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Incursion Empire ch. 6
🕑 Added 2025-04-01 22:35:11 +0000 UTCChapter Six
Xeroc ducked under the horizontal slash, the training blade parting the air above his head. He stepped in to his opponent, catching the smaller man with a shield bash to his chest. Dillon grunted in pain, air whooshing from his chest as he staggered a step back. The referee blew a short whistle to signify the point was his and Xeroc stopped his advance.
“Match to Xeroc of House NeKonis,” the referee finished with a wave of her hand and both men stopped and bowed to each other before leaving the fighting arena. Dillon was a good sport, a lower-noble scion who would likely end up serving as an officer in the army or maybe even a personal guard to a high-blood family. The loss stung his pride, but he didn’t let it show on his face as he bowed a second time and retreated with his wooden blade on his shoulder.
“Are you done, yet?” Meeris asked, peeved at having to wait for him. Xeroc turned and looked at his aide-de-camp and wanted to roll his eyes. She was everything Dillon was not. Impatient, brash, impractical, and nearly his peer. The High-Blood girl was staring at him with her different colored eyes, hazel and lavender, and tapping her foot on the ground.
“Unlike some people, I need enough deeds to qualify for an assortment of early skills. Not just administrative work.” Xeroc softened his words with a soft smile that slid off of Meeris like water off a duck. The short woman was unflappable.
“I have things that need to be done as well. My prince,” she tacked on the last few words lazily as she stared at him, one manicured eyebrow arching up. Xeroc laughed and started walking across the camp. There were neatly lined tents, practice fields filled with fighters, early blacksmithing armories, medical tents, and all the other various small things that a war camp needed.
It was like stepping back centuries. This was how the first of his ancestors forged a dynasty with the other High-Blood families. In camps like this, with warriors like these. It stirred his heart, mixing fear, anxiety, and energy together to pump through his veins with every slow beat of his heart.
“Status of the natives?” Xeroc asked as they made it to his pavilion in the heart of the camp. His tent was monstrous, dominating the area all around it. A pair of guards stood at the entrance in heavy plate with spears, swords, and shields, while three other pairs slowly rotated around the edge of the pavilion, keeping a lookout for any intruders.
He brushed through the gap, the thin fabric of the pavilion letting plenty of light through, but there were lanterns for when the sun faded. He had a cot in the corner of the room and an armor stand waiting to take his armor for when he was done. The majority of the room was dominated by a huge table with maps and paperwork strewn across it.
“Kage, are you in here?” Xeroc called as he walked toward his armor stand. The small squire was a low-blood noble who had earned his post during a lottery. He was a fine enough squire, though he had a habit of disappearing.
“Yes, sir. I’m here!” Kage came from a carefully folded corner of the pavilion that made a small nook for the squire to have privacy. Kage was short with black hair and gray eyes and the coloration of the equatorial cities. His smile was blindingly white and he hurried to help Xeroc, tugging at the multitude of knots that tied his armor together.
“They are still holding their positions around the peninsula. They have not brought any sort of naval platforms to blockade us off. They have reinforced their positions though. No signs of trench work or armored vehicles.” Meeris rattled off every fact with mechanical precision.
“All light infantry?”
“So far. None of the scouts have managed to spy anything that would be reliable after the connection surge.” Meeris pulled a small book out of her vest pocket, prying it open and using a small pen to make notations.
“The sea wall construction?
“Under development. Should be finished by the time the System connects.”
“Tomorrow at noon our time?” Xeroc asked.
“Yes, my prince. Nine minutes past noon to be exact.”
“Grace period is only twelve minutes. We all have our skills we need to pick right away?” Xeroc looked at his two aides. Kage was the first to respond, bobbing his head instantly.
“Of course. My family had Augurs who have laid out the path of success for myself and my family since I was born.” Meeris managed to say it without a sneer, but Xeroc could hear the struggle to refrain.
A guard popped their head into the tent, looked around for a second before locking eyes with Xeroc.
“My prince, you have visitors. The other High-Bloods.”
“Let them in,” Xeroc said without hesitation. The guard nodded and disappeared, just to have the other two High-Blood who were tangentially in charge of the incursion.
Dalin entered the room in a rush, ducking his head to clear the doorframe. He rose up, so tall and broad that Xeroc couldn’t help but blink. A nineteen year old shouldn’t be that imposing.
Following in his wake was Brina who was still tall, but next to Dalin looked like a waif. Her permanent scowl was etched on her pale features. The contrast to the big and smiling Dalin was always funny to Xeroc since they never left each other's side.
“I was hearing skills being discussed and couldn’t refrain from intruding,”Dalin said as he grabbed one of the stools that littered around the edge of the table. He plopped on it without regard to the thin legs and Xeroc watched breathlessly if the stool would fail to hold up.
“Which skills are you taking Xeroc? I have plenty of my own thoughts but my family has been paying mountains of wealth to Seers and Augurs. There are infinite paths under the Heavens, but only one for Dalin! Unfortunately my parents believe it is they who should find the path,” Dalin mournfully said, shaking his great shaggy head.
Behind him Brina snorted and shook her head as she carefully grabbed a stool and set it down next to the table. She folded a leg over the other, sitting ramrod straight with her shoulder back, black hair falling like a sheet of darkness down her back.
“Dalin will show the heavens what a thousand generations of research thrown down the drain looks like,” Brina’s dry voice rasped over the group and Dalin just smiled wider as he chuckled.
“I’m thinking [Heavy Armor], [Sword Art], [Shield Mastery], [Endurance], and of course [Meditation].”
“A frontline tank. A thousand generations of dedication and wealth distilled into a walking suit of armor and a sword.” Brina tssked between her teeth, but Xeroc could see the hints of a smile.
“The greatest tank in a thousand generations!” Dalin proclaimed.
“And you, my prince?” Dalin asked with such a wide smile that Xeroc nearly fell into revealing his plans. Meeris hissed in annoyance and shock at the faux pas.
“Not so easily, my friend. We aren’t that close,” Xeroc laughed off Dalin’s social blunder.
“I hear you back there Meeris, what skills are you going to take? [Paperwork Mastery]?” Dalin asked with a big laugh that rattled his frame.
“Yes. Also will be taking [Ink-Blotter] and [Iron Memory].” Meeris’s voice lacked any hints of warmth or camaraderie that Brina’s had when she tore down Dalin. For the first time Dalin’s smile faltered as his brow dipped as he looked at her, trying to discern if she was joking or not.
“You will both be ready with your troops? The moment the shields are down, I want to be pressing the attack.”
Dalin and Brina both straightened. Each of their families had sponsored a quarter of the forces while Empress Laruan had sponsored another quarter. The final group was formed of mainly administrative groups that were under the tentative command of Meeris. The three High-Blood fighters would launch a three pronged attack to break the enemy forces near the top of the peninsula.
“My captains have their orders and will be ready,” Brina said immediately. She had no room for jest in her duties.
“I shall lead the assault myself, at the front of the lines. I shall be the first to achieve my class, this I swear!” Dalin boomed.
“First dead too,” Meeris whispered.
“Glory is achieved only when your life's on the line. That’s where the best levels are too.” Dalin was implacable in his words, but Xeroc was already drifting away from the gentle banter between the three of them. He was thinking of his own skills that he had thought of taking. His family did not believe in predetermining skills that a child would take in the incursion.
“And the Shadows, my prince?” Meeris suddenly cut in, distracting him from his own wandering thoughts.
“Those that survive will make contact when they can.”
“Harsh words, but befitting an emperor,” Brina said. Meeris and Dalin both had the faintest of frowns at that, but Xeroc didn’t notice.
