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The news of the ban on carrying weapons caught me off guard. I really didn't want to part with my precious swords and axes, and the reason itself sounded as if the Empire needed help from any recruits — so I decided to be one such "recruit." The already-mentioned captain of the guard received me and listened to my proposal: to keep my weapons, enlist with the Empire, and become a blacksmith for them. He listened, agreed, and then handed me a contract for a paltry sum with no right to terminate for 50 days. 14 hours a day...... Simply an excellent offer. And so I became a warrior without weapons, albeit for a short time...
I went to the VS and barged into a conversation between the right-hand man and a gray-haired veteran of that legion named Oren, as well as the already familiar Tirza, the tournament winner. Audacity is a second happiness, both of us were taken into the legion. For now, on probation.
I'm running through the city again and stumble upon a Shuniite in a cloak. It seems I broke him, another unfortunate victim of mine... Actually, no, most likely he was already wounded earlier. I don't know what happened to him, and why he was acting so cautious and secretive, but under any circumstances I understand him; selling him a healing potion was easy for me.
Soon I ended up at war. Our camp was set up in the forest in V, to the west, with the task of supporting the First Legion. Why just support, why didn't a legion with such an incredibly epic name lead the attack itself? The fact is that the Empire always kept its finger on the pulse and perfectly understood the current, not just historical, capabilities of the legion. As is clear from my earlier notes, the VS had recently lost T, the best fighter in the country, and the remaining veterans could no longer maintain the former high rank of this combat unit. Still, these warriors, whom I got to see in person, were something else.
Oren, our commander, I've already mentioned. But the fact that Nightmare, the loyal dog of T himself, was also in our squad and actively participated in the battle — I haven't mentioned that yet.
Tirza, me, and Magnus — that was the composition of the new recruits on probation. The latter was a shooter and scout with a slightly uncertain look and long hair.
The mage-terrorist Valerius, according to rumors, was just barely spared the chopping block, but was saved by T to serve in the VS legion. A very distinctive personality. No, not like that, rather a v e r y d i s t i n c t i v e p e r s o n a l i t y. A n d w h a t r i g h t d o y o u e v e n h a v e t o l a u g h?
Gor — a huge orc who never shows his face, resembling a death messenger in his hood.
Dagan — it took time to remember him, but a classic legionnaire with a hammer and shield, though he's right not to disdain throwing weapons.
Mahus — a great swordsman-assassin from Geirt, with impressive mustaches. The main thing is that he survived...
Reliria — a compatriot from N, who, unlike me, chose the path of a shooter rather than a knight. She had been in the legion for only about a year or two, but had already made a name for herself.
The elf Iliél, unlike her, was still a complete novice, only slightly more experienced than us.
And then there was Naria... Wow. This could be considered an interesting coincidence. Naria, a dark elf. Transferred to the legion from intelligence.
Setting up camp, Oren and I talked a bit, resulting in the following being established:
- that I was born a millennium too late (ha-ha, if he only knew what would happen later)
- and that it would be a good idea to conduct reconnaissance.
By default, Mahus handles reconnaissance, but this time I volunteered so as not to sit idle and to prove myself. Magnus decided to join, apparently for the same reason. We entered the forest, looking around carefully, and then unexpectedly it turned out... That Magnus is far worse at hiding than I am. But he's excellent at catching arrows, and unlike me, he has no regeneration. Running away from the archer Iliana, perched in a tree out of blade's reach, was pretty stupid and unpleasant, but necessary. Fortunately, if there's one thing I'm best at, it's running.
The commander listened to my report about losing a comrade; Valerius expressed everything he thought about i d i o t i c u s e l e s s a m a t e u r s, and soon we were marching onward. The combat objective: storm the wall on our path, using explosives. Against us — several crossbowmen, as well as him, the star of the enemy army, a shooter named Ivor. This Ivor had previously been in K and had managed to buy the most powerful ranged weapon there, called the Annihilator. The Annihilator had special non-standard ammunition including an explosive toxic mixture; upon hitting a person, it left deep, lifelong injuries.
The battle. Shooting someone on the high walls was no easy task; neither Reliria with her rifle nor Valerius with his fire magic were particularly effective. Gor was instantly injured by the Annihilator, losing more than half his health, and then Iliana shot him from behind. Thus we lost our imposing orc without seeing him in action. However, Nightmare immediately made the cunning archer regret her decision; the dog's jaws — my respect. And its accuracy too; besides him, neither I nor even Mahus could reliably hit her, to our shame; we barely finished her off as a group.
