Making my way to his father or some other member of the Vesnius dynasty that had the cash would be a side quest of its own. I wanted to be involved in the world. This was a great start to the game. I accepted the note. He got to take the warhorse after I signed it over. As the victor, I was able to meet the nobles of the city in the ball thrown at the keep. I was the guest of honor. There were several noble ladies there to talk with. I knew better than to get involved with any of them when I had nothing to my name yet. I was soon getting there. I was a veteran on the battlefield. I was also a tournament champion of the region. Several of the younger noble men came up to hear my story of the battle we came from. Lucius was also at the party. The older nobles gave me backhanded compliments and subtly reminded me of my place. We did not stay in Besontio City for much longer. He had gotten the supplies he needed and some additional men. It was time to move on. This time, he would meet up with his elder brother's army. They would combine forces for another go at the Western Empire.
Now that I had my promotion to a rank 2 troop, the squad serving under me was replenished. The 3 that were in the first battle did not rank up, so all 10 men were simple peasant recruits. We moved south from Besontio City to the city of Carmo. Once we met up, we went west to cross the border back into the Western Empire for the war. I was ready. Lars Vesnius Protacius was a bit more aggressive. He sacked several towns and villages. Lucius took a backseat to his brother. When we were stopped by an army, we crushed it with just Lar's troops. It was my second battle in this army. I had enough exp. and kills from the first battle to rank up twice. Apparently, you can only go up one rank at a time. Even though we did not see any combat at the back of the infantry charge, I was still promoted again. This made me a rank 3 troop. I was now an Imperial Trained Infantryman. I got a metal helmet, a better sword, a slightly thicker shield and leather spaulders for my shoulders. It was a pretty sweet upgrade in my opinion. That victory allowed us to get even further in the territory. It was now go time.
On the way to siege the nearest castle, we were attacked by yet another army led by a noble. We were outnumbered again. They had excellent cavalry and archers. We had a pretty comparable infantry, but we were softened up by cavalry charges and a hailstorm of arrows. When the higher tiered men in front of us were downed, I made sure my guys picked up the picks and spears. It was time to put them to use. I had taught them the strategy while he were on the march. When the horsemen charged at us, I counted them down. On my mark, we all jumped and stabbed with the spears we had equipped. The force from our combined thrusts and their charges dismounted them. We made sure to kill them if they did not die from the initial strike. There were dozens of them. A couple of our men went down, but we got 4 cavalrymen out of the fight. They made 5 other charges before their captain told them to quit it. Each time they came at us, we would take out at least 3 of them. There were 5 of my men left. I think we did a good job. Their infantry was sent over to us. Our archers lit them all up.
