Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn stepped through the open doors into the waiting room. The room was well-lit from the natural sunlight streaming in through the tall windows. The drapes were tied back to provide a view to the gardens below.

Ameliyn and Silfa were conversing with each other on one end of the couches centered in the room. Their conversation was sprinkled with chuckles and light laughter. Reivyn could have eavesdropped on the conversation, but ironically, he had gotten better at tuning things out with his Divine Sense after obtaining his Clandestine Prodigy Skill. Eavesdropping was one of the Skills incorporated in the union, and he found he was better at turning it on and off.

Kefira sat and listened politely for the most part across from Ameliyn with Silfa sitting at the end of a long coffee table. Serilla was ever present, standing behind her chair.

I’ve never thought about it before, but why is Kefira the only family member that has a permanent guard wherever she goes? Reivyn idly thought as he strode into the room. I’ve never seen any of her siblings with a bodyguard following them outside, much less within the grounds of the Imperial Palace. It’s probably something simple, like friendship, but I’ll just ask her later.

Reivyn nodded to those present as they looked up at his appearance. Reivyn didn’t spot any of the male members of their families, but he didn’t really think anything of it. A couple of maids stood at attention near the windows, but they didn’t block the light filtering in.

“I didn’t think you would be interested in this,” Ameliyn said as Reivyn sat next to Kefira. Kefira reached her hand out, and Reivyn grasped it in his own before looking up to his mother.

“What do you mean?” Reivyn asked.

“The topic of conversation isn’t something a young man like you is usually interested in, as far as I know,” Ameliyn continued. “At least with your father, he made it pretty clear that he would just do whatever I wanted, even if none of it ended up coming to pass.”

Reivyn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“I was just told that you and Silfa wanted to talk to us,” Reivyn replied. “I don’t even know what it’s supposed to be about.”

“Ahh, I see,” Ameliyn nodded her head. “Well, we’re talking about wedding and engagement party preparations.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I can sit and add some input.”

Ameliyn gave him a knowing look before turning back to Silfa.

Reivyn quickly understood the look his mother gave him. The two mothers were engrossed in their planning, so much so that they had to remind themselves to include Kefira in the conversation. Kefira didn’t seem to mind. She just looked at Reivyn and rolled her eyes.

Reivyn leaned close to whisper in her ear.

“Are you not more interested in your own wedding?” He asked.

“It’s going to be a State Wedding, so there’s really not much I can do about it,” Kefira replied. “I’ve known since little that this was how it was going to be.”

Reivyn frowned.

“If that’s the case, then why are they planning so much to begin with?”

Kefira gave him a look like he had gone crazy.

“Because they’re our mothers,” she shrugged. “I also imagine it’s pretty fun for them. They get to dote on their children in a once-in-a-lifetime way.” Kefira held her hands before Reivyn could retort. “I know, I know. You have two sisters and I have several other siblings, but it’s once-in-a-lifetime for us, specifically.”

Reivyn nodded his head.

He tried to listen. He really did, but there was just so much attention he could give. He tried to supply some input here and there, but he was universally replied with. “Yes, dear,” and he quickly gave up.

Reivyn’s mind was drifting and he was seriously contemplating excusing himself. He enjoyed sitting together with Kefira, but they were basically just quietly listening to their mothers gush over the planning for the weddings. They weren’t interacting with each other very much.

Finally, a savior appeared to release him from the boredom-hell he had found himself in.

Trevor knocked on the door and walked a few steps into the room.

“Mother, Misses Ameliyn, sister,” Trevor nodded his head to the three prominent women in the room.

“Yes, dear?” Silfa looked up from her conversation with Ameliyn.

“Father has asked me to fetch Reivyn,” he simply replied.

Yes! Reivyn yelled internally. Outwardly, he was as calm as he always was.

Reivyn lifted Kefira’s hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before standing. He turned to their mothers.

“Mother, Silfa,” Reivyn nodded to them. There was a glint in Silfa’s eye at Reivyn addressing her by name, but she didn’t say anything. The two ladies nodded back.

Reivyn retrieved his hand and gave a little wave to Kefira. He looked up behind Kefira to Serilla to include her in the farewell. She also simply nodded back.

“I’ll see you later this evening,” he said to Kefira.

“Certainly,” Kefira replied with a smile.

The two mothers were already back in conversation before Reivyn even took his first step. He walked up to Trevor and clapped in on the shoulder, leaning in to speak with a lowered voice.

“Thank goodness you’re here to rescue me,” he said. “You will forever be my brother!”

