It was a bright and sunny day. Not a single cloud could be seen all the way to the horizon. It was the perfect day to start an 11-man crusade against the Wolfenstein Kingdom. Although if someone heard them talking about it they might think it was a prank, this party was quite serious in regards to their mission. Well, at least the 10 of them were.
...
"Claire Gesulga" (5-star Professional-class)
"Title: Giant Axe Princess"
"Class: Berserker"
"Base HP: 3,000"
"Base Damage: 110"
"Equipment: [Dark Knights of the Blaz Continent] (Epic)"
"Skill(s): 'Heavy Cleave': Deals Amplified Damage 200% (3-minute cooldown)"
...
"Matthew Sky" (5-star Professional-class)
"Title: Sky Family's Heir"
"Class: Guardian Knight"
"Base HP: 2,100"
"Base Damage: 140"
"Equipment: [Dark Knights of the Blaz Continent] (Epic)"
"Skill(s): 'Guardian's Protection': Heals target ally for 5% HP per sec, 10-second duration. 50% total HP restoration (5 minute cooldown)"
...
"Rey Noe" (1-star Master-class)
"Title: Major General of the Ranustin Kingdom"
"Class: Heavy Swordsman"
"Base HP: 3,800"
"Base Damage: 350"
"Equipment: [Dark Knights of the Blaz Continent] (Epic)"
"Equipment: [Emblazoned Heavy Blade] (Epic)"
"Skill(s): 'Swordsman Wrath': Increases Attack Speed by 10%, increases Base Damage by 20% for 5 minutes (20-minute cooldown)"
...
Feihren was staring at the three people he was sort of familiar with, checking if they could really survive in being a part of this 'suicide' mission. Even though Feihren appears to be doing something idiotic, he was actually assessing the situation in a perfectly reasonable manner.
In all honesty, he could probably complete this mission all on his own. But aside from him wanting to hog the general exp, he also wanted to have some reason to justify his actions in attacking the Wolfenstein Kingdom.
The first reason is that the fewer people he has traveling with him, the faster they would arrive, which would also mean the faster they would be done.
The second reason was that bringing a small amount of people, as opposed to bringing an entire army, would actually mean that almost no casualties would occur on their side.
Lastly, fewer people in the party leads to fewer people Feihren would have to be conscious of.
Within this party of ten, Feihren believed that he could protect every single one of them so that they could return home to their respective families, alive and victorious.
Him wanting to attack Wolfenstein was drawn from the idea that their kings would have the Demonic Essence he was looking for, and to finally get rid of both of them. Until now, Feihren had an inkling of discomfort due to those two unreasonable people who seemingly hate him to the core. On top of that was the fact that they were doing ridiculous things just to get even with him.
...
If Feihren's estimate was accurate, it would take three weeks before they could reach the dwarven village, and another two weeks from the village to the easternmost part of Wolfenstein Kingdom.
During their many days of traveling, Feihren had learned a lot of things from the casual talks of these people during meals. The other 6 people in here were sent as elite representatives from different major kingdoms within the Blaz Continent. All of them have families they had to leave until the conquering of the Wolfenstein kingdom is finished.
It was the fourth night of their travels, and the people within this party had become use to the cycle of their traveling pace and camping schedules. They would mostly skip breakfast, only having water and some bread.
At lunch they would have a meal prepared by Magi Zeph, who was amazingly adept at cooking. At night, after setting their camp, either Claire or Rey would prepare dinner. It may not compare with Magi Zeph's cooking, but for Feihren, it was still enjoyable. Even more so when they would start talking about things they are most fond of in life.
Feihren felt a little nostalgic about all this from when he was a commissioned soldier and was on a mission. Back then, he was with a small group just like this one. It had its ups and downs, even though most of the time it was 'down', but being able to work with reliable people who will always have your back was the best feeling Feihren could ever hope for.
It was especially true when he had a comrade named Jason back then. He was more of a brother than a friend for Feihren. They had been the best of buds, even though that would sound cheesy within the army. They had always had their backs, even during actual field battles!
Getting shot at was never a stranger for Feihren back then. It was evident on the multiple scars he had throughout his body, but it seems that none of those remain on this new body he was using. But even back then, Jason was always the reason that he had managed to return alive. The same went for Jason as well, since Feihren would also risk his life helping him.
Though deserting was common among people who treasure their own lives more than others, Feihren had always believed that everyone had equal rights in being able to live, and if one could help another in prolonging theirs, one should not hesitate to do so. He had held on to this belief for a really long time, until the day Jason had actually perished during a mission.
During said operation, Feihren had to choose between abandoning his friend to give him time to escape, or choosing to stay and dragging both of them down. It was evident that he chose the former.
"Commander Feihren, we've heard that you were a general in the past. Can you tell us more about it?" General Rey took the initiative to chat with Feihren who had become dead silent all of a sudden. "You seemed to be in really deep thought just now. Were you reminiscing your glory days?" General Rey added.
"Ah, it is nothing. I just remembered a comrade of mine back then." Feihren casually waved his hand dismissively as a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Oh really? It seems that you were really close with this comrade of yours. We could tell from that little smile of yours when you spoke of him." Another knight teasingly added.
"We really were close, more like brothers even..., but I guess he wouldn't say the same thing for me anymore." Feihren replied as his faint smile turned into a solemn expression.
"Do you want to talk about it, sir?" Some of the knights had noticed the sudden change of expression and consoled Feihren.
"Let's just say that I made a bad decision back then, and that cost my comrades life. It was a foolish choice, but it was the option I believed was right at that time. Regrets do truly come at the end. I treasured my own life too much back then. I failed to see that the life spent together with the people you love was the life that was truly worth living," Feihren added.
"But in a way, you'd still have to continue living right? The choices you make, right or wrong, are what make you who you are now."
Everyone was dead silent as they heard about this heavy experience this commander of theirs had gone through. It had been a sleepless night as they tried to make the sudden gloomy situation brighter.
