บท 17: Imperial Corps

4:30 PM, Laila's house; the trio of Jyorta, Laila, and George sat in front of a TV, playing the game 'Dungeon Rush'. Jyorta's character, a sword-wielding goat slashed through a tree monster, leading a team of goats deep into the enemy lines.

"Don't head too far from the base. We still need to collect resources to spawn minions." George shouted, controlling his lava giant to burn a couple of tree monsters to a crisp. From the residual molten soot of the tree monsters, mini lava giants emerged, joining the battle.

"George, go away from me. You are damaging my minions." Laila shouted as she sent a kick at him, cursing as her character took damage. Her character was a wood treant, raising disposable soldiers from the soil as it killed the enemy tree monsters. Unfortunately, her disposable soldiers died in three seconds, their levels too low for the high-level battle.

The sword-wielding goat suddenly flew towards the back, crashing into the lava giant, suffering from flame damage. George noticed his character taking a tenth of the damage while the sword-wielding goat only had a fraction of its health left.

"What happened?" Laila inquired, bringing her wood treant to stand before the injured sword-wielding goat, sending the disposable soldiers to the front.

"The Dungeon Boss made an appearance." Jyorta used some resources from the warehouse, bringing his sword-wielding goat back to full health. Through the crowd of tree monsters, a huge monster stepped forth.

Twice bigger than the lava giant wielded by George, the biggest in their team, having a skin full of black hair, and donning thick armour. It raised the two war axes and let out a powerful bellow, instantly destroying all the disposable soldiers. Three words popped on the head of the Boss monster in large red words, bordered by a fluorescent colour, 'Dangerous Evil Gorilla'.

"Be careful guys, it has powerful knockback effects accompanying its attacks," Jyorta warned and lead the sword-wielding goat to the front, leading its army of goats.

In the kitchen, Laila's mother was preparing some sweets for the children. She poured half-a-kilogram of semolina in an inverted hemisphere shaped bowl, a steel utensil with a thick body. She poured water into the mixture and raise the temperature of the flames, occasionally mixing it.

Laila's father walked in, looking hesitant as he gazed at his wife making sweets. He stood in silence for a good three seconds before walking away from the kitchen, his hesitation apparent in his gait. Laila's mother shuddered for a moment, continuing to cook as if she hadn't noticed his actions, silently wiping the trace of tears from her eyes.

20 minutes later, Laila's mother took another bowl, poured 5 tablespoon worth of ghee, and placed it on the stove. After the ghee melted into a liquid state, she added cashew nuts to it, stirring it once before switching off the flames. She then added it to the semolina mixture, mixing them while adding a minuscule amount of edible camphor. Once she was done, she added three portions of it into three separate cups and placed cute spoons in them.

Walking to the living room where the three kids were shouting in all sorts of vocabulary as they fought the boss, Laila's mother smirked and purposefully placed the three cups of sweets near Jyorta. "I've made Kesari, have it before it gets cold."

She then walked away before they could respond, looking at Jyorta through the corner of her eye. As if he had been bewitched by the smell, Jyorta traced the smell with his nose, gazing at the three cups of Kesari, his attention completely focused on it.

"Jyorta, dodge!" George shouted as he blocked a hit from the Gorilla Boss. His face turned serious as the Gorilla Boss swerved around him and smacked the sword-wielding goat on the head, making it crash into the ground. It then sat on the small sword-wielding goat, raising its fists high and brought it crashing down on its foe.

"I'm stuck, save me!" A muffled voice came from Jyorta, the other two didn't realise it as they were immersed in the battle.

"Laila, hurry with the aggro. I'll detonate my character and deal it damage." George made the lava giant jump high, using the weight of its body to crash into the Gorilla Boss. It then used a combo attack to distract the Gorilla Boss as the wood treant made a critical hit on the Gorilla Boss' back, making it retaliate with a roar.

The wood treant was sent flying; one of its branches that coiled around the legs of the Gorilla Boss pulled at it, giving the lava giant enough room to charge up its attack. When the Gorilla Boss was focused on the treant, the lava giant leapt on its back, latching onto it as it initiated a self-destruct sequence. Its body immediately melted into a set of stone armour that covered the Gorilla Boss' body.

The Gorilla Boss dashed towards the wood treant, using its branch as a rope to tug at it, pulling it into its embrace as the countdown reached zero. Followed by a resplendent explosion, the screen was covered in dense smoke. George noticed that his lava giant and Laila's wood treant had died in the explosion but the Gorilla Boss still has a sliver of its health left.

Seeing that the sword-wielding goat was still alive, George shouted, "Finish it Jyorta."

