We started marching on route straight to Renvall. I was walking with Franz and we discuss some topics such as his horse or my swordsmanship. We marched for three days and the routine is like this: wake up, march, eat lunch, continue marching, set up tents and sleep. Rinse and Repeat. Although it did not fare well to Eirika, since she had to see the devastation of her homeland. The group and I have gotten to a region in Renais called Ide. Ide is a mountainous region in Renais. As always, Vanessa, the Pegasus knight, will begin scouting.

"You know Franz, I probably will not get used to Pegasus.", I said and faced Franz.

Franz looked at me and asked, "This is your first time seeing one, right?", and waited for a response.

I sighed and replied, "Yes, I lived on the countryside. Although merchants gave information anyways."

With that replied, we stopped talking and waited for Vanessa to return with her scouting.

While that was happening, bandits appear on the other side of the mountains.

A bandit named Bones approached his boss, Bazba, and reported, "Hey, boss! We've found more villages ripe for the picking."

Bazba smiled and laughed, after laughing he faced his grunt and said, "One, two, three… Ha ha ha! I love a good war! With all those soldiers preoccupied, we're free to pillage as we please! Right, Bone—you're in charge. Grab everything that's not nailed down and bring it to the hideout."

Bones accepted his mission and said with a vulgar grin, "I'm on it."

Inside one of the villages, a young boy named Ross runs to his father and warned, "Dad! Bandits approaching!", and hearing this, his father turned serious and said to his son, "Hmm… I'm getting you out of here, Ross. You stay close to me!"

The bandits Bones roared in laughter of the gains he was going to get and said, "Let's start with that village there! Go to it, boys! It's all yours. Cut down anyone fool enough to get in your way. I'm heading west around the mountains to the other villages."

He went to the village and destroyed it, leaving nothing but rubble behind. Although it looked like everything was destroyed and its citizens killed, a fighter and a journeyman, also known as a trainee fighter.

"Unnnng!", Ross cursed, hurt.

His father, noticing something wrong said, "Ross? What is it? What's wrong?", but Ross did not reply and acted strong. After a while, he said, "It's nothing! It's just a scratch! You're a warrior, Dad, and I am your son. I won't be beaten so easily."

Garcia sighed over his son and said with worry, "Don't risk yourself so foolishly… We need to get you some help. Please! Someone help my son!"

Vanessa was on the scene when all of it happened. She muttered, "Ah! This looks serious. I must report back to Princess Eirika at once.". Seeing the bandits, she flies back to Eirika to give back the news. All of this was happening when I was discussing with Franz. Vanessa came back and gave the news to Princess Eirika.

She reported, "I have bad news. The village to the east is under attack by bandits."

"Bandits?!", gasped Eirika with wide eyes.

Moulder spoke up and said, "We have arrived at our first dilemma. We must move quickly and attract as little attention as possible, but…"

I sighed knowing where this was going. Eirika is going to refuse and wants to help her people. This is also the stage were the first fighter and trainee is gotten. I distracted by seeing the skills tab, since I never checked it.

[Skills]

Skills can be gotten through special ways, through level up or it is gotten from your class. Some skills though, cannot be gotten through normal means. The maximum amount of skills the user can hold is 3.

That's very cool actually. Skills are going to be so helpful in any kind of situation. Just imagining what type of skills, I can get is cool. Alright, let's check the skills I have or what I can get.

"All right, we will start fighting the brigand. I want you all to prioritize the villages.", ordered Eirika. Well, I will check it later.

Vanessa leaves to rescue Ross while Eirika goes to warn the first village. I go ahead to the armory and checked what there is.

"Howdy, what can I do for you?", greeted the shopkeeper.

[Shop]

Slim Sword – 30 – 480g

Iron Sword – 46 – 460g

Slim Lance – 30 – 450g

Iron Lance – 45 – 360g

Iron Axe – 45 – 270g

"Not really, but thanks!", I said

The shop was basic but I didn't need any of that stuff so I went ahead and saw Gilliam stationed in a fort. Gilliam was already dealing with one brigand but another came. I intercepted and attacked him

[FE 8 OST – Attack!]

[Brigand Lv 3]

[Hp: 25 Att: 15 Def: 4]

That is going to hurt if it hits me. The brigand jumps and attack me with brute strength. Knowing that I can't block this, I sidestepped and disarmed him of his axe. I later proceeded with slashing at his head. That killed him quickly.

[OST Finished]

[+ 30 exp]

One more kill and a level up. I saw another brigand and went to deal with him. He was first attacked by hatchet, it was Ross, and I came in for the kill.

[FE 8 OST – Attack!]

