Kapitel 26: Caught In The Grass

"Sir!" A young man saluted to the Admiral before handing him a thin cut of wood with some sort of parchment strewn across it, "Here is the expedition's report, sir!"

Two mundane losses. One Awakened loss. Four mundane injured.

Gate discovered. Code name: Land of Sky.

Five caves discovered. Three of five occupied by Goblins.

Four Goblin camps discovered. Four Goblin camps eliminated.

Three Banshee eggs collected. . . .

Behind the Admiral, countless battered men and women trudged on in deafening silence. Two months in the wilderness proved to be everything they thought it would be: perilous, unforgiving, and absolutely dreadful.

Battle after battle, the Admiral refused to relent, to retreat. Instead, he confidently led his militia into every obstacle that awaited them. From caves stuffed with Goblins to entire camps of the disgusting vermin, the Admiral solely marched forward.

The confidence in his training absolute, the Admiral marred hesitation altogether. And after each and every skirmish with the jungle's inhabitants, the Admiral's militia grew fiercer. They too, began to develop a blood thirsty miasma – desperate for Magic Crystals, for blood, for power.

The members of his militia grew exponentially more powerful. The Awakened of them all upgraded to Neophytes during the journey. And as the mundane of them watched from the sidelines, watched how absurdly fast the Awakened grew stronger, they too grew ravenous.

They slayed the Goblins too! They cut into the belly of the beast and snapped their rib cages to receive the Magic Crystals too! Where was their share? Some of the mundane shield-men and archers slayed more fiends than some of the Awakened themselves.

Insatiable hunger inevitably grew.

But of course, even after the Awakened completed their advancement and successfully became Neophytes, the leftover Magic Crystals didn't go to the mundane. Instead, it went straight to the Admiral himself.

Crystal after crystal, the Admiral consumed unforgivingly. He felt the heat rise from his chest. He felt the flow of warmth spread through his veins. He felt the power he so voraciously sought after and yet, he possessed no means to channel it.

Stuffing himself like a gluttonous pig, the Admiral confidently poured a large influx of mana into his body whenever the opportunity arose. One Magic Crystal. Then ten. Then fifty.

Over the span of two months, the Admiral devoured over ninety Magic Crystals. And although he could have obtained all one-hundred that he needed to advance, the Admiral was smart enough to not risk his own safety in uncharted territory.

He had seen his Awakened evolve after all, and all of them collapsed upon consuming their hundredth crystal and stayed that way for a good half a day.

Not blind to the greed he was spreading, the Admiral could sense the hunger his militia radiated. As a result, the Admiral patiently waited to advance within the confines of safety, within the confines of the black pyramid.

The Admiral intentionally raised the militia to be like him, to always be hungry for more; he knew voracious people were the easiest to control.

So he stuffed himself first, not afraid of his militia crumbling yet, but merely preparing for disaster by any means. After all, there's a reason the militia is returning after two months.

Admiral Sutton Adams of the Royal Navy successfully discovered the key to the black pyramid's gates.

***

One week prior. . .

The Admiral and his militia, after trekking through the overgrown jungle for many nights and many days, found themselves standing within a great clearing. In all directions around them, the jungle trees dispersed and thinned until none of them remained for miles.

Perplexed by the sudden planes that stretched around them, the Admiral noticed an unusual formation of stone off in the distance, hung underneath the horizon. They traveled for three days across the grassy plains which proved to be more bone-chilling than the jungle itself.

The plains contained tall grasses that stretched nearly five feet in height and unlike Earth's plains that held weak, straw-like grasses – the plains of this planet were robust and pumped with strength, more so resembling thin bamboo chutes than grass at all.

The tall and vibrant grasses obstructed the militia's vision and even encapsulated many of them, almost entirely disabling the effectiveness of the archers; essentially turning them mute. As a result, the Admiral was forced into one of two options: abandon his archers altogether or begin cutting through the grasses.

Opting for the ladder, the shield-men temporarily straddled their shields to their backs and began chopping at the plains' grasses. Vulnerable and preoccupied, the plains' Goblins scurried through the thick brush and viciously pounced on the legs of the militia!

Instantly, one mundane member was sucked seemingly into the ground. He disappeared from sight and vanished into the sea of yellowish-brown grass. His screams traveled far past the plains and echoed within the jungle perimeter.

And then, seconds later, the screams stopped.

And a woman started yelping!

The militia drew their weapons and began hacking at the grass. They charged towards anyone in need of aid and bulldozed the wide open area around them. Even Leon, always quick on his toes, rapidly spread his |Fairy Dust| to the people around him.

Floating above the plains, Leon could accurately discern the movements of the Goblins and immediately began recounting this information to his teammates below. Now with information and understanding backing them up, the militia made quick work of the remaining Goblins.

