Alacryan soldiers, the non mages, were using large shields to force a group of low ranked mutated mana beasts towards Elshire Forest. They struggled with all their might as several claws reached between the shields, threatening to rip an opening in the line and tear the soldiers to shreds. Their mage leader stood behind them yelling instructions, clearly annoyed at how long this was taking. Once in position the leader ordered them to shatter glass spheres onto their shields. Within seconds of the balls shattering, the beasts took off running to the mist hidden forest.
They ran madly, as if they would rip apart anything that got it their way. Just as they were about to disappear into the mist, they were blown away by a powerful water spell. More than half of the beasts were either dead or incapable of moving, as the remaining beasts' survival instincts kicked in and they held back as they waited for an opening to attack.
"You Alacryans are rather persistent," said a voice from within the mist.
The beasts were focused on a single point, so the soldiers focused there, and soon saw a figure emerging.
"Three attacks and it isn't even time for lunch yet." A young elf then emerged from the mist holding a wand. "You know, I'm feeling rather merciful, so if you drop your weapons now and surrender, I promise you all will be treated humanely. I, Feyrith Ivsaar the third give you my word."
"There's just one of him, attack!" The Alacryan leader shouted, sending his men charging at Feyrith.
"Oh well," Feyrith commented casually as he shrugged.
The mist was suddenly blown away, revealing a dozen archers, just as they released their arrows. The arrows took down the beasts quickly, as well as some of the soldiers. A female elf, appearing to be a few years older than Feyrith walked up beside him and jabbed her staff to the ground. Dozens of roots tore free from the soil and began quickly dispatching the Alacryan soldiers, until only the leader remained.
"Alright then," the leader said as his body burst into flames. "Come at me!"
"Oh no, I won't be fighting a brute like you, that's more the General's thing," Feyrith said while pointing up.
The Alacryan leader looked up just as a boot came down and hit him in the face, effectively knocking him out.
"Nice strategy Feyrith," Arthur praised.
Despite his vast knowledge of warfare from his previous life, Arthur often let others come up with attack strategies first, only offering up his own ideas when all other presented ideas would result in too high of casualties, or were just plain bad.
"Thank you Arthur. It seems I really have a knack for warfare," Feyrith replied pridefully. "Perhaps I will be chosen to become the next Lance."
Before Arthur arrived Feyrith's plans were over complicated and would easily leave them vulnerable if anything went wrong. However since Arthur started providing him guidance, his strategies have become simpler and more fluid. This not only improved their effectiveness, but also reduced the number of injuries and deaths.
"Hahaha," Arthur laughed awkwardly. "How about we just focus on the task at hand. Have this prisoner brought back to camp for interrogation."
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Arthur and twenty elves entered the small clearing that was their camp, and home for the last few months. The camp was protected by a wall that was built from both plant and earth magic, which held several small shelters conjured the same way instead of tents. This combination was something that Arthur had come up with early on during this time with his division. The stone provided the structure and strength, while the vines and roots provided camouflage and a bit of flexibility to the wall that allowed it to endure more powerful attacks without breaking.
"Secure him and tell me when he's ready for interrogation," Arthur told the two elves dragging the Alacryan mage they captured.
The two elves nodded before walking off to one of the structures. The camp was very small, and only held forty troops. This of course was not the entire division, which was two hundred strong. Due to the increased Alacryan activity Arthur had his division split up into five teams of forty so they could cover a larger area, and since the Alacryan's that entered the forest were usually only small groups, with ten being the strongest, the smaller teams had enough strength to quickly overwhelm the enemy.
"Arthur," Feyrith said from behind, getting his attention. "I'd like to take part in the interrogation."
"I thought you usually do? This is your team after all."
"I question prisoners, but that's it. I don't know any spells that I could use to help extract information."
Arthur walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's a big difference between questioning and extracting information, are you sure you want to do this?"
Feyrith nodded. "I need to be able to carry my weight as leader, which means getting my hands dirty from time to time."
Arthur nodded in acceptance. "Ok, I know a way to use water magic in an interrogation that you'll be able to use in the future. I'll lead, you just do as I ask and pay attention."
"General, the prisoner is ready," the female plant mage stated.
"Good. Did you conjure his restraints?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. When I look at you I want you to...."
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"Hello, I'm Arthur Leywin and I'm going to ask you some questions." Arthur said to the prisoner as he entered the structure. "Let's start simple, what's your name?"
