《On The Battlefield》


 Prologue : The boy in the forest

    The moon was sitting high on its throne in the deep celestial void conferring the forest below an impression of mystery as well as danger. Despite that loud rustling was heard as a man was dredging through the untamed shrubberies in front of him. Every once in a while, he¡¯d stop to look anxiously in his surroundings as if an unspeakable predator is waiting for him in the shadows of the trees. After confirming that he was alone, he would curse out complaints under his breath ¡°why me?!¡±, ¡°why did this happen to me?!¡± or lament about his sorry state "This was supposed to be an easy job, how did it turn out this way?".


    The man was part of a group, however, due to unforeseen circumstances the three were split apart, and now he was trying to reunite with the rest of his compatriots. The fact that he couldn¡¯t speak out or turn on his flashlight was only serving to drive him even more insane.


    He would keep glancing at the rifle in his hands while thinking of the little rat that is the root of all his mishaps. Oh, all the horrible things and pains he would inflict on him. Just thinking of the symphony of screams he was going to conduct once he gets his hands around the neck of the bastard was making him feel all giddy inside.


    While being drunkon his depraved imagination, he heard something snap at his feet, staring below he noticed a small rope, now ripped, hidden beneath leaves. Before he could process what happened the sound of wind whistling interrupted him as something tore through his unguarded left flank.


    ¡°KIEEEEEEEEEEE¡± the man released a high-pitched scream as his insides became mush. Instantly allhis previous malicious thoughts evaporated into thin air as he stared at the objectwhich found "refuge" inside of him,a log the size of an arm was now poking through his midsection. If the man could somehow remove the wood piece, he would be able to observe that his liver and stomach have both gained a new hole, not that it would do him much knowing.


    While staring at the bloody wound, he kept releasing mournful screams and wails for minutes on end as life was slowly but surely slipping away from him. In fact, the only reason he could last that long is due to thelog still being embedded in him preventing most of the blood as well as his innards from falling out.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Shortly after two more men were seen rustling through the same bushes, apparently all the screaming and wailing succeeded in leading his partners to reunite with him. They were dressed in a similar green combat vest with a black lion insignia encompassed by red stripes, black shirt and black pants obviously meant to help them camouflage in this treacherous environment. Unfortunately, they arrived far too late as their comrade was now hung lifelessly in the air by the rope connecting the log, resembling a bloodied human pi?ata.


    ¡°What in the hells?!! What kind of animal would do this to another human being?! ¡°yelled out the taller one of them with apparent grief and disbelief. With trembling footsteps he approached his former partner while the other was sitting back still stunned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry old pal; I¡¯ll make sure to make that devilpays for what he did to you.¡± With tears in his eyes, he promised softly to Jerry¡¯s remains while trying to control the seething rage that has taken nest in his heart.


    ¡°Marius, come help me get the log out of Jerry, I can''t stand to look at him like this.After we''re finished, we must hurry and get back to Maher and rep-.¡° Before he could finish his words, he heard a loud thud, startled he turned his head around only to see the one named Marius on the ground with a bloody hole in his skull still emitting smoke while in his place stood a young boy who had yet to experience his 17th winter. Despite that his small hands wereholding a gun as steady and unflinching as a rock while his eyes stared unflinchingly at the final man giving the feeling that he will pull the trigger without the slightest hesitation.


    The man¡¯s countenance turned pale, and instantly realization dawned upon the man not older than 30.Starting with them splitting up, Jerry falling into a trap and then following his scream has all been just a part of this boy¡¯s plan. All the while they were sneering inside thinking that he would be an easy kill they were, in fact, playing on the back of his palm.


    ¡°The whole thing has been a set-up¡± muttered the man in shock to which the mastermind nodded and uttered an indifferent ¡°correct¡± before pressing the trigger and ending the last man¡¯s life.

 Chapter 1 : Star crossed (1)

    Silence was looming over the forest, the birds stopped singing, and the insects stopped screeching. The only thing breaking this tranquility was Zayn¡¯s rapidly pounding heart ready to run away from his body. He took heavy breathes for minutes on end to calm the alarm of his ticker. He would close his eyes then open them again as if checking to see if the scene in front of him is reality or just a sinister hallucination.Suddenly his insides started to churn, and he could feel his breakfast ready to come out, running to some nearby bushes he started belching the contents of his stomach. At a certain point, tears began to flow from the small Zayn as he began sobbing. ¡°Grandpa never told me ¡­. That taking another person¡¯s life would feel so ¡­¡­ terrible.¡± Muttered the poor boy out in between sobs.


