--Vanhan Forest, Midnight—

Moving about the outpost, three guards and the Alterbeast kept watch for intruders. The Alterbeast itself was a five foot tall, gray boar-like creature with a horn on the middle of its head. It sniffed across the ground, checking for unfamiliar scents. Suddenly, it perked up, catching an interesting smell. It scanned the area, and saw raw meat a few feet away in front of a large bush. The beast quickly moved in and consumed the meat in seconds. Satisfied, it turned around to resume its patrol. Moments later, it started to sway left and right, feeling disoriented. It moved sluggishly, and then stopped within the eyesight of the moving guard. Immediately, it collapsed in front of the man. With confusion and concern on his face, the guard quickly approached the beast. He looked over at the beast, kicking once to believe it would wake up, then turned to his comrades.

"Hey, did this thing get enough sleep?"

"Of course," the second guard approached the man with irritation. "We made sure it slept all day before releasing it."

"Well, it's out." grumbled the first guard. "It's not waking up."

"What's wrong?" The third guard joined them. "What happened to it?"

"It collapsed suddenly."

Before any of them could further indulge, they heard rustling in the bushes, prompting them to quickly turn their attention to it and raise their guard. They eyed the bush warily, readying themselves. However, they were swiftly subdued as three pairs of arms grabbed them from behind and covered their mouths with cloths. The men struggled for a moment, but soon began moving sluggishly. Their legs gave way, and they were gently lowered to the ground as they lost consciousness. Pilot, Jarlon, and Jex stood up after lowering the men, then looked up as they saw Sapphire emerge from the bush and march calmly toward them. Jarlon immediately summoned his axe and killed the creature with a slice through the head. He turned to the downed men and gazed at them. "Well?"

"How long will they be out?" asked Pilot.

"For the rest of the night." stated Sapphire. "We can either kill them or leave them here for the authorities in the morning. Either way, they won't bother us."

"We could give them an extra dose." Jarlon suggested, fiddling with a vial with a sneer. "They'd potentially sleep for more than 12 hours."

"Anymore will kill them," Sapphire said, turning around. "Don't waste it"

After the group bounded the unconscious guards and placed them in a bush, they moved to the building. The Gemstone Squad's reconnaissance during the week determined the front and back entrances would trigger alarms due to the rogues' setup of a gadget that would alert them, or the lack of maintenance would make the sound of the rustic door echo while opening. They discovered a narrow hole nine feet above ground on the wall of the left side of the building. It looked uncomfortable to crawl through, but they had no choice. It was either sneak in or open the doors and cause the target to escape.

Sapphire gracefully leaped toward the hole and crawled in, followed by Jex, Pilot, and Jarlon. Once inside, they noticed they were in what appeared to be a mess hall that was filled with debris and garbage. A few skeletons remained in the room. Every item in the mess hall was scattered, little blots of unknown substance stained the floor and tables were flipped over.

"What happened here?" Jex asked.

"A war between two nations." spoke Sapphire. "I read that this unit was eradicated when a traitor allowed access to the fort." She turned to the hole they crawled through. "That might have been the route of entry."

The rogue canokian let out a sad chuckle. "Sounds familiar."

Pilot stayed silent as he walked across the room, scanning for anything. He looked at the large brown stain smeared across the wall, then set his eyes on the door. "Betrayal is betrayal. De-lan succumbed to whatever Brakt offered him. He made the decision that day." He grasped the door handle and opened it slowly. He winced at the creaking sound which made him stop and listened for sounds in the hallway. Everyone else held their breath, waiting for noises such as footsteps or voices. There was nothing, which could be good or bad. The Crimson Blade growled and slowly opened the door wide enough for him to fit through. He peered out the door and looked around, only to find himself in a dimly lit hallway. He quietly stepped out as he analyzed his surroundings, then he signaled for the others to come out. After the last person left the mess hall, they gazed at either end of the hallway.

"Sapphire." the Crimson Blade whispered. "Do you know the layout?"

"No, only the history." she responded. "It ended with Mudbrook gaining more territory and the two nations becoming one." She gazed down the hallway. "The government moved to where the borders between the two nations used to be. Do you want to hear more?"

"Not really." grunted the rogue canokian. "Knowing about the past doesn't help us understand this damn place. From the layout there are probably two more floors. De-lan is on one of them."

"We're in unknown territory and we don't have enough members. Daylight will be here soon." Pilot turned to them. "We should split into groups of two and explore."

"And we should report to the other if we find De-lan or anything of importance." responded Sapphire. "The question is, do we move with the previous teams or do I explore with you?"

