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A Soldier's Life - 231 - (This was the original version), there is a Beta Edit and Final Edit as well based on readers feedback
🕑 Added 2024-07-17 18:07:37 +0000 UTCChapter 231:
My question hung in the air. “You look—different. I remember you—but I forgot your name,” Helena finally said.
“Really?” I said in disbelief. “Well, I guess we rarely talked, so it is understandable. I see you became a legionnaire.”
“And you became a Hound,” she said with some vitriol. “Are my companions dead?” Did she think I was gloating by talking to her?
I looked over at the other legionnaire. “No. Not yet. But the legionnaire is going to bleed out soon. The mage has been paralyzed. She surprised me with her invisibility, though.”
Helena seemed to deflate, surrendering and stopped trying to clear her eyes. “If you are a Hound, why haven’t you killed us?”
I turned over my response in my mind and finally said, “Curiosity. What did the mage do to become a traitor to the Empire?”
“Traitor!” She spat. “She was the one betrayed. She was told her parents were killed by Orc Pathfinders, and she was being sent to the war front to fight the Esenhem elves. Duke Octavian just wants to control her family’s gold and silver mine.”
Her response had me pause. I felt like I owed Helena something and was going to try to convince her to flee and forget about the mage and her legionnaire companion. Now that Duke Octavian was brought into the conversation gave me pause. “There are Orc Pathfinders within the Empire. I have fought them myself.”
Helena laughed, “The Pathfinders kill for a purpose. Baron and Baroness Greco have no value to the Boutan Caliphate. Duke Octavian wants the gold and silver on their lands, and First Citizen Selene is the only remaining Greco alive. He staged their murder. Selene should be raised to Baroness and instead is being sent to fight the elves, she would have been dead within the week.”
I could tell Helena believed what she was saying, and knowing Duke Octavian, it was the probable truth. I didn’t understand why the only remaining member of a family would be ordered to fight. “If she is a First Citizen, how can she be forced to fight?”
“Where have you been, Hound?” Helena spat angrily. “The elves have landed, and the Bartiradians are surging from the south toward Macha. They have formed an alliance. The Emperor has ordered every battle-trained mage to the front!”
My mind raced, and I cursed Centurion Sergius for keeping me in the dark. “When did this happen?”
“Seven…no eight and half days ago.” Helena turned her stance and relaxed her grip on her staff. I stepped back anyway, as she might be trying to lure me into a false sense of security.
“So, she is a traitor for fleeing the Empire in its hour of need,” I said evenly.
“What would you have done? You bury your parents, and the next day, a steward arrives to handle your estate while you are sent with just a fraction of your household guard to fight an invasion?” Helena said accusingly.
“I would have taken all my gold and fled the Empire,” I said truthfully.
“Is that what you want? We dropped our packs when we rushed you. Three hundred in gold and silver and more in jewelry.” I stepped back, and with my night vision goggles, I could see the packs in the distance. I remembered the thuds before they rushed my position.
My mind played with options. I pulled one of the paralytic arrows and shot Helena in the leg. She started cursing me, but the poison quickly silenced her as her muscles relaxed. I bound and gagged both legionnaires. I did my best to reattach Sylph’s hand but only used two orc healing potions on her. The foul-tasting brew had her wake, but I forced them down her throat and gagged her. She would need a mage’s healing or a greater healing potion to regain the use of the hand, but the vascular system should be repaired until then. I then sat down and wrote in my notebook.
“The mage is dead. She told me the elves have invaded?”
I wasn’t expecting a quick response, so I checked on Rusty and fed him while I waited for morning and a reply. Both Sylph and Helena regained themselves and struggled for a while before giving up. They were probably wondering why they were still alive. As the light came, Helena scanned the surroundings for her charge but didn’t see her. Her eyes got hard once again.
I went through the three packs as they watched on, hate in their eyes. I found some food, insufficient camping supplies, and lots of coins—more than three hundred gold for certain. Finally, Centurion Sergius sent me a message.
