Chapter III

The command was given quickly, and the reaction to that command was appropriate. To avenge the deaths of their comrades, soldiers were rather eager to enter the battlefield. In addition to that, news of Princess Tessia returning from her training was also good for morale. However, while the problem with the morale of the soldiers was fixed, their gear was not of the best quality.

The reinforcements were adorned in standard issued armor; however, adventurers and previously stationed soldiers had already had their armors used for months, even years. They were also not of the best quality. Alacryans will be in full black-red armor; that's what commanders were sure of.

Tessia was in a tent with her new team. Arthur, Clive, Reginald, Oliver, and Herself. They formed a new team for what remained, although Clive bugged himself into the team. "I'm not sure if everyone here knows each other, so let's introduce ourselves. I'm Tessia Eralith, Plant Deviant, Conjurer of Silver stage."

Next up was the most annoying person of the bunch, "Clive Graves, firstborn son of the Graves family, Wind element, augmenter of light yellow stage. My specialization is ranged-combat with a bow." Even here, he started speaking about his family's standings; that alone was enough to make an impression. Oliver, who was a pretty narcissistic person himself, kind of got overwhelmed by the accent this guy had.

"Arthur Leywin, fire element augmenter of solid yellow stage, I specialize in swordsmanship." He introduced himself blatantly, but even here, Regis had to mock him.

[Yeah, swordsmanship, as you call it. There's so much more to swordsmanship than just swinging a short sword with one hand; you barely know anything, kid.]

Reginald and Oliver introduced themselves, and introductions were over with. Tessia got enough information about his teammates to understand what kind of battle formation they would have. She was in a solid squad.

...

*Knock* *Knock*

The council were doing their work, discussing a situation in the dungeons, and were mainly talking about the war efforts, when they heard a knock outside the council's room. A soldier entered, with a parchment in his hands.

"Your majesties, we have a report and request from the wall east of Xyrus." He ran up to Virion and handed him the parchments, saying, "They are also requesting additional reinforcements; the situation appeared to be more diresome."

"That's very sudden," Virion hummed as he read over the text written by Commander Graves. "Captives taken by the Alacryans are apparently too many; there are not many experienced fighters in there, which makes the commander's job harder."

Aldir took the parchment from the elf, "They are planning to attack them soon; it would be better if you hurry with the request. Alacryan's caught your forces off guard and acquired information that will be beneficial for the next attack. I have no doubts it was Tessia who pushed this plan of attack; smart decision; however, it's fifty on fifty. Either it succeeds or it fails miserably." He had no doubt that Tessia understood that, but they still needed to cover up in case of a failure.

The former king of the elves massaged his temples, "The moment she got back here, she was instantly eager to engage in battle. Alduin, Merial, your daughter is killing me." And his family was sharing his feelings.

Alduin placed his hands on his wife's and held them tight, "Father, it was you who taught Tessia this way..." Alduin was worried about his daughter; his fatherly self couldn't allow himself to be just okay with Tessia fighting.

"We were the same, but Curtis and Kathyln were very insistent on the matter. So, we helped them as much as we could to get stronger. Before they eventually went to join the war... Varay and Bairon made sure they were prepared." Priscilla also tried to help out her fellow members of the council.

Varay nodded. That was true, and their children were prepared for anything in the war, unless it was... something more than an S-Class mana beast. Curtis and Kathyln had enormous potential, with the sister still being a little more talented when it came to magic. Their inexperience was the only issue; they only recently entered the battle.

The boy that she saw yesterday, though, was on the battlefield from the beginning. She had to check on the backgrounds of both Reginald and Arthur and was surprised to find that the auburn-haired boy studied in the same class as Kathyln. Not only that, he was also a veteran on the battlefield compared to the rest of the Xyrus students. Although, only on the solid-stage of yellow.

'I'm interested in what kind of parents he has; I guess they are also participating in the war.' There was only admiration in her mind, even if she didn't show that during their first meeting.

"Varay, check which units are available and send them to the wall. Make sure to compensate in case the attack fails; we are dealing with an Alacryan onslaught this time. They are starting to push the pieces."

"Understood, Lord Aldir."

...

A large party sized team was setting up the camps outside of the dungeon where the Alacryans came from. It was too dangerous to do it inside, and the cave system was also not vast enough near the surface; it wouldn't be able to hold thousands of soldiers. This was also mainly a one time venture, and these camps will be used for medical aid.

Arthur stood near the entrance of the dungeon, looking down in it, trying to hear possible noises coming from their enemies side... They were silent or just too deep. [What is it? Eager to jump in?] Regis asked.

"Honestly," Arthur put a hand on his chin and muttered without much thought, "Yeah, I want to jump in and spill blood." Sudden eagerness from the boy was normal; even Regis wanted to feel some blood on his sharp edges. He has never confronted normal, frail beings like humans, elves or dwarves...

[I wonder how easily their armor will be cut.] He was used against the Asuras, his design and abilities, he was a killing machine created to slay gods. Delivering judgment upon the heretics with the likes of Kezess.

'Although I'm not even a light yellow mage yet, I actually feel powerful for the first time. Is it because of Regis?' The morale boost from the ancient knight's speech helped him out, making him believe he was unique.

[You are not that powerful...yet. Believe it or not, though, the core stages will soon become irrelevant. You have no idea what magic has to offer now; aether and mana are very different from each other. You'll need to learn about both.]

