Far north of the Region of Loria lies the region known as Samtara, which according to the dialect of the region it would roughly translate to Frozen Waves. This was due to the geological features of the entire region resembling an ocean with turbulent waves but frozen and preserved for many to bear witness.
Mark steadied his blade as he stared at the Wolves that were looming over him, behind him was Sandra with her sword drawn as well. Eventually, a wolf snarled and lunged at him but Mark, thanks to his days of training since he had left Loria, was faster and sliced the wolf in the chest bisecting it in half. He then sidestepped as he dodged another wolf that was closing in on him and sliced the wolf by the head decapitating it in the process.
"That's two," Mark commented in a low voice as he turned to find that Sandra had already taken down the wolves with ease. She noticed him staring and she set her sword down and raised a thumb at him, her all-clear signal meaning that they were now safe, Mark took her word for this and sheathed his greatsword as he looked around just in case they missed someone or something.
"That's your second wolf encounter and you're improving," Sandra said as she and Mark started to take turns in Skinning what was left of the wolves so they can sell the meat and fur for a quick income.
It is July 17th PC176, weeks had passed since they had arrived in the Samtara region and it was a whirlwind of new experiences for Mark, but by the end of the first week, he had not only adapted but started to thrive. Among the things he had done to was to learn Archery so that he can hunt animals far more efficiently and ironically break his original plan to stick to one combat set.
"I could have been better, I'm trying to like to move faster despite the weight restriction of the sword," Mark said tugging at the pommel of his sword as they lugged their bags filled with wolf meat and fur.
"And you will, all in good time," Sandra told him as they arrived at Camp Vera, which was a common camping site for many Mercenaries who are also training to become stronger, but to their surprise that the entire camp is currently in a frenzy as though an emergency is happening.
"What's going on?" Sandra asked an Older Mercenary who had a worried look on his face.
"The Exploration Team hasn't returned yet." He answered with a grim look on his face.
In Camp Vera there are three reasons a Mercenary is there; either to train a fellow Mercenary or to help in exploring old Pre-Collision Ruins or both. But to those who are part of the Second Reason, they are sorted into teams each one so they can cycle through the teams to keep them fresh.
A blizzard is coming, Mark thought as dark clouds began to form along the horizon he sat by the campfire and was accompanied by other junior mercenaries who were also there to be trained by older mercenaries normally the camp is filled with joy and the scent of roasted meat as other Mercenaries would trade stories of their recent exploits but it was now filled with dread as this was the first time in a long time where an exploration group hasn't returned. One of the Junior Mercenaries stomped towards the campfire looking like a storm cloud, which was a rare occurrence given that he is generally an optimistic person who rarely has problems.
This looks interesting, Mark thought as he turned to the Junior Mercenary, his name is Grigori Sidorov and he's three years older than him but despite the age gap, his younger brother Henri who is the same age as he is, gets along pretty well.
"What's up, you're not usually in a foul mood." Mark prompted starting the conversation with him. He was already in their good graces so all he needed was to get him to open up.
"It's just that my brother is part of the Exploration Team and the management hasn't even decided to settle what to do." He said as he glared at the fire. Mark recognized that kind of look on his face, the look of someone about to do something reckless and they've crossed beyond the threshold of reason.
Which gave Mark a fun idea. If he can carefully plant the seeds of him sneaking out then perhaps he can talk him into bringing him along, maybe with another person. But either way, he can use this as an excuse to wander out into the wilderness and see what he can find out there.
"So listen I'm thinking of sneaking out tonight and finding Henri," Grigori whispered in a low voice as he placed a log into the fire as it burned causing sparks to float up into the night sky. "Bad idea, you won't make it out on your own." Mark cut him off as he looked around worried that someone will overhear their conversation.
"Your odds of survival will change however if you bring people along." He added with a rather neutral look on his face.
"Wanna tag along then?" Grigori asked him, it was no secret that within the Junior Mercenaries that the two are friends. Mostly because both of them are the best fighters in the Camp therefore if there was any chance that they were to survive then these two would team up.
"Gladly I wanna see what's out there anyways," Mark said standing up as the two took off to find extra help all the while pulling out his Holo-Phone which also contained his Mercenary License.
One thing that Mark had learned when applying for a Mercenary License is that it's a surprisingly fast process it took only two days for him to complete as they only ask you whether or not you are qualified to be a mercenary. This is also why Mercs have a high mortality rate some of them are qualified to be Mercenaries, though Mark has no complaints about the bottom-of-the-barrel standards that the Mercenary Guild has as they are the reason under-aged children like him can become Mercenaries.
It honestly reminded him of the Adventurers Guild back in his old home world, where the youngest known adventurer would be at the age of Eleven despite the potential health risks it showed. This is why his parents have decided to ask for help to get someone to accompany the four of them in becoming Mercenaries, to ensure their safety due to the fact all four of them are heirs to Archiman society.
As Mark was preparing for his gear he felt a presence looming over him, he quickly grabbed his sword and turned to find Sandra looking over his shoulder with a hint of concern over him.
"So...where are you up to?" She asked in a low voice but the way she phrased it sounded like she already knew what he was up to.
"Are you...gonna stop me?" Mark asked testing the waters and seeing whether or not he gonna walk away scot-free or if he gonna knock her out. "Tell me, why do you fight? What is your motivation?" She asked as she moved around the tent and sat down in front of him crossed-legged she took his backpack and rummaged in its contents.
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Why does he fight? To become stronger it was plain and simple. He wants to, no he needs to become just as if not stronger than he was in his past life. He needs to surpass the mistakes that he made in his past life. It was his 'rebirth plan' so to speak. And yet he couldn't find the words to properly say it, because the more he thought about it the more he wondered how would his family react.
"To be stronger. I want to be stronger." Mark answered trying his best to sound like he had the conviction to carry it out. "What made you say that all of a sudden?"
"Because you're different. You're mature, far more mature than I expected, as you behave differently than just a child." Sandra paused as she set aside his backpack. Was I that obvious? Mark thought trying his best to look confused at everything, sure he wasn't putting on an innocent child act the moment he turned ten years old but he didn't expect that people would assume that he was an old soul at heart.
"Guess I'm an old soul," Mark shrugged but that did nothing to remove the scepticism in her eyes.
"I'd stop you but...I feel like if it's you I know you can handle it." Sandra said handing him the backpack. "I can tell you're special, be careful out there."
That's one way to put it. Mark thought to himself.
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[The Second Advent]
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Mark and Grigori found themselves staring at a small gathering of five people, some are of the same age group, and some are a few years older than them, but all of them agreed that they need to step up and rescue to missing Exploration Team and all of them are prepared for what is essentially a suicide mission especially because they're not trained to operate under extreme climate and that they're half the size of the exploration team that went off. It was late in the evening and everyone had mostly fallen asleep save for a few patrols to make sure brave and reckless souls like them would try and dare to test their luck in the cold blizzard outside Camp Vera.
"You all know why we're here right?" Grigori said as they started grabbing their gear and putting on blizzard-proof clothes.
"We're here to save the exploration team." One of them named Danie, spoke up as she put on her blizzard-proof parka they did the same thing as well, Mark was silently thankful to Hashira Enterprises for developing weatherproof clothes that can withstand extreme temperatures.
"We also know that this is a suicide mission." Another one, Sion, spoke up as he was loading his rifle.
"Good then I don't have to explain everything to you," Grigory pulled out a Holo-Tablet and showed a map of the entire Samtara Region. "They were last seen in the Temujin Pass, once we get to that location then we'll be able to find their trail."
"And we need to hurry, the clock is ticking in trying to rescue them." Mark reminded them as it had now been two hours since it had been announced that the exploration team had gone missing.
The others nodded and grabbed their items as they sneaked off into the night all the while obscured by the cover of the blizzard.