“Excellent work, Hound. Bring the traitor’s ring, amulet, and any other artifacts you found to Brapo. Hercule will take them from there.”
I watched as the words scrawled across the page, and when they stopped, I asked again, writing:
“Have the elves invaded?”
I didn’t have to wait long before he responded.
“Yes. The elves landed a week ago, and the Bartiradians surged across the border. The Empire spent all winter preparing. They have not advanced far.”
I waited for more, but no other words appeared on the page. He hadn’t even asked if I killed the legionnaires and seemed to only care about the artifacts the mage was carrying. Of course, there was a problem because she was in my dimensional space with her artifacts. It would be three days of traveling north to Brapo, but it would also take me into the region where the owlbear had been attacked.
I looked at Helena and Sylph. What should I do with them? I knew I couldn’t turn Helena into an essence; my consciousness wouldn’t bear the weight of it. My dimensional space was getting crowded as well. I definitely had room for two more, but at this rate, I was becoming an ark for people who were supposed to be dead.
“My name is Eryk,” I reminded Helena. “The Hound Centurion thinks Mage Selene is dead. She is not, and my allies will get her out of the Empire safely.” Their eyes went wide in disbelief and then doubt. “You are going to have to trust me. The question is, do you want to join her or run?” I kicked the bags. “You can take one of these if you want to run. I am sure the Hound Centurion won’t believe me if I don’t return with the other two.”
I sighed as I knelt before Helena and removed her gag. “Where is Selene?” She asked while studying my eyes for the truth in my next words.
“Safe. Helena. Your decision?” I pressed, squatting in front of her.
“I will go with Selene.” She said uncertainly. I nodded and moved over to the other legionnaire.
“Sylph, was it? I don’t think we have been introduced. I am Eryk.” I removed her gag.
She wet her lips and dry mouth before responding. “Sylvia. My nickname is Sylph.” She had a charismatic face with light brown eyes that didn’t match her muscular, warrior body. “If Selene is truly alive, I will go with her. If you are lying to us, I curse you to Pluto’s realm.”
“Well, I am still here, so I must be telling the truth,” I said in mild amusement. “Fine. Both of you have made your choice.” I produced four oblivion pills. “Swallow these, and when you wake up, you will be with Selene.”
Sylph’s eyes went to Helena, looking for direction. Helena was studying me, trying to untangle the truth and my true intentions. I placed two of the pills in each of their mouths and waited. Helena’s eyes remained locked on mine, and finally, she swallowed. Her eyes got heavy and closed, not something easily faked, but I checked her mouth anyway. Sylph was more hesitant, and I couldn’t blame her as there was a possibility she would never wake up after swallowing.
As the pills dissolved in her mouth, they did their work anyway and she drifted off more slowly. I sent the three packs first and then Sylph. After my aether regenerated, Helena joined them. Rusty seemed amused as the packs and people vanished. He even walked over where they had been, confirming they had indeed vanished.
I was going to have to wait to retrieve the artifacts from Selene. Centurion Sergius might still have her sample in his blood compass as he had confirmed her death only a few hours ago. I swung up onto Rusty’s back and started trotting north. I had no question that I had done the right thing, but it felt like I was cornering myself. What was I going to do? Put every innocent person I was ordered to kill in my dimensional space? I did have some ideas on how to unload my unsuspecting passengers to safety.
I took my time riding north, in no rush to reach Brapo. I camped in an ancient, overgrown stone structure. My earth speak told me the cellar had filled with debris over time. Several silver coins were down there, but I was not motivated to dig through a few feet of centuries-old detritus. Rusty was happy to get a full meal of grain and apples. I was pretty low on horse grain and would have to get some from a village or city.
At sunset, I had no messages from my Centurion and settled in for an uneasy night of short naps. I had gotten enough rest by midnight, and dry, cold air made me use the thermal stone for heat. When morning came, I found a disturbing message in the book.
