November 1st, 628

“I’ve heard that there are millions of monsters heading toward the Glass Desert.”

“They say a defense is being mounted. I’m not sure how even the Iron Legion is supposed to hold its own against several million monsters…”

“Do you know anything Faey?”

Her head turned, looking at her friends sitting near her on the transport vehicle. They were all already in their Iron Legion issued armor, yet the vehicle they were inside was massive enough to feel spacious with their bulk.

After going through an hour of in-processing at the main operating base, they were quickly sent off toward the Maginot Line. They hadn’t been told much about the details. They had been talking about rumors all week in anticipation for their arrival. The last excursion was incredibly boring despite actually being in the field personally. Something about the intensity of Iron Legion left their standards too high for the Kingdom, and ever since their last trip out to the Glass Desert, all of them had been looking forward to this day. Now it was finally here.

Like last time, there were no Nephilim with them. In fact, there wasn’t a single Nephilim that left the Magisterium with them. Apparently they had a separate excursion set up for them, considering John Cooper’s previous discrimination.

Faey was quite glad. Being near them was exhausting.

She shook her head at her friend. She wasn’t in contact with John much, a text here or there being the extent of their communication. She certainly didn’t ask about what she shouldn’t, not that John would tell her anyway. Secrecy was one of the things he was good at, and even now, she was only just learning about the true nature of what he did from her mother.

She didn’t like being kept in the dark or being pampered so much, but she also knew she couldn’t be anything like John. She wasn’t a freak genius seen once in a millennium, unfortunately.

She couldn’t be anything like her sister either, apparently.

The vehicle was chattery as they drove to the Line. It took a while, though not as long as Faey thought it would. The sun had barely set by the time they were within the area.

Eventually they stopped, everyone stepping through the thick metal hatch and out into the open.

It was the sight of the wall that caught their eye first.

Massive floodlights illuminated the several hundred meter tall cliff and everything behind it, the shade looking darker between the bright beams. Most of the ground was paved and streets were woven through the area and between buildings.

There weren’t many such buildings behind the colossal wall, most of them looking to be inside the wall itself. There were all kinds of doors and roads leading into it, huge supply trucks driving into it regularly.

Faey was stunned by the scale of what was constructed. The face of the wall looked so dense with magic that the surface was beginning to take on a metallic sheen. Even Faey could feel the sheer density within.

Her friend, a warlock, only vocalized it.

“Holy shit. Did he get a Sovereign to enchant the wall? What the fuck is that mana density…”

Faey’s friend adjusted her armor, feeling uncomfortable. In her mana senses, Earth Mana was flooding off the wall and into the surroundings.

“Magisterium students!”

Everyone turned when a car came rolling over, stopping with a bit of drift. An armored individual jumped out. Faey recognized her as their previous instructor, Instructor Bria. The woman’s bearing was still as oppressive as before.

“We are currently under siege! If you want to see any of it before the enemy is all slaughtered, then hurry up and get in formation!”

Everyone’s eyes widened, everyone running to line up. Soon they were double timing to the wall, entering a doorway and finding themselves in a massive elevator.

They ascended all the way to the top of the wall. Everyone assembled, feeling the strong winds of a higher elevation.

All around them were turrets, bunkers and emplacements that either fired off the edge of the wall or into the air where aerial enemies were harassing them. Repeating cannons launched projectiles into the sky that exploded and blew the flying enemies apart, sending their bodies hurtling to the ground.

Faey didn’t recognize the species. It had to be new, and it was certainly fast. It looked as fast as the propeller planes, and they dropped bombs of their own, poisonous globs that spread gases and acids that ate through both metal and magic.

The shields were up though, preventing most from getting through too far. Not only that, but the Earth Mana within every structure was so dense that even those potent acids would sit there ineffective, unable to eat through such magical integrity. Some bunkers were drenched, and yet most of the acids were just bubbling across their surfaces, becoming inert over time.

Some of the aerial enemies flew down to land, but they were never able to do so without getting wounded first, and when they finally reached the wall, warlocks and knights were there to slaughter them. Others took that as the hint not to get close, not that there weren’t always a few more naive or confident than others.

“Follow!”

Instructor Bria waved them over, running to the edge of the wall where everyone lined up on the fence and peered over.

The sight was incredible. Tens of thousands of enemies were flooding toward the wall, monster and behemoth alike. They looked endless, and at one time, Faey would look upon them and think there was no way they could be wiped out.

