1 Prologue

Year 1078 of the Start of Recorded History

It was a day like any other. The sun rose, people woke up and went to work. However, something would happen that would change many lives.

The King of Yondir, Astegor, died peacefully in his sleep. Normally, such things happen and the heir simply takes the throne but Astegor had died without a legitimate heir and as such the country was thrown into a crisis with the nobles vying for power.

Unfortunately, they were not the only ones. Emperor Elclark Alvatter also had claim to the throne by virtue of his daughter being married into the Yondir royal family. The declaration of war made by the empire caused the nobles of Yondir to stop bickering and unite under one banner, that of Gannes Muberg, a strong mage who had been made a noble not long ago. Having the support of the mages residing in the kingdom was what permitted him to garner enough influence to sway the others to his side.

As the two forces arrayed on the field in neatly ordered ranks and awaited orders from their commanders, the squires at the rear of the Empire's forces watched their commander intently.

With nearly 400,000 soldiers on the field, even an A ranked threat would be subjugated by a force this large. The squires, twelve of them, were part of a special order, the sworn twelve and were being groomed to take over after their mentors. The sworn twelve are the personal bodyguards of the emperor's family and trained from childhood. Chosen outside of the noble family, due to possible conflicts of allegiances, these children undertake a grueling training in order to become the strongest warriors in the empire.

Today the squires were with Fodor Liphim, commander of the sworn twelve, who brought them to the battle in order to see first hand how a large scale battle unfolds and how they could protect the royal family should they be personally commanding the armies.

They still had a long way to go to reach Fodor's level, who was one of the strongest in the empire, estimated to be level 28. He was getting old, in his fifties now and his gray hair outnumbered his black ones, but Fodor had once single-handedly defeated an ambush of 250 men that were aiming for the Emperor's life. Also proof of his strength, his favored weapon being a 10 foot long claymore which he swung effortlessly into the enemy ranks, sending soldiers flying. Those who did not die of being cut open were broken by the sheer blunt force of the claymore crushing the plate armor into their chest.

"Wow, you see that? I hear it's called Discord." Uttered one of the squires in complete admiration.

"Yeah. I heard it was made from a meteor from heaven. Then, it was imbued with magic to never break." Replied another.

Another one joined in. "How heavy do you think it is? It's longer than a man is high."

A trumpet sounded and interrupted them, instructing multiple formations to start to move. The empire had by far the most troops but the terrain favored the kingdom. A thick forest lay to the west where they may have hid reinforcements, scouts had not reported back yet and as such they could not know for certain. The kingdom troops also had the city of Mitamari behind them , allowing for a possible retreat and assistance from the city archers. Out of the approximately 400,000 soldiers on the field, only 120,000 belonged to the kingdom.

The full might of the empire being much higher than this but unable to commit more due to logistics and a concurrent war with the Theocracy further to the south. As such, most of the empire's mages are down south. The kingdom's magical forces for this battle are therefore superior to the Empire's. A messenger came to talk to Fodor, giving him orders from the general. The squires were able to overhear that he was to lead the heavy infantry into an initial clash to gauge their enemies defences. They would then retreat whilst archers gave them covering fire.

The average soldier's equipment is composed of bronze plated armor, some low quality iron chainmail and most use spears alongside wooden shields. Ressources are rather scarce, most of the iron available being of shoddy quality and used primarily for the elite troops such as cavalry. Leaving the squires behind, Fodor headed for the frontlines with a small detachment. The squires were excited to finally see him in action.

Fodor's unit came under fire from the enemy archers as they closed in on the enemy infantry. Even from this distance, the whole Imperial army could see Fodor cleaving soldiers left and right, clearing a path.

In a matter of a few minutes, hundreds lay either dead or paralyzed. The enemy formations started wavering slightly, almost on the verge of turning and fleeing before this onslaught.

"Wow, he is the Commander of the Sworn Twelve for a reason".

"Shouldn't be long now that the enemy will lose hope and flee!"

Many erupted in cheers and laughs as the slaughter continued.

