Explorer's League

As Kearan walked back to the shack he observed his new, surprisingly well fitted, clothes. He wore a pair of brown pants that seemed to be made of some sort of animal hide, but Kearan had no idea what animal they were made from. They felt light and cool to the touch. The texture, while smooth, felt thick. Like if you were to get hit in the legs, the thickness might disperse some of the impact. His shirt was made of similar material but dyed a dark shade of grey mottled with black. He was pretty sure he could blend in pretty well at night, it almost looked like some sort of camouflage. Over that was a similarly colored cloak that reminded him of a forest rangers cloak from various movies and games he had seen before. To top it all off was a pair of dark brown leather boots that fit like a glove. He made for a rather dashing figure traipsing through the woods.

Kearan made it back to the cabin only to see quite a stunning sight. As he walked in he saw Celeste leaning over a cooking pot, but now she had removed her cloak. She was an absolutely gorgeous woman with honey brown hair that traveled to her mid back, her eyes brown with green flecks dancing about, and a lithe figure with just enough curves. It spoke of someone equal parts sexy and deadly. She was faintly smiling with a melancholic look in her eyes. Kearan was almost enraptured with the painting like scene.

Celeste turned to him and her eyes briefly lit up, before dimming even quicker and putting on a faint smile. "The food will be ready in a half hour or so. Just take a seat over by Draymarc so he doesn't get bored and bother me while I'm cooking." Kearan didn't have much experience with the opposite sex, but his slight lingering melancholy allowed him to keep his expression neutral as he calmly nodded. He may have come to terms with his situation but his emotions were still in turmoil as they sat inside his stomach fluttering like twenty pound butterflies. He though it was best to try to get some information from Draymarc so he could figure out what he was going to do.

Kearan saw a chair next to the rolled out cot Draymarc was still seated on like he hadn't moved since Kearan left to bathe. Kearan took a seat and asked the first question on his mind. "You said the Explorer's League cleared the forest? Who are they and you mentioned a town?" Draymarc looked at him with confusion before answering his question with a question. "I understand if you haven't heard of Red Wheat as it isn't a huge city but the Explorer's League is literally in every country everywhere, even if somewhat different due to local customs and laws. Where are you from? How did you get lost in the Bloodless Viel?"

Kearan was thinking carefully before he answered. As he decided to tell Draymarc everything, a sudden male emotionless voice entered his ears. It was the one from his weird dream, or transfer, or whatever it was called. "Warning! The Department of Broken Souls has sent other trial members to universe 98B, home of the Life Spirit advancement paths, and they have not always been greeted by local inhabitants in an.... acceptable way.. Trial Member MA7336 is not forbidden from sharing his orgins, but it is suggested to do so with utmost care. With this message we have fully complied with the Terms and Conditions of our contract. The Department Of Broken Souls will no longer contact you in any way. We expect great changes in you Trial Member MA7336. Good luck!"

As Kearan was trying to digest everything he just heard Draymarc interrupted his thoughts "Hey man, you alright? It was a simple question, I didn't mean to pry." Kearan broke out of his reverie not realizing how long he was silent. He decided to play dumb just for safeties sake. "Yeah sorry, it's just everything is fuzzy. I remember waking up all of a sudden and when I got out of bed everything went black. Then I was in the forest. I honestly don't remember much of anything before that." Draymarc frowned slightly before sighing. "It seems like you have been through allot lately. Don't worry, Celeste and I will help you. We won't try to pry into your past I promise" Kearan smiled gratefully and Draymarc just thought to himself 'this kid is the worst lier I have ever seen'.

