“Alright girls, it’s that time of year again.” Eliza said, addressing the group in the canteen. “Get ready to pack your things because we’ll be out for the next two weeks.” She looked over to Van. “Van, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, the choice is yours until next year.”

He nodded. Apparently every so often, platoons will be sent out into the wastes for the purpose of hands-on training. And while he was given an out because he was new to everything and technically not a real senior, that didn't mean he didn’t want to prove himself. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be joining you. I want to see how far my training has taken me.”

“Suit yourself.” Eliza said as if it didn’t particularly concern her. “But just to make it clear, we won’t be holding your hand. Out there is real danger, if you fall behind, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. Are you sure you want to come?”

Van nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“Alright, we leave first thing in the morning. Be ready.” Eliza then looked towards the group. “Dismissed!”

---

“Are you sure about this Van?” Kella asked with some concern. “This is the waste we are talking about. It’s not some type of picnic that one could go out in and expect to safely return.

“As much as going out in the wastes sounds fun, I actually have to agree with Kella on this one.” Karmine added. “It’s very dangerous out there, who knows what could happen.” Worried for Van’s safety.

“Thank you for your concern girls, but i’ll be fine.” Van said. “And I believe this is a great opportunity for us to grow and challenge ourselves. Not to mention we’ll be going out with a small army. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Kella and Karmine gave a look at each other and back towards Van.

“Just make sure you're prepared. The last thing we want is to put you in unnecessary danger.” Karmine said.

“Indeed, if we are to go out, you have to promise us that you won’t take unnecessary risks.” Kella added.

Van nodded. “don’t worry girls, I won’t. Trust me, I know the dangers, I won’t do anything that would get in the way of you protecting me. I just want to see what the waste is like, that’s all.”

Kella and Karmine looked somewhat mollified, but still held some unvoiced concerns. They decided to just trust their master and hope for the best while preparing for the worst.

“I’ll check with Scream about what we should take with us. And see what we can arrange for transportation.” Kella said to Karmine.

“And I'll go over the girls and see which ones would be the most useful, perhaps taking a few harpies and troglodytes with us considering the terrain.” Karmine agreed.

“I’ll spend all night making some talismans and prepping my soul realm for transporting in case of an emergency. Maybe I can summon a small army should things go for the worse.

Kella and Karmine nodded at that, glad their young master was doing something logical as creating a backup plan.

“Alright then, see you all tomorrow.” And with that they went their separate ways until the next morning.

---

“I have to say Van… Your troops are impressive…” Eliza commented as his girls lined up in formation.

“Thanks, though they don’t seem as impressive as yours are.” Van said, taking notice of the troops Eliza and the others brought. Unlike his girls who were of all different backgrounds and races with a mix of different equipment. Eliza’s and the other girls' troops were mostly uniformed and wore the same equipment.

There were pike troops, sword troops, bow troops, and a small cavalry of about a hundred and about two dozen mages including Jynx. in total there were about over a thousand soldiers, with each senior student contributing about thirty soldiers or so.

Compared to Van, though he did bring about a hundred and twenty troops, the comparison was like night and day. Though he did notice a majority of the soldiers brought by his fellow students were mostly hobgoblins, probably because that was the easiest troop to breed and maintain. Though he did see a few vampires and ghouls added into the mix.

“Nonsense.” Eliza said. “You should be proud of the number of soldiers you’ve managed to maintain so far. Not to mention how versatile they are. Tell me, have you thought about breeding some more harpies and troglodytes? They could really come in useful for future expeditions. I know the school would pay you a pretty coin for every egg you sell them.” Asking out of genuine interest.

“No, I haven’t thought about it, mostly because my girls are very precious to me. But maybe I could be convinced to part with a few eggs if necessary. So long as I believe the exchange is fair enough. As for breeding more… I’ll have to think about it.” Van replied.

Eliza nodded. “Well if you ever are willing to part with a few, I’ll pay out of my own pocket a fair deal. Also, after this expedition we will lose a few, replacing them is a… Hassle… If you don’t mind, I know you didn’t sign up for the breeding but we would appreciate it if you could donate some goblin eggs. If not, we can always buy more from our supplier.” She ended with a shrug, making it clear there was no pressure.

Van tilted his head. At first he wanted to reject the offer, but then thought better of it. Helping his platoon could help him in the long run, all it would cost him a few hours of breeding and popping out a couple dozen eggs with his girls. “I’ll… Think about it…” Was all he would say on the matter.

“I suppose that’s all I could ask for, thank you.” Eliza said.

After that the next few hours were spent packing up crates and barrels into a long line of wagons near the entrance of a large and heavily fortified gate. The gate that will lead them out into the wastes and all its dangers.

Van was told to hop on the rear most wagon while the soldiers prepped everything. Taking a look around as the wagon began to move and the troops began to march, he couldn’t help but realize the sheer enormity of what was actually happening around him.

