Perceived Fate

The sun replaced the dim red, as morning came Malum and the rest of the group rose like clockwork. By now conversation wasn’t even needed as they moved like robots towards their clothes and weapons.

The first word spoken was about the vote and after the usual result came through it was training grounds they shuffled off to.

After working up a sweat, the group went down for roll call.

Overall, it was mundane, average, monotonous and every other word for a boring morning.

However, making the day more interesting was the hunt which the Troop Leader was reading off some warnings about. Stuff like don’t leave your group, call for a help when needed, safety first, and other stuff Malum honestly thought wouldn’t affect him.

As long as he remained calm, and took out the opponent in front of him then, every other problem either didn’t affect him or didn’t really matter that much.

His safety was top priority, his team members next, and then everyone else.

The group by now was close, but Malum was forcing himself away from them becoming true close friendships. It was for both of them. Selfish or not, he needed to live and that was the end of it.

They performed a group prayer to the God of Hunting and received some of their iron weapons from the Troop Leader. Everyone was happy to see them, it gave them hope.

Marching was never really taught as it was seen by the instructors as a waste of time, so instead they walked in their groups. Martial society had always prioritised self-strength over group strength but that didn’t necessarily mean that groups were never formed.

Malum had heard of Clans after all, Sects were deeply imbedded into folklore and tales bards would spin on the odd occasion. The only issue was finding the truth in between the exaggeration and the flat out lies.

The green forest hang over Malums eyesight, hiding the piercing sun above them. Summer was getting closer and closer and with it the sun grew brighter and stronger. The air grew dense with its own sweat and that made breathing only tougher.

It was a far better situation than the march towards the base camp, but Malum could still see slackers hanging around the back, their groups practically dragging them by their arms.

Malum was proud of the group members he had raised. He wouldn’t claim their achievements as his own, but he could certainly say he helped them on their journey.

Jerome had gone from barely achieving to one of the top trainees. Gerald had only grown stronger, from dense rock to a gemstone. Alicia and Jake had not only married but they had also both grown in rankings, and both had put in just as much effort as the rest.

They were now around halfway to completion. Now they got see what they would be up against and what all that training had done.

Not today though, much to Malums disappointment. They packed a few days’ worth of food, so it seemed that the opponents were further away then what Malum realised.

It did make sense, if the frontlines were so close to home Malum would have felt more unease than his slight annoyance at an extended hike.

Mountain after mountain, over a river and a small marsh. They finally arrived at what the Knight called the frontlines and looking out into the distance it was pretty clear why.

Demons ate pretty much everything. They were an incredibly diverse species and that left whatever territory they conquered pillaged beyond belief.

Trees, shrubs, fish, grass, even some types of dirt wasn’t left off the menu. So when entering demonic territory you were really entering baron land because it was exactly that. Baron.

Forest turned into a dirt desert. Such an uncanny sight left most of the troop speechless. This was the enemy they would face, a natural disaster worse than any other humankind had ever faced.

Thankfully for mankind, demons did eat everything and that included their own brethren. So infighting was common and such most of its resources were spent wasted on itself rather than outwards.

For the little kingdom Malum was in, this was the main reason they hadn’t been eaten yet.

Fear was emotion everyone around him radiated. Seeing such destruction and realising that you would be the focus of its creator was terrifying.

Malum sucked that feeling into his bones. He needed his heart rate up, he needed his reactions as fast as possible, this fear was his weapon and he would need it.

The Troop Leader spoke some words. Calming the fears of the troop, and reminding them of the punishment of cowardice. Die for your country, or die for your cowardice. In other words, be a martyr or a traitor.

Everyone in the troop choose to martyr themselves, and they marched forward into the Baron wasteland.

Because of demons endless desires, teaming up was beyond rare and the only being which did were of the strength where the knowledge wasn’t going to help you escape. The book they had raid simply suggested to say your prayers, as you would soon return to the Dao.

Thankfully as impossibly strong they were they were also impossibly rare. That meant that it would be one fight at a time during times away from waves.

Speaking of the Troop also learned of their deadline to leave. 2 days before the next wave which also correlated to their 32 days left until their deployment.

The group marched on, looking for their first sight of a real demon.

The Troop Leader was looking around with as strange sense of unease. He was usually found with a dumb grin and yet now he looked serious.

