Illos shook his head watching his daughter be led back through the castle gates. A common enough scene for him. Aiva, his third child, was always being chased by her retinue of guards. She hated having to attend classes, thinking weapons and magic classes were more than enough for her. Although he had attempted to talk to her about it she always responded the same way.
“It’s fun!”
Gazing out of his window he shook his head, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. Well, nothing I can do about it now. Turning around he faced Armin who until then had been reading quite peacefully as he waited. The report in his hand only a couple of pages thick held all of the kingdom’s information in it. Although heavily summarised, it gave a well-thought-out look as to the movements they had made over the past month.
“Seems that our latest expedition went well. Not that I didn’t expect that, I was the one who planned it after all.”
Giving a glance at the king’s face Armin’s voice was soft as he spoke. As Armin was talking Illos quickly ruminated over the past. The giant land in which they stood hadn’t been properly explored even after the thousands of years of written history. Even when considering lost eras, of which they only had stories, no one had claimed to have explored the entire world. The great heroes of old, the slayers of dragons, and hunters of evil could not begin to fathom all of the secrets of the world.
Not even their continent had been fully explored, little less than half of it was untouched. This had led many to wonder as to why fights over territory had even begun. Adventurers, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers had all walked into the wilds. Prepared and many among them they went out in droves, however, none came back. The world beyond was dangerous beyond reason. Great beasts miles long, incorporeal spirits, and demons filled the wilds.
That wasn’t the greatest threat, however, no, the terrain and magical lands were deadly even to those monsters. Mountains of such inconceivable height they break reason. Deserts so hot and dry that just standing in the sun lit you on fire. Winds so strong that even dragons couldn’t take off without risk of death. Yet Alos sat right on the borders of such a thing. They were the wall that blocked the great beasts from rampaging from the south. The peace one could see was a feat made more impressive when one realized that this Wall was without walls!
This was only made possible by the long line of expeditions into the border. Every three months they sent well over half of their power to purge any and all beasts they see. The elites and leading powers of the army were sent in with hundreds of thousands of infantrymen following close behind. The tight supply chain made by these thousands of men helped sweep for smaller monsters and manage resources.
The grand show of power made not only the monsters but other kingdoms shake in fear. Especially when considering that they PROFITED. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people sent by others maybe a hundred came back. And out of those hundreds maybe one actually gained something. The ability to profit from such a dangerous place was like a slap in the face to the smaller kingdoms who could only look from the side.
“Hey”
A distinct snapping woke Illos out of his reminiscing. In his face, Armin’s tan fingers kept snapping as he looked on in a daze.
“Are you finally going senile?”
“Oh- Sorry- I was just thinking.”
“Yeah, ya. Anyways Ima go. Got paperwork to do for this, talk to you later alright.”
“Yeah, if you see Aiva send her my way.”
“Ok boss~!”
With a smile, Armin left the office heading towards command. Much like Iceborn, Alos situated their castle near the border. In the event the army couldn’t handle the enemy, the king would be close by to deal with them. Command was a small fort placed in the wilds that they use to begin every expedition. A small mote separated the castle’s gardens from the fort and while not a long walk would take more than 30 minutes to pass. The many security checkpoints made it hard to get through. However, as the Royal Commander, there was no one who stopped him.
Walking past a couple of guards his smile quickly faded, all that was left was the rugged knight he had trained to become. His eyes sharpened as soon as he entered the fort the many soldiers not even daring to look him in the eye as they saluted him. Arriving before a small office he opened the door. The soldier inside saluted as he stood. The armored robes clinked as he stood, a warlock.
“Commander Armin!”
“Got the report? I need to drop it off to the archives and look over the storage.”
“Yes! Here!”
With a shaky hand, the man handed over a stack of papers that were lying on the table. The report itself was fine but that didn’t stop him from being reprimanded.
“Where is your helmet? When on base you must be prepared to fight at all times. Though it may be rare, a monster tearing into command isn’t unheard of. If I wasn’t busy I would beat you myself.”
“Y-yes sir…”
Walking out of command and back to the castle, he kept an eye out for Aiva. He might as well as he couldn’t read such sensitive documents out in the open. It didn’t take him long, however, to spot one of the princess’s guards. Running around and searching every bush he came across, it wasn’t hard to tell he was looking for something. The panicked look on his face clearly expressed his distress.
“What happened?”
“We have no clue where the princess is!”