    After what seemed like ages the previous cold-blooded killer finally ceased his sobbing. Closing his eyes for another second to gather his resolve he walked to the one he had shot in the back of his head. Then Zayn bent down, turned him around and started combing through his pockets looking for anything useful while doing his best to avoid staring at the face of the one whom the boy had robbed of his life. He found a map, a couple of water bottles, a flashlight similar to his own and a couple of batteries for it as well as a couple of meat jerkies and biscuits. Hopefully, they will serve him better than their former owner.


    Searching into the interior of his jacket he found a picture of the man and a young girl ¡°Family huh.¡± sighed Zayn with a coarse voice from crying out and a small shake of his head. He started to think about his own family, mostly his grandfather who raised him alone and taught him everything he knows. Although he never met his parents his grandpa would tell him stories of how much they loved him and how they would be so proud of him if they could see him. Returning the picture, Zayn continued going deeper into his pockets finding a small knife with a sharp edge, a suitable replacement for the one he broke while sharpening the wooden log. He then took his weapon and ammo clips and placed them near a tree with curved branches to inspect them later.


    Finishing with Marius he moved on to the tall mercenary, to his surprise he found a couple of bars of chocolate and some candy which caused Zayn¡¯s downcast face to lighten up a little, he loved sweets. While going through the rest of his pockets chewing on a caramel candy, he found a silver pocket watch which instantly changed ownership to Zayn. ¡°Hehe, I never owned something this expensive before, ¡° said the poor boy with a small self-deprecating chuckle. Searching through some more pockets, he found some more batteries another knife and rations which he stuffed inside his backpack. Just like before he took any ammo clip, he could see as well as his weapon and placed them near the tree where Marius¡¯s was.


    With uneasy steps, he walked towards the man dangling from the rope and started blindly rummaging with a pair of shaky hands and with his head turned down staring at the pool of blood that has formed. He didn¡¯t find anything peculiar, so he just took his rations and ignored the blood-soaked weapon at his feet then ran back at the speed of light not daring to stay near the corpses anymore lest they somehow rise from the dead to enact their revenge.


    Finishing robbing the dead the boy headed to the tree to examine the weapon of the one formerly known as Marius had. He recognized it as a sub-machine gun and judging from the large ¡®T¡¯ surrounded by a circle it must be a creation of the Tesla industries, clearly a high-quality product. This lightweight gun could empty it¡¯s 50 bullet clips in less than 15 seconds and fire thousands of bullets for minutes on end without taking a break before needing to cool it down.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    While this gun had such amazing specs it wasn¡¯t without flaws, the cost of such an explosive fire rate was a fierce recoil that could break an average man¡¯s wrist unless one was a grade C Genetic or had a comparable arm strength. Unfortunately, this was a fatal flaw for Zayn considering his frail wrists would never handle the powerful recoil.


    With a regretful sigh, he could only put it down and moved on to the next firearm. ¡°WHA!¡± A gasp of surprise leaked out of the boy as he recognized the weapon, it was the third generation S2 rifle from Seltzer and sons. He knew of this particular gun from one of his grandfather¡¯s old magazine stuffed inside the attic. It had a novel ¡®dual form¡¯ which allowed it to function as both an assault rifle and a marksman rifle with an effective range of at 1200m, to his delight it was also equipped with a Tesla thermal scope boasting a range of detection of 900M. Taking another look at the scope, he thanked his lucky stars for being alive. Had the mercenaries from before not been in such a state of distress he would''ve been easily spotted from this high-tech piece of equipment and then the hunter and the hunted would''ve changed places instantly.


    Taking a moment to collect himself he ceased hugging the rifle and looked at the remaining blood-soaked weapon below Jerry then snapped back and looked at the S2. Zayn kept repeating this process before deciding not to approach that place ever again. Luckily for him, both Jerry¡¯s and the other merc¡¯s weapons shared the same ammo type, a caliber .22. What made the S2 special is that it could load both .22 as well as heavy use .50 caliber for its sniper mode capable of switching at will depending on the targets.


    Finishing packing up and holstering the rifle around his neck the boy could finally take a sigh of relief as he could at last leave this small clearing. Although traveling at night in the forest was usually a dangerous endeavor this wasn¡¯t an ordinary forest but an artificially created battleground. Most animals have been relocated elsewhere while the rest should¡¯ve been scared away by the gunfire sounds.


    As he carefully made his way through the unknown, Zayn kept thinking about the events that have completely changed his life. Before being dragged into all this mess, he was living with his grandfather in a remote village in the country of Varian. A state created after the grand Scattering following the fall of the US during the great disaster.


