Soul of the Warrior

Reivyn carefully set one foot in front of the other. He leverage every muscle in his body to ensure that not only was his step silent, but that it was as steady as possible. The ground was quite soft, but he didn’t sink down into the dirt as he made his way across the open field.

The moon and stars illuminated the surroundings as Reivyn skulked through the tall grass. He moved with purpose, but he didn’t rush. If he moved too quickly, not only would the rustle of the grass possibly give him away, but even the movement of the stalks would be noticeable to anyone paying careful attention.

He was dressed in a new outfit that his sisters had graciously provided for him for the excursion.

More like forced on me, Reivyn mentally chuckled.

They had insisted that he participate in their endeavors during his time away from his own work. He had only ever really seen their finished products before, so it was a new experience for him to witness the creation of their crafts.

Even though it was the middle of the night, the clothes that he was wearing weren't just straight black. He didn’t understand how his sisters had done it, but his outfit was a masterpiece that tapped into his Camouflage Skill. He glanced down briefly and made note of the imperceptibly shifting patterns designed to break up the outline of a human body.

The Super Secret Sneak Snug, as dubbed by his sisters - Reivyn rolled his eyes at their naming sense - was composed of geometric shapes and patterns that could slowly be moved about according to the wearer’s will. One’s own Camouflage Skill determined how well one could utilize the function, and it could even slowly change color over a long period of time.

It wouldn’t make him invisible or instantly blend into his environment. It wasn’t invisibility or even a chameleon effect. It simply had great utility in that it could adapt to any environment with proper preparation.

The default coloring had been designed for the local fauna, so he didn’t have to worry about waiting for it to adapt, anyway.

Reivyn crouched with his eyesight just above the top of the tall grass and inspected his destination. A pair of guards stood vigilantly in front of his goal. There was a long building housing his objective. Two guards stood at either entrance, and there were two other guards walking about on random patrol.

The two patrolling guards weren’t strictly on guard duty, though. Occasionally, they would stop and take care of a small issue that they identified. Their purpose was more multifaceted than simply being extra eyes at night.

Another individual walked down the path leading to the long hut and the two guards snapped to attention. They were just outside of his Divine Sense, and they spoke quietly enough that he couldn’t make out the words, but Reivyn didn’t need to hear it to know what it was. One of the guards was reporting their post to a superior.

A soft crashing sound next to him brought him out of his observation of the distant guards. His head was poking above the grass, so any swift movements had the possibility of giving his position away, so he slowly turned his head and stared at the offender with an incredulous stare.

Kailey picked herself up next to Reivyn with Riley’s assistance. They moved fairly slowly as they assumed a crouch next to him, but they were still extremely loud to Reivyn’s senses.

The pair of twins were likewise dressed in their own Super Secret Sneak Snugs, and Reivyn had taught them how to apply pattern-breaking shade to their faces. Black, brown, and dark green streaks marred their faces. Even with their own budding Camouflage Skill and sneaky clothing, nothing could hide from his Divine Sense. His Skill was simply overpowered.

“Way to go Kailey,” Riley snarked, whispering to her sister. “Why not just announce ourselves?”

Reivyn’s eyes shifted from Kailey to her sister and glared at her. Kailey and Riley didn’t notice the baleful look Reivyn directed at them right away.

“Like you’re any better,” Kailey huffed. “I only fell over because you tripped into me!”

“Did not!”

“And I felt like I was on the verge of unlocking a Skill, too”

“Don’t blame your shortfall on me,” Riley crossed her arms and turned her head. She happened to turn in the direction of Reivyn and froze upon seeing the look on his face.

“That wasn’t my point,” Kailey shook her head. She paused as she noticed her sister’s unusual behavior. She turned in the direction her sister was looking and subsequently froze as well. The two girls, as if by some unseen signal, clasped their hands over their mouths.

It wasn’t just the twins insisting on Reivyn joining them in their own Class training. They demanded he bring them along on his exercise in trying to combine his Stealth Skills together. He was still on his “vacation,” after all.

Reivyn stared at his sisters for another couple of seconds before slowly turning his gaze back to the sentries. The supervising sergeant had moved on by that time, but it appeared their own conversation had prevented them from hearing the whispers of the girls.

Reivyn observed the two sentries standing in front of the hut as well as the two randomly walking around the area. He contemplated on how he was going to get not only himself but his sisters inside their goal

This is going to be a problem, he thought, not for the first time.

He slowly turned his head back to look at his sisters as he contemplated the situation. He wracked his brain for any solution he could think to overcome the problem.

