What it means to be strong

The journey so far had been extremely slow. Two days had passed and there had been nothing strange happening. The two guard teams had split up, stationing half in the front and half in the back. There had been a couple extremely large insects on their path but they had been swiftly delt with by the teams before they could even get close to the carriage. 

"Have you ever seen an insect monster before, Markus?" Michael asked. "No, I haven't had much experience outside of my home. It was very strict so I ran when I could." Fraan looked a bit confused, "Wait how old are you again Markus?" 

"Hmmm... I don't actually know. Like 16 ish I believe, something like that." The other two nodded their heads in response. "Welp, you're with us now." Laying back down they got ready for another sleepless night. They were going to enter the real maze parts of the caverns. 

"Hey Markus, have you ever though of becoming a mage?" Fraan asked. "Or a knight?" Michael quickly interjected. "To be honest I don't really understand the whole mage or knight thing. As I said previously I didn't have that much exposure to new things in the past." 

"Ah right, well there are two paths of power that people follow here. The mage path and the knight path. Each path has 10 stages and each stage gets more incredibly powerful." Michael says, trying to emphasize the knight path as the superior path.

Fraan rolled his eyes "Well we slowly gain power through gathering ambient energy called Purity. It allows us to gain mystical powers through strengthening different aspects of our body. So, in a sense you can be both a knight and a mage but it takes more energy and time, so most people just pick the one path with small deviations."

"For instance, I'm a stage one knight. I've strengthened my bones to hit harder, next I'll improve my muscles." Michael boasted. "And I'm a rank 1 mage with an improvement in my minds gate, the purity management center. Knights focus on their body while mages focus on their spirit." Fraan replied.

"Alright, is there a better choice for certain jobs or positions? Or do you just gain power as you grow?" Markus asked. "Well... I mean sure mages are smarter-" "-AND knights are stronger-" Fraan suppressed the urge to hit him. "Ugh, while different paths give different strengths most jobs don't require you to be one over the other."

"Sure, there are some things like the different squads and teams but overall, most civilians have normal jobs while not focusing on paths of power." Now Markus understood a bit more. This world was different from the slave home he knew, they had something mysterious floating in the air. 

"So how does one gather purity then?" Markus asked. "Well the most people usually have to learn how to sense it and them gather it somehow. I usually meditate but idiot over there exhausts himself and lets the ambient purity strengthen himself. Our ways are pretty common but you'll find your own way, and if not you can follow one of the SUPER basic manuals in any library."

Michael looked hurt and grabbed his sword, "I'm gonna go train." Huffing until he reached the door. Realizing they were still moving he plopped back to the ground and grunted. "Stupid smartass," "Bumbling oaf,"

The two argued but they were still friends. The carriage, now in silence, allowed Markus to fall back into slumber. They would make their first camp stop tomorrow and he needed all the energy he had to get ready.

Sleep came quickly for Markus, but it passed just as fast. Awakening to the sound of wooden wheels coming to a screeching halt, Markus sat up and grabbed the nearest heavy thing he could knock someone out with. Sounds of weapons escaping their sheath and chants begun to be sung across the cave. 

Markus tore away the cloth sheet hiding the three of them inside the carriage. Fraan was already awake with Michael grabbing their weapons. When he tore open the sheet he could see carnage. All around the caravan were giant ant creatures, around 3 feet tall they climbed along the walls and ceiling. 

Most of them were charging the carriage with mouths open and claws scrapping against the ground. However there were three larger ants with gray colored exoskeletons compared to the whiter smaller variants'. They were standing still, almost as if waiting for something, but Markus was the only one who noticed them watching.

The two middle aged men who Markus had spoken to back at the stocking depot were out slaughtering the incoming smaller ants in order to make it easier on their groups. The one wearing purple held a war axe in his left while shield bashing an ants skull into the wall with his right. It took just one swing to knock its small head off of its shoulders. 

The other man wearing orange had stopped and closed his eyes right in the middle of the battle field, different to the way the sorcerer did in his old life. Then all of the sudden the ground shook and a giant earthen figure started attacking the ants. "Wow an earth golem," Fraan said amazed. 

The two worked well together, shooting fireballs and cleaving heads from shoulders. Their teams work in the same way. Different weapons shooting across the battle field with deadly accuracy. Magical abilities erupted from the very ground as lava and fire burnt the oxygen around them. 

One of the younger women in the orange clothing however was in the backlines. She didn't throw fireballs or summon earth to pelt at her enemies, no. Instead she held a giant staff with red and green crystals imbedded in its bark. Whenever someone on the battlefield got hurt they retreated back to here. She then casted a green ish glow on them and their bodies started to regenerate faster. 

There wasn't much for them to do so far. Most of the ants were being squashed by the squad leaders and their members, the rest were quickly dispatched through the regular guards of the caravan. The monsters rush was manageable... for the first 15 minutes. Most of the guard team was exhausted even with their captains help but they continued to fight through the hoard. 

One of the smaller ants managed to squeeze through the crowd and charge towards the caravan. Markus looked just at the right time to see it jumping at him, three seconds away from tearing off his face. His new life, his peace, was about to be taken away by the smallest creature in the hoard. Picking up the heavy broomstick he had by his side, he positioned it in front of his body so it got caught in its slobbering jaws. 

When the ant landed on top of him Markus swung the left side of his body with all the strength he had in him. Managing to roll the ant onto its back Markus lifted the broom above his head... and slammed it into its neck. He had to deal with its legs scrapping against his lower stomach but that was nothing he hasn't felt before. 

If it was just pain, Markus could manage. 

"Holy shit, MARKUS!" Finally someone had noticed his struggle. Michael came sprinting out of the carriage at his full speed and pinned the small ant to the ground. Fraan followed out and started saying some random unintelligible words. A small amount of earth grabbed the violent arms of the ant and held it still, hopeless. 

"Are you ok Markus? Do you need to go see the healer?" Fraan asked in a hurry, clearly concerned about one of his only friends. Markus didn't answer, he picked up the broomstick and stabbed the ant through the eye socket. A horrible screech echoed among the cries of the armies but fell on silent ears.

Standing still Markus let himself calm down. His breathing rugged and rapid. His freedom was almost taken away, by something so insignificant. The smallest little ant threatened his safety, he could not let that happen, not again. "Markus! Are you okay?" Fraan questioned again. "Yeah, yeah I think so. It just surprised me and clawed my skin. Not enough to break it though." Nodding in reply Fraan sat down again. 

The three of them sat down together, watching the carnage that the squad masters were able to unleash against the ants. The three larger variants had retreated five minutes ago. They must have found the fight to be against them pointless. "They were most likely just scouts for the hive. Making sure that we weren't charging to exterminate them. The three mid-stage ants in the background I mean."

Sitting in silence the three tried to make sure there were no more stragglers attacking the caravan.