A month had passed swiftly.

Selene and her group of senior recruits would be leaving today.

She’d made no further progress with Vas over the course of the month, but it was too late for regrets now.

Selene drew a deep breath as she took her old clothes out of her locker and put them back on for the first time in a year.

They felt hot and tight.

Selene was sweating within a minute of putting her clothes on, but she figured that was as much due to nervousness as it was due to the clothes. It was the meaning behind putting the clothes on that mattered.

Vas watched Selene’s back for a minute before continuing on through the large hallway.

He was worried about her, but didn’t want to give her the wrong impression just as she was leaving.

Vas made his way to the armory, where Sun and dozens of new trainees were talking about weapon choices.

Vas recalled his first time in the armory with a smile, and Sun waved to him as he walked into the room.

“You’ll all meet Vas sooner or later. He’s the best kind of quiet. Doesn’t talk just to hear his own voice.”

“Like you do?” Vas asked wryly.

A few of the trainees laughed, and Sun smiled wickedly. “I said you’re quiet, but you still talk way too much sometimes. Maybe we need another sparring match.”

“With weapons, this time?” Vas asked, starting to get excited.

Sun was unparalleled as a martial artist, but Vas was quite confident in his swordsmanship.

“Maybe when I think you’re proficient enough to not accidentally kill me.”

Vas sighed.

Then the bell rang.

Vas had never heard the loud noise, but he assumed it would be the squads coming to pick up their trainees.

Sun signaled for everyone to follow him, and jogged towards the exit of the warehouse.

In front of the exit stood twenty experienced soldiers. Four of them stood apart from the rest and looked noticeably leaner. Their clothes also seemed dirtier, even though there was no dirt this far north.

No, it was blood. Dried blood.

Those were the Scouts.

The loud bell tolled once again, and the exit soon filled with the thousands of trainees.

The process moved along easily, with each vanguard commander calling out the names of the trainees they were taking. There were only a few dozen, and then they bade everyone farewell and marched away.

Now it was time for the Scouts. There were three women and one man. The man stepped forward and called three names, including Selene. When the recruits had walked up to him he stepped back.

One of the female Scouts stepped forward.

She nodded to Sun.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Sun shook his head. “I should be thanking you. Hard times out there?”

The woman took a deep breath and let it out. She looked pained.

“We lost Daneel and his entire squad last week.”

Whispers quickly started circulating around the group. Daneel was one of the top Scouts in the army, well-known even by the trainees.

“I’m sorry, Kara.” Sun muttered darkly.

“We’ll beat these monsters.” He shouted.

A few trainees cheered. Kara just shook her head softly.

“We’ll see. We might need the vanguard to start taking over our operations soon. I’ve lost too many people.”

Kara turned around and the group started walking away.

“Do you need help?” The words were out of Vas’s mouth before he knew it.

Kara stopped, and so did her group. She looked at Vas for the first time. Selene, Jade, Sun, and everyone else was staring at him.

“Yes.” Kara affirmed. “We need people who can survive snowstorms, kill monsters, and walk hundreds of miles through frozen wastelands.”

“While Vas is out of line,” Sun began, glancing at Vas, “I can get you six trainees who are ready. Vas is one of them.”

Kara rubbed her forehead with both hands.

“If you say they’re ready, we need them. We were planning on a long trip before we lost Daneel’s squad.”

Sun nodded to Vas. “Go get your clothes out of your locker. Fem, Joust, Tare, Alex, Wylana, you t—” “Can I go?” Jade broke into Sun’s speech.

Sun glared at Jade. “Fine. Wylana, stay here.”

Wylana opened her mouth to protest but Sun waved his hand angrily, cutting her off.

“No more arguments. GO!”

With that, the group of six that had been named walked through the crowd of onlookers.

“Well thanks for making things more exciting, Vas.” Said Fem, a short Korean who was known to be the best fighter of all the trainees. He used a broadsword and shield.

Vas smiled at him and nodded to Jade. “Couldn’t stand the thought of losing me?”

Jade snorted, “I couldn’t stand the thought of losing TO you. Doubt I would practice much once you left anyways.”

The group geared up and walked back toward the exit of the warehouse. Sun whistled at them from the armory, and they walked over to him. He handed them each the weapons of their choice.

To Vas he handed a new miaodao in a strange red scabbard. There was a button where the scabbard locked onto the hilt of the sword.

Vas clicked the button and the scabbard opened up straight down the middle like a book.

Vas looked questioningly at Sun.

“I heard you like to wear the sword on your back.” Sun said innocently.

Vas stared at the beautiful blade before locking it back onto the scabbard.

Jade helped him strap it onto his back, and then he helped her with her scabbard.

Sun walked out of the armory and to the exit, and the group followed. Fem cracked his neck loudly and clapped his hands a couple times. “Get pumped!”

The crowd of trainees opened up for them and patted shoulders as the group walked through.

For some reason, no one patted Vas on the shoulder.

However, everyone he looked at would give him a nod.

Eventually they reached Kara. She sighed.

“Welcome to the Scouts.”