The march was long, stony, and silent. Few words were exchanged during the trudge, but the glances Keldon received spoke loud and clear. They clearly didn't like him.
Keldon dragged his feet through the soil, only stopping for a moment to rub the newly formed red blisters on his ankles. Looking down at his pants, he stroked his hand over a tear the size of a pinky he had probably gotten tumbling down the side of the Hissings, hoping that it would magically stitch itself back together. To his complete and utter surprise. It didn’t.
“*sigh*… and I just got Mrs.Maithier to mend these the other week too.” He said
“*ahem*”
Keldon looked behind him to see the group of recruits had caught up to him while he had fruitlessly tried to rub out the tear.
“Right. Sorry. This way.” Keldon said as he marched ahead of the group.
It had been just under an hour since the group had started marching away from the Hissings. The greater the distance Keldon and the group put between them and the Hissings, the more life bloomed in this desolate wasteland. Short blades of grass, poked out from the earth as dandelions and heartier plants such as bindweed and thistle blossomed through the dense soil. Keldon continued walking until in the distance, Keldon spotted a tall boulder spire, jutting out from the ground and covered in moss.
Even this far away from the Hissings, only the heartiest of flora could survive. Sharp pine needles littered the ground in browns and greens, as each snap of the dried needles beneath his feet filled the air with tension. Keldon had kept a close eye out for any sign of Aberrants on the way to the sifting site, not wanting to risk lives more than absolutely necessary. However, he knew that the only way he’d be able to guarantee that all the new recruits could meet quota is if they came out to the edges of Deeproot woods. It was a decision that he'd made long ago and consciously kept during each expedition.
Keldon paused, waiting for the group behind him to move forward ahead of him, as he waited for Bertram.
“Need Sometin’?” Bertram asked, picking out gunks of food from between his teeth.
“Any sign of Aberrants?’
“Nutin’ so far. Might be a good idea to head back early though.”
“Perhaps. We can head back as soon as the group makes their quota though.” Keldon said stroking his chin.
“Wellll… maybe we can mosey back even a little earlier. I didn’t stamp out the coals from makin’ mah lunch and I’d hate to come home to a smokey bed and all.” Bertram said.
“I suppose. We’d have to make up a little more on tomorrow’s expedition but I’m sure the new recruits wouldn’t mind having a bit of shorter duty. As long as they gather enough Tahlacite dust before the week’s end, I’m sure Hilda wouldn’t mind.”
“Mhm, that’s what I’m thinkin’. Plus we’ll be seen at like we’re kindly folk to these poor saps too. Very kind indeed.” Bertram said, nodding to himself.
Keldon gave Bertram a strange look as he raised his eyebrow. Bertram turned away from Keldon pointing out to the group of recruits in the front who had ran into a wall of dense forest trees, looking back at Bertram and Keldon, unsure of what to do next.
“Should prolly’ take care of that though.” Bertram said, pointing it out.
Keldon looked to the front of the group, running towards the poor confused fellow in front, guiding him past the thicket of brushes as they made their way further into Deeproot woods.
A few minutes later, the trees parted, clearing the way to a relatively empty glade of soil in the middle of the strange forest, dead wildflowers and fallen tall grass littered the ground, coated in a light dusting of white power as flecks of Tahlacite chips were scattered across the ground, mixed into the soil.
Keldon’s lips curved into a smile as the recruits behind him stared hungrily at the white flecks of Tahlacite on the ground. However, with Bertram staring daggers into their backs, none dared to make a move. They all looked at Keldon, waiting for the order to move out like a dog waiting for his treat.
“Masks first.” Keldon said as a few of them unhappily glared at him. However, after coming this far, none of them were willing to be sent back empty handed. A few moments later, each of the recruits had put on a mask and were looking at Keldon for the signal. Keldon nodded as they all rushed into the glade, pulling out their pans from their packs and began activating their skill orbs. They stumbled around the glade, holding their hands out in front of them. The more proficient sifters flickered the skill, switching between normal sight and the skill sight while the recruits who were a little more… troubled were crawling around on the ground, using their hands to sense their surroundings.
While the recruits were scrambling around the open field, Keldon stabbed long wooden sticks with strange engravings on them into the ground. He placed them on the edges of the clearing, where the trees met the fields, creating a ring around the recruits and himself.
“Bertram! It’s ready.” Keldon yelled out across the field. Bertram nodded in acknowledgement as he waved his left hand in a semi-circle. A skill orb materialized where he waved his hand as he muttered to himself as the wooden sticks began to hum together in unison.
