Setting Out!

After waking up, Karen walked over to the stream to wash up. Reasonably speaking, there was no need to be so particular at a time like this, but since they had no need to move right now and were simply waiting for Muri's squad to catch up and rendezvous, they had nothing better to do anyway. Besides, his hiking pack already contained a full set of toiletries. While food rations and various potions definitely had to be conserved for critical moments, what would be the point of rationing toothpaste and a toothbrush? Just as Karen finished brushing his teeth, Ventura walked over and said in a low voice, "Captain, didn't you say that we shouldn't use the water here until Blanche has treated it?" Karen nodded. "Yes. But I'm different from the rest of you. I'm not afraid of this level of contamination." "You're not afraid of this level of contamination?" Ventura's eyes widened. He silently opened his hand, imitating Karen's posture from the previous night, and condensed a ball of Order flame in his palm. "Is it because of... that?" Ventura was referring to the white flame Karen had used last night. Shrouded in a holy halo, that flame had possessed... the aura of Light. Last night, Karen had known Ventura was right beside him, yet he had still chosen to wield the power of Light. Ventura was someone he intended to bring into his inner circle, and through their time together over the past days, Karen had gotten a solid read on the young man's character. Sometimes, sharing secrets was itself a way to draw closer, just like between him and Captain Neo. Tossing secrets back and forth was actually a way to deepen their relationship and foster mutual trust. What was more, Ventura had been "saved" by Karen's grandfather. Facts proved that Ventura hadn't pretended he hadn't seen it, nor had he fabricated some excuse about his memory becoming blurry after going berserk and turning into a giant. He had come up to Karen openly and directly to bring up the flame from last night, which was a sign of trust. "My faith lies in Order, of that there is no doubt," Karen said with a smile. "As for why I can use the power of Light, it's because I formed a symbiosis contract with a Light-type monster beast." "It must be an exceptionally powerful monster beast!" "Mhm, yes. She used to be very strong, but she hasn't recovered yet. Anyway, you don't need to worry about me being a spy planted into our church by Light remnants." Ventura shook his head. "Even if you were a spy, you'd still be my captain." "While I appreciate such unprincipled, sentimental talk, don't let your guard down regarding things like this in the future—especially against true Light remnants." Karen genuinely worried that this boy was too honest-to-a-fault, and might foolishly treat genuine Light remnants as his captain's friends in the future. "I only answer to you, Captain." Karen rubbed Ventura's head. "Very good. Just make sure you can tell the difference yourself." "Captain, I'll go relieve Bart from his watch now." Bart was responsible for keeping watch on the village's perimeter, serving as the squad's outermost line of defense. "Go ahead. And call the village elder over on your way. The map I asked him to draw yesterday should be ready by now." "Yes, Captain." Parting with Ventura, Karen returned to the campsite. Instead of approaching the others, however, he lay down on a grassy slope. High above, the gray moon hung suspended, showing not the slightest change. Gray moon, dark moon... Karen's eyes began to tinge red as he attempted to observe the gray moon in the sky with the Eye of the Dark Moon. After keeping it up for about five minutes, his eyes started to ache with fatigue, yet he still couldn't see anything unusual. "Looks like moons aren't necessarily related just because they're moons..." Yet just as Karen was about to give up and deactivate the Eye of the Dark Moon, he suddenly noticed a black line along the bottom rim of the gray moon above. Karen stared at it for a while, but couldn't make it out clearly. To test it, he deactivated the Eye of the Dark Moon and found that the black line vanished. When he activated the Eye of the Dark Moon again, the black line reappeared. What did that black line signify? Karen quickly pulled out the booklet and found an excerpt he had read earlier. "When the moon inside the gate suddenly loses half its form and leaves only a half-moon, it signifies that the Gate of Samsara has reached its maximum opening for this cycle, after which it will begin its closing phase. "When the moon inside the gate disappears entirely, it signifies that the Gate of Samsara is about to close, which also means the teleportation point will soon activate. Trial-takers need only reach the teleportation point ahead of time and wait." When Instructor Barat explained this passage, he had highlighted several key points: When only half of the gray moon remained in the sky, it meant that half of the trial-takers' time in the gate had elapsed. When the gray moon completely disappeared, it meant the teleportation formation would activate one day later. The change of the gray moon did not develop continuously; rather, it progressed in steps: "Full Gray Moon" to "Half Gray Moon" to "Complete Disappearance." There was no gradual transition in between—or at least, that was how it had been taught in class. Karen pursed his lips. In truth, there was a gradual process; using the Eye of the Dark Moon, he had seen that black line along the edge of the gray moon, only ordinary people couldn't detect it. Or perhaps to trial-takers, the gray moon was merely a timepiece visible with a tilt of the head, not something worth the trouble of studying. Furthermore, across so many generations of trial-takers, even if there were astronomy