From the forest, a few figures emerge flying from the trees. Before anyone has time to sound a horn, a large ball of fire swallows Fodor's whole unit, none remain standing except for Fodor after the smoke clears. The figure standing at the front of the unit of mages has a red cloak, trimmed with gold and had a Phoenix embroidered onto the front.

"Oh god. Is that...Gannes? He's one of the nobles vying for the throne in Yondir. He's got a lot of support because he's a strong mage but...to take to the field himself and risk everything?! "

The mage proceeds to unleash a barrage of ice shards on Fodor. He's managing to deflect a few but one slips past his guard and impales him in the chest, sending him flying back. Struggling to get up, Fodor picks up a nearby spear from a slain comrade and sends it flying towards the mage who attempts to dodge it but is too slow to completely get out of the way.

The spear grazes the Mage's leg and some blood drips out. The mage focuses and pulls inwardly, sending a large ball of lightning striking near a running Fodor, who was heading towards his Claymore he had dropped.

The blast knocks the breath out of him and he lays down, panting heavily. The figure descends from the sky and grabs his Claymore, advancing towards Fodor and slams it in him, caving his chest.

The imperial army stood awestruck and unresponsive until one of the sub-commanders spoke up. "Retreat for now! We'll reorganize and avenge Fodor another day! There's nothing we can do currently." The horn is sounded and the imperial army sheepishly retreats under the jeers and mocking from the Yondir Troops.

The squires learned many valuable lessons that day; superior numbers don't mean everything, there's always someone stronger and to respect magic.

A few weeks later, in the barracks at the Capital.

"Hey, did you hear? We signed a peace treaty with Yondir. The Emperor's agreed to cede all claims to the throne in exchange for reparations."

"What!? We're just giving up like this? Because we lost one fight?"

"The war with the Theocracy is taking up too much of our manpower, we can't fight on two fronts. Plus, Yondir is also enemies of the Theocracy. So they might help us."

"This is pathetic...I really didn't think we'd stoop that low. This really shatters my perception of the Empire. Sworn Twelve? We're nothing! After our training, I'm going to do something else."

"Wow, you're really taking it bad. It's a good job, you shouldn't look down on it."

"I didn't join to be a standing decoration. I want actual purpose and for my actions to matter. I'll find it somewhere else".

"I'm going to miss you Mordain you know, you were one of the best".

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Little notes

SRH will now be the abbreviation used when referencing years. It stands for Start of Recorded History.

This is taking place 38 years before present day events. I feel it's helpful in setting up a background that the readers can see before delving right into what's happening right now.

Threat levels Chart:

S(Lv90+) : Unimaginable power, could destroy life on the planet. A godlike being.

(Lv70-90)AAA: Massive threat, dragons usually fall in this category. Could destroy a country.

(Lv50-70)AA: Serious threat, Vampire Lords, Elder Lich, demons usually fall in this category. Has the power to destroy multiple cities and throw a country into chaos.

(Lv30-50)A: Dangerous beings. High loss of life expected(50,000+). Lesser demons, greater undeads, strong mages.

(Lv20-30)B: Within the scope of human response(no mages to help). Armies could mobilize and deal with a threat like this. Ogre kind, a renegade mage, spirits(kind of an exception, need magic to deal with or enchanted weapons, thus even a weak mage should be able), strong martial heroes(Humans that train for a long time and overcome much adversity are able to break through the limits of their race and gain power that allows them to contend with monsters)

(Lv10-20)C: Local city garrison should be able to deal with this with minimal loss of life. Goblinoids(orcs, trolls ect) in a pack, dryad, great wolf, lesser undead(skeleton, zombie), sahuagin.

(Lv5-10)D: A party of 4 adults with equipment should be sufficient. Wildlife, bandits/brigands.

For reference: Adult human: Level 3.

Note: Regarding the map, it's not fully finished, I need to add cities to the Empire, but I feel It's a good enough representation. https://imgur.com/a/ovmp7sB

Thanks for taking the time to read! I'll try to update frequently and keep the length about the same.