chapter 8

It had been two weeks since James had gotten out. He was indulged in studies and the castle provided him with everything. He had decided to use the standard strength he had before the entrance ceremony in front of others and secretly increase his powers. He knew that there could be a summons any time now.

The day was bright as James looked outside. It was a good one. He knew that today would be a god day for playing outside had he been a child and had he been allowed to play. The summons was the original idea of the creator of the academy. A way for which the students will be able to get direct experience. But the oncoming headmistresses had used this is in such a way as to manipulate the outcome of the exams. The unwanted students could even be sent to dangerous missions, causing fatalities to them. The present situation was nothing less than what was said.

James was summoned to the office of the Headmistress. As there were not many students in the first tier, there was not an active social circle, except when the annual balls are kept in different city levels. The Castle would hold the feat for many and the first-tier members belonging to not a big family was invited. James did not know the place of existence of the office of Headmistress. There exists magic more than a person can name in a lifetime. The only way to know these all is by increasing your lifetime.

James was just walking along the corridor when a door had appeared and he was asked to enter. The headmistress had been waiting there and James had entered there. He stood before the Headmistress with respect. The Headmistress looked at him with a keen interest as it had not occurred much to have a first-tier male who was not from a respectful family.

Yokino: The day is new cadet. How goes your training?

James was suddenly interested in the Headmistress. Not anyone had ever said such a statement to him and he was interested in replying as such.

James: The day is indeed new and with it is the ongoing darkness hidden. My training goes well.

Yokino: I have heard that no Mistress of any art or the masters decided to accept you even though your matron tried very hard.

James: Even the hands of the matron of one of the prominent houses are bound. There does exist higher beings for every high being.

Yokino: Would you want me to interfere James.?

James: I would find that oddly unappealing as it would be considered a felony by many of the houses. Would you rather be my teacher?

Yokino: I can teach you social standing and procedures, other than that I am afraid I might not be of much help.

James: Why have you called me mistress?

Yokino: I have a mission for you.

James: I expected as much.

Yokino: Usually the first-tier's missions are going to be hunting dragons from the west forest or sea beings from the south. Aren't you afraid?

James: You forgot to mention the desert wrymns in the desert of the east.

Yokino: They appear rarely once in a century. These missions are usually provided to students after you are certified by the teachers. But since you do not have any teacher, you are going to go now. There had been some change in powers of the school.

James: If I may guess, I might be restricted from using my servants.

Yokino: They did want to imply that rule but are scared when it comes to their own safety. The rules have to be the same. That is a prominent rule.

James: When do I have to leave?

Yokino: Now. Anyhow, you are going to leave to kill the newly appeared fire dragon in the west. You can take your servants. For all you like you can stay here sleeping while your servants, or mercenaries hunt down the dragon.

James: How will I know who to kill?

Yokino: Do you see the wristband on your left hand. It is a tracking device to know where you are placed by the academy. It will show you the path of the forest and take you to see the dragon. It will also detect that it was you who had killed the dragon. The only thing you have to do is go there, kill the dragon, return and get on with your business.

James: I am going to leave then Head Mistress Yokino.

James bowed and got out of the room. He did not like the prospect of being tracked. He went to his room and looked at the wristband. He sensed the magic in it and tried to manipulate it. He tried many times but was not successful. He was really angry at the meaning of this. He decided to try to access other's wristband and failed again.

James sat there meditating thinking over the implications of the wristband. Anyone could now track him from anywhere and he had no way of knowing what was happening to others or who tracked whom.

James knew that the dragon was a powerful beast as was mentioned in his textbooks. It was very hard to kill a dragon and the few of the methods included the possession of a holy sword. As he did not have it he decided to use and try magic. If he was not successful, he would be able to run away and return back later. He was walking out of the academy when he met Erwin waiting outside the gates. James approached Erwin and looked at him. Erwin bowed to James.

