The day dawned and the sun shone scorchingly in the blue sky, with few clouds to cover its heat. The fortress seemed busy, the men who trained for war for weeks leaving through the gate they hadn't entered, the gate that leads to the trail to the front. Alexander was still in the fortress, finishing getting ready in the soldiers' room, which was still quite crowded. He stood with his arms open and a cloth shirt covering him.
Next to him, two men, servants of the fortress by their attire, seemed to be dressing him or rather, helping him get dressed. A padded cloth outfit, a bit thick, was of a very light blue fabric.
First was the chest plate, strong and bright orange metal plates tied over hard leather straps covering the chest and back. Looking at the plates, a symbol was written, a kanji, "第四", fourth. Second were the shoulder pads, orange iron plates with leather, covering the shoulder and a bit of the arms above the elbows. Third were the bracers, then the thigh guards and greaves mimicking the structure of the rest of the armor. Lastly, the helmet, made of iron in a conical shape like a Chinese bamboo hat, orange like the plates in the armor, but painted on it was the symbol of the crane clan.
"This is not comfortable at all," complained Alexander, moving his shoulders, testing the flexibility.
"It's not made to be as comfortable as silk clothes, but at least it keeps us protected at least a bit. It's not a custom-made samurai armor like the one Lord Genichiro must wear," said Taigen beside him, also undergoing the same dressing procedure.
"Although wearing armor like his would be great, I bet it protects much more than just leather and iron."
"We are ashigaru, Shura, infantrymen, our armor is cheap because we are peasants and more numerous. The armor that Lord Genichiro must wear is probably made of enchanted metal like Hikari steel, it's expensive and very strong, something only a great samurai like him would use," Taigen laughed.
"Well, if we stand out a lot in the future, we can be promoted to official samurai, you could achieve that with your strength."
"I don't plan to stay long in the army, but I want to see with my own eyes what I'm capable of."
An hour passed, and all the soldiers were gathered outside the fortress in front of the second gate. All aligned and separated by squadrons, Alexander stood beside Taigen and Yasuo, they held spears, at their waists, and sheathed katanas and other gear. In front of the gate, were the most skilled warriors of the army, Genichiro's elite samurai.
All mounted on horses, their armors were much more elaborate and of better quality than those of the soldiers, shining metals in various colors, but underneath, all wore light blue clothes with the crane clan emblem forged in gold. Alexander seemed impressed by something, while Yasuo and some others were excited to see so many samurai gathered, he looked at the horses and those who rode them. Some samurai, a few, were immense, similar in size to Genichiro, but the horses were certainly huge, much larger than a common animal and the other soldiers' horses. True monsters, horses that seemed like hippos in the worst cases.
"I guess I have little imagination... In a world with magical beasts, it was obvious some crazy person would put a saddle and ride one," Alexander whispered a smile on his face.
This feeling... Seeing these immense horses reminded me of the mounts in Evermagic. I feel strange, well, I guess it's normal in a case like mine, to feel such a sudden change in routine. I think this is the feeling of abstinence... Well... Thats life.
"Those horses are huge," whispered Alexander to Taigen.
"They are iron steeds, domesticated magical beasts. I've seen one go into a furious frenzy when it escaped from the stables in the capital; it killed thirteen people and injured three times as many. You'll be impressed by their capabilities," Taigen responded, both whispering very quietly.
"I'll be impressed if one of them can bear Lord Genichiro's weight." They laughed, muffled laughter behind their hands; laughing was good, but having their tongues cut out was not something they planned.
After a few minutes, a samurai mounted on one of the immense horses advanced a bit forward. Wearing red armor and a blood-colored helmet, a sharp look on a not-so-old but certainly experienced face, a scar cut across his eye and the right side of his face, even his thin mustache.
"Attention, men!" He shouted, his voice deafening and powerful, certainly all twenty thousand men heard him; even if they didn't, the distant officers repeated his words to the soldiers. "My name is Shinzaemon Takeda, I am the sub-commander of this army led by the lord of the fortress, Lord Genichiro Hidesue. Today at sunrise, Lord Genichiro left earlier with two thousand men to General Satoru Katsushige's camp. In his own words, he wanted to pave the way for us." The samurai in red armor looked over the landscape filled with armed men ready for war, a smile appeared on his face.
"Today we will head to General Katsushige's camp, and from there we will bring the war to those damned Wolf Clan scum!" He advanced with his horse, then drew his katana and raised it high. An incredibly bright blade, red as blood, certainly caught everyone's attention. "We will avenge the death of our emperor and sweep that clan of cowards from the face of the earth! Men! Follow me to glory in the name of the Crane Clan!"
