Slowly sitting upright, Vance looked around, seeing the ruined corpses of his former unit and those of the enemy. The trench itself was a mess as the destruction caused by the power magazine tore a crater in the middle, rendering the area useless. But, that wasn't the thing that bothered Vance, and nor was it the fact his friends were all dead; but instead, it was how he wasn't bothered by it. None of it. To Vance, he calmly took in his situation, noting the lack of support and how the only cover he had was a crumbling wall of dirt and a thin line of trees some fifty meters from where he sat.

"Mmm... gotta move," Vance mumbled under his breath.

Slowly pushing himself up, he found his balance was off and soon found himself on the ground again. It wasn't until he looked down at his own body that he noticed the extent of his own condition. "Shit..."

Looking down, he found his body covered in wounds with pieces of debris turned shrapnel embedded into his flesh. Gritting his teeth, Vance slowly began to pull the fragments and metal shards out, one at a time. As he removed each free from his body, he noticed he wasn't reeling in pain or shock, just the same calm demeanour as before.

"Alright, a little disconcerting..." He noted, pulling free a large metal splinter turned dagger free from his stomach only to toss it aside.

Grabbing the now haemorrhaging wound, he figured he would have little time to get the injury plugged up to prevent losing any more blood. However, it seems the boon of being a High Human was showing itself once again, this time in the form of his body quickly recovering. Within a matter of a few minutes, what was once a bloody gash or hole was now closed, leaving only a scar to indicate that there had been damage moments before.

"Okay, that's cool!" Pushing himself up to a kneel, Vance retook an account of his situation.

Recalling what Julia had told him, he was now a being with skills and abilities no average Human would have and seeing first hand the results of such a thing; he could formulate a plan. Scanning his immediate area, he looked for any intact bodies, and sure enough, he found the corpses of his former Regiment scattered about on the field in front of the trench and recalled how the Colonel had a map tucked away in his coat pocket. Without a second thought, Vance pushed himself up and to his feet. No longer feeling off-balance, he climbed up and over the dirt mound and moved to the remains of his commander.

"Sorry, Colonel, hopefully, Julia can speed you onto a better life." Vance prayed softly before digging through his bloodied coat.

Pulling free the map, a smile soon spread across the blonde's face. The map was in relatively good condition, despite the blood that marred parts of it.

With a glance, he was able to memorize the entire layout of the map; another skill of his awakening, it would seem. Re-folding the map, Vance stuffed the map into his own ruined coat for later use as he peered over towards the hill he knew the enemy General watched from. Given his position and the fact he was currently alone among a field of corpses, there was little doubt that the enemy field artillery focused their attention on the rest of the battle. But, Vance was also keenly aware it wouldn't be long before a new line of infantry was mustered up to fill in the hole created by the explosion. Logic would dictate that he had mere minutes before they would be marching up. He had to move quickly if he was going to end this battle one way or another. Reaching down, Vance grabbed the Colonel's belt, sword, and pistol, strapping it around his waist. Finally, reaching out, he grabbed one of the flintlock muskets from one of his dead comrades, as well as a bag of ammunition - as his own had been torn apart by shrapnel. Finding the bag of ammo was an easy enough thing to do as well, as each infantier carried a box of ammo that hung off their belt or harness that was often slung around their shoulders. As sad as it was to say, it wasn't at all a challenge to dig through and find a new box. A bitter feeling of regret washed over him as he slung the strap of ammo over his shoulder.

Armed and feeling fine --if not a little regretful at seeing his dead friends-- Vance sprung to action, darting towards the woods in a low sprint. Once safely within the thick picket of trees, Vance unslung his musket and brought it up to bear, taking steady aim as he looked towards the area he knew the General was likely watching the battle from. Sure enough, his heightened eyesight caught the form of the General pointing towards the east, probably directing his plan of attack. Vance was thankful for the boon Julia gifted him, but even with all these new skills and abilities, there was likely little he could do from this range, given how the flintlock had an effective range of 100 meters.

Lowering his weapon, Vance frowned, biting his lip in frustration. He could surmise the distance well enough to get a hit if he had a rifle, but Tavaria had yet to develop the technology to make a rifle. For all their advancements, there was still a great deal missing and lacking within Tavaria, but for now, Vance would notch such things up on his growing to-do list.

