Chapter II

They were back in their rooms. Arthur was putting his light armor on himself and preparing to leave the flying castle with Princess Tessia and Reginald. Somehow, their conversation previously ended in a peaceful stalemate. He wanted her to not bring up the conversation later, though.

[That's not what your mother taught you, Arthur...] Meanwhile, the sword kept repeating those words. Deep down, Arthur also knew that it was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to say what happened that day. [You are the chosen noble knight, and this is what you do on the second day?]

"I didn't lie, alright? I just refused to talk about the matter; I didn't want to put this much strain on her when she just returned. You'd do the same in my place." Arthur continued to dress, also trying to prove a point. His reasons are justifiable for human morals, but not for the noble Sword of Judgement.

Arthur put on the leather boots and metal knee pads. The chest plate came next, which only protected the left side of his chest, and finally he put on some shoulder pads. This was all he had at the moment for armor. It did its job but was not optimal in direct combat with Alacryans. [We'll have to work on finding better armor for you later; this won't do. The optimal option would be full-plate armor.]

"No, I'm not wearing that standardized armor. It's very restrictive and doesn't allow me to use flexibility and speed."

[Because they aren't made right, if you remember correctly, that blond-haired warrior you met previously had armor that had enough spaces in between the plates to allow him to fight comfortably. You aren't on a stage yet where you can hope in battle without some protection.]

"I must get on that stage eventually, shouldn't I?"

[...you're acting like a fool again.]

The two were slowly but surely finding their own ways to talk. It was not mutual agreement, but more understanding of where both were coming from. Arthur prioritized speed and agility over the heavy defensive protections that the sword was suggesting. The auburn-haired boy was obviously in the wrong, but his childish mind would soon understand the value.

Sword, back in the storage rune, kept communicating and teaching Arthur once they left the room. The boy met up with Reginald, and together they waited for the princess to arrive. A few minutes later, she arrived with her parents and grandfather. It was an awkward situation to stand amongst the royal family, but there was nothing they couldn't do; they had their moment.

[I see what is wrong with her; she is bonded with the dragon and also received a will from the dragon. What a serious combination! No wonder Asuras trained her. Arthur, I still need more information so do try and get close to her as well as that council.]

'Does that have to do something with Asuras and dragons in particular...if you ask me to do something against her, though, I'm refusing it right here.' Arthur was getting worried with that request for the sword.

[No, do you not understand that I can't know everything that goes around you? I also need to learn something about the current situation; I was literally in slumber for hundreds of years. Also, call me Regis. It translates as King's, if you are interested in what it means.]

'Ah so now you do tell me your name; what is it? Finally opening you cold hear-' While he was about to joke about the sudden change in the sword's heart, Tessia finished her talk with her family and approached them. Arthur cursed; this was a calculated move by Regis.

"So, are we ready? I have this parchment with the council's permission and a stamp, so we'll join the reinforcements."

"I believe we are."

...

Arthur, Tessia, and Reginald passed the teleportation gate and came out near a nostalgic place where each of them had something to remember, Xyrus. It was a flying city, kilometers away from them; however, it was so large that it could be easily visible from their place. They were at the wall on the eastern side of Xyrus. Same place where Arthur and Reginald were stationed.

"Hm, who is this?"

"Wait, Reginald?"

Some soldiers recognized the towering stature of the man; however, the two new adults were unrecognized. These soldiers were either the remaining ones at the wall or just those that had recently arrived as reinforcements. They were setting up the new camp for the arriving soldiers, and three of them went directly to the commander's tent to present them with the parchment.

The guards allowed them to enter the moment they stood in front of them. Inside was a tall man, and a person next to him was no less tall, still falling short when compared to Reginald. Arthur and Tessia held their breaths and cursed in their heads simultaneously. That second guy... they knew him too well. 'Clive Graves, what is he doing here?'

"Princess Tessia?" His voice and first words instantly made her eyebrow's twitch, "And Arthur Leywin?" Arthur's eyebrows mimicked Tessia's, and they twitched furiously. He hated this guy—outright hated him—for the dumb reasons he abused his authority during his school years. Especially on him.

"Princess Tessia, I was not aware of your visit to this camp; I would've prepared better. Is there something else? Because there was no messenger whom could've informe-"

She shook her head, "It's alright. Nobody knew of my arrival; I'm here to deliver this to you." Tessia took out the parchment and carefully handed it to the man, who no less carefully opened it and read the contents quickly.

"Of course, if you already have the squad, we can assign you to the squadron immediately. Some units are already checking on the returning soldiers from the dungeons; they are not in the best state, but they'll be able to resume their duties soon...They'll be able to fill the squad if you are missing out."

