As the winter approached, the city itself braced for winter, as the farmers finished planting seeds for various wheat and vegetables, animals were killed off for meat, some were bred more intense, for food but the most important holiday was also coming. Birth of The Earth.
The holiday celebrates the birth of the world, and the defeat of the evil god, of sin and lies, manipulation. God of thieves and night. Karios. Called Koliada, because according to the local myth, the servants of Veles, decided to go down during winter to these lands to celebrate their biggest strategic victory against Karios.
Martha and a few other students, now ride through the forest on the horses, and search for their prey, specifically for the big opening ceremony dinner that is also a part of Koliada.
"Damnit, how long till we will find the right ones?" Martha asks as she holds her AK in her hand, when other students hold something resembling Type 94 Arisaka rifles, some still use old revolver rifles on old gunpowder.
"Well… Considering how far we went into the forest, I assume we are close…" Said one of the boys who are members of the hunting party. However, they also have somebody else with them.
"Do we have any specific animal we hunt? Or is it just a hunt of our choosing?" Zurogh asks as his giant mountain wolf rides along with the horses who are somewhat uncomfortable around him, despite knowing each other. Zurogh is the only one that also wears AK on his back.
"Let me check." One of the students pulled out something from his bag. A parchment. "For the night dinner of Koliada, to celebrate the defeat of Kairos, we need to be listed ingredients for food on the table." Said with a calm voice as the wolf's ears rose up, with Zurogh noticing it.
"Em, Strongfang? You noticed something?" He lies down on him as he pats his head, to calm him down.
"Woof! Woof!" His two barks were enough to get him to be more alert.
"Be more alert people, Strongfang just sensed something dangerous," Zurog said as he took off his AKM from his back and rechambered around. "Guns drawn."
He said as he made others ready their rifles and some mags. It was coming fast. The Bear. Or specifically a group of bears running against a Triceratops.
"OH SHIT! TRICERATOPS! RUN, EVERYBODY!" Zurog yelled out as Martha stood there.
"Wow… Dinos… I mean.. RUN, DINOS!" Martha was basically amazed. Living dinosaurs? Here? That world, in her mind, rocked right now! Real, living dinosaurs!
The crew of six, including Zurog, who was assigned to them as a guardian, on the hunting trip, started to run, as the bullets from their guns, managed to hit all the bears of the pack.
The real problem, was the lack of penetration on Triceratops's head or another part of its skin, making this skin the most bulletproof of them all.
"Fuck, my bullets won't do damage!" Martha yelled out as Wit looked at her concerned, when he aimed his bolt-action rifle, aiming at his head somewhere.
"Really!? I thought they are so good, Zurog praised you for it!" Wit decided to mock his sister from the distance as he ran from charging Triceratops.
"IT IS NOT THAT ADVANCED OF A BULLET! IT'S INTERMEDIARY!" Martha yelled out as Zurogh got sick of it.
"Fuck this. I am going to use my most dangerous spell…" Zurogh said as he charged up mana, in his veins, which started to glow blue as he manifested a magical circle. The circle itself showed an interesting detail, which Martha quickly recognized.
"I KNOW YOU WERE A MADMAN IN A PREVIOUS LIFE, BUT A NUKE, ZUROGH!?" Martha yelled out as he was aiming a nuke at the beast that now got its attention to Wit, who starts running now in circuits, sometimes throwing runes with explosion spells, basically throwing grenades at it. Does barely any damage.
"What are you going to do, green skin, do it fast!" Wit yelled out as he ran for his life, firing the revolver rifle's bullets, that he reloaded them with.
"!noisolpxE raelcuN :cigam eriF" The circuit itself shows how much energy was put into the spell. Martha with her knowledge of nuclear physics deduced that the strength of the explosion is 2 kilotons of TNT. Small but strong charge.
The circle fired a triangular, but the rounded charge of energy against the beast, as the ring disappeared, showing all the equations needed for successful discharge of uranium-265 in the bomb if it was built without magic.
The result was as expected, big mushroom cloud, strong explosion, and them… Surprisingly alive. What Martha forgot to notice in the ring's outer structure, was a signature of spells that gave the user and the friendlies he considered shielding from the effects of the explosion, which was the result of them surviving. There was also a nuclear radiation cancelation spell, that cleared up the blast area instantly from radiation. Also, there was another result. Trees.. Or lack of trees in the radius of the explosion.
