ov10

Chapter 10: Legionnaire

Finn Thaener 1

Bones crunched and cracked, while mud stuck and stained the underside of his black leather boots as he walked the streets of this desolate village. While they had arrived in time to save the villagers from utter doom, the structural integrity of the hamlet had already been brought to ruin by the relentless evil of the undead horde.

But the difference seemed nonexistent to him either way. This place was a filth site, and the people lived like slaves… if slightly better-fed slaves. Except they weren't slaves, hell, these were probably the freest people this side of the continent.

Unfortunately freedom didn't necessarily equal prosperity.

Of course, he'd known— as per the briefing— that the Western nations weren't exactly beacons of advancement. But wasn't this a tab bit extreme? He liked to think that this lack of affluence wasn't widespread and that the lorded lands were better off.

Lieutenant Finn looked at the rubbled buildings as he walked, surveyed, and pondered. His platoon had done all they could for the survivors thus far, but the things that came next were far beyond what his Legionnaires could assure…or promise.

He had sent a report, of course, but he wasn't sure if the higher-ups would even bother going that far for unknown people who held little to no connection to Elgroth. Saving these people from their certain doom should have been enough— but it was hard to ignore the pain and despondency of people who had lost all they'd ever had.

If they left them as they were, these villagers would surely perish. Most of their menfolk were lost in the defence against the undead before his platoon could arrive, and their homes were little more than ruins. The taint of undeath had robbed their lands of nutrients, and if left uncleansed, the death miasma would only grow, spawn, and attract undead creatures in the future.

Unfortunately, Finn and his men weren't Light Magic users or Druidic practitioners, the best they could do was provide temporary shelter, protection, and sustenance…at least until further orders came through.

He brought his right hand to his mouth and took a drag of the litburner within it, letting the hazardous but addictive smoke wane away some of his worries.

"I'm probably going to get reprimanded for this during inspection, but hell if these things don't feel like magic." Finn chuckled to himself, dragging his unoccupied hand through his short brunet hair as the smoke escaped from his nostrils.

Finn Thaener was a tall, lean-built halfbreed who possessed sharp, handsome features complimented by his approachable countenance. His brunet hair framed a face with a chiseled jawline and keen grey eyes that only showed sharpness in rarer times.

He was clad in a battle uniform that was a fair bit different from that of his men.

It consisted of a simple black shirt with long sleeves, overlaid with a grey leather-reinforced vest, adorned with maroon stripes and meticulously etched drawings. Protecting his shoulders were guards crafted from an alloy ofServiceable ingot andGalvoln to accommodate the enchantments within.

On his wrists were gauntlets fashioned from the same alloy and housing his mystical crossbow and spear. Around his abdomen, a broad, heavy-duty belt with numerous small pouches dangled, providing easy access to essentials. Nestled on his left hip was his magically forged rapier,Widow, a custom make rewarded to him after he made Lieutenant.

The whole set would probably set him back three years, which was why all his items were grafted with tracking charms as an anti-theft precaution.

Yeah, screw being indebted to the Legionnaire. Finn had ambitions!

His demi-elven ears twitched, humming noises coming to his attention. The Lieutenant turned to where the sound came and found the gathered villagers holding a funeral for their fallen kin. He personally thought the time was too soon…and stupid, given the fallen's cause of death. But tradition was a delicate thing, and it probably wouldn't go well suggesting the departed be burned to ashes since it seemed cremation wasn't a practice here.

He took one last drag before the bud of the burner disintegrated into particles and faded into the ethereal.

Some of his men stood by the villagers, comforting and helping with the filling— the latter was mostly done by the spell weavers. He'd heard some wanted to extend aid to the other villagers— the town that would see besiegement tomorrow evening if nothing was done.

That was noble thinking, but until orders came they weren't going anywhere. Plus, during the briefing, he'd heard that many monsters followed behind the undead horde and feasted on the dead they left behind. Slaughtering those monsters was bound to yield sufficient profit compared to the nothing burger that was undead purging.

Honestly, he would truly hate it if all their deployment amounted to was guarding villagers and purging dead spawns—those tasks were better suited for the languishing city guards and fanaticalTemplars. No, Finn wanted to enter the Great Forest and subjugate monsters, harvest rare meats and hides, gather alchemic ingredients, and createMana Cores.

After all, Elgroth was about to experience an economic surge and the First Lieutenant wanted in on the action… The Legionnaire was well and good but unless you were a bloody Major or Special Unit, it sure as hell wasn't going to make you rich.

