The Clid

The little gathering had come to a conclusion late last night and John had gone back home and slept soundly. As his alarm clock rang half an hour before noon, he woke up rather excitedly. The day he had been waiting for had finally come. He took the time to have a hefty brunch before leaving for his hour walk to the Trader's Clid meeting grounds. For a well-exercised youngster as he was, the walk was the perfect moment for him to prepare both physically and mentally for what might be an exhausting day.

The Trader's Clid administrative building was located deep close to the very core of the city that was housed under the First Sky. John however, was headed towards their operational branch that was where most of the Clid's activity happened. The building was located at the edge of the Third Sky which was convenient since most people in the city lived under the Third Sky but outside the first two skies. The Trader's Clid role was to arrange the trading convoys between WuTian and its neighbouring cities. But those convoys were a nightmare to set up logistics-wise and thus only happened once a year at best. The real main activity of the Trader's Clid was smaller excursions that aimed at bringing supplies out as well as loot back in from the different groups sent by other clids to patrol outside the city. The Hunter's Clid for instance, would always have a handful of parties roaming rather far from the city hunting and killing monsters roaming for their meat, items, as well as to help protect the city. Those parties would usually leave the city for around a month but would come back closer to the city around halfway through their mission and that was where the Trader's Clid main job laid. They were hired to bring supplies to the raiding parties as well as bring back the loot collected to enable the hunters to roam lighter. Bringing back the wounded or dead hunters was also one of their main assignments and they were similarly contracted by the few other clids of the city.

Arriving rather early at the scheduled place, John entered the clid's central building and was greeted by a receptionist that directed him towards an inner court right next to him. John seemed to be the very first to arrive and thus settled on one of the stone benches that were placed on the perimeter of the small yard. Not long after, four similarly-aged youngsters arrived together in the near-empty grounds. They barely had enough time to John and introduce themselves as four other rookies that would have their first venture outside as well before a bulky man clothed with what looked like rather heavy military armour stepped in the court.

"Hello youngsters! I'm guessing you're the five selected candidates. You all may call me Captain Viktor and I'm going to be the leader of this party and you shall all obey me very strictly once outside. But don't worry too much for now, we don't stand on decorum too much so long we're inside. Follow me so you can get dressed properly."

His tone was very lively and he had a warm smile throughout his small speech which seemed to be rather well-rehearsed. The small group followed the captain into another building and once in the lobby, Viktor addressed them again.

"Toilets on the left. This will be your last chance before quite a few hours. Lockers on the right to drop your bags in. Keep only socks, pants and tee-shirts and what's under on you, the rest goes in the locker as well. Room in the middle once you're done."

John entered the middle room and stood on the side to let the remaining participants enter after him. The captain was standing talking seemingly very gravely with two similarly armoured soldiers. Once everyone was ready and in the room, Viktor reverted to a more light-hearted tone and briefed them.

"This is the armoury. You will be equipped with protective clothing just like the one we wear right now. Unlike us however, you will simply be handed an emergency flare as well as a handgun. Those two items may only be used in absolute emergency situations, which has a near-zero chance of happening on a mission like this one. Once again, I am Captain Viktor and I am in charge of this expedition. To my left is Sarah and to my right is James. They are veterans and their sole mission today will be to keep an eye on you all for obvious reasons. But they will mostly be here to answer your questions as well as teach you some basics along the way. Once you are all equipped we will head out by car to the Fifth Sky West Exit where we will meet with the remaining seven soldiers that will be making up our team. Our mission will be to carry out supplies to a team from the Explorer's Clid. The contact zone is located ten kilometres away from the exit and it should take us a little over two hours to reach it. We'll help you get equipped and if you have any further question feel free to ask Sarah and James any time."

Shortly after, everyone was fully geared and all left towards the border of the city. They were all gathered in a military car, as the captain took the front passenger seat and was in a rather serious talk with their unknown military driver. Meanwhile, the five youngsters as well as the two soldiers were sitting at the back, with the latter answering questions with a warm smile on their face throughout. They were very experienced with these kinds of escort mission for potential recruits. They informed the young adults that once at the Fifth Sky they would hop down and get into another car that would drive everyone five kilometres out of the city's protective domes. This was where the flatland ended and they would have to walk the remaining five kilometres through a somewhat dense forest. Once the supplies were delivered, they would then come back to the city the same way they came. The whole mission was a five-hour affair at maximum, provided everything went smoothly.