Mark_Ward
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Chapter 83: Hunting Pt.1
🕑 Added 2020-12-03 03:35:40 +0000 UTCWatching Livia head out, Harry sat back in his seat and spun his chair around to stare out his window. Everything was coming together wonderfully, his armies were forming up, the Galleons were flowing in, and great innovation was happening.
Soon everything would be prepared to face Voldermort in the field!
Some stronger alliances would help, and he was looking into that. Plus chipping away at Voldy's power base was his goal this year, he already prepared an invasion against one of his key supporters.
"Your second guest for the day has arrived," Tobry announced as he politely came inside.
"Let them in," Harry said with a wave of his hand.
Turning around Ser Myles of House Rogers walked inside his office, he was dressed in more normal clothing without that heavy armor on. He respectfully bowed when his eyes meet Harry, "My Lord!"
"Ser Myles, so good of you to come," Harry replied as he waved the man over to take a seat across from him.
"You wanted to meet with me, my lord?" the sharp eyes man asked.
"Yes, the goblins told me you paid your tributes sporadically for some reason. And I really can't make heads or tails about it," Harry outright got to the bottom of things. "Are you my enemy, if so why even make the effort to pay any tribute at all. Or are you a loyal man, if so why haven't you been paying on time and the correct amount?"
"I am loyal to your family, my lord," the man simply answered with a bow of his head. "I am nothing like those deceitful backstabbers," he uttered with distaste showing a rare expression of disgust.
"Well then would you like to explain sporadic tributes?" he wondered out loud as he spread his hands to either side.
"My... land has been experiencing some hardship, my lord" he reluctantly answered. Harry knew it must have been very difficult for him to admit that, any man with power in their hand are a prideful lot. Admitting that things aren't going so well, that is a very tough choice to make.
"There has been a beast that has been plaguing my land. It has been destroying my home, and hunting my people. I do have the men to take it down, but it is a sly one that eludes me at every turn."
"Mmm," Harry said as he rubbed at his chin, this clarified a lot. The man could barely make ends meet with this creature plating him, forget paying tributes. All that he could scrounge every few years or so he would try to send his way.
It wasn't really Harry's issue, a lord is supposed to take care of his own personal matters and see to his or her own Wizardland. But if Harry gave some assistance, the man would owe him a great debt and would be very steadfast to him. He really needed loyal vassals right now that didn't follow him just because of oaths forced on them.
That why he asked, "Do you know what this magical creature that is inconveniencing you is?"
"No," the man shook his head, "we have only found tracks of it, and it's leaving. Other than that it has proven to be a cunning and very sneaky opponent."
"So we will be going out on a limb, huh?!" he mused out loud.
"My lord, you can't mean...." the man exclaimed as his cool expression transformed into one of surprise.
"Yes," Harry said, "I can have a beast thinking that it could waylay my tributes from coming in. I will be bringing with me 2 Contubernium(10 men) to over see the hunt off to."
"But my lord," the man pleaded, "you don't have to do this."
"I know," Harry said as he held out his hand to stop him, "but I want to. Helping my vassal and coming to his assistance, is just me helping myself. If only my other counterparts could see that," he added with a shake of his head.
"I don't know what to say then," the man said with a long sigh of relief. Then as if suddenly deciding, he took a knee and bowed his head, "Thank you my lord, and I promise you to be your most loyal man, and offer you my wand and those of my people anytime you call for it."
"Your loyalty and steadfastness is more than enough for me," he answered as he indicated for the man to get up.
"I will meet you at your estate!"
"Then I should begin preparing for your esteemed visit," the man nodded his head as he head out.
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Stepping out of the fireplace of Ser Myles home along with the men he brought with him, Harry was glad he had his vassals opened up their Floo Network for him. It saved him a lot of time, and it was something else to hold over his not so loyal vassals and was something that kept them in line. You really won't want your liege lord invading your home, so you had no choice but to be in line and on your best behavior.
He of course made sure it was one so they didn't get any ideas of invading his home, so he was safe in the fact of using the wizarding transportation.
Ready to greet him was Ser Myles himself, his family and his most loyal servants. He had a lovely young wife, a young little daughter who would be going to Hogwarts next year, and a son who still had his thumb stuck in his mouth.
Bowing to him all at once as if they rehearsed the whole thing, Harry nodded his head in recognition, like a true boss of course. [A/N: Lol, couldn't help adding it. Anyways why do people stop others from bowing to them? Praise me, Mwahahaha!]
"Ser Myles," Harry called out, "Lovely meeting your family."
"Thank you my lord, I have prepared a feast for your arrival."
Holding his hand out to stop him, "Let's have it after we hunt down this beast and slay it once and for all."
"Of course, my lord," the man nodded his head.
"Good are your men prepared?"
"Yes, I have gathered 50 men on such a quick notice...."
"Leave them here," he cut off the men as they nodded to the household members and Ser Myles family then headed out. "Bring only 5 men with you."
"B-but why my lord?" the man asked in confusion.
