The child had already depleted his stamina and had to support himself with the pair of gladius.
The general came off the horse and closed in with careful steps. Yet 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...
'I might be able to beat him but it will be hard to leave without a scratch.' Korai took a deep breath before he shouted, "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 and added, "Yes we are RED corps."
"Do you know Moon Legion?"
A frown appeared on Korai's face when he heard the name, however before he could say anything the child had already fallen to the ground.
'It is a child after all.' He signalled his man who moved towards the child. No matter how many times he saw the dead bodies around him, he couldn't help but shudder thinking that it is a work of twelve years old. And...
'I had never expected to hear that here. They might not be a secret army, but very few people knew about them. To hear the name from a child is surprising, much less the old name…'
"General, the boy is alive, just unconscious."
"Clean the area. Secure 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 he recalled everything.
He straightened up yet his sense was tingling. He could feel more than 4 pairs of eyes on him however he had failed to confirm more than three.
'This is the power of a master from the army! The old man had told me about them.' Putting his thoughts 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 showed 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 is your connection with 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 as the orb glowed in green.
'Can the orb act as a lie detector too?' Kinoya couldn't confirm it but he was sure that the features were along the line.
"Are you the son of the moon general?" It stunned Kinoya for a moment, nonetheless, the general added. "Why were you called 'Little Moon General'?" Kinoya took another look at the orb, he can feel that the orb somehow gave his secrets 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 chose not to show the general's badge.
"Why are you here?" Hearing Kinoya's answer he had no idea about how he should respond.
"I was on the way to the capital but the caravan was attacked by bandits. So I chose to retaliate."
"... and you killed all the bandit just because of that?" The general didn't argue about it as the orb glowed in green, confirming Kinoya's truth.
'Should I say that I just wanted to test my strength?' Kinoya rejected the thought the moment it appeared. Little did he knew the damage was already done.
'What are you? Some kind of vigilante?' Korai couldn't help but re-evaluate the child in front of him.
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 went and slaughtered the whole bandit camp. Why? Because he wanted to. And alone...
Korai couldn't help but shook his head, looking at the green hue of the orb. 'Is it a child's play?'
'The boy is worthy of his recommendation.' In his mind, Kinoya had underestimated the value of the boy, even after seeing the list of recommendations.
The recommendation of a heavyweight general of the empire wasn't just for the show. But the recommendation from the Arviga Duke had a different meaning.
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.
'Someone with more power than a duke recommended him? No matter who it is, I have to take him to the Red Corps.' A voice was screaming in his head. "If you want to join the military you are welcome to join us." The general spoke with a straight face.
'Is this some kind of player recruitment?' , Kinoya took his time before adding, "Can't I join the Moon Legion?"
"Well, you can't join the Moon Legion right now."
"Why?"
"For starters, there is no Moon legion right now. And what is left of the Moon legion, is at the border of 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 of geography. If he is now at the west of the empire then the moon legion is at the far east.
'And what is it about what is left of moon legion? Could it be that they had lost many soldiers in battles?'
"It will take more than 3 months on a horse, half a year won't be enough on foot." Looking at absent-minded Kinoya the general added.
'He would have made a hell of an insurance seller.' But Kinoya didn't say out loud. "Joining a corps will be better than joining a legion. And it is not like we are at war right now"
It happened for a brief moment but Kinoya didn't miss his expression. The general was quick to avert his eyes but, 'Is it true!!?'
"How much time do we have?"
Korai hesitated for a moment before responding, "Six months at most."
"Will there be a training camp at the Nylos or straight to the pit?" Every word of Kinoya made him felt like he wasn't talking to a child.
"There will be."
"Then I will go to Nylos." That old man never taught him any technique other than the basics of the sword.
'His insane training might have increased my stats exponentially but the way I am right now, I might not be able to survive in the battlefield for too long. I should spend my time learning some good techniques and it's not like I will be a general if I join the Moon legion now.'
It took half a month for them to reach Nylos and they reached it without much problem. Very few bandits would be brave enough to attack the empirical army, to be precise, there was none.
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 two things surprised Kinoya.
To begin with, 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 then they were expecting. They were choosing around 10-20 men from each city, whereas, a maximum of 5 from the villages where they could get 100 if they had wanted. When they reached Nylos, the number of recruits swelled up to seven thousand.
The city of Nylos was nothing like Kinoya had expected. Wall, over 5 meters tall, was stretched all long as eyes can reach, with farmland spread from the edge of the wall.
Over a hundred watchtowers were spread across the land. Kinoya was surprised to see that there wasn't any giant structure other than the watchtower. Soon enough Kinoya found that the mountains, riddled with caves, where the recruits would stay.
After another checking with the orb, they were officially recruited as a trainee of the Red corps. Next was the ration for a day, a red badge and a pair of sleeveless armour. All the recruits were sent to the caves designated to them.
The cave, Kinoya had walked in, was already filled. 6 pairs of eyes turned towards him, just the moment he entered the cave. Without any intention to spare his breath, Kinoya moved and took a side of the cave.
"I am Biskas, from Cerue. I am the strongest one here so I will be the leader of the cave." The boy was over seven feet. The ceiling of the cave was too small to contain his giant body.
'Does it matter? Will the leader get extra food?' Kinoya cleaned only empty bed in the innermost part of the cave without even looking back.
Not everyone was so carefree. "Why would you be the leader? I could be the leader too." The boy was medium build, but with the right muscles at the right place, he looked intimidating enough.
"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."
Kinoya wasn't interested in the bickering boys, rather the boy close to the mouth of the cave.
'Chanakya Vishnugupta.' That was the name written on his luggage. Unlike him or the other in the cave, this guy might be noble.
'Vishnugupta' means 'the hidden mighty one'. With sufficient strength and resource, one might be able to change his title but such a mighty title was not something anybody can use. This type of title can only be bestowed by the great emperor.
'Could he be a fallen noble?' Kinoya observed for sometime before concluding that his age didn't do justice to the boy's maturity.
[Status Check: The host is only 12 years old.]
*Cough* *cough*
'This might be the reason why it is called the broken system.' Kinoya already learned to ignore the sarcastic comments of the system from time to time.
Akori, the other self-nominated leader, was quite adopted in the fighting. Being up against someone with a big build, he was using his moves perfect coordination. Kicking on the back of the knees, he quickly brought big 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. A Painful groan escaped his mouth marking the ending of 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 activate the skill [Counter-intimidation]?]
The rejection from Kinoya was greeted by another sarcastic comment from the system. But what caught his eye was the spark of fighting spirit that disappeared just the moment it appeared in Chanakya's eyes.
Due to lack of any opponent, Biskas 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 up, 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 do 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 dampen the enthusiasm 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 are 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 true that you cleaned a whole bandit camp with a gladius?"
The talk caught Kinoya by surprise. He didn't understand how did it go from archer to being a mercenary then 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. On the other hand, JB was excited, but his words were 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 archers and swordsmen 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 amazing. Somehow he was able to dig out his secrets. This guy would make a great spy.
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.