(A.N. Army ranking classifications in Lorin city
Recruit - Black star
Soldier - Bronze star
Lieutenant - Silver star
Captain - Gold star
Major - Bronze stripe
Colonel - Silver stripe
Brigadier - Gold stripe
General - (Kingdom Insignia)
This is to make reading easier)
Lee stood in front of the building and scanned it awestruck. It was exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow watching the Black Pearl going away on the crab-backs.
"Hey! Who are you?! How dare you come here?!"
His moment was ruined by a man in uniform. Lee lowered his sight and saw a young man standing in front of him.
The man wore a full-sleeve scarlet colored shirt with a pocket on its left. His well-combed yellow hair and a face with no facial features gave away his young age. His lower torso had a black pant made in a way that looked slim-fit, but hindered agility in no way. Black boots decorated his foot. A sheathed sword hung at his side. He had a single silver star attached on each of his shoulders. Lee deduced that the stars might be the symbol of army ranking.
"What are you staring at?! You look like a criminal!"
The youngman was enraged to see that a stranger had avoided his question. It hurt his pride. So he decided to threaten him. He took his sword from the sheath and pointed at Lee. The young man was expecting him to tremble from fear.
Lee felt amused by this officer's behaviour. He shook his head and tried to suppress his smile, but was in vain. The young man swung his sword with the intention of hurting Lee.
The young officer shouting outside had already attracted the attention of other red-shirted officers. Lee saw them standing around, watching this commotion. He saw that half of them were wearing a deep blue shirt.
Lee continuously evaded the young man's sword. Each evasion had a tinge of provocation in it. This completely pissed off the man and he swung his sword at Lee's neck.
The crowd around them went bonkers as they saw a man in strange attire evading killing strikes with a smile on his face. Their mixed voice became a torture to ears.
The young man started to pant as he slowed down. The sword in his hand could be barely gripped. He understood that this strange man is not an easy opponent, so he continued questioning.
"Who are you?! Why are you here?! Are you a spy?!"
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11 A.M.
450 Essence harvested.
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The first two questions were ok, but the last one made almost everyone suck in air. Some suddenly went on alert and slowly touched their sword's hilt. They were ready to pounce on him at any second.
"WHAT'S THE COMMOTION?!?!?!"
A thunderous voice proclaimed and the crowd vanished into thin air. The red and blue shirt wearing crowd fled like they saw a ghost. The young man and Lee remained. Before the young man could turn and run, a hand came down on his shoulder.
"Lieutenant Ji Yang, do you want me to take that Silver star back?!"
Sweat drops were dripping from that young man's forehead. He was so scared that words were not coming out of his mouth.
That man was taller than Lee by 4 to 5 inches. But his stout body gave him an air of terror. His brown hair was combed backward and beard a centimetre long. He wore slim-fit black pants and a white inner vest. Sweat rolled down his muscular body and drenched the vest. Lee wondered how his vest was holding up around his body.
"N...no s..sir…."
The young man stuttered in fear as the palm gripped his shoulder. Then the man let go of his shoulder and said-
"20 laps around the training ground, now!!!"
The young man ran away without voicing a noise. He went from the lion to rat in a matter of seconds. Lee confirmed that this man here has some seriously terrible background.
"And you, who are you?! State your purpose."
The big man beamed at Lee. He replied-
"My name is Lee,an adventurer. I have come to enquire about the bounty on bandits."
Lee replied without a tinge of fear. The big man scanned Lee top to bottom and asked-
"Show the evidence."
Lee can see that this man had the basic attitude of a soldier. So he flipped his left hand and produced a dead body. It fell on the floor. The big man looked at the Spatial ring and then crouched and checked the injuries on the body.
"Weird injuries! Did you kill this man?!"
Lee nodded and replies-
"18 including him."
"Were you alone?" (Man)
"Yes!" (Lee)
A faint smile spread on the big man's face as Lee said those words. He told Lee to absorb the body back to ring and follow him.
Lee followed the big man. They went through a corridor and reached an open space. The man who fought Lee before was running around the ground panting heavily. Lee guessed that this is the training grounds.
"Place the dead bodies there and come back!"
The big man's words were filled with power. Lee looked at where he pointed and went there. He brought the bodies out of the ring and kept them on the elevated platform.
Walking back to where the big man stood, Lee saw that the man now had an iron spear in his hand. The iron spear was taller than him as it stood upright on the ground. Lee came near him as he ordered-
"Greetings. My name is Ian Zhi. An Army Major and the trainer of this headquarters. Take out your weapon and fight."
Ian spoke as if he was ordering. Lee was hesitant to take out his blade. Ian softened his voice and said-
"It's a little spar. I only want to check your strength!"
Lee took out his nunchuck. The appearance of this weapon made an uproar among soldiers. Ian was anxious to see how this weapon worked.
Lee decided to depend less on the system and didn't use 'View'. D had advised him to be self-reliant. Even without 'View', he can tell that the spear was incredibly heavy. It left an impression on the ground when it was lifted.
Ian brandished his spear and observed Lee. Lee was crying inside. A spear was the worst matchup for his nunchuck. But he had hope.
Seeing Lee's hesitance, Ian swung his spear horizontally. Lee bended backward and he could hear it humming as it moved just above him.
What followed was a ruthless set of moves. Ian's iron spear was long and heavy, and perfectly handicapped Lee at the moment. His swings were evaded at a slight margin. One of his swings tore a long line in his jacket horizontally, and it pissed him off. Lee dropped his jacket and gripped the nunchuck and went to a guard state. The next second, Lee was already near Ian. But for his surprise, the spear turned at an unusual degree and nearly cut Lee's neck from behind!
Lee retreated as Ian smiled wildly. Those surrounding them shuddered at this sight. For the first time in their lives, they saw a complete rookie match up with Major Ian's ability. Many were aghast.
Lee began experimenting with 'attempt-and-run' protocol. He would close near Ian, who'll somehow make him retreat. This went on for many minutes.
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12 Mid-day.
450 Essence harvested.
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Many became bores as they only saw Lee rushing in and Ian making him retreat. The two were panting. Lee clearly had an advantage with high attributes, but Ian with his spear nullified his attempts.
A few more minutes later, Ian relaxed and let his spear fall to the ground. He began to laugh loudly as the spear rose a cloud of dust upon contact with the ground.
Lee was slightly confused and looked around. Most soldiers had dispersed and a very few remained. He observed the laughing Ian and relaxed himself cautiously.
Ian saw Lee's cautious nature and said-
"Be at ease. I'm happy as you're the first person to stand toe to toe with me in over a decade. Tell me son, who are you?! How old are you?!"