How exactly was I going to reorganize the Battalions? Did I even want to? But if I didn’t, then how was I to deal with some Battalions being larger and more powerful than others? Give everyone equal importance? Then how do I deal with the larger ones getting upset over having less importance?

And then there were the three new battalions, they were largely useless in battle it seemed. They would have to be trained or at least taught some discipline. But where exactly would the trainers come from? Perhaps I could take it up? Or maybe the Quartermaster? Actually it would be best if we both took it up.

I teleported back to the tent, expecting them to still be arguing. Instead, they all seemed nervous, a few even seemed upset.

“Gentlemen, what seems to be the trouble?”I asked

“Gentle-what? ..Nevermind, your highness, we were merely..ugh…shocked by your disappearance, and were wondering why you had left.” one of the commanders said…the 21st Battalion commander?

“I left to check up on the army, you fellows seemed to be occupied after all.” I replied, I wasn’t going to let them know that I knew next to nothing about the army.

“Well, we were just looking at the map, your highness…” the commander of the 17th? Battalion said. I really needed to get all the commanders' faces and names in order.

“And now that you have, what do you think?” I asked

“That the 7th battalion should be in the lead, your highness, we are the best in the woods after all.” The leader of the 7th battalion said.

“And I think that you should be in the back, all the men know how to cross the woods. Only your men will come in the way.” The leader of the 9th battalion, the barbarian battalion interjected. Just what I needed, two hostile battalions.

“Actually, the 7th and 9th Battalions should be dissolved and merged so that you two can wrk together” I said, not knowing why…

“Your highness you mustn’t! These filthy barbarians will have my Battalion dead in no time with their recklessness.”

“Your highness! I cannot accept this, those rangers will pull down my battalion with their recklessness.”

The two Commanders said simultaneously.

“And the two of you will have the army dead with your bickering. The two of you have to learn to work together, otherwise I really will merge your Battalions.” Huh, I guess I hit the jackpot with that sentence. Looks like they might be willing to work together now.

“ Now, what do you think our next step should be?” I asked while the commanders of the 7th and 9th Battalions glared at each other. They were never going to get along were they?

“We should move from these regions your highness, here we have to cross a larger are of the Woods of Eltemar, but have to cross the least of the Woods of Arnile.” The Commander of the 6th Battalion said, finally a real suggestion.

“Nay, this would force us to camp in the Woods of Eltemar, I would prefer to cross both of the woods in a single night.''The commander of the 13th Battalion said, for a newbie, the commander did know a bit.

“That would be preferable only if the thing on the other side wasn’t the Valurien Mountains. As it is now, we have to cross three possibly dangerous areas. Each more dangerous than the last. It would be optimal to spend a night in the least dangerous area so that we have the time to find a relatively safe space in the third.” The commander of the 6ht Battalion countered, a good strategist, that one.

“And we should also prepare for the possibility of an army waiting for us at the location.” I said. Best to get it out now.

“An army, your highness? Is the Empire aware of our mission?” The commander of the 3rd Battalion asked, suddenly sitting upright.

“It is best that we presume that it at least knows where we are heading. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, yes?” I replied

“I fear I am not familiar with that quote, your highness. But are you absolutely sure that the Empire knows of our plans? I am asking because then we will have to make plans for it, maybe even slow our approach so the men are read to fight at any moment.” The commander of the 3rd Battalion said

“It is best if we anticipate an ambush” I replied, not telling how sure I was.

“I would then say that Commander Korn’s suggestion holds great merit, camping a night in the Woods of Eltemar is risky, but no tas much as pushing the army to cross both the woods and then into the Valurien Mountains. The crossing of Arnile and the entry into the Valurien Mountains are the best places for an ambush.” The commander of the 3rd Battalion said.

“All in agreement?” I said, calling it to a vote.

The commanders nodded their agreement and the plan started to form.

It took another three hours for the plan to form. Even though I frequently called things to vote and stopped arguments from happening, there were just too many suggestions to deal with in a short time. Even now the plan was looking awfully nebulous.

For one, it had been decided that we would wait a week here, in the grasslands to give the men time to recover from the battle and get some training in. The decision on what exactly that training was had been left up to me however. So now I had more work to do.

At least I had decided not to mess with the Battalion numbers, there seemeed little need to. No one had protested when I had given each of the Battalions an equal vote. One less thing for me to do.

Now I had another thing on my list, dealing with Arlun and Carmil, and hopefully give them their casting techniques. I was interested in seeing how they casted.

Deciding not to teleport and instead sae some mana, I headed for the nole area. On the way I saw that the men seemed to be in a much better mood then yesterday. Most seemed especially happy at the food. Had they been starving before? The little food really didn’t deserve so much joy…

I will never understand what went on in the minds of these people…I had better things to do anyway. As I walked, anyone who noticed me bowed, something they hadn’t done before. Instead they had just looked at me angrily. The bows were still awkward though, as if the bower hadn’t decided if they should be bowing.

I arrived at the noble sector with very complicated emotions, not really sure if I should be glad or worried. That was until I saw the section, then I was just worried. After all, what else was a big colourful…cylinder? Of flame supposed to make you? Happy?

Sighing, I summoned earth to smother the flame, It was harder then I would expect it to be considering I was dealing with a new Mage. But whatever, it was not like it mattered, at most I had a more powerful pair of novice mages.

The flame was extinguished, leaving behind a smoldering pile of ash where the tents were supposed to be. Bye, Bye bed and golden tent. At least your colour will no longer offend my eyes.

A few minutes later the two idiots responsible for the fire rushed in with pails of water. Like normal water would be effective.

“So, mind telling me why I am suddenly without a tent?” I asked

Arlun looked nervous as he replied, “Well, you see your highness, I was trying to do magic like you said…I tried singing cause…well that was how I was doing magic in that nightmare… I worked, but I kind of forgot that twirling fire around was not very safe…”

“Oh, just that. It’s not as if you were accused of not having any control over your magic yesterday and seem to have lost control today, right?” I said. Okay, fine, I was being a bit harsh…

“Its not all his fault, your highness” Carmil said, “ I made it worse when I tried to magic it away, somehow it added colour and made it bigger…”

“Do tell me then, what exactly did you do to extinguish it that made it bigger?” I asked

Name

Alforien Arlford

Gender

Male

Species

Banmeru

Age

7 months

Titles

Heir candidate to the Earl of Cristanfor, Noble of the Kingdom of Mistrane,Count of Launeior ,Transmigrator

Class

[The Known: The Final Step]

Skills

[Otherworldly mana manipulation] [ Force of Will] [Conversion] [Meditation]

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

112

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

161

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

102

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

113

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

133

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

138

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

134

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

119

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

124

Magic Affinities

Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]

97.14%

Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]

99.87%

Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]

17.35%

Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]

19.76%

Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]

27.39%

Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space

199.998%

Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]

01.15%

Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]

9.81%

Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force

9.81%