Mountain Ceremony

A 1-Star shaman defeating a 2-Star shaman in a fair, upfront, 1 on 1 battle? Sure, he was severely injured and barely came out alive, but it was a fact that in the end, Deon emerged victorious!

And Lieutenant Cra wasn't a typical initial stage 2-Star shaman. After some research, it was discovered that Lieutenant Cra's core spirit was actually a gold class core spirit. This spirit provided her with 50% extra origin energy capacity and recovery speed!

This meant that as an initial stage 2-Star shaman, whilst others had 2 slots for 2-Star spirits, Lieutenant Cra actually had 3! And at the peak stage, where other 2-Star shamans would have 10 slots for their 2-Star spirit, someone with the gold class origin fountain core spirit would instead possess 15!

Unfortunately, it seemed that when this spirit was only used as a normal spirit and not the core spirit, the improvement was only 25%. Also, the origin fountain spirit was a secretive spirit passed down through a noble family in the Fan Kingdom, nobody knew where it came from or how to refine it.

However, it was known that in this large clan, only two 1-Star shamans were currently using this spirit as their core spirit. It was also rumoured that the members of this Fan Kingdom clan had an unusually high death rate when they awakened as shamans.

Deon was extremely interested in this spirit, even the 1-Star version. Especially when it was used at higher stages within a rank, there was really no detriment to using a spirit like this…sure, it used up a single slot in terms of origin energy capacity and recovery rate, but it also boosted both of these things by 25%…even at the early stage, it would balance out, using up one slot whilst also opening up another slot. Using it at the mid, late and peak stages obviously resulted in a net benefit.

If he could get his hands on such a spirit, that would be great. Even if he didn't use the extra 'slots' for binding more spirits, he could still benefit from the increased origin energy capacity and the 25% boost in recovery rate.

But how could he obtain such a spirit?

With ease, actually. Now that Deon had defeated an enemy 2-Star lieutenant, his prestige from before was basically a joke compared to his new level of fame…and authority.

He wasn't a 2-Star shaman yet, but he clearly had the battle power to match such a grand character! No, since he could even kill his opponent, who possessed two 2-Star spirits, it meant that he was likely stronger than the average initial stage 2-Star shaman! At least, he was stronger than those newly advanced 2-Star shamans!

With his health more or less recovered, Deon got to business. After examining this camp, he got to work on sorting out the matter of the camp's expansion. He handed out tasks to various group leaders, working towards connecting the two camps together via the forest hill.

Due to more people joining the kingdom's military every day, there was some reorganisation within the 37th Unit.

There were now 700 members in the unit. This usually wouldn't be permitted, but 200 of the men were under the command of Deon, a vice commander. Given his recent exploits, his proven ability to manage and train his troops, his individual battle power, and his tactical mind, nobody disagreed with this arrangement.

And so, on this day, a full 3 weeks after Deon's legendary battle, a ceremony was held…

In this ceremony, an actual general took the time to attend!

Commander Reana was also present, as were many captains and soldiers of the 37th unit

Surprisingly just as the ceremony was about to begin, another general arrived, as did two lieutenants!

This turnout was truly shocking. This was just a single vice commander's award ceremony, right? Although, when considering everything that Deon had accomplished, perhaps this much was only natural.

"General Li, General Senlin, Lieutenant Shi, Lieutenant Puja…It's good to see you all again." Deon smiled, then quickly remembered to salute briefly, before returning to his friendly smile. A few surrounding commanders and captains were unsure if acting like this with generals was acceptable, but the two men began laughing boisterously at the same time.

"You know, I heard about how you hid your success in refining the bronze muscle spirit from me back at the academy, Vice Commander Deon." General Senlin smiled broadly and shook his head, then said something unexpected:

"Smart move! Such excellent foresight, to think you were actually able to realise that revealing such a talent so early on in your career would land you a guaranteed place in the refinement division for the rest of your life. Haha, since you can even kill 2-Star powerhouses now, I'm glad that you did keep it to yourself!"