“The orc war fleet entered Kraken Bay last night. Race to your lookout and report their movements.”
My blood chilled a little. It was happening as predicted. The orcs were using the war in the east to press their claims here in the west. I started asking questions in the notebook. “How many ships? Is the Empire sending soldiers? Where are they landing?” No responses appeared on the pages, and I closed it in disgust. I was being kept in the dark and a low priority for Sergius.
Kraken Bay is three hundred miles long and a third that wide at some points and more like a massive inlet sea than a bay. At the very end of the bay, Varvao was the closest city. If the orcs were going to carve off a chunk of the Empire, that would be their target. I had no illusions of being about to stop an armada. I rode northwest and was no longer headed for Brapo. I reached the coast, and thought I was south of my lookout. I camped in the rocky terrain, not risking an injury to Rusty in the dark. Neptune’s Tear was hidden behind the clouds this evening, and the ridge line overlooking the bay was unforgiving.
I scanned the waters every hour, and cursed when the specks of light in the distance confirmed the orc fleets fleet arrival, far to the north. With my spyglass I counted thirty-seven ships but there could have been more. I scribbled in the notebook.
“Thirty-seven large ships sighted. All sailing south.”
It wasn’t until an hour after sunrise that my book had a response written in it.
“Shadow the fleet from shore and continue to report.”
That was it. I didn’t know how far south of my lookout I was but guessed about a dozen miles. The armada was bravely sailing through the center of the bay as if daring anyone to challenge it. I suspected the Empire had nothing to stop it. The high rocky ridge was too dangerous to ride along. So I was going to have to descend into the forest, ride south, and then climb the ridgeline again to track them. The good thing was I could ride much faster than the fleet could sail.
I led Rusty down the slope, and we raced through the forest for three hours before climbing again. I was ahead of the fleet and scanned them again, trying to count them in the light of day. I didn’t have the spyglass stand, so it was difficult to get an accurate count. I ended up with thirty-eight this time and wrote it in the message-sending book. I still had no more orders from the Centurion.
We descended the slope again, and this time, I planned to run Rusty for only two hours before spotting the fleet again. Rusty sensed something was wrong long before I did. He slowed, resisting my urging to continue, and danced in place. I didn’t see anything, so I dismounted to use earth speak.
As my feet hit the ground, I didn’t even need to use earth speak to feel the vibrations. My earth pulse returned to a horrific image, and I rolled away, releasing the reins, and yelled, “Rusty, run!” The skittish horse was confused as the earth softened under him and then erupted up.
A massive antlike head seized his neck while long arms ending in four dangerous claws racked his body. Rusty’s body was eviscerated, and his internals spread across the ground. The bipedal insect-like creature extracted itself from the ground while its jaws finished decapitating poor Rusty. It had been lying in wait nearby and moved to intercept us.
By the dangerous-looking claws, I assumed this was the creature that had forced the owlbear to flee. What concerned me was in all the lessons from Hearne and all my beastiaries in my dreamscape; I still had no idea what I was facing. “Whatever you are, I am going to avenge Rusty.” The ten-foot monstrosity turned to my voice, its bug-like eyes focused on me while its mandibles dripped with blood. I pulled the black spear to my hand and announced, “Let’s do this.”
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Comments
Kalidans2
Lol, Eryk kidnapping multiple people XD, it’s funny to imagine having a 10 kidnapped people in your dimension pocket 😂
Fortunis
Maybe because he's not a soulless murder hobo?
Arkell Henry
Why can’t he just kill and get things over with it’s the same thing over and over every couple of chapters it’s starting to get old fast
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /orc fleets fleet arrival/ => /orc *fleet's* arrival/
Lemes
In fact, he can tell the centurion that he was attacked and lost his horse and packs during his escape. Sergios would use his truth-seeking ability and think that Erick is telling the truth.
