Chapter 577: A Great Lad

A/N: I hope everyone who celebrates it has a very fun and safe 4th of July! Let's aim for a record low of fingers lost this year, yeah? Ever

A/N: I hope everyone who celebrates it has a very fun and safe 4th of July! Let's aim for a record low of fingers lost this year, yeah? Everyone else, have a great weekend, as well!

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Chapter 577: A Great Lad

Soon, Jace arrived at the first barrier. If things worked out like he wanted, he wouldn’t need to visit more than one. It all depended on how many people were inside and how hard it would be to get them to attack him with the intent to kill. His Battlelust always grew faster when his enemy was trying to kill him.

As he approached the barrier, Jace saw a few scouts in the area, but ignored them and walked directly inside.

As soon as he walked in and dismissed the few notifications he received upon entering, he examined the area. The corner of his lips quirked up even more. There were at least one hundred, maybe even two hundred, invaders around to lend him a helping hand.

“Hey!” Jace shouted and partially released his aura at the same time. That was enough to cause almost all the heads to turn in his direction. “Good! Who has the highest rank around here?” he asked, then waited, but nobody came forward. Jace frowned, then released more of his aura. If before he had their attention, he now had their fear. “I asked a question! Whoever is in charge here, get over here! Now!”

Soon, a tent opened, and a man walked out. He was frowning, and his frown grew deeper as worry bled into his eyes when he saw Jace. The man did look familiar, but damn near every human wearing the armor from one of the armies looked the same to Jace—it was always pointless to get to know them.

“Jace… Lieutenant Whitaker?” the man asked as he approached.

“Do I know you?” Jace asked.

“Oh… yes,” the man said. “I am one of Councilor Kelvin’s lieutenants. My name is Jo—”

“Don’t care,” Jace said, cutting the man off. “I’m not a lieutenant anymore. I already quit.”

“I… heard…” the man said.

“I have some questions, then something you can help me with,” Jace said. “Are you in touch with the leaders?”

“I am now,” the man answered honestly. “I have been for a little over a day.”

“Good,” Jace said. “Do you know which Guardians are at the Stronghold here?”

“Uh…” the man stammered. “Well… according to our scouts and the recent activity of the invasion status, it shouldn’t be Osian, Braxi, Siren’s Second, or the Ascending Monarch. They have all been in conflict recently, and there has been no movement around the Stronghold. We would have noticed, too, if Jakis or Silent Night had come around.”

“Silent Night?” Jace frowned. “Briya got to have a fight?”

“Well… not a fight…” the man said. “It appears that she was forced to retreat… her fight didn’t last long. That is all I know.”

“Interesting,” Jace said. “So, this Stronghold either has the Old Goblin or Sir Brandt… or maybe even both?”

“That is our assumption,” the soldier answered.

“Third and fourth…” Jace rubbed his chin. “Interesting!” he finally said happily. “In that case, I need your help with something.”

“Anything,” the man answered.

“That easy?”

“Well…” the soldier muttered. “I didn’t expect to see you, but very recently, Councilor Amelia issued an order that we are to help you if needed. She also asks that you contact her at your convenience.”

“That’s… unexpected,” Jace said with a shrug. “I’m busy, though. But I may later…” Jace nodded his head, then looked back up at the man. “So, about that help.”

“What is it?” the man asked.

“Gather every fighter here and form a battalion in front of me,” Jace commanded.

“Sir…” the man frowned. “We’re not… attacking the Stronghold, are we?”

“Don’t be stupid, and stop calling me sir,” Jace said. “You would just get in the way.” He rolled his eyes. “Now, go gather everyone!”

“Sir!” the man saluted, then took off. Jace just shook his head at the man’s actions.

Not long after, what turned out to be just over 150 invaders of various species stood before Jace and the other man. Some were clearly unhappy and weren’t actually part of any of the council’s armies. Jace really didn’t care.

“Sir!” the man saluted Jace once again.

“I told you… you know what? Never mind,” Jace said. “Go stand with them.” He commanded, and the soldier went and stood at the front of the newly formed battalion. From there, Jace reached to his back and slowly drew a kukri with each hand. “You are all going to be lending me a hand today!” he half-shouted.

The invaders began talking amongst themselves—many worried that they were going to be sent to attack a Stronghold without a Champion to help them in the fight. Some even called out to him.

“We will not be attacking a Stronghold or Guardian!” Jace unleashed his aura again and shouted. Everyone calmed at that. “At least, you won’t be. No… you will be fighting me!”

Confusion washed over the crowd, and even the man in charge was dumbfounded. “What?” he blurted out—finally losing the formalities.

“You can call it… training. You’re all going to be fighting me. Come at me with the intent to kill—I won’t accept anything less,” Jace said, but everyone stood in silence. “Well… if you’re not going to attack…” Jace kicked off the ground, and then, suddenly, he was standing in front of the man in charge.

The man’s eyes widened, and he brought his hand up to block, but he was too late. An elbow from Jace caught him right in the chest, and he was sent flying into the crowd—bowling over three other men in the process. Jace smiled, then moved on to the next person. It took three other people to be sent flying before the first spell hit him in the back. That singular spell was what did the trick. Finally, everyone else attacked.

