Fate. Just what is fate? Fate most definitely exists. I can see it in people. I can tell who will bring the most change, and I can tell who is simply a water molecule in an ocean. Fate exists. The only problem is that nobody can really explain it. If we try to explain fate in the concept of time, fate could represent the flow of time. All the different flows coming together to represent one big river going somewhere. It could also be explained in the concept of cause and effect. For this to occur, this must occur. After strenuous research, I have concluded that it is impossible to describe Fate in a detailed sort of way.

But what does it mean to be favored by Fate? Those that are favored by Fate are like cockroaches. They don't die for some reason. It's as if the entire world is trying to keep them alive. They can survive battles in which they are outnumbered and outmatched. It is simply mindboggling at what they can achieve. However, Fate can only protect them from powers in Fate's control. They are not immune from me. The only problem then is that Fate is now helping them flee from me. As soon as one of my generals report the location of one, they are gone the next millisecond. I know that Fate has a hand in their escapes because the last time I came close to killing one, a flash flood came despite there being no rain for the past three months. It turns out one of the underground streams broke the surface and flooded the river at the exact moment that I came close to my targets. But no matter. Because after some trial and error, I have found it. I have found a method to kill those favored by Fate. However, I am limited in what I can do. You, my generals, are not. The following lists new sets of direction that must be followed to the word for this to work. Fail and the consequences shall be dire.

- stolen transcript of strategy meeting of the Emperor and his generals. Last mission that was undertaken by the first Elven Hero. May he rest with the great mother.

Surprisingly, it only took Descal only about three hours to finish all the paperwork. His bull-shittery skills were extremely high due to writing massive amounts of timed essays in the other world, and the taxes were done quite quickly since this world did not develop a sophisticated tax system yet. Well, it did, but this world has gone through a couple of events that blasted everything to the primitive level.

With a sigh, Descal got up and stretched, feeling his body crack and groan with each pull. He decided to take a small walk into the forest to clear his mind, not that he needed to, and test something out. There were times when Descal wondered if he should have gotten a golem for his main body. No need to eat, drink and feel pain, but it reminded him too much of being in his original form so he chose a homunculus despite its weaknesses. However, the homonculus body did provide much more benefits than a human body. For one, it did not need to sleep, and it could handle abyss powers better than a human body. In addition, it can reform any parts of its body, including the brain, as long as the core remained intact.

As for the core, it was made of the mermaid pearl that Descal initially wanted to use to seal his abyss powers. The function of the core was to provide Descal complete control over his body. He could shut down pain nerves any time he wanted, and have direct control over the hormones that can be released. It is very useful for Descal to have control over the adrenaline function of the body. The effects of adrenaline in a world of magic are on a whole different level than the adrenaline of the other world.

The other benefit of the homonculus body was that it allowed him to change the fundamental layout of his body. For example, if he desired, he can change the DNA structure of his body so that it can encode different proteins. He has to be careful with it since he had no desire of screwing up with a mutation and getting a disease like Huntington's disease.

However, if he had a basis to work of off then it could significantly reduce chances of rejection and possible death. This is why he still had the corpse of Farrago in his inventory. Although there is the existence of body-enhancing magic in Terra, it is still limited if the foundations are limited. What body magic does is simply utilizing magic to decrease the backlash to the main body. For example, on Earth, Newton's third law dictates that if someone punches the wall, the wall will "punch back" on that person's fist with an equal amount of force. Not on Terra. In Terra, Newton's third law can be nullified, or even warped. Instead of the wall punching back on the person's fist, the force is instead transferred back to the wall so the wall gets hit for twice the amount of force than usual. In addition, magic can increase the impact force by artificially increasing the mass of the fist at the moment of impact.

Now, that doesn't mean that body strengthening doesn't affect the caster's own body. It does, but not in the way a person thinks. The way a human move is by essentially contracting muscles. What magic does to a body to make it stronger and faster is by affecting the molecular bonds between the protein molecules so that it can do its work more efficiently. If it sounds very ineffective, it is. Body-strengthening magic takes up a lot of mana which is why very few people can obtain a mastery of close combat and mage combat.

Descal is possibly the only person on Terra to know the true underlying mechanics around body-strengthening magic considering the state of Terra at the moment regarding technological and magical advancements. Instead of his magic affecting every single protein in the muscle, he only has the magic act on the muscle fibers.

However, magic can still only provide a limited enhancement of the state of the body. It cannot improve it, and anyone with a higher base stats and low amount of mana can beat the shit out someone with low base stats, but high amounts of mana.