This affected the entire troop as they themselves followed suit. In the march they were talking and joking, now they were silent and starring.

This was all they had worked up for. So much anxiety had built up towards the demons and now they were finally going to see one.

It didn’t take long. The Leader spotted it first, calling upon Malums squad to deal with the threat.

Variant – 002 known by soldiers as the Titanoboa: old language for Large Snake. It was as long as 50 tall human, and the iron weapons they had were known to only leave scratched on the beast.

It had good offense and good defence. For a first opponent it was incredibly strong.

Malums and his group however were convinced of their victory and as the beast slithered towards them they thought of their plan.

Marching wasn’t all they did and as much as Gerald liked to joke around Malum preferred productive talk and strategizing against variants was what the group liked the most.

In terms of weakness’ the beast had a weak point below its jaw. This was where the scratches would instead penetrate and so this was the target.

To get it into that position, Jake and Alicia would distract the beast with their speed whilst Malum and Jerome would deal some annoying scratches to the beasts skin. Gerald would land the final hit and that was essentially the plan.

Certainly wasn’t perfect but none of them knew how the beast would react exactly so the plan would have to do.

Rearing its head the beast finally grew close enough for the group to get a feel of its sheer size. It was as thick as an oak tree and its eyes were alone were as big as Malums head.

The beast starred at them. Their eyes, a bewitching red.

They felt it in their bones. These were the eyes of a predator and they were they prey.

A battle wasn’t completely physical. Seeing such a beast made Malum want to run away. He doubted himself, he doubted his group. How could they kill such a beast?

But they had to. It was either of them, or it. So they charged forwards.

Jake and Alicia broke ahead of the pack and began by splitting up towards either side of the beast. Ideally they would circle the beast as they dodge its attacks this would leave the other distractions some more breathing room whilst Gerald went in for the final hit.

The Snake choose Jake as its opponent and slithered towards him first. Alicia maintained distance with the snake as Malum and Jerome closed in further. Jake himself was sweating immensely as he ran away from the beast.

He was faster, but stamina would favour the beast and especially in the desert dirt environment it held the advantage. Luckily for him, Malum and Jerome had finally closed in and with the Snakes low range of vision it only noticed the group once scratches began to etch itself onto its body.

Feeling the rough skin against his sword. Malum could not help but curse. Reading about its defence was not as impactful as feeling the sword barely penetrate the beasts skin as the force instead vibrated back into Malum muscles.

The recoil hurt but Malum continued to slash further. The sharp edge of the blade quickly becoming duller as it wore itself against the skin.

The beast began to slither back onto itself, to see who dared to attack its body. Jake now turned back to help distract the beast further. Alicia caught the eye of the beast as she purposely waved to get its attention.

Seeing its prey act so audaciously, the Snake let out of hiss as it went full speed towards Alicia. This knocked Jake and Jerome of the beast where they were continuing their assault.

Gerald meanwhile was observing the beast and trying to find and opportunity at the beasts neck. It was aware of its own weakness so it guarded it more than its armoured body. An opportunity would be needed as stamina was slowly drained from the group.

Axing away at the beasts iron like skin, Malum felt his stamina quickly draining away. As the Leader he would need to adapt their strategy and he felt now was around the right time.

Right now they were going nowhere, they needed to force the opportunity rather than wait it out.

He needed the beast to rear its head, the opponent would need to be close. With that in mind Malum shouted to Jerome as he updated him. And the two went closer to the head as they adapted to their new plan.

Instead of itching the beats they would instead go for the head. Its eyes were also weak points and so that was their target.

Alicia was running like hell, as the crumbling dirt below her was quickly pushed against so she could make distance from the incoming beast. The air, at least, was fresh and the temperature was fairly mild.

How they were going to fight in the peak of summer was still a haunting question she would soon have to face. As she continued she felt the beast stop for a moment and turned to see Malum and Jerome had caught up to the head.

At first, she panicked as that was not the plan but seeing the expression of her Leader she knew that the situation was alright.

As she ran back to the beast, Malum and Jerome had updated Jake and all three were focused on harassing the beasts head.

Gerald had found an opportunity to climb onto the beast and as he slowly made his way towards the head. The group slowly felt the situation turn for the better.

