Lowly Ascent

The wheels of a carriage rolled as a carriage gilded in gold neared a massive camp.

After Cain was initiated, he was sent to the main camp of the central front. It was the primary battlefield and where most of the fighting was happening.

It was close to Free City and even reached it on its ends. Though the people there were fighting zombies more than humans. Not to mention this war was soon going to run on fumes, neither side seemed to care that Netherane's main food supplier because a wasteland.

Cain was granted the rank of captain and sent to the central front to lead a team in the war.

As for the war fronts, there were 3, the north, south, and central fronts. The north and central had the most fighting and the south was just to protect supply lines and nothing much was happening there.

The war still didn't pick up, with the fall of the Union, both powers were no longer limited by the neutral power between them and were even more cautious.

As they entered the camp, many soldiers looked at the carriage in awe, it had golden details after all. It signaled the arrival of someone in power or just filthily rich.

Cain had Anders head towards the main tent as he had to hand in his information to the commander who usually resided in the command tent.

In the distance, there were clouds of smoke rising into the sky, from the looks of it there had already been some fighting or clearing of nearby terrain.

Cain entered the command tent, it was at least the size of a headquarters in Peoria. The tent was made of thick leather with runes and had metal beams supporting it inside. Cain walked towards a man in a uniform, he had a badge on his shoulder indicating he was of the rank of commander.

"Sir, I'm here to give you my papers and transfer to your command"

The man took the papers. He was young, late 20's. He had black hair and blue eyes, his eyebrows were thin and he had good looks.

"Grade 2?! Yurombi? You a noble?"

"Yes sir, my family was killed in the siege of Free City, I'm the only survivor"

The commander looked surprised

"I'm sorry to hear that, nasty thing that, glad some plague doctors survived that terrible experiment. Hopefully, we can reclaim your home and property soon. I'm Nate by the way, your new boss"

"Experiment?" Cain asked in confusion.

"You didn't know? The zombies were due to an experiment with Zimo on the outskirts of the city, it was a secret operation of one of the Elders. First-hand information we got from a higher-up in the Union who survived"

"Ah, I didn't know. Thank you commander for the information" Cain didn't believe a word he said as he had his own suspicions and no way was that the real reason.

Nate and Cain continued their conversation but went to other topics. Nate was a straightforward and caring commander, he went over everything Cain needed to know and answered all his questions with a kind attitude, and didn't seem irritated at all by Cain's barrage of questions.

"I also recommend you get situated first before going to meet your squad, there waiting at tent C-276 for orders. Also, if you don't want your servant to die, train him, non-augmenters or plague doctors die quickly"

Cain once again thanked Nate before finding his tent. Since he was a captain, he had a nice-sized tent near the center of the camp.

He brought Anders to his tent and set up the carriage next to it.

Cain then sat down with Anders to have a serious talk.

"Anders, you will die if you don't get stronger. So I will be training you to become a plague doctor and will give you a weapon technique of your choice"

The servant's face froze. Anders couldn't contain his excitement. His emotions caught up and his face turned warm, radiating towards Cain with appreciation. But then Anders had to think hard about what he trained in.

"I-I've only ever played with wooden swords, would it be possible to train in a sword master?"

Cain smiled before going into his tent and coming out 30 minutes later with a newly written book bonded by leather straps. The book was titled 'Truths Grace'.

"This is one of the best techniques there is, however, it uses a special sword called an Estoc. I will get one made for you using core silver"

Anders gasped as his jaw dropped, core silver was a special type of silver found deep in silver mines hence its name. It is incredibly durable and flexible. Anders only knew of it due to his previous master having one for a mantlepiece.

Truths Grace actually states in its training manual that the user needs an Estoc made from core silver to have the best effects.

Weapons of such quality were used by wealthy people or powerful warriors, Anders knew of this because his old master spent a fortune buying one. Luckily for Cain, he could get one made for a cheaper price as he gets discounts since he's a captain.

After giving Anders the news, he also told Anders that he could now sleep in the carriage.

Neither of them slept in it before as it really was the epidemy of comfort and in the wilderness, such comfort was a liability.

Anders was drooling at this point and kneeled immediately and began to cry while thanking Cain. Cain couldn't care less and went off to meet his team.

...

Cain stood before a tent with C-276 written on a wooden plaque sewn into the fabric. He entered and found 4 people talking to one another while eating snacks.

Upon Cain's entrance, the 4 soldiers stood up and stood at attention. Cain's gaze was eerie, his red eyes looked almost bloodshot and crazy, he had a look of indifference and his gaze was piercing.

Coupled with his uniform having a captain's badge, the soldiers acted unconsciously and instantly made a file.

"I will be leading you from today on, I will come here whenever we have a mission. Now introduce yourselves"

"Yes sir!" The 4 responded in unison before getting a little more comfortable as each began to speak.

"I'm Sarah, sir! I'm a grade 1 plague doctor with a Low-High grade augment body. I am trained in archery and reconnaissance"

Sarah has short brown hair and hazel eyes, she looked average and had no outstanding qualities.

"I'm Daniel, low-high rank body. I'm good at fighting"

Daniel had bulging inhuman muscles and a thick beard, he was at least 40. He had a dumb face, in Cain's opinion.

"I'm Michael, grade 1, I don't have an augmented body. I'm good at basic spells and I'm almost grade 2"

Michael looked young, around 25. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, he almost looked as good as Cain.

Even though he was only good at basic spells, they were versatile and there was a spell for any situation. Although spell casters used up resources to cast their spells, basic spells used common mediums and were extremely useful in war.

The last member then spoke

"Mark, shorts swords, grade 1, body mid-low"

'Mid-Low body? He could be a captain....interesting.'

Mark had black hair and brown eyes, his hair was disheveled and he looked ragged, a short stubble beard was beginning to grow and he was dressed like a beggar.

Cain couldn't hold in his curiosity "Why aren't you a captain?"

"I was"

Cain got his answer and left it at that. He then looked to the others who found the situation a little awkward.

"Just train for now, I'll be here tomorrow if we have a mission so be prepared. Oh yeah, Grade 2, Yurombi, not going to say my body rank"

His team was confused by why Cain kept his body rank a secret but Cain couldn't tell them and have the body later advance its rank, which would cause problems. So Cain planned to keep his rank as an augmenter a secret.

He felt telling them he wouldn't say his rank was better than just not saying it as he would appear to have a stronger body during missions, they were the team he would be fighting with from now on after all.

Cain headed back to his tent, he found Anders training in an open patch nearby and nodded at him before entering.

Inside, Cain opened a locked chest and took out a vial, he then set up his research kit on the table and began to study the virus in his hands, though it would be a while before he had any results.