Chapter 163
The journey toward Ankaila Town passed more swiftly than most of the soldiers had expected.
Their march had only just begun, and the presence of Prince Caelan traveling alongside the expedition filled the warbands with a quiet sense of excitement. Most of the ordinary soldiers had never marched beside royalty before, and more than a few found themselves glancing toward the prince's escort whenever they caught sight of it.
The captain and the squad leaders viewed the situation rather differently.
For Captain Edran and the various squad leaders, the prince's presence mattered far less than the road ahead.
Although the Godless Ruins might very well become the final destination for many of them, they still had well over a month before reaching it. That was more than enough time to sharpen dull skills, improve discipline and, if fortune favored them, earn another level or two before entering one of the deadliest places in the kingdom.
As it turned out, Rayne wasn't the only one thinking that way.
From the very first day, every squad leader made certain their men marched in proper formation instead of simply walking in an untidy crowd. It seemed like a small thing, but maintaining formation while moving over uneven roads, around wagons and through changing terrain built habits that often decided whether a squad held together once a real battle began.
Rayne focused on the same thing.
Weeks of relentless drilling inside the training yard were finally beginning to show results. His squad still wasn't perfect, but they no longer drifted out of position every few minutes, and commands traveled through the formation without the confusion that had plagued them during the first week.
Even during breaks, very few soldiers truly rested.
Usually only half the men were allowed to sit down while the others dug latrines, gathered firewood, scouted the nearby roads or helped unload supplies from the wagons. Some squad leaders used every spare moment to force their recruits through weapon forms, shield drills or exhausting physical exercises before rotating the groups.
It certainly kept everyone alert.
Rayne, however, chose a different approach.
Not because he believed those exercises were ineffective, but because an even better training opportunity quickly presented itself.
Barely a day after leaving Valers, the number of monsters wandering near the roads noticeably increased.
None were powerful enough to threaten an entire warband, and most scattered the moment they realized how many soldiers were approaching. Though, the warband still had need of some beast meat and some monsters were stubborn enough that they might become problems at night.
So, Rayne got the permission to take care of them and he couldn't have asked for better training.
A charging monster taught lessons nothing else ever could.
Holding a shield while another soldier pushed against it was one thing. Holding that same shield while several hundred kilograms of muscle and tusks came crashing toward you was something entirely different.
Some monsters, however, inspired considerably more fear than others.
"Eric! Lanwar! Hardar!" Rayne shouted. "Stop moving and brace!"
The three recruits instinctively lowered their bodies.
A heartbeat later, the ironhide boar snorted loudly, its hooves tearing through the dirt as it lowered its massive head.
Then it charged.
The impact echoed across the roadside.
The three shields shook violently as the beast slammed into them with enough force to drive every one of them backward several steps, boots carving deep trenches through the earth.
But they held.
The formation bent without breaking.
"Good!" Rayne barked. "Don't push! Just hold!"
The boar squealed angrily as it continued forcing its weight against the shields, muscles bulging beneath its thick hide.
That was exactly the opening Sakar had been waiting for.
The large forsaken rushed in from the flank, both hands gripping the heavy war hammer before swinging it with every ounce of strength he possessed.
The hammer struck the boar's ribs with a deep, solid thud.
The creature cried out and staggered sideways, but its unnaturally thick hide absorbed most of the impact.
"Told you," Jason muttered from behind Rayne. "That's a thick bastard."
Before the beast could recover, two more recruits moved exactly as they had practiced dozens of times during training.
The pair lunged together. Their spearheads drove toward the creature's forelegs, scraping through the dense hide before biting just deep enough to draw thin streams of blood.
The wounds were shallow. Still, pain was pain.
The ironhide boar roared furiously before rearing onto its hind legs, intending to crash down upon the shield wall with its full weight.
"Shift left!" Rayne ordered.
The three shield bearers reacted almost immediately.
Instead of absorbing the attack head-on, they angled their formation just enough for the beast's downward smash to glance off the shields rather than land squarely against them.
The moment its balance faltered, the rest of the recruits stepped in once more, surrounding the monster from three different directions as swords, spears and axes repeatedly chipped away at its stubborn hide.
It wasn't a clean fight. Nor was it particularly graceful. But unlike only a week ago, they weren't panicking.
They were fighting together.
That was about as much progress as Rayne could realistically hope for in such a short amount of time.
The ironhide boar was a level 25 monster. He had checked it with [Analysis] before, and it was clearly well beyond what most of the recruits could handle alone. Yet with Sakar taking the brunt of the assault whenever opportunities appeared, the shield bearers holding the creature in place and everyone else fulfilling the roles they had been assigned, the beast was slowly but surely being worn down.
It wasn't an impressive victory. It was a disciplined one.
As Rayne continued watching the fight unfold, footsteps approached from behind.
“They aren't bad,” a familiar voice remarked, “but they certainly don't inspire confidence just watching them.”
Rayne turned slightly, still somewhat surprised that Prince Caelan had joined their hunting quest with members of his escort.
“They will,” Rayne replied calmly. “Given enough time.” His gaze returned to the recruits. “At the very least, they're holding their ground and carrying out the roles they've been given. I believe that's the most important part.”
Prince Caelan remained silent for a moment, his eyes following the battle as another coordinated attack forced the ironhide boar back another step.
And before anyone of them could say anything else, another presence stopped forward.
“Even then,” a calm female voice said, “I don't think they'll be reliable enough in the ruins. I expect half of them to die.”
Rayne turned toward the speaker.
It was Lyra, one of Prince Caelan's personal escorts, a mage and one of the two people in the expedition who wasn't entirely human.
