Chapter 16
Fillan (part 1)
Adolphus, now known as Fillan, is a wolf beast man. He has long gray and brown hair, and his tail matches. His ears are like a wolfs'. He looks ten or so, and his body looks well-developed. He was almost light skin and had brown eyes.
Fillan wore a tan military training uniform, a long-sleeved shirt, and pants. He also wore a leather vest and carried a belt with pouches. His boots were dark brown leather. Fillan had that typical no-emotional stare that anime characters have because of a traumatic experience. But not because he wanted to.
Fillan was making his way back to the barracks when a horn sounded. He forgot that it was lunch. He made his way to a building where other grown demon soldiers were headed. Fillan heads inside, and it is a mess hall. Soldiers were eating, and others were forming a line to get food.
Fillan sees the other children arriving, so he lines up with them. The children would get angry stares from the older soldiers. Once they got their food, they sat near each other. Fillan got his food and sat alone.
Barret, the bear beast boy, sat next to him. Barret ate quietly next to Fillan. The next one to sit by them was Fearty. He began to talk about what he would have done during practice. Fillan and Barret ignored him talking. The mess hall then became loud.
Everyone turned and saw a group of soldiers making a mess and joking around. In the middle of it was Shia, who was making them laugh. The soldiers gave him some of their food and made jokes. Shia laughed and then looked over at the table the rest were sitting at. He calls them over, but Fillan is done eating. Barret finished and left after Fillan. Fearty ate alone and talked to himself in an angry tone. He complained that no one listened to him.
Fillan was walking back to their cabin. Barret followed, and they passed other soldiers working. Fillan overheard some soldiers complain about the children there. They question why General Musashi trains them. Fillan ignores them. Barret looks over with a menacing stare.
The soldiers see Barret and get scared. Fillan tells him to calm down, and they continue walking. Fillan and Barret get to the cabin and head inside; Fillan goes over to his bed and lies on it. Barret sits and takes his book out again. Fillan thinks about what General Musashi told him.
After a while, Fearty walks in. He sees Fillan and Barret. Moments later, Shia walked in and, with his calm demeanor, asked what everyone was doing. Fearty told him what he was thinking earlier. Shia nods and walks to his bed. Fearty thinks Shia is weird.
Shia looks under his bed and takes out a box. He opens it and puts something in. He then places it under his bed again. He then jumps on his bed and relaxes. Fearty complains again that he gets no attention. Shia turns his head to look at Fearty. Fearty looks a Shai and wonders if he is looking at him. He couldn't tell because Shia's hair covered his eyes.
It got late, and they heard a bell. That meant that the baths were ready. They all get up and leave the room. They get to stall and begin to shower. The men's and woman's stalls were far apart. Female guards keep some male demons away from the woman's showers.
After they were done cleaning, they headed back to their room. They lay on their beds and go to sleep. The following morning a bell rings, and they get up. They get ready and head outside. The children head to the training area. General Musashi was waiting for them.
The kids line up in with their squads. General Musashi waits for everyone to line up. He then goes over the plan for the day. The kids will eat breakfast and then head to melee practice. They are then heading to magic practice. General Musashi began to call out the squads.
General Musashi tells them what he expects. He wants them to learn as much as they can. He wants them to understand and gain experience from practicing. The children salute and then make their way to the mess hall. General Musashi heads to the top of the fort wall.
He began to walk and overlooks the demons working. Demon guards greet him and continue to work. They stare out to see if any enemy attacks. General Musashi looks at a park of the wall that's not finished. Demon troops are building it with the help of the strange creatures.
Fillan and the rest of the children finish eating. They then head back to the training area. There they are handed wooden swords. They are paired with someone and begin to practice their sword style. Demon soldiers instructed them.
General Musashi watches them practice. A captain walks to General Musashi and watches with him. General Musashi stares at Fillan. They changed what they were doing. Mock battles were next. Fillan was fighting against two other people. The captains see Fillan.
