As Squad 9 trudged forward, Gilbert's gaze swept across the desolate expanse before them—a frozen wasteland stretching endlessly under a bleak sky. Ice glimmered like shattered glass, broken only by a smattering of skeletal trees and distant, undulating hills. The chilling silence was punctuated only by the crunch of their boots in the snow, a stark reminder of their solitude; apart from the other recruits marching alongside him, there was no sign of life to be found in this grim, stark landscape.
"Does anyone know where the academy is? As far as I can tell, we are somewhere in the north," he asked.
"The locations of all the academies are common knowledge," said Chen Mei. "The Dragon Knight Academy, where we are heading, is located near the North Pole. I don't know the exact coordinates since all the academies are situated in Styx-infested areas." They moved quickly, and their watches indicated that they had reached the 1-mile mark, where they discovered an open metallic supply box filled with weapons and other supplies.
"I suppose a leisurely trek was too much to ask for," Kean remarked wryly, donning a sleek black helmet adorned with intricate filigree along the sides. The helmet bore a few dents, a testament to past adventures, and he clutched an equally worn pistol in his other hand, ready for whatever lay ahead.
"Do you even realize what you've just picked up?" Wolfgang challenged, a smirk on his face as he noticed Kean's confusion. He confidently stepped forward, grabbing a shotgun, ammunition, and a helmet.
"Wolfy is correct; we're all unfamiliar with these details being from tier III cuties. Mei, you have a greater understanding than the rest of us, so why don't you take the lead and identify what we need?" Gilbert said, confident in his assessment. The nickname 'Wolfy' brought some laughter from the group.
"Sure," See replied stepping up the box and observing what was inside "All these gear and weapons are from the third generation making them two generations behind."
"Two generations? I thought the latest armors were at the fourth generation?" asked Adam as Chen Mei went through the box
"That is inaccurate the fifth generation has been in development for years now and is at the cusp of being rolled out," said William
"William is correct hence these gears are two gen behind." said Chen Mei "Okay, Kean and Wolfy have already chosen theirs those helmets are needed by all of us so we should each take one they come with a heads-up display (H.U.D) which can show environmental data and can also help Kean with scouting as we lack engine unit we will not be able to use all its functions but we can still sync up to share battlefield data between each of us, for Adam, I would recommend this wyvern III laser sniper you can connect it to the helmet for holographic sight, there are only two chest plates so Gilbert and William based on what I have seen are our best fighters so both of you should take one each, they house the bio-engines at the nape of the neck give you both more power than everyone else for example to power the helmets. Then William I want you to have the powered gauntlets for Gilbert we have an electro sword and a Serpent III power rifle." Handing them chest plates made from battle-worn metal with composite sections, accented by worn-out intricate sigils which evoke ancient Rome or Celtics, while the sword was plain and battle wore same for the gauntlets with each fingertip ending claws.
"Why should I receive the gauntlets wouldn't it be better to give them to guy who obviously has no sword training." asked William even though Gilbert did not like the wording of that sentence he did agree with the reasoning.
"It is harder to use the sword I agree but power gauntlets are even harder to control hence why I gave it to you I mostly expect him to use the rifle plus he seems to have the fastest reflexes so he won't be bad with a sword at least." replied Chen Mei seeing he was fine with her reasoning she continued "as for Ana she needs to put on the back plate which shall allow her to carry mechanic pack so she can fix any damages we receive and I shall be taking the medic toolkit with me. We will also take a laser pistol each for protection"
As everyone received their gears Gilbert put them on his chest place with Adam's help suddenly he felt an injection to the back of his neck causing him to wince in pain
"What was that?" He asked
"You don't have your circuit gems yet so the bio engine can only be powered by connecting directly to your body," replied Chen Mei
"Gilbert we should move out others are catching up," said Adam
"Let's go." Said Gilbert. As Squad started moving again at the 5-mile mark Kean signaled them to slow down, arriving at his location they found obvious signs of battle alongside low-tiered styx.
