Chapter 8: The Battle Begins!
Bailey stood in line with the rest of his regiment, a group of new recruits, they were stationed near the back of the army although that wouldn't matter as they'd soon be spread along the front to ensure no beasts passed them at the sides.
The scouts had reported the beasts gathering near the edge of the forest the day before putting the entire camp on edge.
In the early hours of the morning the first beast ran from the forest but were shot dead by the sentries.
The alarm had been sounded and they'd been ordered to join the ranks of soldiers, within the hour they were standing facing the vast forest in the distance.
They'd moved within a two-mile distance of the forest and even the normal soldiers could vaguely make out the moving shapes of the beasts.
Everyone was tense, they were waiting for the beasts to make the first move – waiting for the first movements, the very thing they'd been training for since they'd volunteered or had been conscripted.
The Beast Wave.
Then it came, the howl of a wolf signalled the start of the attack – at least a million beasts rushed out of the cover of the forest into their line of sight, many of the new recruits paled at the sight.
Bailey's regiment had been ordered to spread-out which pushed him to the front of the line-up, he stared at the approaching wave of beasts and his face paled but he held his hands on his spear tightly.
He heard the sounds of several men and women screaming before the beasts were even upon them, becoming deserters in an instant as they tried to retreat.
Mercilessly they were cut down by some of the veteran soldiers who could only sigh and shake their heads.
But Bailey ignored all of this, focusing only on the enemy in front of him – fear was replaced with adrenaline and very quickly the colour returned to his face.
This would be his first taste of true combat and also what determined his life or death.
The beasts advanced without caution, rushing wildly into the ranks of their army – Bailey stood with his spear ready as he began to cycle Light Elementa through his body.
The energy coursed through his body steadily giving him a sense of security in the chaotic battlefield, a confidence that hadn't existed in him before glowed from his eyes as he stared down the charging beasts.
Then it came, a wolf but not a wolf, it was the size of a horse and as Bailey stared into its eyes it stared back – its fur white like snow and two teeth at least the size of a grown mans' arms protruded from its mouth.
"Ahhhh!" A recruit to the side of him screamed upon seeing the beast, she was trembling as she shakily held onto the spear in her hands, silently Bailey placed his hand on her shoulder and moved his Light Elementa outside of his body.
The light had a calming effect on the woman as a calmness replaced the turmoil that had been there previously, "Thank you…" She muttered quietly.
She wasn't sure what he'd done but it was obvious that he'd done something to help her if it wasn't for him it was unlikely she'd have the slightest chance of living to see tomorrow.
Bailey simply removed his hand from her shoulder and nodded slightly before returning his attention to the beasts in front.
Obviously, there were many other recruits breaking down like the one next to him had but maintaining the first line was essential to ensuring the lives of those behind.
It didn't take long for the first beasts to clash into the first line of spears, they mindlessly charged and ended up losing their lives almost instantly in the first clash.
Bailey only had to hold the spear steady and allow the first beast to impale itself on the blade before withdrawing it from the beasts' skull.
The kill was quick and fluid, it took no more than a second for him to retrieve the spear from the beasts' skull and take his stance once more.
Although this had been his first kill he felt no excitement or fear from it, his focus had remained entirely on the White Wolf he'd spotted before.
It was stalking near the back of the beasts, striking when a recruit took just slightly too long to retrieve their weapon.
Luckily so far it'd been unsuccessful in its sneak attack only managing to lightly wound its targets, those who'd been targeted however learned the price of being slow on the battlefield and doubled their efforts.
Bailey continued to observe it, he'd long since broken rank and was moving up and down the frontline striking the beasts who got too close to some of the recruits without them noticing.
His speed vastly increased by the increased speed of the Light Elementa circulating in his body – it coursed through him like a flame letting him exert as much power as he possibly could with his body, pushing it to the very limits without killing himself.
Silently after observing the hunting pattern of the Wolf he blended in with the frontline again, thrusting the spear into the head of a beast in front of him he pretended to struggle slightly, using his foot as if he was struggling to move his spear.
It didn't take long for the wolf to notice him, he could feel its eyes on him as he finally removed his spear from the beasts' skull but that was all it took.
Now he had the beasts' attention all he had to do was strike a beast closest to him, the spear easily passed through its skull and almost immediately he felt a cold wave wash over him.
He knew the next second would be the deciding factor between life and death, just one move would determine his fate…
He quickly withdrew the spear and thrust it upwards, the Wolf had attacked the head in all its other strikes hoping for a fast kill, he could only hope it'd keep to this 'habit.'
He felt his spear get heavier and a warm liquid began to drip over his head, dripping onto his hand the dark red liquid began to stain the grass.
Staring up the wolf had been impaled through its mouth directly to its brain causing it to die instantly, "What the?!"
The recruits next to and behind him shrieked as they saw the massive corpse of the beast.
"What're you looking over here for?!" He shouted at those next to him who had stopped attacking the beasts to stare at him, did they want to die?
Bailey glanced over at the soldiers of the veteran ranks, they were easily disposing of these small beasts – in fact, several corpses similar to the White Wolf were scattered along the battlefield.
The radiance of Elementa glowed along the battlefield as every strike reaped a life, Bailey looked back at the recruits around him – only one or two possessed Elementa and most of them were already fatigued.
"Why did the Emperor conscript us, shouldn't it be obvious we wouldn't be able to last as long as trained soldiers? We only had a weeks' worth of training at best…" Questions flooded his mind but he could only push them to the back of his mind for now.
Kicking off the Wolf Corpse now hanging from his spear he continued to kill beasts along the front line of the recruits, saving many of their lives several times over.
The numbers began to gradually decrease until only a few stragglers remained, no new beasts rushed out of the forest and the battlefield went silent…
"RAAAAAA!" A deafening roar shattered the silence.
"Thump." "Thump." "Thump."
The ground shook and trees in the distance began to part as something forced its way through them, something huge was coming – something far more dangerous than the small beasts they'd been killing before…
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Immortal_Pain
Immortal_Pain Enjoy the chapter :)
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone