Chapter 10

Enshrouded in darkness, Raine drifted through the realm of sleep slowly as she wondered what she was going to be tasked with the next day. As she opened her eyes, she wasn't met with darkness, or even just a bed surrounded by the scenery of the buildings and bustling soldiers of the stronghold they were in. She was in a room. It was a nicely furnished, well-lit, cozy room. She cautiously sat up, looking around the room, and to her surprise, she saw Jada and a few soldiers waiting in the doorway. Something was different about her though, she was a bit colder and a bit more critical as she glared at Raine. "Good morning, miss. I'll de-brief you on your mission in private once you get ready, so here are your new clothes." Jada said, walking over to Raine and handing her neatly folded clothes and armor with a cloak. "Come out when you're done, alright?" Jada said, turning and closing the door on her way out.

Raine inspected the clothes first, seeing that it was primarily black besides the gray armor, and was made of breathable material. It even came with a mask just in case that helped. Raine put on the clothes and walked out of the room, seeing Jada alone. "I'm ready for my de-briefing," Raine said, focused and ready to work. "Don't remind me. You're too nice for your own good, you know that? I would be pretty angry if someone just ordered me to work out of the blue." Jada said, rubbing her neck as she motioned for Raine to follow her. "Well, I assume there is still a mission?" Raine asked. "Yeah, there is. We need you to help the soldiers with defending a hoard of monsters near our mining facility. This barrier is actually supported by an outside force, not us. There are some materials that grow here that help us to control how it moves. It's kind of like magic, but it's not coming from our mana stores." Jada said, demonstrating by taking a little dust and throwing it, causing a bubble to appear and fall into her hands. Raine jumped back with a shout, a bit surprised by the spectacle, then she stepped a little closer to inspect the bubble. "Is… is this made out of mana? That's… weird, I thought that the Demon Kingdom was the only place with such dense mana stores, and their borders haven't moved for half a century." Raine said, touching the bubble carefully, not wanting to damage it.

"Yeah, it's concerning, to say the least, but it seems to be alright for now. All we needed to do was put some of this special dust all around the perimeter of our camp and it just … happened. We're still looking into the soils in this area, but that's not for you to worry about. Follow me, I'll be the one de-briefing you, and my partner, Jeffery, will be leading you to your assignment since he's quite familiar with the area." Jada said, motioning for Raine to follow her as she patrolled the halls. They both went into a dark room with a light in the middle of it, and Jeffery was already waiting there for them to arrive. "Have a seat. Our leader will be giving you the necessary information on this mission.." Jeffery said, slipping behind the two and pulling out a chair for Jada and then Raine to sit in before retiring back to his spot behind Jada.

"Let's start this debriefing," Jada said, her expression turning dark. Jeffery swiftly pulled out a map and a few chess pieces, laying them out on the table, and gave Raine a little map of her own. "We're here right now. Your objective is to stop a hoard of monsters from completely demolishing another one of our mining facilities while also trying to protect the town and its inhabitants. We have plenty of soldiers stationed in our mining facilities and the town, just in case, but I doubt that will be enough. We need power. You stumbling upon this place has just enabled me to finally have that power." Jada said, carefully moving the chess pieces across the map from point A to point B. Raine then looked at her map, wondering if that was all she needed to do.

"Don't underestimate this. Last I heard they were getting swarmed by hundreds of mobs. A variety, too, and they were marching in unison… They were like an army, and they were definitely waiting for us to make a move. How they knew exactly where we were and when to attack to catch us off guard, that's a matter for me to deal with. Just eliminate them all and make sure that the rig isn't damaged, okay? We need those rigs in order to keep this barrier up, understand?" Jada said, looking Raine in the eyes to make sure she gets the gravity of the situation. "Yes, I understand. Will I be going with reinforcements to help us, or just me and your assistant?" Raine said, thinking about her time in the cave. I've heard that hybrids, especially demon hybrids, have some pretty powerful spells so it'll only be you and Jeffery going on this journey.

