The Fall of Everything [Rewrite]

"You know how dirty the Nabuks play! They'll send their hired dogs on you if you walk around the city so freely before your wounds are fully healed! At least don't walk around without four or five warriors with you!"
Kaelyra had been scolding Corvus for ten minutes straight. Corvus, knowing that whatever he said would be useless, kept silent and waited for Kaelyra's scolding to end. "And why didn't you go to the army camp? You need to organize and take care of Varek Nabuk's men. And be here before sunset. Grandfather wants to talk to you," she finished her scolding. Not once during his speech did he turn to look at Belisarius.
The two set off for the camp with a few warriors in tow. "I didn't know a human being could scold another human being for so long. I felt your pain, even if I didn't understand anything," Belisarius said. He seemed to be joking, but he was truly amazed. "What makes you think she's human? She's a devil! " these words made the two laugh. "You just said you had business in the camp. What business?" asked Belisarius.
"Do you remember the fight I had last night? The winner of that kind of fight takes everything that belongs to his opponent. And by everything, we don't mean taking their children or anything like that. Weapons, armor, money and most importantly, warriors." Realizing that Belisarius was genuinely interested, Corvus continued. "Of course, unless you really hate your opponent, you don't go and take his house. But it is important to have a claim on the warriors. Not everyone in Rhazgord has the right to join the mercenaries. You have to be chosen by someone who has the right to be a commander, a Sharazir as we call them."
What Corvus was about to say made him proud, so he puffed out his chest. Making a fist and pointing at himself with the thumb of his left hand, he said, "Being a Sharazir like me is not easy. The only person who became a Sharazir at my age was my grandfather, Magnor Tiamat, the most powerful of all Sanguinars." Corvus seemed quite happy about this. He continued.
"The shamans of Mount Rhaz carve in the rocks the names of the city's most powerful. Those who get on that list get the right to take soldiers under their command. Those who make the list but are at the bottom are called Sharazir. Sanguinar, the man at the top of the list, decides how many people can enter the list. As you can imagine, having hundreds of commanders can disrupt the order and organization of the army. So Sanguinar can reduce or expand the list if he has the approval of the second and third on the list."
"But what if someone who is strong but has no understanding of battle tactics gets on the list? Wouldn't that reduce the army's ability to fight?" asked Belisarius. It was the first time he had encountered such a military system and it was interesting. He wanted to know more.
"Beinga Sharazir doesn't mean you can act independently. As you move up the list, you can command not only simple soldiers but also lower ranked Sharazirs. If they make mistakes, their superiors have the authority to punish them. You can't even imagine how cruel the punishments are. So in short, even if a stupid person gets on the list, as long as he is not Sanguinar, it is not a problem. If he's stupid, he's dead."
"And what about you? As I remember, you had few soldiers under your command, but you didn't seem to be taking orders from anyone."
"I was under Kaelyra until two days ago, but my situation is a little different. Because I was one of the Sanguinarcandidates... or rather, because I was the only one for now, I could be a bit independent. Besides, being a Sharazirdoesn't mean that you can immediately recruit soldiers under your command. No soldier wants to be under a Sharazir who hasn't proven his abilities or a Sharazir with no backing. I am Tiamat, so things are different. Now that I have defeated Varek Nabuk, I am a Sharazir equal to Kaelyra and directly under my uncle Valerius."
"And how many soldiers can you put at your command?"
"A little over three thousand now."
"Won't it be difficult to control that many men on your own?" Belisarius was not convinced that a young man of eighteen could manage three thousand men on his own.
"You have to appoint a supervisor for every thousand men under your command. That's where the Sharazirs, who are on the list but can't get men under their command, usually come in. Just because you put a person who is not a Sharazir in charge doesn't mean that he automatically becomes one."
Belisarius was thoroughly confused, but his curiosity was not satisfied. It was a system that seemed as simple as it was complicated. As Belisarius understood it, the army was organized like a pyramid. The higher up you went, the more you controlled the Sharazir, not the soldiers. The Sharazirs were responsible for the training, salaries and income of the soldiers below them. The higher up you went, the less labor you had to do, but the more decision-making and control you had over a larger part of the army.
"And what happened to Varek Nabuk? Was he crossed off the list?"
"No, he hasn't. Because I defeated him, I moved up his ranking and he moved down mine. On top of that, all the soldiers under his command are now under my command. Of course they don't have to stay under my command.They can go under other Sharazirs or under Varek if they want. Since Varek's ranking has fallen, he can naturally have fewer soldiers under his command."
"So, in effect, the soldiers you won by defeating Varek yesterday could leave you today?"
Corvus answered without thinking, as if he had been waiting for this question to come. "Yes, they have that right, but it doesn't usually happen. The more powerful a man you are under, the more likely you are to survive the battle. I proved by defeating Varek that he was weaker than me. Only those who have a problem with me or my family will leave me. Unless, of course, they are sure they can be under another Sharazir."
In the city of Rhazgord, soldiers made the most money. Soldiers who could get under a good Sharizar could earn a lot of money and honor at the same time. The poor poverty in the city and the fact that the Rhazgordians considered war to be a holy act of worship made it logical that people would go to such lengths to be under a Sharazir's command.
"The Nabuk family is unfortunately one of the largest families in the city. That is why today many men will leave me and follow the Sharazir from the Nabuks. They don't want to be under a Tiamat. Of course, that's not a problem for me. Even if my family is a bit annoyed with me at the moment, they will support me."
For the Rhazgord, a warrior culture, of course, the political arena was not the parliament but the army camps. The more Sharazir and soldiers Corvus could control until the day when he rose through the ranks and became first, the more powerful he would be politically.
They had already reached the city walls when Belisarius asked about the Rhazgord army structure. The encampment was a few kilometers outside the city. The two had already reached the camp without interrupting their conversation.