[Brigand Lv 3]

[Hp: 19 Att: 15 Def: 4]

Two slashes and a very easy kill. A gave a thumbs up to Ross for that attack.

[+ 30 exp gain]

[Level up!]

Hp - +1

Skill - +1

Speed - +1

Luck - +1

Res - +1

That is a good level up. I hope rng won't screw me in the future though. I checked around for other brigands but there were none so I came back to the group and saw the fighter Garcia and his son Ross talking to Eirika and Seth. I didn't really want to deal with it and I had skills to check out.

[Skills]

Currently equipped - +10 Avoid

Steal – Try and steal from three enemies – 0/3

Vantage – Myrmidon Lv 10

Astra – Swords master Lv 5

Swordfaire – Defeat 50 enemies with swords 0/50

Miracle – Survive a near death experience

Well, I have one skill. That is something but I can't wait to get the other skills or see how these skills differ from the game to right now. I finish checking the skills and I looked around at the other units. Franz, as always, tending his horse and Vanessa doing the same, only with a Pegasus. Moulder was praying and Eirika was talking to the villagers. I sighed with nothing to do. I sat down for a while and decided to write that message to Princess Tana. What I wrote was:

The day was fine. Nothing special happen. Got to Ide. Your friend Eirika decided to help the citizens of her country by slaying the bandits. Got new companions. Name is Garcia and his son Ross.

I finished writing the letter and tied it to the pigeon and send it to princess Tana. I saw a teen bump to Princess Eirika. …a teen? I walked to hear their conversation although it reminded to one of those tv tropes.

"Oops! Beg your pardon.", apologized the teenager. He had brown haired and wore blue clothing. He looked like a thief though, but before Eirika could reply, he ran of.

"Hey!", exclaimed Eirika

Seth approached her and asked, "Princess, are you all right?".

Eirika sighed and just replied, "Y-yes… Someone bumped into me is all. I was jarred."

Seth noticed her bracelet was missing and said, "Hm? Your Highness, where is your bracelet?"

Eirika, just realizing about it, looked around and replied, "My bracelet? It's… gone. Where could it be? Did that man-"

Seth said to Eirika, "I'll find him!"

Eirika was dumbfounded, because she did not know why Seth wanted to retrieve the bracelet. She said to Seth, "Don't worry about it, Seth. That bracelet was a gift from my father, but Ephraim needs our help. I can't let sentimentality get in the way of my duty."

Seth, still not giving up, said, "No, Princess… We must retrieve your bracelet regardless of cost. You cannot lose it. Let's go. We must hurry."

Eirika replied, "Okay, but you must tell me about the bracelet."

Eirika turned to see me there facing. I did hear the conversation but it was pretty hard since Eirika was a distance away.

"You did hear about, right?", ask Eirika. I nodded.

"You are still with me, right?", ask Eirika again. I nodded again. The rest of the group came and she started to give them a talk, so she said, "We will be going to follow the thief who stole my bracelet. I do not know why Seth is so adamant at getting it back, but we will be racing ahead."

With those words, camp broke down and we all began racing ahead to catch the thief. From night and straight ahead to day we reached Borgo's Ridge. It is said that bandits resided here. Here, we separated to find information about the bracelet thief. I heard a voice behind me giving a question," Are you guys mercenary?". I turned around and saw a pink haired girl with an iron bow. I looked at around and then at her and answered, "Yes". She then pleaded, "P-p-please, you have to help Colm! You have to! He wouldn't listen to him when I told him it was dangerous.". I looked at her and replied, "Come with me and I shall see if my leader agreed.". She nodded and followed me while I looked for Eirika. It took a while to find her but I approached her. She turned at me when she looked at me. She smile and said, "Irvine, regroup with the others. We found the place.". I said to her, "This girl wants to talk to you.", and left, getting a glare from the pink haired girl. She turned to face Eirika and pleaded again the same thing she said to me, "P-p-please, you have to help Colm. You have to! I told him it was too dangerous, but he wouldn't listen to me!"

Eirika startled said, "Please, you must calm yourself. Start at the beginning, and speak slowly."

The girl calmed herself down and spoke, "All right... Sniff. I'm Neimi. I'm from... I used to be from a village named Lark... Except the village is gone."

Eirika reacted to that statement with a surprised expression and said, "Gone? What do you mean?". I said joining the conversation with no reason, "Obviously bandits."

Neimi started crying obviously because of bad memories, though it does look like I did it. She sobbed, "Bazba's Bandits burned it down. Only Colm and I escaped. The other villagers... The bandits attacked them and..."

