Having talked himself up quite a bit, Jake acknowledged that the pressure was on. From what Nuro had said, the village was at its teetering point. A line had been drawn and Ewana was waiting to see the result. Would their protectors be able to keep their promises? Or were they doomed to fall to the inevitable Maedra horde lurking in the tunnels? At the moment, the light was fading in the hearts of many. It was all or nothing for these people now.

Knowing that, Jake approached the Warrior Compound with his head up but a mind full of worries and fear. Uncertainty prickled the back of his neck, tickling the confidence Nuro had initially fed him. In the short walk from the team room to the entrance of the other compound, Jake had practically catastrophized himself into the ground. What if the Warriors didn’t agree? What if they laughed at him, said he was lying or bluffing? What if they already believed it to be a losing fight with no coming back? Jake had so far encountered plenty of warriors still willing to fight and die for the village. However, that didn’t mean it was the same throughout the rest of the ranks.

Even so, he was determined to try. Jake stopped at the gate where the two Warrior Guards stood and took a slow breath. “I need to speak with Captain Lin. Where can I find him?”

The guards both looked at each other and then at Jake. When they looked at each other again, the one on the left nodded. The one on the right sighed. “Main building. Fourth floor are the red teams.” The one on the right spoke then they both turned forward, signaling that was all they would share. Jake nodded and continued forward. Without Mur and without a warrior escort, Jake was on his own now.

There was no aggression between the two compounds and it wasn't against the rules to enter either. It was an almost silent agreement that they didn't interfere with each other. Unless it was for a mission or in the tunnels, the two compounds were effectively two different entities. When Scouts or Warriors crossed the threshold of each other, they were free to bother, question, or even duel. Thus, it was rare to see a Scout even turn down the road leading to the Warrior compound without an escort. And while the Warriors could handle themselves against the Scouts, a Warrior who entered the compound only did so if it was an absolute necessity. They viewed the Scouts as cowards and mingling with such a pathetic Oryx was disgraceful.

For Jake, however, his view of all was far different. Whether they were Scout or Warrior, he viewed them as equals. Equally useless in the grand scheme of things. Only the Red teams were worthy of recognition, as they had put in the time and effort to develop their skills. They were capable of fighting the Maedra on an equal footing. They could easily win a straight-up battle. Every other rank of team was likely to lose even if the numbers were in their favor, something that was rare to happen. Hence why multiple teams were sent out at a time even for simple requests. It was pathetic, really.

“Is that a scout?” Jake heard the first voice when he passed a group of warriors sitting and resting. There were some murmurs within the group in his wake. But, they weren’t the first to notice. Dozens of eyes were already on him and as Jake approached the main building he found his path cut off by a single Oryx. He stood at the same height as Jake but was clad in loose armor. On the surface it looked well maintained. Yet Jake could see it had been mended a number of times. The color was practically gone, leaving behind the silver gloss of the metal beneath.

“Why’s a scout here in the warrior compound?” The Oryx crossed his arms and raised his nose. Jake didn’t answer and continued to close the distance. “Hello? Are you deaf?” Jake adjusted his trajectory and moved to walk around the warrior. A move that must have hurt the Oryx’s feelings. “Hey. I’m talking to you.” The Oryx stepped into Jake’s path again. This time, he was practically in Jake’s face.

The boy’s face twisted and he leaned back. “Your breath stinks.”

“Huh?” The warrior's eyebrows knit together and his hands curled into fists. “You must want to die. Is that why you came here?”

“My business isn’t with you. Move.” Jake stared at the Warrior and placed his hand on top of the elven blade, his palm relaxed and fingers loose over the pommel. The warrior took that as an invitation.

"Die it is!" The warrior yelled. However, the moment his hand reached for the weapon on his hip, Jake conjured a powerful wind ball in his open hand. Before the warrior could pull his sword free, the wind ball crashed into his face and sent him tumbling out of the way. With his path clear, Jake continued his walk. Those who had considered joining the fight or picking up scraps suddenly lost the will to jump in. The warrior now on the ground, however, flailed up to his feet and roared.

“You little shit!” He shouted. His blade had fallen out of the scabbard and skidded to a resting place a few feet from where the warrior had landed. He ran to grab it and then ran towards Jake. As if doing so would redeem himself should he strike down the foreign entity. Jake stopped and looked over his shoulder. Waiting, watching, Jake gathered mana in the floor and created a box with it. When the warrior entered, a box of wind shot upwards. The warrior slammed into the front side of the box and then bounced around inside until he found himself on the ground again. This time, trapped in the jail of air.