Like a frenzied crowd, the soldiers began to shout and roar with excitement. They all drew their weapons, and the various banners bearing the Crane Clan's symbol were waved frantically. In that atmosphere, Alexander could feel his body tremble; it was adrenaline, even without stepping onto the battlefield, his blood was already boiling.
"So this is a leader capable of encouraging his men... Impressive," Alexander said with a smile on his face, a smile of challenge. After a few seconds of excitement, samurai Shinzaemon Takeda raised his hand, slowly bringing his men to silence.
"We will begin our march in a few minutes. We will leave from Mount Urazaki and cross the Three Gods Peak, descending into the Shizuku Forest and reaching the camp." His words seemed to affect the men's morale; some seemed worried, Alexander noticed right away, a strange concern in the air.
"This doesn't seem good," whispered Alexander. Taigen came closer.
"The Three Gods Peak is a very difficult mountain range to cross, almost impossible. We'll still have to cross the forest full of tigers," he responded, whispering, but his voice still sounded anxious.
Ah come on...
"I know it's a tortuous route, but we have mapped a less tense path. After we cross the mountains and reach the forest, the route will be much smoother. We have planned stops carefully, so stay alert," Shinzaemon explained. "It's a tough route, but once we complete it, it will be of great advantage to Lord Katsushige in his advance against the Tatsukawa fortress. So let's go! We will begin our march and head to war immediately!" This marks the beginning of the Auxiliary army's march, led by Shinzaemon Takeda.
Six hours passed, and even still so close to Urazaki the path already proved tortuous. Ten kilometers ahead of the fortress, there was a path that connected to the valley, the only entrance considered normal to the north of the Crane Clan's territory. But this march was not normal, advancing sixteen kilometers beyond the fortress gates, climbing the mountain. A swarm of murmurs and complaints could be heard among the troops, slips, holes, and all kinds of complications were on that path. Alexander didn't seem to complain, but his companions did.
"Ah... How long are we going to keep marching on this mountain?" grumbled Yasuo, climbing over a stone that obstructed the path.
"I don't know... But look on the bright side, after we cross the forest it will be a plain," Taigen replied with difficulty. Alexander kept walking, and even with so many problems he didn't complain. He seemed to be looking at something in his path, a system message box.
[!!!The player is going to war!!!]
[!!!The player has completed the quest "The Warrior's Path"!!!]
"Damn, I even forgot this quest existed," he said in a low voice. "What do I get again?"
[Temporary XP multiplier]
[XP]
[!!!Uncommon item added to inventory!!!]
[!!!Legendary item added to inventory!!!]
[!!!The player leveled up!!!]
[!!!The player leveled up!!!] [!!!The player leveled up!!!]
Alexander's eyebrows arched in surprise, a smile appeared on his face.
"Looks like this time it was much more XP than in the Blue Spirit Quest, but a legendary item? I want to see that. Inventory."
The grid window of the inventory opened. There, two slots were occupied, one of a very bright light blue color and the other yellow.
"Hmm, I was expecting something yellow on the legendary item slot. I guess the item classification system here uses the same color as auras. Wait... If they use the aura classification system, then there is a classification above legendary... Interesting."
He clicked on the item in the light blue slot, another system window appeared overlaying the inventory. The image of a book with a shiny golden cover also features a dragon made of gold with a green pearl in its mouth.
[The Tome of the Heavens]
[Class: Legendary]
[Type: Magical Artifact]
[The Tome of the Heavens is an artifact created by the Jade Emperor. A tome with magical pages that store the knowledge of all things in a few words. When encountering any type of creature, magic, material, object, location, or faction, the pages of the book will be written with magical ink where all the information of such will be described.]
"So this is a guide for the player. If I encounter a new creature and it doesn't kill me in the process, I'll have all the information I need. Knowledge is power, this is very useful indeed, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for a legendary sword that splits mountains in half. What's the next item?"
[Silver Fang]
[Class: Uncommon]
[Type: Sword]
[Damage: 60]
[The Silver Fang. A katana with a blade as shiny as the moon, made of enchanted silver, a sword more durable than regular katanas. Its elongated hilt allows for greater stability.]
"Yeah, a sword a bit more special than the others. But it must be much better than the katana the army gave me," he whispered.
"Hey man," said Taigen, placing his hand on Alexander's shoulder. The red-eyed elf looked back. "Has anyone ever told you that talking to yourself is weird?" Alexander paused for a moment, looking Taigen in the eyes.
"Sorry, it's just that sometimes I think too much... it runs in the family, you know?"
"Oh, in the family? I understand, my uncle was a bit crazy too, talked to himself, heard voices," Taigen paused for a moment. "I'm not saying you're crazy, Shura, you seem very sane to me, but I can't pretend it's not weird." Alexander laughed, a weak laugh but one that broke the ice.
"No problem, I'll... take your words as advice." Both laughed, continuing their path in the march.