The Magician of Sound

Before going with Marsha, Kai asked them to find an area where they could use their full prowess. Although the plan was carefully laid out, he might not be able to assist them in the battle. 

The reserve position, which was not far behind the middle army, allowed him to observe the entire battlefield with his own hand. Considering his presence in this place was a strategist instead of fighter or commander, Michelle and Tasha had no qualms and let him go. On the other hand, Evan and Sanae were busy discussing their positioning since they would have the most brutal fight. 

After instructing what they needed to do, he walked outside the base and found Marsha right in front of the exit. 

Marsha was looking at the sky when Kai exited the base. This base would soon become chaotic, and many soldiers would die. Hearing the clicking sound of the door, she turned around and smiled. "Have you finished your business?" 

"Yes." He looked at Marsha and took the opportunity to ask, "Where will we go first?"'

The question made her chuckle as she pointed her finger at him. "Though you might not have the authority, you can be considered as the boss in this battle just like your original mission. In other words, I will be your subordinate in this battle, so you can choose where you want to go. Or are you bothered by Sarah's response?" 

"No. I mean, I am just a student while you are elites."

"You are off the mark there." She raised her palm, making a stop sign. "What differentiates you and an elite like me?"

Kai looked down, pondered for a moment and shook his head. "I don't know."

"It's experience." She crossed her arms, ready to give a little lecture. "This is the biggest misconception students have. We, elites, actually don't have anything special other than our experiences. Just like a normal school, they cram all the knowledge into you and throw you out after you graduate.

"Whether it is a normal job or soldier job, it is the same. You apply everything you learn in the school, learn what you can or can't do, and get experience. After several years doing such a job, you would be skilled in doing that particular job and so on. 

"It's not like we are stronger than you in terms of magic power, and talent. In fact, we are the same. It's just because we have been fighting for so many years that we can use our power more skillfully, know when to act, where to strike or how to attack, can we finally be a little different from you?

"Remember when General Sanders called you a good strategist in a tabletop battle, not in the real battlefield? You possess a little experience on the battlefield. How can you know the soldiers will follow your order to the death? How can you know the soldiers would not run in the face of death? Even General Sanders did not know it, but with the experience he has, he could somehow predict it more accurately than you."

"So, don't be complacent about what you have and learn everything you can. Eventually, you will become an elite like us." She had talked too long and decided to end it with advice.

Kai looked down, pondering her words for one minute before smiling at her. "Thank you."

"Sure. So, where are we going, little strategist?"

"Right Army, Middle Army, Left Army and then Reserve Army."

"Sure." She nodded, clapped her hand, and made a green magic circle, boosting them to the air.

Kai was startled, not expecting that the wind could carry him. This never happened when he was with Sanae, so he deliberately thought it was not possible.

"It took me a few years to master my magic control, so I can carry you like this, which is another example of how useful experience is."

Kai nodded, not knowing why but thinking about Commander Jack. If he were here, he would surely say, 'As expected of an old hag, she loves to boast her age(experience).' and get thrown away once again.

As if she had an instinct in that sensitive topic, she turned to him and said with a serious expression. "One more piece of advice, just don't be like that guy, Jack, who has no courtesy. Be a man that can be polite and respect others, okay?"

"..." Kai chuckled and nodded.

She then clapped her hand to produce a forward movement at the speed of a normal person's running speed.

It only took them a few minutes before they could see a huge wheat field with an army camp in the center. They did not land per Kai's request as his purpose was to observe the terrain, albeit they decided to walk around the camp for a few minutes because of Marsha's urging. Her reason was to get him accustomed to the people on the battlefield and know the atmosphere around them, whether it was anxiety or full of fighting spirit.

The soldiers were pretty energetic. Kai knew the reason as the female soldiers idolized her, and the male soldiers were feasting their eyes with her appearance. It could be said the most popular person in this base was her, and sometimes people called her the mother of the base as she often took care of them. Unfortunately, Kai never cared about it and just let her do her own thing.

Noticing the bored look on Kai's face, she shook her head helplessly and walked toward him. The curious gazes from the soldiers made Kai walk even further. 

"Sorry, we will talk again tonight. Do your job first, and shall someone not finish their work, you know what will happen."

Something beyond his imagination happened as soon as the soldiers heard her order, despite not giving it in a strict way. All soldiers instantly straightened their back and saluted. "Yes, Ma'am."

Then, they dismissed themselves and began working their jobs. Kai could not comprehend what just happened and stared at Marsha for a few seconds.

"You should join me earlier. They are good boys and girls."

He carefully examined the soldiers and shook his head. "It's impossible. Even after you said all of that, I am still a student. If they know their lives are in the hand of a random student, they will cause a ruckus. This must be the reason why General Sanders does not appoint me as an official."

"Sigh..." She clapped her hand and carried him again to the sky without replying to his statement. 

They continued their journey to the middle army. Though their discipline was not comparable to those in the right army, the soldiers looked very powerful. According to Marsha, they were Jack's personal soldiers, muscle brain type soldiers. In fact, most of the fighters in this base were under Jack. Only because they were stationed with Marsha or Sarah, they slowly thought of things other than fighting.

Jack assured Kai that they would surely position themselves in the best spot after looking at how the magical beasts marched. Idiotic as he may be, Jack was by no means a fool. Even Marsha acknowledged his eyes on the battlefield.

Kai felt relieved knowing his sister and Michelle were in good hands. As long as he was not a fool that only knew how to charge, it was fine.

After talking for a few minutes with Michelle and Tasha, Kai continued to the left army and met Sarah. Unfortunately, she did not say anything to him and only focused on her own job. She ignored even Sanae and Evan as she said, "You do you, I do me."

In the end, Marsha could only apologize for her attitude. Sarah had conveyed her intention clear, telling them that she only would talk to the strong. Though Kai showed his strategical prowess, she had yet to see his other ability.

He decided to ignore her and checked the actual terrain himself. The hill was steep and would be deadly to Magical Beasts if used correctly. 

Marsha agreed with him and told Sarah about it, since she did not ignore her. 

Then, he finally went to the last army, the reserve, which was commanded by General Sanders himself.

"Oh, you are finally here." Sanders put down the matter on hand and walked to him before signaling Marsha to go back to her army.

"Do you need something from me, General?"

"How is our terrain? What feeling do you have after observing my soldiers?"

"The terrain can be used to destroy the magical beasts if used in the right way. As for the soldiers... I only know their fighting spirit is high." Kai crossed his arms and used his hand to support his chin.

"It's good enough for now. From what my old man said, you don't want to serve the army very long, right?"

"Yes." He answered, embarrassed.

"Haha... you don't need to feel that way. There are many people like you since we have no obligation to fight. I just want you to promise me not to rest your weapon even if you are not in the front line anymore. We don't know if civilization will be overturned once again."

"Yes."

"Good then. I will explain the situation around the base. Firstly, our soldiers..." The commander continued explaining to him the general situation before noticing Kai's abnormal expression. "Kai? Kai Carter?"

It was at this time, Kai heard something he would never expect.

"Lkhfkdit."

"Shkla ktha muoa."

"Theoi."

Kai froze upon hearing this conversation, and his muscle tensed abruptly. One of them had a frequency of a dolphin sound while the other one had a frequency close to a human's voice. Those two voices came from their north, and most importantly, it was coming from above the sea.

"Kh." He knew nothing about this language and even wondered whether this was a human language or not.