Sean Dorvin
Giving extra classes and preparing things better wasn't enough. I had to start working hard, so I went to bother Tech, the guy who could actually move his hands, using the model of a tank engine his own father had made.
The guy literally welded with his bare hands and magically sculpted metal beams. I'd seen him before, but working with him was insane. This made me wonder how talented his father really was.
Soon we'd finished the engine and given him a drawing of a locomotive. Since it was supposed to run on rails, I thought it was fun to watch Tech, who looked like a Goblin from a fantasy book, sculpt the rails. I say sculpt because welding is an insult to real welders.
"Remind me what this is for?" Tech asked as he worked.
—It's a train; it has to be able to push several cars across the tracks, so we can transport anything quickly. Where I come from, it's the cornerstone of logistics.
—I can understand its use, but we don't have horses. Or rather, we don't have horses anymore, so I guess I have to make the tracks too.
—It's better if we find a team to create the track sections and assemble them. No problem, we have people.
—Yet you say that magic crystals don't exist in your world.
—No, in our world we use coal or process something called petroleum to make fuel. Where I come from, magic doesn't exist, so even if there were crystals like these, they'd be about as useful to us as a paperweight.
—Libri is full of crystals thanks to the mines in the capital's mountains; many have special properties, but even the most basic crystal is indispensable, as you can see.
—We don't produce energy, nor do we convert energy, as a certain scientist from where I come from would say.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
—The explanation is complex enough to be an understatement. I suppose that by providing some groundwork and asking certain questions, some of you will succeed and acquire the technology you have in my world.
—And is it worth it?
—You saw the tanks, right?
Tech nodded and continued working. I paid close attention to what he was doing, trying to understand how his structures were so strong. Through this, I came up with several ways to make my spears stronger.
Once we were finished and the minecart seemed to work, we had to test it, but without further ado, I told Tech to find the team of craftsmen I'd assembled and more helpers. That's how we began building the first train lines; there seemed to be enough material from the ruins to finish.
Normally I would plan all of this before doing it, but given the speed with which these people threaten me, I think it's better to just jump right in and deal with any problems that arise along the way.
As I left Tech working on it, I realized it was already dark.
The recruits were still training; this wasn't part of my program, the program I'd designed at the time. Mason had twisted and changed it to his liking. He still respected the objectives, but I swear that man likes to make his own soldiers suffer.
Before, we used to pay with food, but these people are the food producers. What do these people get paid for? Right now, I think I can give them goods. Thanks to the train, I think I can give them something. But I sense that I haven't worried about the residents themselves for the moment.
My problem is that where I come from, people would have already started complaining, and the only way to do this would be with a harsh military dictatorship; however, right before my eyes I see communism... Redundancy aside, a few years ago they were one of my sworn enemies.
But Karl Marx doesn't exist in this world. So I'm really imagining it. However, the mercenaries from before showed that these people and my people aren't so different. It's not quite like that, because these people behave... Well. Social strata exist, and you normally see particularities in these people's intelligence or divergences of evil, so to speak, in one or the other. However, in this case, it's zero. No one wants to steal, no one behaves according to the stipulated rules... It's strange... Although I had been informed of a mafia within one of the cities that sold slaves, I had confirmed that this wasn't it, or at least I think I did. Could it be something cultural?
There are a lot of questions that plague me as I worry. But it's thanks to these people's behavior that things are going so well for me. From that point of view, it's poetic, because I'm happy to fight for people like this.
I decided to train alone, strengthening my spears with what I'd learned from Tech. After a few hours of training, I'd gotten it right; my weapons, in fact, were much tougher; but it became easy. I'd already been given this answer; magic is becoming much stronger for me; I now feel it as if it's an extension of me, and I don't have to focus on it much; I'd gotten used to it.
Going up and down the wall with magic was fun. When I got off the wall, I didn't hear the usual hustle and bustle; people were respecting their sleep schedule. I looked up at the starry sky before entering the base.
I wonder how Ashley is doing… I trust they'll make it… I have to. Just like they trust me.
When I entered my room/office, the nurse came out and told me to call her if I needed to.
Jane was in bad shape, she was pale and still completely unconscious, but just as I sat down in my chair, she opened her eyes.
"If I had looked him in the eye... I could have avoided this..." Jane commented in an agonized voice.
"If every time you get up it's to blame yourself, believe me, you'll never get better." I smiled at him.