Jace exited the second barrier he’d been to that day with a savage grin. His plan had worked perfectly. As long as the invaders were trying to kill him, even though he was holding back so as not to kill or permanently injure any of them, his Battlelust continued to grow. It didn’t grow as quickly as it would have if he’d been in a truly good fight, but it was still enough.

He turned and looked at the barrier in the distance that he hadn’t gone to yet, but decided against traveling to it. It was a bit too far away from everything for him, and he had a relatively high Battlelust already. It was just about at the same amount as he had when he fought against the two Guardians when they first arrived. He still had his full faculties, but he could feel the fire burning inside him. He was ready for a real fight, and even if his current Battlelust wasn’t enough, it would still grow in battle as long as he was conscious, and it was surely enough to keep him alive until that time came.

Wanting to lose as little Battlelust as possible, Jace took off toward the Stronghold at a sprint. Not long after, he found a road leading to the place and ran along it. The area was unsurprisingly unpopulated—even the few villages that he passed during his sprint seemed empty, which only made sense since they were under invasion and the city closest to them was a Stronghold that would most definitely come under attack at some point.

Soon enough, the city walls covered in a blue mana circle came into sight. When he saw a group of soldiers standing guard and patrolling the area, his savage grin grew.

***

“It seems that we are finally being attacked.” David Brandt put his communication crystal away and stood from his chair.

“Is that so?” Marrick asked as he too hopped up from his chair, then stored it in his ring. “It’s about time they made their move. I thought I was going to die of old age… well… earlier than I thought it was going to happen.”

“The enemy… doesn’t seem to be what you or I have been expecting,” David said as he flicked his wrist, and a stunning array of plate armor etched with glowing white runic carvings throughout appeared over his body, while a shortsword with an ivory hilt and a metal heater shield adorned with the same runes appeared in his hands. “It is but a single person, but he is cutting through the guards like they are nothing. He also does not appear to be a Champion, but he is most definitely an invader.”

“Now that is interesting. Let’s go take a look,” Marrick said, then drew his cane and walked to the window. With a slight grunt, he heaved himself out of the window and was caught by a cloud of sand. He waited for just a moment as David hopped on the cloud behind him, then he took them to the wall.

“The boy has quite the aura,” Marrick said as they hovered over the wall, watching the bald-headed man with two oddly shaped blades cut through the guards while not killing or badly maiming them. “And that grin on his face is something you don’t see often. He is having… fun.”

“And he’s strong enough not to kill, it seems,” David commented.

“I think we should go greet our guest. What do you think?” Marrick asked. “Your guards would certainly welcome us. They’re not doing so great.”

“Let’s go,” David said, then jumped off Marrick’s cloud of sand and landed on the ground—causing a small crater.

Marrick clicked his tongue. “Young people…” he muttered, then floated toward the invader.

***

Jace sent another guard flying with a backhand, then noticed two people coming his way. One was an older man with stunning armor and short, white hair. He was the spitting image of what Jace would have pictured when he was younger if he thought about a loyal old knight. The other… person… was just a small figure covered in a robe from head to toe, floating on a cloud beside the knight.

Once he saw the two figures, he stopped fighting. Well, other than the one last kick he gave to a guard who didn’t understand the situation. The figure floating on the… sand… moved just to the side, and the guard flew by.

“Young man,” the knight said once he got close enough. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

“Are you Brandt and the Goblin?” Jace asked.

The knight looked at the other man, then back at Jace, then nodded. “We are.”

“Want to take a guess which of us is which?” the floating figure asked. He removed his hood to reveal a truly old face with only a few strands of hair on his head and pointy ears.

“You’re obviously Sir Brandt,” Jace said. “And that tall guy in the armor has to be the goblin, right?”

The Old Goblin’s eye twitched, but an amused smile appeared on his face.

“This is pointless,” Jace continued. “But I’m going to ask you two the same question I asked the other two Guardians before I fought them.” That surprised the Guardians.

“So you are the mysterious reason two Guardians disappeared as soon as the invasion began?” the knight asked. “You do seem to have an aura about you. Go ahead, ask.”

Jace sighed, then asked, “Do the two of you know Derek Hunt?” Surprisingly, unlike the last time he asked, the name got a reaction out of the Guardians. “You do!” Jace shouted, and his savage grin turned into one of genuine excitement—like a kid unwrapping a gift on Christmas. “Where is he? Is he here?”

“That…” the Old Goblin began. “How do you know Derek?”

“So it’s true?!” Jace was shaking with excitement. “How do I know him? He’s my best friend!”

“Best… friend?” The Old Goblin frowned. “So… you’re from where he was… before?”

“Exactly!” Jace said. “So… where is he? Is he in there?”

“In there?” the Old Goblin laughed. “No, he is the Ascending Monarch. He is currently far away.”

Jace’s excitement died down a little, but he was still bursting with happiness. He just knew that Derek was going to be somewhere on this planet, and he finally had proof. Not only that, but one of the men before him seemed to know his friend quite well. “Of course he is the Ascending Monarch! I would have expected nothing less of him. Then… you are… a friend of his?” he asked.

“A friend?” The Old Goblin scratched his chin in thought. “Yes… you could say that. We have had an adventure or two together. He is a good lad.”

“He’s a great lad! You have to tell me all about it!” Jace said. He then looked back and forth between the two men. “But if you’re his friends, then you must be strong. We can fight first, then you can tell me about him after. Just… don’t give up.”