*Coo! Coo!*

“...Huh?”

A confused sound escaped my lips as I heard the echoing calls of a bird.

The lush greenery around me didn’t seem out of place even though it wasn’t there when I fell asleep. Or, I thought it was greenery at first, but when I stepped forward to walk around a tree, I took a glimpse at the blue bark of the tree trunk and the purple grasses that rose up to my knees.

I stared at it for a moment before drifting through the forest around me, making my way forward as if I knew where I was going and wasn’t in a completely unfamiliar place.

Or perhaps someone was guiding me. It felt like my steps weren’t intentional, like a boat without sails being led by the currents underneath it.

I was led out of the forest, the trees and brush coming to a halt all at once as I reached the end.

The knee-high grass drew a perfect line across the landscape I gazed upon, going from tall to dirt.

The mud I stepped in did nothing to dirty my shoes, but when I looked at it, I saw that it wasn’t brown, but red.

And it wasn’t mud. My vision focused, seeing a few brown patches where the blood had yet to coat.

The scent of iron suddenly filled my nose, making me so nauseous that I fell to my knees and vomited.

“Cough!”

What I vomited, I didn’t know. All I knew was that I fell to the floor with a miserable feeling in my stomach. However, I could only remain there for a few seconds before everything suddenly changed again.

The blood soaked mud disappeared. What replaced it was a deep black filament, like the ground was made of metal shavings and gunpowder.

My fingers could slip into it, but it also fell apart easily, coating my hands in ashy dust that couldn’t be removed.

For some reason, I wiped my face right after, smearing it all over my forehead, cheeks, and eyes. Some got in my nose as well, but I didn’t feel like sneezing.

Then, I lifted my head.

I saw nothing. No land formations like hills or plains, and no blue sky. It was night, but with no stars.

The landscape I stood upon was a perfectly flat plain made of black filament. There wasn’t even any wind, no humidity either. After only a few seconds, my mouth became dry.

Then, as I stood there with no direction, I felt a small vibration in the ground. It traveled up the soles of my feet and shook my legs.

At first I thought it was similar to the purrs of a cat, a gentle and low vibration. But it didn’t stop, and over time, it jumped in intensity.

It soon sounded like the growls of a tiger or lion. Then it got loud, sounding like a jackhammer that caused earthquakes. After that, all I could hear was screaming that shook the skies and ground, threatening to throw me off my feet.

My heart rate skyrocketed. It felt like I was fighting for my life even though I couldn’t see the enemy. It felt like something was coming, yet just its mere presence in the area was sowing havoc and chaos.

I got angry, irrationally so. It felt like I needed someone, something, to appear in front of me so I could kill it.

And then, I felt something behind me. So I turned around with a twisted face, a low battle cry escaping my lips as I prepared myself for battle.

But what I saw instantly washed away all feelings of wrath or battle.

It was an ugly being. Its amalgamated torso carried six arms with no symmetry, as if they were sown randomly across its body. It also had four legs, one of a lion, one of a lizard, and two hind legs with talons.

And it had two heads, one of a human, and one of what I could only describe as a pile of flesh.

The human head had no eyes and a mouth sewn shut. It only had two slits for a nose and many more scars that twisted its visage.

And the mound of flesh had 6 eyes and three mouths, each mouth having two tongues.

It was a horrible sight, and just gazing upon it induced catastrophic fear that made my eyes bleed and legs shake in weakness.

But I didn’t buckle. That was because, just when I felt so weak that I couldn’t so much as stand, a pair of arms reached out from behind. They hugged my chest, helping me stay on my feet and wash away the fear inside me.

It felt so comforting, like the embrace of a mother. My mind turned clear with its power, and yet when I continued to stare at that abomination in front of me, I still felt deep fear.

I knew that I couldn’t kill it. Despite the courage that I mustered to so much as face it, I knew that it was impossible to harm it.

So I spoke to the being behind me.

My Guardian Angel.

“I need strength.”

I said, yet I knew I asked.

And perhaps I wasn’t surprised by its response.

“You need fortitude.”

She told me in a sweet, unwavering, kind voice, and yet I laughed.

I chuckled even while gazing at that abomination.

But within me, I could already feel sorrow for something that hadn’t happened.

And then, my eyes opened.

……

…

“John?”

“...”

I looked up, seeing the ceiling as well as Feiden’s concerned face to the side.

He turned away when he noticed me looking over. Then, I felt a bit of moisture, lifting my fingers to my eyes to find tears.

Part of me wanted to act confused, but I knew what I had just seen and felt. I couldn’t deny it, even if it was a dream.

