Elemental Dissonance.

Somewhere in Nux Plains

"Rearguard Leader, Captain calls you" A Middle-aged Soldier stated sternly as he appeared silent in front of Bilal.

"Me? You mean like, now?" Bilal asked as he pointed a finger at himself with confusion.

"Yes, he told me to take you with me, right now" The Soldier confirmed and stopped after walking a few steps ahead.

'Why would he have called me for?' Bilal patted Trake's shoulder and said "I'll be back in a moment buddy, stay here only"

"Sure, Big brother" Trake replied jovially.

Bilal stood up immediately and went over towards the Soldier who stood a few steps away.

As they walked together, seeing the well-lit surroundings and the other arrangements Bilal was amazed, and in a low voice he uttered: "How much preparation have we actually done?"

"This isn't our first expedition Kid, we would've been more ready if we had caught the news about that damn mage early" The Soldier sighed for a second and asked "I heard Adrogen promised you a spot in the Unit?"

"Adrogen?You mean the Captain?" Bilal replied with a question and confusion apparent on his face.

"Yes, the Old man Adrogen, let me tell you, not many of us mates are happy with him exhausting a yearly quota to promise a spot to an outsider like you" The Soldier voiced his opinion with a stern and cold expression, before pointing at a tent.

The tent he pointed at was a nomadic styled tent with a medium diameter, it's capacity was sufficient enough for around 5 people to sleep inside. It was positioned solitary at the edge of their temporary settlement with two spiked torches fixed at both sides of the entrance.

As he came closer, the entrance flaps ruffled hard and from within emerged two Soldiers around the age of 27-28, there was a thing about them he couldn't help but notice, their visage was indistinguishably identical.

Seeing them Upfront, Bilal immediately knew who they were, they were Tuek Magron and Befer Magron, a lot of talks circulated about them, they were a pair of monozygotic Twins and were veterans serving in this unit for more than 8 years.

They both had an excellent Attainment of Mortal Initiate, besides the Old man and Dayes they were basically the big shots of the Unit. If not for their dissimilar weapon of choice and somewhat distinct personalities, people wouldn't be able to discern them separately.

"Rearguard Guy? The old man is expecting you, go inside" The guy on the left spoke and hurriedly walked away with his brother.

Lifting the flap he entered the tent, the interior of the tent was lit by a metal kerosene lamp which was placed in the middle, and behind it were two men sitting side by side on the tent's floor.

They obviously were Dayes and the Old Captain, casting a look at him, the captain gestured Bilal to sit.

"So, how was your day bossing over them? Did you enjoy it?" The Old man asked.

Bilal thought for a moment before answering "I wasn't necessarily enjoying it, I was too absorbed in doing my work, was I supposed to take them under me peacefully?"

"No, your method was perfectly fine, they wouldn't have listened to you anyway if you hadn't gone the hard way" The Old man spoke with an assuring tone "I'm curious though, why are you in silence all the time?"

Faced with this strange and unexpected question, Bilal's mind went into rapid cycling in that instant, trying to craft an answer.

"I just do not like interacting with strangers that much." Bilal said confidently, at the same time he prayed silently in his heart to buy his lie.

Yet the luck wasn't on his side as the Old man raised his brows and narrowed his eyes, which the Dayes sitting right next to him soon followed.

"Is that the reason why even with our 5 months of encampment in the Tribal Regions, we haven't seen you amongst the Wind Spirit Tribals?" The Old man asked suspiciously "Your Origin is creating distrust between us and I hope you clear it"

"I indeed am a local, how can I prove it to you?" Bilal displayed a face of surety and unknowingly made a bold statement.

The Old man snapped his right hand's fingers and a ring which he wore had its gemstone shone in pale white light.

Within a blink of an eye, a head-sized crystal sphere magically appeared out of nowhere, placing it on the tent's floor he said "I'm glad that you chose to cooperate, please press your palm against this sphere"

"Would this prove whatever you guys are seeking?" Bilal asked inquisitively.

"Yes, it would" The Old man replied rapidly as if he already had anticipated such a question.

The chaos within Bilal's mind was at its peak, his instincts were screaming loudly not to place hind on that sphere. He knew it was a trap that might risk exposing his secrets, yet he couldn't do anything because he also knew of the consequences that might take place if he were refused now.

Hesitantly Bilal clutched the sphere with his palm straight from above, by that moment a force akin to hundreds of needle-shaped suction cups was sensed by him, it penetrated through his hand without breaking an effort and threatened to pull something out of his body.

Bilal perceived his senses slowing down to an incredible level, as if time has itself slowed down, he could see the Owl tattoo on the adjacent arm pulsating gradually in counteracting the external force.

Before he even knew what happened, the suction force reverted back to the Crystal Sphere and emitted a soundless thrump.

[External Force reacting with Host]

[Unknown Energy activity observed]

[External Force disappeared]

Seeing this both his observers went silent, with a flabbergasted expression apparent on their faces. Bilal didn't notice their visage clearly as he was too absorbed in figuring out what just happened.

"Sorry for being suspicious of you Bilal, I regret not believing you" The Old man immediately started justifying his reason "And, I want to compensate you this"

The Old man gestured Dayes who hurriedly rummaged through a sack beside him and took out a folded leather package.

"What is this?" Bilal asked oddly while observing the packet in hand.

"Inside this package is Fatigue Powder, whenever you feel exhausted and drained out, sprinkle a pinch of it in a meal and you will recover within a few minutes" Dayes explained "But do not overuse it, you would be poisoned"

"Ok, I won't." Bilal said with a confirmation.

"I'm hearing a lot of talks of my decision to get you a spot, do not get fl.u.s.tered by their behavior, they are feeling injustice since they've received training for 3 years and you're gonna get a spot with just a lousy training of 3 months" The Captain sighed and continued "Yet they're bickering at the wrong time….we aren't even sure of our return to City"

"We've decided to have a 1-hour break after every 5 hours of travel and the first thing in the break you would do is to report me like every other Soldier, we are lucky to not have any encountered any sort of Wild Beast in the periphery of Saint Equina's, but the Nux plains aren't as peaceful, Blood-Horse bandits often lay ambushes here, gather the Rearguard every now and then, and arrange the guard accordingly, we need people to watch our backs" The Old man tried guiding him "Although the Rearguard people can't be promised a spot, they would be free people after reaching the City-state, yet the Workers' fates would be the same"

"Yes, Captain…." Bilal replied and readied himself to stand.

"We haven't been introduced properly, my name is Adrogen Lipe, Bilal, so you can call me Captain Adrogen or Captian Lipe, I am a 2nd Grade Noble in the Meazon which bestowed me the right of Surnames" The Old man said as he patted Dayes' Shoulder "And he's Dayes my closest aid in the Unit and my Late friend's son, if something arises in the future that you can't tell directly, you leave a message to him he'll correspond your message"

"As for me, I would teach you how to grasp the Battle Energy in the breaks" Dayes exclaimed with assurance "Go and rest for this break, dinner will be there as soon as it's ready"

"Sure I would." Bilal stated and went out of the tent.

-----------------------------------

Inside the Tent.

"Uncle, why did you not test his body's talent?" Dayes asked curiously.

"Valzer was a Light Mage, Dayes, not a hulking warrior, I would have you memorize a ton of books when we reach back to the City, your knowledge is falling too far behind, a man needs to have knowledge whatever his profession might be" The Old man declared ruthlessly.