Dagan died from the combined efforts of Ivor and a nameless crossbowman. Not a single one of his pilums reached the wall. One of our scouts was annihilated. Iliél falls to crossbow bolts. Yes, it was a real slaughter, and deaths, according to the rules of that time, were permanent. No mercy in the form of doctors; health in the negatives equaled death. We killed only two crossbowmen, and only the explosives in the hands of a nimble and tough me forced the enemies to doubt their victory and withdraw while the wall was still intact and they could take a more advantageous position.
Marching onward in a tight group, we failed to notice in time the explosives planted by Ivor. I was slightly concussed; Reliria was unconscious. Valerius — nothing fazed him, some magical tricks helped him.
We reached a city district where enemies were already waiting for us, well-prepared on their familiar terrain. A huge crowd: archers, musketeers, melee fighters... And among them Ivor, Lance, and Christian. Lance was a warrior with a greatsword, and Christian was a tough shield-bearer who could regenerate; both were problematic, of course, though not as much as the shooter.
We started off briskly. Under the fire of muskets and incendiary arrows, we endured, eliminating the vanguard of melee fighters. Tirza locked blades with Christian — and neither could win, but Naria turned the tide for them by beheading the shield-bearer from behind with one deft strike. However, before that, we lost Oren: Lance wounded him gravely, and then Christian, in between Tirza's blows, managed to intervene and finish off our commander.
I run swiftly between the walls and eliminate the musketeers. Naria beheads Lance after Christian — and the next moment loses her life to a crossbow bolt. Tirza is still somehow standing under the incendiary arrows, recovering more health than is lost to the burning.
All this time, we were also trying to catch Ivor, but that cunning bug used ropes and escaped from us onto the wall! After a short time, Nightmare finally caught up with the shooter, but you think for long? Nothing of the sort; Ivor used a grappling hook and immediately descended from the wall. Ironically, he infuriated me terribly, just terribly, with his maneuvers back then, though in his place, if I had the chance to prepare, I probably would have done the same ) Or even better; I would have found some kind of tower to shoot from without any risk; actually, I was hiding skillfully from enemy shots throughout the battle anyway, using my speed and dashing between obstacles.
But still, Ivor was caught by me and punished with my blade, the glorious "Cobra's Strike." After which he exploded and took me out of action, leaving a terrible injury (unlike the previous one, this I won't forgive him for!). I didn't see the rest of the fight, but as far as I know, Tirza, Mahus, and Nightmare had no trouble finishing off the few remaining enemies. Three surrendered.
I got up after the battle. My whole body ached terribly, but surprisingly, I was still combat-capable, which couldn't be said for most of the VS squad. This seemed to be simply a crushing victory. So much so that continuing the operation and reuniting with the other legion became completely pointless. Me, Tirza, Mahus, and Nightmare. The best of the best in the kingdom, eeeh. I didn't exactly cover myself in glory after that: I immediately suggested that we should execute the prisoners, causing complete and justified bewilderment among my comrades (and even more so among the unfortunate prisoners themselves). I'd like to say I was upset by the wound and the losses, and that would be true, but I don't think it was the cause; I was simply feeling bloodthirsty... A difficult child. With a difficult childhood. With empathy lost somewhere in the lands of ES. I hope I've moved past that period — but my hopes are in vain; I know from experience that there's room for improvement!
We left. I don't know where we were going; everyone had their own plans. Mahus took Nightmare and intended to report the situation to the remnants of his legion. Tirza went her own way. I went mine. I decided to be a wandering knight, but had absolutely no idea where to go or what to do. I had spent a significant part of my life alone, but that didn't mean making decisions was easy for me... And then, somewhere in the lands of the Empire, I saw a glow flare up from the direction of K. Then came the roar. Much later, I learned exactly what it was: the brilliant L threw a tantrum and activated a device called, in short, "ONIC." Yes, it was clear that the Empire was crumbling; this colossus, due to its own effeminacy, corruption, and other ailments of infantile people, could no longer withstand the onslaught of numerous enemies. It wasn't just the VS that suffered huge losses in the war; I heard the EI had it even worse; they were completely destroyed and couldn't even retreat because of the purple fog of some sorcerer. Many people would go mad under such conditions. But still, L, still, you reaped the fruits of that strange order you established in the Empire. You yourself showed that power based on the principle of the strongest, not the most worthy, is utter absurdity. In your place could have stood a person who wouldn't have destroyed the city.
Amazingly, at that moment... When I was deafened by a cacophony of wild sounds. When I only survived by a miracle, hiding just in time. When flocks of birds fell dead from the sky. When everything around screamed of danger. At that moment, I thought that perhaps I didn't need to go anywhere: on the contrary, right here, in this very place, someone like me might be needed.
It seems like a lot has been written, but there are only 25 entries. Well, be that as it may.
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