Six months have passed and all eight of us have spent that time getting our sword skills up using the wooden swords, whether if it was doing drills with Captain Reenon or having mock battles against each other, trying to improve on our weaknesses, I wack Frautz in the back of the head and chuckle.
"you are to predictable, don't let anger control you, or I'll keep taking advantage of it."
he growls.
"I'll show you anger!"
at first he takes a couple of unpredictable swings that I didn't see coming and as he gains the advantage, I think to msyelf.
"Captain Frautz was always in changing up his attack patterns in the heat of battle."
I chuckle as the frustration of not being able to get me builds up in him and like always the anger causes his flow of attacks to disrupt, and once again, I smack him in the back of the head.
"if you can keep your composure then landing a hit on me is possible."
Captain Reenon claps her hands and shouts.
"aright that's enough sparring!"
we put away our wooden swords on the weapon rack and head upstairs towards our assigned bedrooms, Frautz who is still sweating and out of breath, says to me.
"I'll get you one day."
I chuckle, playfully.
"in your dreams."
back when I was still serving Mistress Isabelle, it was me who struggled to land any hits on Captain
Frautz, I enter my bedroom thinking.
"my sword skills have not deteriorated since becoming a child again, but then again we are still using wooden swords, so who knows how it will be when I get my hands on a real sword."
I lay down on my bed and say to myself as I close my eyes to sleep.
"I just need to be patient and keep on sharpening my skills."
the booming voice of Captain Reenon as she opens my door to wake me up.
"Darius, downstairs now!"
I get up and waste little time going downstairs, where Captain Reenon, is waiting with her hands crossed.
"well your the first one here as always, even though I wake you up last."
I respond.
"I'm just doing what is expected of me."
she replies.
"good, that is what I like to hear."
after the last one arrives, Captain Reenon makes an announcement.
"me and Mistress Isabelle have been pleased with the progress so far."
she pause and grins.
"which is why I convinced her, to have you all move on to using real swords."
we all begin whooping and cheering, she allows us to celebrate for a moment before interrupting.
"but that also means that you will be going on a mission as a collective."
Frautz asks.
"what kind of mission, and who will be leading us?"
before she gets to answer, Mistress Isabelle replies while climbing downstairs towards us.
"tla nest of hell beasts have been discovered, near a village and they've requested my help."
she points at us.
"your task is to clear out that nest for me, think as this mission, as your final test to prove that you are worthy to serve under me."
she then said.
"I'll let you decide who wants to lead."
since I know how much Frautz wants to lead, I pat him in the back.
"if you want to lead, I'll back you up."
in the past, me and him were always butting heads, and since I don't really care about going through the same experience, I decided that this time I'll take less leadership roles while serving Mistress Isabelle, since I'll be escaping from here and focus on getting stronger away from her prying eyes, Frautz asks.
"you don't want to try leading."
I reply.
"I'm not much of a leader, you out of everybody here knows that all too well, that I'm more focused on myself."
I purposely allowed Frautz to be the one to help everyone wake up, so that our group can see that he can be someone they could rely on, while I played the selfish individual only worrying about myself, he steps forward with his hand raised.
"I want to lead the group on this mission."
Mistress Isabelle looks at me, like she is expecting me to volunteer as well, but I pat Frautz
back and make it clear.
"I'm not against him being leader, his concern for others shows signs of a good leader."
whiel the others agree with what I said, Mistress Isabelle approaches Frautz and place her hand on his shoulder.
"as leader I'm expecting you to take care of everyone and to make sure the mission is accomplished."
she chants to herself and pulls out a sword using her spatial dimension spell, that she uses to store things, everyone makes a huge fuzz about what she is able to do, but she notices that I had no reaction to it, she gives Frautz his sword and asks me.
"have you seen this magic before?"
I punish myself in my thoughts.
"you should have acted amazed, now she will get suspicious of you."
I shake my head and reply with a lie, using the truth.
"I don't like magic, so something like that would not impress me."
she chuckles.
"you are a very tough cookie to crack, but one of these days, I'll have you praising me."
I reply.
"but I already think that Mistress Isabelle is amazing even without magic."
I fight the urge to vomit, upon paying her those compliments, she smiles.
"oh well, we will be together for a long time, and one of these days I'll amaze you with my magic."
she takes out another sword and gives it to me.
"take care of everyone out there."
as she proceeds to give everyone their swords, I ask myself.
"back then I never cared to ask, but what is the reason she is so interested in me."
after she finishes giving everyone their sword she says.
"Captain Reenon will lead you the village and from there I expect to hear nothing but good things about how your mission went."
after making her exit, Captain Reenon gives an order.
