The army of Frithe was finally reaching its limit. Hardly anyone new was joining now, but Jax felt satisfied with his numbers. He would need to train them if they were going to be of any value, but he had a massive army now.
As far as numbers went, he could easily tule over all three kingdoms. But Jax knew he couldn't attack yet. If he was to be offensive, he would lose his entire army much like his father did. He had to train them to be better fighters.
While Jax patiently waited for his men to become warriors, he wasn't idle. He knew the Tortu army was starving in Tortu, so he sent war ships to intercept any goods being delivered to Tortu. Frithe had by far the most impressive navy, and they would command the seas and sink ships with goods on them. Nothing would be traded, and he would cripple the economy of both other regions.
His warfare tactics were wise, and Jax was proving to be a menace and worthy adversary. While he had fond memories of Bidi, he refused to let her live. He inherited a strong hatred for witchcraft from his father. And he wouldn't stop until it was eradicated.
As soon as he could, he sent out war ships to sink every boat in the ocean. While Gerak had three war ships, Frithe had forty-two. No one stood a chance in the ocean. Jax had eyes everywhere. He soon learned that King Katara betrayed him and lied about it, so he sent Katara a gift. He sent five thousand troops to kill everyone in Saka, including the children.
Katara escaped with his life, but his kingdom was no more. No one saw Katara escape, but he was now an enemy of the state. And without an army to defend him, he would die if captured by Jax's men.
Kat fled north to find the armies he sent with Vran, but he couldn't find a hint of any army. They had gone, so he paid for passage across the sea to Gerak and sought asylum from Queen Bidi. He knew she wouldn't have him killed, but his title as a king was now striped from him. He was now an ordinary man with no skills.
Jax learned of the fact his younger brother, Jull, was hiding a secret. He was a wizard. Jax had him publicly shamed and stoned to death. When Bidi heard, she was furious, but she knew Jax had little tolerance for sorcery. And their idea of how the future should look greatly differed, but neither army was prepared to go on the offensive. They had a lot of training to do.
Jax was not far ahead of Bidi in terms of their army's proficiency, but Bidi also had thousands of sorcerers who were aching to use their magic for good. They had been practicing for years, and they were perfecting their craft.
Jax knew a wizard would beat any of his men in one on one combat, but he had enough men to overwhelm the casters and kill them before they killed his entire army. He knew he would lose some soldiers, but he considered their sacrifice necessary for the greater good.
It was the day his brother was stoned to death for unauthorized magic, and one of his other brothers came to him. He was concerned with Jax's quest to rid the world of magic. "Why are you doing this?" Faro asked.
"Doing what?" Jax said in the private room, not even his guards were with him. They were standing just outside.
"You just killed Jull," Faro said with concern.
"Jull was a wizard," Jax stated as if it was obvious.
"He was creating a spell to help your wife recover from a wound," Faro pointed out. "You asked him to do it. You baited him into using magic just to make an example of him. What the hell, Jax?"
"They are the enemy," Jax spat through gritted teeth.
"What is the plan? Kill everyone with magical blood?" Faro asked.
"That's the start," Jax said.
"Then what?" He asked.
"Then we fix the economy," Jax said as if it was a stupid question.
