“Are you sure you don’t want me to heal that?” the hooded man asked.

“Yes,” Henry replied with touching his eyepatch. “I want to keep it as it is so I will never forget my hatred.”

They were in that wooden cabin’s main hall. There was now a mini sofa here that Henry was lying on. That hooded man, who was obviously one of the dark mages, had just healed Henry’s injuries.

“In that case, follow me,” he said before walking towards one of the rooms on the second floor. Henry followed without question. The hooded man opened the door and led Henry inside, where a woman was tied up.

She carried several cuts and bruises, while her hands were red from the tight ropes. She looked at the two entering and started trembling in fear.

“Please let me go, I will do anything!” she begged but the hooded man ignored her and turned to Henry.

“You said you wanted revenge, show me that you have the strength to get it,” he said, handing him a knife.

“Consume her heart.”

Henry was stunned at his request. He didn’t just want him to kill her, but to do such an act. However, he remembered Astoria’s face and rage started building inside him again. He grabbed the knife, steeled his resolve, and started walking towards the woman.

“No, no please I beg you! Ah-” her voice was cut short Henry stabbed into her chest. He tore out a hole and reached in with his hands to find a heart that was still beating but slowing down.

He pulled.

The hooded man grinned.

…

Back in Jain village.

“Elwin, Drake, there has been another raid by the demons near the mines to the north of our villages. The army stationed there had to be split several times to reinforce other battlefields leaving only a small group behind so they cannot hold on for much longer. General Eliot is leading them, and he has requested reinforcements. They are a very important resource point for our village, and we cannot lose it. Everyone else is occupied now so I can only send the two of you to lead some men to battle,” Holt spoke plainly.

“Yes father,” Elwin replied. “May I know the details of this demon group?”

Holt nodded before explaining, “There are several hundreds of servant class demons, and around half a dozen of servant class onis. We have not spotted any warrior class demons or onis so far, luckily. It is only a medium sized demon group.”

Elwin nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem father; I will take care of it.” Saying so he started walking away and Drake followed. Elwin left the manor and mounted a horse and Drake did the same. His horse was a strong black stallion. He had trained in horse riding before, so it was easy for him to follow along with his brother. They soon arrived at a barracks.

Upon entering, the guards at the gate gave Elwin a respectful bow.

“Call squadrons three and five to assemble in the main hall,” he instructed. One of the guards bowed again in acknowledgement before rushing inside.

The main entrance led to a large hall. On the side of the halls was the door to many large rooms, and in each room dozens of beds were laid out for the troops to rest. There were also many shared bathrooms, a pool, a large kitchen, two dining areas, and several entertainment rooms. This barracks held close to a thousand soldiers, about half of whom were under Elwin’s command.

Elwin and Drake were waiting on a raised platform at the front of the hall while troops began assembling. In an hour, two hundred soldiers had assembled. They were all dressed in strong battle armour and appeared well rested and energetic. About a fifth of them were wielding spears, three fifths wielded swords, and a fifth were archers. At the very back were non-combat personnel, responsible for supporting the army. They would set up camps to treat the wounded, maintain rations, and so on. Elwin observed the group and slowly nodded his head.

They were ready.

“Men, the mines to the north of the village are under attack by a medium sized demon group. We will set out to put an end to them,” Elwin spoke authoritatively. He turned and pointed towards Drake. “This is my younger brother Drake who some of you may know of. He will be second in command from hence forth.”

“Yes, general Elwin!” they said in unison. However, Elwin saw that some of them were unhappy. They didn’t know Drake’s abilities after all, and he was only a young boy, and was still three years away from being an adult, whereas they were all adults. Even though Elwin was also young, he had proven himself many times, but Drake was not like that.

Elwin acted as if he expected this. “George, how would you like to spar with my brother?” he asked a middle-aged man. The easiest way to get them in line was by demonstration.

“I would be honoured,” he replied with a bow before coming onto the platform.

