Chapter 161: Custom

Chapter 161: Custom ’The fog is gone?’

After walking forward for a while more and killing all the monsters that came his way, he walked past the fog. It was no longer in front of him.

Looking back, he could see a thick gray wall made of the fog. That was where he had just come from. It was like an invisible barrier separating the space from the fog.

"You’ve arrived."

The leader’s voice reached him and he turned around, spotting him sitting atop a huge boulder with a bottle in hand.

He wasn’t the only one there. There were also several other soldiers sitting around. They all seemed to have been waiting for them.

"Look! Took you long enough, haha!"

Some of the soldiers exclaimed at the sight of one of their own stepping through the fog. The soldier ignored the jokes and went to sit, joining the others in their wait.

’I should do the same!’

Orion moved, going to take a seat on the floor among the other soldiers who welcomed him with smiling faces.

He only wished the rest could appear faster.

"Don’t worry, they be here soon!"

The leader on the boulder said comfortably as if reading his thoughts.

Just after he said that, the amount of soldier’s coming out from the fog increased coming out in groups even.

"Boss!"

One of Orion’s teammates shouted as his eyes spotted Orion sitting in the distance, conversing quietly with some other soldiers.

Orion who had spotted the first member of his team to show up earlier, nodded at him to join them.

"Sit. The others are yet to arrive."

He tapped on the ground beside him.

"Hmm. That should be about all!"

The leader said after a while getting to his feet.

"Hmm? Where are—oh! Found them!"

Orion’s teamate shouted seeing the others just walking through. He was more cheerful and carefree than one would have expected.

The others who just stepped through, Lira and the other male recruit were a more accurate representation. Looking like they had been through a nightmare that had them questioning their decisions till this point.

There was a sharpness that remained in their moves like another monster was to suddenly pop out despite being in a clear space devoid of the fog.

"Tone it down Jessie!"

Orion cautioned the overenthusatic teamate of his.

Jessie’s voice had caught the attention of the other two and they made their way over to their resting spot.

"Let’s move a little!"

Orion said seeing the emotions held the the eyes of the two teammates, especially Lira’s.

"What is it?"

Orion said after they moved to the side, away from the ears of the other soldiers.

"I don’t like this at all!"

Lira was the first to speak up, dissatisfaction heavy in her words.

Orion’s eyes hardened and the other two looked away unwilling to be caught in the crossfire.

"So?"

"What do you want to do? Go back?"

Orion pushed calmly and Lira remained silent unable to give a suitable answer.

"Exactly."

He took several steps forward till he was right in front of her. At this point, Lira had her head down, unable to look him in the eyes.

"We are here on a mission and you best stick that into your skull. You’re a talented scout. Though it’s a shame you lost to paranoia and a couple of monsters, I still wouldn’t want to send you off"

Orion said whispering into her ear.

"Anything else?"

He asked, his eyes sweeping across the other two who shifted uncomfortably just like Lira.

"No, boss!"

They answered in sync

"Good."

Orion replied with a tight smile on his face before he turned around and headed in the direction of the boulder where the one leading the operation stood havubg a discussion with some soldiers around him.

"Can we speak?"

Orion said cutting into the conversation, bringing all eyes on him.

"Alright!"

The leader giving the others a look to vacate the space and leave them alone.

"So?"

His raised brows questioned Orion whose prolonged silence was bringing forth tense atmosphere between the both of them.

"I need to know what this mission is all about."

"Just like you said earlier, this is monster territory! And I sensed somethind dangerous a while back when I stepped in. it doesn’t feel like you’re leading us somewhere, right?"

"Haaaa.!"

The one leading the mission sighed, covering his face with his hand while looking at Orion through the gaps between his fingers.

"You’re really cautious for a recruit, you know?"

The soldier said in a dark tone.

"what rank are you? The commander never told me that back at the base. He only told me to take care of you and your team."

He said, slowly walking around Orion.

Orion’s eyes followed his figure catching the how the eyes of the other soldiers locked on to him the moment, he took a step back.

The growing tension between both parties was yet to have caught the attention of Orion’s teammates.

"You don’t need to worry though, the details of the mission are quite simple."

The soldier said with a smile on his face, waving his hand in the air.

"Hmm.."

Orion hummed, feeling the presence of the soldiers that had locked onto him retreat and ignore him again. The pressure and tension between both parties had dispersed with his change in tone.

"There are somethings you aren’t authorized to know as a recruit. Even soldiers and some other officials aren’t aware of them."

"The information you were on your way to retrieve at the outpost if we had died is one of such. The whole place and everyone in it are classified information. I can’t tell you anything significant, but I can tell you a little about the nature of the mission."

He said, taking a seat back on the boulder.

’Even if they had died and the pace was in rubbles, I wouldn’t be able to access the data once we retrieved it.’

Orion didn’t mind that he couldn’t find out the purpose the outpost.

"This is a research facility, and the subject of our research is closely related to those phantoms you encountered in the back in the mist."

"The mist itself?"

"Quite sharp!"

The solider chuckled.

"Yes. We are here to collect samples and materials key to our investigation!"

"Hmm...I’m guessing this research is what let to this?"

Orion said, pointing around them at the space which was unaffected by the fog.

"Actually, it’s not."

"This was one of the places we discovered after several blind explorations across the fog. We had nothing to do with its formation."

The soldier pulled out a small bottle from a storage device and to a big gulp of its unknown content.

"Those heavy presences?"

"That’s classified."

He said, refusing to answer the question.

Orion turned around and took a look at the space once again.

Unlike in fog which seemed to be a vast fixed with barely any obstructions at all, this space was filled with an arrangement of trees fading into the distance that made him question the soldier’s answer of the place being a natural discovery.

"What’s up boss?"

Jessie called out to him, waving his hands. He was in the middle of a meal with some of the other soldiers.

While it looked like the soldiers were ignoring the fact that their numbers had gone down, that was only on the surface.

Beneath the slightly bubbly atmosphere, he could see the relief painted on their faces, the one which fueled those current atmosphere.

Once he sought to look further, it couldn’t be missed any longer.

The pauses in the actions of a soldier as he called out a name and got no response, plating food for extra numbers.

It was like a hole, one that they were struggling to ignore.

’They are scared!’

Orion thought spotting the way some of their hands shook and the body movement of the others.

"I’m guessing they are the source of the fog?"

He said turning back to look at the top of the boulder.

His hidden hostility was gone and the soldier smiled as if sensing that as he slowly reached out to grab his mask while jumping down a few feet in front of the recruit.

"Thought that was confidential information?"

"Well, I didn’t tell it to you now did I, recruit?"

The soldier said, donning his mask on fully, about to walk past Orion.

"Is it a tradition of sorts?"

"Not to morn fallen comrades?"

"Fallen comrades? I don’t know what you’re talking about kid."

He said, placing a hand on Orions shoulder making the recruit’s face crease a little as he closed in.

"Cough! Cough!"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but sometimes—"

"COUGH!!"

His grip suddenly felt weak as his body leaned onto Orion for support.

"....Don’t fall for it kid!"

His voice was light and his grip on his shoulder tightened as he pushed of his shoulder and walked past him.

"What did you say?"

Orion turned around with question.

"Huh? What do you mean? I didn’t say anything"

He said looking away with Orions unchanged gaze on him.

"Round it up. It’s time to move!"

The soldier clapped his hands rallying the others about.