Now, on top of this wall, they looked so powerless. She didn’t know it was possible to feel like she was in such a superior position over the Scourge.

The lights of turrets lit up the darkness of the battlefield alongside the floodlights. Sweeps of turret fire created pillars of flame that annihilated everything around them, combining with bombing runs from planes above that rent the ground and monsters alike.

The turrets were everywhere along the wall, and Faey noticed they were new models as well. She could hear every projectile and she had never seen such a high rate of fire from anything else before. Even the massive cannons were firing every half second, and there were dozens of them at least.

The monsters were decimated within 200 meters of the wall. Even flooding as they were, a tide of tough flesh and natural armor that struck fear into every Kingdom Stronghold, they weren’t able to get close enough to so much as smell the ranks of troops waiting at the bottom of the wall.

Everyone watched the entire battle. Tens of thousands were cut down to a tenth of that, and then the soldiers at the foot of the wall rolled out in armored vehicles to clean up the rest with supporting fire. At the same time, the Crystal harvesters left through huge metal doors, entering the battlefield and getting ready to process all the monster corpses, stripping them of all they were worth.

It looked easy. Not a single soldier had even come close to risking their lives and they had decimated an entire army. It was systematic, mechanical, and scarily efficient. All it cost was money in the form of armament.

Instructor Bria turned to all of them, her mouth opening to speak before she suddenly snapped to attention.

“Greetings, Commander!”

Faey turned her head before suddenly jumping back, seeing John standing right over her shoulder, having peered over the wall just like her. She wasn’t sure how he was able to remain completely undetected, but she also wasn’t surprised, considering the stories she had heard about him.

There were all kinds of legends flowing through the grapevine about John Cooper, the strongest Summoner in history. She knew more than most, but it still wasn’t much.

He looked at her and wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her in and knocking the top of her helmet.

“What’s up, kid? Haven’t seen you in a bit. Authority 4 already, huh?”

Faey smiled with a bit of flush, glad she was wearing something to cover her face. She nodded, not fighting his embrace.

“Mm. I’m not as fast as you were. My skill certainly isn’t up to par.”

“Oh please, you’re farther ahead than I was and skill comes with experience. You’re doing amazing and all of us are proud of your progress. Just be careful. I don’t tolerate insults toward my sister, no matter who they come from.”

He shook her helmet a bit, earning a chuckle before letting her go.

Faey suddenly turned.

“I-I have a request.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I wanted to spar you.”

Faey saw John’s brows raise, his smile widening.

“Feeling itchy?”

“Sorry?”

“Your sister gets that way too. Alright, we’ll head down to the training room tomorrow morning. In fact, Instructor Bria will bring everyone down. We’ll do a comprehensive test.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Yes, Commander.”

Instructor Bria gave her acknowledgement, John nodding and looking down the wall.

“The battle is over. You all will get situated in the barracks and briefed on the next 30 days here.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Instructor Bria remained, everyone staring at John while he looked between each student.

He spoke after some silence.

“You all will be learning more while you’re here, but it won’t be so much theory like last time. We’re going to place you in real roles, giving you real jobs that will demand real responsibility. Some of you will be on the turrets, some of you will be in logistics, others will be shadowing an intel agent. You’ll swap roles about halfway through, getting places in other positions to get plenty of exposure to different facets of operation. You’ll be expected to perform as you’ve been instructed, and it’ll be stressful, at first.

“But it will prepare you for the future. It’ll give you a glimpse of what it means to be an adult, to take care of yourself and those around you. Some of you will be entering the military next year. Some will become a fourth year. Others will come to Iron Legion. Regardless of where you go, I’m going to impart experience that will carry into any position you end up in. Don’t be the high ranking newbie who doesn’t even know how to get out of bed on time. Don’t be the musclehead who only knows how to fight. Don’t be the agent who cowers behind their desk job. I’ve seen too many on both sides of the spectrum be slaughtered. Chiefs, Marshals, Generals, and the common soldier all alike. And unlike them, I’m still here because I had both brains and brawn. I’ve fought for my life directly and survived, but more importantly, I had the wisdom to keep myself and my teams out of situations that would get us killed.”

He went silent again, everyone feeling the weight of his words. Most knew about the legendary exploits of John Cooper. Most had seen some of the battle records, their noble parents all studying this massive new figure in charge of the most powerful mechanized military in the world.

