I feel i keep doing this recently. But fret not, I've finally gotten my head back into gear. Hence, sorry for the delay. there shouldn't be any more delays anytime soon.

He was still a child. I did not know him for long, but it was almost as if I’ve had known him all my life. Only a young man and his life already forfeited. Despite the short amount of time we’ve spent, I’ve come to think of him as my son. They say a parent shouldn’t have to watch their children die, and yet, I watched helplessly as he disappeared right in front of my eyes.

In the end, our elite task force failed the mission, even though the rampages stopped. We could not find the perpetrators for the mass murders of the border villages and even then, we still lost one of our most valued members. A promising young mage, talented in multiple aspects of magic, lost on this mission that we failed thoroughly.

My superiors deemed this mistake fatal, and condemned me to exile for the loss of a valuable future asset. As if it wasn’t enough to watch my own student die, I lost all that I once had. Then again, I could blame no one but myself. It was I who saw the potential in him and trained him. It was I who suggested bringing him along to the defence committee, and it was I who invited him personally to accompany me on this mission. It was my own inadequacies and lack of proper judgement that ultimately led to his death.

We never saw the monster again. The rest of my team tried to fight for my cause, but to no avail. I stopped them in time to prevent them from suffering the same fate I did. Accepting my punishment, I surrendered my proof of citizenship and was cast beyond the borders of my home with nothing more than the clothes on my back and the sword hanging by my waist. It was his sword, the only thing that was left of him to remind me of my mistake.

As if the forests along the border were not dangerous enough when I was with my team, now I face the dangers alone. Lucky for me, I got by with barely a few scratches and some bumps. Then I stumbled upon one of the villages, or at least what used to be a village. Where there weren’t any buildings standing, the ground was smooth and reflected anything above it. I scavenged what I could, or what was left after bandits picked the place clean. A few rags here, some tools there, I made the best of what I could find.

I counted my lucky stars, I found a basement concealed so well the bandits missed it. It took a few good hits with my enhanced strength to break through the stone ceiling of the basement. There, I found the necessities for my survival. A warm blanket, some dried meat and pickled vegetables and of all the good luck, a bottle of alcohol. That night, I sat on the tiled roof of a crumbling stone building, watched the twin moons and their reflections on the smooth ground and drank my heart out.

I was angry at my country, at the monster, and most of all at myself. If I hadn’t chosen to bring him along, none of this would’ve happened. The attacks on the villages had already stopped since before we were deployed and there was no real need to bring the kid along. I looked at his sword and remorse filled my chest as I kept trying to drown the feeling in more alcohol. Soon, the bottle was empty and I woke up the next day with a splitting headache. I decided it was time to move on. It does me no good to dwell on the past. Best to learn from it and move on.

Within a week from the drunken rage filled night, I found myself facing a group of hostile demihumans in the Rashael province. They were a group of smugglers involved in smuggling human children into Rashael as slaves. They seemed to be experts in negotiations, and yet when it came to actual combat, most of them were only sub-par. Then again, almost everybody seemed sub-par when compared to that boy. He had a natural talent to pick up things fast, and the tenacity to see things through no matter how difficult it may be.

After a quick ‘persuasion’, the demi humans agreed to smuggle me to the Drigor Province in exchange for their lives. Disguising me as one of them with fake ears, they escorted me through the capital city of Rashael and to the borders of Drigor. Once again, throughout the journey, I am constantly amazed at how sharp their tongues and minds are, and with a little help from me in difficult situations, we managed to weave our way through most troubles.

I knew I had no place in a demi-human province, especially with this war against humans going on. My best bet would be to go to Diantes and from there decide on my future path. I’ve only ever known combat, be it magic or the sword, my whole life, I’m sure my skill set would be in demand in a country in the midst of war.

The smugglers were smart, avoiding battlefields like the plague. After their ‘transaction’ in the capital city of Rashael, they led me straight south and once past the border left me alone to my own fate. Their only directions were to keep heading south till I hit a big road or land up in one of the mines. Once there, I should be able to offer my skills to the humans as I have to them, and find my way to Diantes.