    The boy and his grandpa lived a quiet life as hunters providing the village with pelts and excess meat in exchange for money or other supplies. However, all that got turned upside down five days ago when Zayn was returning from the forest after a successful hunting trip ready to sell a rabbit or two to the villagers in exchange for a bagful of candy. He could see the frantic looks of some villagers as they approached him with much haste to inform him that they, at last, found his grandfather.


    Before this, his grandfather had been missing for a week but the boy wasn¡¯t too worried, he knew his grandpa would pull this off once in a while then always return home with the most fantastic quarry such as the most prominent crowned deer anyone has ever seen or a mutated double headed giant boar. In fact, the boy was still a bit sour that his grandpa failed to bring him along again but seeing the agitation of the villagers he had a feeling that something was wrong.


    Larian, the village¡¯s baker, was the first to speak and announce him that some hunters have found his grandfather''s remains. It took more than a few seconds for Zayn to process before he could utter with a dumbfounded look ¡°W-What?¡±. The baker waited for a few moments before beginning to explain ¡°The hunters from the village of Mayfield hunted a double-armed bear, after slaying the beast they headed to its lair where they found the body of a man whose height and clothes matched those of Mister Reynald.¡±


    ¡°NO! That¡¯s impossible, Mayfield is south from here, grandpa was heading north ! ¡° rebutted the youth despite his red eyes with tears forming in them.


    ¡°Maybe he changed directions at some point, or perhaps he was ambushed by the bear and then dragged to his lair.¡± Larian tried explaining, but Zayn would take none of it.


    ¡°Grandpa would¡¯ve told me if he headed south, no way ''s him. Just you wait a few more days, he will show up and make everyone look like fools for mistaking him with some corpse. There¡¯s no way a stinking bear would''ve beaten my grandpa. There¡¯s no way !¡± argued the youth hysterically, towards the end even he wasn¡¯t sure if his wordswere meant for the villagers or himself .


    &&


    Remembering till here the boy found tears start springing up in his eyes once more, wiping them away with his sleeves .¡°No matter what it takes I''ll find grandpa¡± promised the boy softly to himself.

 Chapter 1 : Star crossed (2)

    Making his way through more greenery, Zayn finally arrived at his ¡®base camp¡¯ which was nothing more than an overgrown tree. It¡¯s thick and sturdy branches were more than enough to support his small frame. Its dense crown of leaves can also make it hard for anyone to spot him unless they climbed up themselves. Just in case, the boy set up a few more traps in his surroundings, nothing fancy, but enough to get his attention and delay whoever triggers them.


    ¡®By now they should notice the missing men. However, I doubt they¡¯ll send anymore when the sun is still not up. One thing is for certain though.Tomorrow the forest will crawl with them.¡¯ Deduced Zayn.


    He climbed up one on of the branches and tried using Marius¡¯s vest as a blanket to shield him from the wind. Learning from last time he did not light a fire, the last time the boy did so he ended up getting chased for an entire day by the three men. Luckily for him, it was summer as such the nights weren¡¯t unforgiving as long as one had something to cover him from the wind.


    Unfortunately, Zayn¡¯s scaredy-cat nature prevailed once more as he threw the vest within minutes. In his childish mind, the garment grew ghostly hands which started moving towards his neck as if carrying the revenge for the dead. Shaking his head multiple times Zayn gathered a bunch of leaves and placed them over him, at least it was better than nothing and could serve as some sort of camouflage in case anyone does show up.


    It did not take long for the poor boy to fall asleep. Every few breaths he would mutter a soft ¡®grandpa.'' Zayn still missed him dearly.


    &&


    He remembered waiting in front of the village all day for his grandpa to return. He would just gaze at the dirt road in front of him with a resolute expression despite the teardrops splattered across his face that have yet to dry. Even when the sun was about to set he wouldn¡¯t budge an inch no matter how much the other villagers asked and then later begged him to go back home and get a good night¡¯s sleep.


    As the last flickers of light were extinguished and the villagers began igniting the oil lamps the roar of an engine was coming from the road ahead. This startled most of the residents as more and more got out of their houses to witness what is causing the commotion. By the time the source of the sound arrived at least half of the village was gathered to welcome it.


    In front of this impromptu welcoming committee stood or more accurately floated a black limousine. With a pair of neon blue disks where the wheels should be the vehicle was gracefully flying over the ground. Mr. Bosley, the village chief as well as the wealthiest person around, walked out from among the crowd with bulging eyes. He had recognized the model of this car as well as the sky-shattering price it carried and was now wondering why had it come to his backwater village.