This is currently why Descal was dissecting Farrago's headless body in the middle of the woods. Even though Descal was above Farrago in magic manipulation and mana levels, Farrago still had the edge in close combat. That could only mean that Farrago had a better body than Descal, which confused Descal because Descal's homunculus body was created with extremely high physical stats as well. Its physical attributes were similar to an Olympic level athlete who was also taking steroids.

This meant that Farrago had something in his body that was unique to him biologically. Descal planned on stealing that. After an hour of scanning Farrago's muscle fibers, Descal found two genetic variations that increased Farrago's attributes. The first one simply gave Farrago a better orientation of his muscles that allowed to contract more efficiently, but the second one was one that coded for a faster neuron. Once he figured that out, he quickly began implementing the DNA onto his body after an initial check for compatibility.

Since Descal still needed to dissect Forrago's other organs, he put the corpse back into his storage and quickly began cleaning up the mess of blood and began walking back to the camp. He didn't want to go back to his tent because he didn't want to wait for more paperwork to come so he decided to go to the training grounds to meet up with his former knights.

More importantly, he wanted to check if anyone's fates changed. Now that he can use the abyss powers more often, he can actually see people's fates by a small amount. Descal has the ability to see if anyone is favored by the fates. In Earth terms, Descal can check if anyone has plot armor.

When Descal was kicked out from the world due to obtaining Abyss magic, he saw some sort of direction that the world had. It was too much for him to comprehend though, but he knew enough that it was most likely fate. His eyes were able to to see the roles that Fate had assigned. Some had the potential for great power, some were destined to be cannon fodder, some were destined to be rulers, etc. etc. And Descal could see it all.

The only problem was that if he used this ability his eyes would shine red, so he came up with an excuse that it allowed him to check someone's courage.

When he selected his knights, the person's fate played a small role in Descal's decision. If a person's fate was no big deal, but that person managed to get a silver rank through his own determination? Good. Soon to be a very powerful person. Good. Cannon fodder in which the person's death will influence others to get stronger? Definitely. Wildcards, people that Fate has no plan for yet? Eh. Why not. Their other specs were good. Loyal enough.

Of course, someone's fate can change depending on the circumstances. Battles are one of the methods of change. So he decided to go check up on his knights. If he recalls, only seven survived which is quite a shame. Of course, the three gold knights survived while only 4 of the silvers survived. When he arrived at the Royal Guards personal training guards, he saw the four silvers working on their teamwork.

However, when Descal saw their new fate status he inwardly smiled. It seemed that the cannon fodders plus the wildcard's deaths helped cause they now have the fate of loyal powerful knights. Of the 27 silvers, only Pan, Goob, Grisch, and Fersal survived. It seems that they are on the road to greatness. Platinum might even be possible for them.

When the four knights noticed Descal, they immediately stopped and saluted. Descal chuckled.

"At ease. I am no longer your squad captain you know." (Descal)

"But you are now the Commanding General of her Majesty's army. We now must show respect equal to your promotion, sir!" (Fersal)

"Fersal... Does Fersal have a stick up his ass again?" (Descal)

The other three were trying their best to hold in their laughter, as they recalled how Descal loved to make fun of Fersal's discipline.

"Oh, you guys. Just relax. Just show me the proper respect if there are others. You guys know that I am not big on this stuff. Besides, you earned your ability to speak casually to me since you guys managed to survive my training!" (Descal)

With those words, all four blanched as they remembered the brutal training they were forced to go through. But then they began to chuckle when they thought of all the memories they made during the month.

"Yeah. Those were fun times, Mr. Binus. I just wish Maphy was still here..." (Goob)

"He was a good man. Are you guys holding up though? I am sure that losing so many of your friends will have a huge impact on you." (Descal)

"Our captain already helped us go through it last night. His advice helped. It's one of the reasons why we are up so early training." (Grisch)

"So Felix already helped you guys did he?"

The four knights nodded.

"Just know that if you need someone to talk to that my tent is still open. I should be able to make some time for you guys. After all, you silvers managed to survive a fight against veteran gold ranked soldiers right after leading a charge. You guys are strong and lucky to survive both of them despite being a silver."

"I still have trouble believing that. I was sure that I was gonna die." (Pan)

"Ever with your pessimism Pan. You need to read more cheerful books."

"Pessimism is what keeps me on the edge though." (Pan)

"Where are your squad leaders and Captain anyway? Er... I don't think they would be squad leaders anymore."

