Onward to Estalia

The next morning, a butler knocked on Braum's room to wake him up. This was not the time when Braum usually wakes up. In fact, he saw that it was still dark outside of his room. With a heavy body, Braum forced himself to wake up and get ready. After a shower and getting dressed, Braum went to the castle's courtyard where yesterday they said they would meet.

Currently, in the castle's courtyard, hundreds of military and government personnel can be seen. Some of them are familiar faces like Kraus, Rosil, and Kiyu. The special forces squad that will be accompanying Braum in this journey is also there. The one who speaks first is Kraus.

"Your Majesty, we are here to see you off. May you be successful in your journey and bring glory to Yakana once more!" Kraus said to Braum.

After Kraus said that, everyone goes to one knee and put their right hands on their chests, except Niko who was a bit late.

"""ETERNAL BE YAKANA!!!""" Everyone shouted.

Everyone screamed those words at a volume so loud Braum felt his body shakes. Their voice was infused with their mana so its power was not something you can laugh about. Braum then starts his speech.

"Thank you everyone...I'm not good at giving speeches but..-" Braum said.

Braum does not really know what to say. This is the first time he has given a speech in his life.

"For the last few days, I have seen how the people of Yakana live and what they stand for. We stand for the betterment of Yakana and survival against the Kaiju. The Militarists are too short-sighted to see that what they stand for will bring suffering for people in the long-run.

However, after my coronation, I will also be changing how things work around here. For starters, I will allow the common people to be pilots and open relations with other nations. What I want is the betterment of not only Yakana but the whole world.

And finally, what I want to achieve is not our survival against the Kaiju, but their complete defeat. In the future, I want to find the source of these monsters and obliterate them! Now my question to you people: ARE YOU WITH ME?" Braum asked.

"""YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"""

Everyone starts to scream out of excitement. They are starting to believe that this new king will bring real changes to Yakana for the better.

"Right...so where's our ride?" Braum asked.

Braum is confused as he can't see anything that will bring him to Estalia. The one who answers is Kraus.

"It's already here Your Majesty."

Suddenly, the camouflage of the plane starts to disappear. The airplane is shaped like a perfect triangle and has a sleek design into it. The surface of the airplane is fitted with nanotech that will blend the airplane to the surroundings.

"Wow! Alright, let's go right now then!" Braum said.

But before he can go, a hand pulled on his sleeve. It was Rosil.

"Prince Braum, please be safe and return," Rosil said to Braum.

Rosil is shining a sincere bright smile which made Braum a bit ticklish. After all, Braum is still a teenager, a tender age where one might fall in love.

"...uhh... Yeah, I will Rosil. Thank you. I will be off now." Braum answered Rosil while scratching his head.

He was too embarrassed to answer any further so he starts to embark the airplane with the rest of his special forces.

"See you again everyone! I will for sure bring General Toziro back!" Braum shouted.

The plane starts to rev up its engine. Before the door closes, Kraus screams at Braum.

"Your Majesty! I almost forgot to tell you! Toziro is a bit of a wild dog and lacks respect for authorities! He will definitely not agree right away so you should find a way to convince him!" Kraus shouted.

"Ah don't worry about that! Those kinds of people are my favorite!" Braum shouted back.

After the cockpit closes and the plane leaves, Kraus still has a worried look on his face.

**

The airplane's inside is quite spacious, fitted with some rooms, a living/planning room, and the cockpit. There are picture boxes showing different kinds of things from the plane's altitude to where the airplane is right now.

"Your Majesty, please wear this. This is the standard uniform for our special forces. The newest exoskeleton armor, the Bridges Mark VI. It is fitted with technologies that will boost our strength and defense."

The one who said that was Urada. She seemed to be very passionate about military tech when she said that. The armor looks like a mix of an exoskeleton with clothing and a hood to cover the head.

Armor: https://imgur.com/a/2Lfvuo0

"Uh..how do you wear this?" Braum asked.

Braum is confused as the outfit looks like it couldn't be opened.

"Just stand behind it Your Majesty, it will recognize you," Kelvin answered.

