บท 4: Becoming a Soldier
Zak was surprised by Evan's actions, but after a short thought, he replied, "Guy, it's all in your hands. Do you want to die? Go ahead."
"Mr. Zak! Do you really allow him to act like that?" The soldier Evan had pointed to, was clearly not thrilled with such turn of events.
Zak looked at the soldier and grudgingly said: "What? You're afraid to take on some kid who's still wet behind the ears? Maybe I should pick a worthy one myself!"
At the harsh voice of his commander, the soldier fell silent. He drew his sword from its sheath and stood in front of Evan.
"Sucker, I don't know what demons are in your head. But that was the worst decision you`ve ever made."
Evan, on the other hand, only muttered quietly: "You're not a soldier, you're just a talkative idiot."
Whoosh.
Without warning, Evan attacked his opponent. He swiftly attacked with his sword from top to bottom, hoping to kill the soldier with a single blow.
Clang.
The man reacted instantly and blocked Evan's blow. However, Evan`s attack didn't end there. He simply continued to press on with his sword, exerting tremendous force, which he had acquired after receiving the Lion Sigil.
<HAHAHAHA, this is just unbelievable. I don't know what it is, but that physical power is just beyond praise!
On the inside, Evan was jubilant and insanely happy about his power. Right before his eyes, his opponent's legs were gradually sinking into the ground, and the soldier's hands were trembling violently. It seemed that in a few seconds he would no longer be able to maintain his block.
"Is that all you can do? Garbage!"
Crack.
Evan put even more force into his attack. He snapped his opponent's sword in two, slicing through the soldier's chest in the process.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A terrified cry of hellish pain echoed around the area, but Evan didn't stop there. While the man was trying to come to his senses, Evan gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and pierced his heart.
Splash.
Blood streamed from the wound. Evan quickly pulled the sword from the soldier's body, and their fight was over.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"AHAHAHAHAHA, young man, that's the second time I've applauded you today, you're just some kind of find. I've never seen people as crazy, cold-blooded and bloodthirsty as you. Moreover, you're also very young."
Zak didn't care at all that his man had died in front of him. Truth be told, he didn't care about any of them. In his opinion, every member of his squad was a real wimp who had to go to the war. He was more than sure that ninety percent of his squad would die in the first battle.
"Does that mean I'm a full-fledged soldier of your squad now?" Evan's voice was hard and clear. He had a goal and he was definitely going to achieve it.
The commander's answer shocked him greatly.
"No, you will not become a soldier."
Hearing Zak's answer, Evan frowned heavily and prepared for battle. But the most unbelievable words followed then.
"You are worthy of so much more. You will be my helper and the second man in the whole squad."
Zak pointed to the saddle of his horse, "Get on, ride with me."
Besides Evan, absolutely everyone was surprised, from the commoners to the soldiers. Before that, they hadn`t even had anyone in such a rank as an assistant commander.
Moreover, there was only one horse and it was commander`s one. He was the only one who couldn't be bothered to walk. Now, there was some lad, who in an instant became practically the most important man in the squad.
Evan smiled and quickly climbed onto his horse.
Then the squad moved on. As time passed, the number of people only increased and increased. They constantly visited small towns and villages where Zak recruited new people.
Also in one of the villages, Zak was offered a sturdy stallion to keep the son of the village chief from going to his death.
Normally, Zak was not interested in such offers and declined them. But this time, with a big smile on his face, he accepted the horse and gave it to Evan.
The stallion was fairly ordinary- brown color, short black mane, and average size. But in that situation, it was truly a royal conditions.
After about half a day, the squad had reached a base of sorts, where more than five hundred people were waiting for Zak.
At a glade, right next to the forest, there were a lot of the simplest tents. They contained the soldiers, who, by and large, were cannon fodder.
All the soldiers had gone to their posts or to their tents. Zack gave the order to take the horses to the stables and called Evan to him.
"Evan, let's go, you deserve a bigger reward for your performance than some second-rate horse."
Zak headed calmly toward the largest and tallest tent in the camp. Next to it, there were several other slightly less imposing, but still wide and spacious tents.
Zak was the full-fledged commander of the entire squad and this huge tent was his personal property.
"Come in."
Inside the tent, Evan saw a wide table with lots of papers of all kinds and several stands of armor and weapons.
<Compared to a prison cell, these are simply royal chambers.> Evan appreciated the interior decoration. But he still didn't know the purpose why the commander called him there.
Zak walked over to the stand, and picked up one of the swords.
"Here, it's yours now." The sword scabbard was made of good quality leather. The sword itself was wide and long. It was forged of steel. Evan's attention was drawn to the strange green color at the edges of the blade.
"Thank you, but what are these strange green pigments?" Evan was certain that this sword was far from as simple as it appeared at first glance. It was definitely different from other most ordinary steel swords.
"This sword was sharpened using such amazing stones called - 'Sharpening Stones', a simple but most appropriate name. These stones are filled with mana, and when you sharpen a sword with such stones, you can achieve unparalleled sharpness. The sword you had before isn't even sharp by comparison. It's a completely different level. I give it to you, in the hope that you will accomplish great things in the future."
A pile of information poured out at Evan, but he understood it all easily. Once again, he thanked Zak for such a valuable and rare gift. Evan didn't know why he was so good to him.
If it was because the squad leader saw some potential in him, all that was good for him. You could say that to a certain extent that was what he wanted.
The most important thing wasn't even the gift. From Zak's words, Evan learned that mana existed in this world, too. Just like in his home world, which couldn't help but make him happy.
Of course, he had previously used the sigil of one of the 72 demons to kill Abigail. But for that, in addition to mana, he could use the life force. So it wasn't a hundred percent proof.
"But that's not all, my young friend, tell me what type of armor do you like better?"
"If it`s possible, I would like a light type of armor, preferably leather." Evan had never liked armor. In his opinion, it was too big, heavy, bulky, and terribly uncomfortable.
Hearing Evan's answer, Zak hesitated, and after a while, he walked out of the tent.
"Evan, follow me!"
The young man quickly followed Zak. A few minutes later, they reached the huge tent, which appeared to be a kind of warehouse for all the equipment.
At the entrance, Zak was greeted by a pair of guards. They looked in amazement at the young lad walking behind their commander.
...
"What do you think of this one? Made of black wolf hide. It's light, supple, and will provide quite a bit of protection. I think it's just what you need." Zak pointed to the black leather armor, which Evan immediately liked.
"Yeah, it looks pretty good, I think it's exactly what I wanted." Evan inspected the armor from top to bottom, then put it on.
"Well? How does it fit?"
Evan smiled weakly and said contentedly: "It's like it was made for me. Commander Zak, when we are going to battle?"
Zak smiled broadly, patted Evan on the shoulder and replied, "As I see you're ready to fight. Don't worry, very soon we will be on a real battlefield. Death will be everywhere. We move out tomorrow."
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