Chapter 8: 8 – Expedition

Ruith groaned, rolling out of bed. He put on another set of clothes that Teran had given him, before making his way downstairs. Vaeri and her father were waiting there.

Sadly there was no food awaiting him, but luckily mana provided some form of sustenance.

Teran had dark bags under his eyes and seemed to talk a bit slower than usual.

“Alright, we can depart now. The king should be giving his announcement in about ten minutes.”

The three walked outside, the Voidling corpses nowhere to be seen, but large paw prints left imprints in the grass.

Teran stretched before grabbing the two. The wind picked up and Ruith’s hair blew around in his face.

WHOOM!

In a matter of seconds, they were several hundred feet above the trees, the wind whipping at their skin. The ground blurred and it was only a few minutes before they were over the Bastion.

Ruith looked down at where they were heading. A huge open field near the middle of the city. Teran descended, what looked like ants turning into tens of thousands of people, facing a small platform on one end of the field.

The man floated down near the front, people looking up with surprised expressions on their faces before making a bit of space. They landed, Teran placing them down and turning to them.

“Alright, I have to be up there with His Majesty. I will find you two after.”

Vaeri’s father quickly walked away, the crowd parting for him.

Just a few minutes later, the crowd suddenly quieted down. Thousands of eyes landed on the man that had appeared on the stage. He had long silver hair, was extremely tall, at least seven feet. His piercing gaze scanned over the crowd, seeming to peer into the eyes of every single person. He exuded an aura of superiority, not one person dared to move.

Teran and Vordan stood to the man’s side, their backs straight as their sight also passed over each of the people of the Bastion.

And then his voice boomed, shaking the eardrums of every single person, no matter how far they stood from him.

“Citizens and warriors of the Bastion, I will not waste time on meaningless words. This past month, over a hundred Sanctum Knights have fallen to the Voidborne. They are our finest warriors, and yet each day more and more are slaughtered.”

Impossibly, the crowd became even more silent.

“Unless we wish to fall to the same fate as the other three Bastions, we can no longer sit idly, only defending. Six months from now, is when we will journey into the Northern Wilderness, and end this nightmare.”

Voices rose in the crowd. An assault on the Voidborne? It sounded insane. But everyone knew that there was no other choice.

“Mankind will undoubtedly fall within the next decade if we do not proceed with this. There is a reason I am telling you this all,” The massive man gestured to Vordan and Teran. “The three of us and a few others are not nearly enough to complete our mission.”

The King paused, once again his gaze sweeping over his subjects.

“I see some of you are powerful, and others have the potential. In six months time, I will choose the most powerful fifty that wish to come on this Expedition. Those that wish to join us will come back to this place at that time. Do not even bother trying if you are unable to match the current power of these two by my side.”

The chatter of the crowd grew louder. He needed fifty people with that kind of power? Most immediately gave up, either not having the willpower or simply knowing they couldn’t reach that level in the time given. However, some had a fire in their eyes. At that moment these people had made a vow, they would join the Expedition, no matter what it took to gain the power required, driven by their hate for the Voidborne.

Included in those people were Ruith and Vaeri. 

The King spoke again, the talk of the citizens drowned out.

“The majority of you have lost at least one of the people closest to you to the terrible Voidborne. As they have instilled fear into us for generations, we will do the same to them!”

The man spoke no more. The three of them vanished from the stage, leaving the tens of thousands of people to contemplate his words.

Ruith turned to Vaeri.

“Let’s get out of this crowd. I assume you will also be trying to get into the Expedition?”

Vaeri nodded. 

The two weaved through the crowd, eventually making it away from the field. Ruith’s memory of this area was hazy, so he wanted to see the actual city that wasn’t the slums.

To his disappointment, it looked the same as the slums except cleaner and the buildings hadn’t collapsed. Everything was made of the same gray stone, and a permanent air of fear lingered. 

Ruith and Vaeri wandered the streets, waiting for Teran.

A few minutes later, the sound of something traveling through the air reached them. The man now stood in front of them.

“So, now that you’ve heard it, what is your decision?”

“We both aim to join the Expedition.” Ruith’s voice was unwavering, he would not change his mind about this.

