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Chapter 1: An Armor Enthusiast Would Never Encounter a Medieval Battlefield
The day had finally come!
With trembling hands, Xu Ning stroked the cardboard box in front of him. The box looked entirely unremarkable, with a line of large characters printed on its front: Premium Cold-Pressed Peanut Oil. However, it was clearly repackaged; the box bore the torn, damaged marks left by tape that had once been peeled away.
A box like this could contain anything. Cardboard boxes like this aren't exactly sturdy, but it always seems like such a waste to throw them away, so many people end up stuffing all sorts of items inside them. The box in front of him had a shipping label clearly indicating that its contents were a special delivery.
Xu Ning was excited at first, but he soon calmed down. He picked up a pair of scissors, cut through the tape along the seams of the box, and began taking out the contents one by one. The air filled with the crisp, fine rustling of metal rings rubbing against each other as a heavy, silvery-sheened chainmail coat emerged.
Wrapped in a simple sheet of plastic, it finally saw the light of day once more. A thin layer of anti-rust grease still coated it. Next came a suit of lamellar armor woven from long, narrow plates and sturdy leather cords. It had a finely arranged, tightly overlapping fish-scale skirt. Also present were a lamellar waist wrap, secured around the midsection with a leather strap, and a heavy helmet with a face guard made of chainmail that left only the eye sockets exposed. A tuft of vivid crimson plume topped the helmet.
This magnificent yet heavy suit of armor weighed a full ninety catties altogether. The substantial weight of the knee-length chainmail lining combined with the lamellar and fish-scale armor on the outside would slow the pace of an ordinary, untrained person considerably. While it wouldn't leave someone collapsed on the ground, unable to get up, it would certainly drain their stamina significantly. Only someone who had undergone proper training could bear the burden of such heavy war gear.
With the addition of the plate-covered iron boots and chainmail gauntlets with plate coverage that had arrived earlier, the total weight of this full set of armor was close to 100 catties. Moving these pieces around alone was no small physical task.
Xu Ning stood up and looked at the treasures before him. He couldn't suppress the excitement written all over his face; the corners of his mouth stretched from ear to ear. He jumped up and down on the spot a few times, but then he dashed over to the window and peered outside.
His expression was now tinged with worry and wariness. He had bought this entire set of treasures behind his parents' backs, and it had taken a full month to arrive. He had carefully calculated the timing: today, his parents were out working in the fields, leaving him home alone to "study." He had only called the delivery guy he knew well when his parents were out, since all these items had been kept temporarily at the man's place until now.
In any case, while this armor was beautiful, its price tag was even more "beautiful." Nearly all the money he'd saved up over the past several years had been spent on this purchase. If his parents ever found out, a lecture would be unavoidable, so it was best to keep this on the down-low. He could normally just stash these treasures in his closet where they wouldn't easily be found.
………………
Xu Ning was an ordinary university graduate. Two months after graduation, he still hadn't found a job, so he decided to prepare for the civil service exam, studying at home the whole time.
Although his parents fully supported his decision, they hoped he would get out and about more often, rather than always staying home alone. However, Xu Ning was quiet and withdrawn by nature. He had always felt an instinctive dread toward complicated social relationships, so he often stayed home.
While studying, he became obsessed with a game called Mount & Blade II, drawn in by its unique atmosphere and worldview. Unable to resist the itch any longer, he ordered a full suit of armor modeled after that worn by heavy cataphract cavalry online and went through no small amount of trouble to have it shipped home quietly.
Since his parents didn't seem to be coming back anytime soon, Xu Ning decided to try on the armor. After rummaging through his closet for a while, he found a red padded jacket that would work perfectly as an inner lining.
He pulled the heavy, long chainmail coat over his head, adjusted it into place, and fastened the lamellar armor across his chest and back with leather straps. Next, he secured the shimmering, scale-like skirt armor around his waist and threaded the lamellar waist wrap through its leather strap.
Finally, he put on the lamellar shoulder guards, gauntlets, and greaves. Lastly, he opened the chainmail face guard and pulled it over his head, securing the helmet's leather straps. When he looked at himself in the full-length mirror in the living room, he truly looked imposing and majestic, radiating an intimidating aura of martial might.