Erwin: Greetings ser James. I have come to give you a formal invitation to be brought back to the Rookwood house.

James looked at Erwin. He did look tired and worn out. He indicated for Erwin to stand up and continued walking. Erwin followed him.

Erwin: Ser, why don't you summon a horse?

James: I don't have one.

Erwin summoned two horse from a figurine and they continued to ride on the horse. James was awfully quiet, but he decided to do it now.

James: Erwin, I want you to head hunt for suitable people for my battalion.

Erwin: Yes ser.

James: Also, I want you to be the Right Lieutenant.

Erwin: Yes ser.

James: I also want you to find a left Lt. who is going to be an assassin. Ninety percent of the army should be the standard variety under you while the ten percent should be under the Right Lt. which will make an assassin squadron.

Erwin: Yes ser.

James: How many people am I supposed to have in my battalion.

Erwin: Two hundred ser.

James: I suppose those will be enough to kill a dragon.

Erwin: A dragon from the west forest.

James: Yes.

Erwin: Two hundred would be nothing but fodder. The only way to kill a dragon is to go in groups of four or five and they have to be powerful too. If anybody from our battalion forms this group and fights the dragon they will lose too.

James: I have received a mission to kill one dragon.

Erwin: Maybe ser, but you must find another way.

The rest of the way James was silent. He knew that there had to be another way He could use ice magic but that was only effective against smaller fire elementals. The fact did exist that he could easily be killed in this endeavour.

James reached the house of the Rookwoods in Block B and he got down from his horse. There stood two hundred people in line, mostly women. All of them bowed down to him. He looked at them. James looked at Erwin questioningly who looked down, bowing his head.

Erwin: This is your battalion ser James as was selected by the Lady Rookwood.

James smiled and moved on. He did know that he had to create a battalion but a battalion already being created for him was better. He moved into the house. Seeing Erwin following him, he showed his hand indicating him to stay where he was. James walked into the tea room and saw Selena and Amelia there. He bowed to Selena and sat beside Amelia. He looked at Amelia who was looking at him questioningly.

James: I was assigned a mission of killing a dragon in the forest of the west.

Amelia: You do have a battalion.

James: Erwin told that the battalion was nothing but fodder compared to the dragon.

Selena: There are times when it is right to use your people and times when you have to do the things yourself. You have to decide it yourself.

James: I do know that fact. It seems my murder was already sanctioned by the higher families.

Selena: We are also a higher family.

James: Only when there exist wars.

Selena: There was a war fought three years back. Twenty thousand people on our side against fifty thousand goblin invaders from the north, wherein the castle is situated.

James: whatever.

Amelia: How many days are you going to stay here? It is not necessary to stay at the academy at all except when the examinations are conducted.

James: Two to three days till I get acquainted with the battalion. We do need a method to communicate each other.

Selena: Erwin will come and contact you if anything is needed and you can keep two or more underlings in the academy with yourself.

James: That seems primitive given that magic does exist.

Selena: We are under war which will only end with your death. The only way you can survive is by being completely cautious all the time. You being alive would mean the Rookwood family will have higher status in the ladder.

James: Seems fun. I am going.

James stood and wend over to the training centre to find his battalion resting. As soon as he was seen all of them stood in line rank by rank. James looked at all these.

James approached Erwin who was also along with them.

James: Erwin, say, how are the members of the battalions given rank.

Erwin: None are given any rank now. You are supposed to give it ser.

James: I had already decided that Erwin shall be my Right Lieutenant. He shall decide the ranks of the people under him. I do need a Left Lt. Erwin, tell me where are the soldiers placed.

Erwin: These soldiers are placed in the private housing sanctioned for you by the Lady of this house. They have come here as to see you and pay the respects.

James: Erwin. Who do you think is good enough to be my Left Lt.

Erwin looked around to see everyone. He just hung up his head without saying anything. James wanted someone with more than some magical abilities. A woman cam out of her ranks saying.

