Monarch Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Rayne stayed silent, waiting for Axel to admit that his words were just a joke. But nothing like that happened.

Axel simply poured himself a cup of something that smelled like burnt herbs and cheap alcohol. The man didn’t offer him any, which was probably for the best. Axel took a long sip, sighed, then finally lifted his eyes to Rayne.

“You are wondering why you got the position,” he said flatly as a matter of fact.

Rayne nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, you aren't alone in that. Half the camp would be wondering the same once it comes out.” Axel snorted. “New recruits being promoted to party leaders is rare enough, and here we have the child of traitors becoming one in just under two months. I guess it's true that fate writes itself. The list of people wanting to bury you in the ground would drastically increase after this.”

“Then why?” Rayne asked, barely able to keep the frown off his face.

He didn't dislike moving up in authority. He had been thinking about the quest to become a squad leader just yesterday, and now he was being offered the role of a party leader. Becoming one would put him around the same level as Hobbs and Ardan, at least on paper.

But it would invite a lot of hate with his background and being relatively new. Recruits kept the label of freshbloods for at least a year in the army, and they are only considered for promotions after that.

“Honestly, because there's no one better than you,” Axel said, putting the cup down and leaning against his chair. His usual lazy indifference evaporated as his face turned serious. “You need to understand one thing, kid. The army is like a group of siblings fighting and kicking each other for the attention of their parents, and how do kids get attention?”

“By doing well in things,” he replied.

Axel nodded. “Yes, so Captain Edran needs the attention, and how will he get it? By conquering a lot more dungeons than the other warbands. And you have proven yourself to be a capable fighter and leader with solving the mess with the deserters. Heck, with all the trolls you killed, I'm sure you are about to reach the first wall. Others are still straggling behind.”

Rayne didn't say anything for a moment.

Whatever Axel said, all of it made sense to him. Too much sense. His luck had dragged him to one bad encounter to another, and he had somehow persevered through it all. He wasn't surprised Axel had a good guess of his level.

But one thing still didn't make sense to him.

“Why not Bran? Or even Fredrick. I know he’s aiming for a party leader position.”

Axel chuckled. “Fredrick is a dumb fucking brat. Even if I ignore his intelligence, he lost to you publicly, and made a joke of himself. I won't say I didn't have him in mind when he first came in. House Lanrice expects each of their members to get good positions in the army, but I couldn't give it to someone who doesn't have the respect of other soldiers.”

“And I do?” Rayne raised an eyebrow.

“Personal respect, no. But all of them understand your strength and what you have done. They respect your strength, and that is enough for me. Bran said the same thing.”

Rayne paused for a second. “Bran did?”

Axel tapped the table and nodded. “Yes, that old fool recommended your name, and said that he would be happy to guide you as you lead. I believe he was already teaching you, so I agreed,” he said, then matched eyes with him. “Now, I have explained things enough. You have gotten the position. Do you accept it or not?”

Rayne's jaw tensed. Honestly, the question shouldn't be something that he should have to think about. Leading others might be hard, an additional responsibility on him that he was better without.

But that also meant getting led by people like Fredrick. He would never be able to trust his life with him.

So, he nodded. “I accept, sir.”

Axel smiled. “Good. Captain Edran will be pleased. You can leave now. You will get your first quest in a couple of hours. We had a lot of scouting teams finding dungeons, and I'm sure there will be some good fits for you and your new party.”

“Will they be the same as the supply quest?” Rayne asked.

“Mostly, some of them are already informed. Others will be soon.”

He nodded, turned around and left. Sunlight washed over him as he walked, feeling a new weight settle over his shoulders as if a permanent armour he couldn't remove.

He had an idea he would get something more out of the rescue quest, but he had expected a new shield. Not a party leader position.

In the end, he had accepted it, and there was no backing down from it. But Rayne didn't feel like going back to his tent to read more of the journal or scribble notes about monsters and skills.

Although he had lots of thoughts swirling around in his mind, they wouldn't go away from writing them down. No, what he needed was something else.

“I need to train,’’ he muttered and headed straight towards the training grounds.

If Rayne was going to lead others, he needed to make sure his skills were sharp enough to not die to monsters.

***

It turned out rather than monsters, he had a higher chance to die in a training session.

Rayne threw himself sideways as John’s shield blurred toward his ribs.

The impact still clipped him, a hard smack that spun him half a step before he caught himself on one knee. Dust kicked up under his boots. His breath came out ragged, his muscles already screaming.

John didn’t give him a second.

“Let’s see how you escape this!”

He charged, raising his wooden sword and aiming straight for his head.

Rayne rolled.

The sword slammed into the ground where his skull had been a heartbeat ago, dust rising from the impact. A few soldiers watching from the edges—his friends among them—shouted in amusement, some wincing every time Rayne barely survived another blow.

Rayne got his feet under him again, clutching his own shield tighter. He had no sword for this drill as Bran had somehow gotten the idea that soldiers needed to learn to dodge, roll, and survive, even if they lost their swords.

And as the newly selected party leader, Rayne had volunteered to be first. A decision he now regretted.

Though, a reason he was having a hard time was because he was still reeling from becoming a party leader, and another part was because John apparently had titles giving him enhanced speed and strength while facing only one opponent.

A fact he was only informed of seconds before the training session.

