"Heyyy!!!"
"Officers of Harsavert!!! What are your names?"
Before the sun had even fully risen, the villagers were already bustling with trade in the market. Below the house where the squad, Antonio, and Meuner were temporarily staying, two soldiers stood waiting.
The two, still stiff from their bandages, finally managed to drag themselves downstairs.
The wooden door creaked open.
"We have orders to move. Please follow us…"
Before they could finish, the two soldiers hurried off. Antonio followed immediately, while Meuner quickly pulled on his fur coat as he walked.
All four walked through the village market, where villagers were already present before fully waking up.
"Wow…. The markets here sell a lot of stuff, don't they?"
"Even the capital of Harsavert doesn't have fish! Hey, what's that? Antonio!! Are you listening to me…" Meuner excitedly jumped from stall to stall, talking to Antonio.
"Let's go, Meuner, we're late. You should worry about the collapsed section behind the house from yesterday, which you caused…"
"You don't have to worry, we've fixed it," one of the two soldiers said.
Struggling through the market, they then crossed a wooden bridge made of loose logs before finally reaching the assembly point.
From a distance, the four saw a long line of beast vehicles. They were Vordons, a type of horse that absorbed Odergard, with almost limitless stamina.
"I counted about eight, I think," Meuner exclaimed in surprise.
Upon seeing the four approach, a commander stood up. He was about two meters tall, a head taller than Meuner and two heads taller than Antonio. He wore a general's uniform, and a prominent scar on his face caught the attention of both of them.
He was Librea Casment, the commanding officer of the ground forces in northern Aridonia.
Antonio stepped forward, Meuner following behind him. Both stood before the commander. He extended his hand to shake theirs:
"I am Librea Casment, commanding general."
"Thank you both for coming to support us; you've gone through a lot of trouble," he greeted them warmly.
Both happily shook his hand, introduced themselves, and then said their goodbyes.
"I wish you both good health and safety!" Librea said his final words before leaving with his close guards.
"Alright, everyone get in the vehicles," a soldier called out to the entire group.
The convoy consisted of eight vehicles: seven carrying equipment, engineers, and provisions, and the remaining three carrying soldiers and officers. Each of those three vehicles would have an officer assigned, including a new officer from Aridonia named Ibok Guzanke. The eight pulling vehicles would travel in a formation with two officer vehicles leading, those of Antonio and Guzanke, while Meuner's vehicle would be at the end of the line. All of them would take at least a day's journey to reach the Harsavert border if they encountered no difficulties.
After exchanging greetings, Antonio moved towards the front of the convoy. At that moment, Guzanke was complaining about something to the soldiers. Upon seeing Antonio, he softened, greeting him warmly. Antonio gave a perfunctory greeting, then directly got into a pulling vehicle with four other soldiers.
Once everyone was settled, the transport soldiers began driving the horses, moving northward into a region of only highlands and wind-swept plains.
The convoy quickly moved across the vast plateau, where fierce winds howled and rustling wild grasses stretched to the horizon. Wheels creaked on the rough ground, dust billowing behind them. The air was thin and chilly; the sounds of wind and horse hooves echoed across the empty land. In the distance, giant Imor birds swooped down for prey, the fattest antelopes helplessly thrashing after being caught by the aerial hunters. Meuner sat in the vehicle, mesmerized by the scenery before him.
Meanwhile, in a luxurious, sparkling palace adorned with gemstones on its walls, sunlight poured in from all directions. Exquisitely carved paintings and objects were beautifully arranged.
"Report, commander!! Xirvich sent us a coded message!! Aridonia has brought scholars to Harsavert!!"
"That Xirvich is still alive?" a mocking voice echoed from the mouth of a commander, who was toying with a stone bird in his hand.
"I don't know how, but this is definitely his Karma crystal!" the soldier hastily replied.
"Good, that's useful! Deploy the air force!!"
"Understood!!" With that, he immediately left.
Thump
A hand touched the shoulder of the commander who had just given the order. He spun around, stunned, looking at the figure behind him, motionless, not even a single thread able to stir. Vheimence Daiwaking stood directly behind him.
"Lord… Lord Daiwaking??"
After half a day's journey, the soldiers began to complain of hunger, their stomachs rumbling. The entire group decided to stop. They chose a hollow in the highland to rest for a few hours.
"Phew… finally getting some sun. Sitting in that vehicle was suffocating beyond words," Guzanke complained.
As soon as everyone settled down, the soldiers brought out rations. Each person, regardless of being an officer or a low-ranking soldier, received a fairly large portion of meat, enough to last a whole day.
Meuner, who hadn't fully woken up that morning, had to leave in a hurry. Seeing the piece of meat in his hand, he couldn't resist, finishing it in one or two bites. Guzanke and Antonio sighed as they looked at their meat; they didn't eat Geremi meat – a type of ostrich that absorbed Karma – because of its distinctive smell.
Click-clack
The sound of assembly and disassembly caught Meuner's attention. The engineers were test-activating the new omnidirectional scanning capability of Kobis. Seeing his old nemesis, Meuner immediately became wary.
"Hey!!" Put that useless Kobis away, alright? Are you guys spies too?" Meuner pointed directly at the engineer operating it.
"Hey, you! What do you mean?!" The engineer immediately looked up and retorted to Meuner.
Before either could say more, the Kobis began to scream wildly.
"Huh, what's that??" Meuner was suspicious.
"I don't know! Something is coming very fast towards us….one! No… it's three somethings."
Antonio pressed his ear to the ground but detected nothing; no sound or slight tremor that he could feel. Realizing there was no chance of ground reinforcement, he turned and yelled,
"Hide!!! Get down!!! Air force attackkk!!!!"
Unable to ascertain if they were friend or foe, he just yelled to be safe. Guzanke, seeing the situation, also activated his Karma. It was a Kartocus called Ivir, which allowed him to create or encase things in hard stone. He immediately covered the hollow where they were all sheltering.
BANG BANG BANG
The deafening roar of artillery above ground made the engineers' faces turn pale. Not just one, but three waves of airstrikes directly hit their position. The tremendous pressure and terrifying sound of the explosions made everyone tremble with fear.
The engineer stumbled, restarting the Kobis. At this moment, they were hovering directly above them.