“This is just one platoon… There are hundreds more, plus the guards and soldiers hired and maintained by the school and the city. There could be like… More than four to six hundred thousand soldiers here. And that’s not even including the army and the surrounding fortresses and military camps… It’s kinda scary if you really think about it. I wonder how many soldiers the East has in total, and how much would there be if you combined all the armies of the three factions.”

He tried thinking about it but the number boggled his mind. “Ten, twenty million? More?” he shook his head. “No, definitely more if we had every soldier under every noble, knight or mercenary captain. No wonder those in other nations view us as a sleeping giant.”

Voices were heard from outside the wagon. The gate was opened and they slowly began their journey. What Van saw, blew his mind away…

---

The wastes were nothing like he’d ever seen before.

Just an endless track of reddish land as far as the eye could see. The earth seemed bleached with the color of muddy brown blood. And warped beyond recognition by the constant fog storms that blasted their way through this uncompromising flat terrain. It was like the desert, but deader, with no signs of life that could possibly call this place home.

As they traveled, Van noticed that everyone was on high alert. Even though they were in great numbers, everyone was nervous, even the sole silver ranked vampire knight that was to be their guide at the front of the column seemed constantly tense.

But all that could be felt was a hollow wind that chilled the spine and a pregnant silence that was by far very unnatural to the ears. The dust and wind smelled like nothing. If anything one could go out of their way to describe the scent of the wastes by what it didn’t smell like. No smell of decay, or rust, or the smell of sand. Nothing. Almost as if this land was completely devoid of all things that could point towards life in this barren stretch of nothing.

Hours passed and still nothing happened, and the tense atmosphere seemed to infect everyone no matter who they were. Van felt it, even Karmine and Kella weren’t immune to it, and Ashina was constantly twisting and turning her ears in vain, her face going left and right trying to catch a smell that was never there and will never be there.

But what was worse of all… Was the sound their own caravan made…

You never truly realize how much noise you make when you're the only one making it. Every squeak and rumble of the wagons. Every echoing stomp of boots or flap of wings. Every breath of life, was solely kept within the confines of the wagon train, and slowly spread out into the wastes.

When the day finally came to an end. There was no fanfare, no joy that their long trek had come to an end, no relief that they got to put their boots up and relax. Instead everyone became even more wary than before, as if they didn’t trust the undisturbed peace they had so far. Almost as if they knew it was a lie or a ruse, to keep them off their toes and get them when their guard was down.

The silver ranked knight addressed the group when everyone had stopped for the night.

“Everyone, so far we’ve been lucky. Not a single attack today. But that does not mean we can rest easily. As you all know, not being attacked on the first day is usually a sign of bad things to come. So I want everyone to pull double duty on tonight's watch and prepare your flares and potions. As for the rest… If you need me to tell you that now… Then you deserve what’s coming… Dismissed!”

Everyone got straight to work. The wagons were turned around until they made two circles around a central bonfire. It was at this time Van came to realize why the wagons they were riding looked so unique, having a pillar of sorts in the front and back. It was because Jynx activated some sort of magical chant and created an impromptu barrier between the gaps of the wagons. The wagons themselves were then enchanted to make them tougher and their metal plated side was pointed outward towards the barren wastes.

Once that was done the tarps on top of the wagons were pulled off, revealing a series of ballistae. After that people prepped ammo, arrows and other things on top of the wagons for archers, as well as mana potions for mages. When that was done, wooden spikes were brought out and magically adhered into a final third ring of defense, a makeshift palisade of sorts with enchanted bells attached to them to warn of any intruders trying to make it pass the stakes.

Seeing all this happen before Van’s very own eyes made him keenly aware that perhaps he was coming into this too soon. That perhaps he should have stayed back and waited until he became an official senior himself. But such thoughts were going to have to wait since they provided no benefit worrying about. Instead he ordered his girls to help out where they could while he went to Jynx to ask where he would be most useful.

Jynx looked around, trying to find something he could do. “At the moment, there is nothing I want you to do other than watch. Trust me when I say I would love to have you help out, but since this is your first time, it’s best that you just make sure you don’t get in anyone's way. But then again…” She gave a pondering look before coming to an idea.

“If possible.” She took something out of her soul realm. “There is a stack of talismans that I haven’t gotten around to empowering yet. Could you pour your mana in them and get back to me later? I’ll also make sure to make a list of any enchanted weapons or gear that need recharging, your excess amounts of mana would come in very useful for this.”

“Of course. I would be happy to help.” Van said, just glad he would be doing something productive. He knew while it first seemed he was just given busy work to keep him out of the way. It didn’t lessen the fact that his task was very important in making sure people had working gear and talismans that could fire when commanded. Making sure he did his job right could help save someone's life. So he took to his job with the great severity that everyone else seemed to be putting into their own tasks.

A few hours later he was told to try and get some sleep. And while it didn’t seem like that was possible in this kind of situation, he at least went to try.

In the end. He hardly got a nap in before the sounds of battle woke him up…