Hermann turns his head and spews a large carpet of fire towards Emilia, burning down her earthen wall to dust, seeing Emilia injured, with blood dripping down her chin, Hermann narrows his eyes and spews another even brighter carpet of fire. The white flames lick her skin as she looks to the sky for the last time, as her body is converted to ashes.
Basil watches this all as he's recuperating in the distance, his eyes wide in shock. He grits his teeth to the point the wood splinters can't pass through the gaps as he retreats from the battlefield to where he came from, utilising the split second afforded by his sister.
Seeing Basil escape, Hermann and Job without a second thought turn back to their sensor who is fighting Otto one on one.
Sakurako looks up only to see a massive ten metre fireball fly to the sky. Clouds quickly congregate in the area, and Sakurako uses this to her advantage, her rib cage cracking as she looks like she's inhaling a lot of air. Black bruises form where her ribs shatter before she finally spews a flood of water out of her mouth and nose, sweeping Otto away.
Otto with his injured skin carefully freezes the raging torrent of water, letting him glide through the surface as he avoids the lightning striking down from the eternal grey sky. Job nods to his group before jumping on his staff, quickly catching up to Otto.
Job, looking like the God of Death as the thunder falls around him, riding his staff and wearing the iconic Iron Legion azure blue coat swiftly catches up to Otto. In his hand is a blade of wind ready to be knocked loose.
Otto closes his eyes.
…
As the three rest under the unrelenting winds and purple sky in the Wooden Platform, Hermann turns around to face his two teammates.
"I see, this is farewell. I have been promoted to Peritus. Someone else will arrive here tomorrow and because of this escalation, a Regulus will most likely join you." Hermann closes his eyes, and disappears from their sight.
Job turns to Sakurako. "I and Hermann are ancient elves. He is 360 years old, and I am 452 years old. Sakurako, you are only 103, and usually raw recruits are being led by us senior elves in a group, but this fight was unexpected. Get along with the other rookies, Regulus will handle you from now on." He, too, disappears from in front of her.
Sakurako is left alone with her own thoughts. As far as she knows, she's one of the last recruits in the army.
The next morning, three elves approach her. The two of them look new while the one obviously was the leader. It's the first time she's seen a Regulus.
As the group return to the previous location, they are joined by two other groups, six elves in total.
At the meeting point a tall elf wearing a monocle takes his stand on top of a rock. His azure coat is fitted with gold lapels and a pin where his monocle chain is attached to. He puts one hand on his coat pocket and stares down the elves under him.
"I will be the leader of this special military operation. It is I, Botan who will lead you to victory. Since in this army, I appear the strongest overall." the leader, introduced as Tanaka Botan says in a moderately loud voice. His deep voice is really contrasting against his face.
With a huff, he hops down the rock and looks to the other side of the ledges dotted across the landscape. Gaps between the wooden platform rhythmically distributed along 15 metre spaces, and in these gaps is an unending abyss, where no elf has ever figured out where they'll end up when you fall into these things.
Botan walks along the edge of the platform, his boots clicking with each step, the wind pushing against him like it's trying to knock him off. "You're all here to be evaluated. To see if you're worth my time. If I find any of you lacking, I will not hesitate to replace you. This is war, not a playground for your childish whims!"
His face softens for a moment, before he huffs, looking away.
"Team Anne, you're good as a stationary. Your members are two stragglers and a sensor, only you are worth mentioning. Stay put and alert the back line.
Team Colin, a bit balanced, you will probe the enemy. You also have a sensor with you, use that.
My team on the other hand will be the main show. I didn't live in the damn desert for centuries to lose."
Sakurako's heart races as Botan points to the two that arrived with her.
"Trash." He huffs away, whipping his hair that only covers his ears.
The two new elves exchange glances, a mix of confusion and excitement. The one with a bow, her name tag reads as Isla, she's young, probably only a couple of decades old, her eyes are filled with curiosity as she looks at the abyss. The other one, taller and broader, with a sword, Murray, has a stern look on his face.
These two look only half a year younger than Sakurako. Deg Anne, that stern woman turns around and looks back at her group of rookies and without a sound just stares at them. A deep scar reaches from her eye to her chin on her otherwise beautiful face, but her cold stare doesn't alleviate the tension in the group of rookies. Only Ten decades old and participating in a battlefield for the first time, a place where rookies like them belong, the scent of death and charred wood in the battlefield is the elf's way of life. Elves were born to die, they were born to kill each other in battlefields, they just can't help it, fighting and killing were second nature to them, and it has been for seven centuries.
The rookies stand in line, their eyes scanning the horizon for any signs of danger. The young elves are armed with a mix of steel and wood, their weapons a reflection of their personalities. The one named Isla has a sleek bow, carved from the finest ash tree, with a quiver full of arrows that seem to whisper the promise of swift death. The other, Murray, holds a sword that's almost as large as he is, a beastly weapon that looks like it could cleave through ironwood with ease.
But promises are promises, and only through your own ability can you deliver on it.