To Forge a Sword

After a long journey through the back passageways of the tower, the three of them stopped as they finally arrived before a single black door, one hidden behind countless confusing twists and turns. This area was truly hard to find, as only through passing countless rooms and floors, interwoven together so as to create the illusion of being lost.

Reinout stood with the two of them, Deus and Droh, as he acted as their guide in place of Evelien as she departed in order to send in her reports.

"This is as far as I go," he stated coldly, "Beyond this point is where you'll find the military captain, or at least that's what I was told by Evelien."

"So even you don't truly know?" Deus asked, secretly quite shocked. Even a powerful and high ranking intelligence officer knew so little? Was this admiration for Roch's privacy, or terror for his ability to hide the truth right in front of everyone?

"I've never personally come to this place, nor did I even know that such a place actually existed…" Reinout sighed as he continued, "Whenever I sent in my reports, it was always through our own channels. I never had to personally seek out the private quarters of such a frightening figure."

'Ah, so he doesn't even try to hide it,' Deus thought to himself.

"Now go, I still have things to do today, can't be wasting my time, standing around with you lot," frustrated, Reinout let out his stresses on the two in front of him. He pulled them toward him as he approached the door, practically dragging them with him.

"Ah, in you go," with a shove, he pushed the two of them into the metal of the door, slowly revealing what was hidden behind as they were forced inside. The light from outside faded away as they were swallowed up into the dark of the room.

With a loud and exaggerated thud, the door came slamming back as it closed firmly behind them.

The two glanced toward each other. "Well, I suppose we had to come eventually," Deus reasoned with his little faun friend. Droh, however, remained in a position of confusion and fear.

If not for Deus, this little faun would've never received permission to enter the private chambers of Direfell's most illustrious and terrifying military asset, the captain of the guard and commander of the army. Droh was a small figure, both physically and otherwise, he never would've been high enough in rank or value to come here.

Even Rol'an, with all of his power and information as a master of a strong clan, knew nothing of what existed beyond a certain point.

"Enter!" a voice boomed past them like the wind, a deep thunderous order shook them and caused their bodies to unconsciously step forward, further into the room.

Only now did they take a true look around, taking in everything. The room was dark, as one would expect, but what came as a surprise were the multitude of books and novels that sat in disorder around the corners of the room, stacked atop one another in disarray.

The walls above the mountain of books were covered in a number of things, from old bronze swords to heavy strapped rifles. Further down the wall, one could even spot a collection of skulls piled atop a rough and crooked shelf, the bone so dry and cracked, one could only imagine how much time had past.

"Oh don't worry about those old knick-knacks, they belonged to a distant youth who, at the time, still held onto useless emotions such as wrath and vengeance…" a voice spoke up from in front of the two of them, causing them both to jump in panic.

"M-master Roch," Deus and Droh both did their best to bow their heads, unsure of what else they should've done.

All they heard in response was a light chuckle from the figure who remained in front of them. "Enough, we're alone, you don't have to do such useless things."

"Ah," Deus lifted his head, taking in the appearance of the man before him. This was, without a doubt, the illustrious military captain whom he had met previously. He wore a simple black tunic, finely stitched and fitted perfectly for himself.

Only, Deus finally realized something so important that he had continued to miss before.

This captain Roch… was nearly an entire foot shorter than himself!

Roch had always been short for size, but because of his overwhelming powerful stature, rank, and physical power, Deus never realized this. It didn't help that Roch had typically placed himself above him, whether it be him stood atop the tower's wall, or be it forcing Deus to sit down so as to talk.

On all occasions, Roch had positioned himself into a place of power and size, perhaps without even realizing it for himself.

"As you two probably already know, from now on, you both shall be placed under my control and jurisdiction," Roch explained as his words shook Deus out of his daze. "Why this is happening, you don't need to know. I won't hear any questions regarding this."

"Y-yes, sir," Deus and Droh both replied in unison as they listened.

"I'll train you both and mentor you, in exchange, you'll both be placed into my Sword house, and will be given adequate responsibilities and tasks for you to complete. You probably won't see any true combat for some time, but in the meantime, you'll have to report daily to the tower and complete all the tasks laid out before you."

Roch continued with an exaggerated exhale, "I will forge you both into worthwhile weapons, something which Direfell can proudly parade around and not feel shame for keeping hold of."

"Right," Deus simply nodded in response.

"I received the main report from your most recent combat experience… Deus, you were placed in a vanguard position… not bad." He turned to glance toward Droh, "You, you were posted as a support asset, yes?"

"Y-yes… sir…" Droh coughed out as he was suddenly called upon. "I used a rifle to provide covering fire…"

"From what I heard, neither of you had much opportunity to actually participate in a fight," Roch went on as he slowly paced over toward one side of the room. "Deus, you took out a few of our soldiers, but you relied entirely on distance shooting and stealth…"

"Ah…" Deus exhaled out.

"Don't worry about them, they are replaceable and understand their position and value," the captain simply shrugged and nodded, "You won't be held guilty of murder if that's what you're worried about. Things happen. One moment you're an enemy, the next you're an ally. This isn't anything particularly new."

Both Deus and Droh were both shocked and relieved that this was the position Direfell was intending to take regarding everything. Truly, Midnight must've been a hellish place for these cities to act as they did, without care or value for life.

"What interests me far more than that would be something entirely different," Roch paused for a moment as his eyes fell upon Deus, "What happened within the city prior to your departure to that tower."

"So tell me, you're able to wield the powers of Mir without having acquired even a smidgen of authority... what are you, some sort of monster?" Even though Roch already knew a fair bit from Cyoc, he still wouldn't turn down the chance to ascertain information, especially if it meant that it wasn't clouded by Cyoc's obvious shroud of shadow that covered practically everything he was involved with.