Chapter 60: Missions Hall

Chapter 60: Missions Hall On the huge roots of a huge tree, under the canopy of its leaves, Kieran’s figure could be seen, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

His body exuded a faint feeling of stillness, the fallen leaves of the tree on him adding to the peaceful aura around him.

His body shook faintly as he took a deep breath, a few leaves falling off his shoulders, before returning to the same state of stillness.

After a few more cycles of deep breathing, he opened his eyes, looking directly at Ruby who had just arrived.

"I was just about to leave" she said, turning around.

"You can stay if you want" Kieran stood up, causing the remaining leafs to fall off.

"How long have you been here?" Kieran asked walking to the side of the clearing where his scythe laid.

"A few minutes!"

"Hmm.." Kieran hummed, picking up the scythe.

"It’s been a while since we trained together!" Kieran pointed out, walking to the middle of the clearing, in front of Ruby.

Ever since the events of their last mission together, he and Ruby and grown apart. She was also in the combat division, but in a different team under a different instructor.

He did send her a message once, but got no reply, he hadn’t tried again ever since. He wasnt going to push it since she had decided to avoid him.

Kieran was one to respect the decisions of others, no matter how absurd it was, just like when he warned them against going down the cliff.

"Yeah, it has!" Ruby said, trying to act natural.

"Good thing you’re here then!" Kieran said, taking a stance.

"Sigh!" Ruby sighed, having realized that it was impossible for her to escape the situation.

She also took a stance, pointing her weapon forward.

Ruby weilded a weapon with the same origin as Kieran’s, the kusarigama. It was basically a sickle with a chain at it’s end attached to a weighted object, mostly a ball, but Ruby’s was attached to a spiked ball.

The weapon had evolved over the years and could be barely recognized as a farmer’s sickle.

Unlike Kieran’s weapon, the records and techniques related to the weapon survived the century long war and the world governments and families all around had managed to revive the practice and some of the other lost techniques.

"Shall we?" Kieran asked, launching the first attack.

Ruby having trained with Kieran multiple times, knew of his habits and was prepared; throwing the spiked ball in his direction making him defend with the polearm of the scythe.

Pulling her weapon back, the chains wrapped around Kieran’s scythe and pulled on it.

’Competing in terms of strength?’ Kieran sneered, pulling back harder before letting go of his weapon and closing in on Ruby, switching to his fists.

’He switched?’ Ruby thought, shocked.

Raising her knee to block the punch aimed at her gut, she was pushed back, landing roughly.

"You should drop the joke!" Kieran said, waiting for her to get back on her feet.

Ruby rolled her eyes and kicked Kieran’s weapon back to him.

"Fine, let’s get to it!" She said, sparks of excitement flying through her eyes.

Kieran smiled faintly seeing this and got in stance once more.

......

"Hahaha!" Ruby laughed with her hand on her stomach.

She was on the floor beside Kieran who had sevr shallow injuries just like her.

"Your technique changed?" Ruby asked.

"No, it’s the same" Kieran clarified.

Although he hadn’t changed his technique, he had refined his level of skill and had been able to flow further after taking the teachings of ’lost origins’ to heart.

So far, all he had been doing were some breathing technique and physical exercises, at first they seemed useless, but after practicing them for a while and practicing with his scythe, he noticed a minor change.

Although it was a very small change, he took it as a hint that he was doing the right thing. His swings and thrusts had become more natural and he didn’t have to put in as much energy as before.

The meditative sessions also helped greatly, just like the one he had been doing before Ruby arrived.

"You’ve been avoiding me" Kieran said suddenly, asking Ruby go stiff with a complicated expression on her face.

"You don’t have to explain" Kieran said, looking her straight in the eye.

"Thank you!"

Ruby smilled bitterly. That was the first time she had seen Kieran act normal in a long time.

"Have you been taking up missions? The ranking list is going to be out soon!" Ruby asked

"No!"

"Why?!" She asked, confused.

After spending some time accompanying Kieran, she found it strange that he hadn’t taken up any missions. He was always active when it came to the camp activities, like he had something urgent to prove.