And so, for some reason, I trusted their words and headed due south, hoping they have not given me false directions and left me to die. True enough, within days, I wound up at the entrance of a mine shaft and from there I followed a dwarven merchant to Diantes. I wondered how small the dwarves must have looked, considering I look like a dwarf to the native humans of Diantes. They must’ve been half-giant or something, and despite my skills in swordsmanship, I was easily outmatched in strength by any of the mercenaries hired to guard the merchant.

The port road was mostly safe once we were out of the forest. I found out once we entered the city that the merchant had hired not mercenaries, but knight students from one of the many academies all throughout the city. My first impression of the city though, was that it was huge. At least 10 times that of Alluviate and very well organised too. Whoever thought of this layout must’ve planned for the city to thrive for centuries. It is not easy to plan that many years ahead of what you see currently.

Obviously, I needed a way to survive. Somewhere to get cheap food and accommodation and maybe even a job to get paid with. Only 1 thing came to mind – join the army. Combat was my life in Alluviate, no reason it shouldn’t be here in Diantes too. I followed the knight students, and after a quick test, I was granted entry to a moderately wealth academy in the military district. No doubt they let me in because I could use magic to enhance my body. When enhanced, I could even overpower some of the senior students whom I’m seriously thinking them to be children of giants.

Student life was easy, although I never thought that I would return to being a student at the age of 48. Training was mostly similar to the royal academy in Alluviate. Physical training, then practicing sword forms, and finally sparring sessions with either the instructors or other students. The odd thing though is that the students are allowed to take on a qualifying test, that when passed, gives them permission to do jobs from quest boards.

To pass out from the academy and be deployed in the battle and get paid, one needs to complete 50 missions from the quest board regardless of difficulty. Of course, your position in the battle is determined by the type of quests you’ve taken on during your time in the academy. You can take on easy quests such as fetching or finding lost items, or take on difficult ones such as hunting magical beasts, or escort missions for merchant hirers. Similarly, you can be deployed as a supply wagon guard/driver in the army, or a commander in the frontlines. It all depends on your performance record for the 50 missions taken in the academy.

Even then, many students choose not to graduate from the academy and continue doing missions even after the mandated minimum 50 by the academy. After-all, it is much safer, with free lodging and food, with the added bonus of earning money doing quests. I on the other hand, think otherwise. My life is short, with only maybe 50-60 years to go. I want to make an impact in this world, leave behind a legacy before I go out with a bang. And so, I chose the hardest missions, and squeezed out of them barely with my life intact in some.

My efforts did not go unnoticed. Soon, I became known as the short old man by most of the students. With lengthy practice, I almost tripled my enhanced mode time frame and doubled the strength of my enhancements. Sometimes, the students would gather to play a simple game of king of the hill with no weapons. In a match of strength and technique, I lost to no one and would always be the last one left standing on the mound of dirt in the practice field.

I earned enough money doing missions and acquired a set of brand new steel plate armour, similar in design to the one I wore in Alluviate. My time in the academy was almost over. I had completed my 50th mission just 2 days ago. Sadly, no one in the academy gave me as much thrill as the boy did.

As I was about to head to the administrative building to receive my posting, a man approached me, offering me a place in his academy of necromancers. When I clarified that I had limited talent as a magician, he assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem. Apparently his aim was to have me fight alongside my undead in the frontlines.

Naturally, I agreed. If there was one thing im good at, it was fighting, and if this guy knew how to make full use of my magical aptitude, it would be even better. His directions were sketchy at best, and his personality, even more so. Nonetheless, this was a great opportunity for me and I wasn’t going to miss it.

As I waited at the palace entrance, I watched as a man not much taller than me approach the gates as well. He must be one of the other candidates chosen. His armour looked oddly familiar, and yet, it was vastly different. Red shields and horns, pure silver armour, it was unreal, almost as if he came from the demon continent. Unsure of his motives or his outlook on being friends, I chose to keep to myself. From the looks of it, even after the warm welcome by ‘master’, this other student of his is a quiet one.

Halo5 ending was a disappointment. but somehow i was kinda expecting it from 343 studios. I finished the game earlier than usual so even though i said there won't be any chapters today, here it is. with this, im still 2 chapters behind. I'll finish writing them soon. FYI spoiler alert, I've gotten alot better at drawing thanks to a good friend of mine, so I'll be uploading another drawings 'chapter' maybe next week.

And in case it wasn't clear, this short chapter was Varn's POV since the mission Kiefer got eaten.