Ozymandias looked over the side of the ship, it resembled a boat, however, thanks to gravity dust it flew miles above the ground. The king looked down at the land beneath, his kingdom. It gave him polarizing feelings. The kingdom was beautiful, and it helped put his mind at ease. Simultaneously he imagined losing this war, this kingdom would be lost to oppressive rule. Its art and culture would be destroyed by. By or collected by the higher class of Mistral, people would be forced into slavery. And if Mistral and Mantle won, the entire world would be under a living nightmare, Vale and Vacuo were the last stand against humanity losing the things that made them human, of becoming a cruel shell of itself.

This war would be won, no matter what it took.

"Well…Do I look good?" said the voice in the back.

Ozymandias turned to see the boy standing behind him. Rory was let out of the brig, and he was currently wearing the standard knight armor. It had a metallic area around his chest and shoulders. The lower half had a fairly tight black bodysuit, it was made from strong material that was almost as durable as actual metal despite being lightweight. The gloves had metallic material as well, but were designed to be comfortable. He had steel boots as well, they looked a tad heavier then the gloves.

"You look perfectly alright, once we have the materials you can add some modifications to it"

Rory then walked over to the edge, looking over the same area Ozymandias was.

"So…..what will I be doing once I become a, you know, a knight?" Rory asked.

"Training, mastering your semblance…say, I did hear about your semblance, could you display that for me?" Ozymandias asked.

"Eh, why not" Rory said as he stepped back a bit. He closed his eyes before his entire body was covered in darkness. It was like he was a walking shadow.

"I call it silhouette. It lets me sneak around in the dark, works for stealth, hiding out, and scaring the crap out of people whenever the amusing opportunity arises" Rory explained.

Ozymandias chuckled at Rory's description of his abilities. Rory then walked over to the edge of the ship, looking up at it.

Rory tried to come up with something to talk about. But he was taken in awe at the signt of the large grassy lands, he could make no smart remark at it. Ozymandias took notice of the boys' amazement and did nothing to interrupt it, yet.

Once a few minutes had passed, the king finally began to speak.

"This was to be a Utopia" Rory turned his head to look at the older man.

"Vale was already in a state of great progress, but my goal when I became king was to…iron out the kinks. More taxes were put on the rich, less money went to the watchmen and law enforcers and more was put to feed the poor, to make it so people would no longer be poor. Relations with the Faunus were at an all time high" he spoke with a mix of pride and happiness. Before his face suddenly fell, becoming more sad.

"This…. situation….threw everything out of balance. Ruined all my plans" Ozymandias said.

"But…it was you who declared war" Rory said with a hint of confusion. "This was just a battle of territory on the side of the continent, you were the one who made a declaration of war" Rory pointed out. Ozymandias glanced at him slightly.

"For years I tried to avoid confrontation….I was even willing to let Mistral colonize territory on this continent….once a battle broke out…I realized I was just delaying the inevitable. So I ensured war happened on our kingdoms terms…..Ah, we are here" he said, leaving his more contemplative tone to a more straightforward one. Rory looked confused, he just saw a bunch of grass and some stone buildings in the distance

"Maaan, war messed up the economy, the castle looks like crap" Rory snarked, Ozymandias rolled his eyes at the comment.

"This is the emerald forest, I should clarify…..you will be traveling the rest of the way, on foot. First I want you to meet your teammates. Bond a bit from the experience" he explained. Rory blinked at this, before groaning. He was hoping he could at least do all this knight nonsense alone…

"So…when are we landing?" Rory asked.

"Ah, you see that is the first test in your training. You are to form your own landing strategy" Ozymandias said, he walked away from the edge and closer to Rory. Rory simply gained a confused expression

"What does that mean-"

Ozymandias had shoved Rory off the side of the ship. The red-head was now screaming at the top of his lungs as he fell the very large distance. He had an aura so he would live, but it was still terrifying.

"You enjoy this part of training far too much" Spectre commented from the side. The king simply shrugged in response.

—-

Occupied territory

In one of Mantle's bases, several battalions of Mantle soldiers were lined were recently deployed troops, all lined up with hands behind their back in formation. They were told to enter this room, it was pitch black, they could barely see each other. They wondered when they would be addressed by their commanding officer.

And then, the moment finally arrived.

A light from the roof turned on, and it shined on the stage at the front. On the stage was a man in a white military uniform, he had a slim but muscular figure, and black hair. He sported blue eyes as well, and had the usual military cap. The right side of his chest had a number of metals and symbols of command, showing his high authority.

This was prince Roland. He was head of Mantle's side of the alliance's military force. In the shadow behind him, one could barely make out a feminine figure, princess Hannah, she was in the back of the stage with her arms crossed. She was the leader of the Mistralian forces, it seemed she wanted to view her Mantle counterpart.

"Your scared" Roland begun his speech. All of the soldiers turned their attention to him.

"You're scared of dying….losing your life in this continent, miles from your home, from the comfort of your loved ones. I believe you expect me to tell you to quell your fears, or to guarantee that if you die it will be to serve a higher cause. The truth is, I am not going to focus on that. Your death is a hypothetical, a possibility. I don't want to focus on…what ifs. On things that could happen. I want to focus, on what will happen" he said, his tone became a bit more intense as he begun to get to the primary point of his presentation.

"When you go out there…you might die if you are unfortunate. But know what is guaranteed? You are going to kill. You are going to slaughter other soldiers, civilians, and animals. You are going to bring death and pain upon this kingdom like it has never seen. You are going to be ordered to shoot, and you will shoot. You will be ordered to inflict pain, and you will do it. You will be ordered to make your enemy scream, and whether it is another soldier, a woman, or a child, you will make them scream a sound so horrible it will make the gods' blood curdle. The things you will do out there are things that will revolt you. You will sacrifice yourself out there, whether that involves your life or not. And you will do it without question. You are here to do as you are ordered, no more, no less. You are not here to be people, you are here to be soldiers, it is not your will you are expected to follow. You are here to follow your kingdom's will, you are here to follow my will" he explained.

"You are not here on your own mission, you are here on mine. My mission is to save this continent from itself, to spread peace, and to ensure the entire world is under the guiding protection of the alliance. I care not for whatever sacrifice must be made. Is that clear?"

"Sir yes sir" the battalions said in unison.

"Do I make myself clear!?" He asked louder.

"Sir yes sir!"

"Good…."

The story continues! And now we meet one of the main antagonists of this section of the story, prince Roland. One of the most ruthless men in Mantle with a bit of a history with the cultures of Sanus, but that is for later. Hope this chapter was good and please leave a good review like always