    After what felt like an eternity to the people gathered outside the door of the car finally lifted to reveal a figure descending in a pair of black high heels. She walked out of the car with the summer wind blowing past he black skirt reaching up to her knees. The light from the lamps was reflecting off her gold buttons from her similarly black blazer as she strode gracefully in front of the crowd. Her attire created a stark contrast with her pale white skin that was almost shining in the moonlight. Her ebony hair was cascading endlessly over her shoulders as her eyes scanned the crowd that had lost their breath. Looking into her eyes, Zayn felt as if he was staring into the void itself, one misstep and he would be swallowed whole.


    ¡°I, Bosley, give you my most heartfelt greetings. If I may ask, to what do I have the pleasure of this esteemed lady¡¯s visit to this humble town?¡±


    Without missing a beat, the fatty ran over to suck up to this seemingly important person.


    With a small smile, the woman closed her eyes and replied courtly


    ¡°Greetings Mr. Bosley, I am Jenny Whitter director of Forcier groups Mercenaries. I am here in search of one Leiker, Zany I believe. ¡°


    Upon hearing his name, although slightly mistaken, the boy got jolted awake. The villagers pushed him slowly until he was standing next to Bosley. The old fox instantly reacted by placing his arm around the boy¡¯s shoulder and began praising him to the skies just like a crafty salesman trying to inflate the price of his wares.


    ¡°OHH, you mean our little Zayn? Why he is the most hardworking and brave youth we have in this village, going outside in the forest alone and hunting day in and day out to fill our bellies. Tell us, Miss, surely you don¡¯t intend to take the gem of our village away, do you? ¡°


    Hearing Bosley¡¯s sales pitch Zayn could only roll his eyes before turning to the lady in front of him with a slight blush.


    ¡°U-Um, I don¡¯t know why you came all this way to look for me, but I¡¯m afraid you have wasted your time. M-My grandpa will not allow me to join any mercenary groups .¡± Answered the boy with a slight stutter. Truth be told this wasn¡¯t the first time someone came to recruit new mercenaries.However itdefinitely was the first time anyone came with such an expensive car and asked specifically for someone. It was also the first time someone this pretty arrived in the village. Zayn felt increasingly hot as he stared at the enchanting beauty in front of him, especially when staring at the generous mounds of her chest.


    Ignoring the daydreaming state the boy was in Jenny replied to him :


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the reason why I am here now. This morning we received troubling news regarding master Reynald as such I rushed over as soon as possible to check the situation out in Mayfield. ¡° She took a small break to glance at the young man who was now staring at the ground with a sorrowful expression.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Creasing her brows, she continued


    ¡°I sought out the two hunters who have supposedly found his remains and had them lead me to where they have found him. Regrettably, I have confirmed that the corpse is indeed master Re- ¡±


    ¡°NO! You¡¯re lying! That isn¡¯t my grandpa, my grandpa is great and he¡¯s alive, he¡¯s just taking a little longer that¡¯s all. ¡°


    Before Jenny could even finish her words, Zayn interrupted her and started arguing with her.


    With a short sigh, the woman reached into her blazer and pulled out a rectangle device. Zayn had seen one of those before, and it was called a J-pad.


    ¡°This is a special kind of J-pad, one which all mercenary groups own and comes with an equally special function that allows us to scan people for the M-microchip.¡± Continued the woman


    ¡°M-chip? W-What¡¯s that¡± repeated the boy like a broken record


    Jenny continued thereafter with a more somber tone:


    ¡°When one signs up to be a mercenary they get a microchip implanted into their forearm which can be used to identify them. When I scanned the corpse found by the hunters, it matched master Reynald''s.¡±


    Upon hearing this the boy felt as if an explosion occurred in his head, everything began spinning around him causing him to take a step back and trip over his own feet landing on his butt.


    Trembling all over Zayn did the only thing he could do in this situation, enter in denial.


    ¡°N-No, you¡¯re lying, you have to be lying. PLEASE, tell me you are lying! I need to see him. I don¡¯t believe you. I don¡¯t believe any of you. ¡°


    Seeing the crying child in front of them the adults nearby could only sigh with a downcast look.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Zayn, I know you don¡¯t want to hear this, but it¡¯s the truth. As I said previously the reason I am here is to take you with me. Please come with me into the car, I have something to tell you about your grandpa. After that, you can decide if you wish to remain here or come with me.¡±


    Although unwilling, the boy listened to the woman¡¯s words and got up, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his brown shirt. Following her into the car, he ignored the murmurs around him as well as Bosley¡¯s rambling.


    ¡°Wait for a second Miss, according to the laws you need the approval of the mayor before you can recruit any citi-¡°


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if Zayn wishes to come with me you will be rewarded handsomely¡± Before he could continue trying to spike up the price the lady replied coldly before shutting the door in his face.