“Stay,” Jake scoffed and walked off. The warrior shouted from within the four walls but found himself unable to leave. Any attempt to break out earned him a few cuts from the harsh winds. He left behind enough mana to feed the box for at least two minutes. Plenty of time to get away from the annoyance. When the mana was empty, Jake stepped inside the building and followed the same route Mur had walked on his first trip. The boy ignored the leering eyes and marched past the loitering warriors to the staircase.

Upon reaching his desired floor, Jake stepped by a team of eight walking down. Their armor was black. Each warrior carried a heavy shield, a thick helm, and had plenty of muscle and scars to show the burden of their duty. The Warriors didn’t stare. They only glanced as they passed. Jake did the same, keeping focused on his destination. On the fourth floor, Jake began to read the nameplates as he passed them. Halfway along he found the tile he was looking for.

Tomb Squad.

Jake took in a deep breath and stepped up to the large pair of doors. Unlike scout doors, Warriors utilized wide, double doors with far sturdier wooden materials. The thresholds reflected the fighters that lay beyond them. Tough and heavy. Weighty and capable of taking a beating. He knocked on the doors forcefully, putting a lot of effort into the seemingly simple motion. The rapping of his knuckles thundered into the hall and into the room beyond.

“Enter.” The response came after a few moments and Jake grabbed the handles firmly. With a powerful push, the doors groaned as they split apart. Jake clenched his teeth and his leg muscles dug into the stone floor. Beyond the threshold, the room had a familiar layout. A central welcoming area and a lounge to the left. On the right, though, was a forge and a section built for tending to equipment like swords and armor. Beyond was the eating area, a sparring zone, and a briefing space. However, there was no place to use magic. Only physical weapons were welcome here.

“Ah, Jake. What brings you to the Warrior Grounds?” Captain Lin was seated at his desk with a steaming cup of liquid set beside a tower of paperwork. A woman stood beside him, likely a secretary or assistant of some kind. The rest of the team were scattered around.

Jake pushed the doors closed and then approached the desk. “I came with an offer of work.”

“A job? From a scout?” Captain Lin raised a brow and stood up from his seat. “Has it been blessed off by the Council?”

“In a way.” Jake placed his hands on his waist and smirked. “The Council has given me permission to put together a team of competent fighters and scouts to turn the tide of the fight down here in the tunnels. After fighting with your team near the new outpost, I figured you might be interested.” Jake considered providing more details. However, first, he wanted to see where Captain Lin’s loyalty lay. If it was with the village’s prosperity, he would likely be open to anything. However, if he was more concerned with the general defense of what was already known, it was unlikely Captain Lin would be open to expending soldiers and resources on a potential failure.

But, that was exactly why Jake was here. One of the few reasons Jake had been able to clear out the Outpost was because of Captain Lin’s support and influence. Without the captain, Jake’s progress would have lost steam and they would have needed to return to resupply for a day or two before continuing.

“Oh?” Captain Lin’s lips curled as he looked at his assistant. The woman grinned as well and then whistled at the warriors behind her. Attention was nabbed and after a brief wave, the crowd began to form. “Indulge me, Mage.”

Jake grinned and nodded. “How would you like to become the hunter, not the hunted?”

Captain Lin let out a booming laugh and clapped his hands. “Hunt the Beasts? Now that is a proposition. How?”

“Captain, you remember the Nest Operation, yes?” At his question, Captain Lin’s jaw tensed. The Oryx narrowed his eyes and nodded. Jake nodded in response and walked over to sit down in a chair. As he did, the assistant poured a cup of hot liquid and set it in front of him. It looked like tea and smelled herbal. “The Beasts are like any other living being. They are born. They don’t just emerge from the air. The Beasts utilize mana to create their children and lay their eggs in mana-dense locations. The young absorb the mana as their sustenance and develop until they reach adulthood. They then either wander the tunnels aimlessly to repeat the cycle, or join the horde they were born into." Jake lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip. Mint touched his tongue.

“Beasts that wander are not threats. We find them randomly and kill them quickly. It’s the hordes that are the problem.” Jake set down the cup and then looked up towards the Warriors. “Hordes utilize nests as breeding grounds, staging areas, and operate in an organized fashion similar to the way Ewana works. They send out teams to probe the surrounding tunnels and expand their influence outwards to find other suitable locations to breed their young.”

Captain Lin frowned and let out a low hum. “They sound more intelligent that way. Are you certain it isn’t just coincidence that they are like this? Maybe it is just instinct to gather in such a place. In all of my years, I have never fought Beasts that coordinate in the way that you have described.”

Having taken another sip, Jake once more put down his cup. “Captain, how often is it that this village is able to find the end of a tunnel?”

