The Squad

The next time we see Haalfrin, he's standing next to a few men and women, who are strapping on various survival gear. They've already been given their assignment by Fisco, so there's no need for words between them.

The only person talking here is Jay – the middle-aged looking 3rd gate mage that Haalfrin had learned the other day is leading this expedition.

As they all pack up, Jay hands each of them a single white gem. "These are scent-hiding enchantments. The Rehkin have naturally great senses. The Hawks in particular don't have a good sense of smell, but we'll be at an inter-racial clan meet. There'll be countless Clans there who could help track down the murder to us if we leave a scent behind. These 5 crystals right here are a brand-new invention made by the research team. Keep them in a mana-sealing box, don't let anyone else take them, and don't wear them unless we're going undercover."

"Got it, sir." Everyone solutes.

"Another thing," Jay continues, "from what we understand, the dragons mostly want to participate in this clan meeting because they want their family members' bones back."

Haalfrin raises his eyebrows at this. "Oh?" he remarks, "I know a dragon's soul resides in the bones, but I didn't know dragons could get sentimental at all like this."

He can't be blamed for thinking this; he'd witnessed Lord Fheldin's and the other dragons' carefree attitude about Dakka's death.

How was he supposed to know that the 9 dragons escaped earlier because they wanted to kill him?

Jay turns to Haalfrin and nods. "I guess they can get sentimental." The leading officer then turns to everyone else and summarizes for them, "Our official reason for coming to the clan meeting is for us to negotiate with the dragon clan into giving the dragons' bones back…"

"That blue dragon's bones?" Haalfrin asks, "the one you guys just slew a few years ago?"

Everyone on the team turns slowly and looks at Haalfrin with weird looks on their faces. More specifically, their eyes dart to the dragon bone ax on his waist.

"Oh...," Haalfrin scratches his head, "Are you talking about Dakka too?"

One of the other soldiers remarks, "Commander Fisco DID say that the reason the dragons participated in the recent battles is because they want your dragon back."

'NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK!' Dakka screams so loudly in Haalfrin's mind that he winces in pain.

Instead of hearing anything, the others just see the ax flare up and bang against the ground quite randomly.

Haalfrin sighs at Dakka's childish tantrum, and he assures the others, "I'll come... and I'll bring Dakka too. Dakka can just speak for himself at the meeting; it's none of MY business if he goes back to his family."

'Oi!' Dakka protests with a hurt feeling emanating from his spirit, 'That's rude! I thought we were bros or something!?'

Some of the others look at Haalfrin strangely. Jay notices their quizzical looks, and he explains, "Dragons' spirits reside in their bones when they die instead of passing to the afterlife. Haalfrin's dragon is perfectly capable of speaking for himself."

Dragons don't run up against the Threshold very often, so a lot of details about them aren't commonly heard of among the Threshold soldiers, though they aren't COMPLETELY unheard of either.

"Another thing," the captain reminds them, "We've also been told to assassinate a Hawk pure-blood named Tala. He's the main instigator in their clan, so if we get rid of him, the more peace-minded elders can have the final say in the clan."

"So... do you need the dragon slayer to just smash him or something?" a lanky boy asks.

Jay frowns. "NO! We can't let anyone know we're responsible for his death, so leave his assassination to her," the captain says while pointing to a young-looking girl with red hair and freckles.

The red-haired girl raises her hand and says grumpily, "Captain forgot to introduce us. I'm Faylin. I'm in charge of any direct assassinations… you know, knives, black cloaks, poison… You know people like me, right?"

Haalfrin nods. "I've killed plenty of people like you before."

"…Right." Jay coughs uncomfortably and points to the other two members of his team. "This is Resburn. He's a spirit mage. People like him are really valuable because spirit magic is the main source of magic in these lands."

Jay then turns to a tall, blonde-haired woman. "This is Myra; she spent a couple of hundred years traveling the lands, making friends, and learning the local languages. She's not much of a fighter, but she'll help us out during any infiltrations to help us blend in – local customs and translations. She also has a lot of contacts in many of the clans, so she's a valuable source of information."

Myra waves her hand at Haalfrin. "Hi."

Jay then gestures towards Haalfrin. "And this is Haalfrin. Honestly, he's exactly what we needed. He by far has the most martial power in our group. We're just normal humans, so we're kind of sitting ducks out here, wandering these lands full of races much stronger than us. With Haalfrin around, we're going to have some semblance of safety."

"…Finally," Faylin mutters while crossing her arms.

"How long is the journey going to take?" Resburn asks.

"About 2 years," Jay answers. "The meeting will be held in Lord Fheldin's palace, and that's on the other side of the world."

"Hmm…," Haalfrin thinks with a smile. "This'll be interesting." He looks down at his healed leg. "Guess Fate wants us to meet, huh?"

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After they set out and make camp for their first night, Haalfrin fidgets on his seat for a bit, then turns to Myra and Faylin. "I'm kind of curious. I mean, I didn't know they employed woman soldiers at all."

So far, the only women he'd seen here were doctors, after all.

Myra gets a curious look on her face, like she's not sure what Haalfrin is talking about. Faylin, on the other hand, scrunches up her eyebrows and throws a pebble at Haalfrin. "Dude. That was rude. Are you saying I can't be a soldier?"

"No? I'm just curious 'cuz I've never seen it before."

His initial question had upset Faylin enough for her to not properly listen to his answer, so she just huffs and walks away. Myra, on the other hand, nods understandingly, "I suppose this is your first time in an army completely made of mages then. I understand."

Haalfrin realizes that his question was easy to misunderstand (and thus, it was a bad question). However, he's just glad somebody understood.

So, he nods and keeps talking, "I mean, I know that awakening as a mage is seemingly completely random. It's just… I've spent most of my life fighting magicless people on battlefields and escaping from prisons. I mean, I've seen some female mages on the battlefields before, but it's incredibly uncommon, you know?"

Myra nods, "I know." She looks over to the Threshold and says calmly, "You have to keep in mind that the Threshold forcibly recruits mages above a certain level from all over the empire, so girls who don't even want to be soldiers are sent here." She grips her walking stick tightly and appears agitated saying this.

"Yeah," Haalfrin agrees. Then, he asks out of genuine curiosity, "Do you think there are fewer female soldiers because they have weaker muscles and thus are less suited for combat, or because they just don't like to fight?"

"I can't say for sure," Myra answers. "Is it even important to wonder about that? It's not like knowing the answer would actually change anything." She stares blankly into the fire and says, "The only important thing to think about is how you can be true to yourself. If, let's say, an individual girl doesn't want to fight, then she should just find ways to avoid war, even when it finds her. If she wants to fight but is too weak to do so, then just let her get herself killed. It was her choice anyway. If she wants to fight, and is good enough to survive, then congratulations. You have yourself another soldier."

Hearing this, Haalfrin bursts out laughing, then pats Myra on the shoulder, "I like the way you think! Very practical!"

Myra smiles at the compliment, then shrugs nonchalantly, "The soul is your inner nature; becoming a greater mage is about delving deeper into your soul – about being true to your inner nature."

"We all got our choices to make, right?" Haalfrin smiles and extends arm for a handshake. "I don't think I've actually introduced myself."

And thus, Myra becomes the first person that Haalfrin is comfortable talking to; she's intelligent, practical, and has VERY high emotional intelligence.

Soon after that, Myra has a talk with Faylin – clearing their misunderstanding. Once Haalfrin and Faylin apologize, things go more smoothly.

At least now, Haalfrin doesn't feel like he's traveling with strangers anymore; perhaps this trip won't be so bad?