Arriving at the garrison, Caedis, Helix, and Charlotte all step out of the car. Caedis and Helix are both wearing Department of Truth cloaks designed for combat. They are navy blue cloaks with navy blue suits underneath, underlined by white button-up shirts. They may not look it, but they have been enchanted by the highest degree of defensive magic, both physical and magical. There are various other enchantments on it that boost overall combat ability as well.

  Beside them, Charlotte stands wearing a traditional black and white frilly maid outfit. Charlotte looks calm and collected, as if everything was right in the world. But Caedis knew the silent anger and frustration that has been boiling her from the inside for a month. Charlotte dedicated her life to Osiris after what he has done for her, and now when Osiris needed her the most, she could do nothing for him.

  They all step into the garrison and are greeted by the military officials present. An old man with gray hair stands before them with the Lux Army’s military outfit on his body.

  “Greetings guests, I am the Garrison Commander, Praesidium. I have been told you would be coming.”

  “Take us to him.” Heavy words that expose none of her emotions escapes Caedis’s mouth.

  “I am sorry but–” With a light bow the Praesidium apologizes. “That is no longer possible” He reaches into his pocket and grabs a neatly folded letter.

  Caedis grabs the letter and reads it. It's hastily written, but she can tell that it is her son’s handwriting. What’s more is that there is a seal that cannot be forged, filled with Osiris’s mana signature.

  “We did not force him to write that letter, he did it of his own volition”

  “Where is he now?” Caedis lets out a low voice.

  “He has already departed for the New Frontier.”

  * * *

  The loud rumbling of an engine can be heard in the distance as the car I got into drives me to a military air base just outside of Lux. Soldiers run around as cargo planes are filled to the brim with supplies. In my hand rests the ornamental dagger that Interitus and I used for our Blood Pact. He left it in the back seat as a way of saying ‘remember our pact’.

  From a distance, a requisition officer and his aide rush to me holding something. His black uniform trimmed with gold shines in the sunlight. Why would they make them wear black in the ever-blazing sun?

  As if waiting for me, he asks with a smile. “Hello there! Are you Osiris?”

  “Yes that's me.”

  “Perfect!” He turns around and grabs all the clothes and tactical gear as well as parachute backpack, “Okay so you need to put this on, this… oh and this, and don’t forget this as well.” He starts slowly piling items into my hands, and once he is done he sends his aide away. “What are you waiting for? Put them on, the plane leaves at 0500!”

  Looking around, I am in an open field. He wants me to change right here?

  “Listen kid, you nobles care way too much about looking dignified or whatever.” His eyes turn serious and the smile from his face is gone. “But once you reach the Frontier, you will not be able to have the same luxury. Get used to it now and you will suffer less.”

  As if speaking from experience, his words carry a scary amount of weight. I stop fussing and change on the open field. After I am done putting on my new clothes and grabbing the rest of the gear, the officer starts heading towards a cargo airplane while his aide returns to him with a clipboard.

  “Osiris Arkenia, huh? …where have I seen that name before?” After a moment of thought he hammers his palm. “Ah–! That’s right! You are the person they are blaming for the Ains Square massacre, I saw it in the news! Isn’t that right?”

  I was on the news? Probably Interitus’s work, trying to divert attention from the mysterious ‘9th Knight’ using the media outlets as his puppets. I have been taught almost every field possible by my family. I guess that's the bonus of growing up with wealth. I have participated in many combat classes, but those mostly turned out to be useless. As my father said ‘I lack the talent for the battlefield’. I have also been trained in many different fields, which includes diplomacy. If someone is asking me about a crime I may or may not have committed but evidence out of my control piles up, there is one simple thing I must do.

  “...”

  Stay silent! Everything you can say will just sound like an excuse! Charlotte helped me study this field if I remember correctly… Brings back good memories.

  “I get it man.” The requisition officer responds. “Whether it's true or not, I don’t really care. The Frontier is where many people gather regardless of age, gender, background or history… you will see all sorts of faces soon enough.”

  The rumbling of planes taking off and landing rings across the airfield, and we reach a sizeable cargo plane loaded with supplies. I can see various vehicles, rations, water, tools and equipment. I turn to the officer.

  “Am I going on this?”

  “Yep! You are sort of a last minute recruit so we didn’t have the time to put you onto a passenger plane. I will also be coming along with you to ensure the supplies are delivered correctly.”

  He pushes me aboard, and the plane takes off without issue. While it's mostly used for military applications, I have been on plane quite a few times, so I have grown accustomed to it.

  “Name is Ferus by the way, this is Adla.”

  * * *

  After travelling in silence for about two hours Ferus looks towards me from his seat that's beside mine.

  “Soon we will be leaving the grace of the Solar Pantheon. Have you ever felt the darkness of the Great Vastness?”