"Didn't you say that the beast avoided you when ever you sent out a large force to hunt it?"
"Yes," the man hesitantly answered.
"And it always attacks when you have a small force, correct?"
"Yes," the man answered as he finally started to get it. "So are you saying that the beast is wise enough to pick and choice it fights?!"
"Mhm," Harry said, "I assume it's a clever one that knows when the odds are against it. That's why we will go in a small force made up of our best men and women. Then we can draw it out, and finally finish it for good."
"I see," the man said nodded his head. Then turning to look at Harry, he spoke up, "then I shall gather my best soldiers."
"Good, I shall meet you outside then," Harry said.
With a bow, the man was off, and Harry watched him go until he was out of view, then he indicated to his men to follow him.
Before long Ser Myles came outside with his selected men, and a saddle boy brought out some Demigryph to set out. House Rogers had given command of a few Demigryph to raise, and they have been a steadfast vassal to his house for ages.
"Ah, my lord," the man greeted when he came forth, then looking at his party and seeing that he only had 5 men, he asked. "What happened to the rest of your soldiers."
"I left them behind, a dozen people would do for this hunt. We do not want to spook the beast with too great a number."
"I see," the man said.
"But don't fear," Harry said, "I have brought the best of the best with me that my armies have to offer! Let me first introduce you to Lieutenant Alex, leader of the First Cohort, the Griffin units," he called out as the glasses wearing badass stepped forward.
"Greetings, Ser," he inclined his head in respect. Nothing else needed to be said of the man, he had been Harry's most loyal soilder and officer. Plus he lead the deadly and powerful First Cohort, the center piece of the whole Griffin Legion. Whenever those beasts stepped forward they spread fear and awe in their wake.
"Then we have Lieutenant Riley, leader of the Second Cohort, the Hippogriff units." The Hippogriff was known as the most speedy unit in the legion as they blitz around in the sky and rained down deadly spell fire on their enemies.
"Here is have Lieutenant Tia, leader of the Third Cohort, the Demigryph units." Lieutenant Tia was a stoic woman that lead his family's land units of very powerful heavily-armored shock cavalry.
"I also brought Lieutenant Kate leader of the Fourth Cohort, the Keythong units." Lieutenant Kate was a blonde haired, blue eyes woman with a bubbly personality. She always seem to have a smile on her face and enough energy for everyone, you would think she would be a bad choice to lead a pack of murder beasts, but she was the perfect choice, and came really highly to him by the Commander. Her energy and joy just had a way of spilling over to everyone, even the Keythong which did wonders in calming them down and making it easier leading them.
Anyways this was a small test of his to see how she did in actual combat.
"Finally we Centurion Martin," he pointed to the large bulky man. He had hopes of him leading the new Fifth Cohort when it was formed, which would be made up of Hieracosphinx. Those beasts were wonderful guards and protectors, and would make a great defensive unit which we were lacking at the moment since all they had was offensive, offensive, and even more offensive units.
"You have truly gathered a great assembly," the knight stated.
"Thank you," Harry said, "Now let's mount up, and hunt down this beast!"
"Aye, I couldn't agree more," the Knight exclaimed.
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Riding through Ser Myles's land, the terrain was mostly forested with countless different trees. His land was more of a magical lumber land, it grew many trees that we used in the making of wands, staves, and staffs.
Harry saw many of the trees dying off since there really hasn't been anyone to take care of them. The fear of this beast has completely halted all lumber process.
It was no wonder the man could barely scrounge up his tribute, he was barely making ends meet.
Traveling down the dirt road, Harry could feel a prickle sensation at the back of his neck. It felt like someone was watching, or something...
Not daring to turn his head, he let a grin split his face as he continued riding along. Sending a telepathic message to everyone in his group he let them know, "Everyone, our little mystery beasts is here. Don't turn your head around to spook it off, but just know it's falling us, and I believe it will soon attack. So be prepared, but don't give away that we know that trailing us."
Playing it cool like he told them all to, they continued on their way, as they came to a bend in the road, a rustling of leaves came from their right.
Suddenly a creature jumped out of the shadow, it immediately went for the killing blow as it tried to kill them. However it bounced off an invisible shield that it did not know it was in place and landed a couple meters in front of them.
Staring at the mystery beasts as he took out his wand, Harry saw the head of a man with a long beard stare at them, opening its mouth to roar at them three rows of sharp teeth were on display. The beast had the mighty body of a lion with a scarlet hue instead, large pairs of bat wings spread out, with a magnificent tail stretched out behind it which resembling that of a scorpion as something green dripped off the tip.
It was a massive thing that really could make the Demigryphs they were riding a piece meal as it stood at 8 meters tall with wingspans of 10 meters each.
One thing echoed in his mind, Manticore!
The word manticore itself loosely translates to ‘man eater.’ These are creatures was able to devour any beast without leaving any remains behind, but more than anything they have an especially intense hunger for human flesh.
