Another Perspective (1)

The smell of cigarettes and metal clatter filled a bumpy ride full of men with tense expressions. Well, not all of them were men.

"Why the hell is a kid here?" One of the soldiers covered in bulletproof armor and with a heavy mask hiding his face asked.

The "kid" in question was a man who was 20. He wasn't a "kid" by any means but all of the men who came onto the van that was hauling them was at least double his age.

"They're willing to draft anybody for this shitty war," one complained. "I was forcefully brought along because I 'met the quota' which I discovered was just being weak. That's why mostly elderly are fighting this shitty battle."

Others listened silently, they knew the rumors as well. They had joined the war forcefully or were goaded in by goodwill like 'meeting the quota' or whatnot.

One the soldiers put down his rifle and offered a handshake to the 'kid' who was previously mocked. "How did you end up here kid?"

"He volunteered!" The driver of the van cackled out. The soldiers bursted into a sea of mockery and jests at the 'kid'.

"He thinks we're in some show!" A soldier slapped their knee.

"He thinks that, because he believes in justice and friendship, he will make the world a better place!"

"Or maybe, he's egotistical and doesn't understand that we are at war now! Possibly millions will die and we were sent to 'thin the herd' why the fuck does he think we'll make it past the first day!"

A soldier was laughing himself off, having the best time of his life. "He-" *cough. The soldier became slightly confused.

*Cough! *Cough! The man started to spew blood on the floor and color drained from his face.

"Carbon Dioxide isn't good for your lungs, you know?" The 'kid' eerily slithered. He slowly brought his hand to the mask covering his face and took it off.

A emblem of fire that crackled away at everything was engraved into his forehead. "Sigil of Fire!" The others thought and drew their guns.

"He might be Valerian!" One shouted because the 'kid' could use magic. Almost no normal human sent on this battle could do it as easily as the boy.

*Cough! *Cough. Everybody in the van, even the driver fell on their knees in a coughing fit. The van swerved before it came to a stop and the 'kid' hastily let out.

"Use your breath to insult me one more time and I'll take it permanently. Don't even threaten to kill me. I don't care." Everybody soon regained their composure and became silent soon after. They were lucky to be alive after annoying a mage at the level of the 'kid'.

Even if humanity was enemies against mages, people who could use sigils were powerful and that demanded respect.

"Excuse me, I see that you're a fire but I didn't smell any burning so what did you burn?" A soldier politely asked, trying to get back on the good side of the 'kid'.

"I burnt the air, leaving Carbon Dioxide behind," the 'kid' said while putting his mask back on and returning to silence.

The 'kid' saw them all eye him eagerly. Somebody who could burn such a small thing like air was rare at this time and should be allied. "The name's Neply, don't annoy me."

Neply was obviously annoyed so the van remained in absolute silence after that.

"Attention! I am commander Wilhelm giving orders directly from the Great Leader!" A man with a hulking physique and loud voice commanded his troops.

"You," Wilhem for some reason had a keen but indirect eye on Neply. "All of you are the new troops who've just arrived. Congrats, instead of setting up artillery and settling down, the new forces get to go straight into war."

"Our battle plan is simple. Run at them. If there is a strong target, use a tank. If there is an even stronger target, use all the artillery you need to kill them. Don't trust in your guns because they will be useless to a lot of Valerians, instead trust in a heavy bomb or tank shell."

"I will make myself very clear this one time only! At some point, you will be ordered to retreat! We are not defeating our enemies today, we are gauging their strength for tomorrow."

"Now, you will be assigned a team and then you will be stationed. After that, we strike."

Commander Wilhelm looked directly at Neply. This time, both of their gazes locked for a brief moment before breaking off.

It was no surprise to Neply that he was one of the teams sent first in the front lines. For whatever reason, the commander hadn't liked him and chose the get rid of him first. He surmised it was because of his magic but Neply didn't care. He remained emotionless on the outside.

*Boom! A massive explosion hit the battlefield as Neply and a few allies used trench warfare with the support of heavy artillery from the modern era. Neply's job as a footsoldier was to defend the artillery behind him as they pushed forward and that was what he did.

*Bang! A gunshot rang from his long-rifle. He firey explosion came out that was much stronger than the gunpowder in the gun and the bullet went flying towards a Valerian's head before they could react.

"Enhancing my bullets with fire was a good idea," he surmised. The reason why his firearm was effective was because his bullets flew at a higher speed as they were coated in fire and pierced through the wind easily.

So far, Neply was doing good work. The artillery kept the strong ones at bay and he easily stopped the weaker ones with his fire bullets. He remained impassive, emotionless the whole time.

That was until the human army realized they had stepped into a trap.