The beast had its eye of all three of the rats who were attacking it. The small metallic sticks they held were the only part that itched him and yet their speed was shockingly fast.

They were like flies and so at first it wanted to escape but they just wouldn’t leave him alone. Another fly joined them and that only made it worse, so instead of running the beast focused attacking the first fly that had attacked him. Jake.

The beast slithered towards him. Holding his sword Jake thought of ways he could finally create that opportunity. Seeing the beast, an idea came to his head. It was madness but he reckoned it would work.

He was getting tired and his brain was on overdrive to end the situation so he could continue his restful pleasures. This was it and so he turned to face the beast, then he ran at full speed towards it mouth.

Seeing his mad squad member, Malum questioned Jake’s sanity but quickly tried to find reasons behind his strange change in movement. So far they had been avoiding its mouth, afraid of the sharp teeth it held but now Malum found the reason why Jake was running towards it.

He signalled to Gerald that his opportunity would soon come and also joined in as they all ran together.

Jake took a deep breath as he continued to run towards the beasts mouth.

Closer and closer Jake thought of his next movement with as much detail as his brain could fathom. He was going to turn, as fast as he could, using the beasts blind spot to hide his change and then stab the beast in the eye.

Closer and closer, his heart beat rising faster and faster. All into the moment they met.

Jake felt the beasts speed, faster than expected. Rushing towards him, he doubted but didn’t have time to hesitate so he moved as fast as his body let him.

Muscle strained against the order, adrenaline pushing his body to limits it didn’t know. The movement wasn’t hard, like a simple sidestep. It was the speed at which it was achieved which allowed him to plunge his sword into the beasts eye.

Jake felt some of his leg muscles give up on him. Luckily the beast was rearing its head and didn’t noticed his wounded figure in its now far larger blind spot. Out of energy, Jake hoped his teammates would finish of the beast. Now it was time for him to rest.

The beast was overjoyed that the fly seemed to give up. Running towards its mouth, the beats opened its jaw to swallow his annoyance whole but instead of human flesh it tasted he instead saw the human side step its mouth as it saw a sword flying towards its eye.

As a snake turning was hard, its body simply didn’t do the movement as easy as other predators. It hadn’t faced this fly’s kind before and seeing it move so quickly sideways had surprised the beats to no end.

Feeling its eye bleed. The metal stick slowly bleeding his vision into a pure red and half of all the beats could see faded into blood.

Afraid, the beats began to curl up. Protecting his weak points with his solid skin. Turning into a small mound, the Snake felt safe as darkness surrounded itself.

Gerald was inside this black abyss. He had managed to sneak inside the ball of snake by hitching a ride on its back and thankfully the Beast had yet to notice him.

He could hear the beast breathing. The rise and fall of the lungs, the steady and rhythmic heart beat all only enhanced by the pitch-black darkness his eyes could see.

The neck was his target, and the beasts glowing eyes would guide him there. He could see them, the red eye reflecting off its impenetrable skin. He could see where the head was, he could smell the blood from Jake’s wound.

He closed in slowly, making sure he wouldn’t be noticed by the beast. His smell was covered, now it was just movement he would need to mask.

Slowly he moved down the beasts skin, but the beast had closed its eye. His source of light was gone.

Careful not to panic, Gerald thought back to where its head was. He visualised where he would need to go, and began taking steps towards his objective.

He slowed his breathing, making sure his heart wouldn’t give him away. It wasn’t fear that would be give him away. Feeling his own smile, excitement would the perpetrator. Never had Gerald felt so thrilled. Sparing was fun, but this was a different level of fun.

One step, two steps. Skin turned to dirt, as he found himself closer to the head. Then, he pulled his sword, aimed and slashed as hard as his body allowed him to.

He felt the blade hit something, then thankfully it managed to push through. The smell of blood erupted and Gerald felt the small abyss he was in release as small gabs appeared within the snakes position.

With its body no longer forcing itself closed Gerald once again saw sunlight.

Slowly climbing out, Gerald and the squad rushed together as they felt the immense joy over their victory.

A demon was dead and they had killed it.

Luck had certainly played a large role in the win but Malum didn’t care. At that moment all he felt was joy. Hope that he wouldn’t survive became more certain he saw mighty demon fall at his own efforts.