So I just sat up, the room filled with an awkward silence I didn’t care to acknowledge.

I sat there for several minutes as Feiden dressed himself in his armor. I didn’t move to do anything, simply thinking.

That was, until Feiden finished and spoke.

“Our briefing is in an hour. Are you coming to eat?”

“...Yea. I’ll be right out.”

“Alright. Take your time.”

I could hear the attempted comfort in his words as he left. Soon enough, I was all alone.

After another several minutes, I suddenly took out a parchment, looking at all the complicated lines written on it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I had already comprehended a quarter of it. And now that I looked back, I hadn’t even used the White Crystal to power that advancement. It simply happened, but then again, what changed wasn’t technically my overall power level, but how the power was constructed and utilized.

Along with the parchment, I retrieved the White Crystal Maxwell had given me. Then, I began circulating it.

Closing my eyes and becoming aware of my Aura, I cast Psyka into it and empowered it. Then, blue lines started appearing in the air.

They sparked, shooting across space and copying the formation in my hands.

At first they drew short lines, but after only three tries, I managed to draw the entire first quarter of the formation in mid air.

I opened my eyes, seeing the partial formation, before expanding it. The empty circle that was my unfinished formation began to fill up just a little bit more.

And the Spark within my mind grew that much more. The Spark was entirely focused on building more of the formation, and with each second that the formation grew, the Spark received more power to use for its focus, creating a positive feedback loop.

I rode that wave, pushing it further and further, even treading into territory I hadn’t yet gotten to, comprehending it on the fly.

But then, I suddenly stopped.

Taking a long breath, I looked at the formation that was now 40% complete. In fact, I had stopped on purpose when I actually had more in me.

I simply felt like I should. I felt like pushing these moments of inspiration too far would burn me out. Not only that, but it would tire me before the mission.

It was great progress and almost effortless. With a small smile, I took my gains and went.

Stashing the parchment and crystal, I stood from my bed and wiped what remained of the dried up tears on my face.

After that, I cleaned myself up and dressed before heading out.

“John!”

After entering the Mess Hall, I heard Tana call me. She was sitting with the rest of my squad, so after going to grab food, I went over and sat with them.

Umara was sitting on one end, so there was an open spot next to her which I cleanly took. I had a feeling she did it on purpose.

I tapped her with my elbow as I sat and glanced at Feiden. He smiled at me, which I returned before focusing on eating.

We were all silent for a while. After all, we didn’t have much time.

“Time to go.”

After several minutes, Vetsmon suddenly spoke and stood with an empty tray.

I followed, stuffing the last of my food in my mouth. The others came behind us, and before long, we all headed toward the briefing room.

At the entrance, the Puppet Master was waiting. I greeted him as we went through the door.

“Good morning, Mr. Puppet.”

“John. I hope you’re rested.”

We shook hands before I grabbed a seat at the table in the room.

As soon as everyone had greeted each other, we all settled in. Along with the Puppet Master, there was also our Commander along with one other officer.

“Alright, listen up.”

The Commander spoke as the room went dark. Then, the wall in front of us flashed before displaying a magical projection of a map.

It was of the surroundings beyond the base. There were some markers as well as indicators for geological features.

“You are the first team we’re sending out on a mission. This man here is Lieutenant Captain Hemet, an Authority 6 Warlock. He’ll be following you all and overseeing the mission. I’ll allow him to explain the details.”

“Good day, you all. You can just address me as Sir Hemet.”

The officer waved to us. He was an average height man with a slim build dressed in some light armor. He seemed friendly enough with his combed back hair, so we all nodded back to him.

Then, he pointed to the map behind him.

“Our mission today is to do some reconnaissance. These Scourge Tides are by no means random. There is usually an entity guiding them, usually using the tide in order to test whatever base they siege. Our goal is to find that entity, or at least its traces. If we can’t find it or at least confirm its departure, then there may be a risk of another Tide.”

“Sir Hemet has come from the nearby Frontier Bastion Gevaulda. Turns out, they’ve also experienced a Scourge Tide, and not one on a level ours could compare to. It seems we caught its remnants, but that also means the leading entity could be around here, so he will be your guide and you will support him.”

Commander Bosnen chimed in after, giving us a little more context.

News that we weren’t the only ones to get sieged surprised me, primarily because I felt that we should've been warned.

I figured it was safe practice to warn any bases in the vicinity of a Scourge Tide, just in case. While the alarm did in fact go off some time before the Tide arrived, it definitely took longer than that for the Tide to travel.

