27 Rising Through the Ranks

As Deon stared down the hill towards Commander Reana, Deon was presented with a perfect view of the explosion. His eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he grimaced, crouched down, then morphed his ancient demon spirit into a shield to cover his body.

WUMP!

The shockwave hit the soldiers a moment later. Many were thrown down to the floor, those who hung too far back were killed by pieces of rumble which were blasted up the hill.

Bang!

A sharp metal splint slammed into Deon's shield. This sort of high speed projectile would be lethal to his small body, but the shield blocked it with ease.

Rubble continued to rain down as the explosive noise quickly faded away. 10 seconds later, everything became silent.

Deon cautiously looked up and stared back down at the Fan Kingdom camp.

Now, he finally understood the full extent of their trap.

They used death sworn soldiers to lure the enemy in. These soldiers were unwaveringly loyal, brainwashed since young and willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.

Like this, the Fan Kingdom trapped hundreds of the elite Restari troops and massacred them all in one fell swoop by self destructing the base camp.

Based on the brief delay that allowed many of the Kingdom of Restari troops to escape, Deon guessed that the shamans on the Fan Kingdom side first fled from the area before they set off the trap. These shamans were not death sworn and weren't worth sacrificing in a suicide attack.

As such, the majority of the 62nd and 37th units managed to escape, their losses were less than 10%, even including those who died in the initial melee.

The 5th unit though…

Deon stared into the burning camp and shook his head. There was no chance that anyone inside the camp managed to survive such a massive explosion. They must have set alight multiple barrels of gunpowder in various locations throughout the camp in order to blow the whole place up like that. Even the area hundreds of feet outside of the camp was affected by the shockwave and debris, leaving many soldiers injured to varying degrees.

Commander Reana was closer than most to the explosion, but she was a powerful peak 1-Star shaman and managed to protect herself and a few nearby soldiers using an unknown spirit which produced a golden shield around her body. She also stayed fully alert and struck at the flying projectiles using that golden spear, even as the shockwave hit her shield and shook her body. Her performance was truly commendable, Deon realised now that she certainly deserved the position of commander.

"Everyone, continue to retreat, we don't know if the trap runs deeper than this!" Her dry voice echoed across the battlefield, drawing the stunned soldiers from their daze and kicking the retreat into action once more.

Everyone who could carry themselves did so, and those without bad injuries picked up the injured and brought them to safety. Even Deon found himself carrying someone in his arms.

Sure, he chose the smallest injured person he could find, but still…Remi again?!

Deon smiled wryly as he forced himself to sprint further up the hill. Remi was unconscious, but not badly injured, she was most likely knocked unconscious by the shockwave. He was somewhat glad that she wasn't awake to see him carrying her, a princess, using the aptly named 'princess carry'. Her arrogant and prideful self would probably have something to say about this.

Luckily, it seemed like this was the full extent of the trap prepared by the Fan Kingdom. They probably didn't expect anyone to catch on so quickly, so the plan wasn't as effective as they had hoped.

Still though, hearing the report the following day dampened everyone's mood.

"There were really no survivors from the 5th unit? Not a single one?" Captain Niko muttered in disbelief. She knew that their units were somewhat at odds due to the animosity between their commanders, but this was a unit of the Kingdom of Restari after all. They all belonged to the same side, and even resided within the same division, battalion, and troop.

There were 500 men in the 5th unit…500 people were killed in that trap. Including the casualties from the 37th and 62nd units, the total death count was closer to 600.

This number would have been far higher were it not for Deon's quick analysis of the battlefield. If before he was treated with the respect of a strong and loyal soldier, then now, the entire 37th and even 62nd units felt a deep gratitude towards him. After all, he had saved their lives!

Somehow, Deon ended up becoming a war hero…

Perhaps Commander Reana with her quick wits would have noticed the trap, but she may have been a step too late. It was basically entirely thanks to Deon that the over 700 survivors of this ambush were still alive and breathing.

Such an accomplishment was not something that could be measured using standard means…soldiers were mostly responsible for themselves, they would earn merit for saving a couple of comrades or by taking an enemy head. Captains would be commended for killing enemy captains with the assistance of their team, and for reducing the casualties amongst their small group.

But Deon, a mere vice captain, saved the lives of 700 troops. This was more men than an entire unit led by a commander!

