Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 202: Before the Dungeons

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Stannard Berwick

I sneezed, covering my mouth with the crook of my arm as the wind blew through the barren trees. Despite the armor across my body, I shivered slightly.

Why does it still have to be winter? I thought sourly, sniffling. I never dealt with the cold well.

At my side, Darvus chuckled. The brutish fourth son of the Clarell House sported lighter armor than me, which made the entire situation even more unfair.

"What, can't handle a little cold, Stannard?" he joked, making a show of bracing against the wind, his greenish hair blowing everywhere. "Look at what I do. I'm sure you can manage it."

"Shove off, Darvus," I said, my teeth chattering. "You're only warm 'cause you ate like a hog earlier."

And because he was an augmenter, and strengthening your body with mana helped regulate body temperature. With my faulty core, however, I couldn't do things like normal mages.

The two of us were stationed on the outskirts of our camp. The Grand Mountains rose high above us, blocking out the sun and casting everything in shade. Which in retrospect, probably was what made it so much colder.

The Trailblazer Division–at least our portion of it–was stationed on the outskirts of the Beast Glades a ways north of the Wall. We were tasked with routinely clearing out dungeons to prevent the Alacryans from using the beasts within, while also harvesting what materials we could.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared down the path, spotting movement. "Hey, Darvus," I said, "think those are the recruits we were told about?" A trail of a few people were approaching us.

Darvus narrowed his eyes. "Probably are," he said, sounding dejected. "Let's get this over with and get back to killing mana beasts, shall we? I hate guard duty."

The two of us had been assigned to the outer guard by our division captain, Drogo. We'd been told to expect a few last-minute recruits into our numbers before the upcoming assault on the dungeon nearby. These newbies were all that we were waiting for before our attack.

The man at the front of the group of people rode a mana beast I recognized as a skitter. He was balding all across his head, and with the way he was wrapped in furs, it almost appeared as if an egg had been placed atop a carpet. Naturally, the man addressed Darvus first. "This the Trailblazers?" he asked gruffly, his breath misting on the air.

Darvus shifted his stance, standing straight as he stared up at the man. "That we are," he said with his usual arrogant smirk. "And I'm assuming you're delivering us some fresh meat?"

The man atop the skitter snorted disdainfully. "Half these fools will be dead in a fortnight," he said caustically. "Not my problem anymore."

I felt the urge to wilt as the harsh man stared down at me from his mount, judging me silently. Then he turned away, directing his mana beast back the path from whence it came.

There were only four recruits present, and most looked more than a little nervous from what their former leader had said.

I thought of my first entry into battle. My hands had shaken and I'd barely been able to act at all. Only through experience had I finally banished that weakness, becoming a true member of my squad and tearing through our enemies. But these recruits–most appearing barely older than myself–all looked more than a little unnerved, except for one at the back.

"Alright, recruits!" Darvus said, injecting his voice with his usual swagger. "I've been dying to actually sink my axes into some mana beasts for the past couple of hours," he said, patting the handles of the twin axes strapped to his back, "And all I've gotta do is get you checked into the camp and sent to your preliminary squads. So come on over to me and we'll get this over with."