Meeting An Old Foe

News of the Apotheosis of Lineage's movement arrived, and the village assembled in an orderly manner.

All who were able to fight prepared mentally, making sure to give their goodbyes to their families in case of the worst scenarios before storming off towards the gate.

Whether they were the elders, hunters, or even the novice hunters still in training. Everyone was ready to give their own life in order to protect their home.

In one house in particular, a small dispute was ongoing.

"Icrin, you're only fourteen years old, and Rentaro, you said you were eighteen? The two of you shouldn't be partaking in this battle."

Icrin tightly clenched his hands into fists, looking at the ground in dissent. He slowly raised his head, his eyes looking into Elder Astrona's with determination.

"Gramps, anywhere else it's common for a fourteen year old, and even younger, to battle with their life on their line. No matter what, I have to be there with everyone else. To protect our home just like father and mother did!"

Astrona stayed silently, releasing a long sigh, "And what about you, Rentaro?"

Rentaro looked at Icrin and felt the influence of his determination, "Like Icrin, even though it hasn't been for long, I consider this place my home too!"

The room was quiet and Astrona no longer objected. He shook his head dispiritedly, "The two of you, don't do anything reckless. I'm going to make a huge feast once all of this is over, just remember that."

Together, the group went off towards the armory. And like their previous outing into the forest zones, Rentaro took out two daggers and a set of five throwing needle weapons while Icrin took out a bo staff. Likewise, they both grabbed a light set of leather and metal plated armor.

Nearing the gate, the group bumped into the quintet of Haz, Tsyun, Phu, Ichi, and Shin. Though unlike their usual rowdiness, their countenances were stern.

Aside from their two groups, many other hunters and fit people of the village gathered under the command of the elders and Patriarch Nero.

Discreetly, Astrona gave a concise explanation in regards to Kyon, drawing the interest of many. Shaking their heads in regret, everyone knew now wasn't the time for further inquiry.

"Everyone," Patriarch Nero cut in, his white and black robe fluttering in the wind, "We will be separating into smaller groups, dividing our Grand Elders and Elders among each group for the sake of minimizing danger."

Slowly, everyone was divided into teams, though Nero made sure those placed in a team were familiar with one another for the sake of being able to maximize their synergies.

Upon reaching the quintet of Haz and Tsyun, Patriarch Nero paused, 'I don't want to send Tsyun out there, but there's now way I could talk him out of going. Same with Icrin, and even Rentaro.'

Knowing there was nothing he could do, Nero decided on Haz's quintet pairing with Rentaro's group. He also assigned the Grand Elder, Kia-Nian, to watch over them.

"Kia-Nian, I'm trusting you to take care of them."

Kia-Nian nodded intently, "Leave them to me, Patriarch. I'll make sure they all make it back alive."

Despite assigning Kia-Nian to their group, Nero still felt it wasn't enough. Not to mention, he still felt guilt for not preventing the previous attacks and deaths, 'I can't make the same mistakes as last time.'

"Quint, I'm trusting you to watch over them as well."

Having Elder Quint, the strongest of the village at Core Formation Stage 1 accompany their group, Nero knew he did his best. He couldn't allocate any more strength to them, lest the other groups lack the power needed to deal with any unexpected attacks.

Quint could sense the pressure on Nero's shoulders as he immediately agreed, "They'll be fine in our care."

It was time to depart, with each group going to an assigned location along the village's outer walls.

If possible, they would've preferred to wait within the village for any possible signs of an attack. Considering the "Corpse Soldiers" as they've been coined, it wasn't the most plausible of solutions.

After all, such beasts would charge forth on the primal instincts to kill. Even if they fought the beasts, dismembering their bodies, there were sure to be many casualties to those who didn't cultivate, the kids, elderly, and those with weaker cultivations within the village.

For their sake, they'd go to the outskirts of the village, forcing the fights to stay outside the walls.

Just before leaving, Astrona quietly called Rentaro from a distance.

"Rentaro, please keep an eye on Icrin out there."

"Of course, Elder Astrona. Like you said, he and I are already sworn brothers."

"Yeah," Astrona smiled softly, "I guess we never got around to doing a ceremony for that, did we?"

Icrin was eavesdropping in their conversation, "Gramps, you said you were making us a feast after this, didn't you? We can throw a small ceremony then!"

Splitting paths, they left with smiles on their faces. Burning within, they all just felt another reason to survive this ordeal.

The forest gave off eerie vibes as they entered, even the crisp crackling of twigs beneath their feet was uncomfortable.

"We'll be setting up our post nearby," Quint quietly explained as he observed their surroundings.

Rentaro followed along quietly, transmitting mentally, "Kyon, how good are your senses?"

"Well, I'd like to say that my senses have sharpened with my age like a fine wine. That I could feel even the slightest change from the disruption of the wind patterns itself... But my senses are probably inferior to Tsyun's and your group's leaders—especially in my current state."

Kyon sounded off bitterly, his pudgy body laying atop Roy lazily.

Breaking the silence, Tsyun suddenly paused as he knelt down, placing his hand onto the ground.

"I can feel slight vibrations, there's movement around us."

Quint and Kia-Nian were surprised, their thoughts similar.

'What happened to Tsyun that night? Ever since then, his senses have been much sharper. What did they do to him?'

All the same, they expected the worse to come their way. Only by expecting the worst they wouldn't let their guard up, so they hoped.

But just then, two figures made their appearance in front of them. One of which gave off an aura of the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment, while the other was Edalas, his aura at Core Formation stage 1.

Behind them, Quint and Kia-Nian found the familiar figures of Foren, the undead wolf, and Shuren, the porcupine-like beast.

"Well, Well, Well, We are already meeting so soon?" Edalas laughed out with a small smile, waving his left arm.

His right sleeve was empty, having lost it in his previous fight with Quint. Even so, he seemed to be without the slightest trace of a grudge. Whether he simply didn't show it on his face, or his research meant so much that an arm wasn't of value to him was unknown.

"It's definitely quite the surprise," Quint continued sarcastically, "Why not explain how you've found us specifically?"

From above came the cawing of a bird, as if to give the simplest of answers.

Edalas continued with a small smirk, "As you can see, I've progressed in terms of my research in controlling the corpses of beasts. Or as you would call them, 'Corpse Soldiers?' Quite an interesting name, though it's a bit redundant, no?"

"Anyways, I'd like to introduce my assistant, Jean. While I'm focused on bloodlines and mutations, he's much more focused on researching corpses and their manipulation."

Near Rentaro, Tsyun balled his hands into fists, interrupting in pent up irritation, "You talk a lot, don't you?" His voice was gritty without the usual calm.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're doing well too, Tsyun! Let's be honest, the gift I gave you has benefited you greatly, hasn't it? Your Krose bloodline miraculously broke through to the next stage, I gave you another bloodline, and their combined effects awakened another bloodline from your mother's side."

Edalas continued manically in excitement, "You're truly the breakthrough I needed in my research! Naturally, I'm looking forward to seeing what other effects have come of it. I expect you to show off your skills thoroughly!"

Edalas snapped his fingers as various corpse soldiers made their appearance, the ground rumbling beneath their feet as their large bodies approached.