"That wolf boy sure has natural fighting instinct."
General Musashi agrees with him. He then tells his captain that it is not enough. Fillan was easily dodging and landing hits on his opponent. Barret did not want to hit his opponent, so the instructor yelled at him. Shia played with his opponent.
Some of the older children didn't like Fillan's group. Fearty was having a hard time with his opponent. They finished and rotated fighters. Those who finished were asked to rest. They drank water and watched the others practice. Once they were done, they headed to another area.
Once they got to the other practice area, they were handed crystals. They were then split between learning different spells. Fillan and his group were with some older demon kids. The instructor showed them how to use the crystal. They were learning how to apply defensive magic.
They all begin by drawing Mana. Fillan looked around at everyone. He then concentrates and tries to draw some Mana. The crystals of some began to glow. A crackling sound distracts some. Barret cracks the ground creating a small crater. The instructor told him that he had put in too much Mana.
The children had trouble, and some applied little. Some elf children did it fine. The instructor went around testing the children's spells. Some of the kid's defensive spells break easily, while others handle multiple hits. Fillan could not draw Mana and was getting frustrated.
He stops and looks at his hand. He was shaking. The instructor stops in front of him. He asks Fillan if he can use magic. Fillan told him he couldn't. The instructor looks in the direction of the wall. He shakes his head. General Musashi was looking. He sighed and left the area.
Fillan sat out the rest of the practices. The children were also learning fire and lighting magic. Some children made fun of Fillan. Fillan ignored them, and they headed to clean up. They put the equipment away. A horn sounded, and it was dinner time.
The kids head to the mess hall. The grown-up demon soldiers were coming from their training. They practice outside the fort. They had the same thing to eat from yesterday. Some complained, but the cooks told them that supplies were short.
General Musashi was in his quarters reading reports. He got a message regarding supplies. It said that they were behind schedule. Some reports said that attacks from the dwarf armies kept them busy. General Musashi thinks about their situation.
"It has been many seasons since we took these lands. We are doing it so with few actual soldiers. The dark troops have won many battles, but we are low on them. Oh lord, how do you plan to accomplish your goal like this?"
As General Musashi thinks of this, his body then glows, and he forgets about it. He then concentrates on what to do next. General Musashi then becomes busy with work. Some soldiers came and reported to him. General Musashi gave instructions on what to do.
After he finished, he headed to the mess hall. The soldiers have finished eating and have gone to rest. General Musashi walks in, and the cooks are eating. They see him and greet him. The head cook offers General Musashi some food and alcohol.
General Musashi sat with the head cook and discussed the fort's state. General Musashi told the cook about the soldier's attitude towards humans. They feel jealous because of the land on which they live. The cook agrees and remembers where he came from. The grounds were barren, and it was hard to plant crops. The head cook wanted to know if war was the right move. General Musashi said nothing.
General Musashi ate and excused himself. He left the mess hall and headed back to the wall. He walked up some steps and reached the top. The guards were changing posts. It was getting late, and torches were lit. General Musashi looked out to the open fields.
He saw how peaceful the evening was. It was getting hot, and some could feel it. General Musashi was going to walk around when he noticed some children forming a group. He looks at them from a distance.
Some older children surrounded Fearty. They were demon children. Fearty, who was about ten or eleven, was calling them out. He said they were low demons and should follow his instructions. This upset them.
Fearty continued by saying that he comes from noble demons. One of the boys then challenges him to a fight. Fearty became nervous after hearing him. The other children began to make fun of him. Fearty gets mad and accepts.
They head to the training grounds. Once there, they find practice swords and get ready to fight. The children surrounded them. Fearty began by swinging wildly. The other child dodges all of Fearty's attacks. He then attacks but Fearty blocks.
Fearty brags about his fighting abilities. He again attacks with wild swings. The other demon child dodges and blocks the attacks. Fearty makes fun of him for only blocking. The other children cheer for him. Fearty gets mad and attacks.
