The clouds passed swiftly, the sun beginning to fade away. Before the man even knew it, darkness overturned the world, covering its blankets along the skies. Meanwhile, he gazed around the surroundings, looking at the three pairs of eyes eagerly closing on him.

  “Get ready. My luck was total shit today, so expect some high sixes, alright?” Hagyn spoke out, taking the wooden cup on the table before starting to toss it around, noises from within coming out immediately.

  Something hitting the material from inside repeatedly, it suddenly stopped, the man having turned the mug upside down and slammed the rim onto the wooden table.

  Promptly, he raised it again, revealing the dies engraved with black dots on each side. However, seeing all of them having a single dot in the very center, his mouth opened up, the brows creasing tightly.

  On the other hand, the three sitting around him turned into broad grins, singing their chests out laughing at him.

  “Guess your shit luck continues,” one of the men added, promptly grasping on to the small stash of bronze coins gathered in the center of the table. Pulling them to himself, Hagyn could only sigh in irritation before glancing to his pile of coins for a moment.

  Taking two of them, he threw it back to the now empty middle section, making the others peer at him with amused expressions.

  “What’s gotten into you? You always play one coin at the start,” the same man as before asked, his black scleras staring into him for a while. Though, Hagyn simply shrugged at his reactions.

  “Just wait and see. I’ll win this time,” he said, making the other shake his head slightly, but he didn’t complain. Taking two bronze coins himself instead, he tossed them to the center, the rest following. Swiftly, a pot of eight coins gathered, and the loser of the final round tossed the dice first.

  Clenching his left fist below the table as he watched a four, two threes, and a five roll out, promptly glancing through their faces and watching their turns next.

  The man directly to his left rolled two fives, along with a four and a one. Then, the soldier right ahead of him went, rolling out to a total of thirteen before the one placed diagonally from him, as well as the person winning the last bout, began.

  Quickly, he grasped the cup with a smile lingering on his face, shaking the dies with that smirk of his before promptly releasing.

  Already looking at his hand, the eyes still fell down vehemently, watching the wooden cubes roll in place before revealing their names. Three sixes and a single three came out, making the guy next to him grimace with his eyebrows.

  “Do you want to raise it?” Still with a smirk, the man asked, only to watch two nods come forth before tossing three of his coins into the pool at the table.

  Without wasting any more breaths, Hagyn tossed the ginger shines on top of the money, the man to his left doing the same.

  Then, taking off one of the dies, the man threw the three back into the cup, promptly shaking it. Revealing his score, the other grit their teeth, seeing a fourteen add up.

  Nonetheless, they hid their grim faces. Going next, the man on Hagyn’s left swiftly grabbed onto the table’s edge, getting nine dots total. And finally, the dies landed towards the green-eyed soldier, making him breathe out deeply.

  Tossing them around inside the mug, he nippily turned it upside down, keeping the scores hidden whilst the people watched eagerly. Unveiling it slowly, he couldn’t help but smile brightly, seeing the three fives bring him a win.

  Yet, before he could take the pile of coins, a voice dribbled down his ears. “Are you not going to raise it?” The man with black hair asked, glancing at Hagyn with a straight face and waiting for the response patiently.

  Three or so breaths later however, Hagyn had already added five coins to the sum, making the man grin away before he took one dice off to the side, leaving them with two to play.

  Promptly, a deep breath left his mouth, calming down his chest whilst shaking the mug in circles. Then, he slammed against the table harshly, making the cubes bounce around the wooden walls before raising it back again.

  “FUCK!” He screamed after seeing a one and a two, slamming his fist on the surface and making the coins wobble. Subjected to the deep laughter coming from the three, Hagyn could only grab himself by the head, watching with demise as the man threw out two fours right after.

  Hitting his forehead against the verge of the wood, he remained there for a moment, drowning in the laughs. Still, gathering himself back, he raised his voice. “Come at me, bastards!”

  Screaming the words out, their plays rang out throughout the enormous tent, on and on as they went back and forth with the money. Hagyn’s pile steadily decreasing, suddenly began rising, only to abate once again.

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  As hours passed on and the crystal lights dimmed out inside the tents, so did their excited enthusiasm. Finally, the joyous gambling seemed to have come to an imminent end, the men leaning on their hands with tired faces.

  “We done?” The man with black hair suddenly asked, looking around his colleagues before seeing their exasperated faces agree swiftly.

  “Yeah, let’s go to sleep already. We can’t slack off during the empire’s attack,” the man sitting on Hagyn’s left added, already raising his figure whilst taking his pile of coins, together with the dies.

  Similarly, all of them followed, right before heading through the desolate area in the center, a passable one that allowed them to easily access the beds on each side.

