The Captain Is Dead

As the two sides closed in on each other, the steps of the levied troops on both sides slowed down even more.

Jinn, as the captain of the ten-man squad, stood at the far end of the second row. Nervously, he glanced at Norn beside him, who seemed utterly unfazed by the tension and quietly wiped the sweat from his palms.

Noticing Jinn's fidgeting, Norn kept his eyes on the front and calmly said, "Jinn, don't you want to be a knight? Watch closely; this is what knightly combat looks like."

Hearing this, Jinn's gaze steadied, and the ideal of becoming a knight warmed in his chest as if strength was returning to his body.

At this moment, the knights on both sides stopped in unison, but the levy infantry continued to advance under the orders of the squires.

As Norn had anticipated, there would be no ranged weapon attacks in this small skirmish. After all, every arrow cost three copper pennies, and each throwing spear was worth three silver dinars. The poor peasants wouldn't prepare them, and the not-so-wealthy knights wouldn't either.

Even with their slow steps, the two irregular squares were inevitably about to make contact.

On their side, the first row consisted of short spear soldiers holding shields. Although the shields were a motley collection, with some even holding wooden planks with bark still on them, they at least provided some protection for themselves and their teammates behind.

The soldiers in the back extended their spears, flails, and other weapons through the gaps or over the shoulders of the front row, tremblingly pointing at the opposite side.

Fortunately, the opposite side was pretty much the same. Teenagers' faces were filled with tension, and middle-aged men in their forties were panting heavily. Although the equipment on the other side might not have been as varied, the mindset was similar.

A trembling iron spear slowly approached another quivering flail, and then, like a mouse that had seen a cat, it quickly retracted, fearing that the other side would take the opportunity to strike.

The owners of the two weapons were both young men under 20, and this was their first time being levied into battle. One had a flickering gaze and was shaking like he was sifting flour. The other seemed completely petrified, frozen in place.

Another pair was much more genuine. One lightly thrust forward, and the other gently parried. Then they switched, with the second one thrusting and the first one parrying, in a cycle.

Naturally, it was a pair of experienced farmers who could make such coordinated moves. Both in their forties, with graying hair but rich experience, they knew the ins and outs of surviving on the battlefield.

For a while, weapons clashed back and forth, occasionally ringing with the sound of metal or thudding against shields.

But after ten minutes, there were no casualties on either side.

Watching the lively scene, Jinn, who couldn't see the subtleties yet, swallowed hard, calmed himself down, and tried to loosen his right hand a bit so that his spear wouldn't tremble too much.

Seeing Jinn like this, Norn just shook his head, realizing once again that he needed to work on Jinn's mental fortitude.

But in this seemingly harmonious chaos, not everyone was just muddling through; there was always some "catfish" in the school of fish to keep things lively.

An iron spear zeroed in on the nervous Jinn. After a heavy downward strike, the iron spear successfully knocked Jinn's spearhead to the ground, with its tip now pointing directly at Jinn's chest.

As the spear shaft was thrust forward, the spear tip grew larger and larger in Jinn's eyes.

"Smack!"

Another dark shadow struck the iron spear from above, and its tip grazed Jinn's clothes before hitting the ground.

While Jinn was still relieved to have narrowly escaped, Norn's calm voice came through.

"Don't just stand there! It's getting real now!"

Norn, who had successfully parried the iron spear, glared at its owner.

The middle-aged spearman on the far right of the second row on the opposite side, who seemed to be a squad captain like Jinn, was clad in leather armor studded with iron plates and wore a round helmet. A flash of disbelief crossed his 30-something face. He had deliberately chosen the young.

Jinn was behind the fat farmer instead of the burly peasant, but his confident thrust had missed.

But the experienced spearman quickly adjusted, pulling his spear back and resetting his stance.

This guy seems pretty seasoned, Norn thought to himself, and then angled his spear, pointing it along with Jinn's spear at the squad captain.

The soldier opposite Norn, seeing Norn angle his spear, felt his courage grow. He had intended to just muddle through but took a cautious step forward, only to be noticed by Norn, who was paying close attention.

Before his opponent's spear could strike, Norn's spear fiercely collided with it from the side, leaving his opponent wide open.

But worried that the squad captain might take advantage of the opening, Norn's spear feinted twice in front of his opponent before angling back at the squad captain. However, Norn's opponent no longer had the heart to face him.

The squad captain, with two spears, pointed at him, glanced at his trembling teammate beside him, and cursed inwardly.

Fortunately, the front row of the squad captain was also a "warrior," a thin man in armed clothing with a small round helmet. The two seemed to work well together. The thin man carefully stepped forward with his shield, slowly pushing away Jinn's and Norn's spears while focusing most of his attention on the fat farmer opposite him.

The squad captain hid behind the thin man, his spear raised high, staring at the three opponents over the thin man's shoulder.

The fat farmer contemptuously looked at the two men opposite him, roared, and charged with his shield. His massive frame was like an angry wild boar, each step heavily planted, the recoil propelling his body forward at a rapid pace.

The thin man was momentarily startled by the fat man's roar and tried to adjust his stance but was knocked off balance by the fat man's charge.

Seeing that his charge was effective, the fat man raised his short spear to strike. But at that moment, another flash of cold light streaked downward.

The squad captain behind the thin man seized the opportunity, using the fat man's momentary pause from the charge, and thrust his spear forward.

The fat man's cheap mail armor couldn't withstand the forceful thrust, and after a brief pause, he was pierced through, the spear embedding itself into his thick shoulder.

But the squad captain's attack was also an opportunity for Norn and his companion.

Seeing that the opponent had committed to the strike and couldn't defend himself, Norn wasted no time in testing the waters. Instead, he forcefully pushed off with his right foot, channeling all his strength through his waist and into his right hand. The spear shaft slightly bent under the immense acceleration, and then the spearhead turned into a flash of light, accurately nailing the squad captain's throat.

As Norn pulled back his spear, a gush of blood mixed with fragments sprayed out. The squad captain, a veteran of four battles, gradually lost the luster in his eyes.

The thin man, now without cover, was also seized by Jinn, who took advantage of the situation and thrust his spear into the thin man's ribcage. After a few convulsions, he too collapsed weakly.

Jinn, who had made his first kill, felt no joy. Instead, he was panting heavily as if he had just sprinted a hundred meters. The grim scene of the thin man was still replaying in his mind, leaving him momentarily dazed and feeling somewhat nauseous.

A small but warm right hand gently patted Jinn's back.

Jinn turned his head, and in his eyes appeared a smile that he would cherish for a lifetime.

"Congratulations, you've taken the first step towards being a knight," Norn grinned, showing his white teeth.

Unlike the two who were encouraging each other, the opposite side almost immediately noticed the loss of their two squad leaders.

"The captain is dead!" The young man opposite Norn shouted in panic.

The nearly 50-man formation on the opposite side immediately wavered, especially the flank opposite Norn. Seeing Norn and Jinn take out two squad leaders in a row, these peasants, who had no desire to fight in the first place, instinctively retreated, maintaining a distance from Norn's side.

Naturally, Norn's side was greatly inspired. Seeing a chance for victory, the people who had been pretending to fight stopped pretending and began to advance slowly.

Just as things were looking very promising, a square banner began to move slowly.