  “I have not. I read books about it though”

  “Well that’s nothing like the real thing. You will see”

  Ferus’s aide, Adla, nods in agreement from his side in her own seat.

  “What do you mea–”

  Before I even have the chance to finish my sentence I am stunned. The ever bright sunlight that everyone in the empire experiences day to day begins to dim to an orange hue. This must be the zone of Dawn and Dusk where the sun’s light wanes. The windows that once bore intense light now hold a melancholic hue shifting from orange to purple until it starts turning a dark blue. As the colour changes over time, the intensity of the light also fades considerably until there is nothing left.

  Darkness overtakes the cargo plane and all three of us remain silent. The bright light that promised to stay shining forever eventually fades and darkness reigns. Only the rumbling of the engine can be heard and felt through the hull of the plane. Due to the lack of light that my eyes cannot adjust to I am in complete darkness. It takes my breath away and makes me lose focus. Ferus ruffles my hair.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “It’s alright Osiris give it a second”

  Moments later, with a buzz the light blue lights outlined in the plane begin to shine and light up the interior of the plane.

  “Those who have not experienced this ethereal darkness that clouds the edges of the empire seem to lose their wits about them, but you held on exceptionally well. It is not uncommon for someone to begin puking at the overwhelming dread they feel when they first welcome the void. People living on the fringes here and the New Frontier all learn to naturally channel mana into their eyes to help them adjust, but sometimes the darkness gets even stronger. We still got bout an hour before we get to our destination. Why not try it?”

  I can see Ferus’s face outlined in blue and I give him a nod. I begin channelling mana into my eyes. As I channel more and more of my mana, my right eye begins to adjust to the darkness and the interior of the plane starts becoming brighter. My left eye on the other hand is having more difficulty, and the discordant view of one of my eyes seeing bright light and the other darkness gives me a feeling of nausea.

  “Everything alright there Osiris?”

  Closing my left eye I turn towards Ferus who just asked me a question.

  “My left eye seems to be having difficulty with the mana, and it can’t seem to adjust”

  Before Ferus can even say anything, Adla’s face brightens and for the first time she begins speaking in an enthusiastic voice.

  “See Ferus I’m not the only one!!” She turns towards Ferus then looks into my eyes. “I used to have the same problem! But after a bit of training you should be able to adjust! You need to channel the mana intricately as each of our eyes may differ. Many people don’t have this issue… It might be a something you get at birth I guess! You just need to find the mana pathways or circuits or whatever people in the capital call them these days!”

  Ferus holds his chin and nods in agreement.

  “Yes it seems you will need to train a bit more, but it should not be too difficult. For now just try practicing until we reach our destination.”

  “Okay…”

  Adla is more talkative than I imagined, and she has such spirit! While having such thoughts I begin channelling my mana into my left eye as Adla and Ferus keep chattering beside me.

  * * *

  We travel for about an hour more before the Ferus and Adla stand up. They pull their goggles from their necks to their face, and Ferus looks towards me. He pulls me up from my seat and puts googles over my face. The goggles seem to be naturally enchanted to better see in this darkness.

  “Well– This is our stop!”

  “How long until the plane lands?” I look outside, but I am only greeted by darkness. I can’t even see lights on the ground. I know for sure we are not close to the ground though as the altitude meter in the cargo bay shows us at a steady 3,500m from equilibrium level.

  “Land? What do you mean land?” As he says this Ferus smashes the red button near the loading bay door. The Klaxon on the ceiling of the cargo plane starts flashing red and blaring as the door to the back opens up. With a loud creaking sound of the plane the whooshing wind rushes in, and the tarp tied around crates violently flutter. Standing at the edge, Adla pushes me closer to the edge, so I am in line with Ferus. Looking down, I am greeted by an eerie darkness that even the goggles cannot seem to penetrate.

  “I know I said this before, but the name is Ferus, and this is secretary Adla.”

  The aide, Adla, wearing a similar black outfit with golden trims stands on the opposite of Ferus, and presses the second button. Ferus grabs us both by the shoulder and pulls us into the centre. Suddenly the vehicles and crates containing various goods begin to roll down the tracks on either side of us. The only sound that can be heard is the loud noise of engine, sound of metal scarping against metal, and air violently rushing at us from the outside. After all the goods have dropped, Ferus makes eye contact with me.

  “Welcome to the New Frontier.”

  And he pushes me out of the plane.

  The feeling of nothing beneath my feet and the sight of numerous large crates dropping overwhelms my senses. The light blue lights on the cargo outline them in this impenetrable darkness. For a second I forget how to breathe, but I still quickly move my goggles that nearly came off of my face after the push to my eyes. Clarity returning once again, I feel moisture attach to my skin as I fall through a cloud and water droplets begin to form on my jumpsuit and goggles. I steady my breathing and try to reclaim my rationality.

