Chapter 159
The following week passed far more quickly than Rayne had expected.
Despite that, the order to march toward the Godless Ruins never came.
Rayne wasn't particularly surprised. Prince Caelan joining the expedition had undoubtedly changed the preparations. A royal prince didn't simply ride out with a warband. Routes had to be secured, supplies reorganized, escorts assigned and countless other matters settled before the expedition could finally leave the capital.
That delay, however, left Rayne with plenty to do and most of it was training his squad.
In one word, commanding his men was a mess.
When he had first joined Axel's squad, he had stepped into a unit built through several campaigns. Most of the veterans already knew their roles, understood formations and had survived enough battles to instinctively guide the newer soldiers whenever mistakes happened.
His own squad was nothing like that.
Nearly half consisted of fresh recruits who barely knew how to function as a proper military unit. Looking at them during the first few days of training, Rayne honestly doubted they could fight off a group of goblins without tripping over one another in the process.
The problems became obvious almost immediately.
Some lacked discipline. Others lacked confidence. Quite a few simply lacked the enthusiasm to train.
Those men quickly found themselves on punishment duty.
Running extra laps around the training grounds, carrying equipment until their arms shook or repeating formation drills long after everyone else had finished soon became common occurrences for anyone trying to avoid work.
The others trained willingly, but willingness alone couldn't replace experience.
Throughout the week, Rayne and Bran focused almost entirely on teaching the fundamentals.
By the seventh day, they had finally managed to drill the squad into maintaining a handful of basic combat formations without immediately collapsing into confusion.
Unfortunately, that only represented the beginning.
Battles against beasts demanded different formations than battles against another human group. Fighting inside forests differed from fighting across open plains, while defending a caravan required an entirely different arrangement from assaulting fortified positions.
There was still an enormous amount left to teach.
Another problem appeared almost immediately once Rayne introduced the idea that every soldier would learn every common weapon.
The veterans accepted the idea without complaint. Jason, Nate, Kesh, Heins and the others had already experienced enough battles to understand that survival often depended upon adapting to whatever weapon happened to be available, and fighting against different weapons also gave them more flexibility.
Many of the recruits disagreed.
Those who favored swords wanted nothing to do with spears. Spearmen complained whenever they were handed axes, while several archers openly questioned why they needed to practice with swords at all.
The loudest opposition naturally came from Sakar and a handful of the more stubborn forsakens.
Rayne answered every complaint exactly the same way.
More training.
Eventually, the grumbling quieted. Not because they suddenly agreed with him, but because they realized arguing only earned them another few exhausting hours swinging weapons they weren't used to.
Rayne simply remained patient.
Every day he rotated weapons, paired different soldiers together and forced them to fight opponents carrying equipment they weren't accustomed to facing.
Learning now, inside the safety of the training yard, was infinitely preferable to learning inside the Godless Ruins.
Oddly enough, the greatest success during the week had nothing to do with combat.
It was the fact that there wasn't any infighting.
Disagreements happened almost daily, particularly between Sakar's growing group of forsakens and several of the common recruits, but they never escalated beyond heated arguments.
Part of that came from his own party stepping in whenever tempers rose too high.
The other part came from Rayne's punishment.
On the very second day, he had announced that anyone caught fighting another member of the squad would spend every evening completing additional training after everyone else had gone to sleep.
Considering how brutal the regular schedule already was, nobody seemed eager to discover what "additional training" actually meant.
Even so, Rayne knew better than to fool himself.
His squad still wasn't anywhere close to becoming a proper military unit.
They could follow simple orders, maintain basic formations and avoid punching each other in the face.
That was about it.
Fortunately, Rayne already had an idea of how to change that.
Real experience had always taught soldiers far more than striking wooden shields inside a training yard ever could. And that was exactly why Rayne had already begun making plans to give his squad some of that experience before they ever left the capital.
A training yard could teach discipline and technique, but it could never recreate the pressure of facing someone wanting to kill you.
Besides that, he had also spoken with Hobbs about arranging a joint training session between their squads. Both of them agreed that sparring against each other would challenge their soldiers far more than repeatedly fighting the same people every day.
Unfortunately, as the days continued to pass, another matter slowly crept closer.
His answer to Prince Caelan.
No matter how busy training kept him, it never truly left his mind.
Then, a day before the week came to an end, a neatly folded letter arrived with his name written across the front.
Rayne didn't even need to open it to know who had sent it.
Inside was a brief message asking him to come to the same inn the following day.
The next evening, after finishing the day's training, Rayne made his way through the streets of the capital and entered the familiar establishment.
Just like before, Viscount Aldric and Prince Caelan were already waiting for him at the same table near the back of the floor.
This time, however, there wasn't any food spread across the table. Nothing except the two nobles watching him as he closed the door behind him.
As soon as he reached the table and took his spot, Prince Caelan looked at him with a calm expression.
“I hope you have your answer ready, Rayne,” he said. “I know you've been busy over the past week, but I'd imagine you've also had plenty of time to think about my offer.”
Rayne gave a small nod. “Yes,” he said. “I've made my decision.”
Both Prince Caelan nor Viscount Aldric looked expectedly at him.
“Both my party and I have agreed to search for the Lost Sanctum.” He paused briefly before adding, “They don't know the details behind it, but I've told them enough to understand just how dangerous it'll be. They also don't know who made the offer.”
Prince Caelan's expression relaxed ever so slightly.
“And the newer members of my squad don't know anything about this, and won't be taking part in this.” Rayne continued. “I don't believe they'd survive ten steps into the central region of the ruins anyway.”
Viscount Aldric slowly nodded.
