Way of the Knights

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Of course I understand their plight.

Moreover, I also now understand the severity of this mission.

"I share your sentiments Captain Jordan, even so, it's not like we could refuse this task right?" I asked him which in turn made him grimace.

Jordan doesn't really want this mission, it's safe to say that if he could entrust this mission to someone else, he might've done so already, but there are certain rules that any association needs to follow, and it's their turn to do their part.

Good thing I came across this mission this early, maybe I could do something… Aha! That's a good idea!

"Am I allowed to bring another person in this mission?"

Jordan looked at me weirdly and weighed his options. He then asked: "If it's someone who could help our mission then maybe we could arrange something."

"Awesome! When do we leave?"

"Uh…" He hesitated first before saying, "Tomorrow at sunset. We meet at the western gate."

"Okay, got it! See you there!"

***

"Are we late?"

I asked as soon as we arrived at the western gate. The members of the adventurers tavern was already there. They were wearing a dull colored cloaks around their bodies along with the same colored hoods. This should be for camouflaging…

Jordan looked at me, and the person I bought with me. They measured gazes at first before I diffused the tense atmosphere.

"Captain Jordan, this is Sir Jackson, a Lair Hunter."

Just with that title alone, the three people immediately had their eyes wide open. They scampered and hurriedly greeted Sir Jackson in order to not offend him.

Come to think of it, recruiting this guy wasn't as hard as I expected it to be. After asking about the contents of the mission he immediately jumped ahead and told me he's coming.

He's the first one that came to my mind since I know that he could be trusted. Plus, Hopper was with him and this black panther needs some real experiences.

"Greetings Sir Jackson, excuse us for the attitude, we are certainly not expecting someone of your caliber to join our little escapade." Jordan bowed as he apologized to Jackson, the two behind him also followed suit.

I saw Jackson waved his hand non-chalantly before saying: "Don't sweat it. I've been meaning to investigate that place as well anyway, just so happen that this little guy invited me and I jumped in."

"Oh! Where are my manners!? M-my name is Jordan, current Captain of the Adventurer's Tavern. Behind me is Alina and George. Pleased to meet you Sir."

"Same here." Yep, that's his reply. Super plain and flat.

For some reason, I have this feeling Jackson had another purpose for coming with us, but then again not my business.

"How are the preparations?" Jackson asked.

"All good Sir!" Jordan replied like a good underling.

"Move out…"

Is it just me, or Jackson just snagged the leadership in Jordan's hands? He totally did right? Damn, he's awesome.

I guess that's the prestige of a Lair Hunting Knight for ya'.

If there's anyone whom people trust to have great knowledge on what's beyond the walls, it would be them since outside exploration is the main reason why they're called as Lair Hunters.

Well, there me as well but they don't know that, and I have no plans on letting them know. That's unless something important comes up.

We walked up to the guards stationed at the Western Wall, they blocked us first and asked for our purpose. It was Jordan who came up and dealt with them, after showing them some valid documents, the guards allowed us passage and outside we went.

As we took out first step outside the walls, the atmosphere within the group immediately went cold.

I could tell that these folks from the Adventurers Tavern became somewhat intimidated by the scenery outside.

Thick bushes, towering trees, chilling wind, in addition of the blanket of darkness that covers the whole sky. This place isn't for the weak-willed, I'm certain that all of us felt some movements beyond the trail-blazed path before us. If we're not careful, then whatever it is that's lurking beyond would be the cause of our death.

Memories from my past life flooded me. I recalled a great deal things just from coming here. I find it hard to believe that I walked through this unfriendly environment for a fraction of my life and came out alive.

I began spreading my spiritual sense, I'm pretty sure that I am wearing a somber expression right now. I took a brief glance on how the rest was faring and it's within my expectations.

Jackson was relatively calm, while the rest was a bit uncomfortable. This would be a long night for us.

"Take this…" Out of nowhere, Jackson handed out a jar that's filled with some sort of brownish paste. I took one and opened it. The smell that came out of it immediately assaulted my nose with countless profanities, and I'm pretty sure the rest experienced that as well.

"Don't mind the smell too much, you'll grow into it. Spread that in your current clothing, that would prevent some nasty insects from approaching you." Jackson explained as he spread the paste onto his clothes as well.

I didn't say much since I know this stuff is useful despite its pungent smell. The folks from the Adventurers Tavern hesitated at first but when they saw that I was doing what was told, they followed suit as well.

"What even is this paste? I never smelled something so horrible before." Alina muttered softly.

"Something that will make you wish you never knew." I replied, which prompted a glare from her. I shrugged and didn't pay any attention to her anymore.

It's a paste made out of some part of a dead squirrel, piss of a brown bear, lion's feces, spoiled garlic and onions. I could tell since this is not the first time that I placed this on myself. During my previous life, there are some missions that forced me to venture beyond the gates and Jackson would always remind me to do this.

See? I did her a favor by not telling her right? If she had known what's this for, would she even want to continue the journey or immediately back off to clean herself.

Now that the team is ready, we now headed towards the trail-blazed path forward.

Normally, 5 kilometers isn't that faraway, if this was the interior of the kingdom then it would only take us hours to eventually get there. But this is not the place to rush. Like I said earlier, any carelessness would lead to our death even though this is within the Yellow Zone.

We moved in an orderly fashion according to Jackson's arrangement. He was in front, I was in the middle, Jordan was at the back, Alina was on my right and George was on my left.

Well, I can't really say much right? He did this to protect me, I get it. He's the captain now anyway.

Needless to say, I'm not some useless baggage. It is not much, but my spiritual sense is constantly scanning the 10 miles radius of our location. I made sure that I'm taking every detail that I pick up into consideration.

Jackson is also not taking this lightly as well, he had Hopper scout ahead of us while he was viewing the Shared Vision. Jordan and his team was also good at moving stealthily, none of their footsteps were loud and they always watch out where they stepped in order to not raise any alarms.

Without dropping my scan, I also took my time to observe the sky. I'm not particularly looking to stargaze at the moment, I have other purposes for doing this.

"Stop stargazing kid, pay attention to where you walk." It turns out that Alina was watching me, well she's beside me so she could always see what I'm doing.

"Do you see any stars?" I asked.

She looked up briefly before saying: "No."

"Then how could you tell that I'm stargazing then?"

My retort left her speechless and furious again, I rolled my eyes and paid no attention to her. Why is she even here?

Oh right! My ocular technique! Let's see here…

"Shit!"

My cursing was loud enough to catch the attention of the team. They looked towards me in alarm and probably saw the nasty expression on my face.

"What's wrong kid?" Jackson hurriedly asked.

I didn't answer him first, instead I took out my sundial and did some calculations in my head. None of us moved, Jackson closely watched my actions while the rest was puzzled. I don't care about their opinions, our situation just gotten more dangerous right now!

"Quick! Find somewhere to hide! Preferably underground! Move!" I practically yelled.

"What's happening kid!?" Alina asked while clasping my shoulder. This might be her way of calming me down but now is not that time!

"4th Lunar Month! Our Moons are nowhere to be seen! The air contains a faint glitter! Notice the signs!" As I said this, they immediately figured out why I was panicking. Their faces paled and panic started settling down in their guts.

"Diamond Dust Eclipse!"