As the group celebrated their victory they saw the others watching from a hill nearby come closer. They as well were happy at seeing the demon eliminated but the Troop Leader was full of criticisms.

“Tell me again the basic rule of Demon Subjegation.”

Like a flock of birds they chirped the rule, “Safety is priority number 1.”

“Right then so did we forget this before or during your risky kill.”

Malum did have to admit that Jake took an unnecessary risk. He had not seen clearly his sidestepping of the Snake but from the weakness of Jake’s movement Malum could guess the man had strained something to hard.

“And not only that but you also left too much to luck. You better say your prayers to the God of Luck because the actions that got you the kill were mostly that.”

Jake wanted to defend that but Malum nudged him enough to get him to be quiet. The Troop Leader was clearly more experienced in this regard and such his judgment was going to be better than some kid who had only fought once.

Intelligence was a good asset, but sometimes it made Jake think he was the most knowledgeable person in the room. Experience wasn’t something Jake usually faced against.

Removing the tension, the Troop Leader spoke again.

“However, as lucky and reckless you where you did kill the thing so congratulations. No deaths or even severe injuries will get you a reward once we are back as base camp. Your plan whilst flawed still worked in the end so again, well done.

The next group will be the opposite end of the spectrum, Doom n’ Gloom it’s your turn. Once we find the beast and I set you off remember that safety is priority number one.”

“Sir, yes Sir.” The Squad let out.

The Squad Leader had long given names to the squads and they based mostly off the tournament rankings. Their nickname was Stars because they were all doing extremely well in the rankings and were only rising higher.

The joyful mood continued for a short while as the group felt universally relieved that their objective was even possible. So much had they heard that demons where this unbeatable enemy heard only in legends and the fact that they had seen one die really let these expectations come to reality.

That happy mood. Talking about how perhaps they would return home, dimmed immediately once the Doomed came back from their hunt.

At first, everything seemed to be going well. They were faced against another Variant – 002 and Malum watched as they turned into smaller figures as they closed in.

Their tactic remained the same as Malum’s group. Afterall, they had succeeded doing it so why wouldn’t they.

Reality hit them harshly. The Snake used its tail to knock a distracted member to the ground and with surprising speed, Malum watched as he saw that same tail knocked the ground where the member now laid stunned.

Again. It smashed the member its tail, again, and again, and again.

He saw the tail reflect red. He heard the Troop Captain roar as he ran down to help the group but it was too late.

The death of one stunned the others and by the time they had realised that running was their best option another two fell.

The Troop Leader made quick work of the beast, his sword ignoring the tough hide and cleanly built up enough deep wounds to end the beast.

It was only a few minutes, yet the group of 59 had soon become 56.

Malum would be lying he said he didn’t think they were going to die. But on their first hunt? To a beast not even of a higher variant.

The Snake was deadly, but that was only if you let down your guard. Otherwise, the matchup between human and beast just favoured the human and yet the beast had managed to half wipe a group.

A single demon.

3 lives were lost.

Patrick, Edward and Ronny. They were gloomy and depressing but each held a personality, a story. To be lost to something so avoidable hurt the troop and worse was the Troop Leader’s words after.

“Honestly, I thought more were going to die. With that speed, that strength, the fact that two survived was a better result than I expected.”

He was interrupted by Bear, “You knew they were going to die?”

“Oh, of course not. I didn’t know they would die; I just expected them to. They just didn’t put in the effort needed to survive and this is the result.”

Silence... never had it been so deafening. The Troop Leader didn’t so much as reveal his true colours as he never really hid them in the first place. Their lives, here, were worth nothing.

Even in the Kingdom, they weren’t worth that much but they weren’t thrown away like that.

In war though, in the battleground they stood. Their lives were worth a few words of sympathy.

People protested the Troop Leader actions, but he could simply kill them at that moment and nothing would be done about it. Insubordination and although he would have to write up a report, and he could kill everyone here.

Who would care? Their families, they already knew them to be dead. Nobody else in this realm would care and that realisation weighed on the group.

All throughout the hunt. Other variants were met, and two more soldiers died.

Authur and John.

All the bodies were carried with the group. To be sent to the underworld in due time, although for the group they just acted as a fearful reminder of the consequences of single error.