"Me?" Pilot eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

"You and Jarlon still hold some animosity for each other to function as a team. Plus even if we are a team, do you fully trust Jarlon and I to venture on our own." She turned to the rogue. "I doubt I can stop Jarlon's rage once he sees him. You might have more restraint for yourself so that your protege does not have difficulty stopping you.."

"But how can I stop him?" The youngling glanced at the onyx user.

"You can't." scoffed the rogue canokian.

Pilot groaned as he massaged his head as he contemplated the decision. "This building is not very vast, and who knows what skills the enemy has." He groaned. "I am taking a huge risk. Jex go with Jarlon."

Jex sighed. "Yes, sir." He glanced at the onyx user, looking annoyed. "We're a unit now."

"I am curious about you, youngling." He chuckled as he turned down the hallway. "Just don't slow me down."

"Deserter Prick." growled the youngling as he followed after the man.

Sapphire turned to Pilot, looking curious. "It stands to see if this decision was correct."

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Pilot turned away. "I have never worked with someone who holds the Illuminating Gem.I let my curiosity influence me. I have heard tales of those who wield its power."

"The tales more or less reflect our squad. I too want to see you as your moniker."

He nodded as he marched down the opposite end of the hallway. "Noted."

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Jex and Jarlon moved through the corridor, exploring the rooms and keeping all their senses active. There was nothing of importance in the rooms that warrant profiting for Jarlon. For Jex, he felt this entire building should be repurposed as a museum to remind those of what occurred here. The youngling's attention turned to the rogue. His mentor once held respect for the man, but now they seemed inches away from punching the other in the face. Pilot would have hit harder than this rogue, Jex was sure of it. His mentor is the Crimson Blade, after all. He knew why his mentor placed him with the man. One, to gauge the man's ability with the gemstone. Two, to keep an eye on the aviana. The woman was a mystery, not even his mentor knew who she was. As soon as they returned home he will research aviana that matched her profile, but some part of him felt he might not find decent information.

"Kid."

"What?"

"Why did Pilot choose you?"

"Because I am qualified to follow him."

Jarlon held a disgusted expression. "The worst kind of person for him to train, a kissass." He entered a room with clothes all over the floor. "Nothing."

"I'm not a kissass." Jex retorted, reminding himself that it would be inappropriate to call him crude language during the mission and that he would seek the high ground. "There is nothing wrong with respecting your superiors."

"Some 'superiors' aren't worth respecting. Before Zeracakja became the head, the previous jackass didn't spend time gathering information about them. Nothing. They held a service, said words, and told us not to risk our lives looking for a trail gone cold."

"Perhaps there wasn't any information to gather and you might end up with false leads."

"There is always information, even if it's a little bit." He scoffed. "However, my trail ran cold. I became a bounty hunter and drifted from place to place while taking up odd jobs."

"Eventually, you joined the Gemstone Squad."

"They found me and asked me to join because my skills could be useful. So I jumped on it at the same time as the brat."

"Your message did say you had a youngling." Jex eyed him. "Why?"

"Shut up. Do you hear that?"

The youngling narrowed his eyes as he tried to hear. A few moments later he heard what appeared to be heavy footsteps stampeding toward them. Jarlon and Jex kept quiet until an Alterbeast ran around the corner. It was another boar-like beast, which upon seeing them, immediately charged with its horn aimed at them. Both warriors leapt away as it charged past them. The monster came to a halt, then turned around to charge again. Jex moved into a fight stance, wanting to take on the beast, barehanded. However Jarlon had other ideas. His Gemstone glowed as it began to melt into his skin, forming an onyx gauntlet. The warrior charged forward and delivered an uppercut that knocked the beast in the air, breaking its jaw. When the beast fell it was met with a spinning back kick to the face, sending it flying across the hall and colliding with the ground where it slid through until stopped against the corner of the hallway.

The duo remained still, waiting for the pig to stand up. A minute later, the gemstone warrior chuckled.

"Really? De-lan kept these low-level Alterbeast?

"I am also disappointed." muttered Jex. "Perhaps we only met with a grunt."

"Either that." He narrowed his eyes. "Or trick intruders into believing this is all he has." He turned around. "Never assume kid, Pilot taught you that right?

"O-obviously he has."

"Good," He sneered. "Didn't want to believe otherwi-." He held up his hand. "Shh."