"Some have already returned... I apologize, but can we leave? There might be our teammates."

They would've dashed off without permission, but they still showed some manners and waited for approval. Reginald and Arthur burst out of the tents, followed by Tessia. Where could their team have been? Either way, in a medical tent or on their own, they first had to check their own tent. On the way, they saw many wounded, then a pile of dead bodies—the defenders during the attack on the wall.

Looking for their tent, they rushed into their section of the camp. They found it quickly and went inside. There was no soul in the tent; the only logical place left was the medical tent, which was filled with the stench of blood and medicine. Reginald overlooked the bunk beds; he couldn't spot Brald or Kriol. 'Shit, don't tell me...'

"Reginald, over there!" Arthur spotted a woman with blond hair who was being tended by an emitter. "It's Samantha." And next to her was Oliver, their team's healer. They were in a bad state, though the healer was conscious and helping out the women.

"Oliver, how is she?" They crouched next to him, and the answer was better than what they expected. She was doing well; the hardest part of closing up the wounds and clearing them was behind. The man tried really hard to save her, which was visible on his depleted face. Man's skin was wrapped around nothing but bones.

Tessia brought over the water and asked, "Has he even drunk something? Here." The man graciously accepted the cup of water and emptied it.

"Reginald, Arthur, I'm so glad that you are alive. I'm sorry, I couldn't help out much; I was so useless..." He couldn't stand up because his exhaustion reached the point where he fell to his knees after his first step.

Reginald caught him and tapped on his back, "Calm down, buddy. None of us could do anything, but where are Kriol and Brald?"

"When we barely came out of that dungeon... everything was on fire; the Alacryans were heavily armed, nothing like us. They started slaughtering everyone with their controlled beasts. We, of course, tried to help out and engaged in combat... I'm sorry, Reginald. They took Kriol and Brald as hostages, along with more captains."

Reginald and Arthur fell silent. They couldn't blame the healer and a woman; there was no one at fault except the captains who decided to raid the dungeons. Even those captains—speaking of them. "Arthur, come with me back to the commander's tent; there's something I must tell them before it's too late." Tessia said.

...

"What's the matter, Princess Tessia, already found them?" Commander Graves asked instantly after their return to the tent, confused by their rush. "We've collected some information about the attack, it doesn't seem to be like a full blown attack by Alacryans. Fighters are saying there was approximately a force of two thousand and not more."

"There could be another attack soon, yes; however, most of the captains were captured during the attack. We have less commanding power now; experienced adventurers and soldiers fell short during the attack, unfortunately. They've also taken hostages; who knows how prepared they will be during the next attack." Clives concluded his short report as well; this was the first time Arthur saw the guy speaking smart.

[The best action would be to prepare and raid them while they don't expect it.] Regis suggested Arthur, but they had no power to make any decisions right now. [If they attack, they'll be more prepared, possibly with more manpower. So, taking them by surprise is all they've got right now.]

"What are the possibilities of additional forces arriving here?" Tessia asked the commander, while they were at it. "If what Clive said comes true, the forces stationed here won't last. They do not have proper armor."

"We've only recently gotten sent here; if I'd known more, if the Council had known more, we would've been sent here with more manpower, of course. I'm preparing to send a report soon; hopefully, the council acts quickly."

Arthur looked at the map of the beast glades situated on the desk of a commander. "Princess Tessia, the attack came from a nearby dungeon; we have no time... All of this happened in a very short time frame; we have no advantages if we take defensive measures." He whispered to Tessia. This was the act that someone in the room didn't like at all, though. [Yes, suggest her instead, and if she speaks, it'll be better.]

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"They've taken hostages; for what reason would they have done that? To extract information. We will be at a disadvantage if we take a defensive stand. I assume they'll also use more manpower this time. I know these grounds; it's not hard to understand why they used small force." Arthur was stationed here for a long time, so Tessia considered his words to be true.

She thought about it more deeply, 'The wall is too protected for a small force, they were most likely not planning on taking it over; they were just preparing for something bigger...' The auburn-haired boy was logical.

"We must attack sooner; there are no other options." She said this abruptly and shocked everyone else; hell, even Arthur was surprised by how quickly she came up with this conclusion. If Regis had a face, he'd be longing to smile.

[That's the girl...she is better than you, so you better work your arse off.] 'Shut up.'

Her words came with explanations, and everyone was in agreement that her words held some logic. Considering the situation they were in and the fact that they were at war, they shouldn't waste any more time. Although hesitation was seen in everyone, mistakes were intolerable in the face of the conflict.

"What are your commands?"

"Prepare the troops; better have some chances of victory than none at all."

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