enthusiasts among them, none would likely be in the mood to study the moon while here. "Half the gray moon remains..." Karen raised a finger, tracing against the moon above. "Paint it black. Paint half, and you see only half the moon; paint it entirely black, and the gray moon disappears. The gray moon doesn't vanish—it's 'concealed.'" Karen took a deep breath. Keeping the Eye of the Dark Moon fixed on the width of that black line, he began calculating in his mind. "From when we entered until now, it's only been a single full day, and the black line is only this thin? For it to reach halfway, wouldn't that take an entire month? That means this opening of the Gate of Samsara will last nearly two months! "According to past records, the Gate of Samsara's duration ranged from seven days to a month. Two months is twice the historical maximum. "Still, it's inherently irregular, so an outlier beyond historical statistics isn't unusual. After all, it has never operated on a fixed schedule. "Is something going to happen this time, causing the duration to stretch out so long?" Just then, Karen saw Bart leading the village elder over. Karen stood up to meet the elder and gestured for him to explain the map. The elder had barely begun speaking when a blue flare rose into the air in the distance. A blue flare signaled that something was occurring, but not a danger. Bart said, "Captain, that flare came from Ventura's side. I think Muri's squad might have arrived." "Go welcome them." "Yes, Captain." Once Bart left, Karen gestured to the elder. "Let's continue." ... After a day and a night of forced marching, Muri's squad finally reached the meadow and rendezvoused with Karen's squad. Visible exhaustion clung to each of them. Except for Muri, nearly all were collapsed on the ground while Blanche helped them recover and soothe their fatigue. As Karen walked over with the map in hand, Muri took the initiative to approach him, stepping a short distance away from the others. "Hard journey," Karen said. "It was fine. I'm actually alright," Muri smiled. "We wanted to find mounts along the way, but the livestock in the villages we passed weren't fit for riding. We tried catching a few beasts in the wild, too, but the fast ones couldn't carry a rider, and the ones that could carry someone moved slower than walking on foot." "It's too remote out here. Not finding any is normal." "Yeah, too remote. Logically, the Gate of Samsara shouldn't be so sparsely populated. Otherwise, how did past generations of trial-takers find contract souls? Did they all settle for ordinary villagers?" "I don't think the world inside the gate is remote. Rather, we just happened to be teleported to its most remote region." "You think the Church of Samsara set us up intentionally?" "Yeah, that's what I think. They wouldn't dare do anything openly against us, but using this petty method to disgust us fits them completely. Still, every coin has two sides. Starting in an isolated location means our initial circumstances are simpler and easier, giving us more time and opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the place at our own pace. For instance..." "For instance?" Karen pulled two bamboo shoots from a nearby basket and handed one to Muri. "For instance, the bamboo shoots here are delicious, like fruit." "Really? We tried foraging along the way, but we found that most of the vegetation and villagers' food here is toxic to us. Even the water." Taking a bite of the bamboo shoot, Muri said in surprise, "It really is delicious." What followed was the first shared meal between the two squads after rendezvousing inside the gate: a feast of bamboo shoots. Once everyone finished eating, Karen spread the map he had obtained from the village elder across a flat rock and gestured for everyone to gather around. They had agreed beforehand that when the two squads operated together inside the gate, Karen would serve as captain of both, and Karen naturally assumed and slipped into the role. "Our current position is the meadow near Tagima Village, which is our teleportation point. From Tagima Village, we can reach three major cities: Black Forest City, the Dark Grotto, and the Blazing Valley. "The Dark Grotto and Blazing Valley are also soul settlements; they just go by different names. "The old village elder told me that when he was young, traveling to these three cities took him twenty days, a month, and a month and a half, respectively." "That long?" Ashley gasped. "The elder traveled on foot. His pace was far slower than ours, and we can boost our speed with spells. Besides, he had to detour around mountains and rivers, whereas we can cross directly. "So by my estimate, our travel time should be about a third of his. If we don't worry about conserving our condition, we can push even faster." Hearing this, Paxio immediately called out, "Meaning even to reach the closest one, Black Forest City, we'll have to spend seven days on the road?" Iraman pointed out, "We also have to factor in the return trip. If we can't make it back here within one day of the gray moon disappearing, we'll have to wait ten years for the Gate of Samsara to open again to get out. As delicious as these bamboo shoots are, I don't want to stay here eating them for ten years." Digat chimed in, "Going by past experience, the Gate of Samsara's duration ranges from seven days to a month. That means in the most extreme case, the gray moon might be half-gone while we're still on the road to Black Forest City, and we won't even reach the nearest major city!" Demel said, "And we already spent an entire day just rendezvousing." Sijini nodded. "Our time really is tight. Honestly, the ideal move in my opinion would have been to set out from our respective teleportation points immediately to find the nearest major city. You can only find souls strong enough for contracts in the big cities." Only the captains of the two squads had predetermined souls waiting for them. For the rest, entering the Gate of Samsara remained an extraordinary opportunity; everyone craved obtaining a powerful, compatible soul here to lay a better foundation for their future development. The ones speaking up earlier were all members of Muri's squad, and their words carried an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and complaint. Meanwhile, not a single member of Karen's squad said a word. Muri licked his lips and smiled wryly at Karen. Silently, he thought: *They talked about having me form the Dinge Region Whip of Order squad and serve as its captain before. I'd have to have water in my head to keep being your captain!