The Last Primal

[Hidden Milestone Reached! Earned the dying loyalty of an unaffiliated group of race.]

[Initiating Army Management Interface…]

Aiden was looking at the floating screen, barely able to contain and hide the shock he felt.

'What is this, Enya?' A moment later, as he managed to break free from his momentary stun, he immediately fired the question mentally.

'[It is an extension of the Minion Management feature of the System. Although I was not aware of such a hidden milestone. Normally, it should be activated during the time you would first have to fight using the forces under your rule.]' She explained.

Thinking about it for a second, she continued.

'[Still, this is actually a good thing, Aiden! If they are now visible in the system and you can even manage and command them through it, it means they are now faithful to you. You as Aiden, and not Zark the ex-archbishop.]'

'What do you mean? They don't even know about me! How could they-" Aiden argued, not accepting her guide's words at all.

How could he? These people have only seen the empowered archbishop. They have listened to his words, they had no idea who was under this farce, this skin at all. It hurt him greatly to have to deceive such an honest group of people, especially as he looked over at the excited, cheery little darling, Tolliah standing bravely at the cave entrance, not willing to be completely left out, despite the warning.

How could they be loyal to Aiden, the Primal then? He was merely the deceiver, a fake. Yes, his feelings and passion may be real, but he was still ultimately just playing the role he was forced to.

Still, it may have been by fate that he ended up here, that he met this group, that he came in contact with the little girl. He couldn't deny the feeling, the love he felt for all these people. He couldn't just turn around and walk away anymore.

No. From this moment on, their futures were the same. Aiden could not, and would not betray the promise he made.

'Fine. Whatever help I get, I will use it. If it serves the purpose, if it can guarantee that their future will continue on, I don't care anymore.' Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth with the determination and zeal burning inside his heart, Aiden focused his attention on the floating screen visible only to him.

'How do I open… No, where can I find this new menu?' He asked after taking a longer than usual sigh.

As if already expecting the question, Enya's response was near-instantaneous.

'[As I mentioned before, the new feature is a part of the Minion Management Package. You need to navigate to your 'Domain' tab and you will see the new option listed under there.]' She explained, in her usual motherly tone.

Without question, Aiden quickly followed her guidance, first selecting the third tab, 'Domain' from under the selection of the main features.

[ Status | Lab | *Domain* |  Activities ]

Then he looked and selected the newly emerged feature, the aptly named Army Management tab.

[ Info | Manage | *Army Management* | World | Tasks ]

As he selected the newly unlocked feature, a screen he had never seen before have slowly emerged in front of his eyes. Similarly, how it looked with the strange, overworld map back in Haven, this one was also a top-down representation of his surroundings.

There was a thick, unorganized bright neon green mass standing in front of the golden dot marking his own location, whilst three distinct columns of bright scarlet masses were steadily marching towards his location in an organized fashion.

Focusing on the enemy columns first, Aiden was shocked to see that one by one, as his focus traversed, information was displayed over them.

For the first one, the one to the left was written some basic preliminary data almost instantly.

[Group: #1

Power: 275

Toughness: 91

Quality: Scanning in progress…

Composition: Scanning in progress…

Threat Level: Scanning in progress…]

From a first glance, the system gave two numerical data, which had little to no meaning to Aiden at all.

Before he could ask, however, Enya was prepared to give her already prepared response.

'[Though the order is the other way around, let me start with Toughness. That is basically the number of life forms the system can detect in the selected group mass. For example, 91 most likely means that it has 90 Soldiers with 1 Higher ranked, probably a captain leading them.]'  She explained, giving it a moment so that the boy can process her words before going further.

'[As for the Power, that is the over strength the combined force has. Although it's just a numerical representation, it will give you a rough idea of how your strategies will fare against the opposing forces. In our case, 275 is the combined power levels of the 90 soldiers joined with the one, slightly stronger captain leading them.]'

She spoke, giving her lecture to the still bewildered and slightly confused-looking boy.

'Isn't this… way too similar to…' He muttered, completely shocked to see a screen vastly similar to those games from his time in the modern world. Like those games he and his friends together with Kat they used to play whenever they had the chance. Battling it out against each other, they used to love these sorts of games.

Now, he was met with something similar? Why?

'[You shouldn't be too surprised Aiden. After all, the system is nothing more than the fulfillment of the wish you have originally made when you were transferred to this world. What you see is just the form you were most comfortable with, nothing more, nothing less.]'

Enya chimed in, bringing Aiden back from his thoughts. Seeing as the boy was focusing again, she continued.

'[In any way, check the other two groups as well so the system can start its scan. After that, we need to quickly go over at least the basics, so you wouldn't fail your pledge right before you had the chance to shine.]'

Not arguing with her words, Aiden swayed his attention, looking at the biggest, thickest column of the three, the central one, aptly named as 'Group #2' by the System.

[Group: #2

Power: 395

Toughness: 126

Quality: Scanning in progress…

Composition: Scanning in progress…

Threat Level: Scanning in progress…]

As for the third, and final group on the right, it seemed to be a mix between the first two in terms of numbers and strength as well.

[Group: #3

Power: 305

Toughness: 101

Quality: Scanning in progress…

Composition: Scanning in progress…

Threat Level: Scanning in progress…]

From the looks of it, Madam Dara's estimations whilst on the mark, they weren't actually exact either. The enemy was over 300 men strong, with several high-ranking powerful officers leading their ranks.

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