Arthur let his body be swept away by the darkness as the world changed and twisted around him. In a matter of few seconds, all the darkness vanished and was replaced by a bright, white world.
Arthur’s hair rustled as the wind moved around him rhythmically. His eyes took in the sight, he was engulfed in a world of ice. His feet were deep into the thick layer of snow with even more snow falling from the sky. The atmosphere was cold yet also pleasant in a weird way.
Looking around him, Arthur noticed that he was standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by wooden buildings of all kinds. The strong wind and the snow made it hard to see too far but Arthur could see people moving around him, wearing very thick coats with the crest of the Royal Mercenary drawn on their chests.
“So this is the settlement…” He muttered. “It’s almost like a small village in the heart of a snowy region.”
The coziness of the place made it very weirdly comforting. Even though the world was howling with wind and snow, this place didn’t seem like it was struggling to fit in.
“Hm? Who’s there?”
Almost immediately, Arthur heard a voice speaking to him. Looking to the side, he noticed that a woman was staring directly at him. With a torch in her hand and a thick coat covering her body, she looked on the older side… A middle-aged woman. However, Arthur could notice the sharp look in her eyes and her thick aura. She was a seasoned warrior.
“A kid? How did you get in here?” The woman frowned when she identified the stranger. This was the first time she had seen his face so she was very confused.
“I’m new here. My name is Arthur.” The boy replied calmly.
“Are you a new recruit?” She asked. “Where is the rest of your team?” Experience exclusive tales on empire
‘Weird, there shouldn’t be any new recruits till next month. Did he sneak in here?’ She thought to herself as she eyed the boy up and down.
“No, I was given permission by Prince Vincent to enter the tower. I’m a gifted one.” Saying that, Arthur pulled the scroll out of his pocket again.
“His Highness? Gifted one?” The woman took a second to think before her eyes widened slightly. “You’re one of them?”
“Yes.”
‘…’ The woman seemed almost confused by what she heard. She had already received the news that the gifted people had arrived at the capital but she never expected to meet one so soon. This was completely out of nowhere.
‘To think the gifted ones are actually small kids… No wonder I felt something different from him. He isn’t lying.’ The woman mused. Her senses were never wrong when it came to identifying people so the fact that she felt something she had never felt before being exuded by Arthur, she was very confused.
After a few seconds of silence, she looked up again. “Welcome to the first floor of the tower, sir. My apologies for the rude behavior. I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon in our tower.”
“… Yeah, haha, it happened very quickly.” Arthur nodded his head.
“You must be quite confused now, sir. Ehem, my name is Deka. It’s my honor to meet you.” Deka extended her hand to Arthur.
“You can call me, Arthur. No need for sir.” The boy took her hand and shook it.
“… Understood. Ehem, again, welcome to our humble settlement on the first floor.”
“This is a really nice place. Though, it is quite the hostile environment here.” Arthur said as he rubbed his hair to get rid of all the snow.
“Yes, the first floor: Frozen Peak is known for its unpredictable environment and sudden shifts in weather. This settlement is in the safest zone of the floor so you are fine here as long as you’re protected from the cold. If you wish, I can show you around.”
“… I wouldn’t mind.” Arthur nodded. “But, aren’t you busy? I don’t want to waste your time.”
“Not at all, I have just come back from a routine early morning hunt. For now, I am free.” She said.
“Oh, a routine hunt?”
“Yes, I belong to the hunting squad. Our mission on the first floor is to keep monsters away from the settlement so we have to constantly hunt down any creatures in the area to not let them attack us first. It is a 24/7 shift.” She said.
‘Oof, sounds like a lot of pain. But, the fact they need to keep hunting down monsters means there are many of them around.’ Arthur thought to himself. ‘Perfect.’
He had expected the first floor to be quite dangerous, but it was getting more and more apparent that it was a very unstable place.
‘I still haven’t even seen anything about the settlement yet. Maybe I could be wrong.’ He thought to himself.
“Well, I came here to train myself. Do you think it’s a good place to do that?” He asked.
“… Train?” Deka raised her eyebrows. “All alone, Arthur?”
“Yes.”
“… Well, I should not step my boundaries. But, I believe you shouldn’t do that, Arthur. The monsters outside this settlement are extremely dangerous and have adapted perfectly to this environment. Without knowledge of how to deal with them, you are putting yourself in an extreme threat. Yesterday, one of our best new recruits died because he moved a little too far on his own.” She explained with a frown on her face.
“What happened?”
“He was targeted by a group of Crystal Fur Yetis and he was killed. He had entered one of their marked areas without realizing it. We could never find his corpse.”
‘Interesting.’
“I know that. The guards outside the tower were gracious enough to warn me. But, I know what I’m doing. If the place is as dangerous as you told me, then it is indeed the perfect place for me to train and become stronger.”
The woman stared at Arthur and she could only feel a chill down her spine seeing the look in his eyes. A look of freezing coldness as if the boy didn’t fear anything at all.
‘… Who even is he?’ She asked in her head. ‘What are these people?’
The rumors she heard about the Gifted Ones painted them in this divine light as if they were the Divine One’s chosen people. Yet, she did not believe any of that as many did. However, at that moment, something told her that those rumors might not be wrong after all.
‘What am I even thinking? I need to focus.’
“In any case, this settlement is not that big. We have an inn, a storage area, a restaurant where you can eat, and a few guard towers scattered around the settlement’s walls.”
“… Ehem, isn’t it dangerous to build the settlement of wood only?” Arthur asked. “Can’t the monsters just break in?”
“It is not any wood we used, Arthur. This wood you’re seeing came from the Mana-Infused Black Oaks. They’re extremely sturdy, great at isolating heat inside and they aren’t rare so the cost wasn’t high.” She explained.
“Hmm, is that so?” Arthur hummed as he stared at the wooden walls around him. He could feel the mana oozing out of the wood which proved her words. ‘Maybe I can get some of these materials for Finlay and Serko to use in building the headquarters. They will be very happy.’
“Deka!!”
At that moment, the two heard a loud voice calling from behind them. Looking over his shoulder, Arthur noticed a man rushing toward them.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3