Rainer rounded a corner to reveal another side of the wide field surrounding the camp; only this side had more grass, and much more in the area where the riders had massed a distance away.
*Hihinng!*
There was neighing and a groan followed by a metallic thud.
Rainer turned to discover a young soldier on the ground between two horses.
The youth desperately rolled away from the darker of the two horses before it could stamp him into a red paste against the earth. Upon reaching the safety of the second horse, which defended him by stepping forth, he rose to his feet, grabbing the saddle straps.
With a dejected slouch of his shoulders, he sighed and climbed onto his own horse.
Curious, Rainer decided to find out what was going on.
His steps on the grass soon alerted the youth, and immediately, he sucked air into his chest and sat upright before turning to scrutinize Rainer.
Seeing that it wasn't anyone important, the soldier let out the air emphasizing his chest in a long sigh.
Rainer looked up at him with an amused smirk.
"Easy on the air snuffing, eh? Breathing is nice and all but it ain't cannabis."
The youth's brows furrowed slightly.
"Rude servant!" He pompously scolded. "Do you know to whom you speak—"
He suddenly paused and his eyes squinted in recognition.
"Wait... It's you! The daemon!"
The youth soon became excited and he leaned forward in his horse with a smirk.
"You're the reason Lord Praefect has a new nickname!"
Rainer appeared confused as he hadn't heard of this.
"Nickname?"
The soldier nodded enthusiastically.
"A fine one too! Ha! You don't know the effect you are having on his reputation. Tales of the Praefect who enslaved a daemon are spreading!"
He exclaimed, gesturing widely.
"Some of the other cohort Praefects now call him, 'Kyrios Daimon!' I even hear that Legates afar are getting curious!"
Rainer scratched his chin in thought.
'So they call the boss Lord Daemon, eh? Not that I'm surprised. It is a cool nickname, though. He should assign me good loot for this later...'
He soon got distracted by the dark red horse with a dark mane and featherings.
It was a beauty of a horse, lean but muscular in a way that gave one the feeling it had more endurance and explosive strength in every muscle fiber than the average warhorse.
However, Rainer noticed something as it distanced itself to nibble on the grass... The horse was sulking.
"Well, that's fine and all, but what are you doing here? Err..."
Rainer shot a questioning glance at him.
The soldier drew back with a smug smile and his horse did a little prance in response.
"My name is Flavius Decimus Aegyptius! The best eques in the cohort!"
He proudly declared.
"Hm? The best? Really?"
Rainer tilted his head doubtfully.
"That means you must be good with horses, but that one there just tried to crush you like grapes in a winepress."
Flavius reddened faintly in embarrassment but chuckled regardless in good spirits.
"Oh, you saw that?" He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I'm usually great with horses but Redshade is a grieving warhorse."
"Redshade?" Rainer questioned.
Flavius nodded.
"That's the name my previous deputy decurion gave him, but he died a few days ago—was hit in the liver by a javelin during a skirmish..."
He softly noted lowering his head slightly as he glanced at the horse.
"Redshade's a rare Germanic horse, you see. They're clever, passionate, and grieve longer when their rider dies. He's been a real menace since... Unfortunately, I lost a bet and was assigned to care for him."
"Right..."
Rainer took a moment to observe the horse, eyes scanning across its features. Then he nodded to himself and glanced at the soldier.
"It's a good horse."
It was a compliment Rainer genuinely meant, and high praise coming from someone whose standards of horses had risen across many transmigrations.
Rainer observed him in thought.
"Riderless eh?" He muttered, but Flavius heard it and a look of realization flashed across his features.
"Don't try it! Daemon! It will hurt you!"
Flavius warned in alarm.
"Daemon?"
Rainer raised a questioning brow at him and corrected.
"The name's Rainer, Flavius. The esteemed Son of Mars. As for Redshade here..."
He chuckled darkly.
"He's been mourning for too long, it's not good for him. He needs a new rider to move on."
That said, Rainer leisurely approached the horse with a lopsided grin.
Flavius reached toward him.
"No! Stop! He will kill you and then the Praefect will have my head!"
Rainer chuckled, slightly offended by that.
"Kill me? A herbivore? You're kidding right?"
As soon as he got within Redshade's reach the horse's brown eyes glinted sharply as if detecting an enemy, and in an explosive burst of movement that stunned both of them, Redshade turned and kicked Rainer into the air with the back of his hooves, sending Rainer soaring into the air in an arc.
*Bang!*
Rainer crashed against the ground, kicking up a plume of dust.
"Oh, Horus!"
Flavius was horrified, but Redshade neighed loudly in amusement.
*Whihhihhihhin!*
Rainer groaned and picked himself up to his feet, to the astonishment of Flavius and Redshade.
He had stood up too fast!
They thought he had been fatally wounded, and this spooked them both.
Looking back, Rainer had managed to turn around at the last second; as a result, the hooves could only bash against his thick shield. He even did a little jump to mitigate the shock of the impact. That was why he flew so far away.
The only moment that actually hurt was hitting the ground.
Wiping dirt off his dust-smudged face, Rainer grinned darkly.
"Damn, you really are a menace. Unfortunately, that's a cardinal trait I need in my women."
Redshade became alarmed and clenched its cheeks: It was a male horse.
Rainer approached him again, this time with confident strides.
"R-Rainer. I don't think—"
Flavius tried to warn, but Rainer stopped him with the raise of an arm.
"I'll show you how you tame a herbivore, Flavius. Sheer dominance!"
At once, his eyes flashed brightly like a match, and intricate golden patterns formed, producing an incandescent glow that turned his eyes a royal amber.
At once, the air seemed to tremble, becoming thicker, as it felt hard and harder to breathe; even Flavius, who stood behind and was not the focus, was affected by the suffocating pressure.
He clenched his chest as he looked on in disbelief.
"What!? Is this divinity? Co–could he really be the son of Mars?!"
Redshade stood in place as Rainer approached, too proud to step back under the weight of pressure and fear that washed over him.
"Submit to me!"
Rainer ordered hypnotically, a smug smile growing as he reached a hand for his face.
As soon as Rainer's hand reached his face, the pressure vanished and his eyes stopped glowing.
"I will...try to be good to you." He whispered, gently caressing his face.
The horse looked down in resignation, and Rainer's smile became content.
Without preamble, Rainer went forth and mounted the beast.
"That's how you do it, Flavius!"
He gloated, flashing a smile.
Flavius rode toward him looking astounded.
"How did you—"
"I'm not human, Flavius," Rainer interjected. "I thought you all heard by now?"
Flavius was taken aback.
"H-how am I to learn that then?!" He sputtered.
Rainer shrugged.
"It's simple, just employ the 'carrot and stick' technique. This was just my version."
He then let out a depressed sigh.
"Unfortunately, that's the extent of my powers in this body... Exerting cosmic pressure, the range of which depends on the intensity of my emotions."
Flavius was speechless.
Rainer let out a huff and glanced at the riders before his eyes came back to settle on him.
"Say, you said you're the best eques in the cohort, right?"
At this, Flavius grinned, puffing out his chest.
"Exactly! You stand before the future guard captain to the Emperor himself! Flavius Decimus Aegyptius!"
Rainer cocked his head to the side in realization.
'Aegyptius? An Egyptian, then. He's quite the looker too.'
He mused, but Flavius went on, thinking little of Rainer's strange smirk.
"And my proud stead here is called Haboob."
Rainer nodded at the horse, and it neighed back in acknowledgment. He then leaned forward on Redshade, glancing sideways at the female riders in the distance by the forest.
"So, Flavius..."
He turned back to him, a mischievous smile forming on his face.
"Wanna do something fun?"