Arthur narrowed his eyes, 'You are mentioning this aether a second time already. Yet you said I'm unable to even see it as a human.'

[Doesn't mean that I can't. Of course, I want you to be able to see it or perceive it in some form, but for now, I'll help you out by teaching you some things. After all, I'm a carrier of vast knowledge offered by my previous master.]

'That does make sense.'

"Arthur," The auburn-haired boy was brought out of his thoughts by his teammates, and the princess was prepared to dive into the dungeon first. "We are ready; let's hurry up with this thing. Sylvie is also quite eager to eat some beast cores."

"How come I never saw your bond before..." Arthur was startled to see the small creature at his feet; he couldn't notice her because of her size? That's hardly believable; he was just distracted by the recent events.

[I literally mentioned them when we first met; are you this unattentive?] Regis reminded him of the Dragon will and Dragon bond talk they had back in the castle. [Concentrate already; we don't have much time to squander.]

"Attention, everyone!" Commander Grave's voice struck everyone's ears, his loud noise also echoing through the cave's walls, "This is our chance to redeem our comrades as well as defeat our enemies by winning the first major confrontation since the beginning of the war! March for victory!"

Fired up by the speech, even if it wasn't too great, the price of victory would be worth it. The metallic boots stomped on the ground, and soldiers began running. Arthur's team was first to dive, they slid down the dungeons and navigated towards the place where Tessia could sense the most magic coming from.

They were very deep in the dungeon; no wonder no scout groups previously reported any signs of Alacryans. They were setting up the teleportation gates there and were assembling the armies alongside the mana-beasts that they controlled... Thankfully, they were unable to attack from the sea for now. (A.N. - There is no Dicatheus, guys; you should get this.)

...

Like a horse, the Dicathenians marched loudly through the cave system, following the lead of Tessia Eralith. She was grinning, already knowing that the first part of the operation was going smoothly, Alacryans were unaware of their presence. At some point, the dungeon's walls moved away from them, expanding the path to form a larger horizontal line.

Tessia's eyes glowed bright green; she was already channeling her mana through her body, and her bond, the dragon Sylvie, was ready to transform. Arthur had his hand on Regis; unknowingly to others, the sword had already switched his previous one. [Oh, wow, there are quite a lot of them. See, I told you they were preparing for a bigger attack.] Regis smirked in satisfaction.

"Casters, prepare!" Tens of conjurers stepped up during their advance, with their spells more than ready to rain down on Alacryan forces in the massive cave. "Shoot!" Commander Graves yelled, and instantly the tips of magical weapons lit up with a bunch of different colors. Be it fire, water, wind, or earth, the casters raised their weapons and let the spell do its work.

Trails of mana were left behind as the spells were launched in an arc towards the Alacryans, who were only now starting to organize and grab their weapons. Some of them didn't have the black and red armor on them, so, unprepared for the sudden attack, they were the first to fall. A massive cloud of dust was raised as the spell reached its target. Screams and fright were palpable in the air. "Engage!" Graves added the final command, and soldiers began their onslaught.

[This is it, boy, purely Alacryan forces or whoever they are... This will be your first real experience with actual tactical battles. We'll have to neutralize that teleportation gate over there first. Be on the lookout for powerful people. I have no idea what those guys are capable of. These people didn't even exist in my time.]

Arthur mentally, prepared to swing the sword against the first Alacryan he'd come across. The moment came sooner than he expected, and Tessia jumped into action, making the vines grow out from the ground and launch into Alacryans, binding them together. Her first powerful slash with the sword was enough to decimate ten or so Alacryans instantly, slicing through their dark armor.

"Hoorah!!" Dicathenians and Alacryans crashed into each other, and due to having an advantage, the opposition was unable to counter for a long time. Their leaders came out of the tents, enraged that they were being played.

Arthur found his target as well; his team was the first to cross weapons with the Alacryans. Regis was constantly communicating with him, trying to teach him some things mid battle. [Channel mana through the sword; check how sturdy their armor is.] He did so, and the sword almost ate his mana by itself. In a smooth motion, the sword made contact with Alacryan's armor.

It cut through, but not enough to fatally wound the enemy. [Don't swing with too much power, in case you do, remember that you have other parts of your body that you could use.] Arthur didn't get the instruction at first; however, his eyes captured how Alacryan made a move and was bringing down the sword at Arthur's head.

[Don't block; change its direction.] It was like Regis controlled Arthur's body, but in reality, it was simply clear instructions that made the boy feel insanely confident. He raised the sword with both hands in an inclined way, with the tip pointing to the floor. Alacryan's sword clashed with the metal, creating sparks as it slid down and hit the dried mud.

[Use the tilt; give him a good hit in the head.] Channeling some mana in his right hand, Arthur hit the blunt handle of the sword in Alacryan's helmet. It was powerful enough to make the Alacryan stumble back one step. [Get him away from you.] So he used his feet and kicked the foe in the chest. Making him lose balance and fall on his back.

[He is yours; hopefully, you don't need an instruction with that one, boy.]

True, he didn't need instructions for that. The sword's sharp tip slid into the leather between the helmet and chest plate, sliding through real flesh as easily as a needle, killing the man in an instant.

[What a dirty mess... but I quite enjoyed it.]