They held their breath to listen for more sounds. This time multiple footsteps could be heard running down the hallway, each with frantic voices about the Alterbeast cutting loose and cursing themselves. A group of five ran around the corner and were shocked at meeting intruders. Before they could do anything else, Jarlon shot forward, this time both hands equipped with black gauntlets and chest with a black breastplate. He grabbed two of the rogues by their faces and slammed them into the floor then unleashed a burst of power that further caved them into the floor and caused injuries to their bodies. The remaining three wasted no time to help their comrades, but one was quickly subdued when Jex placed the guards arm in an armlock and slammed him into the wall and held him there. The two soldiers turned back to their captive comrade and were about to attack when a burst of dark mana sent them propelling into the wall. Then Jarlon grasped them by their necks and glared at one of them.

"I'm sure you all have done this to others before." His voice had an edge. "I don't know what they are paying you or promised. I will let you keep three of your limbs if you tell me very important information. Where is Brakt or De-lan? One or both. I don't care."

One of the rogues coughed, his air diminishing as the grip on his neck tightened. "De-lan... downstairs."

"Downstairs?" Jarlon raised an eyebrow. "Why stay below level in a place like this?"

"Merch-andise." said the other. "For protection."

Jarlon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So he has more toys than we know. I thought this would be boring. Lead us to the basement. I want to meet the man."

Jex looked unsure. "Could be a trap."

"Could be, but let's find the basement, then regroup."

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Pilot and Sapphire found themselves on the second floor after searching their half of the first floor. So far, there was no resistance. The two hardly spoke as they moved through the corridor, only commenting on the lack of bodies and resources. They stopped when they heard and sensed something moving to their location. After a few minutes, they were met by a rogue accompanied by a 7 foot-tall ax-wielding, bipedal muscular boar beast.

The rogue finally saw the duo and yelled. "Intruders? ATTACK!"

The canokian immediately summoned his sword and calmly moved forward while Sapphire remained behind, observing the events. The boar coated its axe in mana and swung down on the swordsman, who quickly moved to the side then calmly ducked under another slash. He swiftly moved around the axe beast as it angrily swung its weapon, then moved to where he was between the rogue and the beast. Pilot coated his sword in red mana as the beast charged up for another swing. Pilot jumped back as the beast attacked, then delivered a spin kick to the rogue's face knocking him into the wall. Pilot turned around and swung his crimson coated sword at the incoming weapon. The sword easily sliced through the axe, recalled his sword and coated his fist in crimson mana. He leapt at it before it could react and delivered a strong right hook to the chest of the beast. The impact caved in the chest cavity and sent the beast flying away. Sapphire sidestepped as it flew away. Pilot turned to the rogue, who was regaining his bearings. The rogue tried to call his weapon, but Pilot slammed his foot on the rogue's hand making him yell in pain. Pilot knelt down, grabbed the other hand, and used his free hand to grab the collar and pulled the rogue close to his face.

"Who is your boss?" he harshly demanded.

"I... y-you are."

"Who is your boss?"

"I would answer," Sapphire approached them. "I doubt this man wants to repeat it a third time."

"A... De-lan is here."

"Where? You better tell the truth. I will drag you to where you tell me and if he is not in that location, I will break each bone in your hand. You know how many bones there are, right?"

"Basement!!!" The rogue cried out. "He's in the basement with the package!"

"Why are you here?"

"I don't know! Honest! He hired us to secure the package to get it ready and to stay here. We've been in this dump for two months and he is still acting like we need stay. It's almost like he's hiding."

Sapphire raised a brow. "Hmm... interesting."

"What is the package?"

"We don't know! He wanted us to assist him in carrying that large container, that's it. He paid us fairly."

"... What group are you?"

"We... are just starting out. This was our tenth job! We're the Aero Breakers." He chuckled sardonically. "The money wasn’t too remarkable, but it was added to our fund."

"What do you know about Brakt?"

"Who?"

Both warriors shared a quick glance before turning to the rogue.

"You don't know who Brakt is?"

"We don't know!!!" The downed grunt whined. "We just wanted a simple job, then it led to guarding his ass. We thought about leaving because we sensed murderous intent from the package. But De-lan threatened us with the package, saying that we had no choice, but to stay."

"I see." Pilot growled. "Something is off. Where did you acquire this information?"

"Where and how we received the information is why Jade sent me to accompany him." Crossing her arms, her brows furrowed. "During a job, a suspicious man came to us, forwarded the money in advance and told us to find De-lan and destroy the merchandise. Jarlon immediately requested to find him."

Pilot grimaced. "To find and destroy? Hmm, nobody has seen De-lan for years and a stranger gives you this information about him? Could Brakt have hired you or someone else?"

"That's why I came and listening to Jarlon's story has led Jade to believe there is something troubling here and it needs to be uncovered."

Pilot nodded. "Well then." He glared at the rogue. "Take us to the basement."