With that Chase, still looking at the man with an annoyed expression, replied: "why would i care what you think? Who do you think you are?"
"Alright already" the mysterious man finally chimed in, tired of the drama. "We're all sorry. Now let's put our things" mostly referring to Chase, everyone else already had everything.
all he had was some armor and a sword over his standard issue robe giving by the holy church. Once those were on the headed out to the tent where they would begin planning.
"Who is the person giving us the mission?" "you might have heard of them" said the mysterious man.
once they got to the destination and opened the curtains Chase saw a familiar face. looking back at him was Noah
"I apologize for waking you at this hour but I had no other options. It was either this or we fight tomorrow with no clear strategy for survival."
Chase shrugged, then he realized this was the perfect chance to capitalize. "if you buy me a strong drink when all this is over I'll forgive you." he smiled tilting his head and raising eyebrows.
Noah sighed, putting his hand over his eyes and bringing it down his face "fine"
"Your a good man"
Intending to end this, Noah began naming the men under his orders.
Looking at the pretty boy first, he pointed "Andrew Thomas" His name made him sound like he was some posh noble of this time period. It would make sense he looked like his job was laying on a bed and applying makeup to his face.
Andrew nodded, and with they he looked to the far left and saw a physique not too far from his own. "Damian Whitlock" the man nodded then everyone turned to look at the mysterious man. His face was always in a mask and they were curious to his identity.
however Noah was more curious as to the name of the man he was buying a drink for.
Pointing to Chase he said "who are you by the way? I should've asked before."
"Chase. Chase Withers." 'I am curious though. Who was this guy? What was his name? Were there friends that he spoke to before the draft?' Chase had to go back to where he was first reincarnated to get answers from locals.
" I'm Donovan fletcher but please, just call me Donny." He knew what they were waiting for and decided to tell them himself.
with that he took off his mask and and the hood covering his head. dark skinned man with one eye fully white and a head full of hair with short curls. He was actually a good looking guy.
And now Chase wished he hadn't taken the mask off at all. Of course the mysterious guy in a mask who doesn't talk much just had to be a looker. if he was in his high school where masks were prohibited, he'd immediately be branded a popular loner just because of the girls.
"Now that we're all aquatinted, here is the plan. we know that while we fight, the demon kings forces usually lose pretty badly. That is because some of their troops immediately run into the forest. and it's not like they're retreating. when locals first reported sightings of the demon kings forces, they also noticed that it seemed like they were after something in it."
Noah then reached behind himself and brought out a rather large pouch, placing it on the table in front of him. "5 of our men died to one of these after chasing behind some of the enemy forces." then he pulled out the head of what looked to be a wooden golem, only shrunken down to the size of a human.
it had a crazed smile on its face, with missing teeth somehow, as well as empty eye sockets.
it looked downright unsettling.
"What the hell" Damian couldn't contain his shock and reeled back a bit. even the always nonchalant Donny had his eyebrows raised.
Andrew looked downright vigilant, as if a fight was already about to take place.
Chase looked terrified. Reminded him of that forest in his dreams. Images of it kept playing in his head as he noticed its similarities to that thing.
"Settle down" Noah assured them. "The people who lost were mundane humans. but the forest could have way more dangerous things out there. As such, you will lead the charge, backed by 15 other people. all are rank one.
this is a very important mission. While you all are doing this, me and every other professor will be leading the charge against the enemy, hoping to pressure them and destroy their objective. Whatever they are after, it can't be good. Once you find any hit of it, destroy it. Burn the forest down if you need to."
"I certainly will" said Damian. "None of THAT will be left" he said, dramatically pointing at the dead creature.
with that the squad went outside to see the people they would be leading into the forest.
as Chase looked around, he saw a bunch of able bodied warriors, most were in mercenary attire, with mostly light armor and a few pieces of actual plating on their forearms, shins and other specific places.
others wore the holy robes they had been given. They offered decent enough protection.
"These guys got nothing on me" Damian wore full platemail armor. Of course he would. But Chase was just a tad confused "how can you even afford that"
Damian, looking a bit disturbed,replied:"my dad was the local blacksmith at his village. I always told him I was gonna be a knight one day" He looked like he was staring into the void with that last bit.
Chase didn't like where this was headed so he made a quick get away. Patting his shoulder he said:"it looks cool. He did good" Damian nodded.
Chase looked at the other people of his main squad. Donnie was in a black robe, head covered by his hood and mask that resembled a ninjas. He also had leather boots.
Andrew was in a longer robe that had a tiny mana crystal imbedded in its back. that along with his staff already let anyone know he was a mage.
once everyone was ready they began walking to the forest. Once they saw the line of trees everyone looked back at each other.
Chase looked at this forest. whatever was inside was inevitable. Either they get it or the people who worshipped demons do.
He was not afraid. Looking back he saw the determined look on Damian's face. Donnie look unaffected at all. Andrew started chanting for big spells and already had a few at the ready.
he stepped in.