* Karen spoke up: "An extreme case will indeed occur, but not an extremely short one—an extremely long one. Personally, I believe the Gate of Samsara's opening this time will last nearly two months." "Can you be sure?" Iraman looked at Karen skeptically. "Yes," Karen nodded. Iraman pressed further, "What's your reasoning? What's your proof? Or is this merely your speculation?" Karen raised his hand and pointed into the distance. Iraman looked over and saw only grass swaying in the wind. Puzzled, he said, "I don't see anything." "You misunderstood me." "Then what do you mean?" Iraman asked. "I mean that if you don't believe me, you can get lost." Iraman: "..." Paxio hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "Captain Karen, you misunderstood him. All he meant was that your claim is critical for our upcoming itinerary. After all, we've already wasted a day, and we really don't want to waste any more time. We can't end up settling with these ordinary villagers..." Karen calmly cut Paxio off. "I didn't misunderstand him. He is questioning me, and you are questioning me as well." Looking somewhat awkward, Paxio said, "No, we just feel that matters like this need open discussion so we can hear everyone's thoughts." "And then what? Decide the squad's plans by a show of hands where the minority yields to the majority? What kind of foolish brain spouts nonsense like that?" "Captain Karen, I don't think you should talk like that. It's precisely because we trusted you that we spent a whole day rushing over to rendezvous with you." "My apologies, but I have always had my own style of command. When I haven't asked for your input, I expect you to shut up and listen quietly. "Furthermore, I won't feel indebted to you just because you spent a day marching here, because we spent a day waiting for you here as well. We wasted a day too. "My point is simple: anyone who dislikes my command style may leave right now. Those who wish to keep following my lead will do things my way. Let's save our precious time." The entirety of Muri's squad went silent. Karen jabbed a finger at Black Forest City on the map and said, "Black Forest City's defining feature is that it gathers many souls of high soul strength. By high soul strength, I mean they excel in soul materialization—in solidifying their souls. I believe we can find souls suited for physical development and enhancement there. "Bart, Ventura, as well as you, and you..." Karen pointed at Iraman, then at Demel. These four all relied on physical, close-quarters combat. Muri actually belonged to this category as well, but his contract was already reserved. "Our first destination is Black Forest City. Hopefully, we can find the souls you four need there." Bart and Ventura nodded. Iraman, who had just been told to "get lost" by Karen, nodded as well. After all, the very first stop was to find a soul for him—how could he possibly leave now? As for face and dignity? Was saving face worth half a soul? "Once we reach Black Forest City and secure suitable souls for these four squad members to complete their contracts, we will proceed from Black Forest City to the Dark Grotto. There are many souls there with deduction and construction capabilities, as that grotto is said to be a massive formation environment in its own right. "Mars, Paxio, and Digat, that is the place suited for the three of you to find your souls." Mars nodded, and Paxio and Digat nodded as well; they were all formation masters. "The travel times I mentioned earlier all started from Tagima Village, but the elder himself has never traveled from one major city to another. He only knows their general directions and estimated the distances between them. We should be able to cut the travel time between them to around five days, and once we reach the first major city, we should be able to procure suitable mounts or transport. We'll see when the time comes. "Our final stop will be the Blazing Valley. The souls there possess strong resilience and deep soul power, which suits Ashley, Blanche, and Sijini. "Two months is plenty of time for us to visit all three cities and return here in the end. That is the preliminary plan. Once we reach Black Forest City, we will adjust it based on whatever new information and conditions we encounter." Ventura asked, "Captain, what about you and Captain Muri?" Ashley echoed, "Captain, aren't the two of you looking for souls?" Karen replied, "Because we don't know when Gaitanbert and Furnites will appear. They might not even show up until we return here at the very end. I worry that forming a contract with another soul beforehand will cause major problems when dealing with... no, when hosting them." Paxio asked, "If they don't show up in the end, won't both captains come out of this trial with nothing?" Karen shrugged, glanced at Muri, and said calmly, "You can't look at it that way. At the very least, we'll have reclaimed our own lives."