They just don’t have the Skills or the Stats, Reivyn thought. A light seemed to go off in his head as he put the root of the problem into words. Skills and Stats! Of course. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?

Reivyn had nearly forgotten about the technique he had stolen from the invading assassins months ago. He hadn’t been practicing it, and there was no Skill associated with it. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to use it, though.

Reivyn closed his eyes as he recalled the sensation and workings of the Mana tether that had combined the group’s Stats and Skills together to make them more formidable. It was similar to how a group-Shield Skill worked, but it was more focused. If a group-Shield was everyone expelling their Mana into a wide sheet in front of themselves, the link was a conduit that reinforced one’s being.

He visualized and weaved his Mana. Applying knots, weaves, and patterns to his Mana was second-nature to Reivyn. He figured that his ability to do so was still not on the same level as his mother’s from the context of their conversation on the matter, but he could do an adequate job instantly.

He extended a tendril of Mana toward both sisters and connected his own core to theirs. He wasn’t finished with just connecting himself, though, and he coaxed their Mana out of their cores and guided it together to create a third link in the group. A triangle of Mana connected the three of them together.

Kailey and Riley’s eyes opened wide, and they both jerked back simultaneously. The movement was orders of magnitude faster and more forceful than anything they were used to, but Reivyn had been prepared for just such a reaction.

Air Mana sprang up behind them and cushioned them. It not only protected them from themselves, but it also prevented them from jerking away too far, risking getting caught by the vigilant sentries.

Reivyn knew the girls would need to acclimate to their enhanced Stats. This was really something he should have thought of before they attempted to infiltrate a secure location, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

He continued the Air Mana and created a small bubble around themselves. He didn’t want to use too much Mana in case someone in the hut, either the sentries or anyone else, had Mana Sight and could see the sudden outburst of Mana.

It had the intended effect, though, as it prevented sound from carrying. The ambient sounds they had grown used to quieted down until they were in their own little bubble of silence.

The two girls had Sense Mana at least. Reivyn wasn’t sure if they had unlocked Mana Sight yet or not, but they still immediately noticed the bubble of Air Mana surrounding them.

“What is this?!” Kailey asked, eyes wide.

“I feel like I could run a thousand miles in a day!” Riley echoed.

The two girls went about inspecting themselves and moving their bodies around to feel the difference.

“It’s not your own strength,” Reivyn quietly explained. “We’ve shared our Stats and Skill together to bring you up to a competent level, but you’ll need time to get used to it. I’ve also never used this ability on anyone with such a drastic difference in Stats before. I’m afraid it might have negative side-effects on your bodies if you strain too much or for too long.”

Kailey and Riley stopped their movements and gave their brother a thoughtful look.

“We’re not going to do any kind of stressful movements until we understand the consequences better,” Reivyn continued. “I’ve only brought you up a bit so that you can follow me to the destination. We’ll be walking at the same speed and trying to be as sneaky as possible.

“If we get spotted by the sentries, don’t try to escape. Just give yourselves up like you were told at the beginning.”

“We understand,” Kailey nodded.

“We still have the same mission and rules,” Riley echoed.

“Good,” Reivyn was satisfied. “Take a couple of minutes to get used to the feeling of your enhanced Stats. Kailey said she felt like she was on the verge of unlocking a Skill, so you can also take the time to feel it out and try to unlock it for yourselves as well. I don’t know how well sharing a Skill you don’t have will work for you, but it should provide at least some sort of change.”

The two girls nodded and got to work. They didn’t want to hold their brother back too much despite insisting on coming when they knew they didn’t have the prerequisite Skillset to keep up with him. The rule that they weren’t to try and escape but simply give up if they were spotted had been set exactly because nobody expected them to succeed. The regular soldiers didn’t know who they were, but the officers did. Reivyn didn’t want to endanger his sisters with overzealous sentries if they tried to flee. If they were spotted, they were to simply wait for one of the higher-ranked soldiers to arrive on scene and identify them.

The trio were trying to sneak into one of the field barracks of the mercenary trainees. Reivyn had informed Jeckle of his intentions, and the other officers and staff NCO’s knew that Reivyn was going to be working on his Stealth Skills, but none of the NCO’s or trainees knew about it. It would have defeated the purpose if they weren’t acting exactly like they normally would.

Reivyn waited as his sisters duck-walked around in circles and moved their arms and fingers about to get used to their increased Physical Stats. They moved about for about ten minutes, and Reivyn was about to remind them they needed to get going when they both stopped and shared a grin between each other. They both looked at Reivyn.