  All kinds of sights painted their eyes, though the majority of the vision was demons simply snorting away. Some of them read through books whilst others sat completely still, with their eyes closed and legs crossed between each other

  However, despite still not seeing their beds, the four suddenly stopped. Or rather, the one with black hair stopped them all with his curious voice. “He’s going at it again, little stoney,” he said, prompting them to follow in his head’s direction.

  Right in the middle of the huge tent stretching all the way to their eyesight, in between the demons sleeping on top of their beds, a certain figure stood, described in a plain, long shirt reaching below his waist and the bland pants on him.

  Gazing through his stature, they quickly arrived at the head that bled white tones despite the night settling about. With his pale expression closed however, something else struck out, reverberating within their eyes albeit not as strongly as in the past.

  Standing beside his bed, the naked soles grazing through the bare ground surrounding them, the man stood with his sword brought out.

  Holding onto the hilt tightly, Stone simply pointed the angled blade’s tip towards the ceiling, ropes with dull crystals attached hanging near the line in the middle. Not a single fiber of his moved in the position, keeping as still as a lake on a frozen morning.

  Down from the feet towards the very tips of his fingers, nothing trembled as he held onto the cold blade rustling with the brisk night’s breath. Even the individual, short strands of blank hair. Lingering in an eerie expression that lacked any swaying, they clung to his head dearly, slightly curving up along the sides.

  Finally, the man that found him a moment ago tossed his flowing hairs over his head, the black hairs and onyx eyes shimmering in the darkness. “Haa, I wonder what it is he’s feeling. I’m starting to feel bad somehow,” he sighed faintly, briskly getting the attention of his friends.

  While Hagyn stared at the side of his face, the others briskly voiced their thoughts. “What do you mean, Lantas?” They asked, somewhat curious with a growing bud of fuddle.

  “He’s the only human here, out of every person in the camps, for whatever reason. Not only does he have to kill humans from the other side, he cannot speak to anyone because almost all don’t bother learning the human tongue. He has to be here every day, listening to us gibber about in his ears.”

  “Huh, now that you say that, there might be some truth in that,” the man with green spikes around his brows spoke, only to crease them as Lantas continued right after.

  “Not to mention his pathetic struggles. Just look at him, trying to copy what he has no idea of. We told him so many times already that humans can’t move mana inside them, tch,” clicking his tongue and shaking his sallow face away near the end, the man couldn’t help but continue staring at the man, nothing visible crossing through his indiscernible eyes.

  Yet, before he could linger in the air of his voice, Hagyn parted his lips from the back, catching the heads of the three at him. “Well, he’s still the best out of anyone here. Have you ever seen him get hit by the commander?”

  He inquired, only for the demon to scoff out. “Oh, are you even remotely serious? So what if he has good structure? Instead, have you ever seen him participate in our spars? He always chickens out to go do this shit all day.”

  Hearing the words, Hagyn swiftly crossed his brows, unable to resonate with his statement. “He’s the only one from our camp to get advanced to the front lines. By the commander herself. His strength is clearly acknowledged,” he said, once again met with ridicule from them three.

  “Or he’s out there because she wants him gone faster,” Lantas added, turning at his frozen figure once again. “For all we know, all of the rumors about him could only be satirical jokes,” he mused softly, only to hear a soundly sigh brush through his back before a sudden motion grasped him.

  “The hell are you doing?” He barked out suddenly, being grabbed by his shoulders, however, Hagyn didn’t reply on the same wavelength.

  “Let’s just get some sleep already. Let him do whatever he wants. If he fails in a battle, that’s his problem,” the man with scales argued, soon followed by two nods coming from the side.

  “Ugh, fine, stop touching me already,” furiously bringing out an arm to take away Hagyn’s, he swiftly shook his torso, heading forwards once more.

  As the four of them slowly ventured towards their heads, walking at the back, Hagyn still took a light, quick look towards the man, out of pure curiosity.

  Just as his eyes hovered over the man, the demon faltered in his steps. He could have swore a glint washed over him. So faint in quantity yet so eager in valor, the purple flash that came from the man made him stagger in the mind, only to break away once more before speeding up in his steps.

  As the figures gradually disappeared into the shrouding night, his eyes kept shut, only the chest moving ever so moderately to motivate his breaths. Keeping the sword in his grasp tightly, Stone remained standing, omitting the figures slowly gathering for a full sleep.

  Finally, as not a single mutter went out, only snores and respires, his figure crumbled, flinching before the sword silently stuck itself to the scabbard lying flat on his bed.

  With once again opened eyes, his purple gleam washed over the world, engulfing more of it by each step he took towards the closed entrance of the tent. No longer carrying his sword together with himself, the man’s straight face parted through the darkness, waving off the fabric around the face of the long tent.

  With a silent brush, a nippy waft washed over his barely protected body, however, the man didn’t breathe a single annoyance at the chilly air. Guided by the moon’s glow, he slowly headed out towards an impressively large empty area designated for spars.