(Alex, 17)

"Folks," Captain Enlin says as we join the group of Royal Slayers preparing for an ogre hunt. "This is Alex Amarxik. He will be performing a few hunts with us slayers."

There are four knights and four mages, in addition to Captain Enlin, who is a Royal Knight. All eight of the others give us confused looks.

"It is a special case," Captain Enlin explains, using that statement rather than the truth as there ain't a need for them to know the real reason.

"Sir," one of the knights says. "He is only a teen, the hunts we perform are something that shouldn't be undertaken without at least a decade's worth of experience."

"Alex Amarxik," Captain Enlin says. "Is formerly Alex xan Richard xal Varilar."

That gets reactions, and I'm confused at first, until I realize that there's a good chance they know about me taking out the ogre lord. By myself.

"This is the young man who slayed an ogre lord?" One of the mages asks, and another seems to recognize me.

"I'm currently without the weapon I used back then," I say. "Due to an, ah, issue with some stuff, but I ain't without abilities."

"It was with a special weapon?" One of the knights asks.

"Yes," I answer. "I wouldn't be able to fight an ogre lord without it or another special weapon I had. Those two swords are beyond what you'd find from the top smiths ya know, and are each one-of-a-kind. I might be a former street rat, but I've got a few good things. Plus two more, once they're returned to me."

"He's a part of Lord Jeshema's training group," the mage who recognized me says. "And advanced from D-Class to B-Class with the end-of-term exam, but has the skills of students in S-Class. I've watched a few of his training sessions when he's holding back, and if that's only half of his abilities, he can keep up with us."

"What's your magical power level?" One of the knights asks.

"Upper yellow," I answer.

Barely. Jason didn't inform Prince Jacob or me about that until this morning, after Prince Jacob returned from whatever it was he was doing in Vel. We know Jason didn't actually forget to tell us, he just wanted to delay it a little for some reason.

He also seemed to be in some sort of trouble, and I'm sure I'll hear about it soon enough. It's Jason, so that's a given.

"Are we hunting nearby?" I ask. "Didn't ya and others basically clean up the area of monsters, including ogres and tainted?"

"Yes," Captain Enlin answers. "But that doesn't mean more didn't move back in since then, and some monsters form naturally. A group of three ogres and fifteen corrupted was spotted an hour out of the city, we'll be hunting them and slaying them."

"Anything I should keep in mind?" I ask. "I know how this works for the practical training, but that probably ain't how ya guys do it."

Especially as we're typically sent after the weaker stuff.

"It will be similar," he tells me. "The universities are set up to teach you the same way we perform the hunts. Some will focus on offense, others on defense, and one mage will always be focused on support. There might be ten of us, but we will be facing eighteen foes here, and these aren't normal monsters you would face. In your training sessions, the ogres typically take your entire unit to handle, and you only go up against one at a time, including maybe two or three corrupted."

I'm also holding back during the session, and have gotten a little bit better and faster since the one I was participating in.

"We'll be facing four times that, with the same number of fighters," I say. "But the S-Class students fight in pairs, don't they?"

"A-Class students are exceptional," he tells me. "S-Class students are beyond exceptional. Nearly every Royal Slayer was an S-Class student from their first term in university at the Royal Knight or Royal Magic University. But even they will still focus on only one ogre at a time.

"For this fight," he tells me. "It will take all of us to handle. We can succeed, but it will likely be drawn out much more than the fights you are used to. Expect to get injured, and keep up a resistance enhancement at all times."

"Otherwise," one of the knights tells me. "Just focus on offense. Use whatever normal tactics you use, we'll adjust to them. Try not to get in someone else's way, though, or it might result in an issue, and we'd like to minimize accidental injuries."

"Understood," I say.

Use the layered enhancement technique, or no? Well, I can go with the normal one for now, and if we really are being pushed by this, then I'll switch over. That way, I ain't just showing off. I can match a knight with violet magical power in speed and power through the layered enhancement technique. Actually, I can probably exceed that due to how the spells work.

"Can you ride a horse?" Captain Enlin asks me.

"I can keep up with horses," I answer.

"We need everyone to be in their best condition for this fight," he tells me. "To-"

"I'm fully capable of sustaining a run at that speed for an hour," I tell him. "And still be able to fight after just as well as I would right now."

It's not that I can't ride horses, as I'm definitely able to. I just… don't like doing so because I'm not that good at it.

Captain Enlin seems to want to protest a bit more, but decides against it. They prepare their horses, and once they set off, I jog alongside them. With my enhancement spells, this ain't too much of an issue for me, and I have enough stamina to deal with this.