"Yeah, finish it with style." Laila echoed, her eyes glued to the screen, afraid to miss the final shot.

"On it!" Jyorta scooped out a large piece of sweet and placed it in his mouth, hurriedly chewing it before swallowing it down.

"Here it goes!" Followed by a shout, Jyorta pressed his stomach and let out a loud burp. Astonished, George and Laila turned to look at him and noticed that at some point in time, the console in his hands had swapped places with a cup of Kesari. The console was placed on the floor before him, showing no signs of human interaction.

Seeing that the Gorilla Boss had gotten up, George slid on the floor, picked up Jyorta's console, and threw it at Laila. Laila expertly caught it and pressed many buttons in a flurry. The sword-wielding goat charged with its sword glowing blue, slashing at the head of the gorilla boss, performing a critical hit.

The words 'Dungeon Cleared' appeared on the top of the dead Gorilla Boss as a fountain of coins flashed behind. Laila looked exhausted as she glared at Jyorta who flashed an innocent smile.

"That's it!" With a shout, Laila leapt at Jyorta, tickling him in frenzy. George hurriedly placed the remaining two cups of Kesari some distance away from them as he watched how Jyorta struggled to escape her hold, all the while preventing his cup of Kesari from spilling. He showed dextrous balance habituated under years of effort as he endured the tickling attacks of Laila, a smirk etched on his face.

George silently began to eat the Kesari, relishing in its soft texture and sweet taste as he appreciated the battle in front of him. In his memories, Jyorta always had that intention to court death in all sorts of ways. This time too, he hadn't disappointed him, successfully stepping on Laila's nerve.

Laila's mother looked at the scene with a smile, as if she had predicted it beforehand. She then took two cups of the sweet and walked towards another room that had soundproofing installed in place. She pushed open the door and noticed Laila's father busy surfing the internet, looking at the topography where the Flying Signature Raid was scheduled.

His face was scrunched up and seemingly in worry as he looked at the monster details that frequented the habitat. His confidence decreased the more he looked into the details, his face paling. Laila's mother placed the cup of Kesari before him, prompting him to break his gaze away from the monitor.

"What are you planning to do?" She asked, taking a glance at the monster depicted on the screen. Her body shuddered in fright as she read through the details of the monster, the habitat, and the weather condition of the area. The dome-shaped structure of the monster nest, the designated location where they had to mine for a precious mineral, the size and ferociousness of the monster, and its troublesome ability—all fazed her.

"I am…" He hesitated for a minute and a half, looking between the monster on the screen and the face of his wife. He then gritted his teeth, saying, "I plan to join the Imperial Corps. I will then get the chance to implant an Unranked Skill in my body which would greatly help me in the upcoming Raid."

"There should be…" Laila's mother hesitated, "Another option right? Did you consider joining another family? With your strength, even the families of the inner Rings would welcome you with open arms."

"I did," Laila's father said with a sigh, "But, I don't plan on joining any other family for the matter. It would mean me marrying into their family, which will burden your lives. Moreover, I wouldn't be able to get their Unranked Skill in such a short time before the Raid begins which would defeat the purpose of marrying into their family."

"Makes sense." Laila's mother thought.

"Moreover, the monsters we would be facing in this raid would be flying type, so without the ability of flight, it would prove to be difficult to guarantee our lives. The Unranked Skill of the Imperial Corps is the best bet against that." Laila's father said. He then continued to browse through the characteristics of the monsters and tried to think up ways to counter them.

"Then," Laila's mother placed her hand on his shoulder, "It's best you forward your application by tonight. The longer you delay, the shorter the time you will get to adapt to it."

"Okay." Laila's mother saw him eating the sweet she had prepared, showing no signs of emotions on his face as he ate. He was engrossed in the details before he felt the door being shut. Looking to his side, he found his wife had disappeared. Only after a moment did he realise something, prompting him to hurriedly swallow the rest of the sweet, almost choking on it.

He then stood up, opened the door, and walked out, behaving calm and collected, just like usual. He walked to the kitchen, placed the empty cup in the sink, washed his hands, and dried them with a towel hung nearby. When he passed by the living room, he found his wife reading through the documents meant for his departure, occasionally keeping an eye on the children.

"The Kesari tasted good, just to my liking." He muttered softly and hurried to his room, typing an application form on his computer. In the living room, Laila's mother gazed at the receding figure of her husband, her lips curved into a smile. She then broke out of her reverie, reading through the document pertaining to all the information of the Flying Signature Raid the army had sent to them.

'Flying Signature Raid…Signature…even Tier 5 monsters might make an appearance. I hope the army dispatches at least a couple of Transformers and Sky Controllers, otherwise, this mission might very well be a suicide.'