TBATE-PRODIGY

Chapter 104

Elijah Warend POV

The chatter in the tavern was low as people sat in their groups drinking alcohol. I looked around at the faces of the men, seeing the fear and hopelessness plastered all over them. While the morale of some of the troops was low and wasn't improving, there were still those who held strong and wouldn't succumb to despair.

I looked down at the table I was sitting at, staring at the list of names I had written down. Aya had announced she would be putting a strike team together to periodically strike back against the Alacryans. Right now, the council wanted us to mainly focus on defense but also strike back when we could. We wanted to let them know that Darv was not yet conquered and that we wouldn't give up without a fight.

When Aya made the announcement, I was the first to go up to her and volunteer. Aya accepted my help and placed me in charge of gathering people for our strike unit. I made my own announcement that I would be in the tavern, and if they wanted to join, they needed to come and let me know. As of now, I have twenty-nine names written down. With me and Aya, that put us at thirty-one members in total. It wasn't much, but at least it was something at least.

"Is this where I sign up for the strike unit?"

I looked up, noticing a human female about my age with icy blue eyes and blonde hair. She gave off a warm smile as our eyes met.

I smiled back as I gave her a nod, "It is, interested?"

"Yes, sir." She said with a motivating nod.

I gestured to the paper, "Good, go ahead and sign your name on the paper. Make sure you add your elemental affinity and core status."

The female nodded as she took the paper and wrote her information down. I took back the paper, looking at what she had written.

"Emily, water conjurer with ice deviant and light yellow core. Impressive." I said as I looked up before I continued. "Welcome to the strike unit."

The female nodded and smiled, "Thank you, sir."

"Pfft. The *hiccup* strike unit. What a *hiccup* joke."

I looked at the voice and saw Bairon stumbling near the bar with a bottle of alcohol in his hands. His hair was disheveled, and his uniform was covered in dirt, torn, and wrinkled.

"I see you're doing a great job at protecting that bottle. Bairon." I said as I spat his name.

Bairon just glared at me with his bloodshot watery eyes, "W-who *hiccup* are you talking *hiccup* too?"

He began to walk forward when he stumbled and fell face-first to the ground. I sighed as I saw him lying there, struggling to get up.

"There's no *hiccup* use of a strike squad. We've already *hiccup* lost." Bairon said while lying on the ground.

I looked around at the men sitting in the bar and watched as they looked down in dread. Seeing one of their Lances, a spearhead of power in Dicathen, in such a state hurt their morale.

"Not yet. We've only lost once we've given up," Emily said firmly.

I looked at her and smiled, "How right you are. Go ahead and return here in three days at midday. That's when we will discuss our plans and strategy."

Emily nodded as she turned and left the tavern. I picked up the paper, storing it in my dimensional ring before I stood up from the table. I walked over to Bairon, who managed to sit up at this point and lean against the support beam. Bairon's eyes flicked to me as I stared at him with disgust.

"You do know that you sulking here and drowning in alcohol is doing nothing but hurting the men, right? You were once a beacon of hope; now you're nothing but a drunken bag of ass. If you're not going to help, then just leave," I said before I turned to walk out.