Vener, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 45th day of Fall, Arenfall

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Arterius woke up in another dreamless sleep, just the way he preferred it. His head was no longer throbbing from thinking over what to do next with both of the Commanders' laid out suggestions. He went back to his table with using a cane to steady his gait.

Apparently, the cold wind of the Crescent Isle wasn't as welcoming to his broken leg. He had been taking double doses of the elixir he reformulated to make the numbing more effective plus lessening the drowsiness.

It was a gamble he made but was very confident of doing since he cannot trust that damned physician who treated his entire condition as if it was a fever rather than what it truly was.

He made his way to the table and realized how light his body was. It seemed like the cold had also cured the medicine well, heightening its effective. It looked like he should appreciate this darned weather a little bit more.

He sat on his desk and began to compile the scribbled notes he made on the parchment rolls he piled in front of him. He cleared his throat and asked Stolas to give him some water and the other parchments that his ward tediously compiled from the accounts of that freed slave, Adaloun.

Arterius reviewed the entire manuscript meticulously written by Stolas. He swore he could've had done it himself, but he might have a problem reading it later. It wasn't because he had a bad penmanship, it far from that! However, documenting verbal stories take time and effort in catching up with the storyteller and Stolas had the uncanny ability to do just that.

His brilliant ward also incorporated some codes and weird rune like scribbles to make the statement brief, yet still understandable. Arterius sipped a little bit of water from the glass and began reading Adaloun's account about his first expedition.

"The deeper I went into the hole, the more overwhelming the feeling of dread was…" Arterius skimmed through the rest of that page and went on to the second one. "…Then a face lit up from the darkness. It wasn't glowing; however, you can see its features clearly from the unlit cave." The page already ended at that point, but his heart raced as much as it did with Adaloun when he first experienced it.

"Pardon, Arterius," Stolas interrupted. "Your dinner is ready." He placed the tray full of food on the table.

"Dinner?" Arterius looked baffled. "What dinner? What time is it?" He scratched his head.

Stolas sighed, "Dear goodness! It's already the highest level of the Ifnen."

"Ifnen?" He stood up from his seat. "Could you flip that tent flap?!" He asked his ward.

His ward shook his head and went to the tent flap and opened it wide. It was already indeed nightfall.

"Oh," He sat back and took a deep breath, "You should've woken me up earlier—"

His ward raised an eyebrow at his comment. Arterius scratched his head, he knew very well that waking him up while on his medication was close to impossible.

"Fine, I'll eat the food later." He went back to reading the book. "Just put that tray…over there." He pointed at the small table at the side of his bed.

His ward smiled and took a deep breath, "Well then, you eat your soup cold."

He looked at his ward, cursing him with his glare before smirking. "Fine! Food is food!"

He went back to the scribbled parchment and read the next page. He found himself immersed on that particular page checking at how the freed slave describe the monsters inside the hole. He read the other page and still couldn't believe the torture Adaloun had to go through just to kill the monsters. He heard the story already, but Arterius still felt the dread and gore.

"There are still a lot more there inside that hole." According to what he read. "The Dhampiirs might not be the only one." Arterius tapped at the word only as he tried to finalize his decision.

He weighed on the possible consequences that might happen if he allowed just one of the Commander's plan to fully take control of the whole expedition.

Lord Prestonheim, his godfather, had a point. He didn't want to involve the rest of his knights and other knights for that matter so the Senate detractors wouldn't be able to get back on them if the situation went to the worse possible outcome. He knew better than anyone how the Arterians think. They would praise you for your success and even drink with you for your victories but would easily leave you out and at times make you a scapegoat when everything goes wrong. A sad reality that he wanted to change if he was given the chance to do so.

On the other hand, Commander Crovar's idea wasn't bad at all. He wanted himself and his men to join the quest. It was obviously more for glory than anything else, no matter how much he insisted that it was for the Principalia, he could feel the old knight's hunger for adventure. But other than that, Commander Crovar's seasoned men could really boost up the ranks of the expedition team the only problem with that was, they lack the affinity for Light Magic.

All of Commander's Crovar's men are seasoned healers taught in the Crovar's estate and have a powerful affinity to water. The expedition could use some healers, that way they could save the healing potions and salves as they go further into the hole.

Prince Arterius knew what the obvious answer was. Both the Commanders knew too, but their pride was keeping them from compromising on the possible solution. The prideful Commander couldn't see eye to eye on that matter regardless of their long-time friendship.

Arterius took a deep breath and called for Stolas who was silently scribbling on the parchments.

"Stolas," Arterius looked towards his ward at the corner of the tent. "Call on the Commanders."

"You have found the solution already?" His ward asked.

"It was an obvious answer that both of them knew it but you know…" The prince smirked. "Oh, Stolas pray that this will work."

Stolas approached him and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Good luck with that." Before winking and walking away.

He groaned at Stolas' annoying response. He went back and reviewed the parchment, then wrote his plan on the empty ones. It didn't take long for the Commanders to answer his summons. Both men entered his tent with an aura of intensity around them.

From the looks of it, both of them seemed to have not spoken to each other after their meeting earlier that day. He knew both men would never want to hear his solution that involved the compromise, but what could he do?

Both seasoned knights bowed to him, but never once spoke nor greeted one another. Arterius opted not to dwell on their tension but went straight to his plan.

"Lord Commanders," he took a deep breath, "I have made a decision on what to do with our dilemma."

The old knights remained stoic as he laid out his plan. "I have decided to continue on with the same godfather's expedition team." He began. "But I am going to need your seasoned healers to back as up."

Prince Arterius saw Commander Crovar's eyebrow twitched after hearing the plan.

"With all due respect, Arterius," Lord Prestonheim stepped forward. "I found this plan risky at worse. Putting his men with no Light magic affinity on this mission will just get them massacred. I don't want to put that extra responsibility—"

"Responsibility?!" Commander Crovar interrupted. "For crying out loud, August! Those are my men! They will be my responsibility! Are you that scared of us grabbing credit over this?!" He spat.

"You know…everything I do, I do it for the Principalia! I never wished to use this for glory!" The silver-haired Lord responded.

"You make me laugh!" Commander Crovar approached his friend. "We all know deep down you have a sense of rotten philosophy. You can't ride that high horse for too long!"

Arterius had heard the shouts and curses from the Senate, but this one tend to be different than what he imagined. These were seasoned knights, powerful both of positions and magical aptitude with titles engraved on their names. If they fight inside the camp, everything will turn into dust.

Arterius saw his godfather grab Lord Crovar's armor by the collar and yanked his friend towards him.

"High horse you say?!" Lord Prestonheim's aura began to leak. The heavy pressure was crushing him. His knees trembled and he felt lightheaded, but he didn't want them to see this. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Don't even try me, August." Commander Crovar released an aura of his own. "It won't do good for you."

The pressure from their clashing exousia was nauseating, he thought he would faint at any moment. However, Arterius stood his ground and was adamant with his decision and he wanted to prove that to them.

"BOTH OF YOU, STOP THIS NONESENSE!" He commanded.

He caught both of the old knights off guard. He fearlessly glared at both men and asserted his dominance as an heir to the crown.

"I don't care if you are a decorated Commander!" He shouted. "If you can't respect me and my birthright, I will execute the both of you on the spot."

The old knights didn't even bother moving. Their eyes were glued at him.  He had to take this opportunity and make it his own.

"We shall move along with my plan!" Arterius explained the rest of his plan as both Commanders listened to his well-thought-out strategy. "Both of you, listen what I am about to say…"