Ryan accessed the band of riders in front, their horses neighed loudly in the background.
Emerging from their frontline was an armoured female rider with braided blonde hair, a white cape with a golden sun shining at its center, fluttering behind her as she approached.
That triggered him to notice his own clothing. Golden patterns on a white shirt and black pants.
'Not bad.'
The rider stopped before bowing, and her crew followed suit. "Captain Aria Lancer. Head of the Ember Riders. Pleased to meet his majesty," She inflected stiffly.
Aria partially eyed the serpent's body, noticing the blood sprawled on the floor. She then inspected the sword Ryan held and made a few connections, along with an extra note to herself.
"We've come to get you to the capital." She said, bowing a little the second time, "Red Heart City awaits your return."
"Red Heart?" Ryan repeated with a head tilt. He didn't expect the system to be somehow… thorough? He couldn't put it clearly.
"Your Majesty. What will your orders be?"
Ryan observed the environment a little more. If more beasts of the same grade that injured Pierre appeared or something higher. What were the chances that they could beat it?
He didn't doubt anyone's capabilities, but he believed the best choice was to retreat somewhere safe, and that 'safe' seemed like the Capital. Also, part of his reason was that he didn't like staying here, not one bit.
"Since you and your Riders have arrived. It shouldn't be a problem if we leave."
"Also." He added, pointing a finger at the still unconscious Pierre. "Do you happen to have a healer or some medicine?"
~~~~~
From the back of a horse, Ryan watched a few riders scatter themselves and ride from the trail created by the grass to the trees beyond.
They would then return to the main party of around seventy people bringing a report.
"The Path is clear." was what they kept saying.
Feeling bored, he decided it was time to deal with unfinished matters. He tried a few tricks he'd heard from a few of his coworkers obsessed with manga and novels.
"Status," His mental voice called, and a voice rang in his head.
[You have unassigned points. Do you want to update?]
"Yes"
[Stats Report
Strength - 12
Agility - 14
Speed - 13
Luck - 14
Charisma - 14
Mana - 31/40
Points - 3]
'So much for good events,'
After seeing the number of points left. He assigned 2 to his strength and 1 point to speed. If not for those, he might not have outrun that snake.
Now that he thought about it, he had ran quite quickly from it. Was this the power of the system?
He glanced at his fingers, reminiscing about the strange flow of heat that pulsed across his body while he was attacking.
'Is this how firebenders felt?'
Concluding that he lacked answers, he turned his attention back to the report.
[Update
You earned a new skill from your battle.
Mighty Leap - Allows for bigger, mightier jumps which are useful when trying to evade enemy attacks.
Cooldown period is 5 seconds per leap.
Since this might be your first skill, no penalty is applied.
Do you intend to add it?]
'Yes'
To Ryan, the skill made absolute sense to have. He jumped around a lot during that fight and will probably be jumping more.
"Captain Aria!" A shout echoed from one of the riders pointing in a direction the unit was heading.
A band of green goblins holding spiked clubs and rusty blades was ahead and had blocked the path.
The way to the Capital was to follow the path made out of grass, yet in a weird, but inconvenient way, the goblins had blocked its entire length, forcing the riders to either go over them or get right through them.
"What were the chances?" Ryan mused. For some reason, part of him suspected this was that Orb was doing it, as it did say a trial after all.
"It's alright." Aria responded plainly, adding, "Their numbers do not extend beyond what we can handle. None of those creatures are beyond Abnormal. Hence, they should be easy to break through."
The Unit leader stretched out her hand that was holding a long spear and ordered her riders to form up.
Ryan observed that the blade of the spear was almost and if not fully transparent.
'Are all blades like that?' He queried himself sarcastically only to notice a bluish-white light extending from its surface.
With a fierce grunt, the blonde haired captain swung the spear with force, unleashing a white arc travelled towards the enemy with lightning speed. It crashed into the earth amidst the goblins, sending debris scattering over the land, and torn limbs marking the floor with blood.
All hell broke loose for the goblins as the division swiftly responded, reining their horses behind the commander. White flags were raised to the sky, depicting a golden coloured sun that radiated under the sunlight.
As scouts rejoined the group, the riders spread out amongst themselves with small distances.