  Breathe in…

  Breathe out…

  Looking at the backpack they gave me, I can see a string with a single mana LED on it, that I can pull on the right side of my chest. I have never been air dropped anywhere, but I am betting that pulling this would deploy the parachute. I don’t know the right timing for it though.

  Is the reason I am able to be so calm that even if I die it won’t mean anything in the long run?

  Out of nowhere Ferus speeds through the air beside me with a whooshing sound and Adla is soon to follow. As we clear the clouds together what greets my eyes is a vast field full of light and life. A base and a city off in the distance from where we are dropping, and directly below us people that seem to be waiting for the supplies are lined up.

  Speeding through the air Ferus glides besides me, and begins pointing at his own vest. He seems to be motioning me to pull my string. I yank it and my whole body is pulled upwards. My parachute deploys and my fall considerably slows down.

  Looking down below me, I can see Adla and Ferus have also deployed their parachutes after seeing that I did. I grab onto the toggles that are hanging out and ungracefully continue my descend. Even though I know I can’t really die this still unbelievably terrifying. Below us is a lit up open field, covered in white. Bright floodlights highlight the field and in the centre is a flare that seems to be a signal for the plane. How the plane pilot was able to see that flare through the clouds is beyond me. Ferus and Adla land, and Ferus begins shouting at the nearby personnel. They seem to move in to help with my landing. As I move closer and closer to the ground I realize that I have no fucking idea how to land these things. Controlling it in the sky was slightly easier because I felt the resistance of the parachute, but how do I slow for my descent?

  As I am having such thoughts, the grounds get closer and closer until eventually it's the only thing my eyes can see. My speed has considerably slowed, however it’s still fast. The most important part of my body is my head, so I tuck my arms over my head and impact the ground. I fall and begin rolling on the white field getting entangled with my black parachute. I roll spectacularly until I eventually come to a stop. My hip and torso received slight damage but beyond that I seem to be alright.

  I begin trying to untangle myself from my parachute and after struggling a bit I manage to break free. My eyes are assaulted by the gigantic floodlights surrounding this field. Moving my hand to block the light, what I see before me is a field of white grass with a bunch of personnel wearing the black military uniforms that Ferus and Adla were wearing. Looking behind my I see those two standing behind a woman wearing a peaked military cap.

  “Is this him?”

  “Yes Captain”

  “Osiris Arkenia, in accordance with the New Frontier recruitment rules and guidelines you have been promoted to Sergeant rank thanks to your connections in the capital.”

  “Uhh… thanks?”

  With a sharp glint in her red eyes, she frowns upon hearing my response.

  “Tch– no discipline whatsoever. You! Stand up!”

  I can tell that anger is slowly building, so I obey.

  “Why do they keep sending me useless maggots when the Frontier is getting more volatile day by day?”

  She shakes her head side to side in deep disappointment.

  “I have plenty of people who have been working harder than this snot-nosed brat, yet he gets a fast track just because he is some noble from the capital. Absolutely disgusting. Do you even have any officer training?”

  After the initial shock of the landing wears off I now realize my situation. This isn’t some random woman but my commanding officer. I salute with the Solar army salute and disgusted look on her face worsens a hundred-fold.

  “Truly despicable to do that disgusting salute out here.” She turns around and beings walking away between Ferus and Adla. “Get this filth away from here, since he is an Sergeant give him Squad Whisky as his command. Filth should be with filth after all. I have no hopes for this boy. I will go oversee the reception of the supply drop, you lead him to the town-fort. Use this.”

  She tosses Ferus some car keys and walks towards some soldiers while barking orders. Ferus catches the keys as if he was anticipating them and with a smile looks towards me.

  “Shall we get going?”

  He begins walking away with Adla behind him, and I follow along.

  “Ferus… uhm should I say Sir Ferus? Who was that?”

  “Hahaha, do not worry about formalities with me, I am sort of a free floater, so my ranks is slightly ambiguous. That there was 4th Company Captain of the Battalion stationed in this region. We are deep in the Frontier, away from the zone of Dawn and Dusk so she has a lot on her plate I hope you can understand why she is like that.”

  “You are telling me I am serving under her?”

  “Yep! Both you and me!”

  He says with a hearty laughter as well get in the car. He puts the keys in the socket and turns them, and with the rumbling of the engine we begin to speed away. Lighting strikes in the distance and in the darkness the lighting outlines massive storm clouds gathering in the distance.

  “Looks like we are in for another rough storm…”

  With a grim look upon his face Fergus says so and turns on some music. Looking back towards the field of white grass I can see our Captain giving orders as soldiers are busily loading up trucks and checking the conditions of the newly acquired vehicles.

  Looking at the Captain from the distance, I couldn't shake the feeling that her presence was as cold and distant as the storm clouds gathering on the horizon.