“But it’s important you don’t tell that boy the information I am going to tell you,” Malaina said under her mask. Her black mask was featureless aside from the two eye holes carved into it. But the eyes were indeed the windows to the soul, Alain could harken a guess on what kind of face she was making, although he did not know if it was intentional. She seemed...serene.

“Even if the information will give him hope?” Alain replied, “I’m sure you already know about this since you seem to already know everything, Renald wants to venture to the outside world and not being able to consume nectar invalidates that,” He said.

Malaina shrugged her broad shoulders, “Hope is good, but being told you are special might make you overconfident, and you know how that ruins good potential,”

“Speaking of potential, why me?” Alain asked.

“Hmm?”

“The aggressive person you sent to me before said you want to recruit me, and now you’re going to tell me all this information without any string attached? You don’t happen to think that I will just suddenly believe everything you said?”

“Well, of course, we are interested in you, ” Malaina crossed her legs the other way, “and indeed, we will need something in return,”

“But what will I get in return?” Alain said and turned to Marika, “And she also doesn’t know anything as well,”

Knowing when to push forward is important when dealing with these types of people. Alain had some experience dealing with the overly mysterious types, those who hide their cards well but would not mind showing them if they were impressed by you. Although those types he had only encountered in some of the Guru in The Academy.

Malaina sighed. “I already planned to tell you, be patient. Can I continue my story about the blue crystal and the boy now? Weren’t you curious about that?” She said with a slightly irritated tone.

Alain nodded, “Fine.”

Malaina switched the leg that was on top of her crossed legs, “Right, as I said, don’t tell the boy. Once you leave The Sanctuary, we plan to monitor him closely and when we deem it necessary, we will contract him personally ourselves. Don’t worry, we have his best interest in mind,” She explained.

I very much doubt that. It’s their own interest that matters. If what she said about him being special is true, then they would want to use Renald in the future. The same goes for me. But that is how the world works, I suppose, give and take. If their proposed rewards are worthwhile, then I’m all ears. Alain pondered in his mind.

“The blue crystal is...still largely a mystery, but we know several details,”

“Such as?”

“Some ancient scripts from the very early days after The Final Curse call it a ‘Vatun’. It’s a crystal capable of creating strong mental links with giants, and the reason that the boy was capable of using it is that he was perfectly capable of consuming nectars, but the energy of the Vatun he came into contact with has taken over the parts of his organs that can consume nectars,” She explained.

“Wait, so you’re saying that you got to have the potential to consume nectars, which you won’t know before you consume it for the first time, and then extract the...Vatun’s energy and then touch a giant?” Alain asked, his face completely perplexed.

Does that mean there’s no hope for me? He thought regrettably.

“Precisely. That’s why he’s so special, what are the chances of a child going out into the wilderness, find the extremely rare Vatun, and then touch a deadly giant afterward? I could tell you that it’s very low. That child could very well be eaten before finding out anything.” Malaina said.

“Is there truly no hope of being attuned with the crystal if you’ve already consumed nectars?” Alain asked. He frowned at the reality of the matter, he could no longer taste the power of taming a giant.

“None as far as we know and experiment.”

Experiment?

“Does that mean you have more of those Vatuns?” Alain asked.

“That’s classified,” She shot him down swiftly.

Alain sighed, “Can Renald only have a link with his Kashik or can he tame even more giants?” He asked.

“Yes, he can. But I won’t go into details, for now. I told you all I needed you to know so you can trust Renald with us. That boy is probably feeling very down right now, but he doesn’t realize how powerful he could be in the future.”

That’s insane, does that mean he can have an army of giants in the future? He thought. But it doesn’t seem she’ll answer any more than that, so I have to listen about what she’s going to say next.

Malaina looked at both Marika and Alain. “I’ll just say right away that I will get Marika some documents so she can join the expedition, in the same division as you, in fact, although we have changed where you will be stationed as well,” She said.

Marika’s eyes widened in surprise and a faint smile escaped her lips.

Alain frowned, “Change my station? I was in the supply transport team. Where are you placing us? I don’t think I’m qualified to be in the front lines yet,”

Malaina shook her head. “Don’t worry, you’ll still be in a transport team, just not the one you thought you were going to be in. You see, we are carrying an experimental technology that the university has recently invented, one that could allow us to communicate between The Sanctuary and the expedition team long-distance, and we need you to to not only protect it but keep your ears on the ground for any...suspicious activities,” She explained.

Communicate long-distance? Is such a thing even possible? Alain thought. But her eyes are telling me I should just listen and not ask even more questions. Alain noticed Malaina’s eyes, which were previously serene, had turned icy cold as if to dispel any interruptions. Alain turned to Marika and she looked back at him as if understanding what he was thinking, she felt the same thing. This mysterious masked woman...was powerful, extremely so, and they did not know why they can tell.

“You might be wondering, don’t we have our own agents? Well yes, certainly, but this is also part of us training you if you decide to join us. And also, a lot of important Shield members are leaving The Sanctuary….as you have seen with Commander Tojido, “ Malaina facepalmed her mask and exhaled a long sigh. “Bunch of muscleheads those Shield soldiers are. We are forced to leave behind our most powerful officers here for security reasons and we can only send a small minority of our agents, many of whom will be closer to the frontlines so we certainly need you to be our spy in the transport team,”

So they're having a shortage in manpower? He thought.

“I...think I understand,” Marika was the one to reply, “But you haven’t said what’s in it for us,” She gulped as she said that, hoping she did not offend the lady.

Malaina opened both of her hands in front of her, “Alright, I shall tell you what we are giving you in return. First, Alain,” She suddenly snapped her finger and the room lit up with lights immediately.

Alain and Marika looked around frantically and found they were in a spacious empty warehouse with only a lone door near them. Near to where they were, they found a person with black robes and a black helmet with a large glass visor. The mysterious person was carrying something that had the silhouette of a giant sword wrapped in white cloth. Alain recognized him immediately to be the person who ambushed him a few days back.

I didn’t feel his presence at all, Alain thought in shock.

“Hello again!” The person waved to Alain and Marika. “Sorry for giving you such a bad first impression before, my name is Veridis,” He said with a melodic tone of voice, the voice Alain remembered all too well before being knocked unconscious.

“Introductions some other time, Veridis. Show him the sword-ax,” Malaina said sternly.

Sword-ax?

“Alright, mother,” Veridis replied sarcastically and unwrapped the cloth that covered the sword-ax.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Alain’s first impression seeing it was how beautiful the sword-ax was. The designs were intricate, it was made out of some sort of steel in contrast with his bone sword, and he could tell right away how much sharper it looked. The color of the weapon could only be described as black-red, slightly burgundy, a little maroon, its look might change under different lighting conditions. He was struck with how magnificent the craftsmanship was.

“Heh, I know that look kid,” Veridis snickered seeing Alain’s reaction, “That’s how they roped me in when I joined as well, by giving me a weapon I could not refuse,” He said.

Such an impressive looking weapon and they’re just going to give it to me if I say yes? This belongs to the treasury! Alain thought, he felt slightly suspicious.

“A sword made with the fragments of a sky rock that fell from the great beyond above us,” Veridis started explaining, “The unknown ores contained within the sky rock was crafted into this masterpiece. And that’s not the only thing,” The man wearing the helmet took something out of his pocket, it was a piece of dark maroon rock that Alain could guess right away to be what the sword-ax was made from.

Veridis used that palm-sized rock and scratched it along the surface of the sword-ax. The friction of the swipe created sparks and eventually, the sword-ax was engulfed with flames.

“W-what!?” Alain muttered in complete shock.

“By Mother Yavi!” Marika said as she was also surprised. She belonged to the ruling family of the imposing Mother Yavi’s Domain yet she never saw such a thing. She has seen incredible weapons belonging to the great families, but certainly not something made out of...sky rocks as Veridis said.