“I unlocked two new Skills!” Kailey exclaimed.

“Silent Step and Sure Step!” Riley confirmed.

Reivyn smiled back at his sisters.

“Great job!” Reivyn nodded. “Now it’s time to move ahead with the plan.”

Reivyn dispelled the Air Mana bubble and took another peek at the sentries. Nothing had changed with them, so he squatted back down below the grass line. The three of them slowly made their way toward the nearby hut.

The location Reivyn had decided to infiltrate was one of the barracks’ the mercenaries and trainees used while performing field exercises. They didn’t always camp out in tents while in the field. In fact, it was more likely than not that they would have some sort of permanent structure to base out of whenever they deployed. Setting up camps and bivouacs was still an important skill, but it wasn’t stressed as heavily as the combat functions.

There were three long huts, but there were only sentries assigned to one of them. The mercenary company wasn’t large enough that they needed more. There was currently only one platoon of trainees practicing their field exercises at the moment.

The platoon of trainees had completed their initial recruit training and assessment, but they didn’t have any actual experience, yet. Reivyn and the other officers had determined to refer to the mercenaries in each stage differently.

Those performing their recruit training and assessment were called Recruits. Graduates who hadn’t deployed were called Trainees. Only those that had a deployment under their belt were officially referred to as Mercenaries. That included during the deployment, so as soon as a Trainee left for their first deployment, they were considered an official Mercenary in their company.

The naming structure wasn’t designed solely to separate each group. It had an actual function. When discussing the groups of soldiers under their command, one could identify the level of experience immediately upon their designation.

All of the Adventurers who had participated in the Drallo Campaign were automatically deemed as Mercenaries. They had already performed as a military unit. They had earned it. It was important to make that designation as several of them had stayed behind to continue running the company and conduct training while the main company had been deployed to Vairo.

The three duck-walked through the tall grass until they reached the dirt path leading to the front of the long hut. They were off to the side a little ways, and they would need to cross the short open ground where they were exposed. Reivyn could have moved them further away where the chances of being spotted were negligible, but the entire purpose was to sneak around without getting caught. The process was the goal, not actually getting inside the hut.

There was literally nothing for them to do inside the hut. They were simply trying to get past the sentries and gain entry before leaving the way they had come.

Reivyn was able to see the interior of the hut with his Divine Sense. The platoon was asleep except for the six standing watch. Two sentries on either end plus the two roamers. It was referred to as Fire Watch, and they would take turns spending an hour at a time standing watch. There were enough Trainees that not everyone had Fire Watch every night, so everyone had the chance for a full-night’s sleep every couple of days.

Reivyn didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary within the hut as they low-crawled across the dirt path. Reivyn led his sisters to the side of the hut where they were out of line-of-sight of the sentries before standing back up. There were a couple of NCO’s still awake inside the small office at the front of the hut, but other than that, nobody but the roaming Fire Watch moved inside the hut.

Reivyn and the twins leaned up against the wall of the hut as they made their way back to the front. The sentries were standing a few feet away from the actual hut, so there was room for them to maneuver behind them. They would have to make absolutely zero noise in order to not be caught, but Reivyn was confident they could do it if they were careful.

With his Skills supplementing his sisters’, they were able to move around with steady and silent steps. If they had been moving on loose gravel, Reivyn wouldn’t have been as confident, but it was simply dirt and grass.

I’ll need to talk to the officers about making sure any tall grass is trimmed around our bases in the future, Reivyn idly thought. It’s the same principle as cutting the trees around a city. We were able to sneak up way too close in waist-high grass.

Reivyn carefully moved his body around the corner of the hut, focusing on the two sentries who had their attention out in the surroundings. Kailey and Riley followed his example exactly. They placed their feet exactly where and how he placed his, and they maintained the same center of gravity.

Reivyn reached for the door-knob leading into the hut, but he suddenly froze. His tense body relaxed as he sagged and hung his head down, shaking it slightly. His Divine Sense picked up one of the NCO’s leaving the office and heading to the door. After just a second of waiting, the door opened on it’s own and the NCO jumped back in surprise.

“HALT! Identify yourselves!” The NCO yelled.

The two sentries turned their heads at the unexpected shouting and nearly jumped out of their skin as the presence of three strangers right at their backs. They took a couple of steps away and drew their swords.

“Wait…” The NCO leaned forward and squinted in the dark. “Captain Reivyn?” The man frowned before recognition lit up his face and he performed a salute. “Good evening, sir!”

