I woke up staring up at the sky. A fire crackled nearby, and the stars swirled above. The smell of cooking meat stirs me, and I sit up. Jack was sitting against the wheel of a jeep, talking to the red-headed woman I had seen earlier. Both of their cheeks were rosy and flushed.
"Ah, you're up." A man's gruff voice spoke above me.
I sit up on the cot that I had been laid out on and wince.
"Where am I?"
"Outside of the Scrapyard. We're breaking down the body of the Rat King and the Royal Guard. Now that you're awake, I want to ask you something."
"What's that?"
"Do you want to join the Secondary Assault Platoon?"
"The what?"
"We're a group of people dedicated to the WC's expansion. Currently, we were stationed to help with the advancement of your group, and so far you two are the most promising recruits."
"Promising? Me?"
"Yes. We confirmed that you and Jake managed to kill four Royal Guards on your own. That more than qualifies you to join."
"It's Jack." Clara corrected.
"Right, Jack."
"I'm an F+ Rank." I tell him, "I don't think I qualify."
"Jake has already told us about your condition."
"It's Jack, Liam." Another interjected.
"Right, Jack. Well, we think you have potential, Kyle."
"Lyle." Aurora corrected.
"Right, Lyle. According to the records, you've ranked up twice in the last week and a half, right?"
"Right."
"And according to J…" he paused for a moment, "Jay—" He glanced to Clara who shook her head and mouthed, 'Jack,' "...yack, you were given the blood of a dragon."
"Yeah? And?"
"Well you see, that means you have great potential." He said, "At least high growth potential."
"I don't understand."
Liam cleared his throat.
"There'll come a time, when people with lesser species' blood, will run out of tasks to improve themselves, but with your blood? You'll have no limits. In fact, I think you'll be one of the ones to carry the White Company to its former glory. Well, you and Jake."
"Jack."
"You and Jack."
"I think you think too much of me."
Liam chortled.
"Well, Kyle."
"Lyle."
"Lyle, I'll give you a token of my belief, how about that?"
He clicked his tongue, and one of the others got up and brought forth a massive heart. It was bright purple and had the figure of a crown burned into its slimy flesh.
"Really?"
I reached out for it, but it was taken away.
"IF you agree to join us."
I hesitated for a moment.
"Would doing so make me stronger?"
"It would."
"Would I get paid for it?"
"You'd be taken on better paying jobs, and you'll have allies willing to accompany you."
"What would I need to do?"
"Just do jobs like normally for now. When there's an expedition you'll be required to go and stay with us."
"And you'll give me this?" I pointed to the large heart skeptically.
"We will."
I glanced at Jack. His wounds had been mostly healed, and he seemed to be in good spirits.
"If you're thinking it's unfair, we already gave him half of the hearts of the Royal Guard to recruit him."
"It's true," Jack answered.
"So you joined?" I asked.
"I did. They said tomorrow we'll go to the end of the Scrapyard before heading back. Thanks to the hearts, I was able to go up to C- Rank."
I think for a moment, but what was there to think about? These last few days; even when risking my life, I had been the most alive than I had ever been, and now I was being given an opportunity to further explore this strange world? To fulfill that childhood fancy I had long since quelled? There was nothing to think about.
"I'll join," I said, and the plate with the heart was placed in my lap.
Liam handed me a knife, and I punctured the heart. He helped me lift it as I drained the foul-smelling blood down my throat. The PID next to me dinged to life, and I checked it for the first time since the wererats.
