Soul of the Warrior

Chapter 274: Stepping Into the Unknown

Reivyn tightened the straps to his pack, folding the loose ends over and over before tying them in place. Everywhere on his body that there could be a loose strap of any kind had been shortened and secured to reduce bouncing and noise.

There was no need to have metal clasps jangling all over the place while walking. That would just ensure he was making more noise for things to notice his passing. His Divine Sense was to a sufficient Level now where its range was much greater than any tinkling noise he could make, so he would notice any low to mid-Level monsters close enough to hear.

That was the point, though. They weren’t heading to a low to mid-Level range area. It was incredibly unlikely they would encounter anything above Tier 6, but there was a precedent. A monster of that caliber would hear any little noise well outside his own Divine Sense range.

He looked around the barracks courtyard at the others that were to accompany them. Only Teilon was of the sneaky sort. The others would be making quite a bit of noise each while traversing the Wilderness, and all of them together were bound to make a veritable cacophony. Even so there was no reason to add to it unnecessarily, and there could possibly be times where Reivyn had to move on his own, too.

He had instructed everyone to tie up their loose straps, and everyone was making final adjustments to their gear while giving a helpful once-over to their neighbors to make sure nothing was misplaced.

The expedition had grown to a much larger size than Reivyn had initially anticipated, but after reading the accounts of various elders who had personal experience in the Wilderness and the Tier 5 Regions, he understood it was a balancing act.

They needed enough people to cover each other. They needed enough people to set up watch in the evenings while allowing everyone to get a decent rest. They needed enough people with a variety of Skills to cover any unexpected situation that might arise.

However, they also needed to keep the numbers small. They couldn’t take an entire army and March through the Wilderness. Such things had been attempted in the past, and it inevitably led to drawing unwanted attention from monsters and beasts that were too much to handle without casualties.

The core of the Party was Reivyn, Kefira, Serilla, Refix, Ameliyn, Teilon, and Kimberly. In any situation, such a group was well-rounded to tackle almost anything that could be thrown at them. Multiple people in the Party could act as vanguard, close-quarters combatant, ranged combatant, and Caster.

The only thing they were missing was a dedicated Healer Class, but each of them had a basic First Aid type Skill or Affinity they could use to patch up wounds. Such Skills would stop bleeding and Health Point loss and increase natural regeneration, but it wouldn’t heal lost Health Points directly. That was the main difference between General Healing-type Skills and a Healing Class. Healers would get Class Skills and Spells that could directly restore lost Health Points and do so without using one’s body’s own resources.

Reivyn had a literal Regeneration Skill, and after many months of observing how it worked, he had determined that it fell into the supernatural category of a Healer Class Skill. It didn’t increase his natural regeneration by increasing his metabolism or something similar. It used ambient Mana to slowly restore any wounds and lost Health Points completely independently. It made sense that it was a Tier 6 Skill, the highest below Divine and Half-Step Divine.

If only it was easier to unlock the Skill, Reivyn though with a wry smile. Near death experiences aren’t exactly simple to replicate in a controlled environment. I suspect my soul strength had something to do with unlocking the Skill, too. Others with less “talent” might have to suffer multiple near death events. I’m almost certain of it.

Reivyn had never really thought too deeply about the number of Skills and how high he had trained them relative to others. He had always chocked it up to diligence plus talent without really giving much thought to the talent part. The more people he got to know and understand their Skill levels - something all of his mercenaries were required to disclose, at least their relevant combat ones - the more he realized what an anomaly he was.

His Skill sheet reflected a middle-aged Tier 6 Classer, not a Tier 3 young adult. Only his parents had anything similar to his own Skill sheet, and he was beginning to overtake them. That wasn’t exactly a reflection on the average person, either though, because his parents had Epic and Legendary Classes themselves. The vast majority of people had Common Grade Tier 4 Classes, which didn’t meet the prerequisites to advancing to Tier 5, and 90% of people who reached Tier 5 had a Rare Class.

It was a cycle that was hard to dig out of for most people. One needed the necessary Skills and Life Experience to unlock the better Classes, but one also needed the better Classes to survive the more difficult Life Experiences necessary for better Classes. It was a paradox that many couldn’t get out of.

Many commoners lamented that nobles had an unfair advantage with their higher-Rarity Tier 1 Classes and the Stat boosts that came with it, but Reivyn had a different outlook. He had found that overcoming adversity, struggle, and suffering had a much higher impact on one’s chances of unlocking better Classes. Nobles were shielded from Conscription and many other forms of adversity their entire life until adulthood. The benefits of a Tier 2 Class in Tier 1 far outweighed a Noble Tier 1 Class.