Braum then do as she says and stands behind the armor. The armor then starts to open up its behind and Braum walks forward to enter the suit of armor. The armor then closes again.

"Holy shit this is lighter than it looks. I already feel stronger!" Braum said excitedly.

Braum is amazed at the suit's technology. What's more important to Braum is that the armor looks awesome and he feels like a badass wearing it.

"So when will we arrive?" Braum asked.

Braum's smile disappeared and he starts to become serious again.

"We will arrive in approximately one hour, Your Majesty. Please look at this map to see our drop point." Kelvin answered Braum and shows him a map in the table's picture box.

Estalia's Map: https://imgur.com/a/pqAJlHG

"We will drop at the southeastern border of Estalia. From there, we will have to find information and rides from the nearest town or villages. It is currently winter in Estalia so there is a reduction in human activity as well. Our armor will protect us from the cold. Also, Your Majesty, please wear this in your ear." Kelvin continued.

Kelvin then hands Braum a device that looks like a small earpiece.

"What's this?" Braum asked.

"That's our long-distance communication device. We can keep in contact with one another from far away and also contact home base as they are also monitoring our movements. What's more, since the people of Estalia speaks a different language than us, this device will also allow us to communicate with them." Kelvin answered.

'I see, this is both a translator and a communication device'

Braum seems to not be surprised anymore by the level of technology this nation has. Kelvin starts to give him his other equipment.

"This is the vibrosword, if you channel in your mana it will vibrate at a high speed and emits your mana aura, like this," Kelvin said.

Kelvin starts to channel mana into the vibrosword and the sword starts to emit a small pitch sound and the back edges of the sword starts to glow in a yellow light.

Vibrosword: https://imgur.com/a/RU1itvu

"The color of the aura will depend on the person's mana. Yours will probably be gold Your Majesty due to your royal bloodline. Now, this is the mana handgun, the VAUX 919" Kelvin continued.

Mana Handgun: https://imgur.com/a/1Nf1q3W

"The amount of bullets that will be created depends on the amount of mana you put into the gun.

One last thing Your Majesty, we are going to need a codename to refer to ourselves by to protect our identity. We will disguise ourselves as a band of mercenaries from a faraway land since our skin color is not common here. I will be Rob, Urada will be Stef, and Niko will be Kaz. What will your codename be Your Majesty?" Kelvin asked Braum.

Braum starts to think.

"Hmm since your codenames are easy to remember, then call me Markalobazta Juinamike" Braum answered jokingly.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty?" Kelvin asked.

Kelvin looks at his future king confused.

"I'm just joking. Call me Zed." Braum answered.

Kelvin then finished his explanation and everyone starts to gear up. So far, the one who has always been silent is Niko so Braum calls out to him.

"Hey, Niko buddy, you okay man?" Braum asked Niko.

Niko frowned hearing Braum's question.

"I'm fine. Just let me do my duty and you will return safely." Niko said in a disrespectful tone.

"CORPORAL NIKO!" Kelvin shouted.

Kelvin snaps at Niko for his disrespectful tone again but Braum raised his right hand to stop Kelvin.

"It's fine. As I said, I much prefer his type. Hey Niko, I'll slowly break your shell and earn your respect alright?" Braum stated.

"Hmph."

Niko snickered at Braum's words and found him to be interesting.

**

After an hour, the stealth airplane arrived in the border of Estalia, but it did not start to descent.

"Alright, we're here. Let's jump."

The one who spoke was Niko. This is the first time he speaks out of his own volition.

"Wait, jump? How come I wasn't briefed on this?" Braum asked.

Braum starts to become a bit flustered. He is not scared of height but he is scared of dying.

"Do not fret Your Majesty, our armor is strong enough to withstand the fall. We will not be harmed." Kelvin assured Braum.

"But WHY do we need to jump when this is a stealth airplane?" Braum asked again.

"While this is a stealth airplane, it is still an airplane Your Majesty. The grass and trees will move too much due to the plane's engine and attract unwanted visitors when we land. We will jump and land in a forest which is near a small village. We will find information there for our journey there." Kelvin answered again.

Kelvin assures Braum that it is safe to jump.

"*sigh* alright let's jump," Braum said.