It does take us an hour to reach the location the ogres and corrupted were spotted, and we move slowly from there, the Slayers dismounting and walking, leaving the horses behind. We track the monsters through the woods, locating them after only around ten minutes. They've made some sort of camp, and the ogres are in the process of raping a woman.

This is my first time witnessing this, but it's one of the first things everyone knows about ogres. They enjoy raping women and eating children and infants. No one knows how they reproduce, but it's not with human women, that much is a known fact. They just enjoy doing that.

My blood starts to boil at the sight. The standard protocol here would be to rescue the woman and make sure she's safe as the others fight, then rejoin the fight, which means everyone will focus on getting the ogres and monsters away from her.

Unfortunately, chances of success are less than one in one hundred, as the ogres will likely kill her the moment they notice our presence. To ensure we fail in rescuing her, as a way of delivering psychological damage to the rescuers. What makes it worse is that these are dumb brutes, yet they're able to think of something like that.

Captain Enlin starts to signal for us to move, but I'm already charging forward. The ogre at the woman's head starts to squeeze the hand holding it, but I've drawn my blade and enhanced it with a sharper, more durable edge. Only another few steps bring me to the ogre, and I've sliced through its arm, weakening its grip.

With my left hand, I slap the ogre's arm, and I'm already spinning, slicing at the other ogre with my sword. I jump into the air and kick off of the second ogre's chest, spinning in my flight. As I face the first ogre, which is currently stunned by my mind grip, I cut through its throat. A moment later, I'm kicking off of its own chest.

That kick takes me over the second ogre, and I land behind it, spinning already as a collar of quick-moving water forms around its throat, spiking into it as ice as I slice the ogre's legs. It's stumbled back, neither ogre in the woman anymore, and I run my blade through its back as it falls, then quickly pull the sword out.

With those two ogres dead, I use water to clean off my blade before I sheathe it, the third ogre finally halfway to me from its spot only five feet away. Still enhanced in speed, I pick up the woman and return to the group of Slayers, then set her down. They haven't joined the fight, though I know I'm not moving any faster than they could. I think. They're definitely watching.

"She's barely conscious," I say. "And badly wounded. Whoever can, please work on healing her while we take out the rest."

I turn back to the ogre and corrupted, my rage calmed somewhat after rescuing her, then I draw my sword again and charge forward. A trail of water follows the tip of my blade as I weave between the corrupted and ogre, stabbing and slicing, and anytime something crosses paths with the thin trail, they find it slicing into them like razorwire.

A corrupted wolf manages to bite onto my arm, and I drop my sword as I shift my weight, then twist. The corrupted bear which was charging us is knocked to the side by the force of having a large wolf slammed into it, and at the same time, I draw my knife and ram it into the wolf's throat. The beast barely managed to break my skin, the first time something in this fight managed to do more than batter me.

I flick my knife at the charging corrupted boar, then jump into the air, my enhanced strength increasing my height. Holding out my hand, I use force magic to grab my sword and pull it back to me, catching it as I return to the ground. Reaching out again, I sense for the knife and twist it with force magic as I drive it further into the corrupted boar, which charges into a tree.

Something slams into me from behind, forcing me to the ground, and I manage to twist around, realizing another corrupted bear had managed to tackle me. The ogre is making its way towards me, to. Reaching with my magic, I take control of the corrupted bear's mind and order it to kill the ogre.

It won't succeed, but it'll at least entertain the ogre for a moment.

The bear climbs off of me and goes to obey my commands, and I retrieve my sword, then enchant it with the power of water infused with a mind-disruption spell.

The rest of the fight is barely noteworthy, and as I pull my sword from the ogre, I realize that the Royal Slayers never did enter the battle, and are just staring at me in shock, even the mage who is healing the ogres' victim.

"Ya guys could have participated, ya know."

"And you are only yellow?" One of the knights asks in shock.

"Not to make you feel worse," one of the mages says. "But he was holding back."

I use water magic to clean off my sword, then sheathe it before locating my knife and doing the same thing. The Royal Slayers are stunned beyond belief, Captain Enlin just giving me a look of disbelief.

"That was you holding back?" He asks. "You said you needed to use those special swords in order to kill an ogre lord."

"I do," I say. "But ogre lords are quite different from regular ogres. Normal ogres ain't got a thing on ogre lords."

"Still," he says. "It typically takes someone like Sage Samuel or Sage Michael to take on an ogre alone, and they are violet in magical power. You just took on three of them and fifteen corrupted, yet are only yellow."