He, Teilon, and Kimberly were indisputably more powerful than other noble kids their age. Kefira, too, was an anomaly with her soul strength, and Reivyn suspected Serilla benefited second-hand with her Life Experience encounters because she was always with Kefira.

Creating artificial near death experiences is nearly impossible, but maybe we should consider setting up Conscription for all Tier 1 minors. There has to be a legitimate reason recognized by the System, but a simple territorial dispute between Counts was enough. Setting up monster subjugations should count, as long as the Conscripts are taken to participate. They don’t even have to be the main force. Just enough for the System to recognize.

I know I’m not the first person to think of such a thing, and I’m pretty sure I know why it hasn’t been implemented wide-spread: most people just want to live a normal life, and they don’t want their children put in unnecessary danger. Conscription, in a way the System will award the Tier 2 Class early, only works if it’s used indiscriminately. That means no volunteering or opting out. One of the reasons the System rewards the Tier 2 Class in the first place is to make up for the involuntary nature.

The main obstacle would be fostering a society where it’s not only accepted, but encouraged, even for families that have no interest in combat Classes.

Reivyn brought himself out of his daydreams and returned his focus to the expedition. In addition to the core Party, there was a couple of squads both from the mercenary company and from the Imperial Army. The former were an “honor guard” Reivyn’s officers insisted he take with him, and the latter were the honor guard for Kefira.

It didn’t take much convincing for Reivyn to accept the mercenary squads. He understood it was a good opportunity for those chosen, though he didn’t know any of them. In order for their Life Experience on the expedition to count as much towards being militarized mercenaries, though, they were left mostly independent of Reivyn’s orders and directions.

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They were obviously following Reivyn and would go and do the things necessary for being an honor guard, but they weren’t being commanded by Reivyn. One of the squad leaders took on the role of overall command for both squads, and it was his job to lead the mercenaries properly. It was also a good way to test the squad leader’s Leadership Skills for future promotions.

The Imperial Army honor guards were much more used to their roles. They were led by one of the senior Palace Guards, a mid-Tier 5 Classer, and they were much more ceremonial in their look and behavior. They were still legitimate guards, but there was a bit more pomp to the way they presented and conducted themselves.

Including the mercenaries, none of those chosen to go were below high-Tier 4. That was the only bit of convincing Reivyn had needed on their selection, but he understood it wouldn’t be safe for lower Leveled mercenaries to accompany them on the journey. He was just worried that a significant bit of strength was leached from the company to form his honor guard.

Reivyn didn’t hold it against the mercenary squads that they weren’t like the Imperial Army honor guards. If they had wanted to look flashy, they would have joined the Imperial Army instead of choosing a life of an Adventurer and mercenary. It wasn’t Reivyn’s intention to turn Adventurers into “real” soldiers. He was entirely focused on combat effectiveness. Sometimes those things went hand-in-hand, but they didn’t have to.

Noticing that everyone appeared to be done with their final preparations, Reivyn cleared his throat.

“Everyone ready to go?” He raised his voice. Everyone looked around at each other before nodding their heads with a smattering of verbal responses. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

Reivyn received several strange looks before everyone turned and began making their way out of the courtyard. They had staged their final checks at one of the barracks near the outer wall of the city. He turned and quirked an eyebrow at Kefira who just shook her head at him.

“Another one of your weird sayings,” she said. “This isn’t a show. What kind of a show gets on the road?”

Reivyn seriously thought about the question for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “It just means let’s go.”

“No, no. We all figured it out. It’s just not something anyone would normally say.”

“Doesn’t seem all that strange to me,” Reivyn muttered, absentmindedly scratching his cheek.

It only took a couple of minutes for the group to make it outside the city. Kefira and Serilla had already said their goodbyes to their family members earlier in the morning, but there were a couple of family and friends from the mercenary and Imperial Army members lining the streets to wave goodbye.

One of the Imperial Army squads took the lead in their formation, followed by one of the mercenary squads. Reivyn’s Party was located in the center, and the other two squads followed in the rear with a similar formation.

The road to the Wilderness didn’t lead there directly from the Imperial City. The Imperial Capital was located fairly close to the center of the Region. It had taken over a week to March from the Drallo border to the capital, so they had approximately the same time-frame to reach the Wilderness.

They could have taken horses. There was even a military outpost near the Wilderness border where they could have left them, but it was considered a rite of passage to walk to the Wilderness on their first trip. Sometimes things were done in a silly way that Reivyn could only shake his head at, but he didn’t particularly have anything against walking.

For one they all had the March Skill. They moved at a brisk speed that ate up the miles. Their training and Stats allowed them to move swiftly over great distances with little breaks. The mercenaries and Reivyn’s Party could actually go for longer periods of time without having to stop than the Imperial Army due to Reivyn’s and Refix’s demand to always train while tired. Their Stamina efficiency was higher, and they could go longer with lower Stamina Points.