Then again, perhaps I was thinking too much. It wasn’t like a base that was getting besieged could keep track of every enemy, especially when the forces they faced were apparently so much greater than what appeared on our own doorstep.

I guess we should just be thankful that we had any advance notice at all.

Sir Hemet spoke.

“We will take a Crawler out to the entity’s most likely location, which is this hillside right here. There are a few other places around there to check out if that doesn’t give us anything, including a forest nearby. This operation will take an entire day. We won’t be getting back until late at night, and depending on our results, we will continue tomorrow. Also, be prepared to fight. There may be small groups of beasts that continue to lurk, so this won’t just be a sightseeing trip. Any questions?”

“What supplies should we grab?”

I raised my hand and asked. If we would be outside the wire all day, then we would at least need food.

He nodded at my question.

“I suggest grabbing some rations, enough for two days. Since we’ll be in a Crawler there will be some cargo space to store packs. Otherwise, just bring anything you’ll need to take care of basic necessities. There are no special requirements for this mission, and I will be bringing medical supplies just in case.”

“Understood.”

“Then go ahead and pack. We leave in 15 by the gate. Dismissed.”

With his word, we all stood to leave.

All the rations were stored by the mess hall, so we stopped by there to grab supplies.

I also grabbed a pack to store those items. I had never received one, so I simply requisitioned one from the armory.

As for anything else I thought I needed, they were all stashed away in the spatial sack on my arm.

With that, we all met up by the gates. In front of it was the Crawler Sir Hemet spoke of.

It was a vehicle that looked like an armored truck. Inside it had two rows of seats along with a magic turret on top. And in the back it had an enclosed cargo trunk.

We all threw our bags in the trunk before boarding. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt the cold hard metal of its construction. This thing was an inch of armor away from being an APC.

The space given to us was nice too. Since people in this world tended to be taller, vehicles were accommodating for that. We wouldn’t be cramped in a metal box.

Sir Hemet was driving, and after we had all boarded, the truck rolled out of the base.

The location for our recon was about 15 miles away. With this truck, it would take around an hour to get there when factoring in all the terrain.

So I settled in, next to Umara of course. She hadn’t spoken at all this morning, But we had made eye contact several times which was more than enough to make both of us smile.

But I was also sitting next to Vetsmon, who was enjoyable to talk to.

Right now, he was geared up in plate-armored pants. His chest plate was sitting underneath his seat, and his weapon was undoubtedly stashed in a spatial sack.

His torso was covered in a fitted cloth shirt meant for wearing underneath armor, but because it was fitted, it made his muscles bulge.

I had a good physique, but this man was simply built larger. A brick shithouse, if you will. He was a wall and definitely knew how to use that to his advantage.

I nudged him.

“Hey, what did you do to get that huge? Do you eat entire cows for dinner?”

“Haha, I’m fortunate enough to have a large diet, yes. I’ve also trained since I was of age. Most of that training wasn’t for the spear or sword, but simple physical training. My family believes that endurance is even more important than weapon skill.”

“Your family? Are you from some kind of knight family?”

I asked, curious more about the structure of his background rather than his personal origins. I had heard about families in several industries, and they seemed to be similar to entire organizations.

Vetsmon nodded.

“It’s something like that. My family is a Paladin Peerage of the Church. We have a few branches, but I come from the main branch, surnamed Verga.”

“Oh, a paladin peerage.”

I nodded, impressed. I had only ever heard of paladins in fantasy, but it seemed they were a real thing here.

But I was still curious, so I inquired.

“What does it mean to be a paladin? Or a paladin peerage?”

“A Paladin Peerage is simply a noble family within the church that is headed by a Paladin.”

“And what is a Paladin?”

“All those who are Authority 12 under the Church become a Paladin.”

“Oh, so they’re the strongest.”

I was enlightened and asked another question.

“So your father is a Paladin?”

“Haha, no. My great-grandfather was, but he died in the last major war. But he was not the first Paladin of our line, and thus we have retained our status as a Paladin Peerage, hoping to produce another one.”

“I see. Are you going to be the next?”

“If the Lord wills it. Otherwise, I will simply do as I can. Paladins aren’t the only people who can influence a war. Every soldier matters, so as long as I bring value to the Church, I will continue down my path.”

“Ah, how noble of you.”

I nodded before suddenly smiling at him.

“Now tell me how you really feel.”

“Hey now, why would I expose myself?

He responded cheekily, causing us to laugh.

After that we continued talking to pass the time. Tana and the others chimed in at some point too, spilling details about their families and origins.

And soon enough, we started to approach our target area.