—Your smile… It's beautiful. I've been an idiot. I realize that. Being alone for so long, doing the same thing over and over again… I… I've been suffering for so long because I don't seek help… Not properly.
—The past… It doesn't exist… No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much the past may define us, it doesn't exist, we can't change it, the important thing is that you are with us now.
—I thought about it... Merging, I understand. I wasn't able to overcome it because I lived in a loop. I lived doing the same thing over and over again, living in this environment and being thrown back with emotions I thought I didn't have... It's weird, I understand... Now that I look into your eyes, there's something wrong with me. Maybe deep down I've seen the worst of humanity... But Sean, you and the others, I think you've shown me a beautiful side... A side that makes life worth living again... Sean... I don't want to die. I want to smile like you do... —Without being able to say another word, she fell unconscious.
Once again, he woke up, and once again, he tore me apart with just a few words. I asked him, "Why?" The simple answer, that he wanted to smile like me, was enough to make me cry, even more so when I know I'm not the happiest person in the world. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm just too hard on myself. Those who sacrificed for me, why did they do it? Because I would have done it?
I would have done it so that person could continue living, another chance... Another chance to live, to get revenge, even if I hadn't asked for anything, I would save that person because I love them.
So, for the first time in a long time, the pain of having made it out alive stopped, as if a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I'd finally gotten the answer... No... I'd finally wanted to hear it, I'd finally listened to it. Thanks to that, I was able to bury them, at least in my heart.
I wasn't putting the life they gave me at risk. They already knew I was going to do that, and I'm the only one of them who can get revenge. Of course, for obvious reasons, that has to wait, mainly because I'm in who knows where, at least it's not my planet.
There are several things that have already compelled me to fight for these people, but... Where did I really get my hatred for the god of fire? How can I hate someone so much without knowing him...? Because he represents everything I hate in this world.
I left my room and asked a guard to find the generals, who soon arrived.
It was time to activate the part of the plan that would win us this war, the part of the plan that won me the war.
"We're still recruiting soldiers... It's incredible," Lombardi said as he put out his cigarette and entered the room.
"That's both good and bad. Organization becomes more difficult, and having large bodies of soldiers causes weakness during marches. We can no longer simply march toward the enemy," I replied.
As Frost, Mason, and a few faces she hadn't quite gotten to know entered the office, however, they were the ones Ashley had handpicked.
—Each of you will have a specialized company; the soldiers will choose according to their liking. After your daily routine training with Mason, you will train in a specialty. There is more information in the documents I'm going to give you, but it's simple to understand. Frontline troops, those who will fight to hold the combat fronts, are troops armed with heavy weapons, capable of holding the front against large waves of enemies and frequent assaults; duel troops, those who will eliminate and take positions strategically, are relatively small and light groups, but thanks to their mobility, they are capable of great things. There will be one for Tanks, tasked with crushing the enemy or defending them quickly and skillfully, and another for aircraft. I know you don't know what the latter is; it's still being developed. I left detailed information in your document. To finish and let you read the documents in peace, do it properly, name each company. —I remained silent.
With a gesture of my hands I gave them permission to open the folders and take a good look at each specialty they would have to do, however I stopped Mason.
—No, you can't choose.
Mason raised an eyebrow and looked like he'd stepped in dog shit.
"Why?" he asked.
—You already have one, whether you like it or not, accident or not, your team, even including Ashley, is extremely capable. To say you're a good soldier is an understatement; you led your team to be monsters in combat, whether you like it or not, you did. That's why I'm giving you your own company. In it, you'll only have to make groups like yours, under your command. You'll forge elite troops, and for the first time, I'm giving you the green light. Those who join your company must understand the hell they're walking into, and for that very reason, for the first time, I'm giving you permission to train them however you want, even to have the artillery practice their shots on your guys. We'll try to keep them from dying, but... I'll leave it at that.
As soon as I stopped talking, I could see a small smile spread across Mason's face, and I couldn't tell if he had something sadistic in mind.
I was about to continue speaking when the alarm started to sound. I ran quickly to the generals' side. As soon as I left the base, there was a soldier waiting for us. He quickly gave us the news.
"A vast army of the Firelord's puppets is approaching. The reconnaissance troops say there are too many, they can't even count them." I gestured; the generals and I began to climb the wall toward me.
When I reached the top, which wasn't very difficult... I'd grown stronger, and I felt it. The disgusting magic manipulating the puppets with thin strings must be at least a million, no, probably more. That's why they hadn't been able to count them, and they were about seven hours away on foot.