Trevor snorted in amusement, turning to lead the way out into the hallway.

“Come on, our fathers and my brothers are upstairs in the war room,” Trevor said.

“Ahh,” Reivyn’s interest was immediately piqued.

The two young men traversed the interior of the palace halls toward the steps leading up to the next floor.

“So what have you been up to these days?” Reivyn asked.

It wasn’t very often that Reivyn spent much time with Kefira’s siblings. Now that his parents were here, he ate his meals with his own family for the most part. The other occasions were just him and Kefira. Sometimes they were accompanied by the twins.

“I’ve been running the Dungeon to increase my Level, mostly,” Trevor replied. “I’ve been allowed to take things slow because of my older siblings. There hasn’t been much responsibilities that I’ve been needed to take over until now.

“With the invasions increasing across the Local Group, though, my father has plans for me to take a military commission like Kayzor. I probably won’t ever be a general like him, but if I do well, I could command a battalion or regiment one day.”

“Your father and eldest brother are really leaning into the whole mercenary idea, huh?” Reivyn replied.

“Aside from the invaders winning in each of the conflicts we’ve participated in, it’s actually been a huge success,” Trevor said. “As you know, most people, even in Tier 4 Regions, don’t have the necessary rarity of Class to advance beyond Tier 4.

“The Imperial Guards are an exception, of course. They’re the elite of the elite, but even they are mostly doomed to not ever surpassing Tier 5.

“The nobles and Imperial Family members have the chance to advancing to Tier 6 one day, but by that time, they’ve long since retired from the empire and spend their time in the Tier 5 Region.

“With the advent of the invasions, our soldiers have seen a universal upgrade in their Class Rarity options. The vast majority of those that deploy before Tier 4 have all risen in Rarity and will have the option of reaching Tier 5, now.

“That’s not all, either. Many crafter, even those that haven’t gone with the military deployments, are seeing an increase in their prospects. With the need to outfit our army better, we’ve increased our acquisition and distribution of higher-Tier materials. Their profits, in-turn, allow them to spend their money on other luxuries.

“This whole business has been good for the strength of the empire as a whole. It will still be some time before we see the tangible benefits, but the road is being paved.”

Reivyn thought back to his speculation on the tactics of the invaders in Vairo.

If we’re seeing such an increase in potential with our conservative methods, I wonder just how powerful the invaders are going to become in the future. They’ve already demonstrated that they don’t need numbers to overwhelm us, what with those cloaked monsters.

Reivyn was happy for the potential of Willowan, but that didn’t abate his worry over the invaders. He didn’t know the methods for targeting the Regions they invaded, but it was going to be a race to see who could grow the fastest if they ever set their sights on Willowan.

The two young men quickly made their way to the war room. It was a destination Reivyn had never been to in the Imperial Palace. They walked through the open doors past a couple of Imperial Guards standing at attention.

The center of the room was dominated by a large table with a map on it. Gennet and Refix were standing together on the far side with Garet and Kayzor standing next to them on one side. High-ranking officers of the Imperial Army stood on the other side. There were chairs lining the edge of the room all the way around, and most of them were filled with lower-ranking officers who were paying close attention to the conversation of the emperor and his subordinates.

“Ahh, there he is!” Gennet paused in speaking to the Commanding General of the Imperial Army as Trevor and Reivyn stepped into the room. Reivyn felt all the eyes in the room turn and focus on him.

I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be here already, Reivyn felt his stomach drop at the realization.

“I apologize for my tardiness,” Reivyn gave a shallow bow.

Gennet barked a laugh.

“Hah! You’re not in trouble, my boy,” he replied. “You’ve been on vacation. We didn’t tell you about the meeting, but after your father wandered over we snatched him up and he told us you were in the palace with meeting with our wives.

“I’m sure you would rather be here than there, so I sent Trevor to get you.”

Relief flooded Reivyn. He was technically a commissioned officer in the Imperial Army, so it would have been a tremendous breach of duty if he hadn’t been where he was supposed to be. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

“I appreciate it, sir,” Reivyn replied.

Gennet waved it away as Reivyn made his way around the table toward Kayzor and Garet. He inspected the map with his Divine Sense.

The table was larger than any he had seen before. It was at least twice the length of the long table Kefira and her family had their meals at, and it was circular, not rectangular. The map spread across the entire table from edge to edge.

Most of the landmass on the map was blank. The outer edges were filled in with basic details like forests and mountain ranges, but little else.

Reivyn furrowed his brow over such a sparsely detailed map. What purpose could there be in this, and what exactly am I even looking at?

