Beyond The System

Chapter 294: Infiltration

“What do you think, my lord?” Alrid asked, both palms braced on the table as a large map of the Kingdom of Stars lay spread beneath them.

It was the first time in a long while that I’d actually taken in the land as a whole. Alrid had planted a small green flag on the little border town where we currently sat, and a small red flag farther inland. “Farther” wasn’t quite right, though, when the thing in front of me essentially swallowed half a continent.

Or more.

Seeing the Kingdom in full made my stomach go faintly tight. Voxter, by comparison, felt almost modest. It was just a peninsula hanging off what was essentially a large island, the rough shape of a fractured triangle with a handle.

And of course, along the eastern coast, a scattering of small islands dotted the sea. According to the captain here, that was only what could be seen from the shore and the first island of the Shattered Expanse—meaning everything beyond that was apparently mostly guesswork and flourish.

Credit to the mapmaker for style, I suppose.

They’d even smeared a band of clouds across part of the parchment, and painted in great creatures prowling the waters surrounding the continent. Then again… for all I knew, those weren’t embellishments at all.

But to the important part.

“First, Peter. My name is Peter,” I insisted.

He dipped his head slightly, hands settling neatly at his sides. “Yes. Of course, Lord Peter.”

“Peter,” I corrected.

“What do you think of the plan?” he asked, smoothly stepping around my input as if it hadn’t been spoken.

My gaze went back to the map and the small red flag marking the camp where his son was. A training town called the Town of the Risen, home to the Hall of Legends.

Quite a name shift from the place we’d stayed. The Town of the Fallen. The Hall of Heroes.

I wondered if there was a reason for that symmetry, if the names meant something, but I didn’t interrupt while he laid things out.

“I don’t know…” I said, staring at that red flag. “It’s one thing to come to an outskirt town like this. It’s another to walk straight into a place with Gates.”

Those horrible spatial elevators that could reach Sponsors. Nobles. Any powerful individuals who assisted trainees.

Not to mention Drake.

To be fair, that was only because Drake was supposedly in charge of security there. But there wasn’t time to sit in the uncertainty; Alrid kept pressing forward, voice steady.

“My Lord—”

“Peter.”

Alrid ignored me.

“There is risk, of course. But with an orb, and a transfer order, you should be fine…” He trailed off, then added, “Not to mention your power. Any security would stand no chance if they bother you. So long as you don’t cause too much commotion before we’re ready, it will be fine.”

I drew in a slow breath, then nodded once.

“Alright. We can proceed.”

The plan wasn’t something we spent long on.

As a captain on the frontlines, Alrid had accumulated many… unneeded orbs. Recovered items, still holding whatever magic had been sunk into them. And with the now-dead General’s orb kept in the largest building we were currently using, he could alter certain details across them.

My identity would become a stray castle-town peasant discovered wandering the roads. Taken in. Helped to recover. Then quietly sent to training after receiving a common fighters Blessing.

From there, I’d find his son: Cedric.

Tell him his father’s presence waited just outside the town.

Then, well. He leaves.

My mission, however, wouldn’t end with that.

“Lord?” Alric called, snapping me out of the thread of thought.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. We should go, right?” I asked, already knowing the answer because it wouldn’t be long before a dead Starborn started drawing the wrong kind of attention.

He nodded slowly. “We’ll head south with the others.” He tapped the map then dragged his finger, indicating the route he clearly wanted us to take. “This forest will hide us well while your friend recovers. But… the dangers in it—”

“Can you handle them?” I asked, cutting in.

Again, he nodded. “If it’s me? Then I would at least be able to run,” he said with calm confidence. “But the others?”

That was actually fine by me. If he could run, then I could fight. And train. And my friends could rest properly. Not to mention teaching them along the way. Another weight on my shoulders, but we could sort that out on the road.

“Get the others,” I told him, straightening and brushing at my robe as if I could smooth the situation the same way. “Don’t rush, but don’t take long. Make sure we bring whatever we’ll need. Then… I’ll be counting on you to lead the way.”

He nodded, then headed for the double doors behind us, grabbing the map and rolling it up with quick motions before he disappeared down the hall.

When he was gone, I turned from the table to the long couch set against the back of the room.

Thea was there wrapped in a breathing blanket of dark scales, the slime monster curled around her like a living quilt. Bristle lay nearby, curled up on a cushion at the curved corner of the couch.

The room itself seemed like a leisure space repurposed into a war room. Warm light bled from orange crystals set into the walls. Bookshelves lined the area. The table we’d been working over looked like it had only recently been cleared.

I walked over and sat at the foot of the couch, angling my gaze away from her toward a shelf crammed with what looked like documents.

Her breathing was even, rising and falling steadily beneath the dark scales wrapped around her.

After a few minutes of listening to that steady rhythm, I broke the silence. “What do you think?”

Silence.

“There’s no way you’re not awake,” I muttered, pushing back against the quiet. Theoretically, she was essentially fully recovered. And she’d just listened to two men talk for several minutes. “Thea?” I asked, finally turning.

And I caught it.

The quick flick of her eyelids, closing just a fraction too late, almost getting away with it.

“I’ll poke you,” I threatened.

“I’m sleeping,” she mumbled.

I turned my head back around, staring blankly at the same spot as before. “You’re okay?”

She waited a beat, her breathing still smooth. Maybe she really had been drifting. When she answered, it came out drowsy, not quite words for a moment, hovering between wake and sleep.

“Mgmhm—Fine.”

I let out a relieved breath. Even if I’d already known it, hearing it mattered. “Did you hear the plan?”

Her responses stayed short. I heard rustling behind me, then felt her head settle against my shoulder only for her to shift half a heartbeat later, clearly uncomfortable. I couldn’t help a small chuckle; her attempt at reassurance was getting driven away by coziness.

“Some.” She yawned, adjusting again. “Was in and out.”

I turned the plan over in my mind anyway, what happened after finding Cedric.

It was hard to tell how long it would take. My biggest worry was getting caught. Alrid had reassured me that the level of observation at the Hall of Legends was low, thanks to their… unique inhabitants.

Still, this wasn’t going to be like the Hall of Heroes. Training would happen, but not for front-line infantry. This was for leadership. Strategy, technique, drills, and methods of raising rank quickly.

And somehow, I was supposed to find others my age among people who were probably treated far better than the ones in my group. This place was, apparently, closer to an actual academy.

There was combat.

Of course.

And they were matched against other facilities, same as mine had been. And the scoreboard still existed.

There was competition.

But… the level of instructor intervention was far higher. Less neglect. More guidance. More hands on.

Still, all of that was stitched together from Cedric’s letters and a few secondhand accounts Alrid had picked up from others. In reality, I’d have to see it with my own eyes to know what was real.

“I’ll—ahh,” Thea started, the yawn cutting her off mid-sentence. “I’ll be there to help, so we’ll figure anything out. Just like always.”

“Yeah,” I said, letting a small pause hang before I spoke again. “Thea?”

“Hmm?” she answered, half-asleep.

“Thank you… for everything.”

There was another shuffle behind me, and then her hand patted my shoulder gently before slipping away again.

When she spoke, it was soft, her words already sinking into the pull of exhaustion. “We’re—in it together. Also… where are the others?”

“Going home,” I told her, without thinking much about it. I’d save the information about Serith, Elric, and Nova for later.

“Hmmm, nice. It’ll be good when we head back too.”

“Yep.”

“Peter?” she asked, right on the edge of sleep.

“Yeah?”

“Love ya.”

“Me too.”