"How many soldiers are currently in the stronghold?" asked the grand duke, casting a penetrating gaze over his assembled generals. "And how many more can we muster by calling on the northern lords?"
"We have around twenty five thousand soldiers within the Icewind Bastion itself," replied an old, well-built man with a long white beard. "If we combine all our soldiers within the duchy, we'll have close to a hundred thousand soldiers at our disposal."
"By calling on our fellow northern nobles, we could muster another fifty thousand troops," added another general, "but by the time they arrive, it will likely be too late."
The grand duke considered the words of his advisors before speaking. "Send a letter to all the nobles in the north on my behalf, urging them to send as many troops as they can. I am sure we will need their help. From my battles with the chieftain of these barbarians, I know that this war won't end with just one attack on the Icewind Bastion."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Also, send word to all the other strongholds to send as many troops as possible to the Icewind Bastion and prepare for defense."
"Your majesty, do you intend to confront the enemy yourself?" asked one of the generals. All eyes turned to the grand duke.
He shook his head. "Not right now. For the time being, we will use small-scale skirmishes to tire out the enemy. We will meet the barbarians in the valley near the stronghold, where we will ambush them and destroy their siege capabilities. Our scouts will use hit-and-run tactics to burn down their supplies."
"Get ready, all of you," he said, addressing the room. "We are headed to war. Make sure all your soldiers are well-drilled and properly equipped. This is going to be a brutal one."
"Dismissed," the Grand Duke shouted, signaling the end of the war room meeting.
"Sir, yes sir!" the generals bellowed in unison as they quickly filed out of the room to carry out their assigned tasks.
Turning to John, the Grand Duke said, "Go pack your things and meet me in my office."
John snapped to attention and replied, "Yes, sir," before swiftly departing the war room.
As John made his way back to his room, his mind raced with thoughts about the ongoing barbarian attack. "This is interesting," he mused to himself. "The attack is happening at the same time as in my previous life, but their numbers are way too large. Something isn't going as it should."
Curious, John reached out to Kostas for answers. "What's going on? Can you shed some light on the situation?"
"Honestly, we aren't too sure either," Kostas responded. "Since we can't actively interfere with the physical world, it's difficult for us to understand the situation without our own tests. And you're nowhere near smart enough to help us."
Undeterred, John replied, "I see. Well, let's just see how things proceed for the time being," before proceeding to pack his bag with a few sets of clothes that had been prepared for him upon his arrival at the castle.
Upon arriving at the Grand Duke's office, John saw that Dante and Oberon were engaged in a serious conversation, from which his entrance distracted them.
"You're here," Dante said, not paying heed to Oberon's annoyed expression.
"Yes, sir," John replied as he slowly placed his bag down by the couch and took his seat.
"Since the situation has changed drastically, your training schedule will also change," Dante continued. "Oberon and I will still be instructing you, but one of my generals will oversee your morning training. Sometimes they may even take care of your evening routine in case I am busy."
With a nod of agreement from both Oberon and John, Dante concluded, "Now, we will leave for the Icewind Bastion as soon as our ride arrives."
"Understood," John said,
*Screeeeeechhhhhhhhhh*
Not long after the duke finished explaining things to the young prince, a series of loud screeches could be heard from outside the balcony.
"Seems like it's already here," Dante said as he opened the glass door to his balcony and looked at the gigantic wyvern flying towards them.
"Let's go grab your bags," Dante said as he turned around to look at the baffled faces of John and Oberon.
"Wait, hold on. You have a pet wyvern?" the old teacher asked.
"Actually, not just one. My most elite knights regiment that I lead myself is made of wyvern knights," Dante said as he pointed at the forest outside the fort, to see even more wyverns flying towards them.
*Screeeeeechhhhhhhh*
"See, they are all coming now, to take their masters," Dante said as he pointed out the fact that the beasts were separating and moving towards various different knights. The only thing these knights had in common was the symbol of a wyvern encrusted on their pauldrons.
"Those idiotic descendants of ours, how the fuck did they manage to be tamed by fucking humans? No insult to your race, but those bastards contain dragon blood. They should know better than to bow their heads to humans," Pallus said within John's conscience with a disappointed expression.
"How did you manage to tame the wyverns?" John asked with a curious look.
"How else? I just beat the living shit out of each one of them till they obeyed me," Dante said with a proud expression.
"You brute," John and Pallus said simultaneously.
"What was that? Did I hear something?" Dante asked as he turned to the young prince.
"No, sir," John answered as he vehemently shook his head.
"I thought so," Dante said as he turned his head away. He continued, "Now come, we must leave as soon as possible."
"Ah, yes," John quickly followed as he grabbed his bag, with Oberon right behind him.
"STORMWINGGG!" Dante shouted once at the railing of his gigantic balcony.
Upon hearing his master's shout, a gigantic black-winged wyvern, with gleaming scales and fiery eyes, responded with a deafening roar.
*SCREEEEEE*
*WOOSH WOOSH FLAP FLAP FLAP THUD*
*keeeeeeh*
The wyvern chirped out as he rubbed his head against the grand duke once he landed.
"Yeah, I missed you too, buddy. Now these guys will be coming along with us, so try not to make the ride too difficult, alright?" Dante said as he patted the wyvern's head.
*SCREECHHH* Stormwing let out a loud screech as it took a few steps back in disgust.
"I know you don't like having others ride on your back, but we have an urgent matter to attend to. The Barbs up north have just declared war, and we need to get to Icewind Bastian quickly," the Grand Duke explained as he approached the winged beast once more.
*Scee* the wyvern chirped in annoyance and understanding.
"Good boy," the Grand Duke praised as he patted the wyvern's head.
"You two, get on now," Dante said, gesturing for John and Oberon to climb onto Stormwing's back.
"Did he just talk to a wyvern?" John asked, turning to his teacher in astonishment.
"I believe he did. Why don't you ask him to explain?" Oberon suggested to his young student.
"How are you able to speak to the wyvern?" John asked the Grand Duke.
"Well, all the Wyvern Knights form a beast contract with their chosen wyverns so that we can understand what our rides are saying," the Grand Duke explained. "Who knows, maybe you will be able to form your own contract with a beast someday," he added.
"Wait, what is this beast contract you speak of?" John asked, looking confused.
"Ah, right. I totally forgot that this information hasn't spread outside the North yet," the Grand Duke said with a small sigh. "You see, in our struggle to keep the beasts in check, one of the previous generations experimented with using beasts as support for battle, and that is how they came to form beast contracts," he explained.
"Since then, almost all knights have been taught the art of beast contracts. I'll probably teach it to you sometime before you go to the front lines. You should find something that fits your fighting style in the Winter Woods," he continued.
"Alright," John agreed with a nod
"Your highness," Oberon spoke up with a curious expression. "I would like to know more about this beast contract at a later date, if that's okay with you."
"Of course," replied the grand duke as he climbed atop his winged beast. "It's not exactly a secret, we just never bothered making the information public. I doubt anyone would have any issues if I told you the details. However, I'll have to talk to my generals about this before I make a decision."
"Thank you, your highness. I would appreciate it," Oberon nodded as he helped John onto the wyvern and climbed up himself.
"Alright then, let's go," the grand duke said, signaling Stormwing to take off.
"Hut, hut!" the foot soldiers chanted in unison, as the wyvern knights joined in with their mounts' screeches.
And with a thunderous roar, the massive brigade of foot soldiers, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and wyvern knights all took off towards Icewind Bastion, cloaked in the cover of night.