Moren….

A city which could not get more close to the reality than it already is. As an outsider one would think that being the capital it would get separated from the rest of the country.

It was probably due to the King. Klaus was a new king elected by the people of the country. His goal was the same 

that of Mephisto. Bringing the humans to be at par with the rest of the race.

That would explain why the soldiers and generals were so respectful of their king.

“So…you decide how you want to die. Death by hanging or guillotine. You can even off yourself by electrocution thanks to our mages.” General Rick

“Wait...wait, hold on…. I said it so many times, didn’t I? I’m telling the truth. I even have the proof with me. Check my 

robe, it has the recommendation of the duke of Viden”

The king was surprised and ordered one of his men to search the Mephisto’s robes. It had a scroll. One of the soldiers handed it to the king. The king started to read it. With every second passing his eyes opened wider.

“That guy who never has a good thing to say about anyone is praising you!!!”

“Tell me, why do you want to be a soldier when you could become a General easily with your wits. You can command so many soldiers and lead them to victory” The king was curious

“Well…I….uh….” It seemed that this thought hadn’t crossed Mephisto’s mind that with the recommendation he could directly become a General.

“Well honestly speaking I didn’t know that the recommendation was worth that much. ”Mephisto replied.

“Now that you know, what do you say”

“Your Majesty please don’t go around offering him the position without first letting us check him thoroughly. “Rick interjected.

“Well Rick since the duke recommended him, I am going to believe in this guy. We shouldn’t be disrespecting the judgement of our own people.” Klaus replied calmly.

“Well if you say so, but even if you yourself give him the go ahead. It doesn’t mean he is fit to lead an army does it? He might have quick wit and knowledge but war tactics and fighting abilities are what matters in the end. If he can prove himself in those, then it wouldn’t be a problem.” Rick was precise and right.

Considering that before all this he was one of the creators he hardly had any need to learn war tactics or fighting.

“I would like to volunteer for the physical training part but wouldn’t it be best to learn war strategies from watching 

his Majesty and the Generals?” Mephisto spoke firmly.

“OK… you think you can do it?? Have you ever wielded a weapon before? We’ll need to test your aptitude before you 

can begin. During your breaks you’ll get to sit with us and listen to our plans. It’s the fastest way to learn.” Rick said.

“I’ll do my best”

“OK then…go sign up at the barracks, they will test your physical and magical capabilities to determine which path you choose.”

“The...the barracks?” Mephisto asked.

“You didn’t think one of us Generals would actually train you did you?? That recommendation will only get you so far. 

But don’t worry, if you’re good you can skip a huge part of your training and move ahead.” Rick explained.

It had been a long day for Mephisto. Considering what had happened throughout the day, he still considered himself lucky.

Walking into a void and coming out directly inside a king’s castle. It was all to surreal for him. But what intrigued him 

the most was the existence of the void. Although he had created it himself, he had a hard time remembering why he did it. It isn’t like the void had no meaning at all.

[Guess this is why they call me an idiot all the time right?]

Mephisto registered at the barracks and headed to sleep as soon as possible. The next day was going to be the judgement day for him. Although his journey had just started he could feel his body shaking in excitement for the next day. A lot of these feelings and actions were new to him so obviously it would take time to get used to them.

That day ended…..quite eventful.

[Come to think of it, what happened to the horse that got left behind in the forest?]

The Next Day

Mephisto was woken up early by a loud alarm that sounded a lot like sirens. 

He got up and got ready for the big day ahead of him. Mechanical watches were not mass produced then so the 

barracks still used a sundial. There was one at the centre. It was currently 4 in the morning.

The barracks was itself placed at the edge of Moren, the biggest city in the country.  It was surrounded on all sides by wooden logs which had sharp nose on one side and placed at an angle away from the barracks. Why it was the same way inside the city was still a mystery to Mephisto.

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“Alright. You the new recruit right? My name is Will and no its not short for William. But can only call me as captain. OK??? Now….are there any questions??” The captain asked in a commanding tone.

For a captain he seemed quite young. Only about 23 or so.

“Yes captain, why are the walls of the barracks outward even in the inside??” Mephisto asked.

“Oh! You caught that did you. I can see why his Majesty recommended you. Most of the recruits never notice it.” After a brief pause Will continued “It’s because the other races have proven to have the capability of flight you see. In a few other cities they avoided the walls from the outside and directly attacked from the inside. It was devastating. Losing your barracks means you lost. Remember that.”

“But what if they fly right in the centre??”

“They can. But then they will be directly between thousands of soldiers. If we are gonna fight, then better do it first so that the rest of the people have a chance at escaping.”

True it seemed the system was quite revised from the previous failures.  

“Anything else??” Will seemed to be giving Mephisto a lot of time to enquire. Maybe he had taken a liking to how Mephisto thought.

“General Rick said that I will be tested for my aptitude and either physical of magical training will be assigned to me based on that.” Mephisto enquired.

“Ah yes, follow me”

Will took Mephisto to a separate area inside the barracks. Along the way he could see a lot of soldiers fighting each other. One peculiar thing was they were fighting with real swords instead of a wooden one. Also they were wearing 

they armours that they were to use in case a war broke out. Maybe it was so that they would feel like even during the practice their life was on the line. And they had to give their utmost all the time.

“Here take this”

Will handed Mephisto a sword. As expected the sword was very heavy. But Mephisto managed to keep a calm face.

“Now hit that big stone in front of you with all your might.” Will instructed.

There certainly was a stone in front of Mephisto. It appeared as a normal stone. If anything was different then it was 

the texture. It was very smooth, almost shiny.

Mephisto gripped his sword tightly and without questioning anything that was said rushed towards the stone. 

He gained considerable speed and almost before he was a few meters away from the stone, he stopped and swung his sword onto the rock.

To his surprise the rock absorbed the sword inside it. With every second passing he could see the sword going inside 

the rock. Till almost the hilt was left in his hand.

Just then the rock started to glow and the colour red was emitted from it.

When Mephisto looked at Will. He could see that Will was very surprised.

“That…that was a precise stroke. How did you do it? Did you know that spot was the stones weak point? No you 

couldn’t have.”

“I don’t know. I just hit it with all my power. I don’t know anything about this precise stroke that you’re talking about. It might be my luck that I hit it on that spot.”

“No. It can’t be. Precision strokes aren’t luck. You know how you can achieve a critical hit at an enemy and gain a chance to severely wound them or even kill them.  But the thing is because of that enemy’s movement the Precision stroke change from place to place. In the same way this rock changes its weak spot just like an enemy in an actual battle. And yet… you managed to hit it right on the spot.” Will’s voice was clearly wavering.

He knew it in the heart that Mephisto had lot of potential in him. He could not imagine the miracles he would perform when trained fully.

“With a talent like yours I would like it if you skipped the magic test and came under our physical discipline. But as much as I want I can’t. The new king and all.”

“Thanks for the compliment. Oh right. Then where is the next test?” Mephisto enquired.

“You wait here.. I am going to send the next instructor over here.”

With that Will hurried out of the area. He seemed pretty excited. He really wanted Will to join the physical discipline.

As Mephisto waited he heard a voice from behind him.

As he turned, he felt a stick poking in his stomach.

“This is how easy it is to kill off an amateur”

“you…you are a woman???!!”Mephisto exclaimed.

“Nothing wrong with that is there?”