After another while, the servants finally finished strapping all the layers of armor together. From the outside, it may look like a simple set, after all, speed was Jule’s greatest strength.

Even so, his armor hid an extraordinary secret. It is one of the few items inscribed by a rank 4 mind enhancer, the joints were inscribed with water element lines in order to improve his flexibility. The chestplate, greaves, gauntlets and pauldrons were all inscribed too, with stone elemental lines, in order to make the armor nigh unbreakable.

All the lines criss crossing the otherwise simple plate armor made everyone unable to move their eyes away. The flow of the lines, the low light coming from deep within these marks, and the way it complimented the armor was hypnotizing.

It is colored red, with the crest of the Redshield family stamped over the heart. A tower shield, stained red from the blood of their enemies, such was the image all present owed their loyalty to.

Parm, who was next to Jule, was nearly finished putting his armor on, and as Jule expected, it is extremely gaudy. The helmet has the form of an eagle's beak, with feathers carved all throughout the rest of the armor, ending up with sabatons that have the shape of an eagle's claws.

The armor is clearly inspired by the sacred human beast, The Gryphon. This armor was not enchanted like Jule’s but what it lacked in strength, it had in its ability to inspire.

Jule had heard, from his constant eavesdropping on the guards, that Parn was known with a different alias in the battlefield, a name that inspired and riled up all who stood with him and sent dread throughout the hearts of all those who opposed him.

The Silver Gryphon, the most trusted commander and knight of the Shield of Dresden’s army.

It was hard to believe though... in Jule’s opinion, he looked and acted more like a Silver Rooster.

...

“Are you done yet, Silver Rooster?” Jule’s smile widens as Parn looks back at him with a glare.

“Almost done, Little Shield” Parn answers with a smirk, turning around to receive his sword and shield.

Whatever... Jule didn’t want to spend one more second talking to him, he felt his intellect eroding with each word that left Parn’s mouth.

Once both are completely outfitted, they leave the Armory, a few servants carrying the miscellaneous gear behind them.

Outside the building, ten fully armored guards were waiting, bowed next to their horses. A white mare equipped with golden blinders and a boiled leather saddle right in the middle.

The rest of the garrison was probably already outside the City, waiting for Jule and the Royal Guards.

Jule climbed onto the saddle, needing no help thanks to his outstanding strength. He waited a bit while the servants tied everything to his saddle and then began the march. This time they would leave from the main gate.

…

The gate creaked as it opened, making Jule’s blood rush, leaving him a bit light headed. He was heading to his first true battle, and although he had prepared for it all his life, his whole body shook uncontrollably.

How could his father and Parn do this nearly everyday, in the past?

Jule’s trembling gaze unconsciously wandered toward Parn, who was riding next to him. Parn’s back was straight, his legs relaxing against the belly of his horse, his usual smirk present on his face, the other half obscured by his helmet.

Jule hated Parn, He truly despised him from the bottom of his heart.

Yet…

Jule’s tenseness left his body, his trembling abruptly disappearing, his gaze, which was staring at Parn, turned towards the front.

He can do it…

No…

He will do it.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

100 rank 1 body refiners, 10 rank 2 body refiners, 20 rank 1 mind refiners and 5 rank 2 mind refiners.

All together, 135 soldiers gathered in order to face the monster horde, not counting baggage carriers. This group of people was about 50% of the garrison from Gican City, the capital of the Redshield Dukedom and one of the most prosperous cities in the whole Kingdom.

Although Gican city had no outstanding features, its relative closeness to the Grandia and Zanya borders made it a hub for all military activities, both from the constant forays of nobles into the border and the mercenaries from Zanya.

This all led to a booming economy and its rise over most other cities. The only cities that could challenge it were the Royal Capital, the Blue Jewel, and Stonewright.

Thanks to this military focus, the Redshield Dukedom could field an army of about 5,000 men, this being the highest number, by far, in all of the Dresden Kingdom. Perhaps only the Royal Army or the many mercenaries in the Blue Jewel could contest its strength, the legacy of the endless battle ArchDuke Redshield had done in his life.

This said, in times of peace, the army was separated into patrols, town guards and escorts, the upkeep of all these men were by no means negligible, draining the Dukedom’s treasury. They needed to make sure that the money spent on an active army was not wasted.

...

Thanks to the fact that Gican City had a lot of horses, they arrived at the Altia plains rather quickly, giving them time to set up a few tents and fortify their spot. Due to the Altia plains camp being but a few run down houses and a bar, they had to bring along a few carriages full of materials.

The plan was to use this and the baggage carriers to bring all the monster corpses back to the city.

They could have built an earthen fort, but it was much wiser to save their scrolls for actual battle, besides, their mind refiners didn’t have an unlimited supply of na.

Once they arrived, they sent all the rangers standing by to scout ahead, taking over the bar as their center of operations.

They didn’t bring many utilities, it was a small subjugation after all, but they did have a map and a few comfortable chairs for the commanders to sit on, though Jule’s had a bigger resemblance to a throne.