"My limit right now," I say. "Would probably be four or five ogres and around twenty to twenty-five corrupted, depending on their strengths."

Judging by their expressions, I just pulled a Jason. It seems we Magi use a truly different class of enhancement spells, even at their base, and that our abilities truly are much further above others than one would expect.

"Sorry for charging in like that," I say. "I have a thing against rapists of any form, and seeing her… kind of made my blood boil. When I get angry, I tend to act before thinking."

"Well," Captain Enlin chuckles. "The job got done. Steven, Laney, you two take care of the corpses, then rendezvous with us in the village."

Captain Enlin picks up the woman, then the eight of us travel to the horses, the woman unconscious. He secures her onto his horse, then we begin walking, leaving behind the other two horses. There's a village not far from here, and when we arrive, it's clear by the ruined buildings and damaged walls that the ogres had attacked it.

That's probably how they got her.

Captain Enlin passes the woman off to the villagers. It seems her husband died trying to protect her, and they had assumed her dead. Not a bad assumption on their part, that's the fate of those kidnapped by ogres.

The mages with us use earth magics to help rebuild some of the walls outside the village, something I wasn't aware Slayers did.

"We'll send out official wall-builders when we return," Captain Enlin informs me. "But this should hold for the day or two it would normally take. The official wall-builders will probably remove our work before replacing it and the enchantments that normally protect villages. We'll also leave behind two Slayers, a knight and a mage, to watch the area for signs of more ogres or corrupted, and they'll either return when the wall is finished or send a message for backup if there are more to be dealt with."

"What happens if ya are off on a job and they send a letter for help?" I ask. "Another squad comes out?"

"Possibly," he answers. "As a Slayer Captain, I'm over several Slayer Commanders, each of whom has four units under them. Each unit consists of twenty Slayers, which are divided into two teams of ten. Two from each squad always remain behind at our residence. However, in a situation like this, if the squad is needed for another job while two members are protecting a village, the other two will travel with the other six for the job. Which two remain behind is based on a rotation of members."

"So that it's not always the same two left behind," I say.

"Exactly," he says. "On average, a Slayer performs a job every two or three days, so it's important that everyone has time to recover, especially after a difficult job. If a team is active while two are left behind to temporarily protect a settlement while waiting for the walls to be repaired and they need help, but their squad is already on another job, the other squad in their unit is the first pick for who goes to assist them."

"Which is so," I say. "The backup is already familiar with the ones they're assisting, when possible."

"Correct," he says. "It makes it easier to coordinate if the Slayers already know each other and how the others work. There are twelve Royal Slayer Captains, and how many Slayer Commanders we have is based on our region. I'm over the commanders centered around Varilsy.

"If," he says. "Both squads in a unit are busy and help from a pair left behind is requested, then another unit under the same commander sends a squad, if possible. This happens perhaps once every month or two, and we try to keep it to the same squads each time, in order to ensure greater familiarity between them. Usually, only in a case such as being near another commander's area will a squad from a unit under a different commander be sent out, and only if they'll be able to reach the location sooner."

"So some units might work with a different commander as often as they work with their own," I say.

"Yes," Captain Enlin confirms. "That is more common around the borders between regions than at their hearts, such as here."

"Because most of the jobs of a unit here," I say. "Would probably be closer for their own commander's units to respond to."

"Correct," he nods. "And it also depends on which units are more readily available. We're pretty grateful to Sageson Magical Technologies, too."

"Why?" I ask.

"Comm plates," he answers. "Every squad has three. Two go out on every job, and if a team stays behind, they keep one of the comm plates. The pair that's on rest has one as well, as there are occasions where they're summoned to help their squad. Those comm plates are linked to each other and their commander's. Commanders also have a comm plate linked to their Captain's."

"Which makes it easier," I realize. "To coordinate who goes where, who is where, and where backup is needed."

"Exactly," he smiles. "They can contact their team if they need the team to return without sending a messenger. Response times have increased in just the few months we've had them, which has helped us deal with issues and save more people. Such an enchanted item has been dreamed of for centuries, and many enchanters have worked on them before. Whoever created them was a genius."

It was a joint effort between Jason and Sage Jared, but 'genius' definitely describes them when it comes to enchanting. Jason might need help from his papas and mamas pretty often for stuff, but he often gets halfway there on his own. And now that he's recovering memories, knowledge, and experience from being Nolan, he's probably able to get even further.

"They issued them to you a few months ago?" I ask.

"Around two months or so ago," he nods. "Captains and commanders received them first, with an instruction on how to use them by Jason Jeshema. He's a bit of an odd one."

