[Adept-tier Physicality requirement: Ten Skill shards(Complete). Exert 100% of your force in a strike(Progress: 5/10).]
[Adept-tier Perception requirement: Ten Skill shards(Complete). Rely on hearing or sight to follow ten attacks of Adept-tier or higher (Progress: 5/10).]
Horus studied his system screen, laying on his back in his tent, which had been put together by his servants. Their footsteps echoed outside as they worked around the tent and the blood red glow cutting through the gaps in his tents intensified.
It was morning. His second day inside the generated world of this Narrative Dungeon.
Yesterday ended with a brief dinner and him socialising with the other Penitents, which was very hard since he didn't know their sign language. But he was very determined, carrying a book he got from Carrison to learn sign language.
The powerful Lieutenant had been on his mind before he slept. How strange and almost inhuman her skills were. It indicated an unorthodox style of training that he wasn't yet sure how to counter.
But there was also her strange aloofness and willingness to help him. She felt like she didn't belong here and yet remained despite being absolved of her crimes.
With a sign he let go of that. Today they would be moving camps and crossing a mountain to find the army of heretics building in this land.
From what Horus had learnt yesterday the Penitents were from a far away land and came here to punish the people of this land.
The land above the Pit.
That was what everyone called it. In sign language of course. But he couldn't help but wonder if it was a translation thing. Because both the Heretics and the Penitents shared similar traits, like they were distant types of one species, not one alien race invading another.
A deep snore tore through his concentration and made him turn to the edge of his raised bed. He sat up and disappointedly stared at Medava, who was sleeping on the floor beside him.
He asked the boy to sleep in the tent because he feared the other slaves would bully him.
He waited all night for Medava to fall asleep first, fearing the boy was an assassin, but now he just felt dumb.
Either Medava was just a weirdly intuitive kid that overheard that Horus was looking for the High Priest or he was an extremely patient assassin.
He would leave both options on the table.
He got off the bed and nudged Medava with his foot. "Wake up. Let's get ready to move."
Rousing the boy and then going to bathe took a while. He sent his servants to get food for him, sparing some coins to get breakfast for them too.
By the end of the hour, Horus stood in front of his tent being taken down, staring at the mounts that he had been given by the Commander.
Dischounds were massive dog-like beasts with two metal discs where their ears should be. They had powerful hearing and were good for fighting and riding. They pawed at Horus, short tails wagging as they drooled all over the place. Each was as tall as him on two feet.
Then there was the lone Ociraptor. A reptile that was a little bit bigger than a Dischound. They had green scales that looked brown in the crimson glow of the moon, and were armed with curved black claws.
The creature had three horns pointing in different directions, which it turned on Horus as he approached it. But this was his mount and the creature somehow knew that, lowering its head to let him pet it.
Five Dischounds and one Ociraptor and ten slaves; a large investment into any lone soldiers, enough to make Horus a bit more suspicious of the Commander.
The slaves hauled their things onto the mounts. Horus kept his Ociraptor calm as he glanced at the camp. He was on the outskirts, but he could see that the majority of the tents and tables were being dismantled and prepared to move.
The Penitent were gathered by their captains and the Commander's personal force was already ready to move. Three Lieutenants wearing glowing blue armor shouted at their soldiers, conveying commands.
Carrison was among them, but she couldn't notice him through all the activity in the camp.
Another hour was wasted before the Penitents were ready and then the ground trembled as they marched through the forest. Trees were mowed down and brushed aside by massive rhinoceros beasts.
Horus' mind was brought back to his education on Earth. Most of the animals from Pre-system Earth had grown and mutated into powerful beasts, which somewhat resembled the ones here.
Life had a pattern. This world and his held many similarities.
He followed the march, staying behind with the non-combat personnel and the massive rolling caravans carrying supplies.
But unfortunately, there was a platoon left to protect the back. Captain Sever's Platoon. The thin-faced unkempt young master had been sending glares his way for a while.
Walking beside Horus' Ociraptor, Medava noticed the look between his new master and the Adept Captain and a small frown shaped his face.
Be careful. Make friends not enemies, he signed slowly for Horus.
Horus snorted, annoyed by the boy's strange intuition and naivety.
He glanced at his system panel again, at his Common-tier skills at the limit. He needed to get them done now.
So once they got deeper into the forest and Captain Sever's eyes finally left him, he hopped off his mount. "Help me keep it moving forward," he instructed one of the slaves.
He gave the man the reins and walked off into the trees, followed closely by a confused Medeva.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to fight some monsters," Horus said casually.
The forest had many monstrous creatures, but they would have hidden to avoid the massive caravan. But a lone boy walking into the forest alone was free food.
"You're Gutted, you know that right?" Medava muttered as he struggled to keep up. Then he saw Horus' lost expression. "I mean you aren't afraid of anything. Where did you grow up? You don't know sign language or any sayings. You even talk weird."
"Aren't you more fearless than me?" Horus said. "We're barely away from the army, but you dare using your voice."
Medeva's grey skin turned slightly paler, he ran a hand over his smooth head. Then made the sign for sorry.
"It's okay. I know you only do it because I can't understand."
Medeva's eyebrows furrowed. "You're really unlike any Lethana I've ever met" then he saw Horus' confused expression again. "Lethana—you Sky people, beloved of the Silent Lady. How don't you know that?"
Horus expected that he would look like Sever and Carrison because of his position within the Narrative dungeon. But he couldn't see it in reflection, and the thought other saw him as something different was unsettling.
"You should go back," Horus replied instead. "I won't protect you out here. If you die because of your own weakness I'll simply replace you."
He expected a hurt expression or some scathing words. It was what he had come to expect from people who didn't like the truth.
But Medava smiled.
"I know how to take care of myself, besides you don't know anything, I can't leave you behind."
Horus rolled his eyes, but resolved to ignore the boy. Something disturbed the earth a few meters away, a low sound that many wouldn't have perceived. The sound of a footstep.
He had studied the monsters from a Bestiary in preparation for this, but he still wondered what would appear.