31 1st Unit Relay Point

Deon made his way North East, into the most dangerous region on the mountain. The South East border which separated the Restari and Fan territories only existed from the base of the mountain, up to the region 80% of the way up the mountain.

The top section of the mountain, the highest mile and the most chaotic region, was less ordered than the area below due to the lack of any clear borders.

Deon now knew that Jing Mountain was around 7 miles in height, whilst the 37th unit's camp was positioned a bit over 5 miles up. The highest camps established by the Kingdom of Restari were those of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th units, creating a jagged sort of relay point across the Western side, the Southern side, and nearing the South East line. This line of camps was located just below the uppermost mile of the mountain.

Likewise, the Fan Kingdom stationed their three most competent units at similar elevations across the East and North sides of the mountain.

Although it might seem like the occupancy of the upper mountain was identical to further down, this was far from the truth.

The Restari and Fan camps covered the circumference of the mountain, forming a ring which bisected the lower mountain from the top mile of mountain peak. Despite being so close to one another, they had never fought directly, even after these four months.

The South East border that he had been walking alongside as he ascended the mountain stopped a few hundred feet before reaching the circle of camps near the mountain peak. The emptiness of this final stretch gave Deon a peaceful yet eery feeling.

It was as if between the South East line and the circle of camps a few hundred feet higher up, there was no life in this land, no war, no nothing. Nothing aside from charred black rock.

Deon looked up and smiled, then continued to climb his way up until he reached the Easternmost camp setup by the Kingdom of Restari at this elevation.

"Halt!" A guard was startled on seeing Deon and yelled out loud. Another three guards suddenly appeared before him, all wearing the standard uniform for Restari soldiers.

"Vice Commander Deon of the 37th unit requests an audience with Lieutenant Puja!" Deon called back calmly, not showing any fear towards the rifles pointed at him.

The guards looked surprised, then turned to one another. They spoke for a moment, then two of them ran off.

"We're informing the lieutenant of your arrival now. Apologies Vice Commander Deon, but we cannot be too careful." The guard looked genuinely apologetic. Pointing a rifle at a vice commander, and one as famous as Deon, was a big taboo, but he also couldn't just believe in Deon's identity so easily.

Deon nodded and didn't show any discontent, making the soldier feel relieved. He kept his gun pointed at Deon, but he placed his hand away from the trigger as a show of respect.

A minute later, a tall and imposing man…no, a tall and imposing woman appeared atop the camp wall. Deon looked up and smiled slightly with a nod.

"Lieutenant Puja, I am Vice Commander Deon of the 37th unit…may I come in?"

The tall and dark skinned woman squinted slightly, but she eventually nodded.

"Open the gate." Her gruff voice echoed out. The soldiers saluted and immediately got to work.

A small wooden door opened and an escort of four soldiers respectfully led Deon inside. He met Puja standing in the centre of the camp. Many people stared at them, but they all went back to their duties after she briefly glared around the area.

'Lieutenant Puja…the only lieutenant to lead a single unit in the mountain war troop. Supposedly, she's actually a refugee from a fallen nation, that's why her skin looks different to the others in this kingdom. The 1st unit holds 1,000 troops, the largest unit out of all the shaman units in this campaign. They are stationed here as a deterrent, to keep the peace between the camp encirclement.' Deon thought to himself.

"Vice Commander Deon…you wish to ascend past the encirclement?" The dark skinned woman got straight to the point.

"Indeed. I recently reached the peak stage of 1-Star and wish to explore the upper region."

"Alone?" She asked sharply.

"Yes, alone." Deon nodded. "I already have permission from Commander Reana, but if going alone is unacceptable to you, then-"

"It's fine." She interrupted and pondered for a moment. "But it's dangerous." Her gaze became serious.

Deon nodded slowly. He of course knew about the dangers of the upper region.

The upper region was the highest mile of mountain, an area that was separated from the remainder of the mountain by this encirclement of both Fan and Restari camps around the circumference. It was said that the rarest of spirits appeared in this place, something that was only discovered by both sides in the past two months.

The reason for this encirclement was simple…it was extremely difficult for big groups to travel in the treacherous upper region, and there were pretty much no lands big enough to build a proper, secure camp. Because of this, the two kingdoms came to an agreement.

They would create this encirclement of camps around the mountain's upper circumference, separating the top mile from all that below. This encirclement stopped anyone from casually entering the upper region. None of the camps in this encirclement were allowed to attack one another directly, in fact, all of these camps were basically exempt from battle.

Only small groups were to be sent into the upper region. If a group with more than 50 troops was discovered in the upper region, then the agreement would become void, or at least, the side that broke the agreement would be made to pay reparations if they wished for the agreement to continue.

They could send up as many people and as many groups as they wanted, but none with over 50 members. Both sides had actually stuck to this rule quite strictly, even fearing that they could break the rule by mistake if they encountered another group. For this reason, the groups they sent up numbered 25 at most, so even if two groups ran into one another and stopped to share information, it wouldn't be breaking the rule.

Mostly though, the groups sent up were even smaller than this. The main problem with the upper region was that the landscape was too chaotic and unstable, large groups simply weren't able to work together properly.

It was most common to send out groups of 25 split into 5 teams of 5, groups of 20 split into 2 teams of 10, or groups of 24 split into 3 teams of 8.

These teams stayed relatively nearby to the other teams in their group, so that they could quickly rush over to provide assistance if needed. This tactic allowed them to explore more land with the small teams whilst maintaining the safety of numbers, without breaking the agreement.

There were of course some small lonesome groups, or even individuals like Deon, who wanted to explore by themselves. The reason Deon came to the 1st unit to pass through the encirclement was because of the 1st unit's policy when it came to lone explorers. Basically, they allowed solitary individuals to enter and exit with no questions asked…not only that, but this entrance led to the most bloody battleground on Jing Mountain!

"You may pass through and explore on your own, but don't expect help from my unit if you find yourself in trouble. You may be a peak stage 1-Star shaman, but I have watched five shamans just like you enter the upper region alone, never to return. Only those 2-Star powerhouses can safely explore the upper region alone, especially those areas on the South East line."

Lieutenant Puja looked at Deon meaningfully. Seeing that he wasn't at all put off, she shook her head and sighed.

"How many returned alive?" Deon asked suddenly. "Peak stage 1-Star shamans who entered alone, I mean."

"Six." She replied bluntly. "Four of them were badly injured. One of them later died from their injuries."

"I see, thank you for informing me." Deon saluted and thanked her earnestly. This was valuable information.

Lieutenant Puja watched with no expression as Deon made his way out from the upper gate and entered the upper region.

"Lieutenant, why do they keep risking their lives like this? Not only is the upper region dangerous, but this is the most dangerous part of the upper region!" Someone appeared by her side and complained.

"They could also enter through another unit, it would be much less dangerous than here. The only reason that a peak stage 1-Star shaman would enter through the 1st unit, is because they want to enter the South East upper region battlefield."

Hearing this, the woman besides Puja shivered. She couldn't understand why anyone would want this.

Indeed, Deon's plan was to enter this very battlefield. This battlefield where large groups were limited in their ability to move about easily, was definitely the best place for him to kill!