The camps were below the wall, and that's why I had brought them up. I know I hadn't given them time to think things through and which company they should choose; I didn't even give them time to decide on a name, but the problem was this: "Time" was something we didn't have.
Once again he raised his voice with a glass so that the soldiers could hear me, as soon as they heard my voice, they all lined up in formation, I realized the hard way, I had an army of around one million four hundred soldiers, most of them rookies and they can't even be called rookies.
"Welcome to the newcomers, but on these eves, I can't offer you a whiskey and a chocolate cake with a back massage. The god of fire approaches again with his puppets, and it's time for us, united as a great army, as great brothers, to go out to fight. But before we advance, we must train, we must prepare. I can see you; you are weak; you won't last a second on the battlefield. You are worse than the rats that feed on bodies in the trenches. Therefore, you must choose a home, a house. That home will train you and prepare you for a single job, where you will be experts." I nodded for them to begin, one by one, explaining their company.
—I am General Castro Vermilion, leader of the House of Shrapnel Servants. Those under my command will serve by gunpowder. We will hold the line and rain down bullets on the bastards who took our lands from us. We, gentlemen, are responsible for stopping that puppet army, and not a single one must fall to such odds. Let our machine guns teach them that they cannot crush us.
When he finished speaking, I was surprised. I hadn't told him it was him, but indeed, it was his job to defend. That gave me confidence in that man as a general... No, not yet. As a person, many of the soldiers rose up in shouts of fury.
"I am Lombardi, leader of the House of Iron Weapons. Those under my command will use war machines, like mighty tanks, to crush the enemy. Those of my House will show them what tons of steel can do; the power of a god is nothing."
It was short, and didn't cause much of a stir. I didn't add anything else. Lombardi's ineptitude was perfect... Mainly because we didn't have, nor were we going to have, enough tanks for so many people.
"I am Frost Valdergarth, leader of the House of Hunters. We are duelists, we who will raid, we who will reclaim our lands from their twisted hands. We will slay every one of them, hunting them. The battlefield is our playground."
There, even I'm surprised. Not because of the speech, her white hair began to shine alongside her blue eyes, and a cold air dominated the wall. It was magic. The bastard had made an ice sculpture in the shape of an eagle. She'll have a chat later. How the hell had no one told me she knew magic? She did cause quite a stir among the soldiers, too.
—I am Theodore Marston, leader of the House of Death Cannons. We will make it rain… Just that… Let it rain explosive bullets as big as your heads! We will light up the battlefield with beautiful fireworks! We will hear them scream! Like they heard us scream!
—I am Defalco Guilliman, leader of the House of the Air Gods. We will take to the air as none have before.
It was short, but unlike Lombardi, I couldn't blame him, as I barely knew what the hell an airplane was, since it was in the document. It's good that not many people get excited, because I can't have a very large fleet of airplanes so quickly.
It was Mason's turn, and he started laughing grimly.
—You know me by now, don't you? To me, you're all weaklings, and as you go home, you'll think you're good soldiers and feel good about yourselves. Shit! Those under my command will be monsters in the air, on land, at sea, in mud, in sand, in the city, in the trenches. We will train until the skin tears from our fingers. Those who choose my path, the path of monsters, are welcome! But we will not go to hell to fight it; we are hell. We are the ones who will bring hell back to them! They've made us suffer enough, and I intend to return every bit of pain to them! If you join me, I will break your bones and cause scars that cannot be erased or covered, but once I'm done with you, your house name will be one to be feared. This is the way of the Angels of Death.
Mason caused a lot of stir, but the truth is that knowing the bastard, many would give up halfway, and others knowing that Mason is a sadist would run away from him.
By the way... What the hell is up with the houses? I remember saying "company." What the hell did all this come up with? Unimportant questions, but I'll ask them later.
Just as it began, the generals set up posts to accept the soldiers into their homes. Each one would choose the training accordingly, although I had left extensive guides to each one's work, including training examples, for everyone except Mason. I left him relatively alone; he was my personal experiment… I wanted to see what he was capable of.
While I'd like to ask Frost how the hell she used her magic to create ice, she was extremely busy organizing the wave of recruits that were swarming to be part of her division, or at this point I prefer to call it what they call them, "Houses..." I feel like a clown...
