Chapter 51: Well, at least ya won, right?

Thadius stood on the edge of Todos' foundation, looking down at an entire city he failed to discover upon his arrival.

When he'd entered the capital with Yuna and Christina, he had wondered where the merchants entered the city with their goods. Now he knew the answer.

On the opposite side of the capital's raised base was a vast city that spread out onto the plains. A wall surrounded it in a semi-circle, connecting to the foundation as an extension.

What Thadius was looking at now, was a giant lift that elevated citizens and merchants from the city below. The city guard was currently entering the lift to descend.

'How the hell did I miss an entire city!?' Thadius thought. He'd felt that he had already explored most of the city, but as he looked down at the buildings below, he knew he had seen only half of it.

"Get a move on, rookie!" One of the guardsmen said from behind him.

Thadius hurried to fall in line behind the guardsmen in front of him. Then once everyone was on, the lift slowly lowered to the bottom.

Lower Todos wasn't nearly as organized as it was above. The buildings were scattered all over the place, showing absolutely no resemblance of the straight streets and alleys that Thadius had seen. The uniformity of the stone was gone too. Some of the buildings were made of wood and mud instead of stone, and the difference was jarring.

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"We call it 'First Todos'." A voice said from beside Thadius.

He looked down to find a slim man with sheepish features. A narrow chin and beady eyes could be seen through his helmet, and all of his gear was the sub-par standard of the guard. Thadius' first impression of the man was that he was a 'true' rookie that hadn't seen a day of battle in his life. Which was odd since he showed no fear towards Thadius after being exposed to his fighting spirit.

"Is that so?" Thadius replied.

"Yeah. My pop use ta tell me 'bout it all the time. 'Bout how the Croaka kept comin' and tearin' everythin' up. One day, somebody thought it a good idea ta build the city on a giant rock." The man shrugged. "Once that happened, the Croaka won't much of a problem fo' us."

"It had to take a while to build the foundation for the new Todos though." Thadius said as he looked up to the ledge he just left.

"Maybe, yeah. But when ya got magic, it speeds up the process." The man smiled, then reached out his hand. "The name's Thomas, I heard you're the fourth?" he asked.

"You can call me Thadius." Thadius said as he shook Thomas' hand."I'm not entirely sure what 'fourth' means, but that's what Captain Dain said."

Thomas shook his head. "Just means ya part of the squad, is all. Every squad is made of five, includin' the squad leader of course."

"And our squad leader is Elroy?"

"Yes, sir." Thomas nodded.

Thadius nodded in return. He had figured he'd been assigned to some sort of unit, but he still didn't know the structure of the guard, or how they organized the men.

Thomas shuffled beside him anxiously, glancing his way as if he was wrestling with a thought.

"What is it, Thomas?" Thadius asked.

"Well, if ya don't mind me askin', are ya an adventurer or somethin'? I mean, ya seem plenty strong already, and ya weapons are pretty fancy too." Thomas asked with an uncomfortable expression.

Thadius could feel the looks of the other curious guardsmen. It wasn't a secret that his weapons were a cut above the rest. Not to mention the fact that his broken Fighting Spirit could be felt by anyone within 10ft- or 20ft if they also had fighting spirit.

Thadius looked around before he answered. "I'm not an adventurer. The strength you sense is the product of my master's training, and my weapons are a part of the inheritance I received from him before he died."

"He must of been pretty good if ya got that strong from just trainin'." Thomas said.

"He was..." Thadius said solemnly as the lift reached First Todos.

The streets were packed with people passing by and others that wanted to get on the lift. As they filed out, the guardsmen on lift duty nodded to the unit as they marched out into the city.

After an hour, the unit reached the far end of the wall, reuniting with Captain Dain and the rest of the croaka subjugation unit. The unit itself consisted of 50 men, including priests and priestesses from the Church of Thena and the detachment that Thadius arrived with.

Thadius eyed the priests and priestesses curiously. He remembered what Tony had said about newly fledged initiates being assigned to a squad, and he was thankful that he had found out sooner rather than later.

"We'll be marching until we reach the end of the mists, then we'll make camp and go in at first light!" Captain Dain yelled from atop his horse. He didn't intend to walk with the rest of the unit. "Form up! I want to reach the mists before it gets dark!"

Everyone formed neat rows according to their squad with the priests and priestesses in the back, resulting in a row of white every four rows.

As soon as everyone was in place, the guardsmen began their long march, with two carts of supplies following behind.

