Raid Plan

We make it to the briefing room, the whole group is inside sitting on their chairs. The leader of the Hollow Arthas, Naxel, is also present. Inside the room, Lucas the servant of Edengeld, and Kurt the servant? of Theo, both were also present.

"Took you long Athelstan" Lucas said

"What are you both doing here?" I ask pointing both at Lucas and Kurt

"Well, for sure I'm part of this war meeting, as I was there during the attack" Kurt answers

"Edengeld has decided to support this, I'm here on her behalf" Lucas replies

I take a seat and Seph sits down beside me. On the table, a map has been laid out. It shows the whole kingdom of Zlatan, and the borders as well.

"Alright, I shall repeat as Athelstan wasn't here. After the raid in the party, we were able to catch one of the attackers who are known as the Gems of Rider. With the aid of our powerful sorcerer, we were able to gather useful information about them" Naxel discusses with us

Why does this seem way too familiar. I look over to Razz and he has his eyes wide open. Not only did he look awake, but he also looked like he was sleeping with his eyes open. Around 30 seconds have passed and he hasn't blinked. Actually, when I first entered the room. He never actually paid us any attention.

"So out of all the information we got from the one we took in. Here are the following that are the most useful ones. Every location where they placed a magic circle, all of them are currently inactive but there are Gems in each location" Naxel continues on

"So where's the big boss?" I ask

Naxel points outside the walls of the kingdom in the sandy dunes. We've seen small forests and I had assumed that we had left the city walls, turns out I was wrong and the desert was there all along.

"You guys know the history of this desert right?" Naxel asks

"Yes, but for those who don't. This desert was made by the previous king of Zlatan with the use of magic during the time of the Great Realms' War. We knew he had special proficiency for illusion based magic and we thought the sand was all an illusion. But it was real anyway" Lucas explains

"Correct, there used to be a forest here before the desert, with that there were multiple caves. The cave are still there hidden underneath the sand. The Gem of Rider reside in one of the caves outside the walls" Naxel says

"Great, now we can just attack all hideouts and their main base simultaneously and cause panic among their ranks" I suggest

"We can't just attack now. After capturing one of their members they're most likely to play things safe. We should go on the defensive first and prepare before attacking right away" Kurt suggest

"We're gonna risk them preparing, we have the element of surprise. I say we attack all their hideouts within the city, causing them to retreat back to their hideout. We let them collect themselves, and destroy the hideout in one go, killing everyone else" Seph says

The others look at her and nod to each other in agreement. Except for Razz who I assumed to be still asleep with his eyes open.

"Alright, so we're going to make the attack on every hideout inside the kingdom, then strike the main base a day after. Sounds like a solid idea. Though, I'd like to propose one more" said Lucas

"What are you suggesting hm?" Kurt asked

"I wish to deploy my squad to infiltrate the main base. Knowing they hide in a cave, they should have some valuables in storage. We can easily obtain them" Lucas suggests

"On the same night of the raids, then just be sure to get out of there before sunrise. The moment the sun rises, we're going to use powerful magic to destroy the place in one go" Naxel says

"Then that is all I will need" Lucas responds

"One more thing to conclude this. Each Gem are exceptionally skilled in combat. According to our information, they're remnants of the Great Realms' War. They have a mix of humans and half humans, and they despise the king because of their selfishness. I'm sure you all know that the previous king didn't participate in the war, which angered most of the people. They're now the Gem of Rider taking their rage on the current king" Naxel explains

"Aren't they supposed to be under the previous king's protection during that time? How are they this strong?" I ask

"Most of them are not from here. They're from different lands, and most of them fought near the borders of Zlatan. They were given no aid, because Zlatan was a neutral country" Naxel answers

"Wait, how are they even alive? The war was a long time ago" Ravenna asks

"That's something we don't know. With magic, we were able to look into their memories. They all had something similar, they all had a near death experience and woke up years after not knowing much about what had happened to them. I believe magic has something to do with them, but for the time being. We should dispose of these rebels" Naxel answers

I look over to Seph and she has this thinking face. Everyone else felt uneasy knowing the backstory of the rebels. What if they're actually being controlled by magic. Well, we have to stick with what we know for now. The Gem of Rider might have something to do with the war just like Cilan's curse.

"So this should it, I'll gather the troops and inform them. We should all arrive here before sun down then we attack. You're all free to go" Naxel says

"Well, see you all by then. I'll bring my group with me as well" Kurt says

Kurt stands up and leaves the room. Lucas follows as well and bows to us before exiting. Ravenna stands up and the rest of us stand up, except for Razz who was actually asleep. I give a pat in the head, and he immediately stands up.

"We'll be on our way. We'll be sure to make it back here before sun down" Ravenna says

"Yes. I understand that you guys have no place to stay other than the inn. Allow us to let you stay here for the time being" Naxel offers

"Yes, that would be of utmost assistance. You have our gratitude" Ravenna replies

We leave the briefing room and made our way to the rooms. I got inside the room I was in earlier. Sat on the bed, and took out the feather I had kept hidden. I lie down on the bed and examine the feather.

"Why do you have the feather of black bird?"

I sat up surprised and saw that Razz was inside the room with me.

"How'd you get in here?" I ask

"I picked up a new skill, seems to have worked pretty well" he answers

"What skill is that exactly?"

"Look straight into my eyes"

I keep a direct eye contact with him, and he stood still. I get a tap on my back and immediately turn around and see him right behind me.

"How'd you do that?"

"It's the new skill, I got in the same way"

"That doesn't make any sense though" I reply

"It does. It's pretty simple, I can infiltrate any places with this skill"

"How'd you even obtain it?" I ask

"I mastered it. Training it in my dreams" he says

"Might you wanna explain how it works exactly?"

"I pretty much just move the way the opponent expects me to move. Just like how I was standing still, and asked you to keep an eye on me. I'm expecting that you were expecting me to just stand still, right?"

"Yeah, I expected you to just stand still. Now how did you move without me noticing?" I ask

"That's the thing. I moved exactly how you expected to move, which is not at all, then I used magic-"

"Alright, I've heard enough. Magic was how, alright, that's all I need to know" I respond

"Wait, there's very little magic involved"

"But magic is involved, anyway. I need to rest up, you should as well. We have a huge fight later"

"Right then, I guess I'll see you on the battlefield" Razz responds

Razz leaves the room. I stand up and lock the door, and return back to bed. I take one good look at the feather, then keep it back in my pocket.

This fight is going to be hectic. Having to raid all the magic circle locations in one night then attack the main base right after. Thinking about all of this just makes me sleepy. My eyes close and I enter sleep.