Joining

after leaving the white tower, Levi walked back to the inn. he bathed and headed straight for the forge. " oh, it's you, brat! why haven't you been working on the generals swords!?" a few soldiers were outside, and one of them recognized Levi. not even sparing the soldiers a glance, Levi walked directly into the forge. " ah you're finaly here! i thought the second prince would kill me!" Andrew said with tears in his eyes. this was a funny scene, a large muscular, bald man, holding his hands in front of himself with his fingers intertwined. ignoring him, Levi walked up to the furnace, and found 7 blades in a wooden bucket filled with oil.

he took one of the blades from the bucket and wiped the oil off with an old rag, before he began constructing the starlight inscription. after a few minutes, he had implanted the inscription and took another blade from the bucket. half an hour later, he was on the last blade, beads of sweat on his forehead as he created and implanted the last starlight inscription. he closed his eyes and rested for a few minutes, and when he opened them, 5 more blades were present in the bucket of oil. this continued for the rest of the day.

...

next day, morning.

" hmmm, only 103 were made." the second prince looked at the rack filled with swords, his hand on his chin. " well whatever, i will pay you 300,000 gold for these swords." he said as he looked up. " hmm? are you the one who made the inscriptions on these swords?" he saw Levi beside andrew. "..." Levi lightly nodded. " then are you also.." the second prince paused, a grin forming on his face. " the one who killed one of my men?!" he appeared in front of Levi, one of the swords in hand. clank! he slashed down, while Levi blocked with his sabre. Levi was forced to take 10 steps back, only stopping when his back touched the wall of the blacksmith workshop. blood energy rose from his body, as he looked at the second prince coldly. " hmm? how weak. whatever, i know that they probably did something. also, getting killed by someone as weak as this, he deserved to die." the second prince turned around and began walking away. " i will send someone deliver the money later." he said as he walked away.

looking at the hand holding his sabre, Levi saw that it was still shaking from the strike. "..." a strike this heavy without even using qi, Levi looked at his back coldly. he definitely couldn't beat the second prince right now, which was why he didn't attack. " i almost forgot." Andrew suddenly turned around a started walking toward Levi. " this is the money for the 4 swords that i sold a few days ago." he handed Levi a pouch full to overflowing with gold coins. " i already took out my 20%." Andrew said with a smile, rubbing the back of his head. Levi simply put the coins into the spacial ring, before leaving the workshop.

rumble! rumble!

loud rumbling sounds engulfed the imperial city, from the north, south, east and west gates, as soldiers clad in silver armor rode in on horseback. " huh? why are the soldiers back? why is the army gathering?" a few people mumbled as they watched the soldiers. people watched the battle ready soldiers with awe, without knowledge of the impending war. the soldiers gathered at a military camp that was normally empty because they were at the borders of the cloud continent. " oh? the 4 princes of the divine dragon continent? they sent those brats here?" a large muscular man who wore an angry expression, with a straight sword scar between his brows asked. " i never understood why there were 4 kingdoms in the Divine dragon continent." a slim man said coldly. " who knows?" a man with a sturdy looking body said with a laid back smile. "..." the remaining man kept his eyes and mouth shut, his long black hair flowing in the wind.

these were the 4 generals of the divine dragon continent, the general of the south, the north, the east and west. the four sat at a wooden table, the thousands of soldiers all doing the same. " well whatever, no point worrying about it. Men! We are going to drink!" the laid back general, general of the south shouted. he was known to be a carefree person, not worried about anything in the least. this, in turn, lead to his soldiers becoming at least slightly responsible, to take care of their child like general and what ever responsibilities he might have. " again?!?" didn't we drink yesterday, too?!" ahh? where is the ale held again?" why don't you step down from your postion as general, and let me take over!?" who are you kidding? if anyone is taking over, it would be me!" the soldiers complained, but some still left to aquire the ale. " humph! only knowing how to play! we are going to train, men!" the angry general, general of the north shouted to his men. " tch!" general, all work and no play will make us dull boys!" who is a boy, you pervert?! why is someone like you in this army?!" the soldiers started bickering. "..." the silent general, general of the east got up to leave. " at least say something before you leave, general!" the soldiers all had this one thought. " you can rest for the time being." the cold general, general of the west said coldly.

...

next day, morning.

" who is this brat?" the northern general asked, as he looked down at the second prince. " who are you calling a brat?!" one of the two large soldiers behind the second prince shouted. " humph! who's army do you belong to?! i will have to discipline you on their behalf!" the northern general took a large spear from his back, and pierced forward, intending to kill the man. shing! " i would appreciate it if you don't discipline my soldiers, general." the second prince redirected the spear with his sword, causing the iron rod and his sword to scrape against each other. ' strong.' this one word passed through the second prince's head. ' i had heard that the general of the north was impulsive and rash, but i didn't expect this..' he thought as his lips twitched. " hmm? who are you?" the angry general asked, his eyes narrowing. even though he didn't use qi, for a youngster to not dodge or block, but redirect his spear...." the second prince, Elias Rain." the second prince said, as he held his fists in front of him respectfully.

