The Outpost was attacked by packs of ravenous Corpse Wolves. Their resilience was something to be praised, were they not bloodthirsty man-killers. The soldiers moved to the outpost’s defense.

  Avryn and his squad rushed out the gates. They were joined by Leifren’s squad as they rushed out the gates with the other squads. Avryn ran like his life depended on it. He smiled because he finally had something fun to do other than checking inventory. He twisted and turn as he battled deep into the pack of wolves. An adrenaline rush surged through him. More wolves fell to his blade.

  “Damn, this is good exercise,” he was finding his groove.

  A wolf was behind and about to pounce him if not for Rinna’s interference.

  “Less talking, more fighting,” she scolded.

  Avryn lifted his sword. A beam of energy shot up high to the sky. He brought the pillar of light down and took out a whole line of wolves.

  “Heh, I’m jealous,” Harver wasn’t one to back down from showing off.

  He skewered several wolves with his estoc as he playfully dodged a couple attacks from them. His footwork was impeccable. One dodge and he made two wolves collide with each other.

  The battle was quickly dying down as the wolf corpses pile up. Avryn’s squad assessed the damages with the rest.

  “Now that was a good workout,” Avryn said.

  Avryn’s squad went back and finished checking inventory and submitted their report to the major. The next day greeted them warmly amidst the cold rains of the Lost Lands. A new patrol mission was given by the major. Carolus’s squad would lead Avryn and Leifren’’s squads.

  The latter met up with the former just by the gates. Carolus hailed them.

  “Greetings, friends. Seems you guys will join us for this,” he said.

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  “Indeed we are,” Leifren nodded.

  They laid out the plans on their patrol. The main point was at the nearby mountainside. The major wanted to assess the looming threat over there. Their dualcycles awaited them just outside of the gates. They gathered their supplies and packed them into the dualcycles. Thunder roared in the distance.

  “Hopefully not a sign of things to come,” Darren, Carolus’s squadmate, said.

  “We’ll get through it,” Tanna cheered him up.

  Carolus finished packing his supplies into his dualcycle.

  “When we have a supporting cast like these guys, we can go through anything. Right guys?” he turned to Avryn and Leifren.

  The two gave him a nod. The squads hopped onto their dualcycles and began their patrol mission. They were within expected time as they travelled the planned route. The mountains grew as they closed the distance.

  Just as the squads passed a small clearing, something moved beneath them. Spiked tentacle whip-like plants emerged from the ground and wildly flailed themselves against the dualcycles.

  “Thornwhips! Been a while since we fought these,” Carolus was salivating at the chance to fight them.

  “Be careful, the spikes are venomous,” Rin warned the rest.

  Tanna was already prepared. She loaded several fire rifle bullets into the chamber and fired away. Darren defended her against any incoming Thornwhips. Carolus unleashed his dual swords and charged at the raging plants. A wall of Thornwhips emerged from the ground, but Carolus was not discouraged. He welcomed the challenge. Using his speed, he cut through the Thornwhips like a knife through butter.

  Avryn was not to be shown up. He charged straight deep into the masses of Thornwhips. He summoned light orbs of fire that stemmed from Lerosa. A pull of the trigger caused a massive, fiery explosion that took out much of the plants.

  Another wave of Thornwhips appeared but the results were the same. Avryn matching Carolus’s skill pretty much carried the squads to eliminating the plants quickly. They hopped back onto their dualcycles and continued to their path with more vigor in their steps.

  They reached the mountainside in time for lunch. A break was called, and a campfire was made. The teams ate their usual rations. Carolus chalked up a conversation. He wanted to get to know the others better. Avryn asked about the Battle Festival tournament. He was eager to learn from Carolus.

  “Man, that was like, what, twelve years ago, I think,” Carolus leaned back. “First freshman ever to win the whole tournament.” he mimicked the announcer.

  “How hard was that to do?” Harver asked.

  “The lineup was crazy. Anyone of them could’ve won, really,” Carolus recalled. “Briggs, Jawan, Millanos, Petergrade, Gilingase. All of them were tough matchups. Guess lady luck was on my side during all those fights.”

  Tvira handed them all a cup of soup as they continued their talks. Carolus was in awe to be in the presence of their company. He told the Rosenfaust siblings of his admiration for their father, the Great Hunter. He did the same for Rinna and her mother as well. A quick switch of topics, Avryn became the subject of it. Carolus was curious on how he learned how to fight.

  “The whole truth of it is much of it was self taught in a harsh environment,” he summed it up.

  Carolus nodded along, absorbing every word. It made him clamor for the chance to fight him one day. Iron sharpened iron, he believed. The quietness of the wilderness served as a calming environment for the teams to reflect on. Leifren was adjusting his rifle when he saw movement from the nearby cave.

  He whistled to the others and pointed towards the direction of the movement. Carolus nodded and asked for Avryn, Leifren, and Rin to come along while the rest stayed where they were. They snuck up the path and into the cave’s mouth. Another set of movement. Carolus was swift and had his blades ready.

  He paused to see another person was just mere inches from his face. Carolus pressed his blades against their neck instinctively. Rin wasn’t too far behind. She had her sling ready. Leifren had his rifle aimed at the person. Avryn had his gunblade at the ready.

  “No, wait!” the person begged.

  A sense of realization came to Avryn.

  “Agilla?”