Lemes
I can't see any logic in your statement. Why should Erick hate the wizard? He is an alien who was forced to serve the empire after being falsely accused of crimes he did not commit. Erick has no loyalty to the empire. In reality, I see that he has much more sympathy for the wizard after learning about his story. They murdered her family so that the emperor's son could steal her inheritance, and then she was sent to be killed in battle fighting for those who murdered her relatives. Give me a single good reason why the wizard would feel compelled to waste his life for the empire?
Lemes
I agree that Running into people you know during your missions is not that difficult. We must remember that despite the empire being a large nation, Erick is confined to a small number of its citizens (the army), which makes meeting acquaintances with a certain frequency quite likely. As a footnote, this number of five million citizens in the empire is greatly underestimated. The Roman empire at its height had many more than this number. It had a population of between 50 and 90 million inhabitants. The capital alone, Rome, had more than 1 million inhabitants.
Maximus Terror
I can't agree. There has been one consistent theme throughout this whole story. Right from the start the Telhian Empire is depicted as one giant steaming pile of corruption. Those who are the rulers are the most corrupt people in the empire. Corrupt people only make decisions based on whether it is good for them or not. Therefore, they only have loyalty to the government when it is benefitting them. As soon as those benefits run dry they will be the first to skip out, and who is left holding the bag the "loyal" ones. She did exactly what Octavian will do when the Elves or the Orcs come knocking at his door, he will try and escape and leave his loyal soldiers to die for him.
theend
Thanks for the chapter. Looking forward to the fight and then the orc invasion. I don't think people want Eryk to have less of a conscience, but neither can he always find an easy solution for his problems and avoid the consequences. For example, I think it was the right decision that Eryk saved the mother with her two children. If he had killed her, it would have been too quick and a too blatant of a character change. Maybe he would have done this if Centurion Sergius had been on the mission with him and not following orders would have resulted in his death immediately. And yet, it is very "convenient" for Eryk that in this town is a cemetery which allows him to get some corpses for his ruse, despite it being custom to burn the dead in the empire. No consequences because of plot armor.^^ Something I noticed with this chapter, except for Larren's betrayal and Raelia being a temporary enemy, women are mainly portrayed as being good and to be worth saved by Eryk. The antagonist so far are only male, the First Citizens, the summoner, his apprentice, Sebastian,... . Now he even saves this mage Selene, even though she is a First Citizen and could be an arrogant bitch, like all the other First Citizens, who treat commoners like dirt and abuse her position of power. I at least would not mind a good female antagonist.
yohan gu
@TKC iCorey, absolutely agree! slow buildup to great heights is the best
TKC iCorey
I agree, I like how they grow their physical state of the MC, little by little, and once they grow above 100 you will begin to notice the difference with the other races, for example hitting harder than a Goliath, running faster than an Elf , enduring more blows than an Orc, there, within a couple of hundred chapters, it will be incredible to see, how the other kingdoms and empires, even across the continents, will know Eryk as a powerful warrior with incredible spells (and in the future probably like a magician) since he will live at least 26,000 years... He will be a living legend, and the best thing, all his power will make sense, not a simple Power Up... I love it
TKC iCorey
I want to see how the MC weighs the advantages and disadvantages of continuing to be "good" when you have to kill innocent people, you don't do it because you like it, you're not a psychopath, you do it because either it's them or it's you, or You kill them, or they start to distrust you, I would like to see how they start killing innocent people even if they don't like it...
Prinny Knight
I personally like how it’s going right now, people are out here looking for every excuse to turn him into another murder hobo. He’s sticking to his morals and making as many allies as possible, while avoiding strengthening his enemies. What else more could you want unless you’re just another blood thirsty edge loving character trope. Keep him the same.
Reid
But what would've happened if after Eryk healed the Elf that she was adamant and vocal about killing them both. They would have wasted two greater dungeon healing potions which could have saved their lives. What about the risk of betrayal that she would pose even if she acquiesced to their demands. The risk would be too much for the very nebulous reward that they would have reaped in both circumstances. Eryk should have put his foot down and explained both of these things to Maveith as it would be incredibly unlikely that the elf would an ally that they could trust.