They took his words as gospel. Nobody dared to doubt the world’s most powerful Summoner, someone who had won the Magisterium’s tournament even before going on to become a legend, defeating even every other renowned name of talent and prestige that had been thrown before him one after the other. His name was still on the leaderboard, his image in the hall of champions with more than one record underneath, videos of his battles still circulating and even more popular than years past. There wasn’t a single student who hadn’t seen it, even years later.

And more importantly than all that, they knew they were in for some cool shit. None of them would miss this chance.

John looked at Instructor Bria.

“They’re all yours.”

She saluted before turning to everyone, yelling them off the top of the wall and into the depths of the Line.

……

…

“RISE AND SHINE! You wanted a spar?! Well the Commander is already waiting! Get the fuck up! Full gear!”

Faey jumped out of bed when the yells shook the walls. A quick glance at the clock told her that she had gotten six hours of sleep. She felt completely rested, and the excitement of anticipation was enough to get her moving.

Everyone rushed to equip their gear before rushing out into an indoor plaza. After forming up, Instructor Bria led them to the training room.

They arrived quickly and filed in, seeing activity. The training room was huge, and there were at least a hundred people moving about. Some were sparring, some were working out, others were getting some healing.

In the middle was the arena, raised on a stone platform and fenced in by a thick magic barrier. There was a large circle around it, where the largest number of people were.

And inside were two individuals, both covered in armor and wielding real weapons against each other.

The first was an Authority 8 Knight, wielding a sword and slashing at the other in caution. That other person was John, dressed in his mysterious armor that instilled fear just looking at it.

John slashed with an arm blade in response, the Knight recoiling and barely blocking a follow up punch that sent him flying. He slammed into the magic barrier, barely reacting to John’s lunge.

They crossed blades, but John was one step further, his other hand sneaking around and placing his other arm blade against the knight's neck, drawing blood.

The sheer amount of Psyka flooding off of him made his image blurry, the knight smiling wryly, blood seeping from other wounds.

Seeing as the winner was clearly decided, John let up, pulling the knight off the wall with a pat on the shoulder. The magic barrier went down, John giving some words of encouragement before looking at the students who were by the side.

“You all are here. Faey, jump in. You’re first.”

Faey stepped forward without another thought, jumping into the ring. She felt the pressure immediately. She knew she had no hope of even getting a blow on John, but that didn’t mean the spar wouldn’t be a good experience.

She had been dreaming of this for a long time. It was only now that she could put up at least some of a performance.

She brought out her weapon, the spear that was specially crafted by the Raven Family and enchanted with John’s own specialty formations. It was extremely powerful, a weapon she may never outgrow, and certainly one she would have no business wielding if it wasn’t for him.

That was with her armor on top of it, impenetrable to anything below Authority 10 and giving her a myriad of utility functions that boosted her combat performance.

But she was still Authority 4. Even if John’s strength only matched up to his level, he was four Authorities above her, and he was already known for his unparalleled lethality.

“It’s a fight of cold steel. 10 minutes of warm up sparring, and then you can go all out. You’ll know when the battle is over.”

“Got it.”

“Then you can start whenever.”

Faey spun her spear, and after taking a deep breath, lunged toward John.

Her Aura flared as Vigor pumped through her. Adrenaline surged into her bloodstream. She crossed the distance between them in a single step, her spear snaking right toward John’s throat.

He slapped it away with such force that Faey’s entire body swayed with it. She spun and used the momentum to create distance, John still standing there.

That faceless visor felt like it was staring through her soul.

She recovered and got close once more, but instead of a committed attack, she kept some distance and used the reach of her spear. She used her techniques, used her speed and strength, Vigor flowing through her muscles like a drug. Her adrenaline, her suit, and her spear made her feel powerful.

But John was a steel wall. He deflected every attack, every deflection throwing her off balance and shaking her grip. She had to recover every single time. It made her more reserved. The more strength she used, the fiercer the recoil. She felt herself easing up, but she knew that wasn’t the answer.

So she laid into it even more. More Vigor, more strength, more speed. She made sure her technique was true, multiplying the strength of her attacks using leverage and angles. The art of the spear was complex. It had advantages and disadvantages, which her techniques sought to manipulate for her gain.

Nothing worked on John though. He read her every move, used strength that surpassed hers, and manipulated the battle like he was playing with a child. It was exactly what he was doing, and Faey didn’t delude herself.

