[The Frontlines, near the Vataran Theater]

“General, you called?” An unremarkable Lord called up to her.

“Yes. I need you to call the other Three, I may have found something.” General Joara Danala Ardacona commanded. She was one of the legendary Twelve Generals. Specifically, the First General of four under the Second High General.

She was considered the most likely to join the vaunted ranks of the three High Generals. As such, she was constantly on the lookout for a promotion opportunity, and she may have just found one.

A few moments ago, a scout from Bern came to her with news of a Unique Being, and a talented one at that. This was unprecedented, a Unique Being hadn't been spotted in a human city in over eighty years, and the last one was a glorified zoo animal. A true blue intelligent Unique Being? With all the advantages that would give them? They would be unstoppable in their level bracket.

The only thing she regretted was not learning about this sooner. The information network in the capital, the so-called 'MTIN' or Mana Transmitted Information Network - and didn't those nerds in their towers know how to make a catchy name - was revolutionary, but it didn't extend anywhere near the frontlines. For most of the nation, information was restricted by how fast your courier could run. Since the Frontlines were over twenty-five hundred miles away from Bern, that meant even the fastest would take a week or two.

Only a few moments after her decree, her fellows appeared in her tent on the frontlines.

“This better be important, Joara. You know how much of a risk it is to abandon our posts for even a second.” The Second General, Flint Danala Naladacona, spoke harshly.

“I agree! I was this close to distilling a phoenix tear!” The Third General, Parkan Danala Tivadacona, exclaimed.

“You say that every time, Parkan. When was the last time you actually contributed in a meaningful way? Eventually High General Nalacona is going to cut your funding.” The Fourth General, Kona Danala Sivadacona, derided.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The First General let out a long sigh before saying, “Kona, don’t antagonize him. Thank you for coming, Parkan, I know you were busy. And before you say anything, I would have preferred not to have to invite you anywhere, Kona, so yes, it’s serious.”

“No need to be so rude about it.” Kona sulked.

‘Why is it that all rogues need to be insufferable?’ She couldn’t help but think.

“Moving on. I think I’ve found a lead on some new talent-”

“That’s what you called us here for! I’m leaving. What a waste of time.” Kona shouted and tried to leave.

“I swear to all that is holy, Kona, I will beat you into the dirt if you interrupt me again.” She said as she grabbed him by the scruff of his legendary armor.

“Now, you know I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important. The new talent is a Unique Being, and as such, is under the protection of the System from higher evolution integrated beings.”

“Now that is interesting,” Parkan shouted, “What manner of being is it? Tentacled? Insectoid? Ooh, it is a Dragonoid!”

“Sorry to crush your hopes, Parkan. He is a seemingly normal humanoid.”

Parkan’s expression visibly fell, “But, he does have two souls, so that is interesting.”

Parkan nearly jumped out of the tent in excitement, “TWO SOULS! Does he have two classes! Or does he have access to a merged class system? Or an entirely different system altogether!”

“Calm down, Parkan!” The First General shouted.

He stopped jumping around but was still vibrating in place.

“Okay, so now do you see why I called you.”

“Not really.” Flint said, “I mean, I could maybe understand Kona and Parkan, but why am I here?”

“Are you saying you don’t want to have the opportunity to recruit him?”

A look of understanding dawned on his face, “Oh, is that what we’re doing? Wait, why are you trying to get us to recruit him? Wouldn’t you want to?”

A resigned look crossed her face for just a moment, “I would love to, but I am indispensable right now. I can take over one of your battlefronts, but I can’t leave mine. So, which one of you wants this mission the most?” She would still get a significant amount of accolades for just scouting the Unique Being, and giving up the opportunity to recruit him to tend to her post would make her look even better to High General Nalacona. They didn't need to know that, though.

Parkan and Kona started shouting over each other, all the while a conflicted look crossed Flint’s face.

This was because Joara was giving him an absolutely devastating shit-eating grin.

A somehow even more resigned look crossed Flint's face as if his very spirit was in pain, “I’ll… I-. Godsdamn it! Fine, you win! I’ll do all your paperwork for the next year.”

Kona and Parkan looked at him like he had grown a second head, and a small smile graced Joara’s face.

“Well, if you insist.”

Parkan and Kona were still shell-shocked. The Ultimate Warrior, the brute for brains, the man who hated paperwork more than life itself…

They couldn’t even offer a counteroffer past their shock.

Flint himself was holding back tears as he left the tent.

“And Flint?”

He looked back for a moment.

“My work is meticulous, I expect that you’ll keep your work to my standards.”

He left quickly after that, not willing to look at his long-time friend’s vindictive smile.

And if a tear fell from Flint’s eye while he was running at two thousand miles per hour back towards his office, no one would know…