"No teammates!"

"Ah!" Ruby exclaimed, faintly understanding the situation.

"Well, I’ve been out hunting with Jake and Jordan, but we took a brake recently, so I can pair with you if you want?" Ruby suggested.

"Sure!" Kieran immediately took up the offer, his cold tone making it sound somewhat funny.

"Where are you going?!" Ruby asked, looking at Kieran that was already on his feet, making his way away from there.

"To the mission hall, we’re leaving now!" He said, not slowing down.

"What!!?!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise.

"I guess he also gets excited too!" Ruby muttered with a smile, getting on her feet and running to catch up to his long legs.

...

’Hmm, I should have come here at least once!’ Kieran thought looking at the large sign that read "MISSIONS HALL" at the top of the entrance.

"Couldn’t you slow down!" Ruby whispering into his ear when she got close to him, earning a look from Kieran, making her giggle.

’What’s wrong with her?’ Kieran thought, his attention going back to the hall in front of him.

Stepping in, he was discovered that there was somewhere apart from the canteen and recently, the library that could be teeming with life, unlike the rest of the camp that seemed dead.

The moment he stepped in, the smell of iron which he quickly linked to blood, hit him along with the figures of several second years and soldiers of different positions moving around or sitting in some spots.

He could also see some bloodied recruits and soldiers walking out from another side.

"You can’t go there yet!" Ruby said, pulling Kieran who let himself be dragged without resistance, to another room.

In the room, Kieran’s feet came to a halt, causing Ruby to jerk back at the sudden pause.

"You can’t just go out and take missions yet. You need to register and get a pass first! That’s what we are here to do!" Ruby explained, sensing Kieran’s confusion.

Taking him to the counter where some soldiers were situated, Ruby handed Kieran over to the receptionist.

"He’s new and needs a badge and the other stuffs" Ruby said to the receptionist, who nodded in response, understanding the situation.

"Alright, I’ll need your watch, please " the receptionist requested, her palm outstretched towards Kieran.

She took his arm and placed a scanner over it, before proceeding to ask some more questions.

"Kieran Callum, do you have a team in mind which you wish to join immediately?"

"No! He’s independent!" Ruby answered for him.

Furrowing her brows, the receptionist asked, Ruby time.

"But you know the rules! He can’t go—"

"I know! He’s not going out alone, he is just going to be forming temporary teams on each outing!" Ruby interrupted the receptionist, while Kieran just watched the drama between the two ladies as they spiraled into a staring contest, none wanting to give in to the other.

"Is it necessary for me to join a team? What are teams?" Kieran asked, breaking their little contest.

The receptionist looked at him with slightly wide eyes,

"How new are you?" She wondered out loud.

"You know the rules; you can’t go out alone and have to move in teams with a bare minimum of two members. But this only applies to a certain level of missions. Low leveled ones to be specific, depending on the level and people taking the missions, the numbers required to carry out a mission would obviously increase" She explained.

"Since there are a lot of missions and it was going to be too strenuous to keep looking for new team members each times, a sort of association was formed where the recruits could gather and form stable teams, those teams were also registered and recognized officially by the camp and are also given the opportunity to be mobilized for some military missions in exchange for certain resources" the receptionist dived in further.

’Like mercenaries, huh?’ Kieran thought

"Over the years the numbers of these teams had increased significantly and they had began to recruit people to join them, even some soldiers joined these teams. Amongst the numerous teams, there are obviously ones that stand out and those ones have a higher authority here in the matters of the missions hall."

"So back your first question. While it isn’t a must to going a team or group, it will make it more easier since most people already make the decision to join them the moment they register here and don’t really pair with line individuals like you. So, you would be better off taking one of their entrance exams and joining thei—"

"That’s enough, I’ll take it from here! The badge?!" Ruby interrupted the receptionist.

Meanwhile Kieran looked at her with a raised eyebrow, before his attention moved to the badge that the receptionist had dropped into Ruby hands.

"She will tell you how to activate it!" The receptionist said and Ruby dragged Kieran away back into the lobby.