Chapter 319 Leaving The Borderlands (1/2)

Arran awoke early the next o before dawn

While he had gone to sleep feeling relaxed and confident, thefound him unexpectedly filled orry Suddenly, he realized that this would be his last day in the borderlands — his last day in relative safety

Once he entered the Hunters' lands — the Darian Imperium, as he would have to call it — he would be surrounded by enemies, with any mistake he made a threat to his life And if anyone even suspected hiht await hier

He would journey into lands where he knew neither the laws nor the custo into the Imperium could afford to learn slowly, that was not the case for Arran

He had two tasks, and precious little tis he'd set out to do would involve no small aes

The first of these tasks was the one Brightblade had given him: to learn astheir lands, learning their custo about their military

This was the reason he could not siht's amulet to be allowed into the Imperium Once he did so, he would be bound to whatever she had planned for hi him unable to travel freely

And so, he would have to enter the I unnoticed as he studied the vast enemy nation And his curiosity drew attention, it would certainly draw suspicion as well — especially with the Ies had succeeded in infiltrating the Iuarded their nation jealously, catching any spies before they could succeed

Yet the second task would be the et recruited into the Hunters' ranks, learn as an, and then flee the Imperium just as the Hunters moved to battle the Ninth Valley

With only a few years available, learning their secrets would require hih their ranks Rather than avoiding attention, he would have to seek it out — to draw the eyes of the Ihters

The plan bordered on ht As an average recruit, he would only learn average things But if he was to risk his life, then he wanted a suitable reward

He sighed as he pondered the path ahead

If he had a decade or two, achieving both tasks would be an easy matter As it was, however, he'd have to do two decades of work in just a few years And all without being found out

But his concerns were eased when he remembered the previous day's events

Just a few years earlier, the Body Refiner he'd slain would have been a deadly enemy Noever, the man had been no more of a threat than a pesky insect he could sith his palo farther still The Darian Ith, was just another obstacle to overcoer once more

With a deep breath, he stood up and stretched his body Then, the worries he'd felt all but gone, he began to pack his belongings

He left the inn well before sunrise, though not before eating an unexpectedly lavish breakfast If nothing else, it seemed his actions of the previous day had won him the man's fear — which was nearly as useful as respect

Then, he stepped into Esran's filthy streets

Even at this early hour, the streets were already filled with people, though not quite asthe day

If the croas rough in the daylight, it was even rougher before dawn While a fewfor the day ahead,the streets were drunks, beggars, thugs, and whores

Just in the few short e of the city, two rag-dressed thugs n of desperation rather than overconfidence

He could not help but sigh at the state of the city It truly was a cesspool And ar broke out between the Ninth Valley and the Iet worse — rather than thousands, there would beto flee the borderlands

This was so he had not considered earlier, but now, it was all too clear Whatever disaster the Ninth Valley ht face in the war to co far worse than that

Between the ters stood millions of people whose lives would be thrown into chaos, with entire towns and villages set to be uprooted and abandoned as people tried to escape the violence

And aands would seize their opportunity to rob and loot and plunder with abandon, without anyone there to stop the he could do about that All he could do was try and help the Ninth Valley win the war And even that e of the city, he found a large crowd of people — thousands, rather than the hundreds he had expected to find, withto push their way forward through the masses

Yet as he approached, he saw that the croas held back by a line of guards, their weapons bared as they stopped the desperate h

Even with his strength, it took Arran several minutes to push and jostle his way to the front of the crohere he was uard's blade

”Stand back!” the man snapped as Arran moved forward

Arran caliven hilance, then stepped aside just long enough for Arran to pass through the line ”Go see the captain,” he said as Arran passed, though his eyes remained fixed on the crowd in front of hiuards, Arran saw that there was a group of several hundreds of people standing a suards

He walked toward theroup as he approached

The group was a strange mix of wealth and poverty About a quarter of the people were dressed in fine clothes and carrying well-ht

The rest, aunt vagrants in ragged clothes These would be the ones who'd scrounged up the coin to get onto the list, only to have to spendup what little wealth they had as they waited for their turn to leave the borderlands

When Arran was a few dozen paces away, one of the guards stepped out fro uniform, with a weary expression on his face The captain, Arran knew

When he reached Arran, thelook, then asked, ”Name?”

Once more, Arran produced the steward's black seal ”Bijan sentthe captain more than needed

”Hand me that,” the captain said He inspected the seal, then pocketed it and turned his eyes back to Arran ”That ave Arran a look of barely veiled disgust — not a fan of bribery, then

Arran shrugged ”Nothing I couldn't afford”

When he saw that his disdainful look had no effect, the captain sighed He gestured at the group behind him, then said, ”Join the others We leave in half an hour”

Arran did as the roup of borderlanders And as he stood a them, he could see that h more than a few looked anxious, as well

”Spent a long ti?”

When Arran turned toward the voice, he saw that it caed farmer The man and his faroup, if only slightly