Thadius was in line behind Elroy, but Thomas was right behind him, taking every opportunity to assault him with questions. He didn't mind the conversation since the march to the mists was going to be a long one, but he wanted to find out more about the ranking system, and Thomas was making it difficult to get a word in.

"I joined the guard so I could fight some croaka like my pop did. What 'bout you Thadius?" he asked excitedly.

"I joined to gain more battle experience."

"More? Ya already had ya first fight, huh? Can't say I'm surprised. How'd it go? Did ya win?"

Thadius thought back to his time on the mountain. His first real fight, and kill, had been his own master. It was a duel to the death under the moon and stars, and it wasn't even a fair fight.

"Barely." Thadius replied solemnly.

"Well, at least ya won, right?" Thomas smiled. "I can't wait ta have my first battle. After all that trainin', I'm ready ta have a go!"

Thadius looked back at Thomas with a mischievous smirk . "You know, people who usually say that are the first ones to die..."

Thomas made a shocked face, getting a few laughs from the surrounding guardsmen in the process.

"I-I won't go down so easy! I'll kill me a hundred of those croaka!" Thomas protested.

"Keep dreaming rookie."

"Poor guy doesn't know what he's in for..."

"Fresh meat for the croaka!"

As the other guards teased Thomas, Thadius took the opportunity to talk to Elroy.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?"

"How exactly does the ranking work here?" Thadius asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Elroy turned around with a puzzled look.

"I don't intend to be at the bottom forever." Thadius said truthfully.

"Fair enough." Elroy sighed. "There are generally five ranks of command. There's the squad leader, lieutenant, captain, colonel, and then the general. However, for the guard, there are no colonels or generals. Instead, there are sentinels that handle a specific section of the city, then the Commander of the Guard, who's responsible for the entire city's security.

"The ranks determine how many men that man can command, numbering 5, 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 respectively."

"Going from 1000 to 10,000 is a huge leap..." Thadius said as he looked around the number of guards. Having to suddenly command 10,000 would be too much.

"We don't have many generals." Elroy replied, then he turned towards Captain Dain. "And most of them leave the commanding to colonels. Besides, generals don't have to take all their men to the battlefield."

"I see..." Thadius fell back in line, only to have Thomas start back up again.

"Ya joinin' the war after this, Thadius? I mean, after we finish the Croaka and all."

"I don't think so..."

"The thoughta goin' out there is kinda scary ain't it?" Thomas asked.

"I don't fear the fighting. It's the killing I worry about the most. Cutting a man's

future short isn't something you just get used to..." Thadius looked back at Thomas with a sorrowful expression.

He could still remember the knight he killed in the coliseum, and the disappointment he'd felt in himself when he saw the status card.

If he went to war, he knew he'd have to face that feeling head on, along with the fact that he'd be purposefully killing Npcs by the dozens. It wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"Ya killed a man before?" Thomas asked in surprise.

"I've killed men, yes. But when it comes to war, I'm just as inexperienced as you are."

Thomas fell silent, and the unit continued marching under the sun. Hushed conversations died away as morning turned to noon, then to evening. By the time the sun was setting, a great wall of mist could be seen on the horizon, and the humidity had risen considerably.

"Alright men, set up while we still have some daylight. We head for the mists at first light!" Dain commanded.

The guardsmen dispersed and surrounded the supply carts. They grabbed the necessities for campfires and quickly settled down into their respective squads.

Every guard carried a pack filled with rations and a thin blanket to sleep on. So when the fires were ready, everyone gathered around them for a warm spot to eat and sleep. Though Thadius' squad, and some of the surrounding guardsmen, felt an inexplicable warmth that didn't originate from the fire.

Thadius had a small smile on his face as he witnessed the confused looks.

"I believe introductions are in order." Elroy said as he came to sit by the fire.

Thadius had already met Thomas and Elroy, so the two strangers on the other side of the fire were the only members of the squad he hadn't met yet.

"That's Banon. He finished his basic training the same day I signed up, so they put him with me." Elroy pointed to the man wearing the same guard attire. He was an exceptionally large man with broad shoulders and long limbs. And he wasn't easy to miss since he had been the only one taller than Thadius when they were marching.

He was far older than Thadius, and he had wrinkles lining his face with eyes that seemed cold and hard. Especially the sightless eye that had large claw -shaped scars over it. With one look, Thadius knew that Banon had seen far more combat than he had.

Thadius nodded toward Banon, but only received a blank stare in response.

"He doesn't talk very often." Elroy said, then he pointed to the priest in the group. "And that's Marcus. He was the first one to be assigned to my squad."

Thadius nodded to the priest, and the priest nodded in return.