Karnnie
“You look—different. I remember you—but I forgot your name,” Helena finally said. She is currently blinded, therefore would not say that the MC looks different. “Excellent work, Hound. Bring the traitor’s ring, amulet, and any other artifacts you found to Brapo. Hercule will take them from there.” Since he is blatantly disregarding Orders, he might as well replay that the target was wearing not jewelry or artifacts and the only things of value found in the bags was money. “Rusty, run!” The skittish horse was confused as the earth softened under him and then erupted up. Is was stated that Rusty is a WARhorse. They are not trained to be skittish, they are trained to be smart and to fight alongside soldiers. If the animal was already fighting the orders of the soldier to move on then it is highly probably that the warhorse distanced itself from the threat before it was ever attacked. Furthermore, the horse would have run when ordered to. Healing potions are not exactly common, or cheap. He should live with the fact that he cut off her hand and let it be done, not waste valuable resources. Sure he can heal himself but he cannot regrow or reattach limbs without the use of potions or other mages.
Karnnie
I came to read the comments first before reading the chapter to see peoples reactions. I agree with a few points here, The story doesn't feel as gritty as it used to. There is no luck stat but our boy seems to be one of the luckiest people in the world. I also agree that his actions seem to hold little to no consequences. There is magic in this world, who is to say that someone (his commanding officer) isn't spying on him at any given time during the mission to check progress or just keep an eye on 'the new guy' that has yet to earn his trust. Just so happens that one of those times was first thing in the morning where he witnesses a direct dismissal of orders (not killing the target). I love the story and the world building is some of the best but the MC needs consequences to grow. This is NOT the life of a soldier. Soldiers deal with and have to face hard decisions everyday, some are not morally right and yet they must be done. Having an MC that constantly skirts orders and seems to have no repercussions for his actions is getting a bit old. Life is difficult, was way more difficult during roman times and people were hard. I understand that the MC didn't live a hard life but he is living it now and if he doesn't smarten up, and toughen up, people will drop the story because what was originality and something that drew the reader in, is being trampled over because the MC cannot face the reality that he is in. In today's society, people can get away with never having to face a hard choice. In that time era, if you didn't make the hard decision, you were dead. We all want the MC to be a good guy, but we also want him to be realistic with his reality. He has an intellect stat and a reasoning stat. Perhaps he should start using them.
yohan gu
Also, she could redeem herself fighting the orcs bravely
yohan gu
And hey, it’s not bad having another evil first citizen, though the count from those we’ve seen is very unbalanced and you might want to introduce more upstanding ones.
yohan gu
@Reid, I mostly agree with you, I didn’t think letting Raelia out was a good idea. I think the point was Maveith and him were certain they could not do the rooms surrounding them, what with a swarm of monsters on one side and a ranged opponent on the other. They thought they needed a third party member to take on these challenges that countered they skill set. Maveith was very emotional about the elf in the storage and that swayed Eryk, with the rationalization they needed her to survive.
Roberto Dias
Umber hulk are edible? Look like giant crab pincers. Should have lot of harvestable parts
yohan gu
But then why would Octavian have killed her family before she went to the front? And anyway, if her family had not been killed she would have had to go, so I guess Octavian did her a favor. And that doesn’t change that if she is called to go, she should. Also, the situation is so dire I have trouble believing they would let a true mage stay comfy in their estate.
yohan gu
Well, yes, our world is more civilized than this Ottoman Empire-style setting, but we don’t take kindly to traitors either. In peacetime the US usually just puts them in jail forever, in war solutions may get more drastic. So it is not unlike our world’s morals to hunt this person down. Now, Eryk may have come from earth, but he is now of Desia, and in Desia this mage is the worst kind of person there is. He should hate her gut. I made another comment about this, but she is a noble who enjoyed privileges due to her status and refuses to do the duties that come with that at a time when her country is being invaded and fighting for its survival. Normal guy conscript Eryk should have a burning hatred for her. And see absolutely no issue in ridding the world from that scum.
Reid
Using her was not "the best chance", it was foolish and a waste. She was an enemy with unknown intentions who would be fully capable of convincing someone with the intellectual capability of Maveith that they were their friend and should be trusted, who in turn has no reason to fully trust in anything Eryk (the person who has killed multiple people shes known, who's apart of the company that killed even more of her countrymen to include her own griffin, which is also apart of an enemy nation who her people consistently war with) says. She was a POW and a liability, not someone you waste 2 greater healing potions on just to TALK to. She realistically would've been more of a threat to Eryk and Maveith than a wyvern.
yohan gu
This relatively meager variation shows why physical essence is basically dirt compared to magical essence. The deal he got for the charm amulet was enraging because of that.
momo2009
Loved the chapter and how he is still good but see that the future he has to make a difficult choice or at least clean out his storage space or increase it by finding more space essence. But i would hope in exchange for help the escaping first citizen he can get all the artifacts and send the family he saved to escape outside the empire and then he goes to the archive and burn all of the blood samples.
momo2009
well he was stuck in a dungeon with no way out and no knowledge, so using her was the best chance. Unless you and a taliban member get stuck in a magical dungeon why would you trust him to work with you. The MC clearly didn't want to work with the elf, but Marvath convince him it was the best chance for both of them to survive.
Roberto Dias
With Raelia, Eryk actually rescued her twice. First, rescued behind enemy lines, after she crashed her bird. The fireball on the elf bodyguard face was hers. Second she was a corpse. Chewed by a drake, trown against a rock. Saved with +1000 worth of dungeon potions. Maveith was the bona fide guarantor. Mavieth explained the situation and moderated the interactions: Erick's conscripted status, the costs incurred, the trapped in a dungeons surrounded by a deadlly city, ... etc.. Then the shared struggles and the actual release, with treasure, did the rest. But.. Without Maveith Erick couldn’t pull a Raelia conversion. The others..... All the others are an mercy/mercantile opportunity. The mage Selene Greco situation can be quite lucrative. She IS a traitor. An "already executed" criminal. Legally dead person. He can do anything. Recruit, sell abroad, extort, keep the money, extract essences, use for his muhahahaha reasons, etc... Even legionnaire Helena is only a previous aquaintance. Erick can be tempted Better yet, by helping this people he is fucking Centurion Sergius and Duke Octavian Lots of story seeds
Erick Thiemke
I have to agree the dimensional space is a story crutch. Let me write an alternate version of the chapter 231 Friday before I write 232 and see what readers think
Lemes
I don't think the MC had a valid reason for not saving these people. He comes from a more civilized world and has different morals, not that that should mean he'll ever have to make "Sophie's Choice" at some point. But even this kind of choice must be based on a robust plot. We have to remember that the protagonist has extensive resources, and that to get to the point of being put against the wall and forced to sacrifice someone, he would have to be in a very bad situation.
Péter Holbok
Phisilcal stats doesnt double every 10 ponts only the magical ones
Silver Beard
I agree. The circumstances might have been orchestrated but the Empire is at war- she had an obligation to fight not run. She's going to eventually try to win back her family holdings once Eric releases her and there's be no hiding his 'traitorous' acts to the Hounds.