The prisoner spit in Arthur's face in response. Arthur pulled a hand towel out from his dimensional ring and wiped his face off.
"I see. So it's going to be one of those interrogations."
Arthur handed the towel to Feyrith and looked to the other mage. Suddenly the plant magic conjured chair began to change its shape. The roots that once formed into a chair began tightly wrapping around the prisoner, securing his arms at his side and completely restricting his ability to move. Once he was done, he was completely wrapped in a vine cocoon with only his face showing.
"Do your worst, I'll never talk!" The prisoner spat as he glared at Arthur.
"We'll see, never is a very long time," Arthur replied, as he held his hand out about a foot away from his face.
Feyrith then tightly pulled the towel over the prisoner's face as Arthur began firing a stream of water.
"This method is called waterboarding, and what it does is essentially simulate drowning," Arthur said then stopped the stream.
Feyrith removed the towel and the prisoner began gasping for air.
"I'll kill you you bas..." the prisoner said before Feyrith put the towel back and Arthur resumed.
"The key is to take the towel off every few seconds so he can get a quick breath, and when we're ready to try questioning him."
The towel was removed again.
"Ready to reconsider talking yet?" Arthur asked.
"I look forward to the day this entire continent becomes slaves!"
"Seems you need more time."
Again the towel was replaced and the water began again.
"As long as he's restrained like this and the towel is removed when it should be, it's pretty much psychological torture."
The towel was removed long enough for him to breath, before the process started again.
"That said he can actually die from this if we don't remove the towel frequently enough. We can't have him dying before he talks now can we."
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"Dispose of the body like the others," Arthur said as he left the structure.
The interrogation lasted about five minutes before the prisoner started answering questions, revealing the whereabouts of several troop encampments and moments, but the accuracy of the information still needed to be determined.
Arthur entered his stone cottage to see Sylvie sitting on her bed meditating, as she absorbed the mana from the retainer's horn. She had been reluctant at first, only absorbing small amounts at a time to make sure nothing bad happened. Arthur on the other hand absorbed as much as he could, as often as possible, so he was already done with his. Arthur could tell he had become stronger, evident from the cracks forming in his core, showing he was about to enter a whole new stage. However he didn't absorb as much as he could have, due to the Asura weapon in his hand, which took most of the mana so it could develop further. Arthur wasn't exactly pleased, and was seeing the weapon as more of a parasite, but as long as it was completed sooner then he couldn't complain too much.
"Permission to enter General?" Feyrith said from the doorway.
"Permission granted Head Feyfey," Arthur teased.
"I thought you said you wouldn't call me that with the subordinates around?" Feyrith asked, sounding embarrassed.
"You entered a sound dampening spell as soon as you entered the doorway, no one could have heard."
"Well thank you then," Feyrith replied, and walked over to him as he pulled a bottle out of his dimensional ring. "And Happy Birthday my friend." Feyrith said as he held out a bottle of wine.
"Birthday? What are you talking about? My birthday isn't until.... Oh, wow I guess it is my birthday," Arthur replied, completely forgetting the day till now.
"Seriously? You forgot your own birthday?"
"At a certain point a birthday is just another day. Besides, I've had a lot more important things to worry about."
Feyrith pulled out two wine glasses from his ring. "Well for at least this moment, how about you forget all about the war and your responsibilities, and have a drink."
Arthur looked at the bottle and smiled. For the first time since his reincarnation, he wasn't too young to drink. "Sure why not."
Arthur uncorked the bottle and filled both glasses, then took his. The two friends then toasted to Arthur, and him actually remembering his own birthday next year.
"That's pretty good," Arthur commented after taking a sip of wine.
"Well it should be, it came from my grandfather's vineyard after all," Feyrith replied with pride.
"First an uncle who trains and rents mana beasts, now a grandfather that makes wine, your family seems to be a bunch of entrepreneurs," Arthur commented.
"It's a family tradition actually, a right of passage if you will. Every Ivsaar is expected to start their own business by the time we're twenty-two, or expand another family member's business considerably," Feyrith replied as he looked at his glass of wine.
"That's only a few years away for you, do you have a plan?" Arthur asked.
"No, not really. This war has taken all of my efforts. Between getting stronger and protecting our homes, I haven't really given it any thought," he replied, sounding a little sad.
"Speaking of getting stronger, what's your core at?" Arthur asked, seeing his friend's mood changing.
Feyrith sadness quickly shifted to a prideful smirk. "Light yellow as of last month."
