Unstoppable power crushing him within seconds, then darkness…

"General Leonhardt, it's nearly time for our forces to march. Is something the matter?"

The young man slowly began to wake feeling uneasy, hearing his subordinate calling for him from outside his tent. The man, Leonhardt Raglan, called back saying that he would be ready to march shortly.

Leonhardt was called Leo by his friends and "Golden Leo '' on the battlefield because of his fierce combat skill wielding his family blade that glimmered with a golden sheen. He was a tall, well-built man with brown eyes and hazel hair that was somewhat spikey. He wore a long white coat over pants, a leather vest and shirt, all black. While very much different than standard equipment for members of the Grimdas military this was allowed as higher-ranking members in the army could equip themselves at their discretion.

Prepared to march Leo left his tent but unable to shake the feeling something terrible happened in his dreams though unable to recall what that something was. At the center of the camp was Kasibal, Leo's right hand man in the regiment he led, ensuring everything was set before moving to battle. Kasibal wore the standard gear of the Grimdas army: simple black plate with white cotton padding underneath. Noticing Leo Kasibal nodded signaling that preparations were complete. Before giving the order Kasibal asked if Leo was unwell, seeing his commander's face so pale.

Saying a bad dream was why he felt so on edge would sound ridiculous, so Leo chose to speak about something for the answer.
"These battles have started taking a toll on me, and I find myself questioning should we even be fighting them."

"Indeed, the constant fights we've engaged in would fatigue anyone no matter how strong the opponent. But we fight to exterminate the nonhumans that threaten Grimdas; they have been for generations. Do not doubt our cause because it weakens our troops to see their leader hesitate."

Leo simply nodded and declared that their mission to eliminate the hostile forces of the frontier in the surrounding forest area will begin, ordering those under his command to set out in small groups rather than a single unit to hunt the enemy. As the camp emptied, he noticed how eager the soldiers were to engage their enemies. These so-called threats were nothing more than men and women of varying ages and races with almost no combat training or experience armed with simple tools and common clothes who fought to drive off the Grimdas invasion of their homes in the frontier. In all his life Leo had never seen such eagerness to kill. Perhaps it was because this mission was an offensive one, something Leo had never taken part in, and that soldiers almost needed to feel that excitement to survive. But he feared it was much worse than that. That it was a sick joy to kill those in the frontier, especially nonhumans.

His mind turned to his late father who protested the violence against the frontier that had carried on for nearly 70 years, causing the Raglan house to lose much of its status in the nobility and eventually leading to his father's death. His final wishes to Leo were that Leo not seek revenge as it would weaken the nation, to which Leo swore he would honor that wish.

Leonhardt enlisted in the military in hopes of restoring some honor to his family's name from the nobility but was never assigned to the front lines as a form of what the nobility deemed punishment so that he would never see "glorious accomplishments". He still engaged in many battles, earning his nickname from those who saw him. Though like his father he had doubts as to why the frontier region, the name given to land with scattered settlements of humans and nonhumans alike who answered only to their own communities, was always called a threat to be eliminated.

Shaking his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts and the feeling whatever his dream gave him and instead focusing on surviving, he set out on his own to take part in this mission.

Notes and stuff: Heyo! This is my first story, so probably gonna be terrible overall but I do wanna write this. I really like the first Agarest game, though I've only cleared it twice so far (if I do finish this, I'll have a third clear so that's nice), so I want to try and write up a big story with it since I think the game story has a lot of potential for one or something like that. I want to try and have a balance between fluff and adventure/story conflict stuff. Please bear with me as I (hopefully) improve. Any suggestions/feedback are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!