After an eventful day of training and understanding how the outpost worked, Xerxes walked back with the Lieutenant and Conrad.
Xerxes had gathered a lot of knowledge and even inspiration. There were soldiers only a bit older than he was, who were preparing their bodies and minds to face the dark woods of The Fallen Kingdom.
Their bravery had acted as a catalyst for him to not only grow in strength and companionship with the others but also to increase his bravery and overcome his past.
He would be lying to himself if he said he was able to disregard what had happened to him; it was still tugging at his soul, and he had no feasible way to ignore it. After all, he was living amongst the monsters.
Conrad looked down at Xerxes, who was deep in thought. Over the years, Conrad had grown quite used to seeing children who had fear in their eyes, but with Xerxes, it was different.
He didn't 'fear' what his future was; he was uncertain about it. Xerxes seemed like the type of person to only accept one future, and that was the one in which he succeeded, where everything went right.
That seemed unrealistic. Conrad, and even Xerxes, had come to know this at a young age, so Conrad put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said simply, "It will all be fine, Xerxes."
Xerxes looked up, quite surprised. Even the Lieutenant was quite oblivious when it came to the emotions of soldiers or people, for that matter, but Xerxes knew Conrad meant well.
He nodded, and the group advanced until they reached the castle. The castle seemed a bit more lively today. There were workers and maids pacing back and forth, and grand meals were making their way to the dining hall.
The Lieutenant made a foolish remark while rubbing his stomach: "They must have known I would be arriving today. What other reason could there be for such a big feast?"
Conrad replied with some banter, "I like you, Lieutenant, but I don't like you that much." The Lieutenant's happiness drained as his face turned gloomy.
"After all these years, Conrad, you still want to act like I ain't your best friend."
"You wish. You're just chummy with me to eventually get the role as head of the outpost." Both of them began laughing, as Xerxes wondered what Conrad and the Lieutenant must have been like as children.
They were now approaching the hall and had reached it. Conrad opened the door to see the whole family there. Food was being served, conversations were lively, and Leiya was enthusiastically telling her mother what she had learnt with Aemon today.
Leiya's eyes caught her father's, and she ran from her seat and jumped into Conrad's arms. They held each other for a short while, then Leiya greeted her father and noticed the Lieutenant.
"Hello, Mairon, long time no see. Did Dad tell you to come here?" she asked, not knowing why he would show up.
The Lieutenant crouched and rubbed Leiya's head. "Been a while, little Leiya, but even though your dad misses me all the time, I can't come here often—only when things are quite important, like today. I won't be staying too long, but next time, I'll get you something."
Leiya smiled and said, "Deal." Then she saw Xerxes and waved, greeting him too. Xerxes walked back with Leiya to the seat positioned by Aliya.
Conrad and Mairon began walking to the left-hand side of the table. Mairon gave a formal and honest bow to Aemon.
Aemon called to him, "I've known you since you were knee-high, Mairon. There's no need to be so formal; you're family, my boy," he exclaimed.
Mairon chuckled and began speaking, "I look up to you the most, Sir. Always gotta make sure you can see that. I'd love to stay here longer, but I have to be quite quick about this meeting and what I found on my mission."
Aemon agreed, "Of course, that holds the most precedence, after all. So, tell me, what did you find?"
The Lieutenant took a deep breath before speaking, but he was sure not to waste a single second longer. "Seven days ago, as per your command, I travelled by myself to a further region of The Fallen Kingdom.
"It was normal at first; there were no signs of any immediate danger. I slaughtered beast after beast, doing a regular clean-up, day after day. But on my third day there, I sensed something quite strange."
Aemon's face tensed as he listened more closely. Aliya, Xerxes, Leiya, and Conrad were also intensely listening, making sure not to miss a single ounce of information.
"I decided to travel to this strange source of power, but I wasn't able to uncover much in the surrounding area. I did all of this while keeping my caution. There were irregularities within the surrounding mana, and that is what made me confirm I was in the right area.
"I remained there for a few hours, and then I began seeing skeletons littered across the floor. It struck me as strange because all of our men wear armour. They seemed to have been dead for a very long time, and before I knew it, the trees began moving."
Moving? Everyone shared the same thought. Even Aemon was caught by surprise; this wasn't ordinary—even by the standards of The Fallen Kingdom.
