Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 103: The Candidates (1)

Shortly after the black line appeared on the horizon, the ground changed from a flat desert to a rugged terrain full of bizarre rocks.

Bahram spent an entire day traversing through the rocks.

He had lived in the alkaline lands of the lower hive since he was young, and had never climbed to higher ground.

These rocks were all very smooth. The strong winds that howled all day long had corroded small pits onto the rock surfaces, some of which held puddles of water inside, like dotted gems.

Ahead towered strange cliffs; their lower sections all had smooth surfaces, while the upper parts were extremely jagged.

These cliffs signified that he had arrived at the foothills of Soms, and was, in a true sense, far away from his home.

The towering mountains stood like a group of silent giants, truly looking down upon the earth.

Bahram spent some time to check his resources.

He had half a bottle of water left, half a pack of dry rations, and a poorly fitting leather coat.

To restock, he began searching for spring water in the rock crevices.If this were in the alkaline lands where he lived, he would know where to find water—the places with darker soil colors were often where groundwater seeped out.

However, in the mountainous regions, he could only rely on his intuition and judgment.

Bahram decided to start searching from the bottom of the cliffs. He guessed that water could seep to the surface through cracks and faults there. Sometimes, there would even be vegetation marking the location of a water source.

Do not be bewildered as to how a wild child from the lower levels of a Hive City would actually know so much.

In reality, Bahram's family had also been part of the upper echelon of the Hive City in the past. However, after a failed political gamble, his grandfather was stripped of all wealth and power, falling into the lower hive.

But this did not mean they simply wallowed in degradation from then on.

Actually, relying on the knowledge in his mind and extraordinary insight, his father had easily secured a job as a supervisor in a salt mine. Bahram himself had been educated at home by his grandfather, right up until his grandfather passed away three years ago.

It was also from his grandfather that he first learned of the Angels' existence.

They were the incarnations of the God-Emperor's will: mighty, immortal, and invincible.

If there was anything that could become a little boy's ultimate dream, it had to be the Astartes.

This was also the purpose of his journey.

Bahram spent more than half the morning searching for water sources, navigating through a maze of ravines leading into the mountains.

It was very cool here because of the surrounding rocks. However, owing to his origins on the plains, he felt a slight sense of claustrophobia here.

Eventually, he found a bowl-shaped basin.

Although it was surrounded by steep cliffs, there was still enough space for sunlight to shine down.

He never thought he would miss the sun so much, but after walking in the shadows for a day, he desperately wanted to see the sky.

A steep riverbed extended from the bottom of the basin into the mountains. There was a thin waterfall here, which subsequently pooled into a small puddle of water at the basin's bottom.

A cluster of water-leaves surrounded the pool. Their immature leaves clung tightly to the thorny, hard stems. The mature leaves on the outside were expendable—they were full of water and lacked thorns, designed to attract animals to eat them, thereby spreading the seeds hanging from the leaf tips far and wide.

Bahram slid down the rocky edge, plucked the seeds off the leaves, and began to chew heartily.

The taste of the water-leaves was exceedingly bitter. However, after walking for three days with little water and food, they tasted just like the ambrosia Angels would drink.

After that, he bent over to collect water with his bottle, and in the process, used the clear water to wash his face, which was as rough as frosted glass.

"Tsk tsk, look what we've found here. We got a hive-punk contaminating our water source."

Hearing the voice, Bahram hastily turned around.

He saw two boys standing at the entrance to the basin.

They were skinny as rakes, wore strange clothes, had various survival tools hanging from their belts, and carried bulky, square backpacks on their backs.

Over their shoulders, they also carried frames made of white metal.

Bahram dropped his bottle and stood up, assuming a defensive posture. He reached his hand toward his lower back—there rested a finely crafted Pistol his grandfather had left him.

These two boys were older and taller than him, especially the one who was speaking.

The second person was bald, but he was very robust, with some tattoos on his arms, looking like someone not to be trifled with.

When speaking, Bahram tried his best to conceal his vigilance.

"Hello."

"Who are you?"

The second boy asked.

But Bahram did not answer. Thus, the first boy could only make a helpless grimace revealing a mouthful of black teeth, and then walked into the basin.

"Dead tired."

He took off his backpack, the metal frame making a crisp clatter as it was set down.

After dropping the heavy burden, the boy stretched his back luxuriously.

"His brain isn't too bright. I can tell you're about the same as him."

The first boy offered a wide smile, while the second boy, that stout-looking fellow, pulled a long face at his companion.

"My brain is plenty bright. At the very least, I know how to survive out here. At the very least, I found this place first."

Bahram retorted.

"Also, if you're thirsty, just get some yourselves."

He tried to appear as friendly as possible. Living in the lower hive, he naturally knew how to avoid trouble and conflict.

However, the other party did not seem to appreciate the gesture.

"We don't need to seek your permission."

The stout boy said, deliberately bumping into Bahram's shoulder as he walked past.

"Don't waste time. We still don't know much about him."

The first boy said, walking over to squat on a rock beside Bahram.

"Where are you heading, kid?"

Bahram chose to deflect his question.

"I have a sick cousin, I'm going to see him. Once I reach Greycliff Town, it'll be much easier to travel anywhere."

"Ah, Greycliff Town. And where to after that?"

The older boy seized upon Bahram's words.

"Are you trying to catch that last train?"

He spoke secretively, wearing an expression of 'I've seen right through you'.

"Looking to participate in the Angels' Trials?"

As it turned out, as early as seven days ago, the Chapter Master of the Astral Knights had suddenly announced the postponement of the preliminary selection. Furthermore, status restrictions were lifted; any healthy boy meeting the age requirement could participate in the screening.

But candidates who were not from the middle or upper hive had to make their own way to a few designated registration points. There, they would register and take a transport to the Soms Nobles Academy.

And Greycliff Town, this small town located at the junction of the Soms Hive's lower and mid-levels, was precisely one of these several registration points.

The most unique aspect of the town was its establishment atop a sheer cliff.

The original intention of building this small town was to harvest the guano of a rare bird species. The guano of this bird was an essential raw material for producing a special perfume.

This perfume was not only extremely popular with the ladies of the upper hive, but was even exported to other planets.

To prevent disturbing these birds, Greycliff Town had not built any roads or rail infrastructures. People could only enter and leave the town by free-climbing a nearly kilometer-high sheer cliff.

Therefore, people only went there during the guano harvesting season. Most of the time, the residents of the small town were very few in number.

The Astral Knights choosing that location as a registration point obviously held an underlying purpose.