Silence descended as the spectators glanced between the two boys who just finished fighting.
Mainly Will, who could now be seen gathering all of the dark smoke from the battlefield back into his body.
Peter's eyes flashed greedily as he tried to find a way to make Will his knight.
Knights in the empire were considered elites, joining either a family or one of the five knight corps.
He's difficult to read. I can't seem to picture him particularly liking anything I can get him.
Peter decided to put this idea on the back burner.
He was still too weak. It would be a shame to spend all the effort to coax him and have him die on his first mission.
Still… Let's keep him close just in case.
On the other side of the makeshift arena, Alanwas was completely out of it after blocking that move.
I lost.
Yes, he had lost.
He had always prided himself on being level-headed. Why had he gotten arrogant enough to think that he was strong?
Glancing down at the system, he noticed the new entry.
A blue talent.
The talent allowed Alan to concentrate his mind completely, cutting out all external thoughts.
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced a minor character]
[+1pt.]
Buy a random talent.
A familiar wheel appeared in front of him.
With a small flick of his finger, the wheel spun.
The dial slowly ticked along each space until it landed squarely on a section of gray.
What luck.
[Congrats Host! You have acquired a Gray Mind Talent!]
Mind?
Thinking about it for a moment, he decided to hold off on activating it until he was alone. After the last encounter, he was starting to not trust this system.
"Are you good?" Bryce extended his hand to the collapsed Alan.
With a short tug, both boys were seen walking over to the fence surrounding the yard.
"Why did you not surrender?"
Alan locked eyes with Bryce for a moment, holding his gaze steadily.
"I wanted to win," Alan spoke honestly. "I wanted to be strong."
Bryce's eyes shook at the answer.
What?
The Alan he remembered never cared about how strong he was.
He wouldve just surrendered and laughed it off.
Is this truly my best friend?
"It doesn't matter anymore," Alan's voice acted like an answer. "The fight is over, I lost."
Alan slowly clenched his fists.
No matter who I am, I'm always weak.
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced a minor character]
[+ 1pt.]
Alan glanced over to Bryce, whose eyes were widened at Alan.
He's changed.
"I give up on the leadership spot." Bryce's voice carried along the area the squad was in.
"I cannot beat Will."
Peter glanced at Bryce, a small smirk lined his lips. "I concede as well."
"I'm not strong enough to fight a second-stage awakener."
With both winners conceded, Will was now the acting squad leader.
Slowly, Will walked over to Alan.
"You." His eyes were dark and devoid of any feelings. "Be the leader."
Alan's eyes opened wide at him.
Me?
He tried to read his expression, but Will's eyes were still just as lifeless as they always were.
"Why me?" Alan couldn't help but question the situation.
But no response came.
In truth, Will didn't really know why he was doing this.
He didn't care about leadership.
But he thought back to breakfast.
That feeling he gave off this morning...
"You are the best for the role."
Peter's eyes scowled.
Him?
The best leader?
Whatever, he just needed to showcase his talents better.
Alan's reaction was different, he just stared back.
No matter how many times he asked himself if he showed anything that could give that off.
He immediately thought about something else.
Did he notice it? The difference in me from this morning.
It made the most sense here.
Scratching the back of his head, he nodded.
"Ok."
The group had officially settled. For the next six days, they would train to become a unit strong enough to fight on the frontlines.
Along the roof of a nearby building, a familiar old man eyed the two boys he had helped before.
The growth they both showed was unfathomable for normal soldiers.
Most new soldiers who came through here were either already used to combat or were beginners. Most people with talent would've been picked up by people like him on the first day.
That whole group is an anomaly.
The groups are assigned by age to keep infighting to a minimum.
So a group of 16-year-old boys, rivaling some of the older recruits, wasn't unheard of.
But it was rare, extremely so.
He stood from his spot.
"You've got yourself a good batch this time, Khan." He glanced to his side, where the drill instructor sat.
He was motionless, his eyes portraying an inner calm.
"It's ok, I won't let those two die." He grinned as he glanced at the former squad leader. "I know you have your eyes on them."
No more words were spoken, they just absentmindedly watched as the group of boys slowly left to go to their first training courses.
As the week dwindled by, Alan learned more about the world around him.
His draft, the 352nd collective, was collected across the age groups 15-25.
So we are one of the youngest groups.
He also learned about the inner workings of how they were distributed.
His group was part of the reconnaissance division, tasked with collecting info and plans from The Hail.
As the final day of the six-day training came to a close, Alan's group could be seen collecting broken swords within the sword yard.
As punishment for fighting on the first morning of training, they were tasked with cleaning and managing the sword yard for the week.
The group was silent, pondering how their first mission was going to go.
Alan's thoughts kept drifting to extremes.
As the interim group leader, what happens if I let someone die on the first mission?
He had racked up a few points during his stay at the base.
-Name: Alan Bone-
-Bloodline: ???-
-Mindset: Paranoid-
-Power: Proper Soldier-
-Points: 13-
-Talents: [Grey] Swordswing, [Grey] Dangersense, {Blue} Absolute Focus, [Grey] Analysis-
-Shop: Random Grey Talent [4 pts], Helpful info [15 pts], Random Item [15 pts], Random Artifact [20 pts], Talent Boost [50 pts], Random Blue Talent [50 pts], Bloodline Boost [100 pts], etc.-
Paranoid…
Alan's eyebrow twitched as he read that. Did the system need to be so… on point?
