While the soldiers and the refugees made a stand at the clearings outside of the town.
Matthew and his party were busy dealing with the real threats. The earth demons.
While the strongest among them is trading blows with the captain's main puppet.
The sheer number of them was overwhelming. It has been almost an hour since Rokhan's message to the General using the Sonic Falcon.
In this time a multitude of things happened. From the appearance of another portal to the loss of Gollic's right arm.
Casualties were an inevitability.
"Francis do it now! We'll lose more members if you don't do it!"
"Ahh... fuck it! All right!"
The Blue tiger has one last trick up it's sleeves. Adding a self-destruct feature on it should a time arise where they'd need it. The loss of Gollic's arm and the threat of death seemed like the perfect time.
The puppet, having lost its left arm and half of the right side of its head stared at the gigantic figure before it.
[Misty Step]
"I'm gonna miss you Blue Tiger!"
A massive explosion occurred right after the puppet dug onto the hard rock-like skin of the demon.
The crowd saw as the demons dispersed. The imps began to run, the only monsters remaining were the earth demons themselves.
The soldiers looked at the monsters with vigor in their eyes.
What better way to inspire your troops than to kill the opposing commander?
The General arrived at the scene only to see the puppeteer holding the head of a B - Class Earth Demon.
He raised high up into the air with a look of pride.
This is Matthew Khan, the man who wears the title of Virtuoso.
Sadly the fight did not end well for the party, While most of them survived Gollic the spellsword lost his life due to loss of blood as he saw the explosion that took out the demon.
Hawk seems to be paralyzed from all of the pain, Vannifar broke his shield wielding arm and Malik appears to have overdone it with the barrier he used on their captain, now suffering from symptoms of mana exhaustion.
They were all set to be decommissioned for at least a week.
Medals were awarded to all of the troops that survived. The battle of Nikaos will be remembered for years to come as the C - Class Prodigy, The one known as the Virtuoso broke past his limits and killed off a B-Class monster.
They were all sent back to the city of Gramm as heroes.
"With a display like that, you're welcome to come back to us at anytime Sergeant Khan!"
They were rewarded handsomely, Matthew may have lost Gollic and his most powerful puppet but he'll be just fine. Safe to say the least.
The ego Francis wanted to run but the risk of abandoning everyone else and the need to be someone deserving of the title of "King" simply helped Matthew in forcing him into the fight.
The whole group had to recuperate for 2 whole weeks before they all decided on their next course of actions.
"I need another Advanced puppet to replace Blue Tiger. Our next set of missions will help us gather the materials. Those who still need to rest may rest. I feel comfortable even if it's just me and Rokhan."
The others made it clear that they were coming.
"All right, if all goes well then in a week or two's time we will be back in the frontlines once again."
The rank of B- Class is a rank that is hard to obtain. People talking about Matthew deserving the rank, have no idea about what they are talking about.
Matt had to regain mana through meditating mid-fight against the demon. One of those costed Gollic's arm, which eventually led to his death.
While it may seem heartless he didn't care about the death of the soldiers, he cared more about the death of his comrade. Gollic served him well.
Which is why this time around he wasn't cutting any losses.
"If I need to sacrifice a damn puppet then so be it, we'll make two. Fuck it three. We are not going out there unprepared. "
"Rokhan, Vannifar. " He took out a small pouch filled with silver coins. "This is the reward I got from the subjugation, upgrade your armor. Have a priest bless them."
The next few days would be hectic as the whole party, or at least the remaining members of it held a funeral for Gollic.
"Demons be damned, We are coming back to the frontlines." Among the members of the party, Hawk was the closest to Gollic. Seeing him as an inspiration for his need to grow in power and in the art of swordsmanship.
They made all sorts of preparations for the coming quests, their party only became more renowned as the people saw them back in action only a week after such a tragic incident.
"Goran...shop-keep it has been a while"
"Hahah I take it you have come for a replacement?"
"The news travel fast."
"What do you need?"
"I want the rest of the chess set, Queen and Bishop"
"All right, would you like to make another Blue Tiger then? Or are we modifying another advanced model"
"I'll get you the orbs, I want three advanced puppets. I want the Blue tiger rebuilt, I have two new designs in mind."
Puppeteers will be puppeteers and men will be men. The enthusiasm they had is comparable to men that are obsessed with cars. Their discussion went on for hours on end, discussing things even as customers entered the shop.
...
A week since the meeting. At an undisclosed forest, the group has just taken out what appears to be a snake the size of a small train.
"Here it is captain, soul core of the Titanoboa" Vannifar stated as he fished out the orb from the remains.
The group has grown in strength and power due to all of their respective upgrades, soon the Puppeteer's new creations would see the light of day.
"We'll be back at the frontlines soon enough" the young man thought to himself as the chess set puppets moved around in the battlefield.
The chess set in all its glory was something he only dreamed of during his first day, but here he was treating it as a down grade.
"A puppeteer using their own creations bring the most joy for me, be it myself or a student of mine." A quote from one of Geppeto's books.
"At the rate we're going. Getting my hands on a third or fourth puppet before we head back to the borders is not a pipe dream after all"