Raine glanced at Jeffery, taking note of his sword placed neatly on his belt and a shield strapped securely onto his back. Jeffery noticed this and swiftly checked his watch before simply stating, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but it seems we are a bit behind schedule. We must make haste." before walking to the door and waiting for further orders. "Wow, you're quite eager. Guess this is the end of our meeting. Good luck, Raine." Jada said, getting up as Jeffery swiftly swiped up the chess pieces and rolled up the map, then opened the door for the two ladies to walk out. "T-Thank you." Raine stammered as she followed Jada to their departure point. "It's my job," Jeffery stated plainly, following the ladies to their destination. After walking through the maze of hallways that surround the training facility and cafeteria, they arrived at the other side of the peculiar stronghold.

"This is where you'll be starting your journey. On the map, you're here, and you'll follow this trail up to here. It'll take about two days, so I've prepared a pack for each of you in order to camp in the forest at night." Jada said, pointing out their starting point on Raine's map and tracing the trail with her finger until she got to their destination. She then gave the map back to Raine and showed them their packs before leaving them to their own devices. Jeffery's pack was notably bigger than Raine's, and before they set out on their journey Raine walked up to him to try to help. "Um… J-Jeffery?" Raine said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Yes, what is it?" Jeffery said, turning to face Raine. "I can carry some of your stuff for you," Raine said, pointing to the camping supplies. Jeffery stayed silent for a moment, looking at Raine suspiciously. "You're really willing to do that? You're quite the strange hybrid." He said, turning back around and walking down the trail. Raine hurriedly caught up with him, staying behind him and staying alert.

"You can relax, ma'am. Around here our defenses are nearly unbreakable. You'd need an army at least twice the size of the one we're facing at the moment in order to even get close to this fortress." Jeffery stated with a small smile on his face. He then noticed this and quickly returned to his stern expression as he picked up the pace out of embarrassment. Raine struggled a bit to keep up since he was much taller than her and his stride was much larger. She still kept quiet, though she wasn't sure why his presence made her so anxious. They kept up the pace until it was dark, and they got three-quarters of the way there until it was pitch black and it'd be too dangerous to go any farther. They had brought torches to light the path, but with the cover of darkness, there could be bandits or monsters lurking about. "We should set up camp now, come with me," Jeffery said, leading the way to their campsite.

They stopped at a small gap in the forest and set up their tents there. They also got a fire going and placed their torches around the campsite so they could clearly see if there was danger. Raine was the first one to keep watch, though she volunteered for it since Jeffery was the one who primarily set up camp. She stayed on alert, occasionally standing up and patrolling their campsite to make sure that there was nobody there. She would also make sure that the fire was kept alive and that the torches were still burning. After four hours, as they agreed to previously, Raine went over to the tent to wake Jeffery up. She knelt down and opened the tent before stumbling backward in fright. Jeffery was sitting there, awake. "You are a good scanner, but you'd most likely hear an intruder before you see one, so you don't have to patrol. I'll go out now." Jeffery said, crawling out of the tent and going to the campfire to sit down. Raine took off her armor and crawled into the sleeping bag, dozing off quickly and wondering what kind of monsters she'd encounter next.

As Raine was sleeping, she had a dream. It was a vivid dream, one of a red battlefield with the shadows of her countless victims, screaming at her to help them. She knelt down, covering her ears and crying to make it stop, but they were relentless. After a while, she snapped. She let out a blood-curdling scream and just saw red. That's when Raine woke up in the sleeping bag, her breathing ragged and sporadic as she sat up. She was met with Jeffery sitting there, rummaging through his pack and the brightness of the morning sun shining into the tent. Jeffery noticed that Raine was awake and stopped looking in his pack. "We should get going now. I'll pack everything up while you rest so we can both fight effectively." Jeffery said, looking away as Raine put on her armor. He then put everything away and into his pack before setting off to finish the journey to their destination.

This time, for some reason, Raine's senses were heightened. It was like she could hear everything around her, and it drove her to borderline paranoia. She would look over her shoulder and check in with Jeffery as they both headed to the mining facility. At one point, Raine was even leading as they got closer to the facility, sensing an impossibly large amount of monsters there. It was a faint sense, but she could feel in her soul that they were there. She noticed that she was leading and quickly retreated behind Jeffery, not wanting him to think that she was leaving him behind. "We're close," Jeffery said, his hand resting on his sword's handle. Raine summoned her mana sword, getting ready to fight as her crimson eyes glowed brightly in anticipation.

