The next morning, 6:00 AM
Verum stood surrounded by his soldiers outside of his castle, in front of the gate.
"Alright people, same rules, skills yes, spells no. Alright, 3,2,1 Go!"
At the given cue, 6 of them rushed at him from six different directions, as if practiced beforehand, 'No way to go, but up!' He thought as he backflipped over two of them, kicking them into the ground to get higher, as 3 others tried to grab his feet, but missed.
2 more rushed towards his landing area, as a third and fourth came from behind. He evaded the first punch, and kicked the second's stomach, making him double over, he then grabbed a leg coming towards him, and lifted it up over his shoulder and slammed the poor guy into the ground, and out of the fight.
'Three down, 12 to go.' Sending someone slamming into another, effectively making them tumble and crash, 'My speed and strength have increased slightly, is this a side-effect of leveling up?' Kick, duck, 'If that's correct,' Leg-sweep, jump, 'I won't need to add to my stats.' Roundhouse, backflip, 'Atleast until I come across high-huh? What the- 'Mana armor'!'
Out of nowhere, one of his men who had not attacked yet and was staying back erupted, with lightning speed he crossed over 6 meters and thrust his fist out, causing Verum to hastily cast one of new skills, 'Mana armor'
[Mana armor] [Lv 1]
[Envelope a part of your body with a mana barrier, giving it temporary armor]
[Durability: 200]
[Cost: Depends]
The fist and armored arm collided, causing a crack on the protective spell, and making Verum stumble backwards. 'Holy- What was that?' The one who had attacked rushed him, and as he was off-balance, he was forced to put his arm up again, this time however, the armor shattered after being struck.
"Stop!" he shouted, and the man, who was preparing another punch, stopped his attack, and did a fist-palm salute. "What is your name?" Verum asked, "Jason, sir, my name is Jason."
[Jason]
[Class: Scientia warrior]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 200/200]
[KI: 100/100]
[STR: 10]
[DEX: 10]
[AGI: 10]
[DEF: 10]
[CON: 10]
[INT: 20]
[WIS: 20]
[Loyalty: 100/100]
[True observance] [Lv:1]
[Learning Frenzy]
[Cold shield]
[Flamethrower]
[Fire ball]
[Ice spikes]
[Fire ball]
[Cleave]
[Quick Combo]
[Dash]
[Iron Fist]
'I haven't seen these before.'
[Dash] [Lv:1]
[A burst of ki boosts your speed by 300% for 2 seconds, tripling all melee damage dealt during that duration]
[Cost: 20 Ki]
[Cooldown: 3 seconds]
[Iron Fist]
[Enhances your fist with Ki, making it harder]
[Increases punching damage by 150%]
[Cost: 10 Ki]
"Jason, right? Here, take this." He said, and handed him a palm-sized silver colored circle with an inlaid pentagon on it. "From this moment on, until you are either dismissed or dead, you will be the captain of my troops, got that? Good, I'm going to get some breakfast."
And he turned and left.
*****
Jason's POV.
When I was summoned, the only things I knew were my name, my innate skill, as well as as some other things, however, I first saw Lord Verum, I knew that I was existing because of him, that I had to obey his every order. He was smiling at that time, and I saw that there were others standing beside me as well, and I knew they were comrades.
In unison, we knelt and chanted "We pledge our undying loyalty to you, Lord Voidborn, Please give us our commands." After which he said to call by his name, which stunned us for a while, but we are here to obey. He took us to the training hall, and told the mages to cast a spell called 'Flamethrower', and told us to try and learn it.
We all managed to learn it, but Lord Verum called me, ME! to demonstrate, it made me feel honored, and I tried to do the best I could. When the flame came out weaker than the mages, I was disappointed, but the he smiled, as if satisfied, and at that moment I swore to make it up to him.
When he said he would fight all of us at once, we were concerned, but what kind of followers would we be if we could not trust the one we serve? We thought that we would finish quickly, and finish quickly we did, in about twenty seconds, with all of us.. on the ground. Seeing that expression he made when he was scolding us made me ashamed, and I could not bear to look him in the eyes, so I kept my head down and just listened.
Then he started training us, and with his expert guidance, we learned quickly the basics of fighting. Then he left and came back, and told us to get the bows that were stored in the warehouse. After I and 4 others returned, he asked if any of us knew how to use a bow, and I could only hang my head dejectedly as two of my comrades raised their hands, And we were shocked at what happened next.
"Isabelle, sir"
HE ASKED FOR HER NAME!!! HER!! WHAT WAS IN HER THAT WASN'T IN ME?
Then it struck me,
He did not ask my name because everyone there could cast that spell, and she was only one of two who could use a bow, and so it became clear to me.
I had to stand out.
I had to be better, quicker at learning for his exalted presence to notice me,
and for that,
I would need to train like hell.
On our off times, I asked the others to spar with me, and tried to train even on guard duty, and it all paid off, as I became aware of two new things that I could do.
I was training to increase my speed, since that was the problem, Lord Verum was too fast, so I had to catch him off-guard, and the look of surprise on his face as I struck his arm was worth it, I attacked him again and his armor broke before he commanded us to stop.
"What is your name?"
'IT'S HAPPENING' I thought, as I tried to stay calm.
"Jason, sir, my name is Jason"
He seemed to look at something for a while, and I knew that he was looking at my status.
"Jason, right? Here, take this." He said, as he gave me something round. I was going to inspect it, but his next words stunned me.
"From now on, until you are dismissed or dead, you will be the captain of my troops, got that?"
I was shocked,
I did not expect that.