Finn wanted a farm. No, farms. And a manor…and a company. Hell, he wanted to be one of those pompous merchants and get invited to all the fancy parties to—

"Si—"

With speeds that beggared belief, the half-elf spun with Widow in his hand, the influx from his Mana Channeling turning the blade neon green for a brief instant. The attack was aimed to decapitate the ambusher behind him in one fell—

His eyes widened with recognition and it took all of his training to abandon his attack.

Yet even with that, he still went through the legionnaire's first barrier, the auto-activating magical shielding shattering into a mimicry of so many broken glass before turning into ethereal particles.

"Bloody heavens, Norbert! Could you be any quieter?" Finn shouted as his heart made a drum out of his ribcage. Seriously, what kind of person approached someone from behind…

Finn looked at the man before him only to find him unalarmed.

…well, a suicidal one by the looks of it.

"I wasn't quiet at all, sir. You were just deep in thought." Norbert replied with the same calm that painted his exterior.

"Don't call me 'sir.' It makes me feel like afossil. And I wasn't deep in thought; I was daydreaming about a time when I wouldn't be stuck here with you mentals." He countered with a scowl that wasn't truly there, while instinct guided him to sheathWidow with unfelt ease, "Anyway, what's going on?"

"We got orders from HQ, sir."

Finn rolled his eyes at the legionnaires insistence on honorifics, "Go on."

"A small relief detachment will be sent here to help the villagers while a larger one will be sent to the town after it has been purged of all the undead. 80% of the Serpent Platoon—"

"It's the Basilisk Platoon, damnit. Why ask for designations if they just call us whatever they want?" He corrected, but the legionnaire paid him little heed and continued.

"—is to head to the town and protect its inhabitants. After that's completed, the Platoon needs to ensure that all immediate dangers to the 'Conclave' are eliminated."

"What about the villagers and their infertile lands?"

"After the grace period is over, the villagers will be sent to Velena while a unit of Templars andGardeners will be deployed to purify the land and enrich the soil."

So political machinations, ha? Yeah, Finn was staying far away from that shit.

"The cultists?"

"They are to be captured if possible but that isn't necessarily a priority."

He nodded, "How long are we expected to be here before being called to base?"

"Three months until recall, sir."

What? That was too short of a time.

"Do we at least get a direct line to the Surveillance Department? I—we need to know what kind of monsters we can expect on this side of this country-wide forest."

Norbert shook his head, "All communications are to be secured. But…" the man handed him a mystical scroll, "We were handed a self-updating map, though we're required to contribute to its completion, with emphasis on goblin settlements."

Great, more assignments. Well, at least this one was helpful. The Lieutenant put it in his spatial pouch.

"Any other directives I should know of?"

To Finn's dismay, Norbert nodded, "Special Orders: 1. We are to make nice with the incoming detachment from the kingdom of Re-Estize. The estimated time of arrival is on the cusp of evening. 2. Scout out a suitable location for an outpost. 3. All Mythic Beasts are to be captured not killed—"

"Wait! There are mythical creatures in this forest?!" The Lieutenant practically shouted.

As much as Finn loved coin, Mythic Creatures were a big no-no, especially if they wereElder Dragons,Phoenixes orChimeras. Those hoarding assholes would probably smell him from a mile afar given the amount of mystical items he was adorned in.

"It's a big forest, sir."

"Big forest my ass, why wasn't this included in the meeting?" He ran a hand through his face in frustration, "Do we at least get an Aigroqir?"

Norbert merely looked at him as if he was crazy… which wasn't necessarily unfair.

"Fine, but if we see any signs of a dragon I'm requesting a Knight." That was an exaggeration, Finn had no ties with a noble family nor did he personally know any knights. Still, the silver shimmering bastards were really good at killing huge powerful abominations thus he was going to proxy the request through his superior.

"I'm quite sure we aren't going to encounter any dragons, sir. We will only be touching upon the edges of the Great Forest at most."

"Better safe than sorry, Norbert," he said. He looked up at the cloudy sky and let out a long sigh. "Have the men and the village chief—or person of the same equivalent—gather at my tent. I want us out and on the march in an hour.

The Saint: As it is common with all fantasy militaries, their primary focus is monster subjugation and border security. All notable minerals will have unique properties, like how one can't just say orichalcum is better than mithril without specifying why…or how? 

Elgroth will have a lot of modern amenities and luxuries. But it won't be an excessive thing. 

A lot of OCs pushing the story forward, but I try to link them to some original characters as quick as possible before things could get dull. Finn and his platoon will probably be handling some of the OG story adjacent plot lines with the south east of Tob.