    Now inside Zayn could see smooth white leather covers on the seats, sitting on the chair he felt its incredible softness as if he was dipping inside a marshmallow. While he wasexperiencing this newfound sensation, Jenny poured a glass of yellow liquid and offered it to him.


    ¡°Here, drink this, don¡¯t worry it¡¯s good stuff .¡± said the lady trying to convince him to drink


    After hesitating for a second, the boy took the flute-shaped glass in front of him and slowly sipped on its contents before downing it in one go.


    ¡°Another.¡± Ordered the boy expressionlessly


    The woman smiled slightly before pouring him another glass. Nodding slightly to the driver a black glass window erected separating the two from the driver.


    ¡°Alright now we are finally alone, and no one can hear us. The reason I asked you to come inside the car is that what I am about to tell you must not be shared with anyone.¡± Said the black dressed lady


    Reacting to her words Zayn lifted his head to stare into her beautifulamber eyes.


    Seeing that she attracted his attention Jenny continued


    "You were right before. I was lying. The corpse we found did not belong to your grandpa. "


    "W-what?" asked the boy with confusion apparent on his face.


    "I don''t know if you are aware, but master Reynald used to be a mercenary of our Forcier group. The chairman himself was a good friend and a brother in arms of your grandfather.When news of his supposeddeath arrived, the chairman had a few doubts. After I confirmed the corpse did not belong to master Reynald, he shared with me his suspicions. 15 years ago, shortly after you were born, your grandfather came in possession of some troubling pieces of information which would''ve shaken the world of mercenary wars. To make matters worse, he threatened to release them to the public. However, in the process, he made a lot of enemies who wanted to stop him, and as a result, they staged the accident your parents had to silence him.With no other alternative, your grandfather burned all pieces of evidence and fled with you into this small village. You should be aware of what happened nextso I''ll skip straight to the point. The chairman believes these same people who acted against your familyare behind your grandpa''s disappearance and have probably kidnapped him. "


    By this point, Zayn was so shocked his eyes were about to get loose from their orbits.Part of him was in disbelief while the other was astonished.


    "But why did they act now? Why couldn''t they have finished the business 15 years ago rather than drag it until now? And why isn''t your bosshelping him if he is such great friends with grandpa?" replied the boy in confusion


    "That''s because your grandfather used to be something close to a national hero, winning all the battles he has been in as well as an A class genetic.While they could get away with staging an accident to your parents if they dared to have him murdered they would fall under a significant amount of scrutiny and civil unrest. As for the chairman...unfortunately, the people that are against your grandpa wield a greater degree of influence than him, the most he could do was warn him." explained Jenny


    Zayn took a minute to calm down, and organize in his head everything he has heard.Taking steady breaths, he looked at Jenny and said


    "Even so, it makes no sense why would they target grandpa now? and why would they kidnap him ?"


    With a soft sigh, Jenny answered him


    "In the words of the chairman ''Those old fogeys are getting paranoid, these days they are jumping in fright from every shadow.''. "


    Tilting his head the boy signaled he didn''t understand what she meant.


    "Three weeks ago the hacker group ''Hac4'' released some controversial data leaks. Those leaks were awfully similar to the one''s master Reynald had. I suppose they connected 2 and 2 together and believed he was connected with them and as such kidnapped him." said Jenny continuing her explanation.


    "Then what are you doing here? Why aren''t your trying to rescue him?"


    "Haa..if only it was that simple. We got no leads whatsoever, and our informants have yet to report anything useful. I am here because the chairman was concerned, he believed those same people would try to kidnap you too and asked me to bring you to the capital." said the pretty lady in front of him with a slightly defeated tone


    "In the capital? Me?" asked the boy surprised


    "Yes, the chairman wishes for you to join us at our headquarters in Andark, he also expressed his desire for you to become a mercenary," said Jenny with glistering eyes


    "Become a mercenary?" said Zayn in his parrot mode once again


    "Yes, become a mercenary."said Jenny continuing the parrot game


    Seeing the boy''s confused look, she explained to him:


    "Don''t worry you won''t be sent to battles. It''s just that mercenaries enjoy a greater degree of freedom and rights than normal citizens.By becoming a mercenary yourself, the people after your grandpa will think twice before making a move on you. Especially so if you are under mister Forcier''s personal protection."


    "T-that makes sense I suppose" Despite not fully understanding the logic behind it the boy nodded his head in approval


    "Alright then, quickly go gather your belonging and say goodbye to everyone and then we''re off to Andark."


    &&&&