"It's a flaming sword-ax, as you can see," Veridis presented it like he was in the theater.

Malaina suddenly interjected, “Alain, we know your story very well. How your family and supposedly city was destroyed and killed by an Elder Giant and how you traveled here all the way from outside of this region,” Malaina said.

“You’re not from this region!?” Marika interjected. This was certainly news to her, Alain had not had the time to explain to her his true background. The mention of the mythical elder giants was shocking, but hearing a person from outside of their region was just as rare as the legends of the elder giants. The world had turned absolutely gargantuan, and the humans were small. Distances between clusters of civilization were now almost completely unreachable. News from outside their region had not been heard for several generations, officially that is.

“It’s not a secret, Marika,” Alain turned to Marika, “Everyone knows. I apologize for not telling you yet….but I wonder why you are mentioning it now,” He turned to Malaina and frowned.

“Because we know how much you crave power,” Malaina shrugged, ”That’s why you kept forcing yourself to go outside without The Sanctuary’s authorization. But if you’re worried about our offer being...too good to be true, so to speak, then fret not, you are effectively borrowing that weapon, it still belongs to us but we will lend it to you if you decide to cooperate with us,” She said.

I still don’t buy it, Alain thought.

Malaina seemed to sense his doubt, “We trust our candidates very well, you see. If you think we have only started monitoring you ever since you went through that ‘secret’ passage, then you underestimate our vetting process. We have compiled data about your morality, behavior patterns, abilities, and so on, and we have deemed you perfectly qualified. Let’s just say, we have been watching you ever since you set foot in our settlement the very first time three years ago, Alain Devuson,” Malaina said.

Alain’s eyes were open as wide as never before. It was a name he had not heard in years, and it’s not a name he wanted to particularly remember either. Alain’s brown skin showed tinges of red, something very unusual for his skin tone, and his hands started shaking.

“That name, you only said it the first time the gate guards picked you up when they asked who you were. After that, strangely you insisted on being only referred to as your first name, Alain. Then you caught our attention immediately after you claimed to be from a place we had never heard before, ‘Cradle’ you called that city. Numerous things had happened since then, and let’s just say...we know some things about that place and what happened.” She explained calmly.

Alain’s eyes turned bloodshot and started shouting, “What!? Do you know where the elder giant is!? Tell me! Tell me now!” He lost his composure and walked forward in front of the tall lady, who was now standing as well. Malaina was taller than he was, so he looked up at her.

“Sit. Down.” Malina’s eyes threatened to pierce into Alain’s, a wave of fear washed over him and he walked back and sat down, but he was still staring at her. “I have already laid out our offer to you, so sit down quietly for now and ponder it in your head. You will get those things if you accept our offer. It’s her turn now,” She turned her head to Marika who was still processing all the information she was hearing.

How am I supposed to calm down after seeing the power of that sword-ax and the fact that they may know where the Elder Giant that killed my family is? Alain thought, he sat in silence with shakes visible in both of his palms.

“Lady Marika Peacebringer, seventh daughter of the Prince Regent himself, Astrof Peacebringer,” Malaina said.

Marika stood up suddenly from her seat, “How much do you know about our affairs?” She said with sharp eyes and oddly, a worried face.

“We have our sources inside your nobility,”

“Then—”

Malaina raised her right arm to stop her, “Indeed. You already know what I’m getting at. We will keep updating you about him and how he is doing,” She said.

“Then is he still!?” Marika said with watery eyes that seemed hopeful.

“Last we heard, yes,” Malaina replied.

“By Mother Yavi’s blessings!” Marika praised and suddenly slouched down in prayer with both of her hands clasped. Her face seemed grateful, happy, gleaming. “B-but, why do you need me?” She asked as she looked up while crouching.

“Call it an investment, you carry the blood of the ruling family of Mother Yavi’s Domain, after all.” The woman wearing the mask replied.