George was twice the height and size of Drake. He was holding a long sword that was the same size as Drake himself. If they looked at the two, no one would expect Drake to even stand a chance. However, Drake observed him calmly. He already fought Elwin and understood some of his own strengths and weaknesses. This man was strong, but he couldn’t compare to Elwin. However, that didn’t mean that Drake could beat him. Drake still couldn’t let his guard down.

They two focused sternly on each other when Elwin’s voice sounded.

“Begin!”

George quickly took the offensive and charged forward.

He was fast… but not as fast as Elwin. Drake also ran forward and at the right moment, he ducked under the sword and slashed from the bottom. But George quickly reacted and dodged sideways. Drake pivoted on his foot and brought the sword crashing down with his full strength. George blocked it but was surprised when he felt the strength behind the sword.

Drake took this opportunity to go on the offensive, slashing and striking relentlessly. George dodged but he was not used to fighting someone so short, so this affected his movements. Drake was very slippery and crafty, he dodged and attacked, attacked and dodged, his movements were hard to predict.

However, George was no pushover, he was an expert himself. He also attacked and sometimes landed a few scratches on Drake’s armour.

The two seemed evenly matched and this amazed the army. George wasn’t the strongest fighter in the army, but he was by no means weak either. This was enough to make them acknowledge Drake’s strength.

However, Drake didn’t reveal all his cards yet. George blocked one of Drake’s blows and was going to counterattack when a bright light appeared before his eyes.

“Ah!” he screamed but Drake used this opportunity to fly kick his face. He was sent flying and rolled across the stage. He was about to get up when several daggers appeared out of nowhere and surrounded him, just an inch away from his neck. George was stunned.

“I… I admit defeat!” he said ashamed. He did not expect to lose this match. This sudden turn of events was against everyone’s expectations as gasps echoed across the room. Elwin smiled and nodded as if he expected this.

This result was not unbelievable, Drake was personally trained by Ray who was a phenomenal fighter, even greater than Elwin since he was a mage too. Before Ray, Holt instructed him almost every day and he was no doubt the best fighter in the village. Drake was a mage and a martial artist, with a keen intellect that let him come up with great battle tactics. Coupled with the fact that George wasn’t used to fighting such short opponents, these were all reasons that could allow Drake to seize victory relatively easily.

Drake removed his knives and undid the spell so that they returned to mana. He didn’t recover that mana, but he didn’t mind. Ray taught him how to do this so that he didn’t always leave so many weapons lying around everywhere he went.

“Now that that’s settled, I hope no one else has any problems with Drake being second in command?” Elwin asked.

“No general Elwin,” they replied in unison, but they sounded much more confident this time.

Strength was always what was respected the most.

Elwin smiled and looked towards Drake. Drake realised his intentions; he wanted him to give a speech.

Drake thought for a moment before speaking.

“I am Drake Reynard, youngest son of Holt Reynard and younger brother of Elwin Reynard. I am at the true mage realm and have cultivated tempered body to the middle stage. Though I am young and inexperienced, I promise you that I will not let any of you down. We will march and show the demons that they chose the wrong village to mess with!”

“Yeah!” they all cheered and clapped. It was a short and straight to the point speech. It wasn’t too humble or arrogant, he acknowledged their worries over his age and tried to alleviate it by establishing his credentials.

Strength was everything. Although the humans outnumbered the demons and onis in all these raids, most of the humans were not martial artists or mages. It will take at least half a dozen ordinary humans to fight against a single servant class demon, and more if we are talking about onis. As for warrior class demons and onis, ordinary humans will not stand a chance. Only martial artists could fight them. This was why Drake and Elwin could become generals even if they were younger than so many people – they were martial artists. And Drake was a mage too.

By acknowledging their worries and showing his strength, Drake would make them feel understood. Drake might be young, but he was from Earth. He had of course listened to many great speeches given by a wide range of people, from politicians to co-workers, he had listened to an endless number of speeches and knew what worked and what didn’t. So, it wasn’t hard for him to come up with a short speech.

After all that introduction, the army finally got pumped up and started heading out.

Half a day later, they were nearing the battlefield.