31. Return

Grant began walking away from the hut, but Castus had too many questions. From the strange space warping to the creepy inhuman lizard Saldur. "What was that?" Grant continued walking and spoke. "Space folding. If he wasn't capable of space magic the church would have wiped him out years ago." Grant was clearly annoyed with the visit. Castus took a long look at the building. 'Freedom huh. I do want it Saldur, I'm just not sure if I want the one you're promising.' He remembered the trembling he felt when Saldur offered it to him. Turning his head away from the hut he started to follow Grant again, but he could feel eyes on the back of his head. Ignoring it he kept walking.

They walked for an hour before Grant stopped and looked back. "Let's finish this training up. The church wants you at level ten before they ship you off to the forges and I'm not about to get a mouthful." He then pointed in a direction and Castus took off in a jog like he always had. It had taken a while to get used to the training regiment, but now it was simple. There were sometimes that Castus was actually able to react to the monsters jumping him. Twice he had actually bested the creature without Grant's interference. Castus felt proud, but Grant hardly gave him time to brag and had simply forced him back into his jog. They continued their pattern for the remining training time. The last day they made it back to the flag were this who excursion had begun the night before.

Castus had made it to level ten just four days before they reached the campsite. The jogging had once again brought him an increase in stamina by ten and vitality by one. Clearly jogging was no longer enough to train him seriously. He distributed his status points accordingly and his screen now read.

Castus Gliston

Race: [Human]*

Level-10

[Attributes]

Strength-14

Vitality-15

Dexterity-13.5

Intelligence-71

Luck-10

Mana-360

Stamina-95

[Skills]

{Passive}

-Basic Ryden Language

-Basic Noble Manners

-Poison Resistance (minor)

-Marathon Runner

-Danger Sense

{Active}

-None

{Racial}

-Not awakened

{Blessings}

-Blessing of Creation: One of the many possible Blessings that can be granted to transplants from the Soul Transplantation Corporation. Expand to see more detailed information.

Stat points: 0

Skill points: 9

He had begun to feel the differences in his body. He was far stronger than he had ever been as an adult, he could run longer and most importantly the increase to intelligence and mana had produced noticeable changes in his perception and understanding of the world around him. Firstly, he had grown far more apathetic. Killing those beasts gave him little displeasure now and he looked forward to the level ups. Secondly, he had begun to perceive mana at a higher level. If he willed the pool of mana within himself he could feel the mana around him warp and change. When he expended mana creating materials, he could now feel the ambient mana move towards him to refill his expended mana. He wanted to further explore this feeling, but the constant danger of the marshlands and running had tired him out too much at night to look further into. The end of the training could not come at a more opportune moment.

Castus woke early in the morning at the same time as usual. The constant rhythm of the training had caused Castus to instinctually wake up at the same time. He crawled up off the damp ground and walked up to Grant who was busy inspecting two groups that had returned earlier that morning. He nodded his head at one group and moved to the next. They obediently opened their status and he read through it. Castus, ignored the groups, looking forward to the return to the main headquarters. Sure, he was a slave, but with his new levels and strength, he had a much better chance of finally escaping. Not to mention he wanted to catch up with the others from Earth imprisoned there. Maybe they had a plan?

By noon all of the groups had returned. Noticeably there were less than when they started the training. Based on the reports Castus overhead the treant had done a nasty amount of damage on the troops. In total a third of everyone who came was not returning. The harsh reality of this world once again sent Castus a grim reminder. Once Grant tallied everyone up he turn to the flag. He pulled out a small slip of paper and crushed it in his hand. A flame erupted, followed by a thin line darting forward. Moments later everyone was met with a familiar portal. They marched through without a prompt from Grant.

Once they pasted through Castus noticed Wyden, gloomy as ever, operating the portal. "Hey man! How have you been?" Wyden huffed. "How could I be anything but bad with this thing on." He gestured to the collar and gave a pathetic smile. Castus waved as Grant nearly pulled him out of the room. "Listen I know we got chummy during that training, but remember your station runt." The runt had a different undertone than when he had first met Grant. This time Grant sounded forced, like an act. Castus gathered himself and nodded at Grant. "Good, now go back to your barracks and await orders. And take a shower before Sol incinerates you for defiling a temple." Grant made an exaggerated movement with his hand, before he gave a smile and walked off in a different direction.

Castus opened the door behind him entering the barracks for the second time. Inside was Shi, Rys, and Alyssa. They looked up from the bowls of soup they were eating and gave friendly smiles. Alyssa cheerfully welcomed Castus with a hug, or almost did. When she got within five feet he stopped suddenly, gagging. "Castus, do you know how to bathe?" She jested.

Castus raised his arms in surrender. "I've been stuck in a marshlands for 6 months and that's what your worried about? I'll admit a hot shower does sound nice." Shi giggled at Castus' retort. Her blurred white form shifting red for a moment before returning to white. Alyssa turned back, looking to Rys. "Show him the bath house would you?" Rys got up from the table walking over. "I could do with a freshening up too anyway. Follow me Castus."