When they got to the mining facility, they were both shocked. The monsters weren't like an army, they were an army. A tough one to boot. There were legions of goblins and orcs, all led by Grand orcs clad in black armor with a giant sword. Some of the orcs had armor too. There were even undead archers and in the back, almost hidden in the unsurpassable hoard, was a demon riding in on a red dragon. It was a terrifying display that showed the brute force that the demon army holds. The army had already started their attack, sending a rain of arrows on the facility as their goblins and orcs rushed in to destroy the facility. The demon was with a group of archers, a group of orcs, and a group of skeletons on horseback. Raine stopped for a second, as did Jeffery, but then almost as if second nature, Raine rushed towards the battlefield.

As she got closer to the battle, the metallic smell of blood filled her nose as she heard the screams of the soldiers and staff alike stabbing at her heart like tiny needles. Raine started her attack by trying to save as many people as possible. "What are you doing, Raine?! Get their commander and the army will fall!" Jeffery said, running at Raine's heels. "Well, I'll go deal with him then. Please, save these people!" Raine said, her voice shaking slightly as she turned and rushed towards the commander. Jeffery just scoffed and unsheathed her sword, preceding to massacre the goblins as he worked with the soldiers. The path to the commander wasn't easy, with Grand orcs and their hundreds of goblins blocking Raine's path. Raine just smiled, remembering all the lessons that her dad taught her. She first started by slicing the Grand orc's head off and casting <Inferno> on the goblins below her.

As soon as she landed she took off on a dead sprint towards the leader, her blade shining as bright as her eyes. She cast another spell, <Eternal Retribution> on the undead with bows, and decided to just deal with the skeletons with her sword. The skeletons were sent rushing towards her with their lances ready, and only the most skilled out of that legion even touched her. She had a few scratches on her arms and legs, but she still advanced toward the leader. She was about to cast a spell at the leader before being overcome with dilapidating fear. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, and couldn't even breathe. All she could do was watch as he dragon belched out a wall of fire at her.

She put up a mana shield, though she knew it would shatter under the power of a fire dragon's attack. She just closed her eyes and waited to be hit. Jeffery was rushed to her aid, but he was too late, Raine got hit with the dragon's notorious fire breath, leaving her unconscious on the ground. Jeffery, enraged at this, decided to try to fight the demon with a few of their top soldiers. "Alright everyone, it's us or him! It seems like he's about to make his move anyway, so let's show them what we've got!!!" Jeffery roared, invoking the spirited cries of inspired soldiers to echo through the blood-stained battlefield. Raine tried to get up, to tell them to run from the monster in front of them, but she couldn't. She was again drifting through the realm of sleep.

She once again had a dream, but this time it was of her father. He was looking down upon her as he help his obsidian blade. Raine, who was wounded and kneeling, was looking up at him with a feeling that Raine had never felt before. She had been scared before, sure, and she had felt protective before too. This feeling was different. It was much stronger than anything she had felt before, it was a searing rage that coursed through her blood. She grew hot as she rose to her feet and stepped closer to her father, and then a powerful fear overtook her as her father glared at her and unsheathed his blade. She stood as still as a statue as her father walked towards her with a smile on his face before she heard the sounds of her friends. She couldn't see them, and she didn't even know if it was a figment of her imagination or not, but that was the push she needed. She grinned as a surge of power and emotion swept through her and she bolted towards her dad, and then she woke up.

She was still on the battlefield as she saw the bodies of young men and women laying lifeless around her, and she ignored the stench of blood assailing her nostrils as she rose to her feet. She saw Jeffery in his enraged state as he attacked the dragon's legs with the other soldiers. He was somehow still alive, which was a miracle considering most of the soldiers he brought with him had died, and the demon turned its attention to the powerful soldier. The demon, clad head-to-toe in black armor, made the strange decision to jump off of the dragon and deal with Jeffery himself. Raine, seeing this, got filled with the same flood of emotions as in the dream as she saw this, and her body moved of its own accord. She was in front of Jeffery in a few moments, which was just enough time for her to summon her crimson blade and protect Jeffery.

Instead of attacking, the demon just stopped its advance as she saw Raine. He seemed to be quite stunned and muttered, "How did she get here? No- How did she awaken?" before snapping out of his dazed state and getting ready to fight, his dark axe shining in the waning light of the setting sun. Raine readied herself, knowing that this will be a difficult fight.