The Outside 2

A building towered over the sprawling marketplace of Kindrall, reflecting the glow of the sun on its ivory carapace.

A group of young Ferriers were marching towards the building of the Ferrier Association. Leading them was the oldest—the Augmenter that was knocked out cold before the real fight began.

'Damn kid thinks he can lead a cohort.' He thought, eyes glued at the gates of the building that stood 30 meters over them.

He was without his Bond as it was injured.

As the group entered the building, Felix couldn't help but wonder, 'I wonder how his first two days went.'

He sighed as he watched the disgraceful scene before him.

"I said we will only inform the President!" Yelled Augmenter at the group of clerks trying to calm him down.

The rest of the cohort were too tired to intervene, luckily they didn't have to wait long.

A beautiful woman with wavy green hair that reached her thighs entered the lobby. She wore a tight dress that covered her as much as her hair did—not a lot.

"While she still has the time." She said simply, and walked back to the hallway.

The group followed the woman, but not before Augmenter barked at the clerks holding him down. 'Stupid Warriors.'

Warriors were people that primarily use Skills and stats. So they were able to physically overpower the young Augmenter. 'Dogs that can't get past Integrated.'

He kept his poisonous thoughts to himself.

* * *

The room they entered was simple, it only had the essentials of a proper office. The large window behind the main seat displayed the sky above and town below.

On the seat was a woman that did not look too different from the girl earlier. Her hair a much darker shade of green, and she looked more mature.

"Make it quick." She spoke with feigned anger, to get the young Ferriers talking.

Since Augmenter was stuck between which of the women he wanted more, Felix spoke instead, "We encountered a creature we are unsure whether to call an Amalgam. It showed no intelligence and was almost ethereal in form."

The woman's eyes glistened while Augmenter clenched his teeth. He stayed silent due to his absence in the fight.

The group continued to describe the creature to an increasingly more interested president. Her name, they now knew, was Stella. Whatever business she had to deal with before was long thrown out the window. This creature they described worried her.

It held no authority over the Laws, it only acted to destroy, and had stats way above what they assumed its rank was.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You may leave." She promised to help them in the future. Bringing information such as this must be rewarded.

'Is this what Bless told me about? No, the thing these kids encountered is similar, but different.'

She remembered a conversation she had with Theodore Bless—the Headmaster of The Oran Institute of High Order.

<"The elves spoke of creatures that denied existence. Creatures that needed to be understood for the elves to cause them harm.">

Apparently, understanding them was simple. They just had to accept them, to acknowledge their existence.

But that was when things stopped being simple.

Theodore then adopted the creed that Arbiters, Integrated or not, were meant to uphold balance and existence against these foul things.

'It is different, but similar.' Stella was worried. The appearance of this new creature and the return of the Serth ships felt too coincidental.

* * *

The room buzzed with energy as students settled into their seats, waiting for Professor Hallen to begin. The weight of lunch still hung over them, but Hallen's entrance, maps clutched in one hand and a confident stride, shook them from their post-meal stupor.

"Good afternoon, class," he bellowed, slapping the maps onto his desk with dramatic flair. "Let's continue our exploration of the southern coastline today. But before that—questions from last time?"

Hands shot up almost immediately.

"Professor, is it true Kael's Veil wasn't always there?" one boy called out eagerly.

Hallen smiled, his large hand resting on the map. "Indeed it wasn't. Kael's Veil, as far as we know, has appeared only over a century ago—but oddly enough, there is no accurate proof of that. It is only assumed that it was conceived between a century and millenia ago."

"That makes no sense!" A student's confused yell rang out.

Hallen only smiled. "The impenetrable storm wall cuts Fenros off from what lies beyond the southern sea. We know it as a boundary, a place where no ship dares venture, because none that have ever returned."

"But ships do leave," another student countered. "The news from Serth..."

Hallen raised a hand to quiet the chatter that erupted at the mention of the Serth. "Serth vessels don't come back through the Veil," he clarified.

"They use their unique sea routes, navigating the far northern waters to reach lands beyond Fenros. And yes, their news has stirred curiosity across the continent, but the Veil itself remains untouched, as it always has."

"But good observation. I see that some of you have been informed of this event. As you know, Serth is Fenros' hub for maritime activity."