“It hasn’t happened. Not in my lifetime.” Captain Lin answered and then looked to his team. One warrior raised his hand.

“Sir, Mage. I know of one. Tunnel 426-Alpha. My grandfather’s team stumbled into the end of that tunnel. The tunnel was closed at the branching point as there were no resources within it worth gathering.” The Warrior answered with what knowledge that he had. However, it missed the mark Jake was trying to hit.

Although, he made a note of that. It seemed that not all the tunnels were infinite. “Knowing that they end gives me a few ideas and definitely some hope that the Beasts can be cleaned out. But, the point I was trying to make is that the tunnels seem endless. The Beasts are spread out in such a way that it is difficult to gather proper information on them. Their habits, their reproduction, their traits, their structure. The details are all unknown to us. The only thing that we do know is that they are hostile. They attack on sight and kill without regard for life.”

Jake paused, smirking as he folded his hands neatly in his lap. He paused once more and watched as Captain Lin returned to his chair. He waved for his warriors to do the same and Jake waited until each of the men was seated. When prompted, Jake waved his hand and utilized the open space to create a visual map on the floor of the region. He carved out a bubble to symbolize Ewana and then cut out dozens of tunnels branching out of it.

“We’ll start at the beginning. Ewana is at the bottom of the Ravine, one of many settlements you Oryx have created to live in. These tunnels are the village’s lifeline. Some connect to other villages, some simply travel off into the dark and contain resources. In the dark, the Beasts form and live. To keep the tunnels clear of these Beasts, Ewana sends out Scout/Warrior teams to find and eliminate the Beasts. The Beasts were thought to wander, appear randomly, and simply exist to kill anything within the tunnels.” The detail in the map grew with his description. There were several markings appearing to show where the Maedra were known to be, where prior fights had occurred. Jake even closed off several tunnels to reflect the overwhelming danger of the Maedra within them.

“However, I’ve learned two things. One, the Beasts aren’t random. Two, they can be killed and entire tunnels can be cleared of their presence. For good.” As he spoke, Jake created a new tunnel. One to reflect his prior few days. At the end of the tunnel, he created a large circle to reflect the nest. “This, my friends, is a Nest.”

A few of the warriors began to whisper to one another. Captain Lin looked toward his assistant for a moment. She placed a finger to her lips and stared for a few moments before nodding. “We do have a few reports of such places. They are caverns with large numbers of Beasts within them. There was also that recent discovery of one. The Operation we participated in had the goal of defeating one of those nests.”

“The operation that failed,” Captain Lin added, reminding the room of their losses. “Continue, Mage.”

Jake nodded and did as told. "These locations are rich in mana. They are prime breeding grounds for the creatures to replace their losses. However, this is where our information diverges. Originally we thought the Beasts wandered aimlessly. This is not the case. Not anymore.” Jake lifted a small circular pillar of stone from the floor and carved an image into it. A rough outline of a Maedra. “This is a standard Beast. A fighter who uses a blunt weapon as an arm. Along with the typical Beasts, we have the Magic-types. They tend to be less common and appear less frequently. Now, we know there are two additional types.”

The whispers fell quiet. “Two more?” Captain Lin asked. Jake nodded and carved out rough images of the Guardian and Arachkin types.

“Guardians and Arachkin-types. The Beasts have learned that against the Oryx, their typical troops aren’t enough. They lack defensive capabilities and can be killed easily by our fighters and mages. The Mage-types are too costly to make and require the regular-type to evolve after consuming a lot of mana. The Guardian-types are a new solution to the Beast’s survival problem. They come with heavy shields that can easily protect against most magic attacks and they have the size to protect them from our Warriors.” Jake paused to let the information sink in and then he drew up the image of the Arachkin-type.

“Second, we have the new Arachkin-type. The Arachkin-type acts like a battlefield commander. It gives orders, directs forces strategically, and boosts the morale of the Beasts underneath it. I’m uncertain of the language it speaks to the Beasts but it uses a series of gurgles, grunts, screams, and chittering to send its orders out.” When he was finished, Jake sipped from his cup.

“The Beasts are adapting. After however many years they’ve spent fighting you all, they’ve learned the tactics of the Oryx and have developed to combat them. They’ve begun utilizing these nests to consolidate their strength and utilize a similar patrol system to scout the tunnels for prey and other convenient places to set up nests. This development shows that the Beasts, previously thought to be stupid and instinctual, are becoming far more of a threat than Ewana may be able to handle.”