“That doesn't seem illogical,” he said. “His Highness isn't looking to throw away soldiers for no reason.”
Prince Caelan gave a small nod of agreement.
“Good,” he said. “That arrangement works for me.” He folded his hands together atop the table. “Either way, we should be leaving for the Godless Ruins in roughly ten days.”
Rayne raised an eyebrow. “That's sooner than I expected.”
The prince clicked his tongue.
“I would've preferred to leave even earlier,” he admitted. “Unfortunately, preparations take time, and rushing an expedition of this scale would only create more problems.” His expression became noticeably more serious. “Besides, there have also been new developments on various fronts like with the Wildermen.”
Rayne remained silent as the man went on.
“A number of adventuring parties have also been wiped out inside the Beast Lands,” Prince Caelan continued. “Reports have been arriving almost daily. Before I'm forced to divert my attention toward that problem, I want to be well on my way to the ruins.”
Rayne found himself wondering exactly what was going on with that, but he quickly pushed the thought aside.
The Beast Lands and the Wildermen weren't why he had come here today.
Instead, he guided the conversation back toward the reason for coming here other than giving his answer.
“There's one more thing, Your Highness. Although my party has agreed, “I'd like to put forward a few requests.”
“A few requests?” the prince repeated, leaning back slightly. “What sort of requests?”
“The kind that'll keep my men alive.” Rayne met the prince's eyes without wavering. “I believe they're necessary if we want this expedition to succeed.”
Originally, Rayne had intended to present them as points in a negotiation.
Bran had immediately rejected that idea.
A forsaken negotiating with a prince wasn't bold. It was foolish.
No matter how valuable Rayne might be, openly treating the discussion as though both sides stood on equal footing would only make him appear arrogant. Requesting assistance, however, was an entirely different matter.
Prince Caelan wanted capable men reaching the Lost Sanctum. Helping them survive served his own interests just as much as his.
After several moments of silence, the prince finally nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “Let's hear them.”
“First, I know you're already investing in better armor for the entire warband,” Rayne said. “I'd appreciate it if my party could receive specialized equipment as well. More specifically, mana-conductive weapons.”
Viscount Aldric narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“The Godless Ruins have been saturated with death mana for centuries,” Rayne explained. “From everything I've read, many of the former residents have been reanimated into various undead creatures. Ordinary steel isn't always effective against them, especially when stronger undead are involved. It won't be like the time in the Pascar Plains campaign. Those undead were weak. These ones have centuries behind them.”
Rayne took a breath and continued before either noble could interrupt.
“There's another reason as well.” He tapped a finger lightly against the table. “The ruins contain multiple environmental zones. Some require different equipment simply to traverse safely. If we're expected to reach the central regions, we'll need gear suited to more than just ordinary combat.”
Rayne finished speaking and allowed the silence to settle across the table.
Prince Caelan didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he leaned back slightly before looking toward Viscount Aldric. The older noble met his gaze, and for several long moments, neither of them spoke. Still, Rayne could almost see the silent conversation passing between them as both weighed the request against its cost.
Finally, Prince Caelan nodded.
“I was already planning on providing your party with specialized equipment for traversing the ruins. So that request is possible.” He tapped a finger lightly against the table. “As for mana-conductive weapons...” His expression became thoughtful. “I'll have to consider that one.”
His eyes settled on Rayne.
“After all, as things currently stand, you're the only one in your party capable of properly using mana.”
“For now,” Rayne replied without hesitation. “But Bran has already broken through the first wall. We believe he'll be able to use mana before long.”
That made Viscount Aldric raise an eyebrow. “Without a mana cultivation manual?”
Rayne immediately fell silent. That... was one of the biggest problems.
Casper had personally taught him how to cultivate mana, but ordinary soldiers weren't given cultivation manuals. Those things were closely guarded by noble houses, powerful organizations and wealthy merchants.
In Rayne's own case, nobody had questioned how he knew mana cultivation. Everyone had simply assumed House Frayser had taught him before its destruction.
It was an easy assumption to make, especially since parts of Casper's cultivation method had originally come from the Fraysers in the first place.
There was a reason neither of them had ever gotten into trouble over it.
Bran, however, didn't possess that luxury.
In fact, one of the reasons the old scout had ultimately agreed to move deeper into the ruins was because he hoped they might discover a cultivation manual somewhere inside.
Unfortunately, hope wasn't something they could build plans around.
After a brief pause, Rayne finally looked back toward the viscount.
“His class is one Casper herself believed could utilize mana skills. We're hopeful he'll eventually reach that point.” He paused before adding, “Either way, I'm simply trying to make sure we have the strongest unit possible before entering the ruins.”
Prince Caelan slowly nodded.
“I did receive a report regarding his class,” he admitted. For several moments, he simply studied Rayne before unexpectedly letting out a long sigh. “I truly hope you find this sanctum because my personal wealth is draining almost as quickly as the men visiting brothels.”
Viscount Aldric coughed into his fist, though the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.
Prince Caelan ignored him.
“You'll get what you need,” he said finally. “Specialized equipment, and I'll see what can be done about the mana-conductive weapons.”
A faint smile appeared on Rayne's face. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
The prince raised a hand before Rayne could continue.
“And,” he added, “I'll also arrange a low-grade cultivation manual for your scout.”
Rayne's eyes widened for the briefest moment before he inclined his head. “That'll help a lot, your highness.”
Prince Caelan simply looked at him for several seconds before his expression hardened once again.
“But after all this,” he said evenly, “make sure I see that sanctum, Rayne. Because if I don't...” He let the sentence linger for a heartbeat. “Neither of us is going to like what happens afterward.”