"The only nation with connections to the outside world, and so you assumed that they have gone inside and out of Kael's Veil. But their most recent journey is wholly unrelated to that."

He paused, letting the anticipation take hold. Leon and the rest leaning forward to hear his words faster.

"Serth has released incredible news this year. Previously, there was no information on their trade routes that began working 14 years ago." He began with what some students already knew.

"But, as a result of a recent expedition, they have cast a light onto their machinations:" Their trades were conducted with an island similar to Fenros—albeit a much smaller one.

That was all they had to trade with. The small elven-inhabited island.

But not anymore.

"Serth has found a route to a nation on the main continent." A major breakthrough that they have spread in order to begin breaching the inhospitable lands of the main continent.

"The rest of Fenros was informed just a few days ago, but perhaps Serth kept this under wraps for some time before."

"Serth released this route that leads to a nation called Tipun. Tipun is a large collection of tribes that worked together to fend against the storms, Amalgams... and the Foul as they call it."

"Why are they called tribes?" Leon asked, silencing the room. He has made a reputation for almost breaking his table with the wooden block.

"Apparently, they are not as advanced as we are. And no, they're not elves, but humans." Some students were disappointed.

"What are the Foul?" Another student asked.

Hallen sighed, "I do not know. But they are creatures that are completely different from regular Amalgams."

"Anyway, our lesson is about Fenros, not the outside world that only Serth can access." Although the route is now widespread, only Serth has the ships capable of making the journey.

A chorus of whines echoed around the classroom. Even Leon couldn't hide his disappointment as he sighed.

'Kael's Veil, the Elves in Avarin.' Leon gripped the pens in his hands. They stirred a growing itch in his mind that he couldn't quite scratch.

Back on track, the students began asking questions that Hallen can answer.

"What about the rumors of ships trying to cross Kael's Veil?" a girl asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"Rumors," Hallen echoed with a shrug. "That's all they are. Tales of brave captains and doomed crews who thought they could defy the storm. Perhaps a handful ventured in, but not a single one has ever made it back to tell the tale. All we know are the stories left behind—ghost ships swallowed by the storm, their lights flickering on the horizon before vanishing for good. Kael's Veil is not just a storm, students—it's a wall. A border."

Another student chimed in, "Do you think there's anything beyond it? People, maybe? Or something worse?"

Hallen hesitated, his gaze sweeping over the class. "What lies beyond Kael's Veil is anyone's guess. Some say it's an endless ocean, a sea of chaos where no laws of nature apply. Others whisper about civilizations far removed from our own, perhaps even advanced beyond our understanding. And then there are those who claim it's the edge of existence itself—a place where everything ends."

The room fell quiet at that. Leon, sitting near the back, watched as Hallen's expression shifted to something more serious.

"But that," Hallen said, breaking the silence, "is speculation. What we do know is that Fenros is vast, and even here, we've only explored so much. The Serth ships brought back fascinating goods and tales of distant lands, but none of those answers will come from the Veil. That storm is a dead end, a barrier no one has breached."

"Professor, what about the elves?" a boy asked eagerly. "The ones in Avarin?"

Hallen leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms. "Elves…" he said slowly, as if savoring the word. "I've heard Headmaster Bless speak of them himself. Figures unlike anything he encountered. Tall, sharp-featured, with a presence that feels almost otherworldly, he said."

"Do you think they've been beyond the Veil?" another student asked.

Hallen shook his head. "If they have, they didn't share that with us, not that they share anything with anyone. Their presence raises more questions than answers, and only the Headmaster and the council have spoken with them directly. Whatever they know, they're keeping it to themselves for now."

Leon listened carefully, his mind swirling with thoughts. The Veil, the returning Serth ships, these supposed elves—there were so many unknowns, and Hallen's lecture only deepened the mystery.

"Now," Hallen boomed, pulling them back to the present, "enough with the theories. Open your maps to the southern coastline. Let's focus on what we do know—Fenros's rugged geography and the lands we can actually see. No daydreaming about crossing the Veil unless you've got a death wish!"

The students groaned, but parchment rustled as they obeyed. Leon picked up his quill, his curiosity still burning. As he traced the coastline on his map, he couldn't help but glance up at Hallen, wondering if the professor knew more than he let on—the professors were more than they showed—or maybe even he was left guessing at the secrets of the Veil.

He looked outside. Another storm was brewing.