Death day
The expedition began at 10.00 am, and the total number of recruits was twenty, including eight from the E-rank dorms and twelve from the other dorms. One of the recruits was an S-rank, Kehinde Akinbode from a rich family. He had stayed at the recruitment camp despite the multiple offers made by influential strike teams, the reason why he stayed behind remains a mystery.
They were accompanied by six seasoned Ẹṣọs deployed by the government of the shelter; Adewale guessed that they were also sent to ensure that all those whose Evo-cap was less than ten, especially Adewale, died on this mission. Another reason why they call this "death day." Two of the Ẹṣọs were fully armoured, and their faces were covered with helmets.
Over the past few years, the death rate of the Evo-cap in the units section was pitiful; almost none of them came back alive. Ajani was the only one who survived the last ordeal and the reason for this was because he called in sick on the day of the expedition. The van stopped close to the gate of the Lagos shelter, and all the recruits were let out. They were organised according to their rank, or to be more precise, they were grouped for disposal; those whose Evo-cap was above ten were placed on one side, and those less than ten were in the other group.
"We will be going to two locations today," the leading warrior announced, "The plains of Ọkara and the dark forest."
Adewale gave a slight grin, Just as the new commander had said. One of the locations was perfect for nurturing the recruits, but the second location was a death trap. The grouping was just a formality. The intent was to exterminate those with low Evo-caps while the rest would be sent to the field with weak Ẹbọra where they could easily evolve, he signed in expiration.
"Are you all ready?" one of the Ẹṣọs demanded,
"Yes sir!" they all responded,
"Good, now each group will be boarding the vehicle before them," He said as he gestured to two vans, "You will be placed in separate locations to gain different field experience."
"Lies" Lakan whispered,
"Easy friend," Attah cautioned, "We know it's all a farce; we just need to survive, and then we will be free of them."
Lakan nodded, then marched towards the vehicle provided. To their surprise, Kehinde Akinbode, the S-rank genius, also boarded the vehicle provided for the E-rankers.
"Something's off" Ọsẹ whispered to Adewale as they boarded the vehicle.
"Yeah!" Adewale acknowledged that he had wondered why Kehinde Akinbode had refused to be recruited by some of the popular strike teams. It seems like the reason has something to do with this expedition. Ọreoluwa Ọladapo, Ọsẹ's little sister, held onto Adewale's hand firmly, more from fear than from need.
"This is my little sister," Ọsẹ said as he introduced her to Adewale a few days earlier; for some reason, he gave Adewale a partial breakdown of his family history. To his surprise, Ọsẹ and his sister came from Ọlọrun-sogo, the part of the shelter that serves as a refuge for the nobles. They are the children of a man called Salako Ọladapọ. Unfortunately, he died along with their mother due to mysterious reasons, and his financial fortunes were stolen by his brother. They fell out of favour with their uncle when Ọrẹoluwa refused to marry the man her uncle had chosen for her and she was supported by her brother. The result was predictable: the enraged uncle had them sent to the recruitment centre where they could easily be killed, and thus the fortuned would be his and his alone.
"He was the one who killed our father," Ọrẹoluwa voiced with a hint of anger in her voice.
"I wanted to take revenge," Ọṣẹ said, but my "Evo-cap is 4. I am nothing but a shame to my father"
The memory of their conversation still leaves a bitter aftertaste in Adewale's mouth; as the van moved closer towards the dark forest, he clenched his fist in helpless frustration. The two vehicles passed through the large gates of the Lagos shelter; the gates were magnificent; this was the first time Adewale had seen this. The gate was attached to two rock-solid statues, one on the right side and one on the left side. The statue on the right was the representation of Raji Abacha, and the one on the left was the representation of Moshood Abiola, the one who pioneered the building of the wall enclosing the shelter. The moment they left the shelter after passing the security check, Adewale was fascinated by the outside world; plains were teaming with life: king-sized buffaloes, deers with Mythril horns, roc birds the size of buildings and so on. At that moment, Adewale forgot about everything else and fell in love with this new planet he calls home, "Crystallia is a magnificent world. I wonder if I can find dragons and phoenixes as well?"
He would have continued to gaze in awe at the beauty of the planet the next event snapped him back to reality. The vehicles reached a Y intersection, and then the one loaded with the higher-ranked recruits took one side while the one they were in took the other. There were 8 of them from the E-rank dorms, one S-rank, and two Ẹṣọs; Adewale started to view the forest ahead, making serious mental calculations and already going into leadership mode.
"Clear your mind for now!" Lakan whispered from behind, "You will exhaust yourself if you start,"
Adewale exhaled in gratitude, the excitement had caught up to him. He cleared his head and prepared his heart once more, the game of chess is always played once all the pieces are set on the board.
"Let's go!" One of the Ẹṣọs declared the tone of his voice, giving Lakan a sudden chill.
"You noticed haven't you?" Adewale whispered in Lakan's direction.
"Yeah!" Lakan responded. "The two Ẹṣọs are not part of the recruitment team, that's why they are fully armoured with their identities concealed."
"It's time!" Kehinde Akinbọde said addressing the two Ẹṣọs, "There is no more need for the pretence," he said with a sneer. After they had all been highlighted from the vehicle.
"Yes sir!" The two Ẹṣọs responded,
They had all the recruits organised. However, how they treated them was less than ideal. "The only reason why you useless E-ranks are still alive is because you're all meat shields" one of the brutes declared.
