New Personnel

Bell's gaze swept at the troops who were still saluting. Their faces, though blocked by the half-face balaclava, he could see their eyes. Those eyes had seen things. Were they humans, or were they demons? Judging by the pointy things on their heads, they were definitely demons. Just as he identified them, another notification appeared. 

[The personnel assigned to the current user are military-trained based on the described tier level. Any personnel has the knowledge, skills, magic, and expertise with proficiencies based on their tiers. Each personnel had its own disadvantages and advantages, alongside its quirks. Any summoned or turned troops wouldn't revolt or protest. Additionally, all personnel requires logistical cost, a deficit in logistical cost would put unused troops in reserve]

Bell gazed at the information, it was easier to understand than the whole shebang of brevities he had gotten from the book he currently held. One thing he liked was the fact that the troops wouldn't revolt against him. This was good, at the moment, he couldn't deal with any revolt. 

Bell eased the tension in the air with a simple command, "At ease."

The soldier, standing rigidly before him, relaxed her stance ever so slightly, her hand returning to her side. "Sir, awaiting your orders," she said, her voice a blend of respect and readiness. "Do you require us to hold the current position, or do you have other directives?"

Bell's gaze shifted, contemplating the landscape before turning back to her. "Has a recon been conducted in the vicinity?"

"Affirmative," she replied promptly. "We found a group of settlers twenty kilometers to the northeast and a point of interest six kilometers northwest."

Bell nodded, his mind racing through the options. "As you know, I'm an HVT. We need to be cautious. I'm thinking we move ten kilometers north to steer clear of any hostiles heading this way, while being in the middle of those two positions. What's your take?"

"I think the plan is solid, sir," the woman replied. 

"And, for now, can we abandon the military formality, I'm not too familiar with it, as you can see," Bell added. 

"Affirmative, Lisa will do," Lisa nodded. Then, Lisa waved her hand right above the ground, a flicker of light appeared on the ground, and it materialized into a heavy rucksack. "Your supplies sir, we'll begin to walk right now. After that, we can establish a temporary resting point." 

"Sounds good to me," Bell lifted up the rucksack from the ground and began to walk. 

And so, the five people began to walk across the snow field, with them standing with considerable distance from one another. Lisa said it was to avoid a massive casualty event if they suddenly got ambushed, and Bell agreed, a single explosive spell would less likely to kill them if there was a gap between them. 

As they traversed the snowfield, Lisa took the opportunity to introduce Bell to the rest of the team. The two shorter figures, as Bell had surmised, were the team's female members—Lisa, who he had already been conversing with, and Amelia. Lisa's expertise lay in medical treatment. Amelia, on the other hand, was the team's engineer, her knowledge was handling technical challenges and equipment.

Then there were Lukas and Harris. Lukas was the team's ISR—Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance expert while Harris was an EMW—Electronic and Magical Warfare expert. Basically, they had a full-team of experts in the field, ready to face any known challenge. Bell also admired their rather highly professional approach at dealing with enemies, husks, especially. 

The engagement usually went like this, one of them spotted the husks and called it as a target, then, they would immediately shot it in the head to kill it before Bell even noticed where the husk was. It all happened so fast, and Bell often didn't have enough time to react to the target. Their movement was quick and precise, pretty much what he expected from tier-1 operators. 

"Is this place always like this? Seeing these husks every few minutes," Lisa remarked, a hint of concern in her tone.

Lukas responded, looking over the desolate landscape, "Yeah, the brief before we landed said city infestations are even worse. Like a zombie apocalypse, you know? Plus, there's talk of an Ebola-like outbreak back in the cities."

Lisa nodded in agreement. "Got it. Any theories on what's causing all this?"

Bell, scanning the horizon, chimed in, "It's the work of necromancers from the southern coalition. They're behind this whole husk situation. As for the outbreak, it's up to anyone's guess at this point."

"That's news to me," Lukas interjected, "wasn't anything about that in our initial briefing."

As they continued their trek, Harris, ever vigilant, added while taking down another approaching husk, "Seems like classic magical warfare to me, with a nasty side of bio-warfare to spice things up. Though, bio-warfare is more of your side of things, Lisa." 

"Yeah, the characteristic is similar to Ebola, but it seems only to affect demonic race and nothing else, scary…" Lisa muttered. 

"Hey, sir, why don't you familiarize yourself with the new interface given to you?" Amelia suddenly intervened. 

"Good idea," Bell opened the interface by swiping his whole hand to the right, and the magical holographic screen appeared again in front of his eyes. 

[Bellial Radcliffe] [Level: 1] [EP: 51,000] [Menu Explanation Available]

[Diagnostic Menu]

[Items & Logistic Department Interface]

[Military Management] 

[Mission + Objectives] 

[Infrastructure Menu]

"Let's let boss man do his thing, everyone, stay alert, stay vigilant, watch out for husks," Lisa commanded. 

