Days quickly turned into weeks. We had been in Hama for three weeks now. The group didn’t take any new missions, we were left to do what we wanted. Art told me the fine details of what they hoped to achieve in Hama.

They are trying to get the Count to join their ranks. If they fail, they might have to assassinate him. I also got to know about how the party was formed. Apparently, Black Eye had been going throughout the Empire, recruiting people for his cause. He has managed to assemble this party and get two nobles on his side.

The Count was the first big noble they aimed for as he had a dungeon in his lands. This was their biggest mission to date so they had to make it a success. Unfortunately for the party, the Count was busy deterring a Bara’s invasion. So, persuading him was going to be hard.

In these weeks I didn’t get to see Black Eye much. But, when I saw him, he was always mad.

I spend most of my days having fun with the twins or training. I improved my fighting skills with the sword, managing to fight at almost the same level before I lost my hand. Of course, I was still weaker with one hand, but my technique has improved a lot under Edger’s guidance. Although I didn’t interact with Edger much, he was helpful. The man only spoke when needed, saying a few sentences every day. When I asked him why he was helping me, he said I was a part of their team and my increased strength increased his survival.

I also trained my Awareness Shaper skill. In my second week here, I formed a cube with it. In the final week, I found a good application for the skill. I turned the sphere into a large circle. The circle would stay behind me, covering my back so I wouldn’t be attacked from behind.

I decided to test my improvement against somebody so I asked Edger to duel me.

“Can we have a friendly spar?”

Edger looked at me for a second then said, “Sure.”

Edger brought a wooden staff from a weapon rack to the side of the yard. When I asked if I should bring one, he said: no need.

‘Isn’t he a little overconfident?’

“Okay. When should we sta-” Before I could finish my sentence Edger charged me.

He was super-fast. The tip of his wooden sword was pointed at my neck.

I wanted to parry his attack and go in for an attack of mine but before my sword could touch his, he lowered his sword and hit my stomach.

His sword went through my transformed stomach, which I had intentionally transformed—a skill I learned after the Gnoll fight. Edger didn’t panic after my stomach transformed. He held his sword with one hand, and with a swift move, he clenched my hand, stopping my sword from coming down on him.

‘Goddammit, I almost had him.’

I tried to free my hand but his grip was strong. Edger didn’t wait for me as he pulled his sword from my torso. I tried to stop him with a kick but my leg only hit his wooden sword which he had successfully pulled out. Not wanting him to win this quickly I stepped closer to head-butt him but found myself on the ground.

Edger had leveraged my awkward position to kick my leg, which made me fall. I tried to get up in a hurry. Unfortunately, Edger was faster, he put the tip of his wooden sword on my neck.

“You win,” I said surrendering.

Edger removed his sword.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

‘I should do more duels with Edger. This fight was… enlightening, to say the least.’

“Can we have another duel? I think I might win the second time.”

Edger just nodded.

I spent another hour dueling Edger. In the end, I was disappointed as I didn’t manage to win a single fight. The man was too strong and was good with the sword.

After fighting Edger I had a meat-heavy breakfast. The breakfast was nice but what was even better was the cold shower after it.

After showering I went to my bed to get an hour of sleep.

……….

BWOOOOM

I awoke from my sleep, startled at the loud sound.

‘What the hell was that?’

The sound almost shook the ground. I looked around to see the twins scared and Edger looking out of the room window.

“What is that?!” I asked, to no one in particular.

“I don’t know!” Art answered, concern on his face.

“It’s a war horn,” Edger answered with a steady voice.

“What war?” I asked.

“Get up,” Edger said.

"What?"

“I said get up! No time to waste. Wear your armor and get ready.”

I did as he said. The twins also got up and put their armor on.

“But Edger, what is happening?” Art asked.

“It’s the Bara’s. They probably breached the defense line and might be close to the city.”

“That’s impossible. The Emporer would never allow them to take control of the dry lands,” Art said.

“I think the Emporer won’t send reinforcements,” Edger said.

Art didn’t ask another question. He seemed to be deep in thought.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because the Emporer wants to get rid of Count Louis, am I right Edger?” Art said.

“Probably.”

“Why would the Emporer want to get rid of the count?” I asked.

“The Count has gained a lot of strength in the last decade. The Emporer wants the Baras to weaken the Count so he can replace him with an easier-to-control pawn, probably one of his sons,” said Art.

“What if the Baras take control of Hama? Won’t that be bad?”

“The Bara’s are strong but they won’t be able to take control of Hama. The city is heavily fortified. If they take the city, which is the worst-case scenario, then the Emporer would lead an army to retake it. He can’t lose Hama nor the dry lands as they are the backbone of the empire's economy.”

“Let’s go,” Edger said.

“Where?” I asked.

Edger didn’t answer as he started waking.

I looked at Art for help but he shrugged his shoulders.

We followed Edger. Upon exiting our room, we saw people moving franticly in the corridor, panic written all over their faces.

On the way to the ground level, I bumped into a few people, they didn’t seem to notice, their minds occupied with other stuff.

We reached the ground level and found the rest of the group sitting on a table. The ground level was in a frenzy with many people shouting. When I got closer to our group’s table I saw their mouths moving but no sound came out.

‘I think Black Eye used a spell to isolate sound. They must be discussing something important.’

“What took you so long?” Hugo said when we joined the group on the table.

Edger looked at me and the twins, indicating we were the reason for our late arrival.

“Doesn’t matter,” Black Eye said.

“What is happening Captain?” Art asked.

“The count’s army lost a major battle at the border and they just retreated to the city to regroup and gather more strength,” Neymar answered Art.

“What are we going to do now?” Art asked.

All eyes went to Black Eye who was deep in thought.

“The Bara’s are going to reach the city in a day I heard. We still have time to escape,” Naya added.

“We won’t be leaving,” Black Eye said.

“What about our mission?” Hugo asked.

Black Eye gave Hugo a sinister smile as he said, “The Emporer won’t send reinforcements, he wants the Count to be weakened. I think the Count will manage to repel the Baras’ invasion but will be left weakened, and that is when the Emporer makes his move, getting rid of the weakened Count.”

“And what role do we play in all of this?” I asked, hoping for us to escape the city.

Black Eye’s smile grew wider as he said, “What should we do, you ask? Well, of course, we support the Count. When you are at the lowest point in your life and someone extends a crucial helping hand, you’ll be grateful to that person all your life. And that is how you get a comrade. After getting the Count on our side we gather our strength and then rebel on the Emporer with the help of our allies.”

Everyone was deep in thought at what Black Eye said. The plan he suggested was easy to achieve on paper but in reality, it was a different matter.

‘Let’s say we ended the Bara’s invasion, how are we going to stop the Emporer -with our weakened state- from crushing us?’

“Now go back to your rooms. I’ll be going to the Count’s palace to tell him of us joining him to sop the Baras. When I return, I want everyone to be battle-ready, am I clear?”

All of us nodded.

“Good. Then, I’ll get going.”

‘It won’t be easy defending this city. Let’s hope I survive this… With my arm intact.’