Keldon walked back towards Bertram. He stood at Bertram’s side who was overlooking the new recruits as they went around the field.
“Looks good to me.” Keldon said. He yelled at the recruits who were scrambling around on the ground “Absolutely under no circumstances can any of you touch these wooden poles alright?!! These poles ward off Aberrants and keeps the smell of Tahlacite locked in so they won't bother us! ”
However, the recruits paid him no mind.
“*sigh* this job will be the death of me someday I swear.” Keldon said.
“Mhm.” Bertram said nodding towards Keldon. However, Keldon was shooting looks at Bertram out of the corner of his eyes, and suddenly, out of nowhere, Keldon twisted his body and lunged his arm out at Bertram’s neck. However, Bertram still kept a steady gaze at the recruits and without breaking sight, Bertram’s hand snapped towards Keldon’s, grabbing Keldon by the wrist with a grip as strong as iron. Keldon struggled, trying to break free from his steely grasp as Bertram grinned. Keldon felt himself lurch forwards and into the air as Bertram leg snapped out, knocking Keldon off his feet. Bertram whipped Keldon to the side, sending him flying into the air and into a tumble. Keldon stuck his arms out, twisting his body to the side as he rolled on his shoulder into a somersault. He sprung up from the ground, landing on his feet. He swiveled his feet on the ground, turning his side towards Bertram as he held one arm extended outwards and clenched the other into a fist near his chest.
“*tch*”
“ Heh, you grimy lil’ turd, You tried to pull a lil’ sneaky on your ol’ pal Bertram hm?” Bertram said, flashing a cocky smile at Keldon.
“Oh I wouldn’t say tried~” Keldon said playfully, wagging a small beige button between his fingers.
Bertram looked down at his tunic, noticing that the top button was missing from its place.
“Only did it cuz’ I gotta make room for the critter.” Bertram said as his face soured.
Keldon said nothing, holding his stance. Bertram swiveled his feet, to face Keldon, still keeping watch of the recruits out of the corner of his eye. He pivoted into an defensive stance, raising his hands above his head and curling his fingers into claws. He lowered his center of gravity, still maintaining eye contact with Keldon and watch of the recruits. Most of the recruits had stopped at this point, watching with curiosity as to why the two leaders were fighting with one another.
Keldon bounced back and forth on his heels, watching Bertram intently. The wind whistled by, creating a cold silence in the air as the recruits had gone quiet. The recruits held their breath carefully, as if the lightest breath would choke the tension out of the air.
Keldon lunged forwards, sending out a quick jab at Bertram’s chest, which he parried to the side with ease. Keldon dropped low to the ground, sending out his leg in a sweeping kick as Bertram hopped backwards. Keldon sprang up from the ground, swinging his fist into an uppercut as Bertram moved back as Keldon’s fist grazed past his crooked nose.
“Slow.” Bertram said, as he stepped back into Keldon’s chest. Keldon tried to put distance between him and Bertram; however, he was too late. Bertram put his hand on Keldon’s chest and shoved him back, stumbling a few steps before landing on his ass.
“Again.” Bertram said, falling back into his initial stance, waiting for Keldon to get back up. Keldon leapt back onto his feet, dusting his clothes off and fell into his initial stance as well.
He leapt towards Bertram, twisting his body in the air and bringing his heel down onto Bertram’s head in an axe kick. Bertram grabbed Keldon by the ankle and threw him to the side as Keldon lurched forwards, thrown off his balance. Bertram took a step backwards, away from Keldon as he brought down his left hand, starting to wave it in a semi-circle. Alarmed, Keldon leaped towards Bertram to try to stop him from summoning his Skill orb as Bertram suddenly stopped moving his hand. He leapt towards Keldon as Keldon’s eyes opened wide in surprise, trying to twist his body away. However, he was already in motion as Bertram flashed to his side, swiping at his feet and grabbing the back of his head. With a flick, he slammed Keldon into the earth as the stole the wind from his chest as Keldon rolled around on the ground feebly and in pain.
“That’s bait. Any Martial Skill user with any halfa’ dime of experience will bluff ya in like that.” Bertram said standing over Keldon, still in pain. He stuck out his hand as Keldon looked up, taking the much-appreciated assistance as Bertram pulled him up onto his feet as he rubbed the side of his ribs in discomfort.
“What’re you looking at ya’ lily-livered pansies?!!” Bertram barked, turning his head back towards the new recruits who had been watching intently. “Get yerr sorry asses to work or I’ll gut ya’!!”
