Chapter 27
Trailblazers
Ryne heard a rumor—it was an unbelievable rumor, the ilk that a mind immediately dismissed due to it being utterly insane. But… she heard it, over and over, in fact, while staying in the castle. There was an expedition being formed—an expedition meant to chase ghosts beyond the wall. Her eyes immediately gravitated toward the tallest spire, bounding in awe and confusion. Was there anyone truly that moronic in charge? Or, perchance, that brave?
From what she heard, it will be a medium-sized group led by two Guard Captains, and the expected length of the expedition was two months. They were also only taking veteran guards along. It sounded pointless, dangerous, and moronic… but Ryne was intrigued. She was truly intrigued. Though her Master told her to never cross the borders of Human Kingdoms, she was tempted; to be told not to do something, after all, inspired a soul to do that very thing.
She walked into Nether and began listening in on the conversations from close by. She quickly found her point of entry: potterboys. Though she was neither a potter nor a boy, she could always play a role. That was all her life was in the end—playing roles and losing her true self in the process. Determined, she made her way to the central castle where they were taking the applicants.
**
Sylas lazily ignored Tebek's death glares while chewing away at some dry jerky, looking at the completely empty line in front of the table manned by Tenner. Nobody volunteered. Literally nobody. Not a single soul came forth of their own will. Shit, is the forest really that scary? Sylas wasn't a superstitious sort, and that part of him traveled over. Even with magic being a reality, there was an explanation to the Ghouls just 'spawning' where they shouldn't. It might be a magical explanation, but it wasn't a random act of nature.
He was confident in figuring out what the hell was going on—namely in that he could continuously die and reset it all—and he had to figure it out. It had little to do with just his curiosity, but there was also a factor of necessity. The more he knew about the world, the more likely he was to unlock its secrets.
After nearly four hours of silent wait, just as Sylas was about to give up and go and take a nap, the sound of footsteps drew three men's attentions. Coming through the arched doors was a frail-looking figure, a handsome boy that seemed no older than fifteen. He was of a slender build, looking like he was made of glass, but he walked with a certain level of confidence.
Sylas nearly gaped, however, upon a closer look; though others likely wouldn't question it, since he met her once already, Sylas immediately recognized that the boy in front of him was very much a girl—the same girl who approached him randomly in one of the loops. Just as he was about to tell her to piss off, he held back; there had to be a reason why she was going this far.
"H-hello," (s)he spoke shyly, bowing toward Tenner whose smile widened. The man truly was weak toward the weak.
"Hello," he replied.
"I… I want to apply… to be a potter…potterboy," (s)he said, fiddling and playing with her fingers as to simulate nervousness. She's good, Sylas mused, realizing that even he might have been fooled without the aforementioned knowledge of who she truly was.
"Why? It's a very dangerous job," Tenner replied. "You will be safer here."
"Nuh-uh," Did… did she just say 'nuh-uh'? Fuck, are you fifteen or five?! There's overkill and then there's just being plain cruel! "I… I want to become strong! Respected! If… if I go to the forest and come back… people will respect me!"
"Is that so?" Tenner's expression mellowed out and, for a moment, Sylas conjured up a beyond devious thought, though dispelling it just as quickly. His life really made him beyond cynical about the fact that there were some genuinely good people with no ulterior motives out there. "You have to be strong to be a potterboy, though. Especially in this case. You'll be carrying a lot."
"I—I'm confident!" everything about his(her) countenance spoke of a young, inexperienced protagonist weaseling his way into an adventure he definitely wasn't up for, an adventure that would be his awakening and propel him to the life of greatness. The problem was… she was playing the role perfectly. Even better than Sylas could. Now, granted, even if he grated his skin he wouldn't be able to pass for a teen, but still. "I've… I've been carrying heavy things all my life! You—you can test me!"
"Fine," Tebek, losing patience, spoke out. "See that bundle of swords? Carry them from there to us."
"T-this?" (s)he gingerly walked over and pointed at the bundle of roughly fifteen steel blades.
"Yes." Tebek nodded with a scoff. Even he would have some trouble carrying it over. Tenner didn't say anything either—even if the test was utterly unfair, he also didn't want to see such an innocent boy accompany them to almost certain death.
