Chapter 11: Furze Alliance

It was deep in the night. The sky was filled with shining stars, pulling a silver veil over the ground.

Inside the camp, groups of young men and girls all sat together, circling the campfire as they laughed and messed around. It was very lively.

After a few months of living together, they had gotten closer to one another.

"Come, Leylin, I'll introduce the both of you to each other. This is Yarfuan, Viscount Normier's descendent!"

"Nice to meet you! I've heard lots about you trashing Ourin!" Yarfuan stretched his hand out as he smiled.

"Nice to meet you!" A genuine smile was drawn on Leylin's face as he shakes Yarfuan's hand.

'Are you okay there, Seely?'

'I'm fine. I'm actually enjoying the campfire more than the people so don't worry about me. Go do your thing...and if you feel guilty about not beating Ourin but still receiving the praises, know that's I don't care about things with no benefits for. More importantly, you could have also defeated Ourin yourself even if I weren't there. I just helped you because your my brother and if I did that, it would be more efficient. Over all, it was beneficial to the both us. You have changed brother. You might be cold and scheming right now but it was better than you being a waste like in the past. This journey was both better for us since its obvious it changed us.'

"These are the sisters, Gwen, and Gwylith, they are your admirers!" George led Leylin in a circle around the campfire, introducing him.

"Nice to meet you! Mister Leylin!" The sisters looked exactly the same. They each had a pair of glittering aquamarine eyes, identical voices, and some red blush on their faces.

"Nice to meet you, beautiful ladies! It's an honor to meet you!" Leylin placed his hand on his chest and did a noble's greeting.

Seeing the two girls blushing as they ran, George looked like he was about to faint.

"Brat! You're blessed! The two of them seem to be interested in you! They are twins! Twins!" George's hands were dancing around as he said this, with some heartache.

"Okay! I believe that in a time when supplies are starting to decline, you should have another purpose to organizing this banquet, and not just simply to search for lovers!" Leylin said.

As for his personal needs, he was still able to restrain them. Although he didn't mind letting them out, that also depended on the location.

"It's good that you're able to see this point!" George said. The smiling expression on his face disappeared and was replaced with a leader's presence.

He strode to the center of the area and banged the silver spoon in his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Sorry to bother you for awhile, but please shift your gazes over here!"

George's prestige was still rather high among this group of people...well except for Seely, he doesn't even take George seriously. The surrounding crowd all stopped what they were doing and shifted their gazes to the center.

"Firstly! I would like to welcome a two new comrade joining us! They are the two Farlier brothers. He's Leylin and that boy is Seely!" George announced in a loud voice and clapped.

'That boy? Brother, can I beat up George after this?'

'Yes of you ask to practice with sword with him but I thought you were hiding your true strength in front of everybody or you wouldn't have threaten Ourin so badly'

'Hehe I'm just kidding. Only kidding but I really feel punching George right now when he introduced me as 'that boy'.

"Pa Pa Pa!" An intense, wave-like clapping sound could be heard from the surroundings but they mainly clap for Leylin.

Leylin got up and made a greeting towards the surroundings. Seely pissed off at George didn't bother to show proper etiquette this time.

"Okay!" George waved his hand, stopping the clappings and continued, "I set up this small alliance to guarantee that every single acolyte from our Furze Alliance would safely reach the academy and become a well-respected Lord Magus. And now, fellow comrades, trouble has arisen and it is time for us to work together!"

George's expression turned a little solemn, and even his tone was grave. Being infected by him, the surrounding atmosphere also became a little quiet. Only George's voice still echoed in the air.

"We are nearly out of the wilderness and are about to enter the Great Plains of Death. This is the last stage of our journey, and also the most dangerous part!"

"Great Plains of Death? That name again." Leylin was surprised, and immediately searched through his original memories.

According to the memories in the A.I Chip, the current continent that Leylin was in was very vast, filled with many kingdoms and without a united name.

Originally, the Furze Alliance that Leylin joined belonged to the southeast corner of the continent. They seemed to be one of the first batches of students. The travelling party had headed North, passing through many dukedoms and kingdoms, and now already reached the north side of the continent.

After passing through the wilderness, there was a long patch of narrow plains. Opposite to the plains was rumored to be an ocean.

And this piece of plains was filled with all sorts of dangers, and had always been a restricted zone for humans! Rumor was that the plains were filled with all sorts of beasts; even the most ferocious bandits didn't dare to enter the plains. Every part of the plains was filled with corpses of mercenaries, adventurers, and travelers!

Right now, the Magus acolyte-filled travelling party was about to pass through this Great Plains of Death, to the coastline.

"With the protection of the black robed and white-robed Lords, we'll definitely be able to pass through it!" A fat boy said as the crowd went into an uproar.

"Correct! With the protection of the Lord Magi and Knights, our possibility of passing through here is rather high! But when those Lords are unable to manage, we will encounter death. It could be me, it could be you, do you want to experience such an outcome?"

George asked.

"Definitely not!" The fat boy shouted as his face turned red and sat back down.

