During his stay at the Heart Base or more of his imprisonment, Raten had gotten to know the other five members of his squad that he would be going out on missions with.
The first two members of course were his roommates, Annie and Ace. The former was a Magic User while the latter was an Energy User and he had to admit that the muscle head was quite skilled and talented. Most Nobles were in their area of expertise which was what put them above commoners and how he was able to figure out that they were both Nobles, although, it seemed Ace had had his noble status revoked for some reason.
Then there was a girl named Nalia -he had heard about her name in particular when he came upon a conversation between Ace and a Heart Official- and another boy and girl. Plus himself, that made up six members of his squad and they along with another squad were all under the Vice Captain.
Today was the first day Raten would be going out on his very first mission with his squad. The Heart Base was in the middle of an open field with no animals larger than two feet in sight. The clearing for the earea went on for half a mile with minimal vegetation to make for space and in the centre of a mountainous area with hills and high rises in every direction. Not a lot of members were seen outside except for those that were returning from missions and those that were going out to new ones.
Raten was clothed in his battle suit with a gray sleeveless jumpsuit and black gauntlets on his arms for protection. The jumpsuit itself also offered decent protection without being made of traditional metal for armor, similar to his casual clothes but the material seemed to be denser.
The two squads- which consisted of twelve members in total- stood in front of Raldin at attention while he explained the details of the mission.
"Squad Rose had taken position in the abandoned town of Explicatarus or Explica for short. They were told to stay and defend the territory but lately, we lost communication with them."
"We'll be going to Explica ourselves. Ivy Squad!" Raldin addressed Raten's Squad whose designated leader apart from the Vice Captain himself was none other than Ace.
"Yes, sir?!"
"You'll take their positions in the meantime while Squad Passion and I will look around in the other towns for them or hopefully not, their remains." The reality of it all was that this was wars. Lives were going to be lost but hopefully, this wasn't one of those times, the others except for Raten thought.
"Yes, sir!"
"Good." The group began moving. They went through the fields and they advanced and advanced. It seemed like it was going on infinitely as there were still more fields ahead of them.
But Raldin stopped moving and the others did too. He held a white crystal in his hand and used it to touch the air and it began to distort. The image of the plains ahead of them changed to reveal a different area where at the very end, a small market could be seen.
'They use an illusion to cover their location. That's brilliant.'
All the different kinds of crystals were created by the Noverah Family which were called Nova Crystals. They had numerous functions that made it seem like there was one for everything. This was also the Noble Family that Annie -who had the same last name- belonged to.
They marched to and through the market where they were almost ambushed by all the thankful villagers there who were trying to give them gifts and praising them. The Heart Soldiers were their saviours after all, they had been alive for all these years. They passed the market and to a secluded part of the town where a stable resided. From the stable, the soldiers acquired horses that they would make use of for transportation.
Raten didn't waste time choosing a horse due to the fact that they seemed to quiver in his presence and thus became more submissive. Nevertheless, he chose one with a diamond-shaped tattoo around its eye.
"Let's get going." Raldin struck the reins on the horse and they progressed with him at the very front. Raten might have hit his steed a little too hard judging by the unpleased face it had but it had done the job.
The journey was long, they passed town after town, even came across a chasm that slowed down their advancement and steepy mountains as well. They stopped at certain times and areas to rest and feed the horses while Raten memorized every corner he could in case he would escape them and have nowhere to go.
More than six hours had already gone by during their travelling but because they had left at 6 in the morning, it was just noon and the sun was at its hottest.
The squads descended from their horses in a dense forest and hid their steeds there. That was because they couldn't take them out in the open. There was a town after and at the north end, a black mist had formed around the area. Another memory bounced back. In a slaughtered village, Raten had placed a black rod on the ground and the black mist was fabricated.
This meant that it had become Black Spirit territory. But Raldin remained resolute which meant he hadn't given up on finding the squad and giving up the territory to the Black Spirit which meant the mission would go on.
The group split up with Raldin and Squad Passion going through a different part of the forest through which they would get to the town while the Ivy Squad would pass a different section. Due to the dense mist that had taken over the atmosphere, the place became somewhat dark as if it was approaching night time.
The other boy on Raten's squad named Florian who also possessed the Energy power made good use of it. Energy gathered in his pupils, enhancing his vision and allowing him to see dozens of metres away. Quickly, he glanced through the entire town until he reached a place he could not see. "There are soldiers all over the place. On the buildings, outside, everywhere but they're pretty distanced so maybe we can take them out one by one if we're careful."
"Thanks, Florian," Ace thanked him, now having an idea of the place. They made their way to the town until they were about thirty feet away from the first two soldiers they could see.
The both of them were dressed in black clothing with light armor here and there and the symbol of the Black Spirit -the six crossed star- proudly on their chest. They were both men and one of them stood dilligently in front of a building while the other walked to and fro the area. "Katie, Annie. You're up."
Ace formed a Hover Disc, making it large enough for the both of them to ride on but they stayed low in the air until telekinetically, he dropped them in a place close enough.
Katie and Annie were somewhat alike but at the same time different. They were both Magic Users but Annie was a noble while Katie was a commoner, although they were both still good friends with each other.
As Ace dropped them on the ground, Katie placed her hand on the ground and formed a bush around them. Her magic was identified as Grass Magic which was important to note because it was different from Earth Magic.
The mobile soldier was their first target. When he was out of sight from his companion, they moved the bush a little closer to his path so they could silently take him out. They identified him as a weaker soldier because he possessed no weapon.
As he passed by the bush, vines manifested from it and restrained his entire body, covering it and pulling him into the bush ever so silently because he was unable to scream. Annie's hand was set on fire. "Burrow." She dispensed out the fire in a condensed flow, creating a hole in his stomach that killed him before he could fight back.
Hiding the body, they moved the bush away from the area. The other soldier grew suspicious upon not seeing his teammate and went out in search for him. He found his body hidden but when he took one more step towards it, a pattern appeared on the ground and lit up red.
Annie had set a fire trap at that specific spot which created a large sphere of fire around him that explodedly silently, forming a puff of smoke.
"What the hell, Annie? That wasn't the plan," Ace said from his current position as Annie and Katie had come out of hiding but when the smoke cleared, the soldier was fine. Like he wasn't inflicted any wounds by the attack at all. Upon closer look, they noticed sledgehammers in his hand that had been hidden while his entire body was covered by some kind of barrier.
"Uh-oh."
He tapped a crystal on his collar and hollered into it, "Intruders!"
_ _ _
Beginning of Explica Mission Arc