Fearty's opponent parries and lands a hit on him. Fearty screams after getting hit. This makes him even angrier, and he attacks again. The other child waits for an opening and attacks. Fearty had no defense and got beaten up.
The fight was over, and Fearty was on the floor. The children made fun of him. They laugh and call him names. Fearty wanted to cry but held in his tears. The children left. Fearty looks up at the night sky.
Fearty tears up again. He then heard footsteps. He looks over and sees Fillan walking to him. Barret and Shia were behind him. They stand over him. Fillan offers a hand. Fillan helps him get up. Shia talks to him.
"Fearty, nice try. He may have beaten you to a pulp, but you didn't give up. I was once told that life throws obstacles in your way. Learn to overcome them and gain an understanding of life. Food brings everyone together."
Shia began to feel hungry again. He began to space out and began to walk away. Fearty did not understand what Shia said. He called him weird. Fillan smirked, and Fearty got annoyed. They head to their rooms.
General Musashi was smiling. He walked and made his way around the fort. The following morning the children wake up and do the same training. They also added archery training. The elf children were natural-born archers. Fillan was not behind.
Fearty was trying to impress the instructors but failed. Barret used too much strength and broke the bow. Shia shot his arrows and made conversation with the other children. Once they were done, they had magic training next. Fillan was asked to sit this one out.
It was a little after noon, and General Musashi was in his quarters. A messenger knocked at his door. He came in and handed him a package. General Musashi opened it and looked inside. He then looks out his window.
"Let's see if we can unlock whatever is troubling you."
At dinner, Fillan and the others ate. Shia again was with the adult demon soldiers. They are always making jokes and laughing. The other children see Fearty and point at him. Fearty knows they are making fun of him. This makes him angry.
Fillan finishes and heads out. Barret was still eating and was enjoying it. Fearty talked to him and asked him to help him fight the other children. Barret shook his head. Fearty tries to persuade him. The other children leave, and Fearty gives them a mean stare.
Near the training area, Fillan was sitting on a wooden fence. He was staring up at the sky. The other children were going back to their room when they saw him. The demon child that fought Fearty walks over to him. He talks to Fillan about him.
He bad-mouths Fearty and Fillan himself. Fillan ignores him and continues to look up. The demon child kept talking wrong about him and brought up the rest of his squad. Fillan's gaze scared him. The demon child clears his throat.
"What's with that look? You know I'm right about your group. They are nothing but a bunch of weirdos, and you can't even use magic."
Fillan jumps off the fence. The children surround him and begin to chant for them to fight. The demon child told the rest to quiet down. He then said that Fillan wouldn't last fighting him. Fillan then challenges him to fight.
They head into the practice area and get practice swords. The other children again surround them. They cheer for the demon boy. Fillan readies up. The demon child sees that he is not bothered by the others. It makes him mad, and he makes the first move.
Fillan dodges and blocks his attacks. The demon child sees that Fillan is not trying to stop him. He gets angry and tries to use fake attacks. Fillan sees through them and moves out of the way. Fillan parries one attack and lands a hit on the demon child.
The other children were speechless. The demon child gets mad again and has some of his friends join. They get ready to attack. Before they can make a move, Fillan attacks and knocks them both. The demon child was surprised by the attack.
The demon child looks at Fillan, who shows no emotion and panics. He recklessly attacks. Fillan, with his swordsmen skills, disarms him and knocks him down. The children stayed quiet. The demon child was on the ground, confused.
Fillan dropped the sword and began to walk away. He then senses danger and turns around. The demon boy attacks him. Fillan dodges and makes his way to the sword. He tells the demon boy that he has already lost. The demon boy draws Mana.
The demon child pours his Mana into the sword. He attacks, and Fillan blocks the sword strike. Fillan then feels that the practice sword has more weight. It breaks his wooden sword. He moves out of the way. Fillan looks at the broken practice sword.