Unfortunately, that minor lapse in judgment cost them two lives. Unable to repent, the remaining militia continued through the plains and towards the stone formation, although this time a little more vigilant.

Arriving at the foot of the stones, a mountain spired above the militia. As tall as skyscrapers, huge rectangular stones stood side by side, forming an archway that led to a hallway constructed between the massive stones.

Entering the behemoth colosseum, the militia gawked at the intricate sculpting that adorned the walls of the stones. Exquisite marbling, carving, and tempering painted the militia's vision. Statues of marble and metal, depicting behemoth creatures in the shape of tortoises, stood along the walls of the great hall.

The four-legged statues littered the hall, each of them distinct in their own right – some beholding the mane of a lion while others spread their enchanting wings, the ancient tortoises exuded valiance through their depictions alone.

Eventually finding an end to the giant hall, the militia stumbled upon something incomprehensible. Caged within the massive structure, a corpse of similar proportions remained. Larger than a cruise ship, the beast possessed rich shades of brown, its feathers a mirage of chocolatey undertones.

The avians beak lay strewn across the stone, black as night and razor sharp. The Admiral approached cautiously, ordering everyone to remain absolutely still and perfectly quiet.

The Admiral tip-toed around the giant hawk and followed the flow of its chains. Arriving at the chain's base, he noticed a slew of Runes covering the surface of the chains. Pulling a notebook from his jacket pocket, he flipped it open to a random page and began copying the various Runes.

Like a madman, the Admiral's eyes scurried across the chains like rats! And, like rats, the Admiral devoured all – not caring to discern the possible repercussions.

It was then, as he finished his first Rune, that the Admiral felt something stir within him that he had been vying for for a very long time. Suddenly, the Rune inscribed in his notebook began to glow with orange light.

While the lumination from the Rune grew stronger, the Admiral could feel the mana actively drain from his body, sucked out of him like a mere fuel tank.

The Rune's light reached its apex and jumped off of the page still held within the Admiral's grasp. The orange light rapidly soared above the Admiral, catching the attention of the patiently waiting militia on the other side of the beast, and exploded into a gaseous cloud!

The now murky, orangish mist fluttered below and coated the feathers of the monstrous hawk.

At the same time, a spree of notifications assaulted the Admiral's senses, causing a stir of emotions to swell within his heart.

Meanwhile, the militia kept their attention acutely directed towards the monstrous bird and the orange particles that just coated it. Very quickly after landing, the orange particles melded with the creature's feathers and sunk into its embrace.

Moments later, the tree-length feathers began to audibly sizzle as pungent vapor simultaneously seeped off the hawk's corpse. Soon after the sizzling, bubbling started to emerge!

Gazing in horror, the militia watched as the obscenely overwhelming creature melted before their very eyes!

Its skin and flesh drooped together, flesh mixed with feathers, liquid bone dripped onto the floor and created a pool – the beast dissolved at a rate more than visible to the naked eye as if it were submerged in its own vat of acid.

Mere minutes later, the creature had dissolved in its entirety – the only proof of its existence a puddle of flesh and blood that pooled where it once lay. In the center of the puddle, however, a giant crystal stood amongst the gore.

The Admiral immediately summoned his Status screen and studied its messages intently.

"Argent. . ." He muttered aloud, directing his gaze towards the puddle of blood.

The sound of their Admiral's voice broke the militia out of their stupor and upon doing so, they ran towards the Admiral burning with curiosity.

"Is that what the bird's called?"

"Did you see that orange light?!"

"Holy shit, sir! Did you see it just melt like that?!"

***

In tow with the rest of his brethren, Leon marched at the back of their line. Above him, a royal blue Magic Crystal the size of a car miraculously levitated above the young man. The crystal glowed with a golden sheen and as he walked, Leon occasionally tapped the bottom of the Magic Crystal pushing it along its way.

Climbing a hill that seemed to expand forever, Leon trudged up and through the maze of jungle trees around him. Paying dear attention to the back of his teammates head, the militia routinely marched in silence.

Finally reaching the hill's peak, the militia bore witness to the crimson radiance that emitted off the pyramid's apex. They gazed fondly at the black stone that construed the ancient pyramid and all together felt a sense of relief wash over them.

They had made it back. The expedition was over and they could finally take a break!

"AHHH!!!!" An ear piercing scream pierced through the calmness of the jungle.

Immediately turning their heads towards the noise, the militia barely caught sight of the familiar dojo through the trees. In the next instant, the walls and roof of the dojo exploded into a storm of sticks and splinters!

The pieces of the dojo flew into the sky! Wooden boards and nails hailed throughout the jungle, crashing down onto the thicket like meteors to earth!

Without wasting a breath, the Admiral turned towards his men and yelled above the sonic boom;

"WE MUST RESCUE OUR COMRADES!!" The old man bellowed, "TO ARMS! CHARGE!"