Chapter 1028 (1/2)

When that dark being that was sitting amongst the roiling clouds of ash looked upward, Vye flinched. Her body jolted like she was jabbed with a cattle prod. She couldn’t help it. No matter how many times she met its gaze, the desolate loneliness within its eyes hit her like a physical weight.

And the longer that gaze remained fixed upon her, the heavier that weight became.

But although she swayed, Vye did not fall. Her body was trembling. The muscles of her legs spasmed. There was a line of sweat dripping down the back of her knee. Vye was barely able to stay standing underneath the weight of that consideration but barely was enough to stay on her feet.

Vye’s left hand burned; not with pain, but with gathering energy. It was a maliciously self-righteous thing, savoring the sweet anticipation of release. With its power, Vye could buy herself a few more seconds to move forward. Yet Vye forced the urge to activate Reject back down.

Using it now was a mistake. Even if this was close to her limit, she needed to press up against her limits on her own power. Otherwise, her dream of being able to explore the entire world would be meaningless. A tool would become a crutch, and then she would be crippled for the rest of her life.

Vye herself needed to be strong. She couldn’t rely on the rituals of her crazy grandmother forever.

Time stretched out in this grey nowhere, so that as Vye blinked, she couldn’t help but wonder how much time had passed in that split second of darkness as her eye was completely shut. Was it possible that she had spent days, simply standing here waiting to grow used to this pressure to take another step forward? At least they had proof from Aldo that extended exposure didn’t cause any lingering harm…

But it also didn’t help you progress further.

So Vye gritted her teeth and took another step forward. The twin pits of darkness that were this being’s eyes seemed to expand into two wide tunnels, and Vye’s step carried her down into the inky black depths-

Why was it suddenly smiling-

With a gasp, Vye sat sharply upward. She released too humid breaths. Then her mouth twisted into a grimace as the reality of her situation hit her. “Slimy fucking balls.”

Edith, one of the other participants in the Order Ducis training camp, smiled down at her. After checking Vye’s pulse, Edith brushed off the knees of her jeans and stood. “Now, now, no need to be so upset. If this sort of result is unsatisfactory, you’ll make the rest of us blush. Besides, we have company.”

Blinking rapidly, Vye attempted to refocus her gaze. Then she groaned and leveraged herself to her feet. She swayed and twisted around by relying on a herculean effort. Only to find her standing face to face with Naffur Suite.

“Oh, you’re up? Good. That’s the last of you all. Alright, everyone gather in closer.” Naffur said gesturing lazily for the surrounding people to approach.

Abruptly, Vye became aware that outside of the polite bubble that people had left around her while she was unconscious, almost forty bodies were standing around in the surrounding dozen meters. At Naffur’s gesture, everyone moved closer to listen to the acting leader of the Order Ducis.

Sorry for holding you all up, Vye thought sourly. It was not a good feeling to picture all of these people just waiting around her unconscious body. But she forced herself to focus on Naffur’s short speech.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, but very soon our training camp will be entering into its second stage. For that… we will begin to travel between the different Zones.” Naffur’s eyes swept through the crowd, weighing each and every individual there. Despite her exhaustion, Vye found herself straightening her spine and raising her chin as his gaze slid over her.

There were modes to Naffur. Everyone in the Order Ducis agreed. Sometimes, he simply seemed like a normal teenager. Then other times...

Naffur seemed to consider for a second, then he continued to address the group. “There are two reasons for the travel. The first is that we have almost reached capacity. Of the fifty applicant slots of our camp, forty-six have been filled. It seems that word has gotten around that were are accepting resumes. So one purpose the movement will serve will be to make it more difficult for these applicants to join up with us. I’m sure you all now understand how much we at the Order Ducis appreciate making things more difficult.”

No one smiled at that small joke. But as Vye looked at Naffur, she couldn’t help but suspect that his own expression was infected with a brief shade of bitterness. But then he continued to talk as he slowly rotated in place to look at the surrounding individuals.

“To that end, the rewards for locating our group will be that much greater. If any one individual finds us and requests to be a part of the training camp, they will get a spot with no questions asked. If we are currently at capacity… then the current individual ranked the lowest within the camp will be ejected. That individual can reapply in a week and kick someone else out… but by then, we may have moved on without notice.”

Naffur offered a shy smile. “To make the possibility of being kicked out of the camp more transparent, we will now maintain a public ranking for the individuals within the camp. These are composite scores from personal, combat, and image evaluations. In addition… to the amount of independent merit you have accumulated through missions. Which will be an option open to you once we are on the move.

“Which brings me to the second reason that we are moving: the borderlands are growing faster than ever.”