"The groups ahead have better weapons and gears than we do," said Adam
"How do you know that, you physic or something?" asked Wolfgang rudely. Adam glanced at him and then continued to observe the signs of damage
"It's obvious Wolfy, none of our weapons can cause this much damage plus we can't even see their tails," said Kean teasingly. As they spoke they started hearing growls all around them from the frozen wasteland, and then out came five wolf-like Styx standing over five feet tall with white fur, saber-like canines, and spines that seemed to be made of metal. Before they could prepare they came down on them. Gilbert was the first to react blasting the lead one back with his rifle, holding the sword in his right hand and rifle in his left he placed his right arm horizontally and then used it as a support to aim his rifle. William then held one using his gauntlets shouting he threw it into another preventing it from circling behind the group. While Gilbert and William reacted quickly Kean wasn't quick enough and got clamped onto his ankle by one before it could do any more damage shot through the neck by Adam's sniper killed it allowing him to limp to safety. As the group grabbed their bearings Gilbert started barking out instructions
"William and I are responsible for the front and the right, Kean stay beside Ana and Mei use your pistol to try to keep them distracted so we don't get overran, Wolfy uses your shotgun and blast away any that get too close, and Adam if you get the chance to injure or kill one do it," he said as they heard him although somewhat disorganized the team got into place with one Styx dead they only had four more to kill. Gilbert then threw down his rifle using the opportunity that William was holding one down he ran his sword through its body multiple times eventually killing it, pulling his sword out he turned to see a a large maw coming at his face before it could bite him William held onto both sides of its snout then sniper shot ran through its neck killing. One who made it past their first line of defense was then shot back by the blast of Wolfgang's shotgun meanwhile Kean is with the girls to help keep one of them busy. Assessing the situation William ran towards the one Wolfgang was keeping at bay and Gilbert taking up his rifle started firing at the one Kean was keeping busy as he fired the shots keeping it back click was heard and his rifle ran out, throwing it down he held onto his sword with both hands charging at Styx a quick jab forcing it back it then lounged at him as he dodged its bite he felt a paw in his chest forcing him several steps back and onto one knee seeing it come at him again leveraging his kneeling position he blocked its bite using his shoulder he then ran his sword through its chest, seeing it still moving he powered the electricity of the blade finally killing it. Throwing it off him he then looked around seeing the other one laying there dead with a legging torn off and its head crushed.
Beep Beep Beep as the battle ended their watches went off looking at his watch he saw a notification 'Squad 9 eliminated Tier 5 Stygian with an evolved spinal column, awarded 3 military credits and $100 ona each'
"Well at least we were awarded for someone's screw-up," said Wolfgang staring directly at Kean who was being bandaged by Mei.
"We don't have time for that," said Gilbert
"Yeah sure protect after he almost got us killed, some scout he is," said Wolfgang harshly
"Enough!," said Gilbert sternly with his right arm laying limp by his side "We will deal with Kean's e screw-up later and I acknowledge his mistake but at the moment we are injured, in the open and have 15 more miles to go, we can quibble later, Kean can you still walk?" Wolfgang opened his mouth to reply but he saw the look in Gilbert's eye and then decided to keep quiet. Mei then bandaged his shoulder meanwhile he inquired her out to resupply the rifle's battery.
"We will change formation Wolfgang will stay back with Adam, Kean will move to center with girls, William will stay upfront and I will scout in Kean's place," he said, everyone gave a nod to indicate they understood. William then walked over to Adam
"You are good for someone of your origin," he said probingly. A silence hung between them as Adam simply ignored him, seeing this William walked away meanwhile let as Gilbert let a small smirk hang on the corner of his lips.
After they were ready they then continued their march fighting multiple groups or single styx. Reaching the 19-mile mark Gilbert saw a body on the ground in a full suit of armor, walking closer he removed to he removed the helmet recognizing the person as a buzz cut, a few minutes later everyone caught up to him before they could ask what was happening they saw the body causing everyone to stared at William and Wolfgang. William went to the body and looked then finally closed his eyes meanwhile Wolfgang just stood frozen in place, standing William marched on hiding the tears that fell from his eyes. The group continued as they passed by the still-frozen Wolfgang Kean and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
As two hours and forty minutes passed appearing abruptly on the frozen wasteland they saw a citadel standing at the edge of the canyon, the citadel had spires with the tallest being 300 meters high, and walls 100 meters high as they came closer they started to make out dragon statues and embellishments all over the citadel, especially at the tallest spire which seemed to a dragon wrapped right around it. Stepping towards the open gate they saw a metal sign made into the shape of dragon wings with the words 'MUSTALEEM DRAGON KNIGHT ACADEMY' and beneath it was a quote 'Dragons Fear Nothing; They Bring Deliverance Upon Their Enemies.