"No, sir. Due to the drastic loss of our numbers, Captain Felix deemed it necessary to reorganize the Royal Guards into one squad. We are going to be debriefed of the new structure at the noon toll. As for location, I believe Captain Felix and the other two veterans have gone to Cecilia to discuss the new budget and changes to the Royal Guards." (Fersal)

"He isn't drastically changing things, is he?"

"I think I heard him say that he wanted to avoid a budget cut due to our smaller numbers. He wants the budget to stay the same so he could at least buy better equipment for us, and he wants to buy some other training equipment. Since the Royal Guards have been reduced to a mere seven, he thinks it is necessary to increase all of our power levels." (Grisch)

"Quality over quantity."

"Yup." (Grisch)

"Mr. Descal. So how is your new job?" (Goob)

"Shit. Absolute. Shit."

With those words, Descal began pouring his complaints on to the four knights. The Royal Guards already knew about Descal's hatred for useless paperwork, so they started laughing when Descal began complaining about the five stacks that appeared at night. The conversation eventually lead into the knights asking Descal for a spar, which he readily accepted. Descal wanted to test out his new body.

Descal was pleasantly surprised at how much the four knights have grown. Their teamwork went up exponentially.

"Sir. We are still astounded that you are holding us back with only bronze level mana." (Fersal)

"Then again. Unlike you, I can do both close combat and long-range magic. It's how you use magic that can really make or break a match." (Descal)

Descal wanted to test their skills more, but sadly, all good times must come to an end because Descal felt Cecilia coming and quickly ended the spar.

"Guys. Cecilia is coming. Gotta go. Tell her the truth."

With those words, Descal immediately ran towards the dining tent, and the knights quickly lost sight of him as he began weaving through the boxes and tents.

Cecilia soon came toward the training grounds and saw the destruction and the kneeling knights.

"Have you knights seen your Commanding General recently?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Can one of you tell me where he is now?"

"He ran toward the dining hall after he said that he felt your majesty coming." (Fersal)

"Did he now? Well, I better go find him. Thank you for your help last battle. All of you displayed such loyalty and courage that it makes me proud to have such knights in my Royal Guard."

"Your majesty. Your praise is wasted on us. We would have died if it wasn't for your assistance in battle." (Fersal)

"Nonetheless, you all were outmatched and you still managed to protect me for a considerable amount of time. I will be sure to memorialize your fallen comrades. If you continue to display such actions throughout the war, I shall be very gracious with the promotions and rewards."

"Thank you, your majesty." (Fersal)

Once Cecilia left the training grounds, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gah. Holy shit. Every time I look at the queen she sends shivers down my spine. Not in a good way though. It's like a dragon eyeing its prey. How do you even talk with her, Fersal?" (Goob)

"When you are a slave butler for some time, you get used to being in the company of such individuals." (Fersal)

"Nuh. Uh. My time in the slums taught me that anybody who emits that sort of pressure is a no go." (Goob)

"Well, after getting beat to a pulp by Mr. Binus so many times, I kinda got used to such pressure anyway. I just don't open my mouth because I still suck at etiquette. I don't want to be executed because I said something wrong." (Grisch)

"Huh. I don't think the Queen cares that much though? I mean, Queen Cecilia forgives our former Captain for all the things he says." (Pan)

"Nope. The Queen doesn't forgive Mr. Binus for the things he says. Only in the public is she forgiving barely." (Grisch)

"Shouldn't that be the opposite?" (Fersal)

"No. But the things he says in private is much worse. Once when he was trying to improve my balance for this sword style that I was ordered to learn, the Queen barged in on us when we both were balancing on a stack of pebbles. Yeah. Pebbles. He was trying to teach me better ways to use my mana more efficiently in strengthening magic. So, to motivate me, he said that he would cook some food if I could stay on the pebble longer than him." (Grisch)

With those words, everybody groaned with jealousy. Their former captain could make amazing dishes; however, his cooking uses up a lot of rare and expensive ingredients so he doesn't cook often. Everyone still remembers the time he made this food called baby back BBQ ribs. Everyone's mouths began to water when they think of that time.

