Four days prior, in the Royal Academy, the headmaster looks out to a large gathering of first-year students. They entered his beloved halls two days ago, and now they were to be given a proper test.
"Greetings first years! I have great news for your first trial." The old lady watched over her charges with what could be expressed as a motherly smile. The students are tense due to the implication.
"Do not worry, as Professor Writhe and Professor Lilitine will be guiding you along the way." The mutters of worry turned into whispers of awe and worship. If one of the great heroes were coming, then they would not need to fear.
The headmaster smiled calmly as the crowd calmed down. "Please note that this is not based on the number of enemies that you all kill. This is going to be based on how much work you all put into the massacre of this wave."
Her grandmotherly smile turned to the center of the room, "For the first test, no one will be expelled for failing. However, misconduct will not be tolerated." Her face formed into a scolding frown to put emphasis on the final statement.
She knew that this would be useless to some trouble makers; however, she could only watch and wait for them to take a wrong step. Hence, she entrusted Professor Writhe with overseeing the whole ordeal while Professor Lilitine was the distraction for those trouble makers.
"Now get together in your teams. You shall be going in the morning and arrive in three days to the Northern frontier." She stood up and swiftly left as she had many responsibilities. The two professors were competent, so she had no worries about their survival, but the students were another matter.
After the headmaster left, the students roared with anticipation at the prospect of being taught by Professor Liliane. Naturally, this amused the two professors as they moved to take over this procession.
One of the new students smiled; happily, this student was none other than Dimitir. He whispered, "Tarphus, I will be going to the front… I will carry on for you." His solemn demeanor lasted for only a few seconds before he grinned again. However, he still had that gleam of sadness in his eyes.
…
Two days later, the entire first-year student body of the Royal Academy stepped off of a large Cargo Dragon. The two Professors then stepped up in front of the students. Professor Writhe then spoke.
"Hello everyone, I am here to ensure that you all are doing your best to grow. Therefore while Professor Lilitine goes and gets our sleeping arrangements taken care of, I shall work you all in physical exercises." The cold smirk froze any protests before they could be voiced.
Professor Writhe turned toward his peer and whispered. "Go, you do not want to miss out on your old friend, now do you." The smirk softened into an amicable smile as he said that. Liliane Bowed her head ever so slightly and whispered. "Thank you."
She left quickly towards the Mercenary Guild Hall, her face calm and serene. As she walked into the guild, she frowned as she heard how a federation group was here. She would have to investigate this later and find out what they were doing.
When she knocked on the office, she smiled as she remembered how her party was formed by entering through a door just like this one. She then opened the door and saw him. Werthine stepped into the room as he looked up at her with a strained smile.
Werthine blinked and smiled genuinely as he recognized her. "Well, well, well, if'n it ain't little Lina. Hahaha, last I remember, ye were gonna fight the Technomancer Archio. How did that go?" Her grin bloomed into a massive smile. "Teacher, it is good to finally see you again."
Werthine stood up and walked over to her arms outstretched for a hug. She laughed and embraced her past mentor.
Werthine's guttural chuckles resounded around the room; the mood was light with such happiness. The two overworked and vastly underpaid warriors let down their guard to just bask in memories of a much simpler past.
They talked and had tea, though Werthine had some mead instead. They laughed over Werthine's "jokes." One being, "What is the difference between inlaws and outlaws?" she would chuckle and retort. "Outlaws are wanted? Really Gui- sorry Werthine, you keep on using the same jokes."
After talking about friends and family, a dark look passed over Lilitine's face as she asked. "Teacher, I have heard about something to do with Cullivan, is it tr-" Werthine shook his head with a small smile.
"Me friend is at a loss due to his son's… class. I hope ye understand that what we say here stays here… no?" His eyes became steel-like, and she felt a cold enter her bones… she had not felt this kind of pressure from any challenge before.
This brought to question, how powerful is Werthine? Sweat dribbled its way down her brow as she stared at her mentor in the art of rune carving. She could only nod due to the immense pressure that was dragging her down.
A thought came to her mind, "Who was this person that forced her teacher to be so loyal to them?" it made no sense to her. However, Werthine answered. "Good, the lord's child was given a summoning job."
Before she could interrupt, he waved his hand, "It deals with the Federation's Technology, maybe a bit weaker." Her stare cut into Werthine, and he knew that he could not salvage the boy's pride in front of her. "Alright, weaker than it. So he summons a squad and a Priest that fixes and aids the technology."
She raised an eyebrow over the priest bit, but he continued before she could comment. "The priest replaces itself with tech." The disturbed look in his eyes told her not to press. This was something that was a significant problem between the Federation and every other major power.
The Kingdom's healers can reconstruct flesh using faith and magic, while the Empire uses "qi" to do the same. The Federation could do that with their science; however, they usually use a "cheaper" option.
Prosthetic limbs, those things that replace the flesh with a non-magical metal limb. For any mage other than a metallurgist, it would be a living nightmare, as they would permanently be without magic in that "new" limb, causing spells to misfire if the mage does not compensate, which could take years to do properly.
