Before the battle

It was early in the morning, as Aiden was making his way, not really knowing where to go while in the crowd of many people, he saw a familiar figure, "Mike!"

The black man that came with him to the city to fight in the upcoming battle, Mike, greeted Aiden back, "Aiden! How are you?"

They approached each other, "I'm good, how about you?"

Mike smiled and answered, "I'm good too, I passed the test from Sir John easily, he basically gave me some errands to run, however…"

His expression suddenly turned grim, Aiden raised one of his eyebrows in confusion, "What happened? Why are you saddened?"

Mike shook his head, "It's nothing, really. The other 3 men failed the test though, I saw them departing from the inn earlier this day. Though, its kind of good that they didn't have to go to the battle, I fear for their lives taken away by an enemy"

Aiden was about to respond to Mike's words, but suddenly, he heard the voice of Sir John, "Attention soldiers!"

The chatty crowd of soldiers went silent almost immediately and turned their attention to Sir John, including Aiden. The 18-year-old saw the man in his full plate armour as he continued talking, "As you all know our dire situation, there's an upcoming battle! I will lead this army of 500 men to the battle!"

The crowd once again talked with each other, but now it was obvious, people sweating and trembling on their place, 'Sir John seems to have noticed them… I guess he will do a speech right now'

At this point, the man looked around, expressionless, and shouted to them, "Don't worry men! A wise man once said, 'You have to believe in yourself.' I believe we can win this battle! Our army outnumbers them!"

You have to believe in yourself

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

For some reason, the words of the men seem to have relief some people in the crowd, at least some, "Now we will march! And defeat the enemies! We will fill our stomach with booze and luxurious food in the day we won!"

…

3 hours of marching later, the air turned cold, just a little, the army has reached their destination, an encampment that was near an open land, grassy land. Aiden was sitting on the grass with a wooden bowl of soup, its steam heading towards the sky.

(Is a soup a drink or food?)

He chugged down the bowl of soup and placed it right beside him, then he looked at the little darkish, blue sky, 'I wonder how's the battle going to go, this is my first big fight since I got into this world after all…'

Walking toward him, could be seen Sir John, now in his non-battle clothing. He sat down right beside Aiden and asked, "It's a bit cold, isn't it?"

Without turning his face toward the man, he answered, "Yea… it is. Why are you here though? Didn't most general likes to be arrogant and drinks wine while their soldiers drink cheap beer?"

The man chuckled, "A wise man once said, 'Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys' that's only a part of it though"

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys' look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind-heated, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable moreover, of quelling disorder: then your soldier must be likened to spoilt children; they are useless for any practical purpose.

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Aiden chuckled back, "I know the full version of it, you are doing almost every step correctly. Even from this distance, I can see the tents being built and the sword being sharpened by a man… most likely, you are here to tell me to do something"

Sir John chuckled once again, "Am I too obvious? Well, that doesn't matter, you have found my true purpose here. Some people caught some fish in the nearby river inside the forest, but they don't know how to cook it, I heard from Mike that you cooked for the group in the journey from your village"

Aiden smiled and slowly got himself up, "Sure, lead the way"

…

2 days have passed since they got into the encampment. Now, all the soldiers are rushing to the open land, with their armour on. About 700 metres in front of them could be seen as an army of shirtless, strong men.

Sir John went in front of the crowd of men and shouted, "Attention soldiers! It looks like the battle is about to happen. I know it will a brutal and hard battle, but I expect us to succeed. All we need to do was to throw our projectiles and flank their main force from the right"

People were chatting at this point and just like 2 days ago at the outskirt of the city, they were trembling, sweating and nervous, "I hope all of you for the best, I expect casualties but I don't expect us to lose to some barbarians! If you want to win, fight them as hard as you can! Use your swords, bows, fist, leg or even teeth!"

Still, the people were nervous about it, but the trembling is barely visible, "I hope for you all return! And let us have a celebration, a feast after this!"

Soon enough, war horn from both sides could be heard. The grounds are shaking as horses and men ran toward each other. Then colliding with the enemies, even from the distance Aiden was standing, about 300 metres away, the fighting could still be heard and his attention was directed at the fighting.

Clank!

The sound of metal meeting metals sure is a distraction. They were taken aback when Sir John shouted, "Charge! Charge! Charge!"