He glanced around his group, each one carrying a different expression.
He quickly analyzed the group's combat prowess.
Similar to his Danger Sense, the world turned a dull gray, different colors appeared around each of the members.
Will is still the strongest currently, but the gap is slowly shrinking between him and Peter.
Currently, the prowess of the group flowed in a similar structure to the first day.
Will was leaps ahead of the rest, with a second-stage bloodline awakening.
Following him was Peter, who was on the cusp between first and second stage, maybe just a little push, and he would reach it.
Following him was Bryce, whose swordsmanship had been improving leaps and bounds compared to the first day. Even with his Talent, Alan was barely keeping up with him.
Following him was Alan himself, his danger sense had slightly improved, able to pinpoint the danger closer to where it was coming from.
Then Jay, and finally George.
Not much improvement could be seen from those two, specifically Jay, who was holed up in the dorm with Will most of the time.
"Attention."
A commanding voice pulled the melancholic group out of their current task.
Seargant Kahn stood before the gate of the sword yard, his gaze glancing between the group as if making a final inspection.
"Good, you six are finally looking like a proper squad."
His pearly whites peeked through his grin as he began to explain what was about to happen.
"As you know, the current Military situation isnt the strongest. We are currently investing heavily in new recruits to hopefully gain some momentum on the back end."
His grin was now replaced with a stern look.
"Upon a successful first kill or mission, each member would receive a vial of diluted dragon blood, capable of increasing the presence of your bloodline and allowing an easier awakening and advancement for that user."
The eyes of each member of the group shone, even Alan was a bit estranged.
This was a big deal for all of them.
"Will this be processed during the mission or after we return?" Bryce spoke up first, clearly more eager about the mission now than he was before.
"Either or." Khan continued. "Of course, waiting until after is ideal for unforeseen consequences, but some soldiers may end up in peril without the immediate boost one can get from this blood."
Questions popped up from most of the members, leaving only Will and Alan to refrain from questions about the blood.
"What is our mission, Sergeant?" Alan's cool voice brought attention back to the incoming peril.
"You six will be split into groups of two, each group scouting along the east ridge of the mountains for Polluted Dragons and Hail nests."
Cold breaths could be heard through the group. That sounded like suicide for someone at their level.
"Of course," he continued. "You won't be going deep. At the first sign of Hail or a Dragon, you may return to the base."
Alan took that last line with a grain of salt.
In the game, you would only unlock the Dragonspire mountain range late into the game.
"Ok," Alan stepped forward. "We will take the mission, but even if it's a failure, we are surviving."
Khan glanced over to Alan, his smirk returning. "Good, good."
"Your ride will arrive in approximately 18 hours. Enjoy the mission."
As Kahn slowly departed, each group member glanced at their 'Leader' with different emotions.
"Let's rest today, the mission will not be easy. I have read and done extensive research on every zone the hail occupies currently. The Dragonspire mountains are notorious for disappearances."
His warning caused a slight tension to replace the melancholic feeling in the air.
This was only the beginning.
Bryce glanced at Alan.
His eyes are baggy, hair is barely kept. He has been studying for days.
"Captain, how about our groups?" Bryce broke the newly formed silence.
Alan glanced at the group. "Any volunteers?"
Peter grabbed Will's arm quickly. "Pair me with Will."
Will just gave a measly glance at the Ducal Prince before accepting.
George didn't object to being paired with Jay, leaving Bryce and Alan together as well.
"Ok, groups are settled. If anyone has any remaining words for the group, state them now, you may not have the chance to repeat them later."
Alan's warning only further tensed the atmosphere.
And so, with no work left to do, the group called it a night, thinking it might be their last peaceful night for a long time.
In bed, Alan sat with a book open in his hands, pretending to read.
I had wanted to save enough points to buy the important information, but it seems I wasnt good enough.
With another thought, he pulled up the full shop.
-Shop: Blood Pills [1pt.], Random info [3 pts], Random Tools [3 pts], Random Grey Talent [4 pts], Random Bad Info [10 pts], Helpful info [15 pts], Random Useful Item [17 pts], Random Artifact [20 pts], Random Useful Grey Talent [25 pts], Random Useful Artifact (one time use) [35 pts], Talent Boost [50 pts], Random Blue Talent [50 pts], Bloodline Boost [100 pts], Bloodline Awakener [150 pts], Random Yellow Talent [150 pts], Question Voucher [175 pts], etc-
There was a lot.
13 pts…
[Ding!]
[Host has influenced 3 minor characters with his leadership skills]
[+3 pts]
…
Buy useful info.
[Ding!]
[Host has one unread system message. Would you like to read it?]
Yes.
Alan was suddenly launched backwards, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he was pulled into a familiar black zone.
In his head, information repeated over and over.
"The Mission is over."
"How did you find this place?"
SCAAAAAUUUK
"Limbo down, 42 seconds until reinforcement!"
"Tactical retreat! Tacti-"
SCOOOOOOOOOOOM
Soon, the voices were replaced by noises, until the only thing that remained in his head was his thoughts.
Fuck.
Too much info.
He sparsely remembered bodies, hundreds of bodies.
A giant spider-like being was walking among the grey clouds.
Fog.
Too much fog.
His head started to hurt as he kept trying to remember what he had seen.