The demon boy laughs. He draws more Mana, and his body glows. He attacked again, but he was faster. Fillan manages to dodge but the demon boy attacks again. Fillan again dodges, but this time gets hit. He falls to the ground.
Fillan quickly gets up. The demon boy sees and attacks. Fillan waits before making his move. The demon boy swings his sword. Fillan steps and punches him in the face. This, however, did not stop him; the demon boy took this opportunity to land multiple hits on Fillan.
The demon boy began to make fun of him again. He mocked him and his race. Fillan didn't fall. He did have bruises and felt weak. The demon boy kept talking, and the other children all laughed. They also began to question his race.
Fillan tried to draw Mana but couldn't feel any. His hand began to tremble. The demon boy sees that Fillan is still not bothered by them making fun of him. He prepares to make another attack. The demon boy pours Mana into his blade, and it gets surrounded by flames.
"This should make you think twice before acting all high and mighty."
The demon boy steps and swings his sword. Fillan prepares to take the hit. A large body gets in front of Fillan and gets hit by the attack. The demon boy looks up and sees Barret angrily staring at him. Barret draws Mana and scares everyone around there.
The adult demon soldiers began to gather to see what was happening. They see the children and see what they are doing. The demon soldiers yell at the children and ask what happen. The children stay quiet. They see Fillan and the demon boy.
A demon captain began to yell at them. He was going to punish them when he heard General Musashi speak. The demon captain could feel anger towards him. He apologized to General Musashi. General Musashi tells him he was watching them have a friendly sparing match.
The children were also afraid. They could not speak. General Musashi walks over to Fillan and the demon boy. He places a hand on both, and their bodies glow. Fillan and the demon boy get healed. General Musashi tells the children to go and get ready for bed.
The children all walk away and head to their rooms. The demon boy gets praise for his skill and is asked to return to his room. The demon boy thanks General Musashi and heads to his room. General Musashi tells Barret to head back.
Fillan, disappointed, was also going to head back when General Musashi stopped him. He asks Fillan to follow him. The demon captain tells the demon soldiers to return to what they were doing. Fillan follows General Musashi to his quarters.
They enter, and General Musashi sits at his desk. He tells Fillan to sit. Fillan sits on a chair and looks at General Musashi. He then apologized for fighting. General Musashi stays quiet and then asks Fillan about the fight. Fillan did want to talk about it. General Musashi asked him again.
Fillan started by telling him how it started. General Musashi didn't want to hear that. Fillan was confused and asked him what he meant. General Musashi asks Fillan about his thoughts on how he handled the fight.
Fillan told him that he lost because he dropped his guard. General Musashi agreed and asked him if there was anything else. Fillan underplayed his abilities and talked about his lack of skills. General Musashi notices that he feels sad. Fillan's face didn't show it. General Musashi stopped him and complemented his skills.
"Either he knows and doesn't want to talk about it, or he doesn't want to acknowledge it. Fillan, your skills are not only extraordinary, but there aren't many warriors as young as you with potential."
Fillan thanked him for saying that to him. General Musashi talked about the people he met and the people he fought. He spoke about how they were all talented at what they did. He mentioned their hard work and their dedication to learning more.
Fillan didn't know what he was saying to him. General Musashi told him not to look down on his abilities. He should be proud of what he has learned. General Musashi told him how he sees everyone and how hard they work. Fillan asked if he could know to do magic again.
General Musashi told him that he would help him. It will depend on him if he wants to do magic. Fillan said to him that he did. General Musashi then tells him that he needs him to show his true feeling. Fillan again didn't understand.
General Musashi again asks if he knows why he lost. Fillan could not answer him. General Musashi tells Fillan that the world will change. He said to him that the war would consume all races. General Musashi tells Fillan that he needs to know magic if he wants to survive.
Fillan thinks about it. He knew he was powerless when that demon boy began using magic. He didn't want to acknowledge his lack of magic powers. Fillan asks General Musashi how he is going to help him.