He didn’t recognize the shape of the landmass. From what he could tell, it was some sort of island as it was completely surrounded by water around the edges, but he couldn’t figure out where it depicted or why it would be on display.

The map was checkered with faint little shapes mostly the size of a coin, though they were each irregular in shape. About a hundred of these shapes were colored in either completely with red or with red stripes. There was also a ring outlined around the blank part of the interior of the map.

Reivyn walked up to Kayzor and leaned in to whisper.

“What’s this?” He gestured with his eyes to the map.

Kayzor briefly glanced at the map before looking at Reivyn.

“That’s the Local Group,” he replied. “We borrowed it from the Adventurer’s Guild.” Kayzor subtly pointed at an older, distinguished looking man standing at the tail-end of the generals. “That’s the Guild Master of the Willowan Adventurer’s Guild.”

Reivyn’s eyes widened at the revelation. He looked closer at the map, but he couldn’t identify anything that looked familiar. Kayzor saw him looking intently, and he pointed at one of the coin-sized shapes outlined with blue ink near the interior ring.

“That’s Willowan,” he said. “The Regions with the red stripes are those that are currently suffering an invasion, and those that are filled-in with red are those that have already fallen.”

Reivyn re-evaluated the map. There were red and red-striped Regions littered across the entire map. He could find no pattern to their distribution, and it appeared as if it was completely random.

One thing he did notice, though, was that there weren’t any invasions concentrated in a localized area. They weren’t uniformly spread evenly, but there was a large distance between each Region.

There were also no regions touching the interior ring that Reivyn now recognized as the Wilderness. Not all Tier 4 Regions bordered the Wilderness, but Reivyn didn’t understand exactly how the Mana density worked across the entire Local Group.

He was surprised to see just how large the interior Tier 5 and up Regions was. He hadn’t ever really thought about it before, but seeing it made him realize his owns thoughts had been far from encapsulating just how large the higher-Tiered Regions were. The scale of the Local Group was just to a point that it was hard for the human mind to grasp.

“We don’t usually have a reason to look at a map of the entire Local Group,” Kayzor continued. “Until now, we’ve only been concerned with our own Region and our subordinate Regions. The Adventurer Guild only has this map out of curiosity to begin with.”

“Does the Adventurer Guild have a map of each Local Group?” Reivyn asked. “What about the Clusters?”

“I doubt any Adventurer Guild in our Local Group has a map of a different Local Group,” Kayzor replied. “What would be the point? That being said, I’m sure the information could be transmitted between Local Groups.

“They do have a map of the Clusters, but nothing on this scale. There’s little reason to include such details aside from the basic shape and position of the Local Groups on such a grand scale. It would take up the whole city!”

Reivyn briefly thought back to his lesson on the Local Groups and Clusters. He had known that the Realm was truly humongous, but seeing the one Local Group with the Regions outlined in such tiny proportions really put things into perspective. He just couldn’t wrap his head around how large the world was.

“Anyway, that’s not the purpose of the meeting,” Kayzor said, amusement in his gaze.

“Then what is the point?” Reivyn asked.

“We’re trying, and failing, to figure out a pattern to the invasions,” Kayzor replied. “So far, all we’ve been able to determine is that we’re unlikely to be invaded any time soon.

“There’s speculation that these invasions are going to happen in waves, though. If that’s the case, we’ll probably have to wait until the next round of invasions to add to the map. The leading theory is that the invasions are starting from Regions more distant from the interior and will eventually move closer in.”

“And is there a reason to think such a thing?”

“Mana purity,” Kayzor answered. “The Regions closer to the Wilderness have a purer ambient Mana than those further out. It’s not just a difference in density. For the most part, Regions closer to the interior have a higher density, but there are pockets of higher-Tier Regions that don’t follow that trend.

“So far, the invasions have been exclusively to the more distant pockets, but that’s the only pattern we’ve been able to figure out. And we wouldn’t have realized it without the help of the Adventurers Guild. We just don’t have the information, nor the reason to have it, about the different Regions scattered across the Local Group.”

“Hmm, that makes sense,” Reivyn said, “There was that phenomenon where all the ambient Mana went crazy and started getting dragged toward the enemy lines when we were in Vairo. Have any of the other expeditions reported something similar?”

“Every one of them,” Kayzor confirmed.

A throat clearing interrupted Reivyn’s whispered conversation with Kayzor. He looked up to see Gennet and the generals looking at him.

“So, Reivyn, what do you think?” Gennet gestured to the map.

