Start of A War

 After nearly 2 weeks of attempts for his life, the mercenaries residing in the capital of Mariz Barony soon learn a valuable lesson, namely, attempting to kill the person that gained the most from the secret realm would lead to one being brutally killed.

 There are no survivors of those attempts, only the bodies of the people trying to kill him remain, the bodies had been hanged and displayed as a warning to the mercenaries that the person they tried to kill was someone they couldn't handle.

 When the attempt had died down, he had brought his family back to their home. However, this resulted in another attempt, namely, to kidnap the people around him. When one of the mercs gets close to one of the children, Ryker quickly shows he is displeased.

 He then proceeds to attack the congregation of mercenaries located in the Dark Market before proceeding to beat most of them up and killing every single associate of the one trying to kidnap his loved one.

By the time he was finished, the Black Scorpion, a sizable mercenary group, perished while the place, a tavern was destroyed. This gives the person a warning, that Ryker is willing to do anything to the people trying to harm his loved one.

Since then, no attempt has been, as the message had been very clear. The group had a peaceful time in the Barony as a result.

-x-

 "Looks like the Esel had made their moves, the elder of the Hal Family told him, giving him a letter while the older man came to visit.

 Ryker took the letter before asking, "Where are they found?" the elder merely shrugged, "We don't spot them just yet inside our territory, but our very own spy had already spotted several different armies already mobilizing. 

 There is no need to guess where they are heading," finishing his sentence, the man let out a slightly tired sigh.

 Ryker gave the man an apologetic look, the man quickly took his leave as he finished his drink. When the man was gone, Mashia quickly went to his side.

 "So, you going to join them in this war," Mashia said, her statement clearly not a question from the tone she used.

 "No, the Hal Family wouldn't leave, plus you already made friends with Lisha and Shuri, the latter would be in danger if the Mariz Barony lost," the dragon princess nodded at his statement.

"So, I will only leave after the war is over. Which I'm planning to help make it end sooner than later," he proclaimed, before heading towards the training room.

 Mashia let out a slightly exasperated sigh. "Oh well, looks like we have to help him in our own way. What a troublesome lover I have," despite saying all that, a smile was formed at the corner of her lips.

-x-

 While the war might have not started yet, officially that is, there is no doubt that will change in a week or two. If so, he will be mobilized to the frontline as his strength would be a major help to the Mariz Barony.

 In the time of relative peace, he decided to spend most of his time learning the different Cultivation Art in his possession. He had already several different ones 2 weeks before but learning one or two and mastering a few more Paths to the Elementary Understanding realm would improve his strength significantly.

 "Well, well, well, which one should I choose for now?"

-x-

 As he had suspected, the Esel Barony had declared war on the Mariz Barony. They had even mobilized a sizable army before sending it into the Mariz Barony's territories. The army then attacked one of the fortress towns near the border.

 Despite the valiant attempt of the defender, the town was easily captured as several Genesis Core experts had been involved in the attack. The attackers quickly fortified the town, turning it into a forward base of operation as the army moved deeper into the Mariz Barony territory.

 The other army of the Esel Barony also entered through the fortress town, fueling the forces of the Esel Barony with supplies and soldiers as they went deeper and deeper. With the Esel forces making their move, the Mariz forces were also mobilized to counter their enemies.

 In a matter of days, the two forces clashed, though the Mariz forces had some slight advantage due to their knowledge of the terrain. In the battle between forces with equal strength, they usually used warriors, cultivators who served as soldiers.

 These soldiers usually have cultivation at the weaker end of the spectrum compared to the experts that the Barony could use. However, the advantage of the soldiers is because of their low requirement in terms of the cultivation realm, they could train a lot of them.

 As a result, both the Esel and Mariz armies were capable of fielding a large group of soldiers at the Genesis Formation realm. Not to mention, these soldiers are capable of using battle formations. This resulted in a group of 100 Genesis Formation experts able to combine their strengths to equal someone in the Genesis Condensing realm.

 A larger number of people will also result in the group being able to exert more powerful strength. 100,000 Genesis Formation experts could combine and unleash a battle power equal to someone at the Genesis Foundation, though only slightly as it was hard to exert more than one major realm increased in strength.

 Not to mention, there are still the elites of the armies, usually a large group of soldiers at the Genesis Condensing realm, not to mention the captains, commanders, and generals, all with strength at the Genesis Condensing and above.

 As the stronger experts were usually keeping each other in check, it was up to the soldiers to shift the tide of battle. The battle between nations is usually determined by the soldiers, though if one side possesses more high-level experts then the advantage is usually on that side.

 As for the battle between the Mariz and Esel armies, it became clear that the Esel army had a slight advantage in terms of the strength of their army. While the strength of other soldiers was the same, the number fielded by the Esel was more than what the Mariz had.

 The realization of their lacking number of soldiers forced the Mariz forces to perform a tactical retreat, performing several guerilla tactics while taking the chance to ambush the enemy forces when given the chance. The result of the first engagement was the Esel forces' victory, though they suffered a higher number of casualties compared to the Mariz force.