This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

For his part, Kain had no idea that the entrance mission that he'd given to Miya and the others had been voluntarily increased from B-level to S-level difficulty by them. He was blissfully unaware of the chaos they were planning on stirring up, too preoccupied with his own responsibilities.

Instead, he was focused on re-integrating back into normal life.

Lord Alaric Veylen, seeming to take Kain's previous visit as a friendly signal was persistent in inviting him to his home and various functions. However, since Kain had decided to take in Darius, Alaric was already a dead man walking to him. He didn't see any reason to waste his time befriending the dead… especially when the man's days were numbered.

Kain stretched lazily on the plush couch in his dorm room (unfortunately still the dorm for the second-ranked second-year), savoring the rare moment of peace. The past couple of weeks had been a whirlwind of creating more beast-tamers, aiding in the repair efforts of the city, and training hard in preparation of the next, and final, re-ranking of the year in 2 and a half months.

Now, finally, he had a chance to rest. The Order typically only assigned mandatory missions every few months, giving its members time to recover and prepare for the next expedition. But with the Abyss growing more active, even these brief moments of rest felt like borrowed time.

He glanced at the stack of uncompleted homework on his desk and sighed. "Maybe tomorrow," he muttered, closing his eyes and taking advantage of the peace to take a mid-afternoon nap.

But peace, as always, was fleeting…

The summons came early the next morning in the form of a notification to the communication device restricted to Order members:

"Pathfinder Kain, your presence is required at the Order's headquarters immediately. Further details will be provided upon arrival. Priority Level: High"

Kain rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "So much for a break," he muttered, tossing the communicator aside and heading to the shower.

Unfortunately, he wasn't all that surprised by his break being cut short. With the Abyss growing more aggressive, the frequency of missions had increased dramatically.

Within the hour, with the help of the College's teleportation array, Kain found himself in a familiar setting—a private briefing room deep within the heart of the Order's facilities.

Several other members of the Order were already present, including, to his surprise, Serena who was standing on the opposite side of the room with the other Starchasers, donning her usual composed expression. Seeing her here meant that whatever this mission was, it involved more than just the Pathfinders.

Despite seeing a close acquaintance—friend?—Kain went and sat with the other Pathfinders since it seemed as though they were sitting by department.

Before long, the door swung open, and silver-haired higher-up who had overseen Kain's admission exam into the Order strode in, his presence commanding immediate attention.

He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a face that looked like it had been carved from granite. His eyes swept over the room, before landing on the most senior member in the room—a relatively famous Pathfinder who had been part of the Order for over a decade named Idrias Tailwind. Kain assumed that he would be the captain for this mission.

"Good, you're all here," he said, his voice deep and authoritative. "Let's get started." Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

He activated a holographic map that projected above the table, showing a detailed layout of the southern area of the continent, even further below the Southern Province of the Empire. The map was dotted with markers, each one indicating, what Kain assumed to be, a site of interest.

"Three days ago, one of our reconnaissance teams discovered a relic in the far south," The grey-haired man began, pointing to a marker near the edge of the map. "Initial scans suggest it's tied to an ancient civilization that may have developed methods to combat the Abyss. If we can recover it, it could give us a significant advantage."

Idrias leaned forward, aside from the departmental head of the Pathfinders, he was one of the most experienced Pathfinders in the Order. "What kind of relic are we talking about?"

"We're not entirely sure," the commander admitted. "But based on the energy signatures, we believe it to more likely be a Habitat or Trial Relic, rather than a Memory Relic like first believed. However, there are no certainties and there is some indication that it may possess features of more than one type of relic. The major problem is its location. It's deep in the territory of the nomadic tribes, and they're not exactly fond of outsiders. Not to mention, while we have been at peace with them for decades, there is a long hostile history between us and the tribespeople."

He paused to let the fact that even reaching the relic presented an immense ordeal and may result in their death before continuing, "That's why this is a joint mission. The Starchasers will handle navigation and exploration on the way to and potentially even inside of the relic, while the Pathfinders focus on recovering the necessary historical information."

"Due to the nature of this mission being in potentially hostile territory, we can't afford to send a large taskforce, so each of you has been handpicked for having skills we believe to be an invaluable asset to the success of this mission. You'll be leading the team, Idrias."

Idrias nodded lost in thought, likely already running through potential strategies in his mind. "What's the timeline?"

"You leave in two days," the commander said. "We've already arranged transport, but once you're on the ground, you're on your own. The tribes are unpredictable, and the Abyss has been unusually active in that region. Stay sharp."

As the information session continued to outline the mission details, Kain couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

This wasn't just another relic hunt—it was a chance to uncover something that could change the course of the war against the Abyss. The stakes were higher than ever, and failure was not an option.