They were terrible beasts that lurked in the countrysides, playing as old man to their victims until it is too late. They are very mighty beasts with incredible speed, extremely sharp claws which with one swipe it can easily tear a man apart, and deadly poisons that can paralyze a victim with one prick.
It made sense now, these beasts were extremely cunning and is often noted to use clever tactics to lure groups of people into its range so it can pounce on them and devour their entire being.
Ser Myles men seem to find the creature scary as they begin to run around like headless chickens, screaming like little girls. The beasts seem to enjoy their fear as he could see a cruel grin spread across its face.
Ser Myles was the only one that seem to keep his cool as he tried to get his men in order, however he was having none to little effect.
Turning to his officers, Harry gave the command, "Take care of it!"
Nodding their head, they all went for into battle at his command.
A myriad of lights begin to coalesce on their bodies as they casted countless physically augmenting spells on themselves which had numerous effects from; enhanced strength, durability, endurance, vitality, speed, reflects, perception of time, and so many others.
Then they each transformed their wands into their respected favorite weapon as Alex now held a saber in his hand which he tested out. Riley's wand took the form of a spear as he immediately went on the offensive, stabbing the creature fill of holes.
Tia's wand turned into two dual axes which she begin to use to chop up the thing.
Kate held small dainty little daggers in her hand, you would think that they would have no effect on such a massive beast but she always seem to find the thing's weak spots and take advantage of it.
Finally Martin held a large hammer in his hand, Harry wondered how he would even lug around the thing. But the man seemed able as his blows crushed bones and disturbed organs.
The Manticore which was so terrifying and dreadful became nothing more than his officer's little bitch! It could do nothing against them as they rained down blows and crippling strikes.
It moaned pitifully as blow after blow struck it, then it decided to try to flee, but its efforts were cut short literally as Alex removed its head off its shoulders.
Collapsing to the ground as nothing supported it anymore, Ser Myles and his men stared open mouth in total silence and awe as his men returned back to him. Martin held the creature's massive head over his shoulders as they all bowed in front of him.
"My lord, the beast has been taken care of," Alex reported.
Staring at the scar riddled creature which stood no chance against his officers, Harry couldn't prevent it as a smile spread across his face. With men like these leading his army, his Legion would be unstoppable!
Then he broke into uproarious laughter as he could already imagining laying waste to his enemies just like this Manticore.
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Manticore: https://mythology.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Manticore-Hunt-by-Suirebit.jpg
Reminder, Griffin wiki: https://planesfordummies.blogspot.com/2018/03/ecology-of-griffin.html
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5 soldiers make a Contubernium lead by a decanus, 10 Contubernium make a Century lead by a centurion, 10 Centuries make a Cohort lead by a lieutenant, 10 Cohorts make Legion leader by a Commander.
Comments
Thanks for the chapter on a good story
Yeah, second volume was leaning more to that but for the third volume, I plan to move the plot with the triwizard tournament and Harry solidifying his power base as he goes to war with some dark families, and finally rebuild gryffindor slytherin ravenclaw and peverell houses.
Pincho69
Finally something other than fucking. Don't get me wrong I like a good fuck but it felt like they were "bonus" chapters with little impact or importance to the story. Minus Daphne's scenes as there was some meaning behind the action besides a good pie.
well there is a part 2 and things will ramp up
yep!
cathia
Well, good chapter but I believe it would be better, if instead of making an info dump right in the middle of the action scene, it would be better if you wrote a scene where Harry learns about the manticore during a lesson in Hogwarts or from a book. I mean, that's one of the points of placing the main protagonist in the school environment, let the readers learn abou the world of the book with the protagonist. Similarly, Harry should learn about the squads sizes much earlier too. Also, wouldn't it be wiser if those legion guys would firstly restrain the manticore and then kill it using the more ranged spells? Sure it was cool that they could take it down using the physical augments and white weapons only, but they should have enough experience to not look down apon your enemy and why risk it, if there is no real reason to explain the choice of action? Moreover that kind of made the Alex's fixation on the sword feels less like his personal quirk and more like the "hat" of Griffin Legion (a feature that is prevelent in all the members of one group, like the typical elves have to be naturę loving hyppies). Also, just because Harry internally explained who he is bringing on the hunt, doesn't mean his vassal know any of this, so make Potter talk about them during a dialogue. Also, the whole hunt sequence felt too short, it lacked tension and made it feel like a stroll through a park, rather than trailling down a dangerous creature. Made the group first find the marks the manticore left on its way and make Harry point out the size of it and the fact he may have a hunch about the species of the beast, then mąkę them loose the trail because of the rover or something, when the Hope is dying out, they find another trail, and so on and do on, they would narrow down the range of the beast activities, then think of the ways of trapping and killing it and that's when this sequence would happen. There are few things more I would like to point out, but this comment is long enough as it is.
KristofferXxXxX
Harry really is clever! By supporting House Rogers and helping them in taking care of the Manticore, he has secured the full loyalty and support of the vassal house :3