"How dare you!!" Lakan screamed in indignation, Adewale stopped him with a gesture of his hand.
"These men are all D-ranked" he said, "If we disobey them we will all be killed," Lakan gnashed his teeth angrily, "Stick to the plan" Adewale ordered,
Lakan nodded in response and got back in line; within the next ten minutes, Kehinde Akinbọde was astride a small cart alongside his two brutes that were once disguised as Ẹṣọs. The cart was a small windowless and roofless vehicle powered by energy crystals designed specifically for camping trips. Adewale guessed it to be a foldable device designed for convenience.
Adewale knew that Kehinde Akinbode had a goal, but he still didn't know what that goal was, so he threw caution to the wind and asked, "So where are we going?" he observed as he spoke hoping that the Ẹbọras of the forest had not noticed them.
"Since you're about to die I might as well tell you," Kehinde gloated, "There are rumours of dark cave teaming with Ẹbọras and treasures somewhere in the forest, The best way for me to Evolve and make a name for myself"
Adewale Chuckled, his response shocked Kehinde slightly. "Why are you laughing?" he growled,
"We are indeed all E-rank, but you should remember you're the weakest one here; you didn't plan this trip, did you, Mr Evo-1!"
Adewale's words cut really deep; Kehinde was so proud of his evaluation as an S-rank that he didn't dedicate any time to his training. All the recruits had reached their Evo-cap during the Reptile-king's attack on the shelter, an event that he was exempted from and the two brutes by his side had combat experience. He was indeed the weakest. "How dare you!" He growled,
The brute standing on Kehinde's right lashed out with his whip, which landed squarely on Lakan's back; the tank groaned in pain but didn't slow his pace. "no more talking! E-rank trash,"
"At least give us some weapons to protect ourselves," Attah demanded, "This is training not torture."
Kehinde, at first, wanted to refuse the request but then remembered they were nothing but meat shields. What use would they be if they couldn't kill the Ẹbọras in the process of dying? Then they would be in trouble? "Give them the weapons," he commanded,
"Are you sure" One of the thugs cautioned, "They might use the weapons against us"
"We will not, I give you my word" Adewale said, "Just give us the chance to defend ourselves before we die." Kehinde nodded and they were handed their weapons.
Lakan held his weapon and realised their perilous situation; the crystal-powered rifles used during the Reptile-king invasion were a more advanced weapon than this trash that Kehinde had handed to them. The surprising thing was that Kehinde also had a similar weapon held firmly in his hands, it took Adewale a few moments to piece the puzzle together. Then he whispered to his friends the secret information that Kehinde discredited, thinking that they would all be dead before long.
"Now that you have weapons move faster!" The thug on the right shouted again and lashed out with his whip, which, again landed squarely on Lakan's back.
"You're moving far too slowly!" The other yelled, "Move" he continued as he also lashed out with his whip. Lakan groaned in his pain as the whip tore through his combat uniform. For some reason, all the E-ranks were uncomfortably silent; Adewale patted Lakan on the shoulder in a form of encouragement. It was at this moment that one of the thugs realised the formation they had taken. Lakan, the tank, was at the back on purpose, and Ọṣẹ, the one with the pyro magic attack, was in front. A standard combat formation, the look in Lakan's eye told him that they had not given up on life yet.
"Do you think you are going to live past today!" The thug yelled. "More from fear than from his sadistic tendency, the boy knows something that they did not." Then he shouted once again as he lashed out with his whip, "Know this you are all going to die in this fores….aaaahhhh!!"
That instant, something black shot out from the trees and ripped off the hand that was about to swing the whip out from its socket in one swift motion; the blood splattered all over Kehinde's face and even shocked the second thug. As the first thug screamed in pain, another black beast shouted through the trees and ripped off his head. It happened so suddenly that no one could react, his head simply vanished with a spray of blood in its place.
The thug's lifeless body fell to the forest floor, and that was when they were all able to see what had killed the thug; it was a Large Saber-tooth panther but, to be more precise, a pride of Saber-tooth panthers. Adewale could not have guessed the number, but there were more than fifteen of them. Just one was considered a C-rank threat, and fifteen would be considered a B-rank threat. "You were right," Attah whispered to his friend,
"What the fuck is going on?" the second thug yelled as he observed the Panthers drag the lifeless body of the first thug away, "You bastards!" he screamed in defiance, then he drew out his weapon and shot at the wild Ẹbọras Kehinde wisely choose to hide in the cart hoping that the second thug would save the situation but it only took three seconds for the Panthers to make quick work of the second thug.
The plan was quite simple: use Adewale and the rest of the E-rank weaklings as bait for the beasts of the dark forest, but they were the ones being devoured and bait while the worthless were the ones surviving. Fools! Adewale thought he was so confident that the predators would attack the helpless that they failed to observe the surroundings.
They had only managed to overcome one hurdle: surviving the dark forest. What's the next trial? Going back was not an option; they had to move forward and survive no matter what. They were now in the centre of the lion's den.
"What do we do now?" Lakan asked.
"We keep moving, if we return to the shelter they will kill us," Adewale said with determination in his eyes. "we cannot return empty-handed, we must press on and show results"
"Then let's go", Attach said, his hands clearly trembling.
So the E-ranks ventured deeper into the dark forest with the hope of surviving the next ordeal, they were followed by an Evo-1 S-rank weakling who followed them with the goal of self-preservation.