It’s almost funny how much horror you can just choose to overlook.
Shock, fear, and anger burned fervently inside my chest, but the further we got from the city center and its saturation of human slaves, the easier it got for me to push the emotions down. I could even trick myself into ignoring the few humans we still came across. I could pretend everything was just fine.
I did so with all of my heart.
To my relief, we moved fast through the city. Our commander refused to stop for even a moment. He was a force of nature as he marched his troops right through the crowded streets, heedless of any complaints from the surrounding demon citizens.
I noticed most complaints fell silent when they caught sight of the troops, anyway. Demons who encountered us dropped their heads, pretending they were busy with practiced ease. Even the few who looked like tough combatants themselves did not seem keen to stand up to the legion.
It was easier to focus on this mystery than on the misery around me, so I pondered it as I walked. What was it about this legion? Was its reputation really that generally frightening, even amongst other scary infernals? Or did all these other demons have some personal experience that made them think twice about crossing legion troops?
With the speed of our pace, our commander’s disregard for common decency, and this mental puzzle to occupy my attention, it didn’t feel like long at all before we arrived at the city’s wall.
The scene revealed a tale of devastation.
Most of the once grand structure was reduced to piles of rubble. Surprisingly, the demons had elected to simply leave the area in messy ruin. The full extent of their clean-up efforts was a single path burned through the wall’s remains.
We followed this path outside the city to our apparent target: a sea of tents, the entrance marked by a single banner waving in the wind. It depicted the snarling visage of a demon with jaws stretched wide open, revealing a swirl of flame within.
"Fucking show-off," our commander growled angrily, his eyes fixed on the grisly banner.
I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, and honestly, I didn’t care. I was too busy staring at the encampment. After everything else, I couldn’t get over how orderly everything was.
Tents were laid out in neat rows and clustered just far enough not to get in each other’s way, leaving clear lanes for the soldiers to move between them. And the tents themselves... a human emerged from one as we passed, flinching at the sight of us and holding the flap open behind him for a moment longer. This gave me a good glimpse inside his temporary home.
I had to fight to keep my jaw from hanging open.
A plush carpet for a floor. A full cot for a bed, complete with extra fluffy blankets. There was even a small foldable table.
I wanted it. I wanted all of it, even though I could most definitely not afford it.
As we ventured deeper into the camp, I saw that this human’s luxuriously equipped tent was no fluke. Every soldier had a similar setup. Some demons’ tents were even fancier. Apparently, this was just the standard equipment provided to this troop.
Naturally, there were some issues.
The demons from Wilhelmina’s troop were not used to such rigid discipline. Some slowed down, broke ranks into a wavy thing that barely resembled a line, and started to chatter. This invited immediate and painful retribution from our new commander. The offenders walked away from the encounter with all their limbs intact, but I was pretty sure the only reason for this was that such injuries would slow us down. More than anything else, Glaustro absolutely refused to let us lag behind his brother’s troops.
Graighast’s soldiers were immaculate in their marching discipline. They walked in step, kept their eyes ahead, and didn’t exchange so much as a single whisper. If I hadn’t seen those same soldiers lounging and relaxing back at their camp, I would have thought the stern demon had replaced all his troops with automatons.
Of course, this just increased Glaustro’s fury at the wayward demons under his command. It didn’t help that the despised mortals in his troop weren’t the ones causing problems. I assumed that most human recruits came from learning institutions similar to the one Hayden had been raised in, and those were big on following orders. As such, we were a perfect picture of military discipline for Glaustro to grit his teeth at.
Glaustro’s mounting anger made me a little uneasy, but on the whole, I appreciated the orderliness of our march. First, the precision kept our target pace at a level that wasn’t just possible, but bearable. Even with my body enhancing technique, I had struggled to make it to the end of each day under Wilhelmina.
More importantly, though, the steadiness of the march gave me time to explore my new abilities.
Strengthening my body with mana was now a much more streamlined experience. Whereas I once had to go through a whole process to take in mana from the environment, all I had to do now was will it to unspool from the core within my heart. The mana answered quickly and willingly. It filled every fiber of my being with greater ease than before, slowly integrating there even as it was consumed to boost my body’s activities.
Just as I expected, it wasn’t an overwhelming improvement. Still, I could tell that I was stronger and had more endurance than before. More interesting still was the discovery that my reflexes were faster and my senses were sharper. I flexed my fingers experimentally, and I could swear that I was simply more *aware* of them than I used to be. If I had to execute a complex move with my sword, or complete a task that required a lot of dexterity, I would find probably find it way easier now.
From the knowledge now imprinted in my head, I knew it would take up to four days for improved mana density to fully permeate a body and do its thing, but I already had most of the benefits of advancing to a mage apprentice.
The changes excited me.
The only downside was also an easy one. There were cases of people whining about losing one’s humanity as they progressed along the path of mage craft. But that didn’t really apply to me, did it? I was in an army of demons, trying to become one myself. It was a little late to complain.
Besides, I was no stranger to sudden physical changes. I had already been shoved into a body that another soul had piloted for sixteen years. Magical improvement in the base quality of my physique was way easier to get used to.
So, while my demonic compatriots seethed under the new disciplinary standards, and my fellow mortals quaked in fear of the commander’s wrath, I played around with my mana. Even when the commanders called a break at midday and allowed us to dig into our rations, I managed to keep the *Illsent Mana Accumulation* technique going. I had to adjust my mana flow to compensate for the new range of motions, rather than the rigid marching patterns, but it wasn’t too difficult.
Bit by bit, I also felt myself getting closer to full agency in the technique. I was making it my own. As the day dragged on into evening, Clarinette’s ghost was reduced to vague hints of foreign emotions, rather than full-on visions I had to disentangle myself from.
It would have been the perfect day, really, one of pure practice, if it weren’t for the way my commander decided to round things off.
When light began to fade, we were called to a halt. Graighast ordered his soldiers to set up camp, but instead of following his brother’s example, Glaustro strolled right up to Graighast.
"Before we rest for the day, I have a suggestion, Sergeant Graighast." Glaustro grinned like a shark. "I challenge you to the Proving Grounds, so our troops can get better acquainted, and we can assess each other’s abilities. It would be a shame to go into battle side by side with someone we can’t trust."
I didn’t know what any of that meant. But judging by the gasp of shock that rippled through all the demons present, irrespective of their commanders, I guessed it wasn’t good.