General Musashi brings out a box. Inside there were candles. Fillan was confused to see how candles would help him. General Musashi told him the properties of the candles. He told him how each candle would affect him in one way. Fillan was not too sure about it.
General Musashi told Fillan to report to the well after breakfast. He had already notified the captain about him missing his training. Fillan didn't know what to say. He then thanked General Musashi for all the help he was giving him.
Fillan was dismissed, and he left. Some gain some confidence again. General Musashi could feel Fillan was happy and excited even dose he didn't show it. General Musashi mentioned the negative effect that magically causes.
"Nerve damage so early in his life. What did they put you through?"
Fillan gets back to his room, where the rest wait. Fearty makes fun of him for losing the fight. Shia cheers him by telling him that he can win the next one. Barret offers him some band-aids, but Fillan declines. Fillan tells them he is okay.
Shia asks about his meeting with General Musashi. Fillan tells them about what he plans to do. Fearty gets mad and tells Fillan that he should just quit. Barret gets mad. Fillan tells him to relax. Fillan tells Fearty that he would not let people bring him down. Fearty asks Fillan his reason for being in the demon's army. Fillan said that he didn't know why. Fearty puffs at Fillan's response. Shia looks at Fillan and thinks about his reason. He remembers it raining and standing all alone in the streets.
The following morning, they wake up and get ready for breakfast. Fearty was still upset about Fillan's answer. They head to the mess hall and get their breakfast. Once they were done, they headed to the practice area. Fillan tells them that he needs to go to the well.
They split, and Fillan makes his way to a well by the wall. He sees General Musashi waiting for him. General Musashi greets him, and he points to a small shed. General Musashi explains that he had it built for him. He tells Fillan to step inside.
Fillan opens the door and sees the candles. They were lit and giving off strange aromas. It made him feel dizzy. General Musashi again explained the purpose of the candles. General Musashi told Fillan that he would spend an hour inside.
Fillan didn't question him and headed inside. He sits and breathes in the aromas. The door is closed, and Fillan closes his eyes. He then thought that it was not working. He thought to himself and asked questions about why he was doing that. He remembers the question Fearty asked him.
He thinks hard and cannot come up with an answer. He then feels that he was only inhaling the smells, but they weren't doing anything. Fillan calls out to General Musashi. He then hears someone call out to him. Fillan opened his eye; it was pitch dark.
He thought he had opened his eyes. He could not see anything. There was no light. He hears someone call him again. Fillan calls out but no response. He calls General Musashi again. Suddenly a white light flashes in front of him. He hears screaming and then silence. Fillan listened to a man's voice. He could not understand him well. The man's voice yells at him to move. Fillan looks up and sees the modern era.
Planes were flying overhead and firing missiles. He then hears over the coms to move. The scenery then changes to him in a room. He sees two shadowy figures. Fillan tries reaching out to them and sees a strange creature looking at him.
Fillan wasn't sure what it was. Lighting began to emit from the creature. Fillan felt tears falling from his eyes. The beast howls and causes a thunder surge. Fillan closes his eyes again. It was dark again, and he could not see.
He then heard another voice calling out to him. Fillan slowly opened his eyes, leaning on a tree by a lake. Fillan looked out to the far edge and saw one of the mountains. He then hears a female voice calling him.
Fillan turns and sees a young girl. She looks to be five years of age. He gets up and walks over to her. The girl tells him that he has forgotten something. Fillan remembers to get his fishing pole. He turns and heads near the lake. He picks up his fishing pole and heads back to the girl.
Fillan, five years of age, walks alongside a girl with short blonde hair. Their clothes are old and stitched up. The girl tells him that Father William is waiting. Fillan turns to her and smiles.
Outside the shed, General Musashi stares at it. He has a letter in his hand. He has a sad expression. General Musashi's body then glows. He turns and walks away. A demon captain meets him. General Musashi tells him to gather the other captains. The demon captain leaves him. General Musashi's Mana leaks out.