"See, I told you", I said. That was met with a glare from Eirika. I looked at her and then asked, "Bazba's Bandits... They have a hideout here in these mountains. That's where Colm... Um, Colm's my...uh... We've known each other since we were kids. He went to steal back something the bandits took from me..."

"Wow, I think I might guess his personality. Do you want me to try?", I said. Neimi looked at me confused and just signaled to go ahead.

"If I have to describe a friend of your without meeting him, I will use you as a reference. Your friend Colm is an asshole but only to you and you probably cry because that is his weakness. Well, those are assumptions. Are they correct or not?", I ask.

Neimi looked at me surprised and I said with a disbelieving tone, "It was true what I said, right?"

She nodded. I turned and look at Eirika to save me. Eirika sighed and talked to Neimi, "He went alone to the hideout? That's a very dangerous thing..."

Neimi cried again, "Yes, I know. Th-that's what I told him, but he wouldn't listen to me. If I lose Colm, too, I don't know... I... I'll...sniff..."

Flustered with the continuous crying, Eirika replied, "Wait, please don't cry. Don't worry. We'll find your friend and see that he's not harmed."

Neimi calmed down and said, "Really? Really and truly? Oh, thank you! Thank you! I... I don't have much money, but...I'll do anything to help."

I said, "I will get Seth and the others. It is very likely that the thief we are finding is the same and is in this hideout."

Eirika said, "You're right. Wait a minute for the rest to regroup. Then lead the way." Neimi nodded.

I went and found Seth and explained the situation. He agreed and all of us broke camp to find Eirika and Neimi waiting. After some checkup and preparation, Neimi guided us to the Bazba Bandit's hideout. It was also discovered that Neimi was an archer and decided to let her help us because archers were a godsend in close corridors. I decided to check the stats for our archer.

[Neimi Lv 1] Archer

Hp: 17

Strength: 4

Skill: 5

Speed: 6

Defense: 3

Resistance: 2

Con: 5

Typical archer stats. Well, Eirika is beginning to give orders and I am suppose to guard the archer. Not hard and easy enough, so I called her and went to the crack of a wall.

I said, "I will boost you up so you can take a shot on the brigand on the other side." Neimi nodded, so I boosted her as best as I could while she aimed the shot. It hit the target and while Neimi was reloading and arrow, Ross threw a hatchet to the brigand, effectively killing him. Then we proceeded to the next door just to find a thief. Neimi told me to go ahead while she talked to him. I nodded in approval and went against the other corridor. There was a brigand there waiting to strike.

[FE 8 OST - Defense]

[Brigand][Lv 4]

[Hp: 27 Att: 18 Def: 4]

I dodged the surprised attack but the brigand was prepared and later swing the axe at me. The axe grazed me dealing

[13 health lost]

I was in an almost near-death state. I definitely raise my health because it is so low. An angelic robe will help to though. I hope I get lucky with it. Concentrate! I was dodging because of my wound although it was just a loss of health. The good thing about Gamer's Body is the fact that I don't have to deal with those problems in the battlefield. I parry the attack the brigand gave and I a glow appear when I was going to attack.

[Critical Hit]

[Mt: 27] [Insta-Kill]

That critical saved me. What were the other doing and then I saw that the cracked wall crumbled. They probably already dealt with the bandit leader so I ran to them. Thankfully, it was over and I sat down.

Franz approached me and asked, "Where were you?"

I replied, "On the north part of the hideout. There are also some chests over there if anybody wants to open them."

"So that's where you went", Franz said with a nod.

"You know, I just want to get some sleep. It was tiring to ride all the way to the Borgo's region.", I said.

Franz replied, "I agree with you and let me tell you that I am also tired."

I just smiled on that last statement and thought why Seth wanted to get that bracelet. Seth seems to talk with Colm and Neimi. Oh, there's the bracelet and he gives it to Eirika. She is really trying to question Seth about the bracelet. I looked around and thought to myself what to do since I really didn't interact much with people due to my loner nature. I never explained my loner nature did I. Well, I don't talk too much of my past. I saw Franz waving at me to leave so I stand up to leave. The sun was setting so we went to an inn that was in town. I looked up to see the pigeon was back so I decided to write another letter to Princess Tana.

I was in the room of the inn and my roommate that was assigned with me was Franz. I didn't really had anything to talk, so I waited for him to fall asleep. When he did I wrote:

Seth was very adamant on getting Eirika bracelet from this thief that stole from her. When we did get to the region, Eirika decided to help this pink-haired archer, whom I found, to help her friend who decided to enter a Bandit's Hideout and defeat the leader. Apparently, the thief who we were searching was also her friend. By the way, their names are Colm and Neimi. Seth got the bracelet back and gave it to Eirika. Eirika was pretty suspicious why he will want to get it back but Seth didn't budge. I have a suspicion on what it is but it is an assumption,

Written by this mercenary who is a loner, Irvine (I am a loner by the way)

With that message written, I send it to Tana again. Wow, two letters in a row. I am pretty tired so I blew the candle and went to sleep.

