Bronze Tendons

"Commander, I bring an urgent update regarding the Kingdom of Restari's growing internal dispute!" Lieutenant Shi saluting to a commander baffled most onlookers, but others were used to it by now.

"Go on." Deon nodded calmly.

"It would appear that this treacherous scheme to take over the kingdom has been brewing in secret for at least 20 years now! The chief instigator is of course Prince Terros. There are also multiple chancellors, politicians, religious figures-"

"I see, so the situation back home is a mess. However, what of their side's military prowess?"

"This…" Lieutenant Shi hesitant. "It's difficult to be sure. I know for a fact that the generals, General Li and General Senlin, remain with the true military force…I have already heard that more than a few lieutenants have abandoned their posts, returning to the kingdom to show their support for the 'new king' as they are already calling him. Even Lieutenant Stephen switched sides so easily…"

"I knew it, I always hated that snarky bastard." At this moment, everyone was startled by the commanding and booming woman's voice from behind.

Deon's eyes lit up, and his expression only brightened further as he saw the marching unit led by Commander Reana making their way into his territory.

Reinforcements were clearly what they needed the most right now, but this was nothing easy to arrange. Remember, even with this sudden and shocking civil war, they were also reaching their peak with the war against the Fan Kingdom!

"Commander, you seem to be feeling quite relaxed given the situation." Lieutenant Reana showed an uncommon smile. "I take it that even before our arrival, you still had confidence in fending off the first wave?"

"Right." Deon nodded and didn't deny it. "The enemy actually used me as the catalyst to begin his war, thinking that he could steal my skills and use me to make money. He even seems to believe that I'm such a pushover, and that he, a fat slob who has lived a life of luxury since his birth until now, would actually have a hope in hell of leaving a single scratch on my unit."

More and more people gathered round as they noticed the newcomers, but also Lieutenant Reana and Commander Deon.

"Confidence is good commander, but don't underestimate your opponent." Reana reminded him sternly, but Deon just smiled.

"Haha…lieutenant, is my opponent able to fly?"

Lieutenant Reana stared blankly for a moment, then ended up just repeating back Deon's question.

"What? Can he fly?"

"Right, can he fly? Either using a spirit or by raising a tamed flying demonic beast I mean."

"No…" She said slowly. "There has never been a case of a flying spirit appearing, not only in this kingdom, but in the entire surrounding region. And as for mountable flying demonic beasts…they're somewhat difficult to tame. The only success stories I've heard are those where a shaman picked up a stray and lost baby demonic beast, then proceeded to care for it and nurture it, until it became an adult and allowed them to ride due to their bond."

An example of this was Lieutenant Shi. She possessed a tamed demonic beast, though she seemed oddly uncomfortable every time she rode it. However, if she tried to lend this beast to others, it absolutely would not allow them to ride it.

"Right, there's no chance that uncle would have the patience for that, and if he had a flying spirit, he would have shown it off long ago to try to suppress my father's prestige." Remi added helpfully.

Deon suddenly smiled brightly. He stuck his arms out and looked into the sky, then slowly turned around.

"Commander, since I took on this region as my personal responsibility, I have turned it into a certified fortress of war. There are two possible points of entry; firstly, the 100 foot tall cliff down by the lake. Naturally, this route has now been blocked, the wall covered in oil and gunpowder, with remote trigger explosives planted all throughout. The only remaining point of entry, is the one I left open for your own men."

"Without that rope, there's no chance I could have climbed down that waterfall…" A captain behind Reana muttered.

Reana didn't respond, but slowly looked around. As Deon and the the lieutenant walked side by side, they chatted about various things.

Deon glanced back at the men Reana had brought along with her.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Could it be that of these 27 people, they're actually evenly split across your other 9 units?"

"That is indeed the case. Those in different units naturally possess a different perspective on certain crucial matters. It is good usage of one's troops to create a diverse and prepared group like this. Of course, we are merely the vanguard, others will arrive en mass later on."

"I see." Deon continued to look back, wearing a curious expression as he stared at them all without backing down, looking like he was eyeing up his competition.

However, the lieutenant seemed to not notice it, or she pretended not to see. Either way, the conversation soon died down. Deon excused himself as he still had crucial preparations to make prior to the coming battle.

"Ah, I never finished reporting everything…" Lieutenant Shi mumbled dispiritedly, feeling like nobody was taking her seriously anymore. Captain Dan and two other captains quickly found her and sat down to discuss all the ins and outs of the situation, whilst Deon trained for the coming battle.

Back in Deon's tent…

Bronze tendon spirit!

He hadn't yet began using the spirit, but if he could manage to get through it in one painful push, he could finish in under 90 minutes!

He worked his way up and in the end, Deon used this spirit with the support of the third stage suffering for time spirit.

The first stage wasn't too bad, but by the second stage, Deon fell to the floor, feeling dazed for a moment and barely managing to stay conscious. He picked himself up after a few seconds, but continued sweating for the next 5 minutes. His facial expression and posture didn't return to normal for a full 10 minutes.

Prior to the final 10% of the spirits' usage, using the tendons spirits was more painful compared to the bones spirits.

After activating the third stage, Deon coughed out blood and wheezed whilst his muscles all cramped at the same time and his body contorted.

As the spirit approached completion, he stopped using the suffering for time spirit. However, he realised that it would likely take another half hour to properly and careful finished the absorption of the grey gas released by the tendons spirit. So, Deon decided to take a little risk.

He activated the first stage. He knew that using the suffering for time spirit during these final stages was dangerous, but he needed to make the best use of his time now!

Bang!

Blood exploded out from his body like a wave, before it slowly rained down on the floor, leaving Deon's calm and still seated figure sitting there like a stature. His teeth were clenched, his gaze was fierce, but his eyes remained resolute.

In the end, he managed to endure for the full 3 minutes.

Like this, he managed to save 27 minutes.

He was clearly injured right now and wouldn't be able to train for a while, but after finding 2 medics to follow after him, and after chugging a large amount of the black sludge that nobody else seemed to be able to stomach, Deon was ready to make the actual battle plans.

When he went to look for Reana, she was still inspecting the camp defences and build quality.

When Deon inquired about the current situation, Reana felt stunned, only now realising that she had not properly explained this to him yet!

She didn't apologise, but immediately fixed her mistake by inviting everyone of importance to a battle conference.

"As you all know, the king's brother has rebelled. This is clearly a long planned treason and betrayal, not only of the royal family and the king, but of the entire kingdom and its people…it is especially a betrayal of us soldiers, who are already risking our lives day and night for the kingdom, without this damned civil unrest thrown in to the mix!"

Everyone nodded at Reana's words, even Deon…it really was tedious. Two wars at once, and he seemed to be one of the key targets in this conflict.

Admittedly though, Deon couldn't help but feel a bit thrilled! His only real grievance was that he had less than a day to prepare for the first battle…if only he had one more month, if only he could have cashed in that 2-Star spirit that was still being safeguarded by the lieutenant, if only he could refine all those spirits he wanted to use first…

But alas, nothing in life ever went exactly according to plan.