Erick Thiemke
I will edit it to make it clear if she was elevated to Baroness to replace her father, she would not have had to answer the call, only send soldiers. By preventing her ascension, Duke Octavian is forcing her to the front
Erick Thiemke
Stats are not exponentially scaled like magic stats. The genetic perfection of a human is 100…so Olympic athlete-like is probably around 95
Silver Beard
It was always a possibility that he'd take the high road and stash everyone; but like it was written- his space isn't infinite and he's running out of room. Does he have enough space to take the head of some giant insect with 6 humans taking up space? What injuries will be accrue for this? Having lost Rusty he won't be able to shadow the fleet easily or at all. All this bleeding-heart compassion/integrity has a cost. Is it really worth his mission? He saved 6 only to fail to earn a spot in the archive and destroy all the blood samples. Had to executed the 3 when he could have; he'd have been a lot closer to Bapco when he got word to return, possibly missing the creature altogether. Extreme- but it seems like a reasonable possibility now. I doubt the author will write it that way; but the more luck plays a factor in his success the less realistic the story seems; which is or was part of its charm.
Deliver roo
I think having a casualty on three during a fight would be understandable. I agree with the comments before, if the MC is unable to make tough moral choices I think that it would be better to avoid putting him in those kind of scenarios. Otherwise he really risks resembling the caricature of a soldier.
Mathias Iversen
I have been thinking, that Eryk's increases in stats are not really apparent apart from the numbers going up. In chapter 222, his physical stats were all close to or above 60. This gives him a minimum increase of 32 times that of a weaker human. Assuming an average jump height of 20 cm for a score of 10, he can jump 6.4 meters from standing. And that's not even considering insane speeds and the massive weight he can move around.
Erick Thiemke
Running into people you know shouldn't be too wild. There are maybe five million people in the entire Empire. A large city in today's modern world. I think it was mentioned there were less than a hundred female Legionnaires. Only the rich could afford to hire Legionnaires so a family that supervises a gold and silver mine would have those funds
yohan gu
The mage is a despicable person from what we've been told. She is a First citizen and a mage and lived a privileged life, but now that duty calls she runs away. I'm perfectly fine with a society with different roles and prerogatives, but these people who profit from the good parts of the deal and walk away from the counterparts disgust me. I hope she gets her comuppance. The fact Octavian is a douche has nothing to do with her being a deserter.
Erick Thiemke
The orignal writing of chapter 230 had him killing Sylph but then I thought Helena wouldn't talk to him with a dead comrade.
Reid
Bro, you really can't think that letting a unknown enemy with know animosity loose in an enclosed space after healing them is a good idea. Lemme just capture a Taliban insurgent twice after killing their friends and making them inadvertently injure one of their allies, then perform care on them with valued and needed medical supplies and THEN give them a weapon so they can shoot me in the back the first chance they get. That's not a risk anyone takes, that's just stupid.
yohan gu
Indeed, the mage is a traitor and very undeserving of sympathy. The front was on the other side and Eryk made it back in time to his station for the orcish attack, so actually a good move from Sergius. I would also say it is in time like these when you have to remind the privileged that the contract that gives them privileges also stipulates that they fight for their country in times of need.
yohan gu
hooray for the fights and nickname!
Reid
It's not about having a lack of of conscience, it's just that the shitty situations that he's in usually ends up with him metaphorically holding hands with his enemies. It's like killing a kid who has an IED strapped to his chest, cause you gotta do it to save yourself, your boys and the mission, but you'll definitely hate the fact that you had to pull the trigger to make it happen in the first place. "Good" people with civilian sensibilities are usually the ones who end up killed or having their men killed because they were too weak to make the hard (but correct) decision in times of stress. Its definitely a good thing to not comprimise your integrity or morality, and i know this doesn't perfectly describe the MC but it feels like he's never forced to make hard choices between 2 bad options even though he's deep in the shit
Caledon Smith
I agree with Reid here it’s not that we are asking for the MC to have less of a conscience, what we are asking is for him to have to face consequences of his actions. As Reid pointed out every time Eyrk makes a action like saving someone it has always worked out well for him with very little if any downsides. Back in Macha the story felt more like a soldier’s story up until the point where he saves the elf, from that point forward he has been going out of his way to save people which is fine, but at that point actions and characters have started to feel 1 dimensional. Switching points it also seems like this rather large country is rather small as Eyrk just keeps bumping into the same few people, be it his horse, an elf, his friends platoon over and over and over again. A few coincidences are fine and believable, but when they seem to keep happening back to back it takes the magic out of them. Anyway, I’m enjoying the story a lot, keep it coming and feel free to focus more on it, like 5-7 chapters a week focus :-)
Roberto Dias
I like the moral choices the MC makes. Kidnapping is better than murder. Good for business. Don’t kill people, except in self-defense, or war. Raelia is a good example: first gain was he avoided a fireball and used that same fireball to knockout a elf heavy. Later he collected a corpse for essence and instead got a slave soldier in the dungeon, and maybe a future flying ally, and did a solid for elf General Clayln Glavien (your little sister keep getting saved by my, twice now, do something. But first pay the bill) Kidnapping and human smugling is a lot more profitable than single murder, especially if you are backstabbing your employer. You get money, get some magical bling, and make some very morally indebted friends. And the plot get thickened. Wt more strands to weave in the story. Spreading Seeds...
