August could tell Alia missed the days in the dark forest, though she would never admit it.
He doubted she truly missed the forest itself however, maybe it was just the feeling of battle. He himself struggled to sleep soundly some nights, worrying about what may emerge from the imaginary trees that layed just beyond the darkness.
He could still taste the humid air some nights, and feel blisters on his skin that had healed months ago. August still remembered the fear of the forest, and the adrenaline that rushed through his body through each night.
It was addicting, and he was suffering from withdrawal.
He did not know if his friend felt exactly the same way, but he did have some idea.
He sat down beside Alia, who silently watched the training guards, acknowledging him only via a slight nod. She had cleaned up well, and her skin – which used to be covered in drown blood and grime – was now a flawless pale complexion. Alia's eyes now seemed sharper, and her body had become much more relaxed.
Sensing that she was not in the mood to be disturbed, he decided against trying to start a conversation just yet, instead deciding to join her in watching the fighters train.
Looking at them, the city guards were certainly formidable, for all he knew at least. Each of them was among the most powerful in the city, and it showed.
Many of them weilded traditional weapons and armor– simply because most minerals were almost impossible to find and refine with the technological advancement of only a few years. Not to mention mass producing such things would have been an actual nightmare.
Of course a select few were in possession of a firearm of sorts, those who's particular skills allowed it.
The switch to more primitive armor seemed to be impractical at first, but made sense the more he thought about it. The crossing over had made people much stronger than they were before– some were even capable of moving entire buildings. So August assumed a few extra pounds of armor would make a negligible difference for the amount of protecting it provided.
Tactical armor also had a major disadvantage when up against swords and other cutting weapons, which humanity was now forced to rely upon heavily. It was the same for bites and claws, heavy plate armor simply provided a much more rigid defense against the brutality of the new world. Whereas in the old world, people had to worry more about dispersing momentum.
As if that wasn't enough, to deal the finishing blow, the new world itself seemed to bare fangs at modernity, not allowing it to take root. This was the reason so many buildings were built in old fashion.
At first, humanity had no other choice than to build in this way– it was better suited to what they could secure, but attempts to build high rise buildings or massive modern structures had been made, and they had failed, with astonishing casualties to boot.
Each of the guards used their own skills upon each other, some battled in groups whilst others battled one against the other. August even witnessed an obstacle course of various dangers to the far right.
Of course this was not all the guards, the city was only inhabited by about ten thousand, and of that number of people, only three hundred guards.
And of those guards, only six aspirants, well, there were seven if you counted the mayor.
When he had first arrived, August was quite confused at the amount of new additions to vocabulary that the new world had brought about.
In fact, he was happy everyone could communicate using that vocabulary. For some odd reason, the world itself translated whatever was heard to the language of the one hearing it. God forbid heed have to learn another language to talk to people.
August held out his hands and summoned two small metal boxes, each having a crudely hinged lid. Both were filled with streaming red rice and something that looked strangely like and unlike beef at the same time.
He handed Alia one of the boxes, and the redhead took it without sparing him so much as a glance.
He sat with her in silence, chewing the gummy rice and tough meat. Eventually however, the silence was broken by Alia herself.
"Do you intend to come here every single day?" She asked him.
He thought for a second before replying.
"Honestly, yes I do."
She glared at him for a second, then brought the wooden spoon she was using to her lips, replying before taking a bite.
"I do hope you are aware that I can handle myself." She replied bluntly, a hint of mild displeasure in her voice.
"I am, so what's your point?"
He moved slightly further to the left, to avoid the prospective punch that could fracture his skull at any moment.
Alia however, simply rolled her eyes and carried on watching the guards with an unfamiliar glint in her eye.
Then she posed a question to him:
"August, what do you think about pioneering?"
Taken aback, he turned his head to look at her.
"What?" He asked.
"You heard what I said… how do you feel about pioneering?"
August looked back at the guards, taking a moment to gather his thoughts and form a proper response.
He knew what a pioneer was, but he also understood the connotation of what she had said.
In the new world, a pioneer was what the organizer used to refer to humans. This could possibly be because they were the first in a new land, pioneers of a new age, but nobody was sure.
Humanity however, used the word as synonym for a person who went out looking for glory and adventure in the new world. In fact, all of the kings were simply pioneers of a group who had formed an organization and pseudo-government.
Pioneering was a deadly line of work, depending on what a Pioneer decided to focus on.
A pioneer at heart, is a person brave enough to go out into the world and carve a path for others. This use however, was simply as an umbrella term for a type of person. Pioneers could follow many different paths and attempt to achieve many different personal goals.
And an aspirant, was a person who traveled out into the world in hopes of being recognized as a pioneer.
Since there was little to no properly interconnected infrastructure in the new world, the only way to be recognized as a pioneer was to gain an extraordinary amount of fame through achievements.
This was what August suspected was happening on the night he arrived, the blonde fanatic was possibly nothing more than an aspirant attempting to build a name through destruction.
Pioneers were those who were willing to brave the unknown and go to unreal lengths to push themselves to the top of the world. Someone willing to fight in one or more of the many fields that the new world provided. Above all else, a pioneer had to absolutely love what they did, or else it would not be worth it.
So he thought long and hard before he gave Alia an answer, barely handing a thought to exactly why she asked him