John lunged again, sweeping low this time. Rayne jumped back, felt the edge graze his shin, and grunted as he stumbled. He lifted his shield out of pure reflex just in time—

John’s strike hammered into Rayne’s shield and sent him stumbling back. He moved to push back with his shield, but a kick hit his stomach, air whooshing out of him as he was sent stumbling back.

Rayne groaned, feeling helpless without his sword.

“What happened? I thought you were a much better fighter. Are you already giving up?” John said, grinning at him.

Anger rose inside of Rayne before he calmed it down, and glanced at the watching soldiers. He needed to focus. It would be extremely embarrassing to lose just after getting promoted.

He shook his head, clearing his mind of all the thoughts and focused on John.

“Guess you want to be beaten more,” he said and charged again.

Rayne got the shield up in time.

John’s sword slammed into it with a crack that numbed Rayne’s whole arm, the impact shoving him back two steps across the dirt. Before he could settle his footing, John was already on him again, blade whistling through the air in a diagonal cut meant to split him open.

Rayne dropped low, rolling under the strike. Dust burst around him as he came up on one knee. John turned fast, but Rayne was already moving. He had been getting beaten because he kept being on the defensive.

He didn't plan to do that anymore.

He lunged forward, ramming the edge of his shield into John’s ribs.

The hit landed hard enough to make John grunt.

“That’s more like it!” the man barked, grinning.

Rayne didn’t grin back. He pushed, trying to unbalance him, but John planted his feet and shoved back with twice the force. Rayne staggered, boots scraping through the dirt, but as the sword came up again, he darted sideways, using the momentum to glide out of the arc.

John swung wide, Rayne ducked, rolled, and came up behind him.

Rayne didn’t hesitate—he bashed John’s back with his shield.

John stumbled a step forward.

Rayne followed it immediately with another shove, trying to knock him flat.

But John recovered faster than Rayne expected. The sword angled back in a reverse grip, forcing Rayne to jerk away to avoid getting hurt.

John spun, blade flashing.

Rayne raised his shield, but it turned out to be a feint.

John’s blade slammed into his forearm guard, jarring his teeth. Rayne tried to dodge back, but the man pressed forward, raining blows on him—overhead, side, thrust, slash—wood hammering his shield in a relentless rhythm.

Rayne grit his teeth, rolling left to avoid being crushed under the pressure. He burst out of the barrage, breath ragged, sweat dripping into his eyes.

And countered fast.

A quick sprint, and he slammed his shield toward John’s jaw in a rising uppercut motion.

John twisted at the last second, the shield grazing his cheek instead of breaking bone. Rayne followed with a shoulder-check, using all of his weight—

But John braced for it this time.

He trapped Rayne’s shield arm with his free hand, yanked him forward, and swept his leg out.

Rayne hit the ground hard.

He rolled instinctively, avoiding the downward stab that bit into the dirt where his head had been. Coming up on his feet again, he took a desperate swing with the edge of his shield, trying to knock John’s sword aside.

John parried with brutal ease and stepped in.

One clean strike hit Rayne’s shield dead-center. And it splintered from the middle.

He widened his eyes, but John grinned and didn't let go of the opportunity. He hit the shield again and again until it completely broke.

Rayne threw it on the ground, and dodged another attack aimed straight at his throat.

Before he could slide and do a counterattack, Bran's voice paused the training duel. “Stop! It's a draw.”

Both of them looked at Bran standing on the soldiers. A few watching soldiers complained behind him.

“Why? I was winning,” John said, panting a bit.

“No, you weren't. You should have dealt a death blow two minutes back. You let him get his bearings,” the veteran replied, then turned to Rayne. “Get a better shield next time.”

Rayne sighed, nodding as Bran went back to the edge to continue whatever discussion he was having with Kesh.

John sighed, taking a step towards Rayne and extended a hand. Rayne grabbed it and they shook.

“It was a good duel,” he said.

John smiled. “Certainly, Party Leader Rayne.”

Before Rayne could even frown, the man presented him a Valerian salute with an overdramatic flair. A few soldiers—Nate among them—laughed from the side.

Rayne groaned. “Stop that shit.”

John only grinned wider.

Rayne rolled his eyes and knew he couldn't stop it. When he had gotten to the training grounds, the others had joined him and already knew of his promotions. From there, the teasing had started and he doubted it was going to end anytime soon.

He simply walked off towards the edge where the others sat, Bran already talking about who should go next. But before Rayne could say anything, he saw a soldier coming towards them.

He turned and the soldier looked at him and said, “You are Rayne Frayser, right?”

He nodded, stepping towards him. “Yes, what business do you have with me?”

“Squad Leader Axel had sent your new orders.” He stiffened hearing that, and others stared at the soldier who quietly took out a writ from his pocket. “He wants you to take care of three dungeons by the end of the week.”

Rayne widened his eyes, taking the writ. “Three in a week?”

“Yes, you will find all the information in the writ.”

After saying that, the soldier turned and left. Rayne quickly read through the paper, finding what the man had said to be true. The locations of three dungeons were marked in a small map drawn on the writ, and everything the scouts had discovered about them.

Once he finished reading the orders, he turned to everyone looking towards him and spoke. “Guess, it's time to enter the dungeon again. Who's excited?”