The rhythmic stomp of boots, the clatter of equipment, and the sharp bark of orders formed a symphony of urgency.
Rubbing his eyes.
Elijah quickly dressed and stepped outside his tent, where recruits and soldiers swarmed like a colony of ants. The entire base seemed to be in motion, a strange tension hanging in the air.
His exhausted eyes scanned the chaos until he spotted a familiar streak of flaming hair bobbing among the crowd. Elijah navigated through the throng and tapped the boy on the shoulder.
The boy spun around, his fiery locks gleaming like embers under the dim light. To Elijah's surprise, the boy's face lit up with recognition.
"Elijah!". The boy exclaimed, his voice carrying pure admiration.
Elijah's brow furrowed. "You know my name?".
The boy nodded enthusiastically, his gaze filled with something akin to reverence.
"Of course. Everyone knows your name, you're the one who took down a Duskmaw Bear on his first day. That's not just impressive, it's legendary. The new recruits practically memorize your face and name as soon as they hear about it. You're already a hero around here."
Elijah blinked, caught off guard by the boy's fervor. He opened his mouth to respond but decided against it. Instead, he shifted the topic.
"What's all this commotion about? Why does it feel like the whole base is preparing for war?"
The boy's expression dimmed, the light in his eyes flickering like a flame caught in a gust of wind.
"They're assigning operational units today. Everyone's on edge. We've barely been here for three days, and it feels like they're hiding something from us. The higher ups aren't exactly being transparent with anything about this hellish battlefront."
Elijah absorbed the information, his mind racing.
"Operational units… So soon… Being in the dark isn't exactly my style, I need to get more information later on".
He followed the boy to the training grounds, where recruits were assembling into a long, tense line, it seemed like they didn't bother waiting for them to organise themselves by their training platoon's anymore.
Sergeant Vren stood at the front, several dozen other Sergeants were several feets behind him, his figure was surprisingly imposing.
The sergeant's voice cut through the chatter like a blade. "Fall in, single file".
Elijah and the boy slipped into the line. One by one, names were called, followed by unit assignments. Vren's tone was clipped and somber, a far cry from the stern yet motivating demeanor he usually exuded.
"Elijah," the sergeant barked.
"Here!" Elijah stepped forward, his voice steady.
"Infantry," Vren said without a hint of ceremony.
Elijah nodded and stepped back into line. A few names later, the boy with the flaming hair was also assigned to infantry. Then, another name caught Elijah's attention.
"Taelia," Vren called out.
Elijah's ears perked up at the name. Though he had yet to meet her this morning, he was still hoping she had some gossip for him.
"Medical team," Vren announced, and Taelia reaffirmed.
The assignments continued, but the weight of the situation was clear. The tension in Vren's voice, the hurried movements of the experienced soldiers, and the unspoken fear in their eyes painted a grim atmosphere for the new recruits.
In the end, Elijah didn't have time to meet Taelia, infact. The army didn't even bother assigning them to squads or even corps, it was like everyone was pressed for time.
By midday, the recruits were herded to the trenches, a labyrinth of mud and despair dug into the earth.
The air was thick with the acrid scent of damp soil and distant smoke. Elijah clutched his weapon tightly, his knuckles white as the reality of their situation began to sink in.
This wasn't training anymore, Elijah and all the new recruits realised that grim reality.
Elijah snuggled his hand into his ammunition pouch and pulled out a bullet, he quickly loaded his rifle, hoping it could grant some comfort.
"If only they had automatic rifles, shooting a single bullet before needing to reload will be the cause of majority of our casualties… well atleast the enemy had the same guns".
Elijah suddenly felt the ground begin to vibrate, the enemy was here, and as expected, they were wide spread panic amongst the new recruits, some of them even attempted to climb out of the trench to run.
But that only got them shot dead by the more experienced soldiers.
Elijah's brow crossed, they were already losing men before the battle even began, but it couldn't be helped, half the army had only been training for two days before being thrown on the battlefield on the third day.
Elijah turned his gaze to the side, besides him was a veteran, a man with cat whiskers and cat ears.
Elijah didn't even know they had those here, but atleast he wasn't ugly, the man even smiled seeing as Elijah was able to keep his calm.
The man was completely wrong though, Elijah's breath was cold and his hands turned white from the strength he was using to grip his rifle.
Elijah knew panicking was pointless, he needed to calmly asses his situation and find a way to survive.
But it was at that moment the still lifeless voice of the demon lord revival system echoed into his ears.
[NOTICE]
Revive point set.
[NOTICE]
Mission criteria has been set… Mission objectives has been set… Mission rewards has been set… … …
…
Elijah almost dropped his rifle, he didn't think his first mission will begin just before the battle starts.
But he didn't interrupt the system, he allowed it to continue its series of notifications while his face became increasingly twisted in confusion and annoyance.
"Will you just bloody tell me what the mission is already". Elijah roared in his mind.
The system paused the pointless notifications before replying more directly.
[NOTICE]
Primary Mission objective: Trust is built from kindness, maintained by loyalty, and broken by selfishness… Fight till the end or die a thousand times to complete the mission objective.
Secondary objective: There is a game called life, even if you win, you will still die… Protect Sarah Elfin till the enemy commander is vanquished.
[NOTICE]
Complete both mission objectives to avoid triggering the penalty.