Braum has a defeated look on his face since he is forced to jump.

The back of the airplane starts to open up and a burst of cold wind enters the cabin. The hoods and the small part of clothing in their armors start to flap with the wind. The one who jumps first is Niko, followed by Urada and then Kelvin. Braum is still inside the airplane hesitating whether to jump or not.

"What the fuck did I get myself into…*breaths in and out* Alright...FUCK IT!" Braum shouted.

Braum starts to jump following the others as well. They are currently falling at a very fast speed towards the forest. Kelvin's voice can be heard in Braum's earpiece.

"Your Majesty, we will land in that open field in the middle of the forest. Follow me." Kelvin said.

The first to land is Kelvin, followed by Urada, Niko, and finally Braum. The force created by their landing caused the ground to crack. Kelvin then starts to brief them again.

"Alright, we're here. From now on, we will refer to ourselves by our codenames. I'm sorry if we will disrespect you by not stating your title Your Majesty."

"Again...I much prefer that. Alright, Rob. What now?" Braum asked Kelvin with his codename.

They are currently in a small opening in the middle of a forest. It is currently winter and the raining snow is falling on their hoods. Everything is also covered by the white snow and the trees have lost their leaves. Due to the sheer speed of the airplane, it is still early in the morning by the time they arrived here. The sun is going to rise soon.

Urada opens her device which shows a map of the surroundings.

"It seems that the nearest village is 2 kilometers away from here. I suggest we go there." Urada answered.

"Good suggestion Stef. Yeah, let's go there." Braum replied.

Braum agreed with going to the village. He's quite excited to see how the people of the continent live their lives. This is akin to the first contact between different species.

**

Hooded individuals can be seen walking through the forest. Their steps are quite silent despite their heavy-looking armors. This is Braum's group trying to head to the village.

Suddenly, a growling noise can be heard in the vicinity.

"Everyone stop. There's something near us." Kelvin suddenly said.

The forest is eerily silent and that growling noise woke up the group's awareness. The growling voice is then followed by sounds of heavy footsteps.

"Kaz. Find the unknown entity." Kelvin ordered Niko.

Niko then opens up his device to see the map of the surrounding area. The map shows a red dot on the east of their location. Niko then told the rest of the group.

"It's on our right. Battle position." Niko said.

After saying that, everyone except for Urada pulls out their vibrosword and activates it. Kelvin's sword glows a yellow light, Niko's sword is red, and Braum's sword is golden.

"From my knowledge of this region, I reckon that's a Serpental Bear." Braum muttered.

Braum remembers his time studying different kinds of animals within different regions. The serpental bear is a large mammalian beast which has a tail shaped like a serpent. The serpent part of the body is not actually alive as the whole animal is the bear itself. The serpent has no eyes, only a mouth that acts as an extension of the body to inject venom to its prey.

After some time, the beast revealed itself. Braum's guess was correct, it's a serpental bear.

"You are very knowledgeable Zed."

It was Urada that complimented Braum.

"Let's just focus on the attack guys," Braum replied.

Braum can't lose his focus. This is the first time he is going to fight a life and death battle with another living thing

(ROAAAAAAAAAAR)

The serpental bear roared. Suddenly, three more serpental bears come into view. They are hunting in a pack.

"Four beasts for four people. Perfect. Let's each defeat one." Niko said.

Niko's eyes start to shine a dangerous light and his mouth forms a smile. It seems as if he has been thirsty for battle.

The four serpental bear then starts to charge at each member of the group. It looks like they want to fight a one on one battle as well to compete with one another.

Braum's eyes start to be serious. He then begins to release his golden mana aura while holding his vibrosword with both hands.

(SWOOSH)

With one slash, the serpent tail of the bear charging at Braum was cut off.

'Holy...this sword is unbelievable.'

Braum is amazed at the sharpness of the sword. But cutting of the tail caused a green liquid to burst out of the wound and come into contact with Braum's armor. A blue barrier then starts to activate and protect Braum's armor.

'Ah, this must be the defense mechanism of the armor.'

Braum readies his sword again and charges at the serpental bear.