Kayzor had actually started implementing the same style of training with his men in the Imperial Army, but it hadn’t become wide-spread through the entire organization, yet. Reivyn imagined it would become more commonplace after their return and subsequent reports about how “unprofessional” soldiers did better than the Imperial Army regulars.

The second reason Reivyn didn’t care to walk was Kefira. The rite of passage was mainly for the Imperial Family. It was symbolic for them to take their time and walk across their Empire for their “last” trip. Even though Kefira wasn’t entering her stage of life where she permanently moved on to the Upper Regions, they were treating it the same.

They didn’t stop to meet with the citizens or even the mayors, barons, and counts of the regions they passed through, but Kefira did take the time to observe the people of her Empire on their journey. It was seen as a pilgrimage, and Kefira took it seriously.

The common folk of the Wispan Empire were quite prosperous, much more so than the villagers from Reivyn’s hometown. There were no starving peasants or orphans. Everyone they could see seemed to be content with their lot in life.

Kefira mostly had a smile on her face, but occasionally Reivyn could see a small frown adorn her face.

“What is it?” He whispered with concern one such time.

“I’m just imagining Vairo and comparing the two,” Kefira said. “I’m happy to see everyone doing so well. It’s such a stark contrast to the gloom that overshadowed everyone in Vairo, and I would hate to see something similar happen here.”

Reivyn looked out over the fields being toiled by expert Farmers with their young ones helping. He overlaid his vision with his memories of the faces of people he saw in Vairo and couldn’t help but frown himself.

“Hmmm, yeah, but I wouldn’t worry too much,” he said. “Even with the reports of the invasions being widespread, the actual number of places invaded is still a fraction of a fraction of Tier 4 Regions in the Local Group. The chances of Wispan being hit are miniscule, and so far, a second round of invasions hasn’t occurred.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, or that Wispan won’t be one of them, but you can only put your trust into fate at this point. Worrying about what you can’t control will just give you stress.”

“I know, but that’s not something easily controlled,” Kefira replied. “Logic and emotions don’t always work hand-in-hand. Until whoever is responsible for the invasions is either stopped or controlled, I’ll always have that bit of worry in the back of my mind.”

“I hear you,” Reivyn nodded his head. “The only thing to do is move forward. Once we get to the Wilderness, or at least deep into the Wilderness, we’ll be too busy to think about anything else. Keeping busy is one of the best ways to keep your mind off of things.

“Why do you think the military, the mercenaries included, spend so much time cleaning until there’s not a speck of dust left to be found and are so meticulous with their uniforms and gear? It’s not just about hygiene and discipline.

“If there’s a hard-fought battle with a lot of casualties, the last thing we want is for everyone to have nothing to do but ruminate. We create a routine they can fall back on where they stay occupied until they have time to come to terms with the tragedy. It’s not perfect, but it works.”

“Huh, I’d never thought about it like that before,” Kefira said, a contemplative look on her face. “Is that why you train so hard all the time? Setting up a routine to fall back on when you have too much to think about?”

“Well, no,” Reivyn chuckled sheepishly. “My father and I just genuinely like training that hard. I’m sure it will come in handy if such a scenario ever arises, but let’s hope it doesn’t. That being said, it seems like it worked for you up until now. You haven’t really been thinking about what could happen to the people of Wispan until we started this journey.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think being reminded of the possibility is a bad thing,” Kefira said. “It’s good to be grounded in reality.”

“I suppose so.”

The March to the Wilderness was uneventful. There were other patrols from Imperial Army units on the main highways, so there were no monsters or beasts to occasionally jump out and harass them. Such patrols were less frequent on the outskirts of less-traveled roads, but there were only so many soldiers to spare for the job. It seemed the road leading to the Wilderness was considered a major thoroughfare, and after a moment of thought, it made perfect sense to Reivyn.

It was the access point to which the empire sourced their highest-Tier resources. Of course they would need to have easy, safe transportation.

The last sight of civilization was that final military outpost alongside the road. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it wasn’t a temporary wooden fortification, either. It was a stone fort with a small hamlet inside the walls for the family members of the soldiers stationed there.

The group didn’t stop as they passed the fort in the morning.

Reivyn kept his eyes and other senses peeled to try and spot the border to the Wilderness, but like he had read in the journals, there was no clear demarcation. He just had to trust the little sign set up on the side of the road that read: “The Wilderness.”

Kind of anticlimactic, Reivyn chuckled to himself. Then again I was expecting it.

Reivyn watched the sign as they Marched past. As he took the first step on the other side, he thought. The first step on the next journey through life.

He didn’t know what to expect moving forward. The whole point of the Wilderness was that it was completely unpredictable. That being said, he was eager to find out.

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