After Shang stepped behind the last barbarian, his chains fused with the person in front of him. However, Shang still had a couple of meters of space and wiggle room. After all, he had to run, and if the barbarians constantly stumbled over each other, the journey would take forever.
The two Mages looked over everyone and nodded.
Then one of them pulled the barbarians forward, who followed without any resistance.
As they walked through the village, some villagers looked at them with hatred while others looked on in sympathy.
Shang took note of these reactions.
The group left the village, and the two Mages stopped in front of a new person.
It was a man with red hair, and his robes looked rather simple.
However, Shang had seen plenty of Mage robes in his life, and he knew that these robes were worth a lot of money.
This was probably not a weak True Mage.
"Commander, everyone's present!" one of the Mages said with a salute.
The Commander nodded at the two Mages and looked at the group of barbarians for several seconds.
Silence.
"I don't know what happened, but you guys are in luck," the Commander said.
The barbarians didn't look at the Commander. Most of them had already lost all hope.
"You guys were supposed to enter the southeastern battlefront, but the Governor changed her mind at the last minute and sent you to the northeastern battlefront," the Commander said. "You better be grateful for the rest of your lives."
After they heard these words, the barbarians all lifted their heads and looked with shock at the Commander.
Did they hear correctly?
They weren't going to the southeastern battlefield?
This couldn't be real, could it?
90% of all barbarians were sent to the southeastern battlefield, and only the luckiest, strongest, and most prestigious barbarians would be sent to the northeastern battlefield.
And them?
The fact that they were in chains showed that they were not part of this elite group.
All of them had broken some kind of law, and this was their punishment. Criminals always entered the southeastern battlefield.
But now, they could go to the northeastern one?
How?
Why?
"Yes!" one of the barbarians shouted in elation.
BANG!
A fireball shot into the barbarian's chest, and he screeched in ungodly pain.
The entire mood was broken, replaced by shock and fear.
The Commander put his hand to the side again and looked through the crowd with narrowed eyes. "You are still under punishment, and if you think that any battlefield is a good place to be, you are sorely mistaken."
"You will fight for your lives!"
"You will have to kill other humans!"
"And I don't want anyone to act in an undisciplined fashion!"
"Am I clear?!" he shouted.
The barbarians all lowered their heads, not looking at the Commander.
"Good," the Commander said as he took hold of the long chain. "You will follow!"
Then, he pulled the chain forward and ran into the distance.
The barbarians had to follow, and they did their best to keep up, but there were some weaker barbarians among them that were too weak. The best thing they could do was to try to keep their balance as they relied on the chain.
Shang was watching all of this with interest.
'Interesting. The Skythunder Kingdom should be to the southeast, and by the looks of things, the barbarians fear that battlefront. As soon as they heard that they were going to the northeast, their mood made a 180.'
'There are definitely some Mages on the battlefield, but I think most unimportant battles are fought by warriors and barbarians. A Mage counts as an expensive elite unit, while a warrior or barbarian is only a cheap common unit.'
'To get an average Adept, the Kingdom needs to sacrifice tuition fees, gold, resources, and a Pure Mana Source.'
'To get an average barbarian, the Kingdom doesn't need to sacrifice anything.'
'And I think I also get why the barbarians fear fighting against the Skythunder Kingdom.'
'The barbarians in the Grandmountain Kingdom don't have any teaching, and they probably only have access to resources they can get with their own hands.'
'In comparison to them, the warriors of the Skythunder Kingdom have the opportunity to earn a lot of money with various jobs, giving them access to resources they can't get on their own. Additionally, different schools and academies exist for warriors.'
'Lastly, only criminals are sent to the frontlines, while everyone else can join if they so want. Going to the frontlines can make someone rich, but it's also dangerous.'
'But that also means that only very desperate warriors or very confident warriors would go there.'
'I would guess that there are more barbarians than warriors on the frontline, but the average warrior is probably much more powerful, even with a weaker body.'
'All in all, the Skythunder Kingdom probably has a vastly stronger force of physical fighters than the Grandmountain Kingdom.'
'I wonder if that is because of King Skythunder.'
'King Skythunder said that he came from the Grandmountain Kingdom and that he was familiar with barbarians. Maybe he actually was one in the past?'
Shang looked at the group of barbarians and imagined King Skythunder walking among them.
Surprisingly, he would fit right in.
'He probably escaped the Grandmountain Kingdom and joined the Skythunder Kingdom. Maybe, since he was born a barbarian, his talent for Magic had never been tested prior to that, and the Skythunder Kingdom found his amazing talent and fostered it?'
'I can't be sure, but that sounds plausible.'
'That would also explain why the warriors are so much more powerful than the barbarians and why King Skythunder is waging war against the Grandmountain Kingdom.'
'But that begs the question, what kind of Kingdom is to the northeast? I've only heard of the Grandmountain Kingdom but not of the other ones. I don't even know how many there are.'
'However, based on the reactions of the barbarians, the northeastern Kingdom is not as big of a threat as the Skythunder Kingdom.'
After that, Shang focused on the journey, which would take quite a while.
In fact, everyone ran without pause for nearly three days!