It took two days for everything to get set up, the earlier bare map now full of markings from the efforts of the rangers.

“According to our scouts, the monsters will arrive in a day or two at most from the forest to our right. There are no notable settlements nearby, except for a mine” A female commander informed Jule, she was one of the few rank 2 mind refiners that were able to join.

Although her glasses and the dozens of scrolls tied to her leather armor gave her a scholarly air, Jule’s senses revealed the barely noticeable muscles behind her baggy clothes, she clearly had not become conceited due to her rise in mind refining.

“Any humans left on the mine?”

“No sir, all have evacuated, only the demi-human slaves remain there”

“Perfect, please inform me if the scouts discover anything new” She bowed as Jule finished.

Jule rests his back on the throne for a second, his mind focused on forming a strategy to win the fight against those monsters.

The situation wasn’t as good as he had hoped.

“Have the rank 2 mind refiners prepare their fire scrolls and gather two squads of rank 2 body refiners in order to cut off a section of the forest, we don’t want the fire to spread too much…”

In this small subjugation squad, each section had their commander, generally the highest ranked refiner, which meant that all those present in the bar were at the peak in their respective ranks.

Of course the only exception was Parn, who had brought a special tent for himself and hadn’t left since he erected it. The problem was that he had set it up right next to the bar, which meant that his snores sometimes interrupted Jule’s meetings.

“Everyone else, prepare your troops for an engagement on the forest, as soon as all preparations are done, we will head out and ambush them”

The four commanders before him bow and hurry back to their respective groups, leaving Jule alone to brood in the bar.

His eyes focus on the local map,many thoughts taking place in his head.

From the reports Jule had received, the monsters were 60 strong, although that was not too big, the problem was that none of the monsters were easy to deal with.

Although the scouts couldn’t give the exact number of each of the weak monster species, there were Direwolves, Goblins and worst of all Bulettes.

Direwolves were easy prey, even a normal commoner would be able to take them down, they were just overgrown wolves. Goblins were a bit more troublesome though, although miles easier than their counterpart, the Hobgoblin, they were able to use basic weapons. They followed their instincts a bit too closely though, so any trained person could take one down.

It was Bulettes where everything fell apart, being elementally charged monsters meant that no rank 1 refiner could take down a single one, even if dozens were attacking at the same time.

The good news was that the scouts managed to get an exact number of them, they only had to face four of these beasts.

Thanks to Jule’s training, his ranks and his scrolls, he was sure he could kill a single Bulette on his own. The other two teams of rank 2 refiners could take down one each and that freeloader Parn could eliminate the last in a flash.

The rest of the monsters were easy pickings for his rank 1 refiners.

The plan for now, was to burn a section of the forest, distracting the Direwolves and Goblins while the rank 2s take down the Bulettes. Once taken care, the rank 1s will eliminate the leftover enemies, the rank 2s supporting them just in case, while recovering from their wounds and energy depletion.

Even though it sounded like a foolproof plan, Jule wanted to make some emergency plans, he had learned that things could always go wrong on the battlefield and he wasn’t about to let his first mission fail due to his hubris.

He was pretty confident though, that everything would go according to plan, there were not many spots where things could go awry, this being child’s play compared to true battlefields.

He could already hear the celebration once he returned victorious, the congratulations from his father and the rise in prominence that leading a massively successful mission against monsters would bring him.

He would claim two prices once he returned, the favor of his father and the admiration of that young maid, who was probably praying for his safe return back home.

A snore from Parn interrupted his thoughts, to which he answered by going out and kicking Parn’s tent around for a bit.

...

With his mood ruined, Jule returned back to the second floor of the bar, where he had taken a room for himself and replaced the mattress with a much more comfortable one.

It was far from what he had back home, but it was better than nothing. Most other soldiers were forced to sleep in tents outdoors, against the cold and hard ground, their training making them used to it but not able to enjoy it.

For Jule, most of those outside were hopeless, rank 1 refiners who although redeemed from mediocrity thanks to their military training still did not amount to much, they would never be remembered by history and would vanish from existence as soon as they died.

Perhaps only peak rank 2s were worthy of his respect, those who didn’t accept to roll around in the mud with the others who resigned their foolishness and therefore tried to rise higher than everyone else.

Such as that woman, who commanded the rank 2 mind refiners, she was professional, smart AND strong.

Like his father, he needed his own Parn, a second in command who could become the ruler’s hand.

Once people reached the enhancing ranks, their lives would be extended, which meant that Parn would still be in his prime once Jule ascended to ArchDuke. Nevertheless, just because Jule occasionally tolerated Parn, that didn’t mean he would have him become his aid.

Jule might ignore things, but he never forgets them.

That woman might be a perfect replacement for Parn, Jule would keep an eye out on her in the coming battle.

Jule spent the rest of the night in thought, over his present and his future.

He thought he had covered all of his bases.

He would soon discover, just how wrong he truly was.