[Welcome to the Military System]

1. Diagnostic Menu: Check your general health status, your experience, available demonic points, and skill & perks. 

2. Items & Logistic Department Interface: An item shop interface to purchase items from food to vehicles. You can buy things such as assault rifles to an aircraft carrier in this menu, the higher your level, the more advanced the items you can buy. 

3. Military Management: Manage your military, from training cost, logistic cost, to the quality of your military itself. It also includes who is managing your armed forces alongside with the currently chosen doctrine. The more soldiers you have, the more available commanders you can choose. 

4. Mission + Objectives: This is where you accept missions to get rewards in the form of items, building, or EP

5. Infrastructure Menu: The place where you can buy buildings from basic structure such as water pump to a military hangar. If you are planning to build a city or a military base, this is the menu you should focus the most, alongside with gaining autonomy from the system itself. 

Intrigued by the system description, Bell opened the military management menu. 

[Military Management] [Current Manager: Lisa Elenhard | -75% Army Casualties Rate, +10% Training Time, -35% Logistic Cost] 

• Military Skill Level: 1 [20,000,000 EP Upgrade]

• Summoned/Recruited Troops: 4/50

• Current Doctrine: Hit & Run [-30% Logistic Cost, -25% Army Efficiency]

Upkeep: 9,000 EP/Month

[Summoned Personnel Menu]

"So, you're the manager of the armed forces, no wonder everyone just follows you along," Bell shifted his gaze towards Lisa. 

"You can assign someone else if you want to, but they have different bonuses. For example, Lukas knows where to hit the enemies where it hurts the most, Amelia would help you a lot in offensive attrition, while Harris would probably be best if you deal with asymmetrical warfare, while me, I'm the best if you are in defensive."

"How about military skill level?" 

"It's the average level of summoned troops. For example, in military skill level 1, it's equal to militia, which means, pseudo rag-tag force, but you can also upgrade each troop individually. As for new personnel cost, it means how much you need to spend to get a new summoned troop." Lisa explained. 

"Interesting."

"For example, we're tier-1 operator, which is equal to skill level 8. You already see what we are capable of, but to be honest, the rag-tag militia would be better than your average civilian in this world, in terms of education, if you get what I mean," Lisa shrugged her shoulders. 

"Huh?" 

"They are not illiterate, you won't have too much problem commanding them, but their performance will be sub-par in comparison to us. That's what I mean." 

Bell just nodded. These four armed soldiers surrounding him were proficient enough for now, besides, their skills were way beyond Bell's, so there would be no need for him to worry for now, at least until spring came and the snow in this northern plain began to melt. By then, he should be prepared to confront, or at least, find a place where their kind could take refuge from the incoming human invaders. He knew firearms weren't the answers to all problems when dealing with biological and magical warfare, or rather, he hadn't found a big enough weapon to deal with the problems. 

"We arrive at the X, sir." 

The X was the border between the tundra and the taiga. Multiple trees erected from the ground, a stark contrast to the all grass tundra that they just walked through. Oddly enough, the snow on the snowy forest was much more thicker than the one in the grassland surrounding it. 

"Sir, if I may suggest, we should head deeper into the forest, we should avoid visuals from bystanders," Lukas suggested. 

"Good idea," Bell nodded. 

The team nodded in unison, their movements synchronized as they ventured further into the woodland. The dense canopy above offered a respite from the relentless snowfall, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. As they delved deeper, the sounds of the wilderness enveloped them—the distant call of a raven, the occasional snap of a twig under the weight of the snow.

Lisa, always vigilant, kept her eyes on their surroundings, her medical kit ready at her side. Amelia scanned the area with a practiced eye, her engineering skills at the ready to address any technical challenge they might encounter. Lukas and Harris remained alert, with Harris even deployed a drone with thermal capabilities and Lukas using goggles on his eyes to see the area. 

They eventually arrived at an opening in the forest. It was a football-field size opening, with thick forest surrounding it. There were some dead trees on the opening, but nothing too serious. The trees in that opening was quite scarce, perfect for a camping spot. It was quite deep in the forest, with enough space for expansion if they wanted to. 

"Set up camp here, this place is ideal." 

As dusk settled over the snowy landscape, Bell and his team set about building their camp. His backpack contained the tent and he pulled that large tent out of his giant rucksack. Lisa assigned everyone according to their skills. Lisa and Amelia started by laying out the ground sheets, creating a base for the tents. They moved efficiently, their hands deftly securing the corners and smoothing out any wrinkles. Lisa paid special attention to creating a clean and organized space for her supplies.

Meanwhile, Bell and Harris began assembling the tents. Although coming from a different era, Bell's military training was evident in the way he methodically connected the poles and raised the fabric. Harris assisted him, ensuring that each tent was securely anchored against the wind, especially since the wind in this region was in the region of minus in degrees. Besides, they needed a shelter quick, something that Bell only found in the form of caves in the past couple of weeks of running away from the south. 

Maybe, just maybe, everything would be fine.