Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening

The entire camp was taken off guard by the news, both recruits, soldiers and officials alike. The only people immune to this trend were those directly involved in the decision making process.

Meanwhile, August, the source of the idea was basking happily in the confusion and chaotic emotions of the recruits and officials alike.

For him there was no greater purpose than this.

'This ought to the rust off their bodies a little'

August smiled, looking in the direction of another one of the mountain peaks.

....

In the camp, where the different feelings and opinions of the recuits om this matter still ensued, Kieran had sent Jake a test to meet up at his usual meditative spot.

Upon arrival, Kieran didn't bother ask for Jake's opinion and dive straight into the matter, letting no time go to waste.

"The camp is losing this battle!"

Kieran started, even before Jake had taken a seat. Ignoring the frown of confusion on Jake's face, Kieran pushed forward, trusting everything to become clearer as he explained and Jake didn't question either, letting him breaking things down.

"The notice was quite simple. They are enlisting us to fight in this battle, not directly, but by assigning more mandatory missions and attaching a higher CP reward to make things seem not like a rip off, but in reality, it isn't that much of a rip off without the CP."

"We get the rights to keep forty percent of the spoils we get while the camp gets the remaining sixty percent, while the camp offers compensation for any special spoil we decide to turn in."

"Don't you see Jake, it's an opportunity!!"

Kieran said with a voice literally trembling with excitement, thinking of the various possibilities and profits he could make from this.

Even his weapon which needed a change could be easily sorted. Who knew Kieran was such a money grubber?

Jake on the other was caught off guard.

He had been a4ound Kieran to have seen him get excited over something, as rare as that happened, but he had never seen him vet this excited over anything at all.

It was like he had been waiting the whole time for the camp to release this notice. Like his life or very purpose was laid that in that very message.

And Jake wasn't too far off.

One thing Kieran didn't mention was the part of the notice where they talked about handing out military merits for those with exemplary performance on the field.

Merit points — the very first step he needed to get closer to his goals. Goals that had been buried need within his heart, but not forgotten.

The merit points were almost impossible to get normally, only allocated in a very miniscule amount doing thing's that only ever occurred rarely.

This was the best thing that had happened to him since he arrived on this planet. The best opportunity he had seen and Kieran wasn't one to miss, especially not at a time like this.

"Aren't you missing something?"

Jake said slowly, seeing the credit signs materialize in Kieran's eyes.

Unlike Kieran, while having some more credits wouldn't hurt, it barely excited him at all. A feel that was understandable, considering that he hadn't been raised poor like Kieran.

Still, Jake was right, Kieran was carried away like most of the recruits who had seen this message. Only enticed by the benefits and the profits they could reap from it.

"Ahem!"

Kieran coughed, regaining his cold and stoic composure without a hint of shame on his face.

'Well, would you look at that. His skin has gotten thicker!'

Jake observered quietly, waiting for Kieran to get back on track with his analysis.

"Like I was saying earlier, the camp isn't going to win this war"

"And unlike what most people think. It doesn't feel like they have a back up plan or anything for situations like this. If anything, this is the back up plan!"

Kieran started, continuing from where he had derailed earlier.

"It's quite easy to tell if you knew were to look. There are no new faces, the amount of free beds in the infirmary depressing drastically.."

Kieran went on to state a few more minor details which could be easily dismissed on their own, but when rought together formed the bigger picture and the true state of things.

"The benefits of this new setup are immense..."

Kieran said and Jake could almost swear he saw credit signs shining in his eyes.

"But, the dangers associated with each task is unreasonably high. Unfortunately, they don't have much of a choice and so do we."

'Between their pride and this, they chose this. Tch! This is why I don't like power games.'

Kieran thought, having seen through the most possible circumstances that lead to this decision.

The camp was forking out a large amount of its accumulated resources to move the recruits inro acting as willing body bags, glass shields. But the problem with this method was that it wasn't effective.

There was a finite amount of recruits in the camp, even less of an amount that coukd actually make an impact on the battle field.

'There's no way they couldn't see this problem too, unless they're...'

"They're buying time"

Kieran muttered silently while Jake's eyes narrowed, hearing those words.

'It all makes sense now!'

The scattered pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen in place for him, and he understood what intentions the camp were moving with.

'They're blatantly slapping the faces of those noble houses.'

Whatever they had in store and how they planned to handle the wrath of the houses was beyond Kieran's comprehension for now. He hadn't seen anything that could give him an idea on that.

He just knew the camp was playing a very risky game. At the same time, they were doing this boldly, knowing that this was the perfect opportunity for a lot of the recruits from these said noble houses.

"I need to go!"

Jake uttered with urgency in his tone and Kieran nodded in understanding.

If their deductions were right, especially the last one, then he was wrong about Ruby and she could very well be in danger that very moment.

The memo had been passed into effect the very moment it was released, after all.

'How did I not see this from the start?!'

Jake scolded himself while feeling thankful for Kieran who had called him over. He would have totally missed the possibility if not.

'He should be fine..'

Kieran pushed Ruby's matter off his mind for a moment trusting Jake to handle it just fine.

His mind had been attracted to a whole different matter entirely.

'If they really are stalking for time, then what exactly is it that could delay reinforcements for something so serious.'

Kieran's eyes flashed. He had just asked the very same question the officials of the camp, the Chief Commader included were all asking.

"What exactly was happening on the outside?!"

'I can't remain here'

Kieran stood up, picking the cracked scythe he brought along before descending the mountain while sending a message to the blacksmith in the underground cavern, saying a single thing.

<<Get ready. I'll be commissioning something soon>>

'Where do I start from now?'

Kieran pondered and considered several plans while walking down the mountain.

Unlike a vast majority of recruits who were sure to have rushed out to their deaths, Kieran was keen on making as many preparations as he possibly could.

The memories of the man–bat like creature he had encountered during his joint mission with Richard and Derrick were still fresh in his mind.

The fact that he had somehow survived that experience was solely under special circumstances that couldn't be replicated again.

The chances of him suddenly awakening as an S ranked ability user with that same amount of intensity was absolutely zero.

Yet, if he planned to maximize the benefits of this opportunity, he was eventually going come face to face with those monsters.

'Best prepared than not.'

Kirean thought, fading into the hall ways of the camp.

...

On the other hand, going back a few hours, just after the memo had been released was Ruby and a gathering of unfamiliar faces, just about three in number, the forth being a member of her unit, just like Jake.

"It's going to be dangerous, but not so much for the first phases. So as long we work well, the hunt shouldn't go too bad!"

Ruby said explained to the three of them and they'll all let out a few words and nods of affirmation.

"As usual, the loot gets splits evenly."

She added, sweeping her eyes across their faces.

"No problem with that"

"Same here"

The first said and the other three followed suit.

"Let's head out then!"

Ruby said to all over them, leading them out of the camp on their first mission for this new memo.

The soldiers at the entrance nodded, letting them pass.

Meanwhile the three new recruits exchanged nods with each other.