I sat on the rock, fully healed, staring blankly at the moon. It was full tonight, shining brightly down on me, a stark contrast to how I felt inside.

  "I see you're feeling... sad." Deryk, without his usual cheerful expression, sat down carefully next to me.

  "...They died because of me," I replied quietly, keeping my head down.

  After all, I had broken a direct order from Brigadier General Lily and acted on my own. Then I had been stupid enough to lead my troops straight into a trap the Imperials had prepared. No matter how I looked at it, it was all my fault.

  Deryk stayed silent beside me as we both stared at the moon for a long time. Around us, soldiers and officers worked busily, but nobody bothered us.

  "I understand why you're feeling this way," Deryk finally broke the silence, his voice soft. "And I'm not going to say anything fancy to make you feel better."

  He paused, then placed his hand on my head and patted it gently.

  "But you need to stop shouldering all the responsibility. Yes, you're an officer leading troops into battle. But..." He looked me in the eye. "Before all that, you're just a girl. A child, even. It's our fault you're in this situation. I'm not saying you're incapable because you're young. I'm saying we put too much faith in you. We trusted you with a burden you shouldn't have had to carry alone."

  I couldn't say anything. I couldn't tell him I was actually reincarnated from a different world. That I'd been a fully grown man before all this. That I had the mind to think properly, to know better. The words caught in my throat.

  "Aria—"

  He started to say something, but before he could finish, a messenger suddenly appeared.

  "First Lieutenant Aria!" The messenger handed me a letter. "You're summoned to General Cedric's meeting. It starts in ten minutes!"

  "Yes..." I answered weakly as the messenger ran off. I turned to Deryk. "Sorry, but I guess we'll talk about this later."

  Deryk simply nodded and walked away toward one of the campfires, where mages in robes like his were gathered. I turned in the opposite direction and headed for the command tent, saluting the officers who were already there.

  "First Lieutenant Aria, reporting as ordered," I said in a formal tone, trying my best not to show any expression.

  "I see you're here," General Cedric nodded with a slight smile. "Then let us begin the meeting."

  Everyone in the tent nodded and turned serious.

  "Currently," Colonel Devon said, pointing toward the pieces representing the enemy forces, "the Imperials have been reckless, charging toward us like beasts. They've managed to enter the Forest of Jade, but their supplies won't last much longer."

  "So in other words," Colonel Cameron, the mage who always looked like a bear, grunted, "it would be wise to cut their supply lines and let nature take its course."

  "Correct," Devon agreed. "However, the problem is the enemy commander, Major General Caelen, who is a Wild Magic user. From what we've gathered, his Wild Magic has something to do with combat. He seems to grow stronger the longer he fights."

  "Then we need to finish him quickly in short battles," Brigadier General Lily concluded. "While another group attacks their rear to destroy their supplies."

  The other officers nodded as they seemed to remember Caelen and how he fought. I had never seen Caelen, but from what I gathered, he was pretty strong. As everybody was thinking who would be facing Caelen, Cedric suddenly looked at me.

  "And we have the perfect soldier to kill Major General Caelen," Cedric smiled at me. "First Lieutenant Aria, will you lead 2,000 troops to eliminate him and his special unit, the Iron Fist?"

  "I-I..." I stammered, then fell silent at the thought of leading more troops. The memories of the fire were still fresh in my mind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open my mouth.

  "But will she be able to handle them?" Cameron beat me to it, gripping his staff thoughtfully. "I mean, we saw how well-trained the Iron Fist are. Wouldn't she be facing 101 enemies practically on her own?"

  "You don't need to worry about that," Devon said, stepping back to reveal something covered in fabric. When he pulled the fabric away, it revealed armor, but there was something unusual about it.

  "The Research Division sent us samples of their latest work," Devon explained, holding up a crystal in a small white glass tube. He inserted it into the armor like a battery slot. "The Mana-Powered Armor, MPA Type 63."

  ...I had never heard of that before. The world was fantasy, but now it seemed to have some steampunk elements mixed in. As I was processing this, Lily raised an eyebrow.

  "Isn't it... inefficient? It's slow, and most importantly, it only lasts an hour per mana crystal."

  "And it can't cast any magic," Cameron added.

  "This one is different," Cedric said, beckoning me forward.

  I complied, feeling somewhat lightheaded, still numb from everything. The next thing I knew, I was wearing the heavy armor, which weighed far more than anything I had worn before.

  "This model focuses on both agility and strength." Cedric’s voices echoed somewhere from my left, and I felt something coming to life as the armor changed.

  Suddenly, I felt light, powerful, like I could lift something impossibly heavy. If I could lift a car before, now I could probably lift a truck.