Sylas, on the other hand, had a certain level of unfounded confidence that the boy(girl) would easily carry that bundle over. He didn't know why, but anyone his(her) age who dared come here wasn't of the normal cast. And, just as he suspected, the boy(girl) easily picked up the bundle and, with skipping steps, carried it over to the table and laid it down gently, a beaming smile on his(her) face. There wasn't even a drop of sweat on his(her) forehead. While Tenner and Tebek continued staring dumbfounded, Sylas stood up and walked over toward the boy(girl).
"A peculiar thing," Sylas decided to play with her a bit. "For such a feminine figure to behold so much strength." The boy(girl) flinched, but quickly recovered, merely smiling.
"As I said, I was—"
"Yea, yea, yea, you've been carrying stuff and you got strong," Sylas said, deciding to push it an inch further. "I've also been carrying my balls of adamantium all my life and yet I can barely lift myself. Curious, ain't it?" the boy's(girl's) cheeks immediately flushed red, causing Sylas to sigh inwardly. All else aside, he(she) was clearly a kid. "Do you really wanna come?"
"Y-yeah!" overcoming her temporary bout of speechlessness, Ryne replied firmly. She found the man in front of her to be strange; unlike the two Captains, he didn't once show an ounce of disrespect or pity or anything of the kind. In fact, she believed he'd seen through her disguise. But since he said nothing… neither would she.
"Why?" he asked, his expression void of emotion. "Ignore the two geezers behind me, they don't matter. Tell me. Why do you want to come with us so badly? It's not the respect. If it's the respect you wanted, you could have just broken some big dude's spine and earned it that way. So, why?"
"…" staring at those resolute-looking brown eyes, Ryne felt her walls weakening. Startled, she barely held back a yelp of shock. "I… I want to know. I want to know what that place is. Why it is the way it is."
"…"
"…"
"Fine," Sylas shrugged—if she wanted to come, she would come. Besides, the fact that she could so easily lift roughly fifty-sixty pounds and carry it over spoke of the fact that she wasn't quite normal either. It was better to keep her by his side rather than in the castle where she could kill the Prince or something. "You can come with us. I just hope you're comfortable pissing and shitting in the woods. If not, you have a day to get some practice in. Now, get lost. Two days from now, meet us at the big hole in the wall at dawn. Got it?"
"G-got it!" still reeling from shock at the man's curt language, Ryne sped off, disappearing. She would get her vengeance, she swore, one day for the man embarrassing her.
Staring at the fading back, Sylas turned toward the two Captains; they truly were different, in all aspects. Tenner was like a middle-aged man who wanted to help everyone so, sometimes, he overstepped and became a nuisance. Tebek was like an angry middle-aged neighbor who just yelled at the kids on the street and told them to bug off elsewhere. Nonetheless, both of them were necessary for Sylas. No matter how well-versed he'd gotten with the sword, he was still a piss-weak beginner, especially compared to the two of them.
In fact, he'd already asked Tenner to spar with him seriously and got his ass beaten so hard he had to reset the loop due to the levels of embarrassment. He wouldn't be able to survive against even a small pack of ghouls, let alone any larger number, on his own.
"Write he—write he down."
"Humph, you mean 'write him down'?" Tebek growled while Sylas merely rolled his eyes.
"Are you certain?" Tenner asked, looking at Sylas with a concerned expression. "He…"
"He can clearly lift stuff, and that's all potterboys do—lift stuff. If you're concerned, then just make sure that the front ranks are never broken if we ever get into a fight. I'll go take a nap. If nobody else arrives within an hour, go out and order the ten men you trust the most. If they refuse, take a whip, bend them over your knees, and whip them until they pop a hard-on. Then use that to blackmail them into coming."
"…"
"…" leaving behind confused and mortified Captains, Sylas made a beeline toward the now-royal chambers to consult with Cyrs and Valen one last time. He had to leave behind some 'Godly instructions' for the Prince and some 'do-goody instructions' for Cyrs. Though it was dangerous leaving the two of them alone, especially because Cyrs' guilt was still riding that coked-on high, the risk was worth it. The more quickly he began unraveling the world at its seams the more quickly will he begin understanding its core nature.
He felt it, in his bones, that whatever lay between the castle and the cliffed shores bore answers to many of his questions. And if he could answer those questions, he'd be a few clicks closer to answering the penultimate question: who had designs against the castle, why, and how the hell did they manage to 'control' the Ghouls to attack it?