Jeff's eyes widened. The current distribution of forces wasn't random. This wasn't a fairy tale. There was no reason for the attackers to deliberately hamper themselves and not attack the weaker forces with stronger.
After all, they weren't the nobles in the situation. Honor? Rules of engagement? What was honor to a bunch of thieves? What worth was honor to a group of rebels? No, the real reason that their forces were distributed as such was much more practical.
The Baron was an outstanding warrior. In fact, it was rumored that he was at the precipice of attaining that legendary rank 2 ranks above awakened.
Jeff didn't even qualify to know what the rank above awakened was called. But he knew that they were absolute monsters.
In fact, it was said, he was able to touch that boundary briefly. If it was true, then the man alone could stream roll entire armies of awakened. That was how big the gulf was.
However, doing such would weaken him for a while, as it was just the same as overdrawing himself. He would need his rest. There was also the information that he would need a long time before he could do it again.
How long no one knew. It was a highly guarded secret. In fact the nature of the power of the Baron himself was a tightly guarded secret by the kingdom.
He was treated as a strategic weapon. To that end, he was forbidden from unleashing all of his power by the royal family. Only when it was really needed by the kingdom was he allowed to do so.
However, if his children were in danger, attacked by a power that was beyond their own, who could blame a parent for stepping in? But there was a caveat here. The Albrechts, the brightness of nobility.
They were supposed to exemplify nobility. In fact, that was part of the reason that the movement never got entangled with them and hated them. They were literally the embodiment of what they fought against, but they also didn't have many of the vices that were the lynchpins of the argument against nobility.
To Jeff, their state didn't matter. Their enemies didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were nobles. And nobles were the vile scourge of the earth.
They couldn't even be used for the cause. Because while other nobles could turn traitor. The Albrechts? Never. They were too… noble.
That's why none of the older True Albrechts would ever deign to attack a weaker force, especially if the force had taken the care to separate their forces like this.
If the melee had been chaotic, as would have been the case had the Bright Baron not been there, the situation would have been different. But it was not.
And so the Brights were bound to their honor. They would humor their opponents and keep to the unspoken rules of engagement.
But even they had their limits. So, there was an unspoken rule on the battlefield whenever the Bright Baron fought with his family. Strong against strong weak against weak. That was the honor of the Albrechts.
That was how ridiculous the power of Baron Albrecht was. His mere presence dictated the flow of the battle.
This honor was so important to the Baron in fact, that he also prevented his own soldiers from going against their weaker opponents.
However, it didn't mean one would spare them if a weakling was foolish enough to try to punch above their weight class. And a lot of the weaklings had attacked young Irik.
Suddenly, a carp had transformed into a dragon, right in the middle of the kiddie pool. Obviously he was going to wreak havoc. Also, who was to say he was even aware of the unspoken rules?
However this also led to a brand new Awakened, one who had not settled yet. Awakening was an important process, and it often happened in protected places.
This was because, when one was breaking through any rank, they were in a state where their power was in flux. If one knew what to do, one could take advantage of this.
In fact it was illegal and immoral to do so. It was also a horrible thing to do. After all most times, this act left the awakened crippled, or even outright killed them.
Because the core of the awakener was agitated, for the duration of the breakthrough and a little while after, the core would be much more tangible. It would be easier to locate, damage, or most importantly siphon.
A breakthrough, ironically, was the best, if not the only time one could steal the talent of others, and usurp it to either refine, or replace one's own.
A glint of greed flashed in Jeff's eyes.
"What's his state?" he asked liking his lips
"He's been poisoned by the Little Snake Big Boss." Roach answered, excited. The Big boss seemed satisfied. That meant rewards.
He didn't know why he looked so worked up though.
"He seems to have some hallucinogens in his body. He kept screaming no and mumbling to himself. However he does have some awareness of his environment. Some idiots tried to attack him. He killed them all like they were jokes."
Jeff scoffed "Of course he would. He's an awakened like me. You can't imagine what it feels like, but his senses and reactions are way above yours. For him, that was the equivalent of reflexively squashing a mosquito."
Roach's eye widened and glistened, like he had stars in his eyes and looked at Jeff with worship in his eyes.
"Does that mean that you can also do that? You sure are awesome!"
Jeff chuckled. "No need to kiss my ass so thoroughly. You've done well, you're one of my people from now on."
Jeff fished around inside his robe and threw two items at Roach.
"One of those is a token showing that you are affiliated with me, and my guys. The other is a copy of my Martial Technique. That's a genuine Baron-Level technique."
"Boss I can't- this…. this is too precious." Roach protested, but he was already packing his rewards away.
"Little rascal!" Jeff chuckled "Its something that I give to all of the guys who do well. Sadly, none of the little pieces of scum has managed to break through yet. This is the reward you deserve. You have truly brought me a boon."
"Awww thanks boss" Roach said, grinning like a fool.
"And now, lead me to the little monster, and then bugger off. You have done enough on this battlefield."