A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 829: The Allied Move - Part 2

"I don’t intend to," Oliver said, and he meant every word of it.

"Good," Nila said, beginning to walk away. "Find us victory, then, Captain." She gave him a small salute, before turning away as well.

Oliver watched her go. "Peace?" He murmured to himself, shaking his head. "Peace…" The very word seemed foreign. Oliver knew his life would have no peace. He did not regret that fact. For these battles, this gaining of strength, this world of might and the world of man, he’d begun to enjoy it.

He’d never felt meaning like this in anything that he did. He wished he could have reassured Nila of that, but for some reason, he did not think it would have made her happy.

This time, with the ending of their mock battle, Oliver didn’t spare the ex-slaves much of a speech. He merely told them "Win once more, and steal their hearts for yourselves". By then, Northman had come back. He’d arrived just in time to see his men still lying on the floor, as though a wrecking ball had gone through them. Needless to say, he was both shocked and awed.

"I’ll take the next battle, then," Northman declared. "Cormrant, you go for a ride, when the Captain calls for you. Until then, rest. I’ll take over from here."

"Be careful, Commander," Cormrant warned him as he massaged a welt on the side of his head. "They’re different. I don’t know how to deal with them."

Northman nodded gravely. "I understand as much. I know you’re not weak enough that you’d fall twice to a mistake that could have been remedied. Worry not. General Skullic has kept us fed on far too many missions for us to fall to untrained men."

It was a convincing speech, but in the end, Northman fell too.

Between them, Judas and Firyr executed the same strategy once again. As simple as it was, there was no stopping it. The individual might of the two men, augmented by the unification of their army, created a swirling wave of carnage that could not be easily stopped. They smashed through both the left and the right simultaneously.

The Skullic men managed to hold a little longer under Northman’s leadership, but as soon as Firyr and Judas caught the Commander in their pincer attack, it was all over.

Oliver noticed that they didn’t leave Northman unconscious. As soon as he took a knee, they stopped their attack. It was a clear show of favouritism and one that Cormrant no doubt noticed as he watched.

"I admit defeat," Northman said when Oliver went to check up on him. "I wager that I could fight these men a thousand times and be unable to beat them. Of course, if this were live steel we were using, I think it would be different."

Oliver thought so as well, given the increased effectiveness of the spears. But, he wasn’t so sure that the outcome in the end would be unchanged. The slaves were physical specimens worth at least two men each, and Judas and Firyr were two types of opposing freaks that would be hard to match.

"You’ve indulged me long enough, Northman. Worry not, I won’t subject your men to this any longer," Oliver said.

"Thank you for that," Northman said gruffly. "I do not think my pride could withstand it."

"Now, the armies shall be mixed. Units that will be fighting together shall stay together, to what degrees they can, but otherwise, my retainers will begin to get involved," Oliver said. He turned to shout Verdant and the rest over as he did so.

"My Lord?" Verdant asked. "Do you not wish to have a man watching over the battlefield?"

"I will take over myself in a moment," Oliver told him. "Now it is time for you to train. Your strength will not be as useful as it should be until we learn to make use of it."

"Ah," Verdant said, a strange smile on his face. "It is my turn, then."

The way he said it, and the look of reverence he had on his face as he said it, seemed to imply something far different to what Oliver had in mind. Verdant was prone to strangeness like this at times. Never able to deal with it, Oliver did the same thing he always did, and simply ignored him.

"Karesh, Jorah, Kaya, you will stay together," Oliver said. "You’ve trained together for a long time now, and you know each other. It would weaken you to see a change. You shall join my personal soldiers for now, as a middle unit. Your role will be that of oil – you will make whatever flame seems the biggest burn even hotter."

"Uhhh, I don’t know what you mean, Captain," Karesh admitted easily, pulling a face.

"Jorah?" Oliver asked.

"I think I understand, but there is a limit to what three men can do," Jorah said.

"Indeed," Oliver replied. "That is why I will be instigating a new rank for you, that of Field Commander. Firyr and Judas will continue to be in full command of the men – but should you see an opportunity, you have an authority that superseded theirs."

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"What!? A Commander?" Karesh said. "But Ser! He’s only a student, is that not…" He began to make a point based on age, only to realize who he was talking to. The youngest man in the whole camp. Out of everyone, it was only Nila who was a few months younger than he.

From the looks on the faces of the other men, they had things to say as well. Northman was just barely holding back a remark, and Firyr must have overheard something, for even though he was standing a short distance away, he was frowning. Blackthorn looked just as shocked.

"He’s also a Serving Class man, like myself," Northman said eventually. "That is not typically the done thing. If you’re raising up a youth to lead, he would be a noble, or else have proved himself."

"I beg you to reconsider, my Lord," Jorah said, dipping his head. "It will cause consternation amongst the men. They will not like me for it – and I do not believe that I can fulfil the role competently."