The recruits quickly turned away, scrambling to the other side of the field to start gathering Tahlacite flecks once again.
Bertram turned back towards Keldon, holding up a defensive stance again.
“Set?”
Keldon stopped rubbing his sides and shifted back into his initial stance once again, looking Bertram square in the eyes as he nodded solemnly.
“Go.”
And Keldon Leapt towards Bertram again.
Two hours later, Keldon was panting on the ground, covered in bruises as Bertram casually leaned on “Hush”, picking at some food between his teeth with his pinky nail. The rest of the recruits were still sifting through the dirt and soil as the air filled with the heavy stench of sulfur from unearthing so much Tahlacite.
“ *huff* *huff* How…*huff* H-How’d I do?” Keldon asked, staring at the sky on his back.
Bertram paused for a moment and stroked his chin, face deep in contemplation.
“You’d be snapped like a twig if ya’ went up ‘gainst a real merc’ like me but against some nobody I suppose you could hold your own… I suppose.” Bertram said casually.
Pleased with himself, Keldon bore a self-satisfied grin. He stared up into the sky watching as the clouds slowly drifted by, floating on the winds of the world.
“Hey Ber-“
“Hold them words. Tar-eyed is makin’ trouble.” Bertram said, nodding his head towards the edge of the other side of the field.
Keldon scrambled to get up, turning around to see the tar-eyed lad nearly foaming at the mouth and screaming at another recruit. Keldon ran towards the other side of the field, followed by Bertram who walked a few paces behind as he came closer to see that the tar-eyed recruit was screaming to the sifter who wore a ring.
“MY GRAM OF SWEET, DAMN YOU! I KNOW YOU STOLE IT!!!” screamed the tar-eyed recruit as he forcefully grabbed the coveralls of the other sifter.
“Get off me you drug-addled mule!! I don’t have your damn sweet!!” yelled the recruit with the ring, grabbing the tar-eyed recruit and trying to pull his hands off his clothes. But the strength of a tar-eyed was not one to trifle with, his hands held firm like iron as he shook the recruit with the ring, trying to force an answer from him.
“Break it up!! Break it up!!!” Keldon yelled, pushing the two of them away as he stood between them. The tar-eyed recruit fumed, as he stared down the recruit with the ring. The tar-eyed recruit bore daggers into the other as his fists had clenched so tightly the knuckles flashed white while his fingernails dug into his palms, drawing blood and dripping down his hands.
“What happened here?” Keldon asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
“He stole my sweet!!!” the tar-eyed man said, yelling in Keldon’s ear.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead eating sweet, I may be workin’ in the hissings but I’ve got a wife and a kid to take care of. Not like you’d know a lick’ about responsibility,” he said, spitting venomously.
“Now now, I’m sure that whatever happened her was just a simple misunde-“
The tar-eyed recruit suddenly howled and tackled the other recruit to the ground, interrupting Keldon. They rolled around in the soil struggling at each other as the tar-eyed recruit clawed at other raking his fingers across him. Keldon ran over to try to break up the fight as the two grappled each other, rolling around on the ground. However, as Keldon tried to the pry the two apart, the man with the ring threw the tar-eyed man to the side, throwing him down on one of the humming wooden posts as the weight of the fall snapped it in half, the air growing still and the wooden posts stiller.
Keldon’s eyes widened, as he stared at the broken down post. He whipped his head around to see that each of the recruits were still collecting Tahlacite, and while a few had stopped to watch the scene unfold, many were still unearthing Tahlacite flecks as their bags were wide open. The scent of sulfur had filled the air and drifted out into the forest as the leaves stirred. The sky had darkened as the sun began to set, turning the field into a pale orange yellow as Keldon’s hairs stood up on the back of his neck. His heart leaped out of his chest as his mind raced.
“EVERYBODY, THROW DOWN YOUR BAGS NOW!!!” Keldon screamed, turning towards the recruits.
Each of the recruits stopped moving, frozen in place as they processed the information. They didn’t understand why Keldon had yelled at them to dump out their day’s work, and neither did they want to lose it.
“UNEARTHED TAHLACITE ATTRACTS ABERRANTS. DUMP IT ALL AND RUN!!” Keldon screamed at the top of his lungs.
“NOW VARMINTS, NOW” Bertram screamed, backing Keldon up as he grabbed the nearest recruit’s bag and threw it onto the ground.
(To Be continued)
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