"Yes," I snort. "He is."

"Was it his training that allowed you to do that?" He asks me.

"Kill the ogres and corrupted on my own?" I ask, and he nods. "Yes, in a way, but it's also more than that. I have received training from the Sages as well, and am part of an advanced training group under Jason, not just his normal one. That one pushes us harder than your training. We actually just left a training camp that lasted all twelve of the Twelve Honors where unless we were sleeping, we were training. And it wasn't a 'few minutes of rest now and thing' sort of thing. It literally went from waking to sleeping, and I'm pretty sure a few of us actually kept training in our sleep, too."

I know that my aural sheath was on the last two nights of training, because I woke up with it active both times. I ain't sure about others, though, but Prince Jacob probably did, too.

"I see," Captain Enlin says. "It looks like we're done here, Alex, so let's return to Varilsy."

I nod, then he gathers up the six who are returning with us, and we return to the city. There, I change out of my bloody clothes, then Captain Enlin leads me to the guardhouse I'll be working out of for my time. I have a few hours of duty today, and a few tomorrow as well.

"Captain Enlin," I say. "If you're above their commander, why did you go on the hunt as well?"

"When dealing with a group of ogres or corrupted that large," he explains. "Either a commander or captain participates. We earned these positions, and got our starts as ordinary Slayers. I started off as a poor baker whose family shop shut down while he was in university. I almost didn't finish university because I had to scrape by with whatever jobs I could manage at the time to pay for meals and lodging and still fit in my training. Their commander was busy with other stuff and I was available, so I went with them."

"That makes sense," I realize. "If the commanders and captains are the more skilled and powerful Slayers, then it's logical to have them in the bigger situations. How often do commanders and captains participate?"

"At least once a week," he answers. "We also sometimes travel to other regions to assist others. Any group of five or more ogres is guaranteed to have a commander present, and a group with seven or more will have two, with the potential of having a captain as well. If there are nine, a captain is guaranteed, in addition to a second squad. Here we are."

We're at a large stone building aptly labeled as a guardhouse. A pair of guards stand at attention in front of the doors, and they give Captain Enlin salutes as we enter. Inside, I'm led to another man, who gives me a slightly-annoyed look.

"Captain Malv," Captain Enlin says. "This is Alex Amarxik. He'll be performing a patrol with your guards today, from the fourth hour until the seventh of this evening."

"Understood," Captain Malv responds, then looks at one of the female guards dressed in her uniform and armor. "Zela, your partner is out, so you take him."

"I'll be back when your shift is over," Captain Enlin tells me, then leaves.

"Come," Zela gives me an annoyed look. Why do they dislike me already? "It's time to start now."

I'm handed a blue and black armband with the guardhouse's crest on it to put on, so I slip it onto my left arm, then follow Zela out. Based on everyone's expressions, I'm not liked. Is it because I'm a former street rat? But how would they know that? Or is it because they know I'm there under a punishment? From what I was told, unless someone who witnessed the event mentioned it, only Captain Enlin would know. It isn't unusual for talented people to temporarily work for things like guards and Slayers, maybe they don't like me because of that?

As Zela and I patrol, we're silent. She keeps her eyes out, her glare seemingly reserved for just me. I do look around as well, as I'm still a street rat at heart, but I also have a scanning spell stretched out. After all of my training, I'm able to extend it up to seventy feet, and I do, keeping it at that range throughout the patrol.

Which is why I notice the street rats trying to steal our coinpurses as we walk. A little touch of water magic, and their feet slip, causing them to miss. Zela just shoves them to the side when that happens, telling them to watch where they're going. She obviously knows what they're doing, and that they're failing, too.

At least she's not acting like some guards would and putting them straight in a cell.

"How are you doing that?" She asks after the tenth attempt, by which point I think the rats have noticed attempts are going to fail and are doing it just to try to succeed.

"Doing what?" I ask.

"You're stopping them without even looking," she says. "In just the right way to keep them from succeeding. Not only that, but every single one of them misses you, but all who try to take mine fall into me."

"I'm using a scanning spell," I tell her. "I'm tracking anyone who might be a street rat through it, and it's just a simple water spell I'm using to interfere. I could've cast it when I was ten."

"Magic isn't taught until thirteen," she says. "At academies. Even noble families won't risk the consequences."

"I ain't raised a noble," I snort. "My mama abandoned me when I was little, so I grew up on the streets."

"You aren't a noble?" She asks. "Your name is Amarxik."

"It is," I nod. "But it wasn't that until recently, when Lord Amarxik made a claim to me. I ain't a fan of nobles in the slightest, and I hate the royals the most."

