1 Outlander

ENDBORN CREATION

BOOK I

ILLUMINATED WHEELS

"For what shatters the segments of Principality, can be, in Truths and Lies, claimed as a

Force beyond the Sky and the Edge. It is a Cradle holding the Light itself."

Mind of the Heretic, Vol. II

Chapter 1

Outlander

A cloaked figure sat perched on top of a thick branch of a strange, eerie-looking tree. The latter was around fifty feet tall, its trunk thick enough for a small group of ten men to be unable to wrap together around it, branches springing out in droves, doused in strange-looking, crescent-shaped leaves dyed in luminescent taffy. The leaves swayed slightly in the passing wind, fluttering like the wings of a butterfly, though the figure ignored them completely.

Down below, a set of shrubberies arose along the winding, narrow path carved out by footsteps of many. Shrubberies were covered by protruding thorns, elongating in a full loop above and over, forming an arched roof over the path. Several figures draped in light-shaded gowns and robes, each seeming no older than fifteen, were currently making their way through the strange path, on full alert.

More kids? Noah thought tepidly, frowning. He watched with hawk eyes as the small group of seven made their way beneath the branch he sat upon, looking left and right vigilantly while conversing in a language he couldn't possibly understand. Over the past week, and the few similar expeditions he had come across, he merely realized that whichever language they spoke, the frequency of vowels was similar to English. At least he made a wild guess that those were vowels.

Letting them through without doing anything, he sunk back into thought, leaning tightly against the thick trunk. It's already been a week, yet he was just as confused as he was when he first arrived here. He wasn't supposed to be alone – nine others traversed that damned gate with him, but they were nowhere to be found. Noah quickly made up two potential outcomes – either they died, or were transported elsewhere in this world. If they were near, he would have already found them since he shot two flares already over the past week. What those did, however, was simply invite more kids like the ones that just passed.

Shaking his head, he nimbly wound around the thick trunk and began jumping like a cat across the thick cover of the countless trees in his surroundings. He had made a temporary camp roughly five minutes away; though it was well-hidden, it wasn't to the point he was comfortable staying there much longer. The frequency of the natives, which Noah couldn't even distinguish from the humans back on Earth, visiting the forest had increased. Though for now, it was just a few kids, it was only a matter of time before people of higher authority and skill started pouring in.

After adeptly making his way through the thicket, he reached the temporary camp that was shrouded in tall shrubberies, slightly dented into the earth between two massive roots of a tree that provided a decent cover. Looking over the remaining supplies, he began worrying; even if he halved his current consumption, he could at most survive for two more weeks without finding anything else. He didn't dare eat any of the fruits and berries he found in the forest as he didn't recognize even a single one of them despite having the kind of knowledge of them that could put even the renowned herbalists to shame. What dampened his mood even further was that none of the people who came to the forest ate anything from it.

While food could still hold on somewhat, water supplies were a different problem. Most of the expedition's water supplies were with Timothy when they stepped through; the rest merely packed some emergency bottles, ten liters each. Having already been here for a week, he was forced to endure thirst for hours to conserve as much water as possible, yet the supply was dwindling. Even worse, despite scouting out nearly eight miles in diameter from his camp, he was still unable to find a single whiff of water.

He wasn't surprised by it, however, since he didn't find a single larger mammal all this while. At most, there were a few different species of insects, but as he couldn't recognize them, he didn't dare eat them either. He still had two more flare guns at a ready, but there was no point in firing them. If anyone else from his expedition landed anywhere within a hundred miles radius, they would have seen the flare and reached him by now.

By now, he had two options left – brave the dangers and test a few berries and fruits he'd come across, or follow that group back to the settlement they came from. Both options incurred different risks, though neither offered a high chance of survival. One wrong step and berries would kill him on the spot; on the other hand, it was nigh impossible to survive in the settlement on the bare virtue that he didn't even know the language.

He had stolen a few strange garbs from the first group that he killed, not knowing much, but it was hardly enough to look the part, especially since he seems to have alarmed the settlement. If a random stranger suddenly showed up, he'd no doubt be scrutinized in the greatest detail. Even the lightest of overviews, however, would be enough to expose him.

His current situation really was headache-inducing. Despite his countless skills, honed over nearly four decades of fighting and surviving, he felt like a child with big ideas but no means of achieving them. He, naturally, had more extreme measures he could take – continue killing the natives and steal from them. However, he would rather not resort to such extreme measures without knowing anything.

"This is pointless," he sighed aloud, shaking his head. "I can at least go and scout a bit. If it's a larger settlement, I might have a chance of sneaking in."

Left with no other options, he quickly traced back to the tree he was perched upon. The group had long since vanished, but they hardly bothered covering their tracks; small dents and footprints were everywhere, ravaged shrubbery a further proof of their route. Noah followed the trail vigilantly; he knew next to nothing about the natives. Considering their garb, their technological prowess should be around medieval times, at most having just begun researching steam engines. But, for all he knew, all those who came to the forest were members of some religious order, which could easily explain their attire.

Evaporating the pointless thoughts, he sped up slightly, his agility more than enough to continue jumping from tree to a tree without a problem. His journey lasted roughly five more minutes before he spotted the group of seven. Just as he was about to draw closer, however, he came to a screeching halt as his mind underwent a complete pause.

