Bawon Fortress (4)

Alex frowned and Leyfon's face darkened. "Andreas, gather our soldiers immediately and inform the citizens."

"Yes, Father," Andreas immediately set off along with the soldiers.

"Young Alex, just like what you've said, we might need to end this meeting."

Alex nodded, "I will go back to grab my weapons. Let me help you."

"We will also help," Alicia and Firia said at the same time.

"Princess, you don't have to help us."

"Sir Leyfon, it's okay. I might not look like it, but I'm equal to a rank 4 mage, you know."

"I can't hold any responsibility if anything happens to you. Unlike the assignment from the academy, the battle this time will be far more dangerous. Especially because it is already night. Our vision will be limited."

Firia also held the same opinion as Alicia. She looked at Alex expectantly.

Alex still hesitated about it but suddenly Sherry went to the front.

"Wuu! Wuu!" Sherry said.

"As expected of our Sherry," Alicia smiled at it. Firia also nodded in understanding.

Sherry said that it would protect them.

Alex sighed, "Only this time."

"Young Alex, are you sure?"

"Well, Sherry said it will help me to protect them too. Sherry might look cute and harmless, but it is still a bonafide rank 6 monster. If you are still not convinced, you can send us rank 7 warriors, but it will reduce our force. Don't worry we can stay on the wall, not the frontline."

Leyfon frowned, but he finally relented, "But all of you need to stay beside me. Meet me at the west gate in half an hour."

Alicia and Firia nodded. After getting the 'approval' from Leyfon, they left to prepare themselves.

They went to their barrack hurriedly. The students were also informed by the soldiers. Some of them would join the battle and some of them wouldn't. After all, the academy's event would only start from the next day onward.

Alex and the rest met up again in front of the barrack. Alex brought out a new rank 5 spears. He made this spear back in the academy, after all, he couldn't let out that 'Spear' in front of many people. He might incite 'something' if he carelessly used them. He could use it back in the Night Forest when he was away from people because other people wouldn't notice him, but this time was different. With a rank 5 sword in his right and a rank 5 spear in his left, he was ready to go. On the other hand, Alicia brought her wand with her. Firia also brought her wand and a few small pouches.

"Each pouch contained twenty of rank 1 restoration pills and five of rank 2 restoration pills. Please bring them with you."

Alex and Alicia were surprised by her. Firia seemed to be a very detailed person, she was perfect for a secretary job. She seemed very reliable in this kind of situation.

"Thank you Firia," Alex and Alicia thanked her.

After that, they went to the west gate. The west gate was the main gate if people wanted to go to the forest. So, Leyfon chose this place.

They found him talking to the soldiers while the two 'problematic' children were following him. Leyfon also noticed them coming to him.

"You guys have come, wait for me a bit, after that, we will go up there."

Alex and the rest nodded. The two 'problematic' children were glaring at Alex. Alicia and Firia felt offended but Alex patted their shoulder and shook his head.

After a while, Leyfon came back and led them to the top. Since it was already night, the surroundings were so dark. It was hard to see the bottom of the wall like this.

Though Alex could somehow see the ground because of his high rank, Alicia and Firia couldn't see things clearly. He was also sure that the soldier couldn't see during situations like this. Now, he was wondering how the minister would fight in this dark battlefield.

Not long after, the sound of a trumpet was heard. The soldiers raised their weapons and the atmosphere became tense. It seemed the enemies finally had come.

"Light it up!" Leyfon shouted.

After he said that, many soldiers shot arrows into the ground. There was a lot of light that started glowing on the ground. Those were lamps fueled by Monster core. The arrows that were shot activated them. These glowing lights brightened the battlefield. Many people were taken aback, this was the first time they saw something like this. Meanwhile, those soldiers didn't have any exaggerated reactions. They were already used to it. On the contrary, they started clenching their weapons.

Leyfon came to Alex and the rest. Of course, the 'problematic' children also followed him. "How is it, Young Alex?"

"It is pretty," Alicia said. Firia also nodded.

The young man seemed proud and happy when Alicia said that. While the young girl harrumphed.

"Let me introduce you since I haven't introduced them properly to you. They are my grandchildren. Franky is a rank 5 warrior and the other one is Sila who is now a rank 3 warrior. You two, please greet them."

"Hmph," Sila snorted.

"You better don't hold us back," Franky glared at Alex.

"Both of you are such difficult children. Do you still not learn your lesson?" Leyfon started to get angry.

Alex stopped him. "It's alright. Are there any flying monsters?"

Now Alex understood where that arrogant attitude came from. The problem was... why did they act like that in front of him? He could only list 3 possible problems. First, Leyfon wanted to engage Alex with Sila and they rejected the idea, then they acted like that. Second, Alex was even more famous than Franky. Considering his age, reaching rank 5 meant he was very talented, but with Alex's appearance, all of that was diminished. The third one was very troublesome, he was captivated by Alicia or Firia and saw Alex as a rival. 

Well, he couldn't keep thinking about this for now. He needed to focus on the battle. After all, they were currently in their home, so he couldn't act recklessly. Above all, there was Leyfon, the war minister with them right now. If Leyfon recklessly attacked him without considering the consequences just because he injured his grandson, it might cause more problems.

"Not for the moment. From my point of view, there will be none in this battle."

Alex nodded but suddenly he frowned, he sensed the monsters had arrived. Leyfon also noticed them. He and Alex immediately turned their heads. "They have come."