Xerxes took a particular interest. He wasn't as focused on the 'moving' trees; instead, he was focused on the skeletons.
Xerxes thought, How could there be skeletons? There aren't other people alive within The Fallen Kingdom. But would it really be that impossible to say? Aemon lives here, so could there be others?
The Lieutenant then continued, "The trees were seemingly pointing me in some sort of direction, and that was towards something I honestly wished I hadn't approached. It was some form of beast, beyond a regular mana beast, but it wasn't human either. It seemed to be a beast by instinct and appearance but had the physicality of an adept human.
"Vines were mangled around the body of the beast, and it seemed to be able to control nature to some degree. So, what we may be dealing with is a beast that can utilise augmentation, which is very uncommon—considering we are relatively not that deep within The Fallen Kingdom."
The rest of the table slightly jumped in surprise, except for Aemon and Conrad. Xerxes didn't innately feel scared, partly because he didn't exactly know what an 'augmentation' was, although he had heard of it before.
Xerxes asked, "What is an augmentation?"
Aemon quickly responded, "It was something I was hoping to teach you quite soon. It is a form of magic that supersedes the original elements and is made in conjunction with two elements. For example—the Lieutenant stated this beast has a form of nature magic, which is made from water and earth. So, not only does the beast have those two forms of magic, it also has the ability to control basic nature attributes as well."
Xerxes quickly understood what he meant and now recalled two or three people within the guild being able to use it, albeit not too well.
Even though he knew people who could use it, the fact of the matter was, even with regular magic, beasts were a level above regular adventurers. So, how would one with an augmentation be?
The question sent shivers down Xerxes' spine as he tried to imagine what sort of power it held.
The Lieutenant then proposed an idea, "I believe that our priority should be killing it within three months. Why I believe this is because augmentations are sometimes difficult for squadrons to take out, and we can't have a long period of imbalance at the barrier.
"Not only that, they have more adept senses to mana. This would mean a lot of our energy would be spent trying to divert its attention, so killing it as soon as possible should be our priority. It seemed to be a newer hatchling, so I would recommend we take it out before it becomes a problem that will require your immediate focus.
"That is why I'm proposing that in three months, we send a small team. I believe that you should go, Sir. With you there, it should be quite easy to take out. Not only that, I believe we need people who have wind or fire magic.
"That is where we run into a problem. Most people within the Truth Kingdom are genetically born with water or earth, so we are limited on men, and the men we do have are new entrants into the outpost. So, I would require someone from you who has a good grasp of fire magic and ideally quite strong physical prowess."
The Lieutenant shot a pinpoint gaze at Xerxes. Aliya and Conrad frowned slightly.
Conrad asked the Lieutenant, with a bit of hostility in his voice, "What are you getting at?"
The Lieutenant then sighed, "For crying out loud, Conrad, this boy is training with the Governor every other day in fire magic. Not only that, he was able to give you a battle better than most of our trainees and even on the level of some of our medium to top-ranking guards. In three months, imagine how strong he can become.
"Not only that, I think bringing you, Sir Aemon, and even—Aliya, don't kill me when I say this—Leiya. It's a chance to give them real combat experience. Not only that, Leiya's punches are more deadly than the beatings I get from my wife when I'm too drunk in the morning. The kid has sword skills like you did in your 20s, and Sir Aemon is quite literally an ap—"
Aemon raised his power, making the Lieutenant choose his next few words carefully, which he did.
Leiya didn't look overly concerned. If she was able to go into battle and have Aemon there as backup, she had nothing to worry about.
Conrad was still angry at the fact Mairon was even suggesting it, and Aliya looked quite worried and tried to seek answers from her father-in-law.
Xerxes' hands were shaking, and he even raised them slightly to acknowledge that. Even with that matter, what would he do if one of those beasts confronted him when he was coming back to his home? What would he do if he didn't know how it fought?
Xerxes had a new level of hunger. He wanted more, and not only that, he wanted a chance to be as powerful as he could get. He interrupted the arguing between the Lieutenant and Conrad and coldly stated, without any room for objection:
"I'll do it. I'll help you fight that monster, and I will kill it. I'm not going to run away from my past. I want to be there."