The two sentries shared a confused look, but they maintained their ready stance. The NCO glanced at them.

“Put your weapons away,” he commanded. “This is Captain Reivyn.”

“I thought for sure we were going to succeed,” Reivyn muttered as he sighed.

“What was that, sir?” The NCO asked.

“Nevermind,” Reivyn shook his head. “Good job, sergeant. I was just making an impromptu inspection of the situation with Trainees. You’re running a tight outfit. Keep up the good work.” Reivyn turned to Kailey and Riley who were frozen in place, eyes wide and shifting about. “Come on.”

Reivyn simply turned and walked away down the dirt path. Kailey and Riley quickly followed.

“That’s it?” Kailey asked.

“We’re done?” Riley asked.

“Yeah, we’re done,” Reivyn said. “We accomplished as much of our goals as we could. I think we did a pretty good job, honestly. We just got unlucky there at the end. If I had been by myself, I probably could have figured a way out, but you two don’t have the Skills or experience necessary.”

Reivyn continued walking in silence as Kailey and Riley whispered to each other. They talked about how fun the experience had been and about their two new Skills. Reivyn evaluated his own Skills, and he could feel a sort of pressure building. The entire time, he had been working on combining all of his Skills together for every move and action he took, but it hadn’t been quite enough. He could feel he was close, but there was still something missing.

Reivyn dismissed the Mana tether holding them together. He immediately noticed the fluid movements of his sisters return to normal with his Divine Sense. Their bodies not only didn’t move quite as quickly, but they also lost some of their coordination. The two girls slightly stumbled at first and glared daggers at Reivyn’s back, but he was too preoccupied thinking about what else he needed to do to combine his Stealth Skills.

The exercise hadn’t been a complete waste of time. He had been practicing combining his Stealth Skills at home with his family, but he felt he needed more practical application of the Skills to push it further. He could tell he had taken a significant step, but there was one final step he needed to take.

He had an idea, and he would try it out in the next few days.

—

Lencet reviewed his cards with a critical eye. The three other sergeants accompanying him for an evening of friendly gambling did likewise. The coins on the table were stacked high, but they shone with only copper. The money wasn’t the point of the night of gambling. Camaraderie was the true focus.

The Imperial Guards were encouraged to form strong bonds with each other. Lencet, like the other sergeants, had come up through the ranks like all the other NCO’s, and they had a lot of history with each other. After attaining ranks of leadership, though, they found themselves no longer sharing duties with each other. These frequent sessions were how they maintained their friendship over the years.

“It’s not going to get any better, Lencet,” the sergeant on his left joked with a smirk. “Just fold if you don’t have confidence in your hand.”

Lencet eyed his friend for a second before deliberately grabbing a few coins and tossing them out into the center of the table. His friend inclined his head.

“Sure, sure, give me all your coins. I don’t mind.”

Lencet grunted. They were best of friends when they weren’t competing, but even a game over some coopers brought out their competitive streaks. None of them would ever be able to resign and sustain themselves off card-playing, but they all knew how to get under each others’ skin. Lencet was a cautious player, so his friends would often goad him by trying to play on his insecurity with his hand.

It was a carefully crafted facade he had built up over the years. Although he was a cautious player in fact, it was never due to insecurity. He had learned to gauge his friends’ hand’s strength by how boisterous they were in attempting to lure him into betting or folding.

The others glanced at their cards and made their bets all around the table. Lencet continued to sell his deceit as he stared at his cards, patiently waiting for the others. The fifth man directly to Lencet’s right finally made his bet, calling the hands to be shown. The others placed their cards on the table, and Lencet smirked to himself as he laid the winning hand on the table.

The others groaned and snickered at each other. The fifth man to Lencet’s right, though, shouted in excitement.

“Yes!”

Lencet was taken slightly aback and verified that his hand was, in fact, the winning hand. After verifying he had truly won, he scooped up the coins and stacked them neatly in front of himself.

After everyone had gotten situated, Lencet grabbed the cards, shuffled them, and began to deal them out. He passed them to his three friends and himself until they all had their full hands. He paused for a moment and looked to the empty seat to his right. He looked back up at his friends.

“Wasn’t there another person sitting here just a moment ago?” He asked, confused.

The three others shared looks before looking back to him.

“I don’t think so,” one of his friends answered.

Lencet shook his head and put it out of his mind. He almost immediately forgot about the fifth member that had joined them for a hand, and the four friends continued their game.