Maybe it was an exaggeration to say that he had saved 700 lives, Deon thought so at least. He felt that even if he hadn't acted, someone would have caught on soon after him and initiated the retreat. Besides, even though he was the initiator, it was thanks to Commander Reana's decisive orders and organised control that everyone was able to make it out safely. The captains also played their part, assisting their soldiers out of the trap. And at the end of the day, it was thanks to the soldier's swift efforts that they were able to keep their own lives.

But, in the military, they liked to put on shows.

A single young prodigy saving 700 men with his own quick wits? What a great motivating story! What great war propaganda this story would make!

The moment the upper echelon of the kingdom caught wind of this matter, they immediately wanted to make Deon into a famous hero, an icon to inspire the other soldiers to fight not only with strength and bravery, but also with their intelligence!

'Being the scapegoat for this sort of propaganda sure is nice.' Deon thought to himself as he faced the imposing man a few feet ahead.

"With my authority as a general of the Kingdom of Restari directing the assault of the mountain war troop on the Southern side of Jing Mountain, I hereby appoint Vice Captain Deon with the position of vice commander of the 37th unit. Commander Reana, is this acceptable to you?" General Li turned towards Reana and smiled.

General Li actually ascended the mountain in person in order to promote Deon to the position of vice commander, a position even less common than vice captain. He was even accompanied by three lieutenants to bare witness to the promotion!

"Of course general, Deon will make an excellent vice commander." Reana nodded seriously. Facing the general, she showed neither fear nor arrogance.

"Many thanks, General Li, Commander Reana." Deon smiled with a bright gleam in his eyes as he showed his gratitude towards both parties. Commander Reana was by now accustomed to it, but General Li was still shocked that such a young child could actually be so capable.

Whether it was his personal strength, his talent as a shaman, his quick thinking as a military strategist or even his demeanour, all of these things were practically perfect, something the general had never before seen in a child. The general's gaze shone brightly and he laughed out loud. Having an up and coming recruit like this, he was excited to see where this went.

Deon was given a new badge, symbolising his position as vice commander. The surrounding troops of the 37th unit were all watching with broad smiles, not a single person was against Deon receiving this honour, despite him being a new recruit. How could they not feel happy that their saviour was being acknowledged?

Only Remi showed a complicated look, but she also clapped. Truthfully, she also felt that he did indeed deserve this. Since learning that it was actually Deon who carried her off the battlefield, her heart and mind had been a bit of a mess. But in the end, Remi was someone who grew up around royalty, she easily hid her emotions whilst keeping herself together.

"Vice Commander Deon, as reward for your service and a special privilege not granted to many, I grant you a copy of the Kingdom's full shaman catalogue."

Deon's eyes lit up and he took the plain black booklet. It was much thicker than any catalogue he'd received before now, making him feel tempted to open it up right away. However, he held the booklet down at his side under the envious gazes of those around.

"Thank you, general." Deon saluted.

This catalogue was usually only granted to commanders and above in the military, or to the leaders of the big noble families. Basically, only important people were deemed worthy enough to have this catalogue, the book that allowed them to purchase any of the materials and spirits made available by the Kingdom of Restari and its royal family!

The kingdom had naturally discovered many valuable resources and spirits over the years. The royal family always got first choice, but anything they didn't need would be placed into this booklet for a price.

Just because the royal family didn't want these things, didn't make them useless though…quite the opposite in fact. It might simply be the case that a powerful and rare spirit didn't suit any members of the royal family, so they allowed it to be sold to anyone with sufficient merit.

On the point of merit…

"Of course, just this catalogue and promotion isn't your only reward." General Li laughed. "Vice Commander Deon, you will be awarded with 50,000 merit points for the achievement of saving 700 troops from our glorious kingdom!"

A mixture of shocked gasps and excited cheers rang out from the audience. Even Deon was somewhat stunned. 50,000 merit points…adding onto his previous sum, he now had 51,500 merit points.

Since the first lot of merit points he obtained actually added up to 1,500, and the second reward was 50,000, it would be easy to assume that most items available to trade were measured in the thousands if not tens of thousands of merit points.

This was not the case. The number of merit points usually awarded to a shaman soldier following a highly successful battle, would typically be in the range of 5-50, depending on the individual's contribution. Captains and commanders could earn more, but even Commander Reana, with her years of service, had barely accumulated 50,000 merit points in total over the years.

Even the original 1,500 points he earned before was somewhat excessive, not to mention 50,000…Deon was sure that this was all a publicity stunt, giving such a crazy reward to the so called 'child saviour'.

He was clearly being used here…

Haha, he was happy to be used for their propaganda like this! If it meant earning so much, they could use him to push their agenda as many times as they wanted!