Important Task

I stare out the big, blue ocean from the Eastern Cliff and the first beam of sunlight glimmers on the rowdy waves. It's almost 5 o'clock. He should be getting there. I turn my back to the scenery and start walking towards the training grounds.

I stayed up late formulating a perfect plan to trick Clay into taking extra training so that he can cope up and, if nothing goes wrong, surpass me. I told him to come by 4 in the morning but, judging his attitude, he won't be there when I arrive still.

I reach the training grounds and see the trainees gathering. The training starts at 5 o'clock everyday but I called him an hour early and... He's still not here. I mentally smirk. He fell into the trap. A few minutes later, Clay arrives out of breath.

Adam: Sorry, I'm late!

I throw him an irked glance.

Raven: Looks like you're taking all this very 'seriously'.

Adam: I-I didn't mean to be late! I promise I'll make up for the lost training!

Raven: Oh? And how much are you going to train?

Adam: Huh? Well, I lost only an hour of the practice so-

Raven: 'Only an hour'? Do you value time at all? If you don't, you're not competent enough to get the post you want to.

Adam:..!

Raven: If this is how you're going to be, you can go back to where you came from.

Adam: I'll practice more every day!

Heh, he took the bait. I suppress an evil smirk.

Raven: Okay then, you'll train 16 hours a day, everyday till the examinations.

Adam: What?!

What? He looks like the world's about to end.

Raven: You either do this or...

Adam:..! I'll do it!

Raven: Good, now go and practice with them.

He drags his feet towards the training grounds. What a sad, little child. I inwardly sigh. Just then..

Gavin: Chief Raven!

Someone calls out to me from and I turn to see Gavin. He looks panicked, did something happen?

Raven: What's wrong?

Gavin: It's about the Northern Perimeter.

The Northern Perimeter again. This issue can't be taken lightly though. North Rhineland is indeed a very powerful kingdom, if it was to infiltrate Ozara, it would be a disaster.

Raven: We should go inside.

Gavin: Yes.

I glance back at Clay who's getting his ass beaten by the other trainees with a small smile. This is going to work out. I look back ahead and head to my office with Gavin.

When we get there, Tony Xandar, my most trusted officer, is already waiting for us. He greets me and then pulls out a map. He spreads it on the table and his face gets serious.

Tony: I assume that you would have known that the Northern Perimeter is under guarded even though we have transferred guards there.

Raven: Yes.

Tony: The problem mainly lies here.

He marks a cross on the map with a piece of charcoal. I peer closely at the spot.

Raven: This is the blind spot, no wonder we didn't get any news about any disappearances.

Maybe somebody is making the guards go there to guard it and then abducting them. None of the guards think that they're missing, they just assume that they're transferred to another place.

That's why the Northern Perimeter is under guarded and there aren't any negative reports! North Rhineland is really playing it dirty and we're going to pay them back!

Gavin: There should be a secret tunnel somewhere near here from which they are entering Ozara without being noticed.

Tony: You're right.

Raven:...

They surely wouldn't have killed the missing guards yet. They would want to extract information from them at all costs. If they are still alive, we have to rescue them.

Gavin: Should we investigate it further?

Tony: Well-

Raven: Yes, but after if we complete an important task.

Both: Important task?

They both look at me in surprise. I slam one hand on the table and place the other on my waist.

Raven: We're going to infiltrate North Rhineland.

Both: What?!