She was brought out of these darker thoughts by her teacher's voice. "Ye will be seeing the boy soon, the next day or two. He is out on a delaying action so that yer students could get here and set up."
She smiled at him and nodded, "I look forward to seeing him." Her teacher smiled solemnly, "The boy needs time before he can learn what powers he strides alongside. Therefore, while you may see him, you are not to talk about me training yer team."
She frowned and questioned him, "Why? You are powerful. You could easily pro-" He raised his hand, stopping her. "I am old, me dear student. I have seen the birth of mountains, witnessed the formation of the Federation, beheld the exodus, and killed many daemons.
I can no longer wield me ax, me home was avenged, my family was founded, and now… I can rest, so I shall not bring the boy into a game of titans before he is ready." He downed the last bit of his mead with that somber look.
He then smiled as he left the room for a second, coming back out with some clean plates of metal. "Ye want to practice?" Lilitine smiled and accepted. The next few days went along those lines where she would spend time with her old teacher and teacher herself.
…
Tarphus looked at the woman that could single-handedly wipe out entire armies from the face of the world. She looked down at him and nodded, leaving without a word. Tarphus saw his life flash before his eyes as she walked past him.
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It took a few minutes before he could collect himself. The world was spinning as he had seen only a glimpse of her power. It radiated from Lilitine like a waterfall and beat upon him as though he was a small pebble. He needed to get more powerful for his troops as they now relied on him.
He entered the office to see a slightly bewildered-looking Werthine, who turned to Tarphus with a smile. Unconsciously Tarphus felt his check flare with pain. He shook it off, it was just a misunderstanding, but that pain would not leave him.
Werthine chuckled while shaking his head, "Me boy, ye have such good timing, but congratulations for ye are indeed in order me boy. Add in the fact that ye did the whole holden them off a bit was such a success."
This brought a brilliant smile to Tarphus's face. The cuts and bruises felt less like an overwhelming burden to a mere inconvenience. Werthine then spoke again, "Show me the report." Tarphus nodded to the floating skull that started projecting what it had seen.
"A fair amount of goblin shamans, heavily armored Hobs, a couple of Hob mages, and a whole lot of goblins. Then there are the Orcs, Half breeds seem to be the officers, and they have some magic gear."
He stopped when he saw the creature on a mobile throne. His smile became more predatory. "Hoho looks like we got an Orc noble. This is going to be fun; however, I have set aside some land for yer team, it is on a hill, and it will be yer job to protect that flank from the enemy."
The seriousness in Werthine's eyes told Tarphus that there was no way he could argue from it. "Get yer heavy weapons out and fire into the mass on me signal, alright? I will make sure that ye have a priest as well. Those bastards might get crafty." Tarphus nodded, though he shuddered when he remembered the… grit? Of the orcs that he had fought so long ago.
He never wanted to allow that kind of threat into his world. He had hoped that that was the only enemy that his patron was facing… But he knew better. He saw the book he gave to the Emperor and knew that those who had it were a clear threat to him.
He shuddered in disgust as he exited the room dismissed by Werthine to get proper rest for himself and his troops. They were so exhausted that not even Gus wanted to party. They all went to sleep sorely.
However, everyone felt as though they did a great job. The delay tactics worked; however, they will have to dig in later. The Tech-Priest was interested in learning about these human "cults" so that they may be able to tread carefully while they were weak now.
Tarphus felt this was a monumental feat as Kit said that the Tech-Priests were a segregated community and would never do such a thing. However, Tarphus deflated when he heard the Tech-Priest snort in derision, "The Gods that they pray to here are weak. They will crumble under the weight of the blessed factories. This one is merely humoring the insane before they inevitably follow."
Tarphus should have expected that, but right now, he only wanted to rest.
…
When Tarphus and his troops woke, the town was bustling with activity. Most of the civilians were escorted to the small fortress in the middle of town. He turned toward the door when he heard the knocking; it seemed that he had slept in.
Tarphus looked at his troops, still asleep, good they earned it. Tarphus then went to answer the door; he found a priest of Matrix. The priest was tall, taller than even Tarphus's father. He wore frilly pink robes that sparkled when he moved.
However, the priest looked down on Tarphus as if it was Tarphus wearing something weird and not him. Tarphus disliked Gatrix because of her teachings; however, he had a job to do, so religious differences would have to be put aside for now.
His Tech-Priest looks up from Kit's eyes and into the eyes of the newcomer, "Meat bag, you have answers to the questions I seek." Tarphus was not as shocked as he felt he should have been. However, he would not deny that the confused and slightly scared look on the priest's face made Tarphus feel a slight amount of joy.
Tarphus smiled happily at the priest as he stated, "We are going to the hill now so that we can set up the heavy weapons and dig in. Now do not try to convert my soldiers as they are not willing to change their religion, and they might kill you if you try."
The priest glared at Tarphus and sneered, "They do not know what is best for them, it seems." The priest's nasally, and high-pitched voice gave Tarphus a headache before he even got to the hill.
