I checked my stats

[Lvl: 49

Swordsman

Exp: 1457/ 2500

]

The Formars didn't give any exp. it was understandable because they were once humans and the bugs weren't originally from this planet

"You were so manly out there~" Astarotia was quick to approach me

"I only did it to boost the adventurer's morale" I blankly replied

"Wait, didn't have a deal?" I asked

"I never agreed to it, probably" She laughed

"Zeno! that was amazing!" Lea and the others arrived

"Yeah, how did you get so strong? well not as strong as I am" Rick laughed

"Alright, let him rest" Marcus pulled everyone away from me

I sat down and leaned on the wall, Mage's still kept firing their magic on the Formars while warriors stood guard at the gate. Cynthia gave me a flask that had water in it

"Why would you go so far for people you don't know?" Cynthia asked as she sat beside me

"Doesn't your family do the same?" I replied without even thinking, I wish I could take it back but it was already too late. I could only lower my head

"It's fine, I'm already over it. Yeah, as a part of the royal family, this is normal but I am no longer royalty. I can only look after those who are dear to me" Cynthia smiled at me

"...I am a soldier, it's only normal to save people from harm" I spoke out as I reminisced the times with platoon 90

"Even if they are ungrateful?" Looks like Cynthia is talking from experience

"They didn't ask to be saved from the beginning anyway" I don't care about those ungrateful bunch

"That's some weird logic, so duty pushes you to do this?" She chuckled as she asked

"To be honest... I don't know anymore, it was duty at first but now... I guess the more living people, the more people to fight off these bugs in the future" This is for the future of this planet

"By doing this, people will idolize you and make false expectations... what are you going to do when that happens?"

"Who cares about what they think" I laughed, all soldiers were treated as crap while generals and leaders were given honors and medals

She leaned on my shoulder, I didn't really mind because we're partners

'...Zeno, detecting some weird frequency, it's a call! it's calling all the Formars back!' Lilith alerted me

'... so they're ready for an invasion...' Formars were generally bugs that acted on instinct, the appearance of a bug that commands them on the frontline only means that the bugs are ready for an assault

'What are we going to do?' Lilith asked

'Isn't it obvious? we'll follow them and find their base, does DK have enough energy?'

'DK still has 80%'

'That's more than enough'

"Cynthia, I have to go" I patted her head before I stood up

"Is it alright if I come with you?" She asked

"Don't worry, there won't be any fight" she was probably worried about me

"...Alright, please come back safe"

"Thanks"

I left and headed for the gates, the warriors at the gate were weirded out at my request to let me out but they still complied after seeing my performance earlier. I walked out of the gates and saw the Formars fleeing into the forest, I wish I still have my complete gear, I could've planted a tracking bug on one of them. I followed them as all the Formars crept through the forest with their deformed limbs, it didn't take too long before we arrived at the desolate side of the forest.

They all entered a large cave, that must be where they set up a base. I looked around some more and found a debris of the hive on the west of the cave, I cautiously entered and found a few corpses of soldiers like me. Their weapons were with them but most of them were already broken, the only thing I found useful was a single M4A1-1000. This was modeled after the old M4A1, just like my energy desert Eagle, this also uses energy and recharges itself after some time. It was my lucky day, who would've thought that I'd find a weapon like this here.

I tried to push my luck and snooped around some more, all I found were these:

14 - Energy grenades

4 - Fire grenade

4 - flash bangs

5 - Sphere Blast shields

1 - memory stick

5 complete set of Nexus

The Nexus was the military armor all soldiers wore, it was made of tough materials that could withstand an attack from a Formar. Some of the Nexus's parts from the soldiers were cracked and broken due to the crash so I took all of the reusable parts from the dead soldiers while I left the broken ones.

The memory stick was on one of the soldiers' helmet, I didn't really know why there was a memory stick there but I still took it. There's a player back at the ship, I could look at its contents there.

Carrying all of the things here is going to be hard, not because they were but because I only had two hands. I strapped all the equipment on me while I tore off one of the floor plates where I place all of the Nexus armor parts that were neatly stacked, I carried the floor plate and left the Hive debris with caution. I walked to the edge of the forest and waited for night to fall before sneaking back in with all the equipment I've recovered, I returned to the ship and had Guardian 2 do some maintenance on the Nexus armors and the M4A1. Faulty equipment was as good as going to the battlefield with a weapon that can't kill

"How's it going? had dinner yet?" I removed DK and asked Alissa who was busy with her research

"I'm good, you go ahead" her eyes never left the monitor

I placed the chair beside her before sitting on it and laying my head on the table

"Alissa..." I tried to find words to speak but nothing comes to mind

"...?" She looked at me with baggy eyes before she realized something

"I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized

"Why?" I asked

"Because... I've been ignoring you these past few days"

"Oh... yeah, you were" I chuckled

"It's just that this "magic" made me so curious I had to research it"

"It's fine, as long as you give me time every now and then"

She didn't reply and just looked at me before she hugged me

"I'm really sorry" She apologized as she kept stroking my hair

"Come on, let's eat" I princess carried her to one side before taking out refrigerated food and placing it in the oven

We ate dinner together as I shared stories of my adventures these past few days while she shared her research and discoveries, times like these were the best

♠♠♠♠♠

In a castle far away from Lugrus

"My king, Caith city has fallen" A knight reported

"Another city in the north falls... is it the same with the villages that were attacked?" The King asked

"Yes my King, no gold was stolen... whatever those creatures were, they only craved massacre..." The knight had a crestfallen expression

"Alright, you may leave" The King gestured with his hands

"Yes my King" the knight left

"Councilor, did the research team find anything?" The King called out and a man came out from the shadows

"I'm sorry my King but the research team was fruitless on their task, these new creatures are just..."

"*sigh* they just came out of nowhere and started destroying all the villages..." The King rubbed his forehead

"I heard news my King" the councilor spoke out

"Oh? tell me then"

"The same creatures attacked the southern city, Lugrus"

"Not in the south too..."

"But!"

"But?"

"They successfully defended the city"

"That's good, at least the people in the north are smarter than those in the south"

"The city would've fallen if not for the courageous action of one swordsman"

"Oh...who is this swordsman?"

"A wandering swordsman, we don't know his name but people started calling him sword head or red-eyed demon, he came to Lugrus and joined the guild Aegis"

"He joined a guild, that's too bad. Royal decree from our ancestors prohibits us from messing with people that joined a guild unless we have a proper reason to do so"

"Indeed, he was called sword head because of two protruding blades on his helmet while the red-eyed demon title was from the blood red glowing eyes that his helmet wears"

"...Investigate him"

"As you wish"