His eyes instinctively drifted toward the woman's slightly pointed ears before returning to her face.
“I won't claim they'll all come out of the ruins alive,” Rayne admitted. “But I do believe they'll be capable of surviving the edges.”
Lyra casually brushed a few strands of blonde hair behind one ear. “I don't think they will,” she replied bluntly. “Not at their current levels.”
“There's still time before we reach the ruins,” Rayne answered.
She let out a quiet sigh. “I don't know if that'll be enough.”
Rayne almost told her he hadn't asked for her opinion since he didn't like her tone. Fortunately, he stopped himself before the words left his mouth.
Regardless of what he thought, Lyra outranked him simply by being one of Prince Caelan's personal mages. More importantly, after spending the previous day around her, Rayne had already realized she wasn't trying to be insulting.
She was simply... painfully blunt.
If she believed something, she said it without bothering to soften the words.
Before Rayne could think of a reply, a heavy grunt came from her right.
“Stop wishing for other people's deaths, Lyra.”
The newcomer stepped forward, folding his thick arms across his broad chest.
Dorin—The dwarf who served as both one of Prince Caelan's escorts and the expedition's armorer.
Lyra frowned. “I'm not wishing for anything. I'm stating what I observe.”
“What you observe,” Dorin snorted, “is boarshit.”
“I don't believe that's a real saying.”
“It is now.”
The pair immediately slipped into another one of their familiar arguments.
Rayne had already witnessed several of them since leaving Valers.
Dorin possessed an easygoing personality, but apparently dwarves were famous for arguing and Lyra was just the perfect candidate for it. Watching them argue had become surprisingly common over the past day and half.
Leaving them to it, Rayne shifted his attention back toward the battlefield.
The ironhide boar had finally collapsed onto one side.
One of its forelegs bled heavily from the repeated spear thrusts, while Sakar continued hammering at its ribs whenever another opening appeared. The creature still struggled, but the fight had already been decided.
It was only a matter of time before the beast drew its last breath.
Satisfied that the recruits no longer needed his immediate attention, Rayne allowed his gaze to travel across the rest of the group observing the battle.
Besides his own party, Prince Caelan, Lyra and Dorin, several more members of the prince's personal entourage stood nearby.
Four knights stood a short distance away, silently watching the surrounding forest instead of the fight itself, while two more human mages stood behind the prince with staffs in hand, prepared to intervene if something unexpected happened.
Among them, only Lyra and Dorin belonged to races other than human.
Even then, Lyra wasn't a full elf.
From what Prince Caelan had told him, she was only a quarter elf, though even that small amount of elven blood had apparently granted her exceptional magical talent. Combined with her having a rare mage class, it had been enough to earn a place among the prince's personal retainers, despite most of the nobility and royalty not liking other races.
The rest of the entourage were no less impressive. For one, every one of them had already crossed the first wall.
That alone placed Prince Caelan's personal retainers well above the average soldier serving in the kingdom's army. Whether they were knights or mages, each possessed enough strength to stand on their own against opponents that would overwhelm ordinary squads.
Although the warband had officially been assembled to protect the prince throughout the expedition, Rayne suspected the real reason Prince Caelan was willing to venture into the Sanctum once it was discovered was because of these retainers.
Though, before that, the role of his party came first, and he needed to make sure they were strong enough for that.
"It's dead," Bran announced as he walked over, interrupting his train of thoughts. A faint smile appeared beneath his beard. "Looks like we're having boar meat tonight."
Rayne followed Bran's gaze.
The ironhide boar now lay on its back, its massive body completely still. Around it, several recruits had dropped onto the grass, breathing heavily after the exhausting fight, while others laughed and congratulated one another, proudly inspecting the shallow wounds they had managed to inflict upon the creature.
It hadn't been a flawless battle.
Far from it. Still, they had worked together and brought down an opponent none of them could have defeated alone.
Rayne gave a small nod of approval before Bran spoke again, lowering his voice enough that only the two of them could hear.
"What's on your mind?"
Rayne remained silent for a moment before answering. "I need to get stronger."
Bran chuckled quietly. "We all do."
He folded his arms as his eyes drifted toward Eric and Lanwar, who were helping drag one of the spears free from the boar's carcass.
"A few more levels would do everyone good," Bran continued. "Jason and Nate would also be thinking about breaking through their first walls."
"Yeah." Rayne nodded thoughtfully. "I marked several monster nests close to our route to the ruins while talking with Casper. If we can convince Captain Edran to let us deal with a few of them, everyone should benefit."
Bran seemed satisfied with that answer. "Then talk to him and make it happen."
With those words, the old soldier walked toward the others who were already discussing the easiest way to haul several hundred kilograms of boar meat back to the main camp as efficiently as possible.
Rayne, however, remained where he stood.
What he had told Bran was true, but only partially.
He certainly wanted his men to become stronger. Every additional level, every improved skill and every bit of combat experience increased their chances of surviving once they finally entered the Godless Ruins.
But that wasn't what had occupied his thoughts.
He had been thinking about himself.
During his stay in the capital, opportunities to grow had been frustratingly limited. Aside from training, he hadn't gained a single level or acquired any meaningful new skills.
Out here, that was about to change.
Over the past few days, he had discussions with Casper on more opportunities of getting stronger in their march, and had gained an idea of some group of monsters that could give him certain skills.
Rayne had remembered every one.
When they reached locations where they live, he wasn't planning to hunt them merely for experience.
He intended to leave with as many stolen skills as possible.
If the Godless Ruins were truly as deadly as every record claimed, then he would enter them carrying every advantage he could possibly steal.