“Ash do you think they will ever wake up?” Jonas asked.

He was mindlessly petting the two sleeping pitbulls. He had moved them onto floating pillows of comfort not big enough to hold him. When he found out that they carried some, Jonas was beyond ecstatic. To think he could float around acting like some spoiled young master made him giddy.

But he was crushed within moments. The largest they had was only big enough to carry a large kid, or in other words, only big enough for his dogs. Coming to that decision, he resigned himself to a life without floating pillows he could lay on.

Then again, everyone that saw the dogs on the pillows would being to shake and eyes would twitch nonstop. He tried to ask why, but everyone was as tight lipped as can be. They’d respond with meaningless platitudes of ‘Young Master knows best’, and even more concerning ‘Young Master is beyond rish.’

They would say that then bow and hurriedly scurry away.

Jonas shook his head. His two dogs haven’t woken up after two weeks of this deep slumber. He was afraid they would die because of the lack of nutrients or dehydration. Or their limbs could atrophy away become tiny useless things.

So, he made a liquid gruel of sea monster meat and a few of his useless plants and vegetables of the first and second stage of their Paths. He had ships full of each, he couldn’t get rid of them fast enough if he started giving them away to the people for the next decade.

His utterly adorable pets would lap it up subconsciously, cleaning the dishes by the bowl full. Once done they would visibly vibrate for a long moment before sighing contended with life.

Jonas would have gone crazy with worry if they didn’t look so happy dreaming about whatever it was dogs dreamt about. Though he would guess it was about the disgusting gruel with how they lapped at the air with their tongues.

Ash sighed. That made Jonas wince. It was the type one would give after they’ve given all hope for change. “They will eventually, Young Master…”

She paused like she wanted to say something else, but stopped herself.

He caught it and turned to look at her. She wore full plate armor of dark silver shining from the light filtering in from the windows. Her cape fluttered slowly behind from the light breeze of air currents. She looked like a hero from the stories.

But, her expression was a bit stiff.

“What wrong, Ash? You know I listen to your advice.”

Her shoulders drooped. “Master!” She gathered up all her courage. It seemed like she had a mountain on her shoulders. “I beseech you! Give us resources the likes you give...give these dogs! Not only would we grow at a much more impressive rate, but you’d also have an elite group of guards and soldiers to help us, your Honor Guards. Many of the villagers worship you as a savior, a prophesied man who will bring the world out of darkness-”

“Please don’t remind me of them.” Jonas shivered. The awe and worship they directed at him was fanatical in nature. It was too much for any single person to get. So much so, if he asked them to slit their throats, they would without a single question. Instead they would compete to be the first to accomplish it.

“-and into the light.” Ash pushed on. “You must take advantage of this resource, it might be too late to prepare them for the army of Orcs coming in, but we will need soldiers in larger numbers if we wish to contend with those backstabbing nobles of Aidan and the treasonous filth of Petrous. And more importantly, they erm...they need to be of high quality. So, I was hoping you could divert a portion of what you use on those animals on to some villagers who would choose to join in your army.”

“How much is a portion?” Jonas asked, he didn’t want to mistreat his pets. Then again, he had more than enough saved up to liberally use them on his army.

“T-ten percent!”

“Ten?” He was expecting a much higher number, say, closer to seventy percent. Ten was nothing.

Ash bit her lip and straightened her back. “Yes! It may be a lot, but i am of the belief it was completely worth the investment! The sheer number of able bodied men and women we would be able to train could reach the thousands with-”

“Take as much as you need.”

“-that. You would- What?”

Jonas laughed, at how prepared Ash was for this conversation. She must have been worried for a long time he would reject her. But, he had no reason to. “Take what you need, Ash. I trust you.”

He turned away after he saw how utterly surprised and flustered she looked. It was honestly hilarious to see her so caught off guard. He looked out the window towards the horizon to where the trenches were. They were far, but he could see them as tiny blips in the distance.

Something in his head found it odd he could see so far, but he found that thought ridiculous. What was the point of entering his Path if he could not see only that far from such a high vantage point. It was only a few kilometers.

His soldiers were prepared. They waited anxiously in the distance in their trenches with arrows aplenty and spears ready for battle. The calm before the storm was an apt description.

Everyone milled about quietly, sharpening their already perfect edges, or testing out their bows and spears. They would check every single part of the armors and leathers, making sure every part was tightened and fit perfectly.

Even the villagers, who looked like they were wearing their parents' leathers with how big they were on them, looked solemn. Though they looked back at his tower every once in a while. What could be going through their heads, he did not know and neither would he want to know.

“Thank you.” Ash suddenly whispered to herself. It was so low, Jonas almost didn’t hear it.

In response, he simply smiled.

That reminded him! Fefar was supposed to being teaching a group of his soldiers and villagers how to connect with beasts of massive size. Of course, he would be doing all the work with how his Path was. Something about making two interlocking connections between things as his gained ability. He would go through the process with each person to pair them with a beast. Though it took quite some time to achieve per connection.

“Ash, how goes the beast taming initiative.”

His general had a smile from ear to ear. Clearly still happy with the last conversation. “It is going well, young master. We’ve connected over a hundred soldiers with the best beasts we could capture in such short notice. Mostly feline in nature-”

Both of them looked towards the trenches. A slow drumming beat started to sound. Barely heard horns would sound out every once in a while complimenting a rhythmic cadence of marching feet. The ground all the way to his tower vibrated enough to bother the settled dust.

Jonas stood up. “They're here.” It was finally time to put everything he had gotten ready to the test. His survival and those of everyone here counted on all they had prepared. Even now, he wanted to add more to the defense, but time waited on no one.

His soldiers finally woke up from their lethargic existence. Like an ant hill, they scurried all over the place in preparation. They set the lines of bowmen, each with a long speak placed next to them. With an arrow in one hand and the bow in the other, they were ready for the command to draw and fire as a group.

The mages turned the grounds to wet mud pits up the knee on both the hills around the defense and in front as well.

And on the side, the designated villagers were ready to move all the extra arrows and weaponry out of the first trench and into the second at a moment's notice.

Jonas let out a long haggard breath. He was anxious, very much so.

“We’ve done everything we can, young master. If everything goes wrong, we just need to survive until Magus Clay returns, which could be any day now.” Ash said to comfort him. “As long as you come out unscathed, we’ve fulfilled our purpose.”

To that he only showed his dissatisfaction with a deep frown. He felt like a coward hiding up in this tower prepared to escape at any moment. He did not want to leave everyone here to die but he would literally get dragged out feet first by Frezar and Ash if he tried to say otherwise.

Somehow his life was worth more than everyone else's.

He balled his fist. He would find who caused this. The ones who betrayed him and his trust.

They will suffer unimaginable pain. He would salt their lands, burn their homes, and kill off generations of their family.

Unbeknownst to him, Ash stepped back from around him. She gulped as she stared at the fire surrounding Jonas whip around like it had a life of its own. That was not mentioning the smoke and steam that rose up from his body or the glossened red that his skin began to turn into.

The pressure was something unnatural and strong enough for even her to be wary of. She still couldn’t believe the thought that Jonas was still on the very first stage of his Path, the prospect of him gaining more power already was something she could not imagine.

Then again, he was the son of the Duke of Flames. What else could she expect?