Forest of Flames

On the central front, 5 people ran through a forest aflame.

They were Cain and his squad.

When Cain went to meet Nate in the morning, he was given a mission.

The details were to use the cover of a forest fire to attack specific targets with other teams.

As to the reason for the forest fire, it was due to both sides agreeing to create open land for a proper battlefield.

In other words, this was a sneak attack.

Puffrid has always been known for such tactics. Although their military was powerful, they couldn't fight against the power of the Empire without pulling some tricks.

This is how Puffrid always survived, even winning more than surviving in some cases. Through tenaciously fighting and using any means necessary, Puffrid has always had some advantage.

As to why the Empire doesn't fight back with a similar strategy? They simply have too much pride, really.

The empire's soldiers make it a statement to fight with honor and win against the kingdom by open and straightforward means.

It's ridiculous but the higher-ups of the empire want it this way. Many of them profit from the war but they also see the bigger picture, if they took over all of Netherane, then they would have to fight on a bigger stage.

Their economy was reliant on war and if they had all of Netherane, they would have to attack other territories.

Without war, they would lose their influence, they would be forced to invade other territories.

Territories that have come together to blockade Netherane. The Empire would be fighting a battle on all fronts.

So, the Empire takes a straightforward approach to vie for time.

Cain knew all this because of the documents in the Union's vault about previous wars and battles.

Unsurprisingly, he was repulsed by how the rich were controlling the poor because they simply didn't want to change, he hated how they held on to their power by pushing others to fight in a war of their design.

It's not like Puffrid didn't know this either, they were fully taking advantage of this and some nobles wanted to do the same thing as the empire when they gained as much power as them.

The war was just a big fight between old men who wanted to gain power or hold on to it, at the expense of others.

But Cain was powerless, he still needed to study the viruses in his possession and learn more skills to expand his repertoire.

Cain was suddenly pulled out of his stupor by Sarah calling out to him.

"Captain! There's a group of 3 in front, they seem to be normal soldiers"

"Prepare to attack."

Cain's squad got into combat positions, Cain got in the front with Mark and Daniel while Michael and Sarah slowed their pace, heading to the back.

The three unsuspecting soldiers of the Empire never knew what hit them. Three people sprinted through the flames and attacked them abruptly.

Cain appeared before one of the soldiers, quickly lowering his body and getting close. He easily avoided the soldier's peripheral vision and thrusted his yurombi through his throat, killing him quickly.

Daniel charged at his opponent and knocked him into a tree, breaking the tree and crushing the soldier. He still made sure he was dead by stomping on their skull a few times.

Mark was the fastest to dispatch his target, he used his duel swords and pierced one sword into his enemy's heart and then the other in the skull.

His opponent didn't have enough time to react and died instantaneously.

Michael and Sarah caught up to the trio before they continued on, their mission was to take out an officer in charge of the offensive. They were overseeing the burning of this part of the forest but they usually were in the Empire's camp making battle plans.

The Empire had to use a lot of resources to get rid of the forest fast before an attack from the Kingdom.

Nevertheless, they were too late as many groups like Cain's were taking out separate targets.

There were a few more soldiers on the path out of the forest, they were quickly eliminated as the group headed to a clearing.

At the edge of the clearing, bordering the forest, a man in an officer uniform was giving orders to soldiers.

Both the officer and soldiers were on edge and were rushing their operation, they wanted to quickly finish spreading the fire before they were attacked.

Yet, five people exited the forest and rushed the officer, the three in the front of the group cut down anyone in their way as the two in the back attacked others nearby.

One of the people in the back took materials out of a pouch before creating an ominous burning gas and sent it to a group of soldiers who promptly screamed in pain, the other shot arrows that pierced and killed anyone too close.

The officer had a look of defeat, he knew his fate was sealed.

He watched as the group got closer and closer while his soldiers ran away, after all, they were all normal humans or low-rank augmenters, they could do nothing against the force in front of them.

The officer watched as his vision contorted and suddenly turned he was upside down. He then saw a headless body, he only had one thought 'I don't want to die' but his vision turned black and he died.

...

Cain and his squad returned to camp, they were exhausted from all the running they had to do. Michael and Sarah went to the cantina while the three front liners went back to their tent and drank.

"Damn Captain! Even I couldn't see you while you wielded those daggers haha"

"Their Yurombi Daniel Y-U-R-O-M-B-I *hic*"

Cain was a lightweight, he only had 4 drinks before entering a drunken state. But it could also be the fact that the drinks were huge, they were the size of Daniels's torso!

Mark didn't drink and just ate snacks as he sat down on some furniture comfortably.

"Haha! So Mark, why aren't you really a captain anymore?"

"Not good at leading"

Daniel didn't like such a bare response but didn't do anything since Mark was stronger than him.

"Then tell me how you killed those guys so fast, it was like less than a second!"

Drunk Cain promptly interrupted

"*Hic* Its because *Hic* his body is speed enhanced *Hic* or his technique *Hic* is speed based *Hic*"

He then fell unconscious on the table. Cain didn't expect the drinks to be so strong, all Daniel told him was that quality and quantity matter when getting someone drunk while laughing hysterically and shoving the giant glass in his hand before drinking his own.

When Cain woke up, it was sunrise and Mark was sleeping quietly on the sofa while Daniel was laughing and giggling in his sleep.

He then went outside to throw up and saw Michael walking into the tent, his hair was a mess and his clothes were barely on.

Cain just ignored it and walked back to his tent, there wouldn't be another mission for at least a week, the war hadn't fully started yet and strategies needed to be made, also Cain had a splitting headache.

Unsurprisingly, Cain found comfort in research, the sense of increasing his knowledge which would also increase his power made him ecstatic.

He would always do research whenever he could no matter the situation, of course as long as it was a safe environment.

When Cain got back, Anders was diligently training in the same spot, Cain talked with him for a bit and asked how he liked his technique and blah blah blah.

Cain entered his tent and flung himself on his bed, he then slept for an hour or two. When he awoke, he walked over to his desk where he took out a vial and began his research.

It was one of the viruses he acquired from the Union vault, it was called 'Unbending Dread'. It had quite a fascinating effect when Cain infected a rat he found in the camp with it

In under an hour, the entire mouse's body was as hard as stone or even tougher!

Cain couldn't do anything to the rat, he tried crushing it, slicing it, burning it. Nothing worked! The rat was still alive, it still had a heartbeat but its entire body was as hard as iron! Cain couldn't even tell if the insides had similar effects as he couldn't do anything to it.

Cain guessed that only after blindly changing the virus's code and using trial and error to make it into a body augment he could use to evolve his body.

After Cain first used viruses to permanently augment his body, he found that this was the path he wanted to walk.

If he paired his body and his technique he felt it would be the best course of action, as he would no longer have to carry vials around to fight and could just use his body, it was extremely efficient!

Of course, he would still have Animum in his veins as a long-range attack but he couldn't use it until he was sure it was safe, he was extremely suspicious of the events of Free City.

If he was constantly being watched, he would rather not show his trump card unless it was life or death.

'Hah, I'm basically changing my DNA farther from humans. What will I become if even my DNA isn't human... Will I no longer care for massacring the innocent?'

He didn't want to become a mindless monster but he also wanted to do whatever he needed to make a brighter world.

Cain remembered the feeling of when he was hunting the white undead, he felt nothing but negative emotions and it was the opposite of what he strived for, it felt wrong, like he was in a nightmare he couldn't control.

'Is feeling conflicted good or bad? It doesn't matter, I should just focus on my research. Time will tell, but this war sure isn't helping....'