Erick Thiemke
oh there will be orcs!!!!!!
Erick Thiemke
remember Centurion Sergius was conspiring with Duke Octavian
Thresher
It would be pretty awesome to see Eryk fight some orcs again. Maybe he’ll get a cool nickname too from how he fights them 👀
Andrew Glass
I guess they were real traitors after all. Still seems silly to send a hound after them during the middle of a two pronged attack, from the elves and the orcs though
Justin Garrett
Dang that’s a shame they copyrighted it. I like feel dnd adventure this story has.
Thresher
Yeah I’m all for having a morally good mc, but it’s getting a little repetitive, especially because he’s already killed people before in Macha and didn’t hesitate then.
Etrius
RIP Rusty
Erick Thiemke
yes changed
Andrew
Thank you!
striderfighter
What concerned me was in all the lessons from Hearne and all my beauties in my dreamscape; I still had no idea what I was facing.....is it supposed to be bestiaries?
Erick Thiemke
yeah, i know people want him to have less of a conscience. the goblin he didnt really save, he used it as a distraction, thinking he was sending it to its death
Erick Thiemke
got these too - thanks
Erick Thiemke
it is supposed to be an umber hulk but they are copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast
Reid
Is Eryk ever going to have to make a hard decision regarding his morality, because every opportunity you've given him he somehow finds an excuse or alternative. Like with the goblin that he saved, or the female elf he spared twice and healed, or the wife and child he was ordered to kill, or the legionares and mage who just happen to not be traitorous and had a member who knew him during training (which is insane). I can definitely understand him risking himself to spare the wife and child, the others though not so much, especially including his most recent editions. It seems like he's always placed in "tough" scenarios but either always finds a way out or finds allies. These instances definitely undercut the gritty and realistic aspects of this world and makes Eryk's character feel more like a caricature than a real person.
Justin Garrett
Is the creature that killed Rusty an Antlion or something else?
1536539
God dammit i loved rusty!!!!, thank you for the chapter, can’t wait to read the fight
Sam
“Are my companions are dead?” Are my companions dead. control her families gold and silver mine.” her family's gold and silver mine.
Erick Thiemke
fixed those errors
Da Worst John
Thanks for the chapter!
striderfighter
Rusty!!!!....No!!! By Graptar's Hammer....You will be avenged
dethrothes
My question hung in the air. “You look—different, but I remember you—but I forgot your name,” Helena finally said. (but used twice here) “Really?” I said in disbelief. “Well, I guess we rarely talked, so it is understandable. I see you become a legionnaire.” (tense issue) “And you become a Hound,” she said with some vitriol. “Are my companions are dead?” Did she think I was gloating by talking to her? (tense issue) TFTC!
Erick Thiemke
4th of 4 for last cycle. There might only be three chapters this coming cycle as I spent 17 hours editing book 2 over the last two days and didnt get much time to write.