"Congratulations. I think only Claire and Kathyln have made it that far."
"So what's next for you," Feyrith asked, changing the topic.
"After two months of evaluating the Alacryan attacks and reorganizing the division, it's time for me to return to the castle to give my report."
"I was referring to your personal plans. You did remember Tess' eighteenth birthday last month didn't you?"
"I did. Although I couldn't be there, I sent her a gift and a letter. I gave her the newest communication artifact Gideon designed. Now she can easily contact her family anytime she wants."
As if on cue, a quiet yet high pitched ringing was heard. Arthur then pulled out a blue glowing triangular crystal about the size of his palm.
"I think that's my cue to go." Feyrith quickly finished his wine and began to leave.
"Just one more thing," Feyrith said as he stopped at the doorway. "Don't use the war as an excuse. There's a reason why Elder Virion keeps saying you'll be his grandson, so if you know it'll happen too, why wait." With that Feyrith left, leaving Arthur looking surprised by his friend's comment. There was also something sad about his tone, but with a war happening there were plenty of possible reasons.
The artifact rang again, bringing Arthur back to his senses. "Hello?" Arthur said as he channeled mana into the artifact.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARTHUR!" Tess and their friends cried out happily.
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Arthur and Sylvie soared over the Beast Glades as they were heading to the floating castle. Even though they were scheduled to go straight back to the castle, Arthur decided the little detour would be beneficial in multiple ways. As Arthur flew in a straight line, Sylvie's was a bit less direct.
"Woohoo," Sylvie cried as she did a barrel roll.
"Nice to see you're in such a good mood," Arthur laughed as she was behaving like the child she looked like.
"I'm excited! After finishing that horn my core is almost to the integration stage," Sylvie replied happily.
"I heard Kordri mention that before. Isn't that the stage all of the Asura clans are at?"
"That's right. My grandmother said that the integration stage is when one truly can harmonize with mana," Sylvie replied.
"Are there stages like there are with the earlier core stages?"
"No, at that point you can't look at someone's core level to gauge their strength. It's all a matter of how hard you work and your clan that determines how strong you are," Sylvie replied, then looked to Arthur with a smile. "Which makes me curious about how strong you'll be when you reach that stage, since I was also told no human has ever reached it before."
The two continued flying well over the treetops when they both noticed a drop in the temperature. They looked around until Arthur saw two bird-like mana beasts with riders flying below them, with one of them being royal blue in color, and began to descend towards them.
"Fancy seeing you here," Arthur said once close enough to the rider on the blue bird.
"Arthur?!" Kathyln replied in complete shock. "You scared me."
"Sorry about that. We were on our way to the wall when we saw you."
"We?" Hester asked from the other bird.
Arthur just pointed to Sylvie flying above them in her human form as she waved back, leaving both of them wide eyed and confused.
—————————————————————
Both Kathyln and Hester were landing there mana beasts by the stable, but in the case of Llyr it was only so he could get some food and rest while Kathyln reported to the Captain.
Arthur explained everything about Sylvie and her new human form, to which Kathyln commented how she could pass for his and Tess' child. She also explained the mission she and Hester were on. The wall had a whole division assigned to it just for offensive missions, which were to go beyond the wall to attack Alacryan troops spotted by aerial surveillance near the wall. Kathlyn and Hester were on such a surveillance mission, but found nothing this time.
"Captain, Head Glayder reporting back from my mission," Kathyln said as she entered the captain's tent.
"Welcome back princess, sister," Captain Flamesworth greeted as Kathyln and his sister entered his tent, then stood as he saw Arthur and Sylvie following right behind them. "Welcome General," Trodius Flamesworth said as he stood at attention. "I was not notified of your arrival."
"That's because this isn't a planned visit. I decided to make a detour, but we can talk after they're done," Arthur said, gesturing to Kathyln and Hester.
Kathyln reported not seeing any enemy troops, but that she had seen new evidence that they had been in the area recently. After which Trodius tried to dismiss her and his sister, but was stopped by Arthur, stating that a good flying scout would be needed to verify the intel he received on troop movements.
"I see. I'll pass this combat structure intel on to all units operating in the glades. Hopefully we'll be able to get a verification on this soon," Trodius stated after Arthur was done.
"I'm sure there could be exceptions, just like with our own mages, but if this intel is correct then it would probably apply to a majority of their soldiers," Arthur commented in reply.