Xu Ning took a step forward, and the sound of the armor plates rattling against each other rang out. He was already quite tall and broad, he had to duck his head just to walk through his front door and his sturdy frame filled out the suit perfectly, making it look all the more impressive.
Looking himself over excitedly from every angle, he had a sudden thought: he remembered the wide, open space in the backyard of his house. Although a few fruit trees had been planted, there was still plenty of room to move around. Why not go out there and take a few practice strides?
The thought struck him, and he acted on it immediately. He pushed open the backyard door and pulled a roughly three-meter-long spear out of a gap in his closet. The old blacksmith in the village had forged the spearhead for him from the leaf spring steel of a vehicle quite decent material, all things considered. Paired with a straight, knot-free hardwood shaft, it made for a formidable spear indeed.
For his sidearm, he chose the most cost-effective option available: a mace with a hardwood handle and an iron head more accurately, a flanged mace. The head was a large gear that he had bought online, and the grip was wrapped in leather. It could easily shatter a brick with a single blow and, on an actual battlefield of cold steel weapons, crack open a skull beneath an iron helmet.
He hooked the mace onto the iron ring on his leather belt and, with a smile still on his lips, took a single step out of the room. But the moment his heel touched the ground, a violent wave of dizziness struck him, as if his brainstem were being sliced inch by inch. Unable to maintain his balance, he lost control and toppled toward the ground. His limbs felt half-seized, utterly beyond his command.
Guess I'm in for a nasty fall this time. Good thing I've still got the armor on, at least.
Marveling at his mix of good and bad luck, Xu Ning crashed hard to the ground. Muddy water splashed through the eye sockets of his helmet and onto his eyelids. The intense dizziness still raged in his head, making his ears buzz and his nose ache with a swollen, tingling pressure. It felt as though something were about to leak out from inside.
He desperately tried to push himself up with his hands. A surge of warmth gushed from his nose. He couldn't tell if it was blood or cerebrospinal fluid. Surely it couldn't be the latter. That would be far too serious.
The sharp ringing in his ears gradually faded, and the overwhelming sense of dizziness vanished without a trace. The intense discomfort left him unable to get up for a while, forcing him to focus all his attention on his hands braced against the ground. Cold, sticky mud seeped in through the gaps in his chainmail. All he wanted was to quickly clean off his armor before it rusted.
Just as he was puzzling over why his normally strong and agile body refused to cooperate, a pair of large hands grabbed his shoulders and another pair seized his arms. Together, the hands hoisted him off the ground.
"Thanks a lot. What's going on with me today anyway? Don't tell me I have something wrong with my head at such a young age . . .?"
Assuming his helpers were friends from the village, Xu Ning casually slung his arm over the shoulder of the person beside him. That's when he noticed the texture beneath his hand felt like hard armor plating. So, who had just helped him up?
He slowly raised his head and saw a helmet with a tightly woven chainmail face guard topped with a tuft of crimson plume. The helmet's body was formed from several large, sturdy, curved plates of armor fastened together with rivets. An intricate ring of decorative brass patterns ran along its lower rim. Brass wings adorned the chainmail visor, framing the eye sockets. Within them, a pair of bright, dark eyes was hidden.
This getup looked so familiar enough that he felt like he'd just seen it moments ago! Wasn't it identical to his own helmet? Startled, Xu Ning immediately sat up straight, and the two men holding his shoulders released their grip, stepping back a couple of paces.
Only then did he notice the surrounding noise a heavy, dense sound like a mountain pressing down on him. Suddenly, it roared in his ears, leaving him breathless. It was the sound of countless people locked in combat with swords and blades. The screams of the dying and wounded intertwined with battle cries and crashed into his ears with unstoppable force. The sound vibrated his eardrums and sent signals racing along his nerves straight to his brain.
The damp smell of mud, the fetid stench of blood, the foul reek of excrement, and the sour tang of sweat surged into his nostrils at once. This complex mixture of odors carried such overwhelming aggression that it instantly overwhelmed all his olfactory cells, making him want to instinctively clap a hand over his nose. But all his hand met was the cold touch of chainmail.
