Chapter 41: Meeting The Sqaud

Benign blinked.

"Rox...?"

As he sat up immediately, his hands reached for his neck protectively. "What are you doing in here?"

The better question should be when she got in.

She leaned back and brushed her short hair behind her ears. "Everyone is waiting." She walked away with her bob swaying left to right.

The room fell silent.

Her voice and personality belonged to Rox. With her bandages off, she had a rather human appearance. Enough to make him think twice before blowing her up.

Benign looked down at the Blade lying by the wall after Rox walked out. He recalled Zina being unable to move it earlier. ’Did it move now? Was it being difficult back then?’

He rubbed his face with both hands before leaving the bed with the uniform under his arms. He crossed the mirror on his way to the bathroom.

He backtracked and squeezed his upper arm. "Still depressing." He sighed.

"I need meat," He commented before walking ahead.

The uniform was a tad too big for him, so he avoided the mirror, grabbed his blade from the ground, fixed his gun to his belt, and left the room.

Two steps later, his shoulders slumped. He turned back, hurried inside, and picked up the neatly folded Jarshi military uniform from the sink.

After a brief hesitation, he slid it beneath his pillow.

He walked out to the hallway again. A plain winding hallway that led to only one door. On the walls were blurry images of ranked Protectors.

Benign stopped at the silhouette of a man with three gold badges, whose name at the bottom of the picture was also blurred out.

The door at the end clicked open. Benign pulled away from the picture and continued ahead.

While holding the doorknob, he straightened his stance instinctively. His fingers tugged the oversized collar into place and smoothed invisible wrinkles from the front of the uniform.

At the back of his mind, he expected the familiar pounding of boots against concrete, loud whistles, perhaps even a few cheers welcoming the newest soldier.

He stepped through the doorway.

Nothing. Silence greeted him instead.

’The shelter’s war zone was the welcoming party?’

The rudest welcoming party ever. Even worse than waking up in the desert beside a sea of dead bodies.

A long carpet stretched ahead of the polished stone walls and tiles. At the end, Lady Alana rested upon another throne grown from a living tree.

Unlike the one in her chambers, this throne spread outward with roots that embraced the earth itself.

One leg rested over the other as she leaned comfortably against one armrest, looking less like a commander receiving reports and more like an elf goddess who simply chose to remain seated.

Three figures stood, waiting beside her. Benign’s eyes shifted to them. They should be the other members of the squad.

One wore a black cloak that concealed everything beneath it. Beside the figure stood another in white, equally hidden beneath a hood.

The last was Rox. She wore the same brown and blue Protector uniform Benign had just been issued.

Most of the bandages covering her body remained beneath the clothing, leaving only her neck and face exposed. Without the wrappings hiding her features, she looked like a mere teenager.

Benign looked away.

I really blew up a teenager.

His boots echoed softly until he stopped before Lady Alana. "My Lady..." He bowed, as was the custom for elf folks.

"You recovered well."

Benign touched his ribs almost out of habit. "I did."

The soreness had vanished entirely. Whatever medicine was used belonged far beyond anything military hospitals back home could offer.

A faint smile crossed Lady Alana’s face before disappearing just as quickly. "Welcome to the Fifth Branch." She gestured toward the others. "You’ve already met Rox."

Rox glanced at him briefly, then looked away. Benign nodded once.

Lady Alana continued. "The other two are Areus and Suera."

The two cloaked figures jolted as though waking from sleep. Both raised their heads simultaneously before removing their cloaks in one smooth motion. White hair spilled over identical shoulders.

Benign blinked. Twins.

The young man had long straight white hair and calm blue eyes that barely blinked.

Beside him stood a young woman whose equally long white hair flowed in loose waves. Her face matched her brother’s almost perfectly.

Only her eyes differed, with one a pale icy blue and the other a darker shade of blue. The twins stepped forward together.

"I’m Areus." The brother extended his right hand.

"I’m Suera." The sister extended her left hand.