"As for the troop movements, I'll need to send several flying scouts so we can verify this quickly and respond." Trodius looked to Kathyln as he stood up and walked to a table with a map of the beast glades laid out. "I want you and your bond to rest up and leave for this area before first light. Pick three other teams and have them come to me for their assignments before sunset."
"Yes sir," Kathyln replied with a salute.
Hester nodded in acknowledgment since she wasn't technically a soldier, and looked less than enthusiastic about the assignment. Hester's job was to protect Kathyln, including while on missions. However at her advanced age she had very little desire to even ride a beast let alone fly on one, preferring to travel by carriage or teleportation gate for longer distances.
"Was there anything else General?" Trodius asked as he looked back to Arthur.
"Actually yes. I've heard that you have the best blacksmiths on the continent here, is that true?"
Trodius' eyes lit up with pride. Arthur saw this, but suspected that this was probably due to hearing positive rumors about The Wall.
"Why yes it is, are you looking to have something made?"
"I am. Any recommendations for a blacksmith?"
"I do. Her name is Senyir. Her superb mastery of fire magic has made her the best blacksmith in all of Sapin, and only rivaled by the best metal mages from Darv."
"Great, I'll see her then," Arthur replied, trying to keep his attitude towards him neutral.
Knowing everything that he knew, it was hard for Arthur to not hate Jasmine's father. The only reason he was even able to was due to the fact that professionally he appeared to be an excellent commander, who held the trust and respect of nearly everyone at The Wall.
"I'll show you to her," Kathyln chimed in.
With that they all left the tent, and Kathyln began escorting Arthur to the main forge, where most of the blacksmiths worked. Kathyln led Arthur through the shops as a shortcut, allowing Arthur to get a good look at the small economy that had formed there. He saw everything for food vendors to tailors, even small carts that sold various trinkets. As he walked he was reminded of military bases from his past life, as they usually had similar designated areas. After a few minutes they had finally arrived at the forge.
As the doors opened they were bombarded with a sweltering heat and stinging eyes. Kathyln placed her flight goggles back over eyes in response. They walked through the forge where dozens of blacksmiths were hammering away repairing armor and weapons, as others beat away at cherry red hot strips of metal that would soon be someone's new armor or weapon.
A little ways in they finally arrived at the largest workshop in the forge. There were several dwarfs hammering away as sweat poured from their bodies. A dwarf was bending and shaping a piece of cold metal as easy as if it were clay, as the shape of a war hammer began to form.
"Excuse me," Kathyln called out from the opposite side of an unused workbench.
But no one acknowledged her and continued swinging their hammers, her voice not powerful enough to carry over the noise. Instead of straining her voice in an futile attempt to get their attention, she sent a small frigid cold blast at the closest blacksmith. The blast hit the back of his neck, causing him to immediately straighten up and shiver, then look back to see Kathyln and Arthur standing there.
"Princess!" The dwarf greeted, his arms out wide before he bowed.
His sleeves were ripped off showing his rippling muscles, as his apron hid his equally large gut. His long red beard covered half his face, but what could be seen made it appear he was smiling.
"Hello Kahn," Kathyln greeted with a small bow.
"And who do we have here?" Kahn asked as he appeared to be sizing Arthur up. "Is this the infamous Lunaris I've been hearing about?" Kahn then flexed to show off his muscles. "Looks like he needs to put some meat on those bones."
"No, this is a friend of mine from when I attended Xyrus Academy, Arthur Leywin," Kathyln replied.
Kahn immediately straightened up and saluted, causing his gut to be pushed out and become more pronounced. "My apologies General, I didn't recognize you. We don't get many lances down here."
"That's fine," Arthur replied as he saluted back. "I'm looking for Senyir."
"I'll get her right now sir!" Kahn said before walking off.
"So how do you know him? I can't imagine you needing a blacksmith very often," Arthur asked Kathyln.
"Kahn makes the best saddles and armor for mana beasts. He recently made a new saddle for Llyr, I also had him make several new swords for Lunaris," she replied.
Kahn walked past many dwarves and humans working on a variety of projects, until he stopped at the only woman Arthur had seen in the forge. Like Kahn she was wearing a sleeveless shirt with her jet black hair up in a ponytail, showing her dark skin muscular build. It wasn't too much for a woman, but it was still more than a lot of conjurers Arthur knew. She was sitting on a stool at a workbench meticulously working on what appeared to be a sword, Arthur guessed based on the handle. Her feet were flat on the ground, making her the same height as Kahn.