"let's go outside and start walking to the village."
while everyone groans, Frautz asks.
"how far is the village?"
she replies.
"about an hour walk from here."
he then raises his sword in the air and shouts to try to raise their spirit.
"we can do it, an hour of walking isn't bad."
we leave the Mistress Isabelle's castle and start making our way to the village, I walk next to Frautz and say.
"at least, we don't have to go to the furthest village under her control."
he sighs.
"yeah, and at least we don't have to deal with the demon-folk that live in the cities under the Demon King Lucious."
I then think back on the reason why I believed in Mistress Isabelle's cause of overthrowing the Demon King, was because life in the cities for demons is harsh and many live in squaller and poverty, unlike the demon villagers who live under Mistress Isabelle's control, they all live decent lives, I sigh and ask.
"you think we can handle Hell Beasts?"
he replies with confidence.
"yes I believe so, we've all been training hard and those Hell Beasts are easy to handle as long as you don't let them overwhelm you."
hell beasts are around the same size as dogs that humans keep around as pets, but the only difference is that they are hairless and have two curved saberteeth, and have a very pack like mentality when they hunt, I then ask Captain Reenon.
"you think we'll be bale to use these real swords that Mistress Isabelle gave us, like how we used the wooden swords?"
she replies.
"you may have not noticed it because you all got accustomed with the wooden swords, but the swords that she had made for all of you, are the exact weight and feeling to them."
Frautz asks.
"is that why we were given this mission before we got a chance to train with our swords."
Captain Reenon replies.
"you got are ready, you just need to apply what you learned with the wooden swords and you'll be fine."
we march through the dirt roads, obsorbing the countryside scenery for an hour, until we arrive at the outskirts of the village, and Captain Reenon tells us.
"when we meet the village elder, leave the talking to me."
she replies while we all nod.
"good."
we walk past a couple of Mistress Isabelle's demon soldiers as we walk through the village, and a few more demon villagers going on about their day, until we finally arrive at the village elder's home, an wrinkly old male demon with mediun sized horns and long gray hair, who is out in front sitting on a rocking chair, spots Captain Reenon and shakes her hand.
"are these the youngins that are going to deal with them hell beasts instead of her soldiers?"
she replies.
"they might not look it, but these kids are very strong and skilled for their age."
the village elder takes notice of me and asks her.
"what about that human boy over there? why is he here?"
he then shouts at me.
"aren't you a little far from home boy?! watcha doing here?!"
he wheezes after shouting and starts to cough, Captain Reenon puts her hand on him to calm him down and tells him.
"he's a Demon-Human, Mistress Isabelle took him in."
he squints at me and chuckles.
"well I'll be damned, Demon-Humans haven't been around for a millennia."
he uses his cane to walk up to me and shakes my hand.
"I'd never imagined that I would one day meet a Demon-Human, it's a pleasure to meet you."
I think to myself.
"even though I remember the hell beast mission, I don't seem to recall ever meeting this village's elder."
I reply politely.
"likewise Elder."
Captain Reenon grins.
"he's also one of Mistress Isabelle's favorites."
he smiles.
"that's good to hear, and here I thought I would die of old age before she has chosen a favorite."
but the he grumbles.
"out all of her choices, she picks a human, who has been turned into a Demon-Human, instead of our very own."
Captain Reenon pats me on the back and says.
"you already know how she has an eye for talent, and for some reason she sees something in him."
he responds.
"yes I know all too well."
he grins at me and says with a playful tone.
"be careful with Mistress Isabelle, she is quite the handful."
Captain Reenon clicks her tongue at him.
"no dirty jokes, they are still children."
she then turns her attention to us.
"alright, I'm going to lead you to the cave where hell beast nest is at, and you will accomplish this mission."
the elder chief approaches us individually and tells while having one of his hands on top of our head.
"good luck, with your mission and please protect our village from them hell beasts."
while they all give him a confident answer.
"we got this old timer."
even though I know full well that we succeed with this mission, since my memory of completing it before ckmes in my mind, answer trying to sound humble.
"we will try our best."
the elder chief grumbles incoherently to himself, and then asks Captain Reenon while pointing at me.
"how old is this child, he doesn't act like one."
she replies while rubbing her chin.
"Six and about to turn Seven?"
she looks at me for an answer, I nod.
"yeah in a few days I turn Seven."
he replies.
"interesting."
we say our goodbyes to the elder chief and start making our way to the outskirts of the village, where Captain Reenon says.
"from here on out, you will be on your own, it is your job to track down the hell beast nesting ground and you will exterminate them."
she looks at us and asks.
"any questions?"
we silently stare at her, as she grins.
"good now go and make Mistress Isabelle proud."