" oh? the second prince? apologies for my rudeness your highness." the angry general bowed in apology. ' hmmm, i had always thought that those royal brats just sat on their asses, not doing anything....i don't think i'm wrong, but this brat is an exception.....' the angry general glanced up in his bowing position, while thinking. due to his angry face, it looked like he was glaring at the second prince. " no need to apologize, general. i should be the one apologizing for my subordinate's rudeness." the second prince bowed, he had always respected the strong. "..." he silently looked at the angry general, a dark and sinister grin forming on his face. he had always respected the strong, but his desire to fight was also on the same level as his respect for the strong. " oh? your highness wishes to spar with this general?" the angry general spoke. " eh! ah, no..." the grin turned into an awakward smile. " hahaha! unfortunately, your highness isn't strong enough for that yet!" as he said this, in the second prince's eyes, the angry general had become akin to a sturdy mountain, towering over him. " wha...." beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. " excuse my rudeness second prince, but i have to go ready my soldiers!" the angry general turned around, taking a big gulp of water from the wooden cup in his hand.

...

at another part of the camp.

"huh? you want to fight? with your little bit of strength?! furthermore, how did you know about this war, when information about it was not released?!" a tall soldier wearing silver armor looked at Levi with disdain. Levi looked at the man silently. he had asked around and came to this camp in order to join one of the armies. he could have just joined the war on his own once it started, but he didn't want to stand out. if every person wore armor, and someone wearing a plain robe, without any armor appeared, wouldn't he be endlessly targeted? he knew that his strength was lacking, and that if he wanted to survive this and become stronger, he would have to blend in and discretely absorb the blood of those who died. " i heard it from somewhere. i want to join the war to become stronger." Levi said. he wasn't lying, he would definately get stronger by absorbing the blood from dead enemies and allies alike. " you want to join the war to get stronger? you think this is a joke, you fucking brat?! and you heard it from somewhere? who do you think you are fooling?! all informtion concerning this war was suppressed! where are you supposed to hear about something like that from?!" the man spoke relentlessly.

" what is with the ruckus?" a man wearing silver armor with 3 spikes on each shoulder plate, and short spiky gray hair asked, before gulping down ale from a large wooden cup. " this brat that still smells of his mother's milk says that he wants to fight in the war." the man said with a ridiculing smile. " haa, then just let him join! give him some armor, if he dies, it would be his own fault!" after gulping down some ale, the man released a satisfied breath. " wha- commander, you can't be serious! he could be some kind of spy for all we know!- ah ah, ran out of ale, gotta go get summore!" the man walked away unsteadily. " tch! fucking drunk! i will be keeping my fucking eye on you, brat! if you try anything, i will kill you in the most greusome way i can think of!" the man looked at Levi angrily before stomping away. " don't mind them. come, i'll get you some armor." a man said with a smile. although this man seemed more welcoming, he was still suspicious. this frendly act was a classic form of keep your friends close, and your enimies, or in this case, potential enemy, closer. after Levi got the armor, he found a quiet corner and sat down. "..." he released the extreme yin and extreme yang from the yin yang seal once again, forcefully clenching his teeth from the pain. " hahaha! look at him now, so scared that he can barely hold in his shit! why did you want to join this battle if you are only going to shit yourself?!" a familiar voice rang out, as the man who had stomped away came back with a large wooden cup full of ale.

Levi chewed on his lip, not releasing a sound. he couldn't hear what the man said, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to say anything. " see?! he can't even speak now!" the shouted, before taking a swig. " Bwahahahahahaha! maybe you should stop drinking, before you piss yourself again!" one soldier laughed. " eyyy! i told you not to speak about that!!" the man bellowed. " or what? what will you do?!" the soldier asked. " i'll cry!" tears flowed from the man's eyes. " hahaha ahahahaha! he always cries at some point when drunk!" the soldiers laughed. more of the brown liquid seeped from Levi's body after a few minutes. 10 minutes later, he was in a puddle of the brown liquid. " haaa...haaa..." the large amount of sweat flowing from his face washed the brown liquid off of it. getting up, he left to find somewhere to bathe.

...

morning.

Levi got up early to absorb qi, but found that he had reached the limit. despite so much of the brown liquid being forced out, it seemed that his primordial meridians could not hold any more qi. rumble! a loud rumbling sound caused him to open his eyes. deng! deng! deng! the sound of metal hitting metal rang out hundreds of times. " hahaha! the cloud continent imperial family can only hide behind their wall! and this defensive barrier, what a hard turtle shell!" a loud laughter rang out. " Men! Get up! Ready yourselves!" the angry general's voice rang out, causing the sleeping soldiers to jump up. deng! deng! weng weng! the imperial city wall trembled, as a large, green, almost transparent energy field blocked out arrows coated with qi.