"Wow… How we survive that!? And where is the radiation?" Martha asks as she looks at Zurogh, to whom she rode closer.
"What was that spell?" Wit asked as he looked at the green skin with other people from the group.
"Nuclear weapons. Deadly shit, using uranium 265 in its charge. A small gram of this can give you a strong explosion, radiating the area, making it unlivable. Also, you are going to be burned down by the amount of heat, this shit produced if detonated above the ground, 20 meters." Martha said as she explained in easy terms how nukes work.
"I cleared it out with radiation cleaning spell. I do not want you to catch cancer from it. Also, I used several shield spells on you and myself. That's why you are alive." Zurogh said as he looked at the dead Triceratops. "But the Triceratops is dead now."
"Knowing we learn magic here… But I still feel like you were talking in some alien language here." Wit said as he admitted he barely understood her concept. The only one who did was Zurogh.
"Then you will need to take classes in Nuclear Physics. Martha, you appear to know a lot on this one." Zurogh suggested as Martha let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Yea I do." Martha acknowledge. "But I am not a good teacher," Martha said instantly as a protest. "I am too impatient to teach others, Zurogh."
"I see." He said when they looked at the animals.
"Well, I say job well-done ~!" Samantha, one of the girls they took in the hunting trip said as she smirked, nervously smiling as she put her hands on the hips, with the horse lifting himself up a bit, making her fall on the ground. "Ah~! Stupid horse~!" She said when she got up and went back on its back.
"Hehe.." Martha laughs as she noticed Samantha's fall.
"What are you laughing at, princess bitch?" Samantha asks as she wants to provoke a fight as she loaded her last two gunpowder portions into the revolver. "Want me to put you into submission?" She asked as she looked at her with hate. She was from a poor background and to be put with a rich snob, for her, was something she did not like.
"How did you name me?" She asks as she comes closer to her as she draws out her gun and aims at her, directly. Martha was not going to fuck around. She rode the horse closer to her and stood there, with Samantha immediately getting scared.
"P..Pri… Princess.. Bitch." Samantha said as she got nervous and definitely uncomfortable with the fact that somebody aims something as advanced as the gun Martha has, which makes her scared.
"Princess Bitch, huh? If that was bed foreplay I might let that slide… But it is not it. Why did you call me that, exactly?" Martha decided to use her moment of full control over the girl.
"Martha, please stop. It's wrong." Zurogh said as it made her look at him and burst out of laugher, taking a gun from her head.
"Wait wait.. You, a dude who was previously in his life… Killed his high-ranking officers' cuz of paranoia? Buahaha~! Good one. Wish interdimensional e-mailing existed." Martha laughed as she made this statement, making Zurogh upset.
"You are lucky, I am not in a mood to just trade you a bullet in the head for that," Zurogh said as this threat made her calm down, with them looking at each other and then Zurogh and Martha, with questions.
"What did you mean, Martha?" Wit asked as he approached her closer.
"Nothing." She said as she got out of the horse and put the rifle back on her back, and went to Zurogh. "Let's get these animals on a cart or so…something."
She looks around to notice that they forgot to take a cart. "Shit."
"Shit, indeed. I have tools in that bag on Strongfang's side. Kids, help me get the wood and we will be quick with that. We are going to make the cart on site." Zurogh said as he got off his wolf, and Martha took out the tools needed for cutting trees off.
"Can't we just like.. Use a spell for it?" She asks as she looks at him.
"Nope. This is far too delicate and magic is far too violent, and you are not trained." Zurogh said as he looks at the trees in the area, picking the right ones, drawing out the two axes, using them to cut the trees. "GO ON, IF YOU WANT TO GO HOME WITH THE RIGHT FOOD!"
The kids instantly get out of the horses and make the primitive horse-stands out of sticks and primitively cut stones, so they can put the horses in their places. Some like Wit, and Martha put the leashes around the trees and went to work. Cutting them down was a difficult task, but once this was done, two trees were down, which then, Zurogh planned to use for making the wheels.
When Martha took out some sweat from her forehead, she looked at the trees and checked. "Hmm.. Do these trees have borer infestations?" She asked to be sure nothing bad is brought to the city.