Alex observed the monsters that had started coming out of the forest. The majority of them had lower rank. But there are many rank 5 monsters and even a few rank 6 monsters behind those lower rank monsters. Around fifty rank 5 monsters and ten rank 6 monsters were present. There were still no rank 7 monsters appearing from the forest. 

Seeing the monsters didn't insanely charge at them, indicating that there was something controlling them. The only thing that could control them must be a higher rank monster. Maybe a rank 7 monster or above it. But a rank 8 monster in this horde was very unlikely. The most possible one was a rank 7 monster.

Alex frowned, "Sir Leyfon, what is your usual distance before you start to launch an attack?"

"Hmph, why you ask?" Franky snorted.

Alex ignored him and kept looking at Leyfon seriously, waiting for an answer.

"From there," Leyfon finally answered as he pointed out with his finger.

"Can I attack them now?"

"Attack them? From here? Don't joke with me!" Franky once again retorted him.

"Shut up!" Alex gave him a cold gaze, he started to get triggered by his remarks.

"How dare you..."

"Shut up!" This time, Leyfon ordered his grandson to shut up. Franky immediately shut his mouth.

"Why do you want to attack them now?"

"With this darkness, I can somehow snipe them without them noticing. That way we can get an advantage in this battle. Of course, my targets were those rank 5 or 6 monsters."

"What? Are you sure? Can you attack them from here?"

Alex nodded. "Though, I will need some spears for that."

Leyfon considered it a bit and finally nodded. "Guards! Bring our reserve spears here!"

After a while, the soldiers quickly brought out around fifty iron spears.

Alex grabbed one of the spears, he nodded to Leyfon. The minister gave him a go and shouted, "Prepare your weapon!"

The soldiers and the helper raised their weapons. The atmosphere on the wall became even more tense.

Alex closed his eyes and focused his mind. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at those high-rank monsters. His first target would be those rank 6 monsters, if he failed then he wouldn't target those monsters again, they would be wary of him after that attack after all.

Alex's expression turned serious. He first aimed at the rank 6 monster on the left side, it was a rank 6 werewolf. Franky and Sila who were on the side threw a mocking smile at him.

"Spear Throwing Art. Spin Throwing!"

Strength, speed, and technique were combined when Alex threw his spear. The spear flew at a very high speed. With the natural darkness concealing the spear, it suddenly appeared between the darkness and reached the werewolf. Alex targeted its head, and without warning, the spear suddenly appeared in front of the werewolf. Because of the darkness and its speed, the werewolf didn't have any chance to react. The spear pierced the monster's head. 

Unfortunately, because he used a normal spear, it broke after it pierced the werewolf's strong body. No, you could say the lousy spear could somehow pierce through that monster because of Alex's 'Spear Throwing Art'. It took a while before the monsters beside him noticed that one of their leaders died.

Leyfon was very shocked by Alex's particular spear-throwing technique. It combined power, speed, and technique in a particular way. It gave the perfect way to throw the spear. That was why it could pierce through a rank 6 monster with a normal spear. If he was asked whether he could do it or not, the answer would be no. 

The secret itself was on the spin. The spin increased the piercing effect of the spear. Well, it was not called 'Spin Throwing' for nothing. If he could kill a few rank 5 or 6 monsters, he could minimize the casualty for this battle. He looked more and more disappointed with his grandchildren.

On the side, Franky and Sila were dumbfounded. After all the things they did, whether it was mocking Alex or snorting at him, it all came back like a slap to their faces at this very moment. Especially Franky who mocked Alex the most. Now he couldn't even speak due to the shock. He was almost 30 years old, but he couldn't even kill a rank 6 monster in an instant like what Alex did. Although it was true that the darkness could conceal the spear and made it perfect for quick and silent killing. Franky couldn't deny Alex's power anymore. 

Franky was actually in love with Alicia's elder sister named Mia, when she visited this fortress the previous year. But she didn't even pay attention to him at that time. That was why he thought that by oppressing Alex in front of Alicia, she might think him cool or something. 

By doing that, she might put a good word about him to Mia. If only he knew that he was mocking Alex right in front of his girlfriends, especially when one of them was already Alex's fiancee. And if only he knew that the king also backed him up, he wouldn't know what would happen then. If Alex was only backed by the dean, he might be able to escape from this difficult situation since his grandfather, the war minister, was also a rank 8 warrior. But if he knew all of that, he would not even be able to kill himself as his grandfather would personally kill him before anyone else.

Contrary to him, Sila looked down. At first, when her grandfather mentioned Alex's name, he looked very happy and always ordered her to get closer to him. Of course, she hated that. What was so special about this 'Alex'? He was just lucky to be the dean's student and he was just lucky enough to be able to think about some 'brilliant' ideas. All of it came from his luck and his teacher, not himself. That was her thought every day and that was the reason she hated Alex. She kept fighting monsters in here, while he did nothing other than sit nicely in the academy. He was not worthy of her. But everything changed when Alex killed a rank 6 monster with a single lousy spear.

If Alex knew all of their thoughts, he might say, 'Action is the best way to shut them up.' Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to focus on something else at this crucial moment. Of course, he couldn't be bothered with that as his focus was on the battlefield now.

"Pfiuh, one down," Alex relieved after he confirmed the monster's death. He then grabbed another spear.