The inside of the tent was illuminated by a single lamp light.
The Colonel sat behind a desk, in front of Connor. "Light magic. That's really impressive. And-"
"Sir, he doesn't seem to have any Arcane Armaments...he could be a half-elf or a half-demon sent as a spy," said a young soldier carrying the glowing mana rifle, he was apparently the captain of a squad.
The Colonel waved the Lieutenant Colonel off. "Stop worrying, Pierre. I can tell that he's human."
The man continued. "We haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Josef. The general of this regiment. And, as you can see, it's the weakest group of the Neustrian Army, most of our soldiers are young and inexperienced. But, we can guaranty food, shelter and a good pay."
Connor's tongue was reattached thanks to a healer. Although, his mouth still felt a bit numb.
"I'm Connor. If I join-"
"Connor? Where are you from?"
"I'm from Norva...but I ended up here, because I got caught by slave traders...and now I want to go back home."
I mixed truths with lies so that he won't get too suspicious, thought Connor.
"You heard that we're heading towards Norva, right?"
Josef sat in thought for a moment, before speaking again. "You could fight for us, until we reach Norva. Then you can leave. Oh, but you'll be paid less. How's that?"
"Okay, that's fine by me."
He was handed a military jacket, a compass, a backpack and a rifle.
"Wait, can I be a cartographer or something? I'd prefer a role with little fighting," said Connor.
Why did I even intervene against that demon? But then again, having seen me fighting, I guess I have no choice, but to be a soldier.
Josef smiled, but his eyes were filled with danger.
Pierre clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You either fight or fuck off."
***
Outside, fifty or so soldiers, all in their teens, glanced at Connor. Some ignored him, while a large group approached him.
"What's your name? Where are you from? Was that light mana? That's so cool."
"Wesh, il n'est pas très impressionant. On aurait battu le démon, mais il nous a interrompu."
"Don't listen to this guy, he was running away."
"Hé, le nouveau gars n'a pas l'air fort du tout."
Connor was a bit uncomfortable, but he still introduced himself and talked with them. Most of them knew English.
He went to a training ground that was set up in a large, empty field of snow. Soldiers were practicing reloading their rifles while running for cover behind obstacles. Others fought with weapons or hand-to-hand combat.
"Connor. Do you want to spar?" asked a boy with dark curly hair.
He introduced himself as Wassim, a boy of Arabic origin.
They took off their military jackets to enable more movement. Connor was wearing a black, long sleeved sweater underneath his army uniform. His mana warmed his body against the cold.
A group of ten spectators watched. Then, the fight started.
They circled around, testing distance. Wassim lunged with a straight jab.
Connor dodged to the side, before planting a low kick to the thigh. But his opponent blocked it by raising his leg. Wassim immediately grabbed Connor's leg and tried to throw him. The boy reached towards Wassim's curly hair and grabbed him by the head. Both tried to push each other off-balance.
A swift knee to the midsection.
Connor fell to the ground, before getting back up.
They then exchanged a combination of punches, elbows, and low kicks, their breath flowing in the cold air.
Wassim pulled out a knife. "How about we take it a step further?"
Connor smiled and generated a dagger of light in his right hand.
He could feel Lumi's invisible presence among the crowd of spectators.
Wassim's footwork across the snow was careful but aggressive.
They blocked and countered with their knives. Until, Wassim caught Connor off-guard and slashed into him after a faint.
Connor backed away to stare at a scratch on his sleeve. Blood dripped from the small wound. He rushed and met Wassim's knife head-on. Connor forced all his mana into reinforcing the creation blade, but his opponent had a larger mana pool. The golden blade dissipated and Wassim's blade flew in his direction.
A dark-skinned soldier rushed to stand between them. "That's enough!"
Connor gasped in relief and fell to the ground, exhausted. Clarity returned to his opponent's eyes.
"Shit. I'm sorry. I got too focused. I'm really sorry," panicked Wassim.
"It's okay," said Connor.
"Astaghfirullah, tu l'as presque tué!" exclaimed one of Wassim's friends among the spectators.
Connor's small wound was healed, then he wiped his sweat with a towel and drank some water. In the distance he saw a figure approaching the horses. It was a girl (wearing a military jacket so she was from this regiment). She had layered, wavy, dark brown hair, cut into a wolf cut that descended into neck-length, framing her soft face.
She carried buckets of water and had a backpack of tools. The horses drank from the bucket, while she checked their hooves to remove ice and brushed off snow. One by one, she led them to a tent for the night. One of the horses struggled with great force. Connor thought it would knock her over, but she held on with surprising strength.
***
"Who is she? I mean, the girl who takes care of the horses?" asked Connor during supper.
"First of all, he's a boy," said Wassim, letting out a laugh, "Did you know that?"
"What?!"
A few laughs emerged from the chattering of the dining tent.
"Sacha Valjean. He used to work at a factory in the Belgi province. Joined the army so that monthly payments could be sent to his family."
"I feel kinda bad for him. He doesn't fit in the army," replied Connor.
"You also look like you don't, but you're skilled. Don't worry, a femboy like him isn't tasked with fighting."
***
Connor was posted as a night guard, but he was scheduled to switch with someone else later. He was far from the tents, no one was around, except for Lumi who turned off her invisibility since it was ineffective at night.
"What do you want?"
"I'm sorry for making you fight, but I trusted that you'd surv-"
"Just shut up, Lumi."
The fallen angel stayed silent for a while, before speaking. "My full name's actually Lumikki."
"Who asked? Oh, wait, we're not close so I should call you Lumik- wait, I shouldn't even waste words to say your name!"
The silver-haired angel let out a laugh.
Connor looked annoyed.
"Anyways, once we go to Norva, you can reunite with your family."
Connor was bored, so he responded. "Nine years have passed...I wonder what happened to them...I mean, they aged nine years while I aged nine hours. My parents are older and...my little sister is older than me now. That's so weird!"
Then, the conversation shifted to talking about Connor's family. The boy opened up about his father's imprisonment.
"I never expected my dad to end up in prison...he seemed genuine, but I guess that was fake. I don't know where he is now. I mean, the prison was outside of Centuria so he's probably alive."
"He kept a lot of secrets, huh?"
"Yeah, he was like a lord of the mysteries or something."
Lumi smiled. "Say that again."
"What?"
"Nevermind," laughed the angel, before pulling out her smartphone.
Connor's expression brightened at the sight of the device. There was much more content other than manhwa: manga, anime, light novels and web novels. Connor only had an hour to browse through the angel's phone, but it was amazing.
"Let's take a selfie," said Lumi.
"Wait, it can take pictures?!"
They took a selfie under the winter's beautiful night sky. In the picture, Connor had a confused expression, while Lumi was making a peace sign.
"Alright, I'll just go sleep in the hotel room," said the angel.
"Bye," said Connor, heading towards his tent.
He was still wary of the silver-haired woman. A conversation wasn't gonna magically restore his respect for her. Nonetheless, the boy decided to trust the fallen angel just a little bit more.