The cavalry of a hundred kicked the ground and unsettled dust; keeping their long, triangular formation tight and precise.
Ryan and his rider found themselves in the middle of the line, flanked at all sides, when Aria cried, "Kick up the pace!"
The Captain then kicked her boots against the horse's belly. Others followed suit, their horses' hooves pounding the earth at full thrust. "Charge!" Aria roared, leveling her spear along the frontline.
The Goblins spotted them and raised their weapons in response, yet as soon as the Cavalry smashed into their disordered lines, many had their ribs abruptly pierced by spears and poles.
The ones who survived being skewered did not escape the fate of being trodden upon by horses and becoming squashed later on.
In less than a second, their lines had completely crumbled.
The Cavalry blitzed their way through, and from a horse's back, Ryan watched the ground littered with grotesque images drawing farther as they continued..
A thought came to him, that the cavalry did not use fire to burn through enemy lines. He stared at Aria's flowing cape, then at another rider.
Feeling a bit perplexed, he squinted his eyes and status information appeared. He looked at another rider and repeated the same action.
After looking through twelve to fifteen riders, he looked back at the Unit Leader, her information materialized on a screen.
[Character Info
Name - Aria Lancer
Title - Cavalry Captain.
Elemental Affinity - False
Specialization - Combatant
Node Grade - 2nd
Description
Born into the Lancer House. Aria found herself thrust into constant training from when she was discovered with a node, such was meant to polish her abilities, but experience is what helped her in leading the Ember Riders.]
Seeing that Aria's elemental affinity turned out to be false, but seeing that she was a mage. A slight frown appeared on his face.
'The heck is Node Specialization? Also, if the elemental affinity and the rest of her unit are false, then…'
Something wasn't adding up.
~~~~~
Lying before the gang of riders was a city. Its stone walls stood firm, basking in the fleeting light of dusk.
The city was backed against a mountain range, and around the mountain cliffs, one could spot a mighty fortress, defiant against the slope.
A few men stood in front of its gates, keenly watching the unit as it neared. One in particular stood out from the rest.
He was a middle-aged man donned in dark blue robes with a jade plaque under his fabric belt.
The unit slowed its pace and eventually halted. As they reached the towering gates, Aria rode forward, eyes focused on the central figure.
"Where is the King?" came the figure's loud, authoritative voice.
From the center of the lines, Ryan narrowed his eyes at the fellow.
[Character Info
Name – Rictor Right.
Title – Counsellor of Ridlockia
Elemental Affinity – None
Description
Rictor hails from a well-respected family that lived amongst the Nation's Elites. From the age of 4, the thirst for knowledge was never a hassle for the son of a Noble Household.
Eventually, this obsession pushed him into entering the National Academy, and with a little bit of effort and tussles. He became an esteemed high official and one of your closest allies. Use him well.]
"Counsellor?" Ryan raised a brow before hearing Aria click her tongue at his rider.
"Here he is Counsellor Rictor."
The Counsellor and the guards in front of the gate bowed their heads to greet.
But Ryan's gaze was fixed on the stone arch, observing the strange runic symbols that were etched along its rim.
Now off from the horse to stand, he watched as the royal counselor retrieved a circular-shaped object with runes engraved on its side with a black stroke at its center and tossed it to a guard.
The guard looked at it and said some words that he'd never heard before, "Indum Departum."
The runes glowed, and a magnificent-looking holographic light burst out of the silt and engulfed them, transforming their bodies into holograms that steadily disappeared from the gate.
Ryan now found himself surrounded by a myriad of colours and felt a little lightheaded.
By the time the light had faded, he was standing on a stone bridge supported by arches while facing another gate. A pool of water crashed underneath him as he marveled at the two mountains connected to the gate's walls.
'Damn brat have you not seen Buckingham Palace?'
There was a massive structure some meters away, standing firm and imposing with an air of grandeur.
"We have arrived before the King's Keep, home of House Gilamel," said Rictor, who stepped to the side.
"Tomorrow will be the day of your ascension."
"Ascension?" Ryan thought, staring at the square-looking castle with a tower at each of its four corners and the flat cobblestone space underneath.
Why did it have to sound like a beautiful thing?