Kahn stopped beside her and leaned against her bench, and appeared to have said something she didn't like, as she punched him in the stomach without even looking. Based on the look in Kahn's eyes Arthur and Kathyln both suspected he was probably flirting with her. Grabbing his stomach and leaning more heavily on the bench he spoke a few more words as he pointed over to Arthur and Kathyln.
She quickly turned her head to look at them both, before quickly grabbing a large cloth and using it to cover the sword she was working on, before walking over to them.
"Hello Princess, General, it's an honor to have you both here. I'm told you asked for me?," the woman said, leaving them to conclude she was Senyir.
As she spoke Arthur couldn't help but notice her red eyes and black hair, and how much she greatly resembled Jasmine. Part of him wanted to ask if they were related, but he held back, knowing he would no doubt feel bitter towards her just because of who she may be.
"Yes, Captain Flamesworth said you were the best master blacksmith in Sapin, and I need to commission you to make something for me," Arthur replied.
Senyir smiled from the Captains compliment. "And what can I make for you?"
"A set of gauntlets, the best ones you can make."
One thing that often weighed on Arthur's mind was how he had made sure his mother and sister had the phoenix wyrm necklaces to protect them, but he got his father nothing. He had ruled out defensive artifacts, as they wouldn't only get in the way of Rey's fighting style, in fact artifacts in general would get in his way. This left him with getting him a higher quality weapon.
"Gauntlets? I thought you were a swordsman?" Senyir asked with a hint of panic.
"I am. The gauntlets are for my father," Arthur replied, suspicious of her tone.
"Oh I see," she replied with a sigh of relief. "So you want high quality. What is your father's affinity?"
"Fire."
"Ok, hmm. I got it," she said as she thought, then quickly ran back over to her bench.
Underneath there were several boxes varying in size. She grabbed one that was about the size of a baseball, as well as a brick of metal, and walked back over.
"So for material I'm thinking black steel. It's a bit heavier, but it's durability and ease of accepting mana are far superior to any other metal we could use," she explained, as she began going over her plan. "Next, I'd like to use a firepede core. It's a rare insect type mana beast. It's not very strong, but when used in a weapon by a fire mage, it not only begins absorbing ambient fire mana on its own, but is also able to improve the refinement of the flames. Meaning if your fathers flames are yellow, they'll become blue, with no extra work on his side."
"Sounds great."
"Good, now I need the size of his hands and arms. It can be adjusted so I just need a general size."
Arthur quickly looked around and saw a blacksmith with about his father's build.
"I'll be right back." He then ran over to the blacksmith and after a few words brought him over. "I'd say it's close to this guy's size."
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"Well Kathyln, thank you for being my guide today," Arthur said as they exited the forge.
"You're welcome," Kathyln replied as she pulled off her goggles. "And thank you for the mission. Captain Flamesworth tends to try and keep me close to the wall."
"As far as I'm concerned social status means nothing out here, the best person for the job should be the one doing it. Besides, it's just a scouting mission, not only will you be flying, but you'll have Llyr with you. I'm sure he could dodge anything, and if he had to fight, I remember how powerful his mother was so I'm sure he could put up a good fight," Arthur replied confidently.
Kathyln smiled, feeling happy about the confidence Arthur had in her.
"Well I better get going. I need to pick and notify the other scouts for the mission. Bye," Kathyln replied and walked off.
"I guess all that's left here is to find Sylvie and head back to the castle," Arthur thought to himself. "Hey Sylvie, it's time to go."
"I'm a bit busy right now, why don't you come to me?" She suggested.
"What could you be busy with? Where are you?"
"The pub near the supply depot."
"I thought you didn't need to eat?"
"Just get over here," Sylvie replied, sounding annoyed.
Arthur walked over to the pub and looked around inside.
"Upstairs," Sylvie chimed in.
Arthur walked up stairs but still didn't see her. He saw the entrance to a balcony and decided to check there.
"Sylvie are you..." he started as he turned the corner.
There he saw her sitting at the table, with his parents and the Twin Horns.
"Look who I found while I was waiting for you," Sylvie said proudly.
"Happy birthday son," Rey and Alice said as they got up and walked to their son.
Arthur just stood there like an idiot, completely in shock as his eyes began to well with happy tears. As his parents embraced him in a hug he returned it, as the tears began to escape his eyes. Out of all his birthdays in two lives, this one had become one of his favorites.