Once again the time for the march to the wall had arrived.
Erian had read and heard so much about the wall and finally had the chance to see it, with his very own eyes.
He couldn't shake off the feeling of excitement so much that he lost concentration even during spar sessions- though unfailing to win.
The sermons he always enjoyed at the temple, became long as his thoughts hovered solely around the legendary black wall.
The wall flooded his dreams so much that he forgot the very essence of it, he forgot the lives it had taken.
Erian Valohart was his name, the third son of Alaric and Elaine Valohart. He was 15 years old, soon to take the page test to become a knight of Stonehold.
His family was renowned throughout the uncharted territory, being one of the nobles of the mountain settlement of Stonehold.
Among mankind, its forces were united under the Heavens Banners. The Shields bore the Heavens Shield banner while the Swords bore the Heavens Sword banner.
The Valoharts were one of the families under the Shields of the Heavens Shield banner. They shared one duty with mankind, to protect mankind from the ferocious beasts of the Uncharted territory and beyond.
The Swords on the other hand had one goal and duty, mankind's freedom - the black wall.
The families of the Swords were unknown to most, as it was rumored that they lived underneath the 4 settlements.
Underground, they vigorously trained their troops year long, their strengths surpassing the Shields who fought beasts throughout.
They never drew their weapons at beasts nor involved themselves in their dealings. Rather their sole focus was on the enemies which held mankind's freedom - Markind.
The Shields were never envious of the Swords, rather they respected them and looked up to them, just like those of the past did.
Without battling beasts it was a mystery how the Swords were so powerful and inhumane. Shields would grow and gain their battle experience from countless clashes with different tiers of beasts- if they survive.
No night went by in which Erian wouldn't see a courier returning to the Valohart mansion. That was one of the reasons his father visited the cemetery every night- to mourn the fallen.
Mostly those couriers died on their way to deliver the reports- ending up as casualties themselves. These were replaced each week, day or even hour, the longest lasting for barely half a month.
There was no safe place outside the settlements, yet others sought to build villages at their own risks.
Though some villages did survive as beasts in those areas were of lower tiers- they ended up as targets raiding targets for the cutthroats and filth of mankind.
Each march to the wall was led by the strongest of the Shields - the leaders of the various families under the Heavens Shield banner.
As they had no dealings with the beast, whenever they were encountered on the march, the shields dealt with them.
From the books he read, Erian never found much about what occurred at the wall. He could only trust the rumors about the march to wall, yet they were all incomplete.
Some said the troops of the Swords were demons, that they never halted in their march after the first horn until the second horn blew.
Others said that the shields only managed to see a glimpse of the wall at the Fog Pass. As the Fog Pass from the books, was a region of thick fog between the wall and uncharted territory.
With no proof of all the rumors being true, this piqued Erian curiosity of finding out what was hidden from the most.
His father and eldest brothers who had been on the march to the wall, would never spill the beans nor hear him out.
Elaine Valohart was a total blank sheet on such matters, being a devout believer and healer to the temple.
Seven days remained till the march began, Erian had made a deal with his father, just to be a part of the Shields escort on the march.
Keeping his end of the bargain, he had ranked first among the pages of Stonehold. Completing the other tasks was a toll, yet his curiosity fueled his determination and now two tasks remained.
To get his ticket to join the march to the wall approved, he had to slay a beast and also extract its essence.
Slaying a beast was one thing and extracting the essence (core) of a beast was another.
One could survive slaying a beast easier than resulting to extract its core.
Being such a task which needed special expertise, every hunting party of the shields had one or two members from Dusthaven.
The Valoharts were quite different compared to the others under the Heavens Shield banner. Constantly being in wedlock with the Sunstone family of Dusthaven, a Shield family- the descendants were to learn the extraction skill.
Thus, Erian had been carefully taught as many times as he could remember by his mother, Elaine Valohart(Once Elaine Sunstone).
Despite her teachings, Erian couldn't get the fact that one had to extract the essence with the mouth. The process was so delicate that one wrong move was one's last move- after all they were but humans.
Erian, as smart as he was, did dare question why defensive weapons, made from these beast essences weren't used for protection.
He believed that such would prevent death during the process of extraction, yet all he received was a slap and an angry mother in return.
Surely, he would have asked again the next time if his elder brother didn't step in to deliver his mother, from another session of anger. Devan Valohart, the second son of Alaric and Elaine, did make sure to get him to understand. Though he couldn't bet that he actually got the concept, the danger of essences of even a tier 1 beast did sink in.
Of course Erian Valohart was the black sheep of the family, the first to appear in their family's history - he had made sure to read through all generations of the family.
The Valoharts were mighty beast slayers, being one of the first to encounter and destroy higher tiers.
At points in time, they did produce others who were different but were great beast slayers.
From dual blade to blind knights had passed through their family lines, not a bookworm who didn't go anywhere without a book.
Erian was a fine and potential knight not a beastslayer, as there was a huge line between the two.
His love for knowledge was on a rampage, a day without a book possibly leading to the destruction of the Valohart Mansion.
Books taught him everything, he could manifest each word and image in it and bring them into reality.
Thus he gave a beat down to every other page, ranking first from simple reading the very book no one read- the Guide to Becoming a Knight.
Sadly, the extraction of beast essences had no books on them in the mansion or the settlement's library- his first home. Luckily he had Devan with him on the trip to the Yuk Forest, apart from the 5 escort knights.
These escort's would watch him ripped into shreds by those beasts, on his father's orders - as he would finally throw away that jigsaw, which just didn't fit in.
If he trusted anyone, that would be his brother Devan. Their destination, the Yuk Forest was near the Laksvale village, being dominated by packs of the tier 1 beasts- the ferals.
Stopping at the village chief's residence to wait out the night, Erian read through a book about sword techniques- preparing himself for his first hunt.