Still, something about how he handled her pissed her off.

For 10 minutes she continued. She may as well have been going all out from the start, but she quickly understood that their warmup period was for her to adjust to what he was doing.

Soon enough, that changed.

“Warmup’s over.”

As soon as he said that, Faey felt the shift. John attacked instead of defended. He smacked her spear away before punching her in the chest, lifting her off her feet and sending her flying like the knight that had been up before her.

She hit the floor and tumbled, recovering and seeing John walking toward her. She raised her spear and retaliated, but she got the same oppressiveness in response.

She used all her strength to defend, the sheer power behind all of his blows making her hands sting even underneath her gloves. Sometimes he moved in close, blows raining down on her body in sequence so fast that she couldn’t even block. No matter how she positioned, no matter how much strength or speed she used, the blows came.

She didn’t think it was possible for a summoner to move so fast, with so much strength. That suit of his made it that much worse too. The blows of metal fists on metal armor jarred her body.

The armor didn’t buckle. It wasn’t even stressed. It was built to take Authority 9 blows and hold. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean Faey would be free from the pain of the residual impact, and she realized with great distress that John was punching at the limits of the armor's tolerances for dampening.

A summoner wielding the strength of an Authority 9 knight was horrifying to think about.

He was huge in that seven foot tall armor, heavy, strong, but fast and agile. It wasn’t fair to think that someone could have it all like that, but she also knew that the powerful knights, the ones with true skill, would have just that.

At that point, the only weakness one would have was Aura, and unlike everyone else here, Faey knew that John had truly come face to face with the King of Anarchy, just like Umara.

Both of them had survived, and their Auras were elevated to such a terrifying level that Faey knew she’d never be able to catch up in her lifetime. Still, if she could reach the level her mother did, she’d do anything.

Fighting against such an oppressive opponent was a step in that direction.

At some point, Faey found herself heaving for breath, her body burning with the strain on her muscles and her suit doing its best to keep her cool. Her Vigor was being used up despite only minutes passing, despite John going easy on her.

She continued defending, pushing out a bit more of her strength and creating distance. John let her, the two staring at each other before Faey pushed Vigor through her spear, the last of it.

She let out a strained breath one more time before diving in for her last strike.

Her spear went forward, faster than it ever had, cutting through the air with practiced precision. Her entire body was behind it, and although nothing to John, it was capable of facing those beyond Faey’s level.

Yet she saw John grab it, yanking it even faster than she was already going and pulling her toward him.

Her grip didn’t loosen in time, the two closing the distance and John wrapping her in a bear hug.

She grunted with the collision of their armors, resisting for a split second before giving up, her spear disappearing into her bracer.

John laughed, his helmet retracting as he looked down at her. Faey removed hers as well, looking back up at him and feeling the difference in height.

She blamed her flushed face on the exertion.

“Look at you! That’s some impressive shit, Faey. I’m so proud.”

“Ack…”

Faey grunted again when John squeezed, her Vigor running dry and weakness flooding her body.

He chuckled, rubbing her head.

“Feiden was pretty similar to you back in the Magisterium. He uses a spear too. If he’s free, I might just send you to him for training.”

“Hm…”

Faey looked up at him, staring into his golden eyes for a long moment.

Thoughts about John and Umara’s upcoming marriage flooded her mind. She only knew about it this early because her mother had started preparing to make new dresses, and her proportions had changed due to training and growth. Her measurements were taken just last week.

There were only two months until then, and although there had been plenty of anger, she had steeled herself for the event.

She smiled gently.

“Introduce me to him.”

“Alright.”

“Right when we get back, I want the introduction. December 3rd. Promise me.”

“Okay?”

John looked at her a bit weirdly, thinking for a second before flashing an evil grin.

“Yeah, I’ll make it happen. Get through this stuff first though, and go see the healer. Send the next one up!”

Faey separated from him and walked off the arena, going to see the healer on site. As she got her minor wounds treated by some newbie healers desperate for patients, she watched the subsequent fights, none of which lasted long after the warmup.

John was even more ruthless with them. Nobody was able to stand against him, whether they were a fourth year or not. There were even a couple Authority 5 students, but they were thrashed all the same. The Knights couldn’t even match his strength, and the Warlocks’ spells couldn’t so much as warm his armor. He could eat every attack like they weren’t even real.

Faey smiled, thinking about the day she would meet Feiden.

She’d have her retribution, one way or another.