Bab 6: welcome
The first thing Atrox saw were the carriages—up to thirty of them, heavily guarded by soldiers wearing the heavy armor of the Soryu Clan. The head of each carriage was covered by leather, but he could see something glowing faintly inside.
Then they passed, and he forgot about them as he got his first look at what was the Borderland. He saw clusters of battered buildings that should have been abandoned, but there were people hanging around them. The buildings were arranged as if they formed a village or a city block, but chaos reigned here.
Merchants sold their wares wherever there was space—even on roofs, encouraging buyers to climb connected ladders. They sold everything from potions to enchanted tools, ruin weapons, livestock, and raw food. Street food swarmed with flies, but customers didn't bat an eye.
The closer they got, the louder the noise hit him—and then the smell. He also managed to get a good look at the people. The first thing he noticed was that everyone carried a weapon, and their hands rarely strayed far from it. Their eyes shifted constantly, scanning everything with distrust.
When they reached the small village, Atrox saw the guards shift their black cloaks to reveal bright red underneath. The people on the street immediately parted for them.
"That village is for people who joined no faction here in the Borderland. It's a neutral place... of sorts," the lead guard said when they passed the village. He ordered them out of the cage, and Atrox was glad for that since the sun had made the cage unbearably hot.
The lead guard hesitated, sighed, and muttered to himself before raising his voice. "Look, I'm supposed to tell you how the Borderland is set up, just so you don't die before you're actually useful."
Atrox looked up at him with disinterest but listened anyway as they began traveling on foot. The ground was sparse with vegetation, cracked and dry.
The lead guard gestured back toward the disappearing village behind them, then forward at the expanse of land in front of them. It was dotted with small clusters of abandoned buildings. "All this is called the Outskirts. It's where the Flagbearers have their fortresses. It's considered the safest place in the Borderland, but nowhere here is really safe. Monsters might be hiding where you least expect. All those buildings are ruins—already looted and sacked, of course."
The lead guard paused, noting their blank expressions. He rubbed his nose before asking, "Do you know what ruins are?"
Atrox knew but didn't bother answering. Opening his mouth was too much trouble, and he figured he shouldn't involve himself anyway since he was going to die here.
The boy shook his head, wide-eyed, while the woman kept mumbling to herself.
"Ruins are created around Rifts. They usually look like abandoned buildings, tombs, or other places of importance brought here by the time-space distortions of the Rift. Ruins are always filled with treasures and enchanted tools, natural resources, and the like. But that's not what you should look out for.
"Ruins also come with their own monsters. Fortunately, those monsters can't leave the ruins. But monsters from the Rift can go anywhere—and they're usually more powerful. Don't worry; you won't be going into any active ruins. Maybe those already cleared.
"But the problem is that Rift monsters are always attracted to ruins for some reason."
The lead guard paused to let them digest that. The boy barely breathed, his eyes shining. Atrox, on the other hand, just looked around flatly. He already knew this information and had even seen a Rift before, though it had been smaller and strictly maintained by the Clan.
The lead guard continued, "After the Outskirts, you'll reach the Barrens. That's the real deal, where the monsters roam, and ruins can manifest at any time. The Flagbearers are always on the lookout for ruins so they can claim them."
The boy swallowed hard. "What's a Flagbearer?"
"It's who. They're commanders. They each run things here, though their policies differ. Each one is working on a way to close the Rift."
"Doesn't the Soryu Clan have a Lord Commander here?" a raspy voice asked.
The lead guard paused. The boy stopped walking. The woman kept mumbling as she walked ahead. Atrox had taken a few steps before freezing—it took him a moment to realize he had been the one to ask the question.
The lead guard raised an eyebrow. "They did, but he died, and they never bothered to replace him. Anyway, you all belong to Flagbearer Steelclaw. This is one of his territories, though he has some ruins in the Barrens too."
The ground became softer, though not by much, and sloped uphill. Finally, they caught their first glimpse of the fortress of the Steelclaw Alliance.
Thick, high walls made of stone rose in the distance, painted red in some places. Atrox could see towers topped with red flags and men standing inside, armed with arrows and swords. He could make out the outline of the gate but realized they hadn't taken a route toward it.
The lead guard led them forward, and they approached a smaller building beside the fortress—a tall rectangle with a roof.
The lead guard paused a few feet from the building, tilting his head as if listening to something. "Good, she's around. Go meet her in that building. Welcome to the Borderland."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone