closed his eyes and seemingly started to meditate. Again, like an encyclopedia, Hanco introduced the skinny man. Hanco said to Teiga that that man's name is Yiun, he is in-charge of the battalion's administration and logistics.

"You sure know a lot about them don't you?" said Teiga jokingly.

"No, it is basic knowledge for every soldier here. There's more that you do not know about them..." replied Hanco with a somewhat sly smile on his face.

With a ring of a bell, soldiers that got out of the bath earlier started to serve the delicacies prepared. Every table was filled completely with freshly cooked dishes from different regions of the continent of Pacifia. Whole raw tuna was served at every long table, 5 baked seasoned turkeys for every long table, 4 woks worth of stir-fried noodles with mixed vegetables and soy sauce for every long table, 1 small plate of pickled mixed vegetables and a bowl of pearl rice for every soldier, there was even a kebab grill for every 2 tables with layered pork meat... Whereas for the small table, they also had the same dishes but on a smaller scale. Everyone was drinking beer, wine or any other alcoholic drinks. Alcoholic drinks were distributed so commonly in the canteen now such that it would seem that alcohol is the staple drink for the battalion.

"Hey, Hanco. Where's our last tent mate?"

"Oh yes, him. He is sitting right in front of us now," replied Hanco kindly.

Teiga then turned his eyes to their front and saw a man roughly the same size as he was. He has brown hair that was spikey and a small mole by the side of his left eye. Noticing that Teiga was observing him, the man promptly introduced himself after swallowing a handful of food.

"Nice to meet you Teiga Ura. I am your tent and platoon mate, Baverus Courage," greeted Baverus as he reached out to pat Teiga on the head. "We will be fighting alongside each other soon and between each other sooner."

"What?!" said the startled Teiga just as he started to trust Baverus.

"Calm down, he is your assigned partner for training," reassured Hanco as he let out a short laughter.

The trio then started to laugh together like three idiots who played a prank on someone.

Everyone was having the time of their life, some were already drunk and stumbling about. The group of important people were also chatting with each other and laughing. All these make the war seem redundant and non-existent yet the reality was that the first battle was just around the corner. Clashing of swords, shields, and armour will soon replace the clanging of metal cups.