"Nope, I used that area every time I needed wood, mostly for wooden stocks for the rifles." He said as he swung a smaller ax he pulled from the bag as Strongfang lied down, resting alongside the horses. "By the way, Martha. Ever did woodworking?"
"Once," Martha said as she got the smaller ax too, with some, looking at their surroundings, watching for trouble. "But not in my hometown."
"I see." He said as he whispered to her. "Back in a previous life?"
"Yup. Sorry for jumping out with that great reveal of your past." Martha said as she made him laugh a bit.
"No worries. But I would like to point out at something." He said as he sighed, as he started tearing out the outer shell of the tree, revealing pure wood. "This is going to be a very cheap-quality wood, without proper techniques but.. I can speed up the drying process."
"How?" Martha asks as he makes her stand aside from the tree logs as he uses magic.
"erif gniyrD :cigam eriF" He instantly forms a magical circle above and under the trees as the hot-red circle is slowly pulsating, making the wood dry out in five minutes, instead of five hours, using the traditional drying method, which is seen as higher quality. After this time period, he let out a sigh, as the kids gathered around when he closed the circle, with a hand clap, sending a small heatwave through the area.
"Damn that was hot," Samantha said when Arthur – one of the kids approached the team.
"Guys, I think I heard something coming closer," Arthur said as he ran towards them when he got up from the ground as he listened to shaking ground.
The shaking ground was no other than another group of hunters, who roam around these forests, especially, the Imperial Royal Guard. As the guards alongside the Emperor, who just reloaded the rifle, entered the area with the guards. "HOLD!"
"Dad!" Martha instantly recognized the armor.
"Emperor Robert?" The kids were confused as the man in golden armor got out and smiled.
"Martha!" He was definitely happy to see her alive alongside the others. "I did not expect you here." He says as he cuddled her when she ran to him.
"Long time huh?" She asks as Wit approaches him, making him open the hand for him to join in.
"Yes. We decided to go for a hunting spree to get extra food for the Koliada dinner. But looks like you got a prey I never thought I will survive a meeting with." He said as he looks at the dead Triceratops, alongside a pack of bears, with Zurogh preparing the cart, ignoring them all.
"Zurogh, old friend! Seems like we have the same prey in mind." He said as he noticed the orc and patted his kids' heads as he went to him.
"Robert," Zurogh smirks as he gets up and makes a high five welcome, with a cuddle.
"They know each other?" She asks as she looks at Wit.
"Yup, they do. Otherwise, he would not have been accepted as examiner heh." He says as the kids are smiling, the four kids did not expect this kind of visit.
"You do not have to kneel, kids. I'm privately here." He said as he let the kids get up, basically letting them go friendly with him. "How was the hunt."
"Difficult. But nothing the new guns wouldn't kill." Oliver – the nerdy kid with glasses said as he approached the king, bowing 45 degrees down, which made Martha realize where he is from. "Oliver Woods, Your Imperial Majesty."
"Oliver. Call me by my name. And it's nice to meet you all. We got heavy carts organized and ready to drive the meat to the academy."
"Robert.. And you just ruined me an opportunity to teach them how to make it themselves." Zurogh said as he chuckled a bit when he did not expect him.
"No worries, you will teach them when there will be a far better environment for it. Considering there is still a bit of snow." Robert said as he patted his shoulder.
"But it is not December. Yet. It's actually November." Orc asked as he looked at the princess coming closer.
"Curious.. Do you know about his litte.. The private secret?" She asks as Robert turns around.
"Mean that his last title was.. Comrade?" Robert asks with a cheeky smile, treating it more like a joke.
"So you know about Comrade Zurogh's past." She asks as this made Zurogh actually laugh.
"No step back. But that was for the officers, not for the regular troops. Unless they were having a lot of injured, they could not retreat." He quickly decided to demythicize the order as he suspected Martha was told in her previous life about his country.
"Yes. And thanks for clarifying. I thought it was for the soldiers." Martha said as Zurogh denied it.
"It was propaganda."
"I see." She said as she looked at the cart approaching. "Let's load the food and wood on the carts. We can't let them waste down, right, Comrade?" She asks with a bit of jokingly manner, as he sighs, knowing he can't do much to her.
