Struggling not to vomit, he glared at the soldier who hit him.
'No friends found here I see.'
Rising back up, he scooted as far away from the man as he could, the small seat not allowing him much room.
A couple of the other men chuckled, causing Charon to turn red from embarrassment.
'I bet you bastards would be less tough if you knew what my aspect was!'
It had scared both Emerius and Evander, so it had to be something dangerous. Both had been servants of the God of Death and it was still a step too far.
Why it was seen as so reprehensible, Charon had no clue, but he was angry, damnit!
He felt the vehicle race off towards their destination, the military base he assumed. It was moving far faster than was legal, but the army had its own set of laws.
'It's probably deploying all of us to Creed. I can understand why it'd be a bit reckless-'
His thoughts were interrupted as it swerved to the left, jerking him out of his seat. He landed on the metal floor, causing another round of laughter.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his seat and hoisted himself back onto it.
"You know you're only supposed to get injured once we get to the battlefield, right?"
A random soldier jeered.
"Yeah, if you die before we get there, how are you supposed to lead us into glory, Lieutenant?"
The second soldier to speak was sitting across from him, casually relaxing even as the vehicle jerked and jostled back and forth.
"Maybe if he gets wounded, one of us will take his spot! I call dibs!"
A dark-skinned man sitting near the front cackled, delighted in his joke.
Charon tried to ignore them, pointedly looking away from the other men, but that only seemed to rile them up.
"What? Nothing to say? Most officers can't shut up, and here you are, unable to defend yourself? What are you, a pussy?"
'The moment I say anything, it'll just get worse. I know their type.'
Charon had met many men like them on the streets. When he was younger, it was usually the older kids, hoping to entertain themselves by messing with the others.
They'd steal his food, tease him, and if he raised a single fist or word in response, they'd beat him.
He never learned to resist the bait, but given how outnumbered he was, he decided to try his best now, especially if these men would also be fighting in Creed.
'Who knows, maybe they save my ass one day.'
The next bump they hit, Charon managed to stay seated, but that didn't stop the soldiers from taking advantage of the situation.
One of the men sitting on the other side bounced with the vehicle, flying from his seat and angling to smack into Charon.
Not paying attention with his eyes, he must've thought Charon wasn't going to expect the move, but his Soul Sense had caught him the moment he moved.
Leaning forward and falling from his seat, the man flew over his head, smacking into the steel exterior. A sickening crunch sounded, followed by a scream of pain.
Within a second, the man sitting next to Charon grabbed his comrade, yanking him away from the wall.
"Jameson! Get over here and heal Reeves!"
Without any hesitation, another man, Jameson, leaped up and kneeled next to the wounded soldier, Reeves.
His shoulder was twisted at an odd angle, blood seeping into his fatigues.
Charon moved to the side to give the soldiers some space, and to avoid any kind of repercussions, unsure if he would be blamed.
'Serves that bastard right! He could've cracked my skull if he hit me at that speed!"
His anger shifted to wonder as a yellow glow emanated from Jameson's hands, which were pressed onto Reeves's shoulder. With a grunt of pain, the wounded man wrenched his arm away, his shoulder snapping back into place.
'That must be Life magic! That guy is worth a fortune!'
Good healers were worth their weight in gold, if not more. Most restoration abilities came from the God of Life, who was notoriously stingy about granting powerful abilities.
Unlike the healer in his trial, who used a crystal as a conduit for her power, Jameson was able to heal just from contact, which made him incredibly useful as a combat medic, a trait Charon instantly noticed.
'I hope my unit has one of those. I'd feel far safer knowing any wounds I sustained could be healed in seconds.'
He had been hurt in both battles he had fought and was already sustaining damage just being transported to his next. With the way things were going, he might need to hire his own permanent healer.
The man who had called Jameson over shoved Reeves off him, his body falling to the ground with a thud.
"That was a stupid thing to do, shithead. Get back to your seat and try not to waste your medics mana anymore."
Reeves rose, muttering a quiet "yes sir" before returning to his seat.
The medic, Jameson, said nothing, returning to his seat and flopping into it, wiping sweat off his forehead.
'So that must be the trade-off for his powerful ability, it takes a lot out of him.'
Seeing that his seat was once again empty, he slowly stood and sat back down, glancing at all the faces staring at him.
To his surprise, no one attacked him in retaliation, not even another elbow from his neighbor. Most of them just met his eyes, daring him to try anything.
A man next to him suddenly spoke, his voice teasing.
"Well done, Lieutenant. You caused your first casualty of war. Keep that going and you may kill someone before this war is over."
Sensing less hostility, Charon decided to risk a response, hoping to feign strength.
"It wouldn't be my first time killing. Maybe this time they will give me a challenge."
If most of the heads were turned towards him before he spoke, now all of them were, glancing with a mixture of disbelief and suspicion.
The dark-skinned man snorted.
"Yeah, sure it is. I bet you killed all sorts of monsters. Lieutenant Dragon Slayer, that's what they call you, right?"
Charon shook his head.
"Not dragons. Blood Soldiers and Blood Spawn. Maybe half a dozen of the first, and a dozen of the latter."
Reeves, looking far less embarrassed now that the attention was elsewhere, rejoined the conversation.
"Oh yeah? And when exactly did you have the time to go on your crusade against the Blood God?"
Suppressing his anger, Charon responded as matter-of-factly as he could manage.
"During my trial, of course. I fought alongside the Army of Death as we took over a fortress a Blood Mage had claimed."
The mention of the word trial silenced the other soldiers, leaving an unease hanging in the air.
'Did I overdo it? Did Evander and the nurse not tell me something important about trials? Crap, I hope I didn't mess this up.'
Struggling to think of a way to back peddle his claims, he was saved the hassle by Jameson.
"You had a trial as well?"
Looking at the unit's medic, Charon nodded, hoping to not dig his hole any deeper. Jameson, in response, frowned.
"If yours involved a battle, it must've been a tough one. Mine had me sneaking through a cave system while avoiding spiders."
Charon thought he saw Jameson shudder, but it could have just been the movement of the vehicle.
"Must've been a difficult trial to earn a healing ability like that."
He didn't know how exactly the trial rewards worked, but surely it had to be tough for a healing power that didn't need resources.
"It was. The God of Life is a merciful god, but her tests are never easy. I pray my second one isn't as dire. How was yours?"
The other soldiers stayed quiet, holding a strange respect for their conversation.
"Hard. I woke up in the middle of a battlefield, men and fire flying everywhere. Hell, when I was fighting my first enemy I didn't even have a weapon. Had to pull one out of the mud."
Jameson gave him a small smile.
"It's good you survived that. Not many would have. Maybe you have more experience than your file claimed."
Charon cocked his head, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
"File? What file?"
The man sitting next to Charon pulled a folder from under his chair, slapping it down on his lap with a grin.
"This file."
Picking it up, Charon flipped it open to see that only a single sheet of paper was inside. All it said was his name, age, military rank, and that he was an orphan from Earth.
Nothing else.
'They didn't even update it with my trial! Of course these guys are being jerks, they think I'm some random kid!'