Draga Of The Vanguard - Chapter 8 Gars Argen

“Okay Drag. Draw the bow string ever so slowly. Now wait till you have the target in your sights.” said Morte, looking at Rei adjusting his bow. Rei had recently asked if he could learn archery, as he believed his skill set was lacking. “Okay….If it’s in your line of sight, feel free to fire.”

Rei fired the arrow, bit it hit the edge of the target. “Expected. This kinda thing isn’t something just anyone can do. I trained for a year and I still miss bullseyes.” said Morte. “Like that one with the dagger.” Rei said, chuckling as he drew another arrow from his quiver. A vein burst in Morte’s forehead. “…I’m gonna get you for that.” he said, throwing his dagger at the target and getting a bullseye. “Im gonna teach you a trick. Don’t aim straight, aim higher.” He said before leaving Rei, whose mouth had dropped. He collected himself and took Morte’s advice aiming higher. He fired but completely missed. He tried again but at a lower angle. This time the arrow flew sideways. “Don’t forget about wind too.” Morte shouted, leaving Rei with resentment.

That evening Rei fired 50 arrows, 35 of which hit the target, and 9 near bullseyes. He retired for the day, knowing he’d have to go through Mayln’s special training. He found his way to the outpost greeting some passing trainees. Some gave him vicious looks while one bowed. “The Drag name is a bit inconvienient. Maybe I should do some research on it later.” he thought while knocking on his outpost’s door. Gars opened the door and let him in. “Drag the archer. Well, I doubt it’d be your main weapon. Mist demons have skin too thick for measly arrows.” said Pierre, eating bread. “May almost ate your rations you know.”

Rei looked at May who in turn looked at the sky, then looked at his rations. It was the usual hard bread with meat and water. The meat wasn’t actually part, but was demon meat cooked and added on by May. He began to eat this ‘feast’. “The bread on the farm I came from is still better.” Rei said, eating the hardened mass that the Vanguard called food. “At least we eat bread. And at a regular frequency too.” said Gars as he ate his bread greedily. “Hey Gars. What did you eat before now?” asked Rei. The room went dead silent. Pierre, Morte and Mayln looked at Rei with eyes saying ‘You shouldn’t have asked that question’. Gars waved his hand at them. “It’s alright. It’s about time he knew about me.” he said. “I ate wheat soup every three days.”

“What the heck is wheat soup?” asked Rei.

“It’s a meal for slaves.” Gars said casually, drinking water as he finished the statement. Rei was beyond shocked, looking at the others in a way that said ‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner!’. “10 years from today I was born. I had a father…but no mother that I know of. As for where I was born… It was a slave camp. My father was an imperial soldier who’d racked up debt. He’d been dispatched from his position and made to work as a merchant’s slave, in exchange the fact that an imperial soldier was broke would be covered up.” Gars said. Ge ate another piece of bread, then continued. “Eventually he was sold to an emperor in the far south who needed slaves for construction. There my father felt he had no restrictions, and decided he’d play around with the women. He got one pregnant. I’ll never know who she was.”

“For the first few year I was protected by the slaves. They gave me out of their food and made sure that I would live at a certain standard. Then I turned 7. I was discovered due to my new body….And ultimately joined them. It was painful, being whipped.” Gars said, feeling his back. “My father saw my pain…and came up with a plan. He told me that to the north was our nation, and if I could survive the month long trip, I’d make it. When I asked about food he showed me something unbelievable. He had saved up about 3 months worth of food for this very plan. When i asked where he got it…He told me it was his.”

Gars topped himself for a few seconds to wipe off some tears. “He decided to teach me basic defence skills so that I wouldn’t be killed immediately. We trained together for a month. I asked about the food stock. He slapped his forehead.” Gars laughed. “So we threw away 3 months worth of wheat soup. And spent the next year training. I was ready.”

The squad had at this point stopped eating their meals and were paying full attention. “We both saved up enough soup for a month, and I snuck off in the middle of the night. From that day I promised myself. I’d buy my dad back, and free him.” Gars continued, eating the last morsel of bread on his plate.”I set of on a journey; passing by many traders and travellers, and spending nights in vegetation or caves.”

” There was this one bandit, but my sword skill made me win with just a branch. I took his weapon and left him unconscious. Then a few days later…I was attacked by imps…3 of them. I won, but I lost all my soup in the process. So I took their meat. I’d make a fire and cook them, altough the meat was good, it was noticeably harder to preserve. Eventually, after many days of travelling….I reached a place called The Empire des Huit. I got to the gate and a guard asked for my name. My father adviced me not to say my real one as they could trace it back to him which would send me back to the slaves. So I told them my name was ‘Argent Gars’…which means Money guy.” Gars said with a smile on his face “It’s been 2 years since then…I’ve saved up enough money from exterminations to pay over a quater of it…but It’s a ridiculous price…apparently he’s a valuable asset.”

Rei looked at Gars in a whole new light, and began to ponder on his story. “Wait….how did you carry a month’s worth off soup on your back?” he asked. “With this.” Gars said as he brought out a massive clay jar from under his bottom bunk. It had straps to be carried on a person’s back. “You manually carried that much soup…” Rei said stumbling backwards. “It was either that or a life time of slave work.” Gars said petting the jar. “One more question…What’s your real name?” Rei asked. “…It’s Temors Tonnerre. My first name is from my mother…though I don’t know what it means.” Gars replied. “Well that’s enough questions…I’m going to bed now.”

As he laid down on his bed the others slowly finished eating. Then laid down on theirs. At midnight, May and Rei sparred once more, but with a certain level of determination.

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The scene was grim. Paix, a once thriving town, had a certain quiet this day. The street which were usually filled with people was now filled with bodies that looked half cremated. A little distance in front of the city, bodies encased in black armor were smoking. The walls of the city had been broken through, but the path was abnormal. It went straight to the other side of the wall, and barely caused any destruction. All that could be found were footsteps that were larger that an elephant’s, and traces of white fog spread out across the city. A short distance away, a massive figure’s silhouette could been seen, being covered barely by white fog and moving…moving in the direction of Asfaleia.