Meanwhile, Kelvin is fighting the serpental bear with amazing skills. He does not seem to want to deal a deadly blow to the bear but instead, with inhuman speed, starts to slowly cut different parts of the serpental bear to torture it.

(ROOAAAR)

'Tch.'

The bear roared in pain. Kelvin does not want it to attract any other beasts in the vicinity so he charges the bear to deal a deadly blow. He then jumps into the air and while spinning his body, decapitates the bear.

"That's what you get for being so loud, beast," Kelvin said to the dead beast.

Kelvin has finished his battle.

Niko is also seen fighting the bear but with a different fighting style than the others. He is seen to be holding the mana handgun in his right hand and the sword in his left hand. This is usually seen as being a waste of mana as using two of them at the same time requires the person to channel mana into those two weapons but Niko does not seem to have a problem with it.

(BANG! BANG! SWOOSH)

Niko shoots the different parts of the bear while occasionally slashing his vibrosword. For the final move, Niko then runs towards the bear, shoot its head, then stabs the sword into the heart of the serpental bear.

(ROAAR….)

The bear gave a weak roar before dying.

'I'm finished. What about the royal brat?'

As Niko thought of that, he turns to see Braum's battle but found that he has already finished. Braum is currently sitting on top of the beast's body with his sword still inside the head of the serpental bear.

'Heh. Not bad. What about Urada?'

Urada is seen not using her sword at all. Instead, she shoots at the serpental bear at very precise spots with her mana handgun.

(BANG BANG BANG)

Urada shot the bear precisely in the serpent tail, the heart, and the beast's brain. The serpental bear then died without making any sound at all.

'As expected. She was the best shot in the entire academy.'

As Niko thought of that, Braum calls out to them.

"Are you guys finished? That was easier than I thought. This armor and sword is amazing! And You Stef! Your accuracy with the handgun is amazing." Braum said.

"Thank you, Zed." Urada replied.

Urada smiled, enjoying the prince's compliment. Kelvin then says his order.

"I think we should continue our journey towards the village," Kelvin said.

But Braum had a different idea.

"According to the books I've read, the serpental bears are a danger to the village population and fetch quite a good price. I suggest we bring these bears back to the village. That way, they will be grateful towards us and give us money for our journey." Braum replied.

Kelvin seems to agree with Braum's words.

"That's a good idea Zed. Alright, we will do just that. Let's each carry one bear towards the village." Kelvin said.

They then start to carry the bears on their shoulders. The combination of the suit's prowess and their own strength made it easy to carry these heavy beasts. The group starts to make their way to the village again.

**

After around 30 minutes of walking, they arrived at the village gate. The gate is seen to be guarded by two guards wearing leather armors and carrying spears who became shocked at the appearance of armored, hooded figures who are carrying dangerous beasts in their backs.

"H-h-halt! State your business!" One of the guards said that while being nervous at the group's menacing appearance. The one who replies is Braum.

"My name is Zed. I am the leader of my group of mercenaries. We come from a faraway land. We have defeated four serpental bears and we are looking to sell the parts."

The two guards look at each other and nods.

"Alright! For the amazing deed of defeating the beasts that are a danger to us, we will bring you to the village chief!" One of the guards replied.

Braum's group then enters the village.

The village is quite shabby with houses made out of wood and haystacks as the roof. Not many people are outside, probably due to it being winter so there are no crops and their livestock is probably hibernating. The people that are outside seem to look gloomy and sad but when they see the appearance of Braum's group carrying the beasts, their face starts to light up.

"Someone has defeated the serpental bears!" One of the villagers screamed and people start to exit their houses.

"It's true!"

"The gods have saved us! They must be angles!"

"My livestock and children are safe!"

Everyone starts to scream with joy. The serpental bears must have been a real threat Braum thought.

The crowd then starts to make way for an elderly gentleman that looks to be in his 70s and a hunched back.

"Welcome to the village of Lebourne, heroes! My name is David and I am the village chief. Please, come inside my house over there so we can discuss." The village chief said.

The village chief also seems to be happy for the defeat of the serpental bears. He points at one of the houses in the middle of the village. Braum's group then enters the house.