Benign looked from one hand to the other with an amused smile. He crossed both hands at once and shook theirs simultaneously.

Their grips and their timing matched. Even the small nod afterwards matched. "Nice to meet you, Areus and Suera."

"Nice to meet you too, Benign Cross." They answered together. Benign secretly enjoyed their echoes. His attention returned to Lady Alana.

"With Benign, Fifth Branch finally has five members," the Lady announced. "We’re once again eligible for full squad deployments."

Areus immediately straightened his stance. "Is there a mission available?"

"There always is." Lady Alana folded her hands on her lap. "Though Benign has already influenced our immediate concern."

The soldier frowned. "Me? How?"

"The enemy General withdrew," Suera said.

Silence settled.

Benign waited for the explanation, but the young woman decided that was enough. He turned to Lady Alana. "Did they attack the shelter?"

"No. The explosion you caused destroyed their siege supplies. The reports estimate they retreated roughly two thousand metres before reorganizing."

Lady Alana’s eyes rested on him.

"More importantly, Zina reported that you severed one of the General’s arms."

Benign blinked. "Whoa..."

The twins turned toward him at the same time. "You forced a General to retreat?" Areus asked.

Benign scratched the back of his head. It surprised him, too. "I thought she’d just become angrier."

"You accomplished both." Lady Alana replied. "The shelter remains standing because the attack ended prematurely."

Benign hadn’t expected that. His original objective had simply been gathering information and delaying them long enough for the portal to recover.

Instead, the explosion convinced the enemy to abandon the assault altogether. "I guess I was lucky."

"No." Lady Alana shook her head. "Calculated. Whatever you planned simply worked better than you expected."

Benign wasn’t entirely sure he deserved that compliment, but he bowed in thanks. After a brief silence, he asked.

"My Lady, that General and her soldiers. The realm they came from, did you already know?"

The Lady nodded. Her eyes shifted to Rox and the twins before she replied. "They’re likely descendants of a Lost Realm as well."

Benign’s expression remained unchanged. So his guess had been correct.

"They should have merged peacefully after Karnak’s return." The Lady added calmly. "But they refused, and their warlord of a ruler rejected integration and instead accepted Olien’s alliance."

Areus added. "They exchanged loyalty..."

"...for destructive power." Suera finished.

Benign lowered his eyes. All that hatred. That explained all of it. To them, Karnak hadn’t merely returned but had stolen back a world they had survived upon for generations.

No wonder the General reacted the way she did after seeing the Blade of Ages. His little espionage mission had painted a target squarely on his back.

The question still lingering in his head was how the General recognized an intruder from a single unconscious medic. It could have been dehydration.

He shook the thought off and sighed quietly.

"Well, I’m officially a target now. I wonder if I should stay away from them or leverage that?"

Areus answered immediately, looking over at the soldier. "Isn’t it reasonable to stay away?"

Benign turned toward him, with a frown forming on his face. He was being very reasonable. He clicked his tongue. "That isn’t how to answer a question."

Rox glanced between the two men before returning to her usual silence. Areus looked away as well.

Lady Alana hummed softly. "And how... do you believe you could leverage being their target?"

Benign rested a hand on the hilt of the Blade. "If they want me dead, hiding doesn’t remove the target. It just means they’ll decide where we meet next."

"Or," Areus replied calmly, "you avoid unnecessary risks until you’re much stronger. You just took out a hand. You never know if her race can grow it back."

"You seem to think I like taking risks." Benign shot a glare at him. Growing out limbs couldn’t be a common thing in this world.

His gaze shifted to Rox. She had regrown every limb.

’Maybe it is.’ His stomach sank. He never asked explicitly where Rox was from, since she never looked like an elf or human hybrid.

If the General belonged to a race that could regrow limbs, then his regeneration wasn’t nearly as impressive as he’d thought.

Fighting an enemy who could replace what was lost changed every calculation. A blade meant little against an opponent who refused to stay wounded.