Chapter 9: The Recruitment.
Empirical year 95
"Something is not right." The man dressed in full armour moving on the war steed moved closer to the general and whispered.
The man in front was one star general of 3th regiment of 17th corps of the empire, Korai Dhanman. The 17th corps was one of the independent corps of 50,000 soldiers not under any army or front, consisted of one 20,000 men legion and six 5,000 men regiment. The 17th corps was headed by 'The Red General' Akai, a 3-star general.
Korai was one of the generals who were present from the birth of the corps, was slow but steady better known for his defensive attitude. Contradictory to the all offensive status of the 'The Red corps'.
Korai nodded his head as he looked around. The path through the forest was littered with the bodies. Bloody spots were all over the places. It was a merchant route, so it was quite natural to have bandit here. But they usually avoid doing such a bloodbath in open.
"They do not look like any merchants, rather…"
"They are the bandit. Could these be the infighting?" Korai thought for a moment, "Send some men to check." The first armoured man soon sent a lieutenant with his 50 men platoon.
"Secure the perimeter." With the general's order, the soldiers move into action. Not all of the army was cavalry. There were infantry and archers too. There was also come of civilian present there but their number is not more than 500.
Soon enough the scouting party returned and the report compelled Korai to move towards the bandit base. But by the time Korai reached the base, it was already over.
The boy was not more than 10. Dyed in red with a big talwar in his back, he was panting. He had to support himself with a gladius.
The moment he entered the child's vision the child took the fighting stance. Being in the army from the age of 16 Korai had fought with many people, still, he was unable to find any gap in his stance.
"In the name of Red Corps of the empire, I order you introduce yourself." The might of a general was not something that anybody can stand up to. But to his surprise, his question was greeted by another question from the child.
"Are you from the imperial army?"
Korai stopped his major from shouting, "Yes we are RED corps."
"Do you know Moon Legion?"
The heart inside Korai's rib thumped for a moment. But before he could say anything the child had already fallen to the ground. He signalled his man who moved in the child. But the thought inside his head was in total disarray.
'The Moon Legion wasn't like a secret army, but very few people knew about it. On the top of that, it was long…'
"General, the boy is alive, just unconscious."
"Clean the area. Check the base. We will be staying here for the night." With the swift order, he left.
Kinoya opened his eyes but everything around him was silent. There was a blue fire magic crystal in the tent. Being in the tent surprised him for a moment but soon recalled everything.
He straightened up. His sense was tingling. He could feel more than 4 pairs of eyes on him. But he couldn't find other than the four.
'This is the power of the army the old man had told me about.' Putting his thought aside he spoke. "Please come out."
"So you are awake?" The one came in was the same one that he had seen last, without any pleasantries he ordered, "Put your hand on the orb." Kinoya compiled without hesitation.
[Name: Kinoya Arviga
Age: 12
Record: No criminal record.
Recommendation: The Arviga Duke, The Moon general, ########
Title: None
Pseudo Title: Little Moon General]
The data that shows in the orb was different from the orb that shows skill. It was made for military use. But Kinoya didn't know that nor could see what was seen in the orb.
"What about the Moon legion?"
Just to be sure Kinoya answered with truth. "I was recommended to join Moon Legion." To his surprise, the man sitting in front of him accepted it without hesitation.
"Are you the son of the moon general?" Kinoya was stunned, "Why were you called 'Little Moon General'?" Kinoya took another look at the orb, he can feel that the orb somehow gave him away.
"Because I was recommended by the Moon General himself. And not many before me got such high evaluation. People around the city called me that." He felt it was better if don't talk about the moon general badge.
"Why are you here?" Hearing Kinoya's answer he was surprised. A 12 years old child separated from his friends would like to go back to his friends first, but the one in front of him was a total mad. He was going to join the military and why? 'Because it was too much hassle to go back to the city.' So Kinoya said.
If Korai didn't see his recommendation list he would have thought this boy was lying. But the recommendation from not just Moon General also the Arviga Duke changed it all. With the current situation of the royal palace, nobody dared to imagine how much power he holds right now. On top of that, the name of the third person was classified.
'I have to take him in the Red Corps.' A voice was screaming in his head. "If you want to join the military you are welcome to join us."
The sudden change of attitude of the general surprised Kinoya for a moment. 'Is this some kind of player recruitment? The war in this world is really right?' He asked with a straight face, "Can't I join the Moon Legion?"
"Well, you can't join the Moon Legion right now."
"Why?"
"For starter, there is no Moon legion right now. And what was left of the Moon legion is at the border of the empire and the Kingdom of Godola. And we are going to the military city of Nylos at the border to the country of Torria."
In his time at the Arviga academy, he had an overall view on the geography. It was like from east to west.
"It will take more than 2 months on a horse, half a year won't be enough on foot." The general added.
'He would have made a hell of an insurance seller.' But Kinoya didn't say out loud. "It's not like we are in a war something." For the first time, his words stunned the general. He felt like somehow he hit the right spot. The general was quick to avert his eyes.
"How much time do we have?" the general would have never thought that a 12 years old child will get the meaning of his silence. He couldn't help to praise the Kinoya inside. "Six months at most."
