Jade stared at the sharp-eyed young man standing beside Nathanos.
A sharp ringing sound echoed in the ears of all five squad members at once. Glowing blue system windows flashed in unison right in front of their eyes.
[World Anomaly Detected]
[Key Figure Encountered 1/2 Protagonist]
[Quest Branch Unlocked]
[Option A Intervene Now. Break company contract to hunt Radagos immediately. Warning Causes mercenary desertion penalty and loses Golden Boar reputation.]
[Option B Wait. Allow natural timeline progression. Maintain company contract and rendezvous at a later stage.]
[Hidden World Objective Locked]
[Requirement Meet 2/2 Key Figures]
[Progress 1/2]
[Decrypted Data ###### #### ###### .... .... h # m e]
Numerius stared at the choice prompt floating in his vision, his knuckles tightening on his mace. "A branching quest? Key figure one of two? Jade, which option do we pick?"
Nathaniel stared at the corrupted line at the bottom, his breath catching in his throat. "Look at the bottom line. It says home."
The text was mostly scrambled static, but that single word was unmistakable.
Meet both of them, and we might actually find a way back, Jade thought, his pulse speeding up.
Nathanos wiped dried blood from his sword blade with a cloth, unaware of the floating screens, and turned toward Jade. The older brother was breathing steadier now, his tactical mind kicking back in.
"We can't charge after them blind," Nathanos said in a low, grim voice. "I only know the raiders dragged my brother and sister north. There's an old military training ground three miles north of here. An old comrade of mine runs the field. I'm taking my brother there first."
The younger brother nodded silently, tightening the leather strap on his boot.
"He needs proper drills with sword and shield," Nathanos continued, looking at his younger brother. "And we need to ask around the nearby villages, hire some local recruits, and hunt down their roaming scouts to find out where Radagos took our family. If we ride out blind with just the two of us, we'll end up dead like our parents."
Nathanos looked at Jade, his eyes scanning the Calamity Squad's gear, chainmail vests, and horses. "You boys fight like seasoned sellswords. If you ride with us to the training field and help us track down Radagos, whatever silver we reclaim from those bastards is yours."
Numerius glanced at Jade, tapping the screen floating in his vision. "What do we do, Jade? Option A or Option B?"
"We can't break contract," Jade said, keeping his voice steady so Nathanos wouldn't hear about the system. "If we abandon point duty, Captain Rodrik will mark us as deserters, and the whole company will hunt us down."
Jade mentally selected Option B.
[Branch Selected Wait]
[Tutorial Phase Initiated for Protagonist]
[Rendezvous Point Marked Western Empire Border]
The UI windows vanished from the squad's vision.
Jade looked back at Nathanos and shook his head. "We can't ride with you right now. We're signed under contract with Captain Rodrik's Company of the Golden Boar. We're on point duty, and the main company is marching east to Veron Crossing. If we run off to hunt bandits, we're marked as deserters."
"Fair enough," Nathanos said, giving a respectful nod. "A sellsword who breaks his contract isn't worth his salt anyway. We'll handle the training grounds and the tracking ourselves."
Jade stepped closer, keeping his voice low so only the two brothers could hear. "When you finally locate Radagos and corner him in the rocks, watch for his javelins. Mountain raiders like to throw heavy iron spears right as you close the distance. Keep your shields high, use tight choke points, and don't rush him in the open."
Nathanos raised an eyebrow, surprised by the specific advice, then gave a firm nod. "Good advice. I'll remember that."
Jade looked over at the younger brother standing quietly beside his horse. "You never told us your brother's name, Nathanos."
The sharp-eyed younger man stepped forward, looking Jade in the eyes. He spoke for the first time, his voice calm and steady despite the dried blood on his tunic.
"Valerios," the younger brother said, extending his hand.
Numerius let out a quiet chuckle behind Jade's shoulder, whispering under his breath, "Typical player random-roll name."
Yuzon immediately reached over and smacked Numerius hard on the back of his shoulder with his leather arm guard.
Valerios paused, his hand still extended, squinting suspiciously at Numerius. "What?"
Numerius cleared his throat quickly, waving a hand. "Nothing, nothing. Just clearing dust out of my throat."
Jade gripped Valerios's forearm firmly, covering for Numerius. "I'm Jade. Commander of the Calamity Squad."
Valerios met Jade's gaze, tightening his grip with a firm nod. "Thank you for saving us, Jade. We won't forget this."
"We'll cross paths again, Jade," Nathanos said, swinging up into his saddle. "You saved our lives today, and I don't forget a debt. Once we track Radagos down, pull my brother and sister out of those chains, and recover our caravan's goods, we'll find you on the road and repay you in full."
Nathanos and Valerios turned their reins north and rode off at a steady trot toward the training grounds.
As the dust kicked up behind the two departing riders, a new cascade of glowing green system notifications flashed across the squad's vision.
[Requirements Met]
[System Feature Unlocked Relationship Meter]
[Relation Increased with Nathanos +20]
[Relation Increased with Valerios +20]
[Current Relation with Valerios 20]
[Current Relation with Nathanos 20]
[Clan Standing Friendly]
Numerius stared at the green text. "Wait, a relationship meter? We can actually see how much people like us now?"
Nathaniel leaned over from his saddle, a relieved grin breaking across his face. "Finally. We never had this with anyone in Pravend or the company."
"Must have triggered because we met canonical key figures," Yuzon said, studying the numbers. "Plus twenty with both of them."
Jade looked at the screen, a faint smirk touching his lips. "At least now we'll know if someone's faking their smile. Makes dealing with people a lot easier."
Nathaniel walked his horse over to Yuzon, rubbing his chin in confusion. "Wait, Yuzon. Isn't the tutorial training ground in the game located way down south near Poros and Tevea in Southern Empire territory? Why are they heading to a training field near the Vlandian border?"
Yuzon adjusted his hunting bow on his lap, shaking his head. "In the old standard Campaign Mode, every single player character spawned at the exact same starting tutorial zone next to Poros, regardless of their culture. But in the final update before we were transmigrated here, they overhauled the map for pure realism. Training fields were added to different border regions so recruits could drill locally without marching across the whole continent. What matters is the core logic. They are running the tutorial sequence right now."
Nathaniel rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh. "Right, almost forgot. All this stress is making me forget things."
Nathaniel fell in beside Jade as they trotted back toward the valley road.
"If meeting those two is our ticket home," Nathaniel whispered, his voice quiet, "we can't lose track of where they go."
"We won't," Jade replied, watching the dust settle on the northern trail. "Our paths are going to cross again at the border."
Scout Officer Mara rode down the rocky path, her sword sheathed, watching the dust kick up behind the two departing riders.
"Who were they?" Mara asked, reining her horse beside Jade.
"Just two brothers," Jade said, turning his horse back toward the road. "Heading north to the training fields to sort out family business."
Mara looked at the burning caravan and the dead raiders scattered across the dirt. "Good work clearing the road. The three surviving merchant workers are gathering their remaining mules. The main column is catching up."
Down the valley road, the sound of marching boots, clanking armor, and rolling supply wagons rumbled through the pines. Captain Rodrik's hundred-man mercenary column was moving into view, banners of the Golden Boar snapping in the wind.
Beyond the ridge to the east, the massive stone walls of Veron Castle and the towers of Veron Crossing rose against the sky, marking the fortified gateway into the Western Empire.
[Combat Victory Caravan Ambush Relief]
[Renown Gained +2 | Total Renown 32]
[Influence Gained +1 | Total Influence 6]
[Active Objective March to Veron Crossing]