"Right, how to end this..." Vance thought aloud while observing the hill.

He could hear and guess how the battle was fairing based on how the sounds of battle were dying off in places and based on how the once thick powder clouds were being blown off the field. All things considered, his side was losing, and the Green coats were winning. If only he had awakened sooner, he might have been able to turn this battle into a quick victory.

Shaking his head, he dismissed such concerns aside, for now, knowing it'd just bring him down further and distract him from his true objective. Ending this battle in his favour. Thus, it fell to Vance to come up with a winning scenario to turn the tides of battle, but the only way to do that was to destroy the chain of command and cause mass chaos in the ranks. Looking back over towards the remains of the trench, it suddenly hit him. A devious grin soon tugged at the edges of his lips as he rushed back to the trench. Within a matter of minutes, he found a uniform belonging to one of the enemy officers; desernable by the distinct gold shield each officer wore around their necks, and if he remembered his brief chart of ranks, Lespa had strips on their shoulder that showed their rank. A quick glance at the rank found it was one belonging to a Colonel, which would make it far easier to accomplish some objective. The Dutchy of Lespa, sure knew how to dress their soldiers, Vance thought. Before donning the uniform, he quickly began to rifle through the dead man's pockets, looking for any sort of intel or item that might give him the win he needed. Instead, he found a strange orb of light. Pulling it free from the man's pocket, he looked it over, examining it only to feel a weird sensation come from it.

"Magic." Vance remarked silently to himself.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Looking over the item, he studied it a second longer and then it suddenly hit him. This was a recording device! It was the one unique item that Lespa had designed for their forces use. The idea was to make it easier to share and remember one's orders whilst out in the field. It was a simple enough device to use if you had a modicum of magic power --as every living being in Tavaria did-- but this orb didn't seem to have any orders contained within. It seemed the Colonel, in preparation for his death had likely deleted his orders, removing any trace of them in case the trench and he fell into enemy hands. Now, all he had was an empty vessel, one he might be able to use. Tucking it away, he made sure to save it for later, for now, he had a job to do.

After some initial trouble with finding out how to wear the uniform, Vance managed to make himself look as battered as he possibly, using the sword to cut some of the fabric on the arms and legs, and rubbed some soot on his face, all so he could to help form a proper cover story. Given the explosion, it wouldn't be hard to say he was knocked unconscious for a time. So, giving his disguise one last look over, he held his breath as he rushed out past the thin line of trees and emerged out into the open field leading towards the hill.

So far, there was no response, just continuous artillery fire being rained down on the army of Kendirewen, his home Kingdom. Much like European Kingdoms and the fall of Rome, Kendirewen was one of five nations to emerge from the continent-spanning civil war and grow to become a Kingdom, but sadly, by what Vance knew, it was starting to lose. The war with the Dutchy of Lespa was just one of the conflicts waged. It was a losing one, as Lespa had so far proven superior in the siege and defensive battles that weakened the Kingdom's army, allowing the Lespan army to drive further into Kendirewen. For now, though, Vance pushed such knowledge aside as he started to climb up the hill, acting as though he was still dazed and wounded to fool those at the top.

As he reached the artillery dugouts, Vance, holding his arm in a bid to look more battered, did a quick review of the enemy and noted the power magazine out in the open and unguarded. Vance could hardly believe his luck. Was this the nation Kendirewen was losing to? Was the thought going through his head. Climbing up and past the initial green coated guards who snapped at attention as he passed, Vance returned it with a weak nod.

"Where's the General?" Vance asked as he walked up to the two.

The one benefit of this war was that each nation spoke the same language... almost. The only powers to emerge that spoke a unique language were the Emirates of Askal and the Kingdom of Pruobia, two nations he still knew little about due to his previous life as a farm boy. He'd make sure to study them later, for now, though, he had to get to that magazine.

"He's at his headquarters just back there, sir. Why?" Asked the first guard, who looked confused.

Vance had to be quick, "Because I need to..." Pausing, he feigned lightheadedness as he leaned by a nearby tree trunk that had been used as a support for the trench.

"Are you okay, sir?!" Asked the closest, rushing to help Vance.

Nodding, he continued, "Yes... I was part of the Regiment you just saw get blown up down there." Vance noted, pointing towards the tree line that was devastated by the explosion.

The two guards looked shocked and surprised, "We thought everyone dead!"

"Well, as you can clearly see, I'm alive, but... can't say I'm well." Vance pointed out.

It seemed his rouse was working as the two guards looked concerned for the fake officer.

"We'll take the report to the General, and you should sit down sir; you look like you can barely stand."

Nodding, "Mhm... good lad... get going then, the General should know that the trench held until we got hit with friendly fire."

Both men grimaced at the report. "What of the enemy?"

"Dead, all dead, just like my Regiment. The magazine was hit, and the whole trench exploded; I only got lucky because I was near the treeline when the explosion came." Vance answered.

If there was another benefit to his new nerves of steel, it was that he seemed to be a damn good actor by how he had these two guards eating out of the palms of his hands.

"Right, we'll get a Healer over here double-quick, then pass your message along to the General." Reported one of the guards.

Shaking his head, Vance replied, "No, one of you get a healer, and the other makes the report. The General NEEDS to get another troop to plug that hole just in case, unless you want a line of Kendirewen infantry marching up the slope?"

Both men could see the logic of his reasoning as they promptly snapped off a salute, "No, we don't want that. We'll head out. You rest here."

"Good. Just, don't take too long." Vance smiled as he waved the two away.

Within a matter of moments, both Guards darted off and out of sight, leaving Vance alone. His smile soon faded as he quickly popped up and made for the powder store. Upon reaching the kegs of powder, he promptly lit a small fuse that provided him with just enough time to get down the hill before it went off.

Moving quickly after lighting the fuse, he darted past the gunners who were too preoccupied with reloading and firing to notice him before he began to roll down the hill in time to avoid the chaos that followed.

As he came to a rolling stop at the foot of the hill, he looked up, counting down the seconds before the explosion. "Three... two... one..."

The hill erupted in a fiery explosion that sent a shockwave rocking down the hill. Vance quickly brought his hands up covered his head in time to avoid the brunt of the shockwave. Looking up, what he saw was a plume of smoke and fire billowing up into the air. Everyone and everything on that hilltop were dead or dying, and yet, Vance felt nothing, no pain, no regret, nothing. It wasn't like with his friends that lay dead a mere hundred meters behind him, but it was a surreal feeling that felt odd.

"Step one complete." Vance thought to himself, shaking off the thought, as he looked up at the plum of smoke.

Peering over to the left, he noticed the shocked expression of a line of infantry who had just emerged from the nearby woods. The look of shock and horror was enough to spur the men in the rank in file to start muttering prayers and words of disbelief. The entire Lespa army's chain of command was cut in half, with their primary commanders dead, leaving only the field commanders who had no actual means to contact one another without a mage or runner to communicate between the ranks. They could send runners, sure, but in the heat of a pitched battle and no horses? Chances were unlikely the runner would be able to do anything in time to change the chaos now surging through the ranks.

All Vance had to do now was watch as the enemy began to slowly crumble away as the shock from seeing the explosion rocked the Lespan troops long enough for Kendirewen to counter-attack.

Upon removing his disguise and donning his old ragged uniform, Vance ran back up the opposite hill he and his unit had come over to watch the spectacle. As he stood at the hilltop, he watched with cold indifference as the Kendirewen army turned a losing battle into a full-on route of the Lespan forces.

"Step two... done," Vance whispered.

Taking another second to watch the display, the newly awakened High Human now knew the hard part waited for him... trying to get a field commission as a commoner with no wealth or status to speak of. No one knew what he had done or would likely be able to learn about for that matter given the damage. That is, unless it was recorded, something which Vance had recalled when donning the Colonel's uniform. Vance had grabbed that strange recording orb from the Colonel's pocket, having grabbed the empty vessel. Thankfully, the magic required to get the damn thing to work was tiny, and as he had crested the hill earlier, he was sure the thing was recording, though it was all in the air. There was no real way to tell unless he had actually managed to turn it on by charging it with his own magic, as there was no real intel on the orbs in Kendirewen-- much less intel that'd be shared with a conscript. So, he would have to make a gamble, hoping it had recorded his actions, despite being stuffed away in his coat pocket moments before he had gone up the hill. Seems gambling his life and future was going to be a constant.

"Part three-- well, that one I'm unsure of."