With that in mind, I returned to my room. The nurse was changing Jane's wet wipes, whose appearance wasn't improving. The nurse finished her work and told me to call her if anything happened. With a grim expression, she left. I knew what that meant, but I had no choice but to wait for Ashley.
Seeing as everything was going well, and seeing as I was apparently facing an imminent puppet attack, I worked on a defense using the puppets as training and expending an industrial amount of metal. The reality was that, as much as we produced bullets with magic, the vast majority who could create bullets didn't actually create them; they simply molded the metal and resources. Thanks to the train, I knew I could maintain an incredible supply of resources, so I wasn't worried anymore; I already had food to pay for them.
My artillery would destroy everything, and the remaining puppets would be shot. I had firing holes drilled inside the wall in the documents, stamped them, and made several copies with my magic. I asked one of the soldiers outside my office to divide up the room, and told them who they should deliver them to.
Once again alone, with Jane's unconscious body, who only gets up to say something more depressing than the last...
Anyway, and without being able to ask anyone to teach me, I had to try something new. Maybe use up my magic over and over again. If magic was like a muscle, a muscle grows if you break down its tissue and let it heal.
I sat cross-legged in the center of my dimly lit room. I focused on a ball of energy and dispersed it. I did this several times. My body began to ache, and I gasped for air, but I didn't improve my body with magic. I forced myself to continue. I can't remember the last time I was so tired from training. The air entering my lungs wasn't enough, and my face burned in a full-body complaint that begged me to stop, but I didn't. As I continued, my vision began to blur again and again. How many had I done up to this point? I wasn't sure. Blood began to spurt from my worn palms. Before I knew it, it flooded my throat, and I had to spit it out onto the floor. Choking on my own blood, the pain became even worse.
But I closed my eyes tightly and recreated the ball of energy, suddenly I had more magic to draw from, when I made it disappear, a small ray shot out in one direction with the intention of exploding whatever was in its path, however something stopped it at a terrifying speed, the edge of the red katana, shining reflecting the dim light of the lamp in the room.
"You have to be more careful..." Her sharp gaze bore into me, her hair covering her face, and she looked more dangerous than usual. "Stop, or you'll end up even worse than me! That blood... It's because you're wearing down your own body."
She placed the tip of her katana against my shoulder without even getting out of bed. It didn't pierce my skin, but I felt the sting of the blade. It wasn't that she was squeezing; I realized she didn't have the strength to do so. I was already sensitive.
"You didn't notice, but you woke me up because you used a different style of magic, a magic that consumes your body in exchange for giving you a bonus, a dangerous double-edged sword. Using it for training is... Dangerous if you don't know what you're doing." She dropped her katana and lay down on the bed.
I tried to get up, but fell to my knees; my body was shattered. I was angry with myself; she had used her strength to prevent a disaster that was my fault. I forced myself to stand.
"Excuse me..." I said in a low voice.
—The only one who needs to apologize is me… you said it yourself. This happened to me because I didn't look my rival in the eye. Being this devastated made me reflect.
For the first time he looked me in the eyes in a genuine way.
-Reflect?
—I'm tired of myself. I told you, I want your happiness, Ashley's happiness. You guys went through horrible things too. I'm the only one who's dedicated herself to licking her wounds. I'm the only one who still... I see you dead! I can hear you in my head, but I refuse to believe I'm crazy. I'm not...
—Why are you alive, Jane?
That question made noise in his head.
-Don't know…
—What would Jane have answered as a child, the Jane they hadn't yet broken up with?
— She… She wanted to be happy with her family, she wanted to eat delicious things, she wanted to play with her friends, she wanted to enjoy the little the world had to offer, I just wanted to live… — A tear escaped from her crimson iris.
He hugged her and for the first time she let him hug her.
—From now on, we are your family.
The surprising thing was... She responded to the hug, I could feel some tears falling on my shoulder.
"What did I do to deserve this?" he asked.
"To live," I replied.
—We're all your family too, Azumi.
That voice scared us and we moved away, it was Ashley hugging Azumi, who was also crying.
—I… If I have a goal, I will recreate my clan, and I will make it strong, so strong that no one will be able to trample on it again, I count on you… My family… —said Azumi.
"And even though the boys are missing, I have no doubt they agree," I added.
Jane coughed up blood and looked at Ashley with teary eyes, asking the question. Ashley put on a grim expression, but pulled out a vial.
—I have the cure... But, Sean, we need to talk...