A sudden wave of tension filled his chest. His feet shifted rapidly beneath him as he spun around, taking in every inch of the scene. With that one look, he was utterly stunned into stillness.
This was a gently sloping hillside scattered with charred, blackened trees left behind by a fire. A clearing was cut through the middle of the hillside. A massive group of cavalrymen clad in steel from head to toe sat astride their warhorses, waiting silently. The soldiers weren't the only ones covered in iron scale armor; their warhorses were too, with the armor draped down to their knees. Soldiers bearing spears and shields stood motionless in the rain, nearly every gaze fixed squarely on him.
To his left stood a cluster of white tents from which poured a thick, overpowering stench of blood. A number of auxiliary soldiers in red padded jackets carried one wounded man after another, some missing arms or legs, into the white tent area on wooden stretchers.
He saw severed limbs, torn flesh, and yellow fat exposed in a granular texture, glistening and streaked with blood. Ghastly white broken bones, wrapped in torn flesh, protruded from knees. The wounds were caked with mud and weeds, and everyone was filthy from head to toe.
Some were screaming themselves hoarse; their throats were already pale from blood loss. Others had passed out from exhaustion, half of their tongues bitten clean through and hanging from their mouths. They were tormented by unbearable pain that tore screams from their throats. Their eyes seemed as though they might split open at the corners and their vocal cords were on the verge of tearing from the sharpness of their cries.
There were at least a thousand more people screaming like this all around, with only a few dozen figures in short white garments moving among them, apparently serving as medical staff. The dead had been laid out on the open ground nearby and piled densely into what looked like a small mountain.
A doctor holding a blood-streaked saw directed several auxiliary soldiers to pin down a man's leg. As the man struggled violently, the doctor pressed the saw against a spot just above his knee. He shouted a warning to the others and began sawing back and forth with all his strength.
A great gush of blood sprayed out, and the sound of the saw tearing through muscle made his teeth ache. Soon, the blade reached bone, and tiny bone splinters spilled out from the cut. The man had already passed out, but the auxiliary soldiers still didn't dare loosen their grip. With two final strokes, the silvery-white tendons were also severed, and the entire leg was tossed carelessly into a corner by the doctor.
He then picked up a small iron knife, rinsed it in a nearby pot of boiling water, and began peeling and stretching the skin on the man's thigh. He stitched it closed to seal the wound completely. He took a roll of white cloth from beside him, wrapped it tightly around the massive wound, wiped the sweat from his brow with his bloodstained sleeve, and called for his assistants to carry the man away. The next man, whose arm was mangled, was brought up in his place.
Sharp screams and wails rang out one after another without pause. Xu Ning shuddered violently. His eyes were still clouded with confusion but now tinged with fear. As if sensing something, he lifted his head and gazed toward the distant plain. Just as he had feared, it was a massive battlefield. Countless formations of troops were locked in a churning, crushing struggle against one another. Crimson fluid seeped out and soaked into the earth, turning the black soil into a bloody quagmire.
Steel and flesh ground together like a colossal millstone. The materials being ground into paste were thick, viscous entrails and torn flesh. They spilled onto the ground and were trampled again and again beneath countless feet. They merged completely into the earth and became indistinguishable from the soil itself. Countless weapons swung and thrust through the air, striking flesh and armor alike and letting precious, filthy lives drain from the wounds they left behind.
The wounded, still moaning and wailing, were trampled by wave after wave of soldiers until they fell silent. Dense volleys of arrows filled the air like driving rain. Sometimes they collided and scraped against one another mid-flight before dropping away. The vast majority still found their mark within the packed ranks below. The lucky ones were deflected by armor and shields. The unlucky ones pierced straight through flesh into the organs beneath.
Such a magnificent yet brutal and staggering scene unfolded before Xu Ning's eyes that he felt as though his soul had drifted free of his body to observe this dreamlike vision from outside himself.
"Lord Tesolus, the Consul has just given the order. We are to begin the charge."
Xu Ning turned his head, utterly dumbstruck.
"Huh?! …………"
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