"Sure, princess." He said with a disapproving tone under his nose, as he got others to help them carry. The heaviest was the Triceratops which the cart barely hold.
"Seems like we got to use levitation runes in the wheels," Robert said as he pulled out a few runes and placed them around the cart, making them slightly levitate above the ground so the dinosaur's body will not be a problem for the horse to be pulled.
Robert put the transport leash on the horse of his and got on its back. "Let's go. The night is getting close and it is not advisable for us all to travel around."
"Sure thing." Wit said as he got up on his horse, with Zurogh, Oliver, Samantha, and other people, went on their mount's back when they went back to the academy. The road was getting difficult as the weather started to change.
"Seems like we got lucky with the weather," Roman said as he looked at them. He was definitely standing out among the fit people, as he was thicker than most of them.
"Yea, let's go, or else we will have to wait for it and that is not a good combo," Martha said as the whole crew got back to the gates.
At the city gates, the guards quickly put down the gates, so the hunters can come in, knowing that they will always recognize Zurogh, and even more so, recognize the Emperor.
"Welcome, your Highness." One of the guards said. "I suppose your hunt was good?"
"Indeed it was," Robert said as he looked around. "Seems like things are getting wild these days."
"Indeed, my Emperor. People prepare for Koliada so there is going to be a lot of noise around! Be careful."
"Sure thing, will keep that in mind." He said as he went in, into the city, when others basically went in. "Keep up the good work, soldier."
"Thank you, sir. I will." He said as they raised the gates once the carts moved in together with the monarch.
"Damn, Emperor here?" Guard asked as he looked at his friend from the shift.
"Yup. Hunting grounds in the area are pretty common. Wonder if these reality-warping runes expanded their influence." Guard said as he looked at his friend. Both wore roman militia uniforms.
"Right we got to check that on next patrol." He said as he looked in the sky when the guards opened the gate again, making the trench between them and the wall passable for two new guards to get in.
"Move in, boys. We are taking it from here." A guard dressed in a black uniform said as he pointed at the gate behind him.
"Wait, already?"
"Yes." Shift change captain said. " It is almost night so we thought we will switch you earlier tonight."
"Thanks, man. I am buying you a barrel of beer later." The tired guard said as he went into the gates when the four-night guards took their posts.
"We seriously could use small outposts here or something." The night guard said as he looked in the sky.
"You can ask the emperor for it! He is in the city"
"WAIT, HE IS!? THEN WHY NOBODY TELL ME!?"
"BECAUSE NOBODY KNEW, SOLDIER! HIS HUNTING HABITS ARE UNPREDICTABLE"
"Oh, man! And the clouds start to get darker." One of the guards said in disappointment.
"No worries, it's a thick leather, made to not absorb water."
"But my hair." The younger guard said as he looked in the cloudy sky.
"No worries, you get a free shower." Shift captain said as rest of them laughed. Rest, aside the one that complained.
"That is a cruel joke, sir." He said as he looks into the sky and then sees two dragons passing by. "DAMN DRAGON RAIDERS! WATCH WHERE YOU FLY!"
His yelling got hearable by two men on the wyverns who started hovering near them, causing small wind to form.
"What are you complaining about, pussy?" He asked as he made the footmen angry.
"ONCE YOU ARE ON THE GROUND, I WILL KILL YOU."
"OH THEN COME IN NOW."
"FIRST COME OFF THAT DRAGON!"
The shift captain got upset as he calmed him down by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, sir."
"Calm down both of you. How are the skies?"
"Good, captain. No unwanted, or unlicensed passages of the dragons." He said as he saluted.
"Keep the skies clear." He said as he saluted him back.
"SIR, YES SIR!" He said as he flew back at very high speed.
"Dragon raiders got the coolest job." He said as he looked at his shift crew.
"Yea. I am jealous." He said as he looked at the sky. "Captain, when I will get my dragon shift?"
"When you will be born into the right home." He said as he chuckled. "Or, you can go through extensive training that lasts three years. We do not have time for that so minor noble families handle that."
"Damn, it is just an academy damnit."
"Fortress academy." Captian corrected him as he looked at them.
"Eh. Whatever I am going to do my job, those who are tired can take a nap. We will wake you up once we will get tired."
"Then I am going to sleep. See ya!"