"There is no way in tarnation you won that." (Pan)

"No. I won." (Grisch)

"What you lucky bastard! You should have shared some you asshole!" (Goob)

"Guys. Stop it. Get off me. It was two weeks ago! Besides, we were deep in the mountain!" (Grisch)

"Alright, guys. Get off Grisch. We are supposed to be Royal Guards." (Fersal)

"Aren't you jealous?!" (Goob)

"I am. But, this won't change anything." (Fersal)

"Uggh! You are so damn lucky! What did you eat? I have to know." (Pan)

"Fried Chicken!" (Grisch)

"Details!" (Pan)

"It's chicken with like this crunchy outer crust. He even made some sort of spicy dipping sauce for it." (Grisch)

"Spices!!! You lucky bastard. You have any idea how hard those are to get? Especially with the trade wars going on between the mega powers over those ingredients!" (Pan)

"How did you even win?" (Fersal)

"Queen Cecilia helped me. Sort of." (Grisch)

With those words, everybody fell silent.

"The Queen helped you?" (Goob)

"Yeah. So what happened was that the Queen came over while we were balancing on the pebbles. She asked Mr. Binus if she could talk with him in private. He said no, and that she should wait until he was done. When Cecilia asked what he needed to finish when it looked like he was trying to take a shit, he then used magic to levitate the biggest stick he could find, gave it to her, and replied with this, "Go take that stick and ram it up your ass and go away." (Grisch)

"He... He actually said that to the Queen." (Goob)

"Yeah. And the Queen just ignored it as if it wasn't the first time. Now, here I am just trying to make my presence as small as possible when the Queen walked over to me and asked me if I knew what Mr. Binus was doing right now. So I told her that we made a bet, and if I could stay balanced longer than Mr. Binus, he would cook dinner for us." (Grisch)

"Go on." (Goob)

"I can't tell you. She told me that if I blabbed about what happened, I will regret it." (Grisch)

"It was that bad." (Pan)

"Yes. It was that bad. I am not surprised with her nickname of Bloody Valkyrie. For me, she earned the Bloody part that day." (Grisch)

"So... Whatcha guys talking about"

"Holy Shit! Mr. Binus. Please don't scare us like that!" (Goob)

"Wait. I thought you went to the dining hall." (Grisch)

"I didn't. I went in that direction, but after a little bit, I took a little detour back here." (Descal)

"Does that mean we lied..." (Pan)

"Nope. You told the truth of what you knew at that time. Consider this a lesson for you guys. Sometimes the truth isn't what it seems." (Descal)

"Leave it to you to think of a way to teach us something while you are avoiding the Queen. Why are you avoiding her?" (Grisch)

"Cause the bitch wants to give me more paperwork." (Descal)

"It never fails to amaze us how you can so openly call our Queen a bitch and still get away with it." (Pan)

"Hey, if Mr. Binus can get away with telling her to go ram a stick up her ass without getting executed, he can probably get away with this." (Goob)

"Yeah. Wait? What? Where did you hear that?" (Descal)

"Our friend Grisch said that one day you told our Queen to shove a stick up her ass and go away and that you got heavily punished for it." (Goob)

"You got balls, Grisch. I don't know what Cecilia is going to do to you." (Descal)

"No. No! I didn't tell them everything. I just told them the part where you told her to shove the stick up her ass." (Grisch)

"Really? Ah. Pan. I suddenly remembered." (Descal)

With those words, Descal seemingly pulled a book out of nowhere. He simply put his hands behind his back and out came a book.

"I've been thinking recently, and I have decided. Pan. How do you feel about learning magic?"

"Uh... I thought you didn't want to because of how expensive and time consuming it will be." (Pan)

"Yeah. That's why I am not asking anyone else, but you. Out of everyone in this group, you have the best cognitive ability. I've seen how quickly you can pick up information while you were reading. As for price. Well, Felix should be able to pay for it now that he doesn't have thirty members to pay equipment for."

"If you would, then I would love to, Mr. Binus."

"Good. Congrats Grisch. You won't be the only one that will be having personal lessons now."

With those words, Grisch sent a look of pity toward Pan.

"What. Don't look at me like that." (Pan)

"Welp. I better go now."

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Well, shit."

"Do you have any idea how long I have tried to find you?! I told you that you were to receive a couple stacks of paperwork in the morning! But you weren't there to receive it, and now you send me on this goose chase all over camp!" (Cecilia)

"I don't recall anything about making it easier for you to give me paperwork." (Descal)

"Descal. Are you testing me?" (Cecilia)

"I am going to enjoy beating the shit out of you during our private sparring lessons." (Descal)

"Oh. This time, it's going to be a bit different." (Cecilia)

"*whisper* Guys. Let's leave." (Goob)

"Yeah. I think now is a good time to have some breakfast." (Grisch)

"I hear that today is going to be Cockatrice omelets." (Pan)

"Yes. Sounds quite filling." (Fersal)