9 First mission
Upon arriving at the Imperial Dalian camp set up by the imperial army, the three acolytes were quickly greeted by the commander. From a glimpse, Lewis could tell that this platoon was very well organized. There were sharp traps around the camp and sturdy walls around the tents. They were freshly cut and built as well, yet the quality of the logs that made up the walls were of very fine quality, proof that the soldiers checked the moisture level before cutting the trees.
Selecting logs might seem like a waste of time, but there were records of entire platoons getting wiped off because of a breach in their campment's wall.
There were hundreds of such details, which Lewis immediately picked up and allowed him to make a first evaluation of the man who accompanied them: Grand Knight Eric Aurelius.
[Name - Eric Aurelius | Age - 70 years old
Attributes:
Strength - 6.2 | Agility - 3.2 | Vitality - 4.3 | Spirit - 0.8]
Just like acolytes, there were other kinds of superhumans in the Dalian Empire. The most common ones were called [Knights]. It was not just a military title, it was a warrior realm that indicated that one had ignited their life force, or, in other words, surpassed the first physical boundaries of regular humans. It was not something that was measured, but rather, something that was experienced.
There was no set number on which it happened, but there would be a small jump of strength, agility, vitality as well as overall mind clarity upon becoming a knight. Lewis did experience it once in his past life, but he had yet to do it again.
As for Grand Knights, they were those that pushed the realm of knight further and allowed themselves to wield [Life Force], so as to boost their stat on very short period of time, like a sudden burst of adrenaline. However, the number of grand knights could be counted on one's hand in the Dalian Empire, due to their rarity and the enormous amount of talent and effort required to reach the pinnacle of the knight realm and surpass that.
However, this was just laughable in the face of regular acolytes. Jorg, who was only forty years of age, was already much stronger than one of the most repected Grand Knights in the History of the Dalian Empire. This was the cold truth of this world, a plane where magical entities were beyond the comprehension of regular people.
Still, did that make Grand Knights weak? By all means, they were not. Their experience, strength and resilience was not something to put aside and numbers alone did not win fights. They just gave acolytes a net advantage. Nothing more, nothing less.
Over the centuries, Dalian knights learned the strength of acolytes and respected them immensely. In a way, a sharp distinction between regular people and acolytes was drawn. They were a superior species, after all.
Lewis did not have many memories of his father Frederick Steelguard. However, he still remembered the look of admiration and fear when he learned about his talent in magic and sent him to one of the closest place to hell, the Magical Court.
"Welcome, esteemed imperial mages, to the frontline iron wolves camp", Eric Aurelius said in an intimidating voice filled with benevolence, "I know you have just arrived, but the situation is quite dire"
He paused for a moment, and recognized Lewis' sword, before smiling: "I was not notified that I would be receiving such an esteemed noble. Pardon me, lord Steelguard. I will reintroduce myself. I am Eric Aurelius, third sword of the Empire, and the commander in charge of repressing a tribe called the Fire Dagger Tribe"
One could tell the difference in treatment Lewis got the moment his noble status were revealed. Jorg and Orianna did not know much about the commoners' world. Born in the magical court and having lived their whole lives there, their knowledge of the normal world was limited to their personal experience in missions and what they read in books.
Jorg nodded, since he was aware about the status nobles wielded, an authority given on birth, something that could not be bought with strength or money. Still, he was very surprised that the treatment would be so different compared to the look of horror upon seeing his lizardman skin. If he revealed his face, they might even have started attacking him.
Orianna, however, was completed stunned and was forced to reevaluate her junior.
"I am not worthy of being called lord. I am the second heir, and my father still is full of vitality. But, please tell us more about the situation", Lewis said
The knights stood up from their kneeling position and continued to escort the imperial mage, while Eric started to explain: "I have submitted a request for imperial mages becaue this is a matter that we cannot solve ourselves, even if we were to sacrifice ourselves in battle. The Fire Dagger Tribe only possesses 150 warriors, based on our estimation, half of the original numbers. However, we lost over four hundred imperial soldiers in the past three months in skirmishes. We have over a thousand imperial soldiers as well as 15 knights, most of whom are training new recruits"
Lewis was surprised. He knew that barbarians had the environment advantage, but imperial soldiers were not mere farmers with weapons. Even the newest recruit was trained for at least three years in the imperial army swordsmanship or spearmanship. The Dalian Empire was a military empire, with a deep culture of battle. Children played strategy games and treated sparring as games as well.
"With such a huge advantage in numbers, why don't you just use that to destroy their village?", Lewis asked
The past month of training did not just serve to upgrade physical attributes. With Jorg not speaking any word of common tongue, and Orianna being raised in a Magus household, with little experience over the real world, Lewis naturally became the spokesperson of the team.
The commander shook his head in frustration: "We know where their village is located. However, the village is protected by druids. Every time we sent out a battlion to scout their village, they never came back. We managed to capture a junior druid, however. But barbarians all have specific dialects. Unfortunately, no one managed to communicate with it"
Lewis did not underline the fact that Eric had just used the pronun 'it' to design a human being, but he smiled inwardly. Dalian imperials were xenophobic, second to elves only. Barbarians were not civilized individuals, and they did not have the structure of the imperial army. However, tough living conditions eventually granted them stronger body than average humans. From times to times, there would be a barbarian gifted with arcane talent. If the tribe possessed some form of literracy, they would often be able to produce 'druids', basically uneducated acolytes who wielded their arcane magic for basic purpose like beast taming or, in the most extraordinary tribes, cast basic spells.
Acolytes often looked down upon druids, because it was insulting to be compared to beast-like individuals. In the great Northern war that would storm the Dalian Empire in a decade-long war against united northern barbarian tribes, there were records of imperial mages killing druids a realm higher than theirs. This told a lot about the acolytes' superiority.
The fact that this crucial piece of information was not written was enough to question Eric on the spot, since the mission only mentionned 'help to take down a tribe'. However, this was also an opportunity to gain fame for the Crimson Clan in the highest ranks of the Dalian Military. Plus, as the past leader of the Crimson Clan who specialized in blood magic, Lewis was without any doubt the most knowledgeable about blood rituals in the Magical Court.
It just happened that druids were an especially rare and valuable resources for such rituals...
"I know several barbarian dialects", Lewis spoke, "Let me interrogate the druid"
The Crimson Clan had been massively involved in the Great Norther War in his past life, and Lewis was a key factor of the reason why the Dalian Empire won. Interrogating a druid would be an easy play. He had done it hundreds of times already, though it would be a first in this lifetime.