Tarphus knew that this would be a long day. However, that priest made it worse. He told the Tech-Priest that he did not need to dig alongside his soldiers. Tarphus was not surprised when the Tech-Priest shook his head.
He was angered by the other priest; however, as the priest of Gatrix brought out a folding chair from his backpack, he summoned a beach umbrella and a small table. The priest then tried to have Tarphus's soldiers put it up as: "One of the faithful it was his right to relax and have the non-believers do everything for him."
Tarphys felt slighted at this. But, at least the Tech-Priest was helping. Even though the two did not agree upon religious aspects, the Tech-Priest still worked. Even now, it was fixing some equipment while that foppish fool merely played at being a "combatant."
He had more pressing matters to attend to, mainly the building of this trench. So he had the four freed people and his squad dig out the trench. Then Tarphus had the weapons team plant the mines in the likely areas that the enemy would approach.
After getting the mines placed, the weapons team was told to rest and eat their rations. Tarphus was also working on the trench alongside his troops, digging and bearing the misery. However, that priest was angry that he had to pick up and move his own luxury goods into place.
The bastard also had the gall to complain about how hard it was to pick up and open a beach umbrella. Then Tarphus felt the gaze of that bastard eying up all his male soldiers, the fucking nerve.
However, the Tech-Priest kept him from doing anything untoward to his soldiers by constantly talking about the priest's religion. Tarphus already knows enough to not want to get in that crowd.
Tarphus focused on the task. He and his troops expanded the trench then dug out a suitable location for the Heavy Autogun. Tarphus smiled coldly as the trench was completed in just under a day. It was small; however, it would do its job.
Tarphus then had his soldiers do whatever they wanted, which had Wither bring out a lot of alcohol, and they started to party. Tarphus looked at the Tech-Priest, and it seemed that his friend was questioning the priest about that religion.
Tarphus smiled coldly as he saw the priest squirm under the mental assault that the Tech-Priest was dishing out. Then, finally, Tarphus decided to speak with the freed slaves; he should develop a better term for them. He will call them conscripts from now on.
Tarphus walked over to the conscripts and saw that they were still working on the trenches. One was whispering to himself. On what, Tarphus could not hear, the rest worked in silence until he spoke. "We are done. For now, calm down. We still need to do some target practice and have some fun afterward."
The conscripts looked up at him and nodded. Then, he summoned an auto gun for each of them and their ammunition. However, unlike the other summons, these were not permanent. The timer was Tarphus's consciousness.
Now that might not sound like a bad thing; however, Tarphus was exhausted from the trench work, and now he summoned the gear, it drained him even more. But it would be enough, so he had them fire at targets.
They were by no means suitable. However, right now, Tarphus just needed more guns pointed at the enemy. Surprisingly they had tremendous discipline. Tarphus praised them for their discipline though he had to go over their stances over and over again. Overall, they were good, though they excelled at close combat.
Tarphus then had them mingle with the others; this is not to say that only the conscripts practiced, but they were the ones that required his full attention. They would hold the line, and that is all he could ask of them.
Tarphus then got with his squad. Gus was still going after Lucy, much to her (disappointment?) Tarphus saw the soft smiles that fluttered her face every now and then. He witnessed Ari talking with Gudo as he was exercising. Tarphus smiled as he saw the blush on both of their faces.
It seemed his squad was getting intimate with each other. As long as it did not affect their battle prowess, he had no reason to stop them. Tarphus then saw the twins wrestling, and the rest of the group besides him and the priests were betting on the two.
Tarphus smiled as he mingled with the betting group and started drinking with them to give the others some time to *ahem* get to know each other.
…
The next day Tarphus was the first one awake; he got up and brewed himself some tea. Tarphus looked out to the field that upon noon would be a battlefield. His troops got up one by one relieving themselves and having some water.
Tarphus then smiled at the group as the Tech-Priest walked up behind him. "The Goddess of Matrix is a danger to your world." This did not surprise Tarphus as he was starting to get used to the unpredictable ways of this Tech-Priest.
However, Tarphus was curious over what the Tech-Priest said. However, it was not his place to say anything. The Tech-Priest then turned to Tarphus as he spoke. "They will be a problem later. I would suggest immediate action against this cult."
Tarphus raised an eyebrow, the Tech-Priest continued. "Their focus is the control of reproduction between the male and female ther-" Tarphus waved his hand, saying, "They may have certain aspirations; however, they are not evil… maybe."
The Tech-Priest saw that frown… it seems that Tarphus held no love for this cult either. They could provide useful material. But that will be for later right now; the guard requires his services. However, since Tarphus told the Tech-Priest, it shall not go after the cult... yet.
The trench was excellent and stable, the weapons were well taken care of, and Kit reported that the enemy was near.
They would be in sight soon, two hours tops. The troops were ready, and the priests were on hand, though one would not do anything. Everything was set, though Tarphus turned to Kit and handed it a note, it was a report to Werthine.
Tarphus smiled calmly until he saw movement at the tree line nearby the flanking spot. The glint of metal shined through the forest as he heard the cadence of a march. It seems that the enemy is ahead of schedule.