Temujin Pass is perhaps the biggest landmark within the Samtara region, it has earned the nickname of the Vault of the North due to the steep near vertical mountainside that the Temujin Pass is known for as it was covered in a mixture of ice and stone. This was also the most dangerous trail for many to venture into, with the number of beasts and Svamper Draugr or shortened to Svadraugr (pronounced as VA-draw-gur), a corpse that has been reanimated through some kind of parasite and is known for their rotting flesh and clicking noises, loom the place and many of them were ill-fit to properly take on but because all of them are confident in their skills and leadership they decided to make a push for this leadership.
They were lucky enough that the blizzard had already passed through as they trekked through the top of the Temujin Pass. And their formation followed with Mark leading the way and Grigori at the last, a well-practised method known as the wolf pack formation as they trudged through the snow causing a crunching noise towards the last known location of the exploration team which was a few miles north.
According to the rumours they were to investigate a Hashira Enterprise Vault that dates back before the Collision and is yet to be opened but there was a theory that the Hashira Enterprise Vaults are designed to last an eternity and thus its contents could still be intact despite roughly a thousand years have passed since. And its contents are what the exploration Team aimed to locate and open that vault.
"We sure got ourselves into a mess," Danie commented in a low voice as the seven of them are surrounded by what appeared to be a large herd of Svadraugr that are standing in the cold staring at them in the wind.
We had only taken a handful of steps before we ended up running into a large herd of them, and then the chances of seeing Henri again are very low. Mark pondered as the seven of them are standing on a frozen lake with thin Ice that they were fortunate enough to cross thanks to their light movements. The others were still trying to catch their breath from the run after being chased by groups and groups of Svadraugr.
If I was at my full power I could take them on, Mark thought keeping his attention towards the herd of Svadraugr that were standing there unaffected by the fact their prey had just eluded them once more.
There was a silver lining in their current predicament though, they've all gathered in one spot so they can escape on the other side but the problem lies in the fact they've gathered at their only known path of escaping. This is why the Rescue team can't get a move on, they have to decide on whether or not they should take them out making their escape easier or just make a move on and let that be a problem for them later on.
"Alright I've decided, we're going to move on and leave them be for now," Grigori said walking towards them with a confident look on his face as he let out a breath.
"Works for me," Mark lied, it was a reckless idea to leave this many at such a place but Grigory is the leader and so he had no other choice other than to agree with him. Eventually, the others agreed with him, albeit reluctantly as they likely have the same thought as he does.
And so they've decided to take the other side.
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[The Second Advent]
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"Are we there yet? Can't seem to get a read on our current location." Danie asked them as she tried to access the map on her Holo-Phone but strangely there was no signal in their current location forcing them to rely on the map and luck in locating them.
But as Mark was walking he felt a sudden shift in the air causing him to stop in his tracks this caused the others to stop and look at him with a worried look on their faces. This was then followed by a sound of cracking and snapping. He took a quick breath as he glanced at the others with a rather concerned look on his face as he raised his hand to gesture to them to stop.
"Don't move," Mark said looking at the ground and found that he was standing on some very thin ice as it was now filled with cracks that make it resemble that of a spiderweb that continued to grow and grow until someone unfortunate enough to get tangled into it's web.
"What do we do?" One of them said on the verge of panicking, this made sense as all of them were tied together so if Mark were to fall then everyone else follows with him.
There was only one thing to do, Mark thought as he took a deep breath of the cold Samtaran air while the ground below him continued to snap and crack from his weight. It was a familiar scent as it reminded him of his winter excursions to seek out weapons and magic for him to become stronger.
He would need to cut the line if he wanted to ensure the safety of the team. But there was also another reason for him to do this, mainly how it would allow him to explore on his own without everyone holding him back, he'll probably get an earful from Sandra but it was worth a shot.
This was after all the reason why he talked Grigori into going on a suicide mission. He didn't care what happens to the exploratory group anyways, they can die for all he cared.
"Mark? What are you doing?" Grigori whispered to him as he watched Mark pull out the knife he used for cutting up meat and other game that he had hunted and proceeded to cut down the lines that connected him as the ice below him shattered with a loud crash causing the entire party to panic and rush to his aid.
But Mark realized something. He wasn't standing on thin ice, he was standing on Glass.
And he continued to fall, and down and down as everything went black.