“But I’m already taken out of the picture!” Marika exclaimed.

“I’ll still call it an investment. And besides, we’ll need your help with something during the expedition,” Malaina walked forward to face them. Marika was still crouching in prayer while Alain looked down with shaking hands while sitting. “So, you two, yes or no?”

I already know my answer, Alain said in his mind, the promised information and the added bonus of the sword-ax was enough in his eyes. What about her? What was all that deal they were talking about? Alain pondered as he looked at Marika.

“Yes,” Alain simply replied.

“I accept your offer,” Marika also said.

“Good,” Malaina motioned for Veridis, who was standing still the entire time, to come forward. “Marika, go with Veridis. I’ll talk to Alain,” She said.

“What? Why?” Alain asked. He was confused about why she was separating them now.

“The content of your two missions are different. It’s standard procedure for different agents of ours to carry different information just in case they are discovered or are interrogated. Now, go on now, Marika” She said as she shooed away Marika.

But then why have the two of us together like this then? I heard some more small tidbits about Marika’s life and she heard mine. Unless...they purposely want us to know about each other’s past, but why? Alain thought.

Marika complied right away and followed the man with the helmet and black robes into another room entirely. It was just Alain and the mysterious lady now.

“Now, your mission is quite crucial. Protect and observe your division. You see, carrying that ‘experimental’ communication device means that you are part of protecting something quite valuable and sensitive, it might ensure the success of the expedition. ” She explained.

“And then if I want to report any suspicious activities?” Alain asked.

“Write down your content on a piece of paper, crumple it, find a solitary soil beneath any tree, bury it, and then mark the tree with this,” Malaina handed Alain what seemed to be a small piece of white chalk, “Remember, it’s important that you are completely alone and not followed when you do this. One of our agents will pick it up afterward,” She said.

“I don’t get it,” Alain rubbed his temple, dizzy at what she was saying but also for the numerous jaw-droppers she dropped throughout the meeting so far. “Why all this secrecy? What will happen on the expedition? I thought only Giantslayers and Shield soldiers were joining us?”

The tall Malaina put a hand on Alain’s shoulder as if a parent trying to advise her child, “You have much to learn, Alain. And if you join us, we will teach you those things. The expedition is not as simple as you think it is, and you will find that the few bad fruits have already spoiled the bunch, ” She said.

"What do you mean by that?" Alain stood up and look up at the taller Malaina, "You are going to have to be a little more transparent if you want me to cooperate and do a good job," He said valiantly. 

"The incident last month that caused this shortage was not much of an incident at all more than it is sabotage instead," She replied.

"Huh?" Alain was perplexed by her words.

"The settlements inside this region, including The Sanctuary, Mother Yavi's Domain, Great Tree Stronghold, Lajiva Goa, and the Underground City of Heimmerfell, have been living relatively in peace with one another for several hundred years aside from some skirmishes, every one of us had been too busy dealing with our own internal affairs," Malaina explained.

What is going on? Alain said in his mind, but he was already sensing where this was going. 

"Until recently, the giants were kept in check, and everyone had their own nectar spots they can extract from. But I told you, we have all been here hundreds of years, and the nectar reserves will eventually dry up," She said.

"Then what happened in last month's incident?" Alain gulped and asked.

"Our official story we released to the public is that some powerful giants laid waste the nectar spots we have, but what actually happened was that enemy forces came in and stole all of it from us," 

Malaina walked back into her chair and sat in it again, crossing her legs calmly.

"This is a crisis of great historical importance I must say, a war is upon us. And with all the settlements fighting over nectar reserves, we will use nectar to fight other humans instead of fighting giants, this also means we leave ourselves open to more giant attacks," 

"And for the expedition?" Alain replied.

"It has been natural to have spies within different settlements to keep each other in check, but with the dawn of this upcoming conflict, we are left wondering who among us are Rakus working for the other sides. And let's just say, we may encounter other expedition teams looking for the same thing as us," Malaina explained.