Rosy: My name is Rosy ser. I am a third-tier graduate and has been trained in military strategy and fights. I have already graduated and am the best among all these soldiers, ser.

James looked at Rosy with a kind of distaste in his heart. He did not show it on his face as usual but he was really angry.

James: Is there any one who is better taught or is stringer that would like to challenge for the position.

Erwin: Ser, with all due respect, she is the strongest here.

James: How is the battalion supposed to work in the field Erwin?

Erwin: The Battalion is your personal guard ser, you will be given a bigger army for warfare, armies of thousands but the battalion you see before is to be trained by you and should be considered as the officer batch. The battalion leads the battle.

James did not know about military facts as these. He did know about warfare and strategy, he did know about the rules of the civil system, but this was new to him. But anyhow, the one fact he did know was to make sure you show to your subordinates that you are powerful than them.

James: I DO KNOW THESE FACT. What I wanted you to tell was the part I told you while travelling here. I will train you more in different tactics but there is to be a main difference. Left Lt. shall be the assassin batch who shall always be with me. Since Rosy is going to be the Left Lt, she shall have Twenty soldiers under her learning stealth and other methods. They shall be the top batch that shall surround me in battle and in real life. The others shall be under Erwin and shall go vigorous training of the type to be officers, mainly wizardry and mass range attacks.

All of the soldiers looked at James with awe. He was known throughout the circle of the students and soldiers and the one with him had a steady chance to rise to a higher level.

James: Rosy, select the top twenty soldiers to be under you. Send them to be ready in two days as in the third day we shall go the west forest. Erwin, return to my sanctioned home with the soldiers under you. Train them with the standard methods and give them ranks according to their capabilities. All of you remember one thing. These ranks are not permanent. They can be changed if someone proves to be better than you. And be ready.

James walked away from there without even thinking about the selection process. He was not at all interested in having a battalion or even going to wars. All he liked was going to one-man missions as in these he would be allowed to do whatever he wanted. James went over to his room and sat there. He had a beginning of unrest. He looked around his private library for any books on dragons but was not able to find one. He decided to practise the mind arts as they were more necessary now.

It was evening and James was sitting inn his room reading a book. There was a knock on the door and then without further ado Amelia entered the room. Seeing James reading the book she came down and sat besides him. She looked at him expectantly and he closed his book and kept it aside. James looked at Amelia, looked into her longing eyes and smiled. There was a spark of love which existed since the last time, now the spark had been aflame and their hearts had been consumed. She smiled at him and leaned for a kiss on the lips. James leaned forward too and kissed her on the lips. They were locked in loving embrace for some time until James finally pulled himself away. Amelia looked at him in a wonder and moved in closer to cuddle. She looked forward without concentrating on anything but the feeling of touch and sense of the love in the air and so did James.

Amelia: You do not speak much now do you James.

James: Even then we have fallen in love and there exists a bond.

Amelia: You should learn to speak more and interact with people. It is necessary for people leading an army. Especially you. I have heard you did not interact much with your battalion.

James: I had spoken what was necessary to be spoken.

Amelia: You should interact with your officers more, speak with them. Why don't you go out with them to the market, you do have a large sum of money, right. You can always make a bond with them.

James: I do not think that would be necessary.

Amelia: Do not underestimate the power of emotions in a war James.

James: Fine Amelia. I shall do so.

Amelia: You do not need to go now, let us stay like this for a while.

James still held Amelia in his arms and even pressed her closer to his body. They stayed there like that staring into the expanse of nothing, comprehending things that shall only be known to them. The true meaning of love.

Amelia: Do you know how to kill a dragon?

James: I have read a few things about them, and I have been learning these things for the sake of fights after all.

Amelia: I really wish if I was allowed to help.

James: I would have liked your company.

Amelia: Nobody expected you to be a first-tier student and that too a powerful one. It makes me feel lucky having you to be my groom to be.

James: Lets be happy.

They stayed like that for a longer period of time.