After a while, Zaos had enough mana to make the pain he was feeling in his left shoulder decrease by using Heal. Despite that, it would take a few days before he can take away the bandage and move his left arm properly. And that was an excellent outcome, considering the wound he received.

                      Unfortunately, Zaos and the other recruits only discovered what Elius meant by that when two groups of three hundred soldiers sandwiched the mercenaries from two fronts. They didn't notice because they arrived just a few minutes before they crossed the gate, but they were his reinforcements. Because they didn't know that the reinforcements would arrive at such a time, they managed to fool and trap all the mercenaries that could pose a problem inside the town. As for the others, they were too wounded to fight and retreated once and for all from the battlefield once they realized that another force completely rested arrived on the battlefield.

                      Things only calmed down around the time the sun began to set. Zaos and the others thought that they only fought for a couple of minutes, but in fact, they fought for hours. The tension really changed their notion of time… around that time as well. The citizens began to help the soldiers deal with the aftermath of the battle. Tending the wounds of those who survived was a priority, but they also had to deal with the corpses. Otherwise, they would start to rot and spread diseases.

                      After drinking some tea to relieve the pain, Zaos began to look for his squad members. As the leader, he was the one responsible for checking their condition and seeing if they needed something extra with the medical care. Zaos couldn't help but open his eyes widely in astonishment when he found only ten of them.

"What happened to the others?" Zaos asked.

"They fell during the day. I didn't see all of them fall, but after talking with the other members, they confirmed the death of the other fifteen…" 

                      Zaos didn't even know their names… he thought before that would make him feel less guilty if they were to die, but that had been a massive mistake. He couldn't imagine any other situation where he could feel more guilty than that… not to mention, Zaos didn't find those two who stayed on guard duty on the first night they began to travel to the Northern base.

"Don't feel too bad, squad leader. Everyone knows that everyone tried really hard. You even used your family's name to draw the enemies' attention to yourself. Meanwhile, most of us froze in shock several times. It is a pity what happened to them, but at least all of us managed to protect the city and not a single civilian lost their lives."

                      Zaos couldn't help but wonder if he truly was following the right path. While he wasn't a normal kid, it looked like the ordinary kids knew more about the harshness of the battlefield if compared to him. Zaos noticed that his father never talked to him about the things he would see in one… that being said, they never talked about anything for more than a few couple seconds. Meanwhile, those kids enlisted already, knowing that they might lose their lives at some point, perhaps much sooner than expected. They probably heard stories from their families or from outsiders who told them such stories.

Health: 320/320

Mana: 550/550

Stamina: 580/580

Strength: 160

Magic: 275

Endurance: 290

Resistance: 275

Focus: 03 + 01 

Sorcery Lv 29, Meditation Lv 15, Magic Swordsmanship Lv 08, Alchemy Lv 01, Swordsmanship Lv 26, Axemanship Lv 06, Spearmanship Lv 06, Archery Lv 09, Shield Mastery Lv 14, Pain Resistance Lv 09, Blacksmithing Lv 05

Lesser Heal, Heal, Holy Light, Detoxification, Cold Whisper, Mend Bones, Dispel, Protection, Magic Barrier, Stone Skin, Fire Sword, Water Sword, Earth Sword, Wind Sword.

          In the end, they stayed in the town for a whole week, waiting for everyone to become strong enough and then move back to the base and to make sure the mercenaries wouldn't try anything. Aside from the status, Zaos didn't feel like he grew all that much. He had assumed too many things, and reality kicked him in the stomach to make him realize that. That happened several times along that week as well, when Zaos and his squad attended the funerals that were held so many times.

          From the almost six hundred recruits that headed toward Krisaldia, only a little more than three hundred returned to the base. Although Zaos was impressed by the mentality of many, all of them stayed mostly silent through the whole week and during the trip back. Instead, they were probably wondering when it would be their turn… harsh times are fast approaching, and when it comes to it, even recruits are used on the battlefield.

          Things didn't change a single bit back in the base. If anything, the number of people there decreased since everyone was still on guard for other attacks. Another thing that changed was the look in the eyes of the veterans. They weren't looking at the rookies as if they were ordinary kids. That being said, they weren't all buddy-buddy as well. Despite the lack of training and any real power, they already considered those that suffered losses on the battlefield as brothers in arms.

                                  When Zaos entered his room and closed the door, he couldn't help but sigh. He saw a small pile of letters… It looked like Wyn did his job and even brought the letters that Zaos's mother wrote to him. The last few weeks had been rough, but Zaos still read them with a smile on his face. All in all, Lyra just replied to all the letters that Zaos sent her and asked the exact same questions Zaos thought she would make: are you sleeping well? Are you eating well? Are you hurt? Are you cold? Is someone bullying you?

                      Zaos sighed as he replied to each of the letters… wondering about what he should write regarding the last few weeks' events. But, in the end, Zaos decided to keep quiet about it… there was no point in letting his mother worry.