"I feel like I can do more on the front lines, general." Deon replied. "And besides, I also refine spirits for the kingdom in my free time."

"Mm, so I've heard. You just create one ruckus after another back in central command, do you know that? First you became a war hero, but then you were revealed to be a genius spirit refiner, making them regret their decision immediately! But now, you've actually shown such absurd battle strength as a 1-Star shaman, and at such a young age…"

Deon blinked, not expecting this continual stream of praise, nor expecting that he had become someone so important to the legendary 'central command' either. Hmm…hopefully this would be a good thing. If not, he would just find a way to turn his fame into his advantage.

"And that's why…" General Senlin glanced at General Li, who gave a faint nod and stepped forwards.

"With my authority as general of the war division, mountain war troupe, shaman battalion, for the upper mountain battle…" General Li began talking seriously, looking at Deon with a solemn gaze.

"Vice Commander Deon, on account of your various exploits, including but not limited to: refining dozens of crucial spirits for the kingdom, whilst maintaining your active duties. For defeating a total of at least 33 peak stage 1-Star Fan captains, a single peak stage 1-Star Fan commander, and a renowned lieutenant highly valued by the Fan Kingdom. For saving the lives of nearly 700 elite Restari shamans with your quick intuition and rapid action back in the death sworn entrapment…"

After recounting Deon's greatest military merits, General Li took a deep breath, before announcing something that shocked everyone present.

"I hereby declare that from this day onward, should you accept, then you, Vice Commander Deon, are to become a full fledged commander in the Kingdom of Restari's war division!"

Deon was startled, not at all expecting this development! However, his shock quickly turned to joy. Without hesitation, he accepted the promotion.

"I accept this position general, you have my utmost thanks." Deon saluted as he spoke.

Aside from the generals, nobody knew that this was going to happen, not even the present lieutenants.

Deon, a full fledged commander! It wasn't that they believed him to be unfit for the role, only…

Wasn't it necessary to serve for one full year before becoming a commander?

Not daring to interrupt the general however, everyone stayed silent and listened as he continued.

"Good." General Li nodded. "I hereby declare that from hereon, you are a full-fledged commander. You will maintain your current post for now and take your orders from…well, this brings me on to my next announcement." General Li chuckled.

"Commander Reana, if you would be so kind as to come up to the stage." General Senlin smiled towards the commander, who nodded calmly and did as instructed, despite the doubts in her heart.

She stood in front of Deon as Deon stepped into the background, still hardly able to believe it. He had been aiming to become a commander in 1 year, but he hadn't even served for a full year yet! Even though he felt that this was quite strange, Deon stayed silent and listened, he was sure that this matter would be clarified soon enough.

"Commander Reana, on account of your 6 years of exemplary service and your brilliance when it comes to leadership, you are being promoted to lieutenant of the war division, should you accept the position. Of all the units led by a commander, your unit has cumulatively slain the greatest number of Fan Kingdom enemies. On top of this, your turn over of spirits to the kingdom has been far, far above most, both in terms of quality and quantity."

Reana's eyes lit up and she couldn't help but glance back at Deon. Clearly, a portion of these achievements were almost entirely thanks to him…but it was true that she was an excellent commander. If anyone deserved a promotion to lieutenant, it was Reana.

Lieutenant Reana immediately saluted to the general with a serious expression and replied:

"General, it would be my honour to accept this responsibility."

"Excellent." General Li smiled. "I hereby declare that from hereon, you are a full-fledged lieutenant. Lieutenant Reana, you may make any single request for reassignment, so long as it is within reason."

Lieutenant Reana's eyes lit up when she heard this.

"General, since you offered me the choice, then…"

"Go on, speak your mind, so long as it is not too difficult, I will personally arrange it for you." He nodded seriously.

"Then, in that case, I would indeed like to take a slightly different approach to my current position in the upper mountain war."

"Oh?" General Li raised an eyebrow in interest. "Different in what way?"

Lieutenant Reana did not expect this sudden promotion, but even so, she was not caught off guard. She planned to make full use of this opportunity…she was truly a capable woman!