  "There are one hundred of them," Cedric smiled. "One hundred MPA units against the one hundred Iron Fist."

  The entire command room buzzed with excitement as they watched me in the MPA. But I felt empty inside.

  I still hadn't decided if I could lead another group of troops into battle. The faces of the dead flashed through my mind; Elion, Austin, Rowen, Windson. All those names Deryk had read. All those scorched tags in that metal box.

  Could I really do this again? Could I give another order that might send more people to their deaths?

  Then Cedric leaned in and whispered something in my ear.

  "Aria, you don't need to dwell on the past. I won't say anything trite like 'failure is the mother of success.' But..." He gently took my hand. "Try to learn from your mistakes so you can save more lives next time."

  Save more lives.

  The words echoed in my head.

  It was strange, really. I had never thought twice about taking enemy lives when I saw them as nothing but obstacles. But now, after losing people close to me, people who had trusted me, followed me, died for me, the weight of that guilt pressed down on me like I was drowning.

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  My chest felt tight. My hands trembled inside the armor's gauntlets.

  But somewhere deep in my heart, beneath all the pain and guilt, I knew I couldn't keep grieving forever. Ever since I had decided to properly train with Instructor Demo, I had made a promise to myself: I would survive. And if possible, I would save the people close to me.

  If I stayed stuck in the past, grieving for what I had lost, I wouldn't save anyone. I would only lose more. I couldn't let that happen again.

  I wouldn't let that happen again.

  "I-I'll go," I said, my voice barely steady.

  It was a good thing I was wearing the armor. Nobody could see the single tear that slipped down my cheek as I made my decision.

  [(0)]

  The entire Imperial army stood facing the 9th Corps, who waited for them in the Forest of Jade. Major General Caelen, or more likely, Colonel Aylsia, had decided they would advance as one unified force. The forest would disorganize their ranks otherwise.

  The 9th Corps, however, had split themselves again like they had at the Plain of Imoras: General Cedric commanded the center, with Brigadier General Lily and Major General Claudius holding the left and right flanks.

  But this time, at the very front of the center stood a girl in extremely heavy armor. Around her, 100 soldiers wore identical suits, weapons drawn and ready.

  The Imperials stood ready as well. Caelen and his special unit, the Iron Fist, took position at the front. Then the war horns blew, and both sides advanced.

  "FOR THE EMPIRE!" Caelen roared as he charged forward. Behind him, 35,000 soldiers surged ahead, shouting, "For the Empire!"

  The 9th Corps, in response, did nothing. They didn't shoot arrows or launch magical spells. Instead, they waited as the second war horn sounded.

  Immediately, their ranks shifted. Soldiers parted to let cavalry through, then turned to face outward. Now, 5,000 cavalry, led by Colonel Cameron, the leader of the mage division, himself, stood at the front.

  "WELL!" Colonel Cameron bellowed. "Let's show them how scary mages can be in close combat!"

  The cavalry roared in response. However, none of them charge forward. Behind them, mages began casting Snipe Spells. Magical circles appeared overhead, and magic missiles began raining down on the Imperial forces.

  "What?" Caelen was shocked, instead of targeting him, they were aiming at his soldiers as far back as possible. "Is this a joke?!"

  His question went unanswered as the girl, Aria, charged forward with 2,000 soldiers right behind her. Together, they crashed into Caelen and his Iron Fist.

  The Battle of the Forest of Jade had begun.

  [(0)]

  If there was a review system for whoever designed this MPA armor, I would give them one star out of five and write that they were absolute trash.

  To start, this piece of armor was nothing but dead weight, except when activated with mana crystals. Basically powerful batteries made from compressed mana, a refined version of materials called mana rocks. But even with them, this thing only lasted one hour per crystal.

  Worse, the whole system shut down after taking certain hits. If I got pierced by a spear, for example, the armor plating would hold, but the enchantments would fail completely. And then I would just be stuck with extremely heavy metal weighing me down.

  "Ma'am!" A voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to see my new temporary aide, a young woman named Nora, who was also cold faced, running toward me. She was also wearing MPA armor. "Colonel Cameron ordered us to charge forward!"

  "Alright." I smiled slightly, not because I was confident, but because I was relieved someone else was making the decisions. "Tell the force to advance."

  I drew my sword and readied the MPA armor. Activation was simple, just one click of a button. But we had to be careful. We only had three mana crystals each. I felt some kind of warm flow through the entire armor as it softly hummed to life. Immediately, I felt lighter.

  "CHARGE!" I shouted and ran forward.

  Even with my superhuman strength, the armor somehow made me feel even stronger, at least the damn thing did something right.

  The soldiers behind me roared and surged forward. Ahead, the Imperials charged toward us. I immediately locked eyes on one person: the man himself, Major General Caelen.