There was no sign of Teran’s usual carefree expression and attitude.

“So be it then. Just know that there is an extremely high chance you two will die or be gravely injured simply in your training, let alone the actual Expedition. But I will not stop you.” 

Teran then let a grim smile rise onto his face. 

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“So you two need to be as powerful as me in six months? Good luck with that. I’ll help you out a bit.”

Before Ruith and Vaeri knew it, they were placed in the middle of a small village, two miles into the Eastern Wilderness.

All the bald man had said was, “I’ll be back the day before the King’s selection. Be as powerful as me by then.” Then he vanished into the distance after hugging his daughter, leaving the two to fend for themselves.

“Vaeri, any idea what we should do here?”

“I assume we should just…fight beats and Voidborne? That’s the only way to increase our power greatly in the time we have.”

The young man and woman walked towards a larger wooden building. The people here were technically not a part of the Bastion, so did not go to see the King.

“Ruith, be careful here. The Western Wilderness is second in danger only to the North, and these people will have the power necessary to live in a place like this.”

The boy nodded. Vaeri was the more powerful of the two of them, but would certainly be weaker than many of those who lived in this village. 

The door was closed, but unlocked. Vaeri put her ear to the door, hearing many low voices. Then she pushed it open, and the two stood at the doorway for a moment.

The space inside was relatively large, with many tables and chairs. The smell of cooking meat wafted around. Surprisingly, only a few people glanced up at them with curious looks, before returning to whatever they had been doing.

All the men and women inside were dirty and the smell was quite unpleasant. All of them were extremely muscular, not a single person seemed weak. Weapons such as swords, spears, and bows leaned against the tables. 

Vaeri faced Ruith and whispered.

“They all have at least a gray core. A few have white cores.”

The boy’s eyes widened for a moment. There were about twenty people here, all possessing at least the power of a Sanctum Knight.

Vaeri tapped his arm, signaling for him to follow her. They passed around the tables, careful not to disturb any of these warriors. They reached a counter, which had the kitchen behind it. Several women could be seen in the back, cooking.

Eventually a middle aged woman came up to the other side of the counter.

“Oh, you two are from the Bastion, aren’t you? What do you need?”

“You don’t seem too surprised at us being from the city, why is that?” Vaeri questioned.

“We get plenty of youngsters like yourselves here. Think that they will become strong. Most of them end up dead in the first week we have them hunting…” The woman shook her head solemnly.

‘Hm, it seems like Teran didn’t just place us in a random village.” Ruith thought.

“Are you two here for the same reason?”

Ruith and Vaeri nodded.

“Well alright, just know surviving here is not easy. I’ll get the Chief for you.”

The older woman disappeared into the back for a few minutes, and emerged with a man in tow. The man was slightly taller than Ruith, and looked to be in his late twenties. He had tangled brown hair and a scruffy beard. His arms were considerably less muscular than the others here.

‘Probably a mage.’

“This is Matthias. He’ll get you all sorted out.” The woman disappeared into the back after that.

“Hello, you two. Welcome to my little village, though you probably should’ve stayed at home.” Matthias shook both of their hands, and beckoned for them to follow him up a flight of stairs. 

They entered a small office, and the man set out a few chairs. 

“Sit. We have some things to discuss.”

They sat, and the man began to speak.

“First of all, tell me news from the Bastion.”

Vaeri did the talking, explaining the King’s speech. Matthias listened closely, his expression somehow becoming more grim than it had been.

“Alright. Let me cut to what you’re here for. What most do is they go downstairs and find a hunting group to join. Be warned though, those people simply see you as meat shields, distractions, and free labor out in the forest. You’ll have to ‘prove your worth’ in a way if you want them to give a shit about your lives.” 

Ruith was beginning to feel like he was way out of his league. After all, his core was still black. But there was no way to turn back now. 

“That’s all I have for you two, go down and find a group.” Matthias shooed them away with a wave of his hand, and they went back downstairs.

Everyone was still eating or chatting with each other, and the two scanned the room, looking for a group that caught their eye.

Eventually one did, Ruith and Vaeri making their way over.

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