"I'd watch your tongue with that," she says in a warning tone.

"Nah," I say. "I ain't got in trouble yet, and I've punched His Highness right in his smug little face."

"As if I'd believe that," she scoffs.

"He has," a third-year at university says, and Zela looks at her. "Right in the cafeteria at the university, too. They don't exactly like each other, and Alex makes that dislike pretty clear."

"Ya're Theresa, right?" I ask. "A-Class from two years above me?"

"Yes," she answers. "I'm the woman you spilled your food on when you tossed it to the side to punch him."

"Yeah, I know," I say. "Just letting you know a street rat took your money a few minutes ago."

She frowns, then checks for her coinpurse, before looking frantic.

"No worries," I toss it to her. "I took it off of him when he tried taking mine."

(Jacob, 16)

"Jacob!" Tasha puts a hand to her chest as she jumps slightly. "You startled me! When did you arrive? And how?"

"A few minutes ago," I answer. "Through the grey warp crystal set up here."

"They revealed it to you?" She looks around as if she could notice if we had observers in here.

"My scanning spells says no one who is not yet aware of it is close by," I tell her. "Nor does it register spying enchantments. I wished to see how you were managing things."

With needing to take over her papa's duties while still attending university and training, I know it cannot be too easy. With their deaths fresh in her mind, it must be quite difficult. Other than when we are on a training camp or practical training experience for university and the training group, Tasha will spend nearly every weekend here in the Meti Duchy to directly manage things.

"I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," I tell her. "Papa spoke with the Sages, and they decided to grant me access to the crystal."

"Thank you," she smiles, though I can see the stress in her eyes. "Nearly all of those under me wish to take over the duchy through one means or another. They feel I am too young to run the companies and the duchy. Three have outright stated I should take on an adviser to guide me as I adjust to the position."

"How did you handle those?" I sit in one of the two large, plush armchairs on this side of her desk, and she looks at the papers in front of her on the desk.

"I reminded them that my father has been teaching me the company since before my coming-of-age," she says. "And that if they thought I did not know what I was doing, then they should challenge me to a duel. They backed down after that."

"What are you doing now?" I ask.

"Looking over the various dye manufacturers," she answers. "And determining the best way to use their dyes, as prices changed quite a lot recently. I likely already know what I am doing, but it is keeping my mind mostly off of Jason's request."

"Jason's request?" I ask, and she snorts.

"Yeah," she says. "Jason's request. I noticed in my father's files that he rejected it four times. It seems Jason sends another one on the first of every month."

"What is he requesting?" I ask.

"Permission," she looks at me once more. "To enchant dye as it is made, cotton as it is spun into thread, then into fabric, and both as they are made into university uniforms for him. For added protection."

That sounds like something Jason would do.

"He does not need the protection," I tell her. "But I can see him being frustrated by not wearing clothes he has not made."

"Because the Sages or Jason always made the clothes they wore?" She asks.

"I was speaking with Miralandis," I tell her. "And she revealed that members of the Dragon Clans do not wear clothes they did not create themselves once they come of age. Until then, they only wear clothes they, a family member, or their caretaker made."

"And Jason," she realizes. "Wishing to keep with the policies regarding who can create the university uniforms, is making a formal request to keep with tradition."

"Yes," I nod. "I did wonder a little when she mentioned that to me if Jason had sneakily made his own version of the uniforms without permission, but it seems he is respecting the laws and contracts on this particular thing."

"I will sign the approval, then," she says. "And ensure he is permitted to for next year's uniform as well. How are things going with Alex? I heard he had his first session of penance today."

"Yes," I chuckle. "He took out three ogres and fifteen corrupted on his own. He was performing a patrol when I left, but Captain Enlin made the report about the hunt after leaving Alex at the guardhouse, so I read that while on my way here."

"Alex might finish the hunts portion rather quickly," she says.

The hunts were an alternative to additional guard duty time, but there was a limit to how many I could assign based on his crimes. Could I have, I would have assigned him a higher amount, as guard duty will likely test Alex far more than necessary.

"Maybe," I smile. "Enough talking of this, though, Tasha. I came here to ensure you were handling things well, and you look like you need a rest. Come, let us visit your gardens. Even in the winter, they are beautiful, and we can have your staff bring us a suitable meal while you relax."

"Okay," she responds. "Let me send for my coat, then we can step outside. You are right, I could use a few minutes to escape my work, and food sounds wonderful."

"And maybe tonight," I say. "We can return to Varilsy for a few hours to watch a performance."