  He was a man in his forties, maybe, with iron knuckles on his fists. Beside him ran a blue-haired woman, Colonel Aylsia. I recognized them from General Cedric's briefing.

  Major General Caelen is a hot-blooded fighter. Cedric's words echoed in my head as I continued charging, sword drawn and ready to swing. Use that against him. Never fight him and Colonel Aylsia at the same time.

  "HAHAHA!" Caelen laughed when he was only a few feet away. "Is this all they throw at me? A girl who wears—"

  I didn't let him finish. I took a sharp breath and slashed at Caelen. He grinned and punched in return. Blade met metal with a loud CLANG that echoed around us. Caelen's laugh cut off, replaced by shock. He seemed surprised I was still standing. I, however, could barely keep my arm steady. Vibrations ran through my entire body. God, that strike hurt. Maybe even worse than Instructor Demo's hits.

  "You're still alive?" Caelen’s grin returned as the forces around us crashed together.

  I didn't answer. Instead, I saw a soldier from the Iron Fist charging at me, wearing metal knuckles like Caelen. Rather than blocking, I let him come. I watched his fist fly toward my face.

  I dodged sideways at superspeed. I could see his face turn to shock as I ducked under his guard and stabbed upward into his head.

  His skull split and he collapsed. I sidestepped to avoid getting crushed by his falling body.

  "HAHAHA!" Caelen laughed louder. "You're good! And that means you're mine!"

  "Sir!" Just as he was about to charge forward, Aylsia shouted, drawing her rapier as she stepped closer with the other Iron Fist soldiers. "She's clearly dangerous! We need to work toget—"

  "What's wrong?" I taunted Caelen, gesturing him forward. "Too chicken to come alone?"

  Yes, that was the best insult I could manage. Reason one: I was too busy checking my surroundings to think of anything clever. Reason two: I had never been good at insults beyond basic cursing.

  But it seemed to work. Caelen's face turned red. His knuckles literally cracked as he swapped them out for a fresh pair.

  "She's mine," Caelen growled, stepping forward. "Nobody touches her."

  Aylsia tried to say something, but Caelen ignored her completely as he charged at me. I braced myself, remembering the crushing force behind his earlier attacks and trying desperately to maintain some distance between us.

  He didn’t allow it. His body moved forward with terrifying speed, his kick forcing me to raise my sword in defense. The impact slammed into me as I managed to block it, but only barely. Even then, the force behind it was greater than before.

  “You can block that?!” Caelen shouted, his voice filled with joy as he stepped back into his stance. “Good! Try this!”

  I had almost no time to react before his fist shot toward me, faster than before. I twisted aside, but not completely as his knuckles crashed into the left shoulder of my armor. A violent pressure exploded through me, and I heard the metal crack under the strain.

  Almost immediately, the MPA began draining its remaining power to compensate for the damage. I knew what that meant. I wouldn’t be able to endure this for long.

  Without hesitation, I activated the emergency escape. The back of the armor split open just as Caelen’s next strike pierced straight through the chest plate, tearing through it as though it were nothing.

  “I forgot you have Wild Magic,” I muttered as I stumbled free of the ruined armor. Caelen only grinned wider.

  “HAHA! It’s a shame you don’t!” He suddenly leapt upward, reaching an impossible height. “Because it would have been more epic!”

  I threw myself sideways a split second before he crashed into the ground where I had stood. A massive cloud of dust erupted from the impact, obscuring everything. Using my ears, I focused on the sound of his movement, and raised my sword just in time to block his charge.

  The collision rang through my arms. Then the blade shattered. Fragments scattered across the ground as I ducked beneath the remaining force of his swing.

  “This is getting exciting!” Caelen’s maddened laughter echoed through the dust-filled air.

  Dropping low, I pressed one hand to the ground and twisted, using the momentum to drive a kick toward him. Then his hand clamped around my foot.

  The pressure that followed was unbearable. I felt the bones give way beneath his grip, and it took every ounce of control not to scream. Using the last of my strength, I forced myself backward, wrenching my leg free as I leapt away. I landed unevenly on one foot, the other hanging uselessly beneath me.

  There was no time to hesitate.

  I uncorked a healing potion and poured it over the injury, letting the liquid run down over the damage. It looked convincing enough. But it was only water.

  Cedric had warned me never to reveal that I was a homunculus, and that meant I had to maintain the lie, even now.

  We managed to hide your regenerative abilities through bandages. Cedric’s words once again echoed inside my head. But be careful since no help will come.

  “I suppose you could at least tell me what your Wild Magic is?” I asked, tossing the empty bottle aside as I drew my two daggers.

  Caelen raised his fist again, his grin widening.

  “No.”