"Will there be a training camp at the Nylos or straight in the pit?" Every word of Kinoya made him felt like he wasn't talking to a child.
"There will be."
"I will go to the Nylos."
'This child never ceased to amaze me.' The thought inside the head of Kinoya was totally different. 'It's not like I will be a general if I join the Moon legion now and it's better to start from the bottom.'
It took half a month for them to reach Nylos. On the way to the Nylos, the regiment stopped at the different cities and villages to gather around the able-bodied man to join the Red Corps. But there were two things that surprised Kinoya.
Firstly, unlike he heard the stories the armies never forced anyone to join the army nor they were expecting one from each household. It was very much optional. What was more amazing was that they were getting more volunteers they were expecting. They choosing around 10-20 men from each city where a maximum of 5 from the villages where they could get 100 even from a village if they wanted.
And Nylos, not the kind of city he thought it to be. It was more like cave town in the mountain with vast framing land around it. The only thing that was indicating that it was a military city was its wall and some of the important infrastructure without which it will be hard to live.
There were more than 7000 people who were recruited. Soon enough Kinoya found that the cave mountain-like thing was for the recruiter to stay and he was sharing one with 7 more peoples. There was the brawny one who was named Biskas, 7 ft tall, body with bronze muscle with hairs over the face but not on his head. The height of the cave was little small for him but that didn't stop him from dominating it.
"I am Biskas, from Cerue. I am the strongest one here so I will be the leader of the cave." That was the introduction he gave. To Kinoya the marking meant nothing for him, nor did he care. But it was not like everyone think like him.
"Why would you be the leader? I could be the leader too." The boy was medium build, but with the right muscle at the right place. Kinoya was sure that the boy trained well from the young age. He was called Akori.
"Because I am the strongest here," Biskas said without hesitation.
"No, if we are talking about the biggest one, then you are the one but you are not the strongest."
By age, Kinoya was the youngest but the one older than him was bickering like babies. He knows they were nothing like him nor they could beat him but fortunately for them, he wasn't interested in being the leader of the cave. He was most interested in the boy at the edge of the cave.
'Chanakya Vishnugupta.' Unlike him or the other in the cave this guy was not orphan, so he had a real last name rather than the name he grew up in. Kinoya was sure this guy can beat those bickering guys easily, not didn't do it. Somehow he had a different vibe from the other.
'The guy is too mature for his age.'
[Status Check: The host is only 12 years old.]
'This must be the reason the system is called the broken system.' Kinoya already learned to ignore the sarcastic comment of the system.
Akori is quite adopted in fighting. Being up against a big build he using his moves perfectly well. Kicking on the back on the knees, he quickly brought down Biskas on his knees. But it was unfortunate for him that the cave was too small and the reach of Biskas was quite large. Not after long Akori was slammed at the cave wall by the big fan like hands. Some groan escaped his mouth ending the futile struggle.
"Does anybody has any other problem?" Biskas roared as he shakily stood up.
[Skill check: Skill [Intimidation] is used.]
[Due to the difference in stats the effect been nullified.]
[Does host want to active the skill [Counter-intimidation]?]
The rejection from Kinoya was greeted by another sarcastic comment from the system. But what caught his eyes was the spark of battle spirit that disappeared just the moment it appeared in Chanakya's eyes.
Due to lack of any opponent Biskas lightly limped towards the place close to the fire. Akori sat back up with the support of the wall and was biting some weird coloured leaves. Remaining three were soon divided in three one went to Biskas, one was with Akori from the beginning and the last one close to the Kinoya.
"I am JB. JB Moma. You are Kinoya right?" Kinoya just nodded. "You are the youngest one in the whole camp. I am also 14, just the age to join the army. Why are you want to join the army?"
"I was evaluated to be one." There wasn't a shard of friendliness in his face but that didn't damp the enthusiasms of JB.
"Me too," He said with a smile. "I will be an archer I think. Both my agility and dexterity is high. I wanted to be a mercenary but the way it is now there will be a war soon. And the war will be a great chance to raise the merit, if you lucky to survive then it will be like pies falling from the sky. And the rear position will be the safest place to survive in the battle. Hey, is it really true that you cleaned a whole bandit camp with a galdius?"
The talk caught Kinoya by surprise. He didn't understand how did it go from the being a mercenary to the bandit camp. He unconsciously nodded.
[Skill check: The skill [Persuasion] been used.]
[Absence of ill intent.]
[Unable to detect.]
[So you are a child after all.]
'Isn't that your inability that you couldn't able to detect it?' The broken system didn't respond to Kinoya's question. And JB was excited, but his word was never loud.
"That is awesome. I couldn't believe that I will be in the same cave as you. With your power, you will be a sergeant from the beginning. Too bad an archer and a swordsman can't be on the same squad. When you become a captain don't forget about me. By the way is it true that you were recommended by the Moon General?"
[Skill Check: [Persuasion] have been blocked.]
The skill was blocked but this guy is really amazing. Somehow he was able to dig out his secrets. This guy would make a great spy. If I am really become a general I want this guy in my team. Kinoya didn't express it just asked, "How do you know?" JB just smiled but didn't answer. After some empty talks, all of them went to sleep.
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