[Royal Guard – Rat] Added to Bestiary
[Rat King] Added to Bestiary
[Trapper III has completed 60/60 things killed with traps; Trap Making Mastery +10%, Agility Mastery +10%, Perception Mastery +5%]
[Agility has progressed from F to F+]
[Anima Manipulation Mastery +10%, Telekinesis Mastery +10%, Trap Making Mastery +5%, Swords Mastery +5%, Reflexes Mastery +5%, Pistols Mastery +5%. Agility Mastery +2%, Endurance Mastery +2%]
[WARNING: USER HAS UTILIZED A SKILL ABOVE THE CAPABILITIES OF HIS BODY. WARNING LESS THAN 30 DAYS LEFT UNTIL PID USER DIES]
[Rat-King killed, +$20,000, +10% to Mastery in All Stats]
[Rat-King Heart Consumed: Anima Manipulation Mastery +20%, Telekinesis Mastery +15%, All Stats +5%]
Aurora was looking over my shoulder while I checked it, she whistled sharply.
"That's impressive. Normally, stat increases are in the like half a percent."
"What are his like?"
"The heart gave him +5 in all stats aside from AM, which increased by 20."
Liam laughed.
"I suppose that's the effect of dragon blood, so are you in, Kyle?"
"Lyle." I corrected, "And yes."
He pulled out his PID from his backpack and opened up a few things before handing it over to me. I pressed my thumb against the button, and a sharp pinch drew blood.
"Lyle Kyle has joined the Secondary Assault Platoon." I got the notification after it took a second to process my blood.
The night passed in celebration, and in the morning they built up a pile of wood soaked in gasoline.
"What's this for?" I asked Laura, who was eating a small helping of boiled oatmeal as Liam and Bernard hoisted a wrapped item on top of the pyre.
"Ah, one of our members died in the fight against the Rat King yesterday. He was a newbie, all things considered."
"And they're what, going to burn him?"
She nodded.
"You can't bury the dead here. There's a thick layer of frost about three feet down." She said, "And there's the risk of the Mad Cardinal raising them."
"The Mad Cardinal?"
"Well...back in like the 1200s, the Vatican somehow found their way here. Some say they found a portal beneath Jerusalem and brought it back to put down beneath the Basilica…" She shook her head to center her thoughts. "They got it into her head, that this was the land where Eden was located, and dedicated resources to settling it. Some ruins you'll find in the Woods are from this time. Until recently, there was actually a very big population of descendants of these explorers, that is until Father Matthias."
"Father Matthias?"
"Father Matthias was a cardinal from France; one of the youngest ever elected, and he was sent toward the Barrier Woods in an attempt to find the rivers mentioned in Genesis to try to trace them back to Eden, and...he vanished."
"He was killed?"
"Or so everyone thought." She said, as Liam struck a match and placed it on the pile.
"Matthew —"
"Martin." Someone corrected.
"Martin, we didn't know you very well, but you fought well and you followed orders. I'll make sure your mother and father get your salary." Liam lit a cigarette on the fire burning.
There was a moment of silence as the black smoke billowed into the skies and joined the strange haze. After the moment of Silence Aurora began again.
"Anyways. Father Matthias came back at the head of an army of undead in like 2010, and swept down from the Barrier Woods, and nearly pushed the White Company right out of the First Realm. He killed hundreds of thousands of settlers."
"Those were hard times." Bernard, who seemed to be the oldest of the group said as he overheard us.
"Right, you were there, weren't you?"
"I was. It was near the start of my second deployment." He sat down on a stone next to the fire. Jack had woken up and come down to sit at the fire as well. "We managed to set up a Maginot line halfway through the woods, where it still stands today."
"If it weren't for that damn Goblin…" Liam spat as he stood by the fire as well, "We could have pushed them back even further."
Bernard nodded.
"Most of the contractees died as a result of both of their assaults, and it was because of that the White Company," He glanced at Aurora and me briefly before turning his gaze back to the setting stars. "...lowered their criteria for offering contracts."
"There had been millions living within the White Company's land. Now...now it's barely in the tens of thousands." Bernard said, "And now we have two powerful enemies closing in on us."
"Welp." Liam slapped his legs, "Let's pack up and head back. Ah, right. Jake, you said you wanted to get to the end of the Scrapyard today, right?"
"Yes sir." Jack didn't even bother to correct it.
"Well, Laura—"
"Aurora."
"Aurora and Reynard —"
"Bernard."
"Right, can you two take them?"