"Correct! Our motive is to reach the Magus Academy opposite the ocean and to become well respected Magi. But the cruel screening will begin now. According to the information that my father obtained, there will be large amounts of death in the Great Plains of Death in every single Magus travelling party!"

George went on, revealing a small part of cruelty.

"What...What should be done?" Lots of young men and women panicked, and they looked at George with ashen faces, hoping that he would have a plan.

"Of course, the reason we formed this alliance was for that purpose!" George stated loudly.

[Chapter 9 is now available]

'Hmm? New information huh? Time to plan for the next few days.'

"We've already discussed this with the other traveling parties. We will swap positions with them so that our Furze Alliance can occupy a few carriages that are close to each other! We've also gotten the permission from the black robes!"

"Furthermore, us noble males will take turns being guards to protect the carriages! Of course, this is with the caveat that we are merely assisting the black robe Knights. As for the beautiful ladies, the logistics and cleaning duties will be up to you!"

"As for the weapons, you guys also do not have to worry. We've already made our preparations and even got hold of a crossbow!" George called out his plans.

The youths of the alliance all began talking amongst themselves, and after some discussion, most were in favour of this plan.

"Okay, we agree!"

"Wait! I can provide help that will greatly help us."

George was confused what kind of help this boy with weak body can accomplish.

"Give me the crossbow. I can aim more accurately so the arrows won't be wasted and the enemy will be hit. I promise this in the name of the Farlier Family."

'You want the crossbow, brother Seely?'

'Yes, brother also it's not a lie that I can aim well.'

"I'm sorry but I plan on using this crossbow myself and I don't even know if you have the strength to use this." George basically is saying "you can't do it, stop wasting my time."

"Then let me show you."

George was starting to get angry when a sudden hand rested on his right shoulder.

"George, this might be hard to believe but my brother's word are true. He will be able to hit more accurately and efficiently so I also think you should let him have it." Leylin insisted.

George was in a standpoint now. He didn't want to let others possess his crossbow so early at this stage but he also didn't want Leylin who has great fighting strength to be dissatisfied with him.

"Okay Leylin. Seely, show me you skill! Then we shall see how good you are. Prepare some targets!"

Some youths grabbed some empty bottles and put them far from where the campsite is.

"Since you say that you're aim is accurate them you must be able to hit at least 10 bottles out of 14 while being restricted by the lack of light to see. You can now begin." George smirk and thought to himself "this kid couldn't do it even if he was 1 meter near the bottles"

System... target those bottles and guide me.

[

Targets, locked on. Commencing guide.]

After 15 seconds...

"George....and everybody else, you may now close your mouths. I earned this crossbow so it's mine now. Any objections?"

"No... no... Keep it. Keep that crossbow and use it to protect the members of the Furze Alliance when the time comes."

"Naturally."

I gave my brother a big thumbs up.

He replied with a mental message: Congrats for earning that crossbow.

The other youths around us had pleasant expressions but most of them were surprised. Well I can't blame them for being shocked to see a person they thought was the weakest suddenly became an expert at using the crossbow. With this, at least in the Furze Alliance, no one would dare disrespect the Farlier brothers.

After that the position of the captain of the guards, it was inevitable that George would take that position. Striking while the iron was hot, George began to hand out some missions.

The feast continued afterward, but it was clear to see that most of the enthusiasm in the crowd had long since been lost.

"Originally I had planned on giving you a cross blade, but it seems there is no longer any need now!"

George held up his cup as he walked towards Leylin, pointing at the sword hilt fastened at his waist.

"Well you can always give it to my brother if you want. When the crossbow runs out of arrows then Seely can help by using a crossblade"

"Is he also an expert at using the crossblade?"

'Seely, should I tell him?'

'I've already let them see my skills at aiming, might as well use a crossblade too.' Seely replied

"I don't know about being an expert but he is as skilled as me when we were training."

"If that's true then there is no reason I shouldn't give this to him. I trust you can give it your brother yourself."

"Certainly."

"On another topic, Is it true that every single time a Magus troop enters the Great Plains, there are many deaths?" Leylin asked.

"Of course, the best case scenario is that only one or two will die, but there have been times where at least ten have perished!" George shrugged his shoulders. "Otherwise why else would I spend so much money and energy in order to establish an alliance that would be dissolved when we reach the coastline?"

"Wherever you plant a seed, there will be some form of profit to be had!" Leylin laughed.

No matter what, as long as everyone grouped together, then their odds of survival would increase. And any of the surviving acolytes would definitely hold some goodwill towards George and his family. As long as one of these acolytes were to become a Magus, then the returns would be great.

But even if there were no survivors, it wasn't a big loss to him, either way, right?

"Aside from your swordsmanship, your intelligence has really impressed me!" George's eyes sparkled. "The things I did were all things that my father told me to."

"Well then, are you willing to help me?" George extended his hand.

"As you wish!" Leylin laughed, linking his hand to George's.

Seely just watched at the sides, drinking his beverage.