In the country of Grado

Grado's Castle

General Selena, a Grado's top general, arrived at the castle after her mission. During her mission though, she could see the country of Renais in ruins. She met General Duessel or the Obsidian and General Glen, the Sunstone General.

"General Duessel", Selena greeted him.

"Selena. Have you been back long? Tell me, how fares the campaign of Renais.", asked Duessel.

Selena shook her head and replied, "Signs of chaos abound. Brigands ride without fear, and the peasants' cries fill the air."

Duessel sighed and mumbled, "Hmm... If Grado's troops do not enforce public order, the situation will only worsen. And still, His Majesty has given us no orders. Perhaps, just this once, I should take the lead..."

The third general, Glen, complained, "What could His Majesty be thinking? Breaking our long-held alliance with Renais-invading without warning... He's never been this way before. He abhors violence."

Selena stood there silent, "…"

Glen kept ranting, "And have you noticed the recent promotions? Who are they going to? Certainly not to the soldiers who have Grado's best interests at heart. I fear this invasion is the prelude to a much larger war. I feel as though His Majesty is no longer the man we knew him to be."

"Glen, it doesn't matter what any of us might think of our orders. We are his servants, and we will not question His Majesty's intentions.", Selena said

Glen sighed, "I know that, Selena. And yet..."

Duessel interrupted the two general, "That's enough. Both of you. His Majesty summons us. Let's hope we can learn a little during our audience."

All three of them head to the throne room for an audience with Emperor Vigarde.

In the throne room, both the emperor and his son, Lyon, was there waiting for the three.

Emperor Vigarde stands up and spoke, "...I appreciate your work in fulfilling your previous orders. You are the hammers that drive the nails of the empire's will... You will continue to operate...without hesitation... wherever I send you."

General Duessel said, "By your command."

General Selena said, "In Your Majesty's name"

General Glen said, "Yes, sire…"

"...However, I know this... You, my Imperial Three, lack the strength to conquer the remaining nations alone. In the invasion of Renais, certain soldiers performed beyond expectation. I have chosen them to join you as new generals in the empire's service. ...Come.", Emperor Vigarde commanded.

The throne room door opened and three people entered. One of them was Valter, the moonstone general and a blood knight. The second new general was an old man and bishop who was very creepy. The last general was a mercenary and hero of the sand country of Jehanna.

Emperor Vigarde explained, "...The performance of these men surpassed even your own. With the addition of these three... The empire will have six generals strong enough to conquer this land. Do you understand?"

"Heh heh heh... I am Riev, given the name Blood Beryl by His Majesty. I know I am a newcomer, but I pray for your favor.", said Riev

Duessel muttered, "…Understood"

The mercenary introduced himself, "I'm Caellach. I was a mercenary, fighting in the desert. Seems I'm to be called Tiger Eye... You're a fine-lookin' lass, aren't you? Yeah, I'm gonna love working with you."

Selena ignored him, "…"

Valter, with a vulgar smile, introduced himself, "So we meet again. You know me as General Valter, but you will call me the Moonstone. I'll save you worthless dogs from your own incompetence. You'll thank me later."

Glen growled, "Valter… You scum!"

Duessel calmed Glen, "Peace, Glen"

Emperor Vigarde, ignoring their banter, ordered, "Selena. Callecah. You bring me Frelia."

Selena said, "Yes, sire"

Callecah said, "Sure. Good as done."

Emperor Vigarde ordered, "Riev. Duessel. You are charged with the defense of the empire. ...I will speak to you individually with more details later."

Riev creepily said, "Heh heh heh... Understood, Your Majesty."

Duessel said, "By you command, your majesty"

Valter asked, "And me?"

Emperor Vigarde said, "Valter, Glen... I have other duties for you..."

General Glen asked, "Yes, Your majesty?"

"Renais has fallen, but Princess Eirika still eludes us... Her brother, Prince Ephraim, leads a resistance within our borders. Bring the siblings to me.", ordered Emperor Vigarde

Valter vulgarly smiled, "Ha ha... Of course."

Glen was silent.

Emperor Vigarde ordered, "You may leave now."

All six generals left the throne room. What nobody knows is that after they all left, Vigarde stood motionless as if he was use as a puppet. Behind the throne was a figure who was kneeling down.