The silhouette of hundreds of Beastmen slowly emerged from the shadows of the Foxmere Forest. They took their time to march towards their enemy: the soldiers of the Arkhain Empire. The invaders.
Numa was one of the many Arkhain soldiers who stood there waiting for the Beastmen to cross the border. Just like the other new recruits, his armor was loose, and his sword had seen better days. They never gave a new set of armor to the new guys. Most of the newcomers died in their first battle anyway, so why bother giving them a brand new set?
Numa himself was no stranger to a fight. He has been involved in quite a few brawls back in his village. But a battle this size, this was a first. He looked at the palms of his hands, and they were shaking quite a bit. He could also feel the sweat streaming down his face.
"Whoa, look at those shaky hands. Are you alright?" said the soldier who stood beside him.
"...Yes, I'm fine," answered Numa quietly.
"My name is Tarin. You're a new recruit, right? It's okay to be afraid, but try to calm down. Otherwise, those beasts will eat you alive. Or worse, you'll get other people killed."
"I'm Numa. I'm not afraid. Just...nervous."
"Sure you are," said Tarin with a smirk on his face. "Is this your first battle?"
"Yes."
"No wonder you're sweating bullets right now. But don't worry. I have a couple of battles under my belt," said Tarin proudly. "So just follow my lead, and you'll be fine."
"..."
"What? You don't believe in my fighting skills? Just so you know, I've personally taken down a Tiger beastmen in my first battle."
"..."
"What's with that look? Listen, kid, unlike you and other weak men who dare to call themselves soldiers, who are content with simply surviving, I am a man who is proud to be an Arkhain soldier. Mark my words, I will rise through the ranks in record speed and become one of the commanders of the Arkhain Empire," said Tarin with a big smile on his face.
"A commander, eh?" said a man with a deep voice who suddenly stood beside Numa and Tarin. He donned a grey armor, just like the rest of the Iron Legion soldiers, but it looked a lot more elaborate than the other soldiers'. Shield and Spear carvings on the breast plate, horns on the helmet, and the cape. The red cape that flows freely with the wind. "Why don't you kill a beastmen first before you boast about your grand dream, Tarin?"
"Ca-captain Elric? When did you get here, sir?" asked the flustered Tarin.
"You're too busy chatting, you don't even realize your captain is approaching," said Captain Elric to Tarin, with a face that can only be described as a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. The captain looked away from Tarin and came face-to-face with Numa. "Listen, new blood, don't just blindly follow other people to the battle, especially not a fellow Legionnaire like Tarin here. Listen carefully to the orders from your superiors and execute them to the best of your ability. And most importantly, try to take one of those animals without losing your life in the process. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" replied Numa.
Captain Elric turned away from Numa and directly addressed the rest of the troops. "We have a lot of new recruits among us today. To you, this marks your first battle. Your first time facing the terrifying jaws of the beastmen. But don't you worry, we are privileged enough to have 3 Magick Knights among us and 2 Mages to support us from the back," he said as he pointed towards the three knights who stood among them with their crimson armors and the two mages with the blue robes at the back. "So go out there and unleash every strength in your body. Bleed for the Empire. Even if you think you're about to die, be sure to at least bring a beast down with you!"
"For the Empire!" shouted every soldier present on the battlefield.
Their eyes were fixated on their radiant and charismatic captain. But even then, they couldn't help but feel nervous and intimidated by the increasingly loud sound of the Beastmen's footsteps as they crossed the field, which happened to be the current border between the Arkhain Empire and the Unified Kindreds of Itzara, otherwise known as the Beast Federation.
"Will you look at that," said Elric as he stared at the hordes of angry Beastmen. "Those animals couldn't wait to get slaughtered after all." He pulled his sword and raised it high above his helm. "For the glory of the Arkhain Empire. CHARGE!!!!"
The Iron Legion moved in unison, bearing their swords, their spears, and their shields towards the enemy. Numa tried his best to keep up with the others, but he couldn't even see where he was going. His view was obstructed by walls of men with gray armors. His ears were filled with the war cries of his countrymen and the roar of the beasts. Ice spears and fireballs fly above his head from both directions, impaling and scorching any soldiers who were unfortunate enough to be on their landing points. It didn't take long until the war cries turned into screams of terror and the roars turned into death throes.
Up ahead, Numa saw a feline beast, possibly a leopard, leap from one Arkhain soldier to the next, using its sharp fangs to tear their throats apart. They made eye contact. He saw the pupils of the leopard and instantly realized that the beast had found its next target.
Numa looked around and noticed three soldiers approaching from behind with their spears. He knew the beast was much stronger than him, but at that moment, he saw a path to victory. Now it's only a matter of whether or not he could execute it properly.
The leopard jumped towards Numa with the full intention of ripping his neck. Numa was terrified, but he forced himself to focus on the leopard's movement. Timing was everything. Right before the leopard's claws could reach his shoulder, Numa lowered his body, took a half step to the right, and used the sword in his right hand to slice the left side of the beast's abdomen.
The leopard fell behind Numa, whimpering, blood gushing out of its stomach. It couldn't believe that a mere human could land a hit on its superior body. But before the leopard could gather its strength, the three soldiers pierced its body with their spears. It tried to roar, but nothing came out of its mouth. The leopard was dead.
"Nicely done, kid," said one of the spearman.
"Yeah, you have a good battle instinct," echoed the other.
Numa couldn't hear them. His head was filled with adrenaline and a sense of euphoria. He was elated. Not only because he survive his first encounter with a beastman, but he managed to land a critical hit on the beast. He didn't kill the leopard, but in his mind, that was pretty much his first kill. He felt on top of the world.
As if on cue to ruin Numa's little celebration, he heard a piercing roar from his back. Numa looked at the source of that menacing voice and shuddered. It was a bear. A massive bear. The leopard was in its hybrid form, which made its body quite a bit larger than average humans, but still fairly manageable. With a proper technique and a good tactic, even a normal legionnaire like Numa could take down that beastmen.
The bear, however, was in its full beast form. It was huge. Five soldiers could easily climb on its back, and there would still be some room to spare. As if that was not horrifying enough, the bear also had a deep scar on its left eye. But one eye was all it took for it to send Arkhain soldiers flying with a simple sweep of its giant hands. Crushed their armors with its teeth. And pulled their bodies apart with its bare arms.
And for the second time in a row, the beast locked eyes with Numa. As they said, out of the leopard's claw and into the bear's jaw. The sight of an Arkhain soldier was enough to anger the bear. But when it noticed the fresh corpse of the leopard near Numa, it went berserk.
The bear charged at full speed towards Numa. He quickly realized that the same tactic that he used to defeat the leopard won't work on the bear. It was simply too big and too strong. He's not even sure his sword could penetrate its thick hide. Running away was also not an option. This terrifying monstrosity was too fast, way faster than he expected a bear would move. So the only thing that Numa could do was to brace himself.
Numa planted his feet on the ground, lowered his head, raised his hands and used them to guard his upper body, like a boxer ready to take on the opponent's punch. He knew the bear wouldn't even need to use half of its strength to kill him, but by putting himself in the correct position, he thought it would at least increase his chance of survival.
Before he knew it, the beast was already in front of him and ready to pierce his armor with its claws and break his bones with its absurd strength. Right before that hand of death touched his body, Numa cast the spell that his late father taught him. The only spell he knew.
Avara!