Keaean was still a little freaked about the mention of less than acceptable greetings that the voice talked about. This combined with all the recent revelations, and face smacking reality he had faced in the last day, made him wonder why he wasn't freaking out so much. He has his little epiphany by the river which helped him overcome his previous unstable behavior, but he hadn't been able to come back from that before without his exercises. Kearan could still feel the flying bricks contained in his stomach, but not overwhelming him. Then he realized he felt a strange, subtle, warm energy flowing throughout his body. The strange feeling was keeping the emotions contained. It was like a forceful type of compartmentalization. It reminded him of when he just shoved everything in his closet, forcing it shut, that way his parents only saw his clean room and he didn't have to really 'deal' with all the garbage.

The bad analogy sent stabs of pain lancing though him due to the unwanted memory. A scene of blood splattered walls and mutilated corpses entered his mind as he started to hyperventilate. The emotions grew, fighting against the oppressing energy, as Kearan was shaking and covered in cold sweat. 'Five seconds. Five seconds.' he thought repeatedly until he started to breathe deeper. He mentally counted to five before deliberately breathing in and again when breathing out, just as his counselor taught him. He then used his visualization technique. Kearan saw a void within his innermost self and he reached out to it, calling it. Black shadows surged forth like ink black flames. They washed through his body, as he visualized them devouring all emotion and thought. He let them rage until he become hollow and unfeeling, before ushering them back into the void. The shadows receded, now sated from their meal, and vanished. This time he had truly eliminated all mental instability caused by his current situation, instead of just compartmentalizing. "Congratulations! You have overcome your mental instability. +10 exp to Mental Resilience."

Draymarc stared at Kearan as he started to breathe rapidly with his eyes shut tight. He grew a bit worried the kid might freak out, but his breathing slowed and he seemed to get himself under control. "Hey are you alright? Did you remember something?" Kearan opened his eyes slowly and turned towards him. Draymarc couldnt help but flinch back a little as he locked eyes with Kearan. He didn't feel fear from the boys stare, as it wasn't angry or threatening in any way. The eyes were just completely cold and utterly dead. Draymarc had witnessed eyes like that before in the slave markets. They were always worn by those who had lost everything, and everyone, they had ever loved. The eyes depicted an emptiness that could no longer be filled, or patched over. He didn't know what the boy had to endure in order to gain such a look, but he had to admit that even he was starting to pity him. Draymarc frowned and squashed the sudden emotions. He had to, Celeste needed this money. His pity wouldn't get in the way of him helping Celeste's sister. She deserved this more than any shit noble, or gilded lily living a life of comfort and pleasure.

Kearan felt genuinely touched by the sudden concern. After all, even though he had now fully adapted to his situation, it felt good to meet such kind people. It had been a long time since anyone had shown him such kindness. "I'm okay, thanks Draymarc. I just remembered something unpleasant from my past. Nothing that has any bearing on my current situation though. Could you please tell me more about the Explorers League and the surrounding area?"

Draymarc still frowned a little before assenting. "First I will start with the Explorer's League. The league is the largest organization on the planet. We have branches in every kingdom and hundreds of thousands of members. Of course each branch is led by a branch head who is responsible for ensuring that that branch follows all laws and customs of the land. This often leads to dissent and small conflicts inside the organization. The League Head will often have to step in to mediate. The League Head is the current strongest Explorer who gained his position purely own his own merit. The position of League Head is mostly clerical and acts as a figure head. After all, there is no way the kingdoms would allow such a large force to act within their borders if there was a real threat of such an organization mobilizing. The league is mainly responsible for exploring any unknown lands, exterminating monsters, and fulfilling various requests for people. For example, Celeste and I are a part of a group hired to clear this part of the outer forest by the mayor of Red Wheat town. Red Wheat town is a medium sized town on the border of the Bloodless Viel that has been expanding rapidly. As a border city to the forest, a large number of adventures gather there in order to explore the Bloodless Viel. This forest is largely unexplored and offers many valuable goods. Back to the point. We are the rear scouts who burn all remains, and remove any lingering scents in the area, so no more monsters are attracted here. Otherwise the cleaning operation would fail before we could chop down all the trees, and expand the border. So basically we are the quality control after a successful operation." Draymarc laughed at his bad joke before continuing.