“I think…” Reivyn drug the word out as he inspected the map again. “That we need more information.” He shrugged. “The hypothesis that the invaders will send out more invasions in waves has some merit to it considering the fact they seem to be doing something with the local Mana.

“Whether or not our Region is going to be targeted in the future isn’t something we can know with what little information we have right now. That doesn’t mean we can’t prepare, of course, but I think we’re already doing that.”

“Go on,” Gennet encouraged.

“Yes, sir. Trevor informed me that the soldiers and crafters are increasing their potential with the efforts we’ve been making with sending military aid to those being invaded.” Reivyn nodded toward Trevor. “Has my father explained to you our thoughts on the enemy tactics?”

Gennet shared a look with Refix and nodded his head in confirmation.

“They’re far more brutal than we are, and they’re more willing to sacrifice the lives of their troops. Not only that, but from what we’ve seen, they can afford to.

“Whipping the civilian population into a frenzy now wouldn’t be the right move. People would panic, and even if we are targeted in the future, it might not be for a long, long time. People will grow complacent and forget our warning by the time something does happen.

“However, I think we need to increase our deployments. We don’t have to adjust our tactics for more radical, dangerous means, but we need to get as many bodies the necessary combat and Life Experience for higher Tier Class options. Dungeon runs to increase Experience to capitalize on the increased potential should also be expanded.

“We can’t have the army burnout, though. Instead of sending the same soldiers on endless deployments and Dungeon delves, we’ll probably need to dramatically increase the size of the military.

“The mercenary deployments will be able to help out with the finances, but it won’t cover everything. Raising a military is expensive. Have you thought about recruiting more Adventurers from the vassal kingdoms?”

Gennet gestured to the Guild Master.

“That’s one of the other reasons Master Huildare is here.”

The Guild Master, Master Huildare, nodded to Reivyn. He was aware of the mercenary company Reivyn had put together, and Reivyn was sure he had seen reports of the Adventurers returning from Vairo that chose to leave the mercenary company after the one deployment.

“That was another thing I was going to discuss with you after your vacation,” Gennet said, a gleam in his eye. “We already have the organization set up, so Princess Kefira will nominally remain in charge of the Adventurer Mercenaries with you in actual command.

“We’ve already started, but we’re expanding the program to increase the size from a company to a regiment. I’m promoting you to the rank of Major, and General Kayzor is going to be in charge of the domestic administration. Trevor is going to be training for another year or two as a Lieutenant, but he’ll eventually be Kayzor’s aide with the idea of having him take over one day.”

Many thoughts and implications raced through Reivyn’s mind at this news.

“What is the chain of command going to look like?” He asked. It was the most important, immediate question he had.

“Princess Kefira is in charge overall, on paper, at least. General Kayzor is in charge of the training and administration. You, Reivyn, are the field commander. Even though Kayzor is a general and technically outranks you, your position is equivalent to his while in garrison here in Willowan. In the field, you are the absolute commander.”

“What about my own officers?” Reivyn continued to ask.

“The officers you choose will be given commissions in the Imperial Army,” Gennet asked. “It will work the same way your own commission works. You will all technically be officers in the Imperial Army, but you’re chain of command is parallel up to me through Kefira.

“Only the officers will be considered members of the Imperial Army. The officers will be professional soldiers, but the enlisted, even the highest ranking sergeants, will still just be auxiliaries.

“While they won’t have the benefits of being members of the Imperial Army, they will have other advantages. For instance, they’ll be able to leave the mercenary corps more easily. They won’t have to devote years of service, and they won’t have to participate in anything outside of what your require of them.

“The selection and commissioning of officers will be left to you, Kefira, and Kayzor.”

Reivyn shared a look with Kayzor before looking back to Gennet.

“Good. Kayzor, Kefira, and I will iron everything out in the near future,” Reivyn said.

“Excellent,” Gennet clapped his hands together. “Put everything together and let me know if you need anything. Master Huildare has also volunteered to assist, so don’t leave his expertise and resources on the table.”

Gennet turned back to his generals. Reivyn and Kayzor shared a look.

“Looks like we’ll be working a lot closer together from now on,” Reivyn said with a smile.

“Yep!” Kayzor returned the smile with a grin of his own. “This will also give us more opportunities to train and spar together.”

“Haha, don’t let my dad hear you.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Reivyn just grinned at Kayzor. Kayzor frowned as he felt a gaze on the back of his neck. He looked up to see Refix staring at the two of them, a predatory look on his face.

“Too late,” Reivyn said.