The room remained quiet, with warriors trading glances or staring painfully down at the map in front of them. Captain Lin’s hands curled into fists, his knuckles turning pale white as his fingers dug into the skin of his palms. “You said there was a way to kill them?” Indeed, Jake had mentioned such a possibility. Now faced with the potentially dire change to the norm laid out in front of him, Captain Lin immediately decided to take the chance.

Jake smirked and nodded. “I did. I went out with a party and not only did we find and clear a nest-” Jake’s hand waved outward. The stone shifted around the image of the nest and the Maedra markings faded, being replaced with an empty circle to represent that the cavern was safe and void of the threat. “-but we made it impossible for the Beasts to return to it.”

“How?” Captain Lin immediately asked.

“By purifying the mana within the cavern, we are able to poison the air, killing the Beasts. The Beasts function off the raw and unfiltered mana within these tunnels. By filtering the mana and changing its properties we can essentially suffocate them." Jake began marking the tunnel, marking the progress of the village into the tunnel. Then, he added the symbol of an outpost into the empty cavern. Showing the possibility of Ewana claiming it.

“Through a new strategy, Captain, we can clear the nests, kill the beasts for good, and finally create a safe place for Ewana’s future. A future where the howls of the Beasts are nothing but forgotten whispers in books and children’s tales.” Jake stood up and folded his hands behind his back. “All I ask is for your help with it, Sir. It’s a joint effort of Scouts and Warriors alike. A singular team with the sole focus of hunting the nests.”

“Task Force Hydra,” Jake announced. In fairytales his father told him, there was a mythical beast with several heads and a singular body. The heads alone were weak and feeble. They each had a power and a type of magic they could control but were unable to do much on their own. When they worked together, the beast proved formidable. With all of its heads working in concert, the beast had control over the four main elements, had slight control over healing and regenerative magic, and even had a head capable of enhancing its body and armor.

Upon hearing the name, Captain Lin’s expression lightened and he let out a hearty laugh. “A hydra… I see.” The Warrior’s hands opened and he pushed down firmly on his desk. He rose to his feet and his steps thundered as he approached the map across from him. “Not only do you fight like a raging inferno but it seems your ambition burns just as bright. I like it.” Captain Lin grinned and his hands found his waist. “When do we start?”

Seeing their Captain show such emotion, the Warriors around him similarly found themselves fired up and ready to join the fight. A few began to speak eagerly about crushing the Maedra and even about the glory they might earn for their efforts. However, such results were far off. “While the fighting itself is simple, the strategy is not. Finding the nests takes time and resources must be gathered for these expeditions. On top of that, I need to teach the mages. For now, I’m gathering the necessary bodies to fill the team. I-”

“Who else do you need?” Captain Lin cut Jake off and raised his chin.

“Whoever you can get. The more Warriors we have on our side, the easier the fighting will be.” While Jake only needed a few teams, if Captain Lin could find a way to increase their numbers then it certainly would ease the burden. “Red Warriors would be the preference but if you can vouch for them, Captain, then I’ll take them.”

Captain Lin huffed and looked at his assistant. “I believe we can arrange such a force. What is your timeline?”

“The sooner, the better." Jake wanted to begin preparing for everything today, but it would be impossible. There were too many people to gather for that, too many resources to collect, and too many people to speak to.

“I can have you a roster by tomorrow. Come in the morning and I will have it ready. Reina. Get me some letter paper.” Captain Lin gave the map one final glance before he looked over at Jake. “So long as there is a chance of giving Ewana a brighter future, we will take it. After watching your work first hand at the Outpost, I have faith that you will give us that chance.”

“Thank you, Sir. I’m doing my best.” Jake smiled and bowed his head. Captain Lin reached over to tap his shoulder.

“Good! Anything less and you might die down here! Hah!” Captain Lin let out another laugh before shouting for his men to begin their preparations for the future. A resounding cheer thundered through the room as they scattered to do so. Jake cleared the map on the floor and then made his way to the doorway. With Captain Lin now on his team, it was time for the next portion.

“Jake.” Captain Lin called for the boy as Jake began tugging at one of the doors. Jake turned to face the Warrior Team Captain.

“Sir.”

“How many will die?” The question came heavy and suddenly, Jake found the room eerily quiet again. He frowned and clenched his jaw.

“...I don’t know, sir. If all turns out well, not many. But if anything goes wrong… a lot.” Jake’s hand squeezed on the door handle. Captain Lin nodded gravely and then grabbed a black graphite stick.

“Then we’ll bet on everything going well. I will see you tomorrow.” With that, Captain Lin began to scribble on the paper set in front of him.

“Yes, Captain.” Jake replied briefly before exiting the room.