One of the people in the group, a boy in Noah's eyes, was currently facing a strange animal; it was reminiscent of a fox, though it had three tails and was roughly six times the size of the average fox back on Earth. It gnashed its teeth at the boy who stepped forth, extending his right arm and pointing at the beast. Right after, a stream of lightning akin to a bolt streaked out and hit the creature squarely on its head, causing it to cry out in pain. Just as it was about to retaliate, the other members of the group followed up by firing off similar bolts, one of them even throwing what looked like a Molotov cocktail, except there was no bottle, just fire.

Noah's mind worked like a well-oiled machine to rationalize what he was seeing, and a myriad of ideas popped into his head – augmentation, nano-implants, hidden weaponry, robotics… but, whatever he came up with was faced with a tall wall of scrutiny – none had passed it. Magic? Fuck, what am I thinking… he quickly scoffed at himself, turning his gaze back toward the group that had killed the beast.

"… assuming the technology is responsible," he muttered, "They are roughly two-three centuries ahead of us in that department. Shit, this is bad…"

He didn't dare approach any further; who knew what sort of gadgets and trinkets they had at hand to find him? Even if he was confident in his ability to hide and prey on someone, prudence was a mother of survival. He still kept a good fifty meters distance from the group, observing their every move with deep caution.

**

Moshar took a deep breath of relief as he saw the Cursed Fox die. There were no reports of such beast roaming these parts, which is why their encounter with it startled him terribly. Luckily, it was just a three-tailed one, which their group was just barely strong enough to deal with. Probing any further than this wouldn't be smart, as he had no clue whether this was just an isolated case or a sign of something much bigger. It was better to report it to their Hall before doing anything else.

"Strip it first," he looked toward his left and ordered two boys just a few months younger than him, both of whom nodded and quickly made their way over to the corpse. The three-tailed Cursed Fox may be a low-tier creature, but its materials were still highly sought after. They could get quite a few merit points from this. "We should definitely turn around and go back. Going any further is dangerous."

"Hm," the second-in-command of their group, Leana, nodded. She was just a few weeks younger than him, and the two grew up under the same Master, often sharing both in victories and defeats. Of average height and build, she didn't inspire much confidence by looking at her, but those who underestimated her paid a steep price for it. "First the death of Avon's group, and now this… wasn't Weepwoods supposed to be extremely peaceful?"

"Something strange is going on," Moshar said, sighing. "It's best if we don't tangle with it; report it to the Hall first and hope they start dispatching Seniors instead of us."

"We should be more prudent on our way back," Leana said. "Only you and I have one more Charge left. The others are out."

Moshar merely nodded, looking around carefully. All this started just a week ago when Avon's group failed to return from the forest. After examining their Light Stones, it was concluded they died. This information caused quite a stir in the Principality; Avon's group was known as one of the strongest of the Junior Order, yet all six of them were killed without anyone knowing how. Further groups that were dispatched didn't run into any trouble, and Moshar and his group were dispatched today – only to run into the three-tailed Cursed Fox.

Though strong, the creature was far from being able to kill Avon's group, which meant that whoever – or whatever – did, is still on the loose. Weepwoods has been peaceful for at least two hundred years, with nary a beast ever showing up; the issue was that it was located just outside the capital of Lumina Kingdom, Elucido. Until recently, it was merely viewed as a getaway for the unscrupulous couples, yet now nobody dared take a foot in it from fear of dying without ever knowing how.

Moshar urged his group to speed up with the skinning before he himself walked over and ripped out the coalesced core of the creature. It should fetch them at least 200 merit points, which was the sole thing that kept his mood in the positive.

Immediately after they were done, they turned around and began retracing their steps. Moshar swore he would do everything in his power to avoid his group ever being sent here again; at least until the situation clears up.

**

Noah carefully examined the retreating group, full of vigilance. They're quite skilled at skinning, he remarked, glancing back at the corpse that was now just bones and a few strewn organs. Creatures like that, then, aren't a rarity… just where the fuck did that gate send us?!

He began cussing out the World Leaders back home for ever daring to actually go through with the project. They had barely enough power to stabilize the Earth from falling apart, yet they did something as stupid as trying to expand. None of the drones sent through ever sent back the data suggesting the existence of life on the other side, Noah though as he recollected the info the drones sent back. It was scrambled, at best, with barely a few glitched-to-hell clips and images making their way back. From what little they knew, the planet on the other side of the gate was somewhat hospitable, though the readings were all over the place. Noah grumbled inwardly, continuing to stalk the group of seven, hoping to find the settlement. Though the equipment is faulty, oxygen levels are roughly at Earth's level, perhaps slightly higher…

Their group of ten was supposed to set up a quick camp with the equipment and make contact with Earth through the long-range radio communications. However, none of the equipment that was on Noah functioned properly. The battery in his phone exploded in his pocket the moment he landed here, while most of the equipment in his backpack simply wouldn't turn on no matter what he did. None of the original plans turned out the way they envisioned, causing Noah no small amount of pains. Right now, he was stranded in a completely alien world with no way of communicating with his peers, be it back on Earth, or those he was supposed to land here with. He was effectively abandoned, which would have been fine had it been on Earth; however, here, on a completely alien world, about which he knew nothing, even he couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of fear. Just what the hell am I supposed to do…?