At the mouth of a valley bathed in darkness stands the bulwark of humanity. There, we send our brave sons and daughters to stand against the forces of evil. There, we stand vigilant against our eternal foe. There, we stand tall upon the monument of the gods and look down on on the unholy Wildlands. So sleep well, child, your home is safe.

—Introduction to The Lapris Book of Fables

“Um, are you alright?” Aiden asked the kid hesitantly.

Kid, because 'Freckles' was a kid on closer inspection. Probably no older than fifteen, sixteen tops. The others in the group of spear bearers weren’t much better, more kids and few that looked to be elderly or worn out, but they all bore the same crest and colours and the crest was that of the wall.

“I-I’m fine! Just, um, surprised.” The kid stammered out while scrambling to his feet.

“I can see that.” Said Morrigan dryly. “So what’s the big fuss about? Why do you feel the need to meet us heroes, by spear point?”

“Heroes?” The kid squeaked.

“Peace Westly,” Said a calm older man who stepped out of line and made his way towards the trio. “The Heroes don’t bite, do ya?”

“That is correct sir,” chuckled Arthur.

“Right, so odds be they’re here to help us like that other lass who showed up.”

“Indeed we’re here to help against the demon threat.”

“Hence the horns.” The man nodded the bundle.

“Hence the horns,” affirmed Arthur.

“So they were horns,” murmured Aiden.

“Duh, what else would they be?” Asked Morrigan.

“They bleed; only antlers should have blood.”

“It was a demon, why should it make sense?” reasoned Morrigan. “Plus they're white like ivory, it would make more sense to compare them to tusks.”

“But horns don’t bleed,” Aiden repeted.

The soldier cleared his throat and Arthur took over. “As I was going to say. We came to the wall after hearing the declaration in the hope that we may receive some training and fight demons.”

A blond man snorted in laughter, “You fight demons? From the looks of you lot, I’d say you barely manage to kill that one.” He pointed at the bundle. “And all the escaped monsters were newborns already half dead.”

“Sorry, What?” Aiden interjected.

"you tell 'em, Deegan."

“You see this mess around you?” Deenan, the man who had been speaking, asked.

The trio nodded.

“And you notice how this group here looks about to shit their pants?”

“Don’t talk like you ain’t one of us!” shouted one of the pants-shitters.

The man ignored them and continued. “This is all the result of the demons escaping their holding pens led by a brand-spankin-new Demon Lord. That same Demon Lord making a declaration, not ten strides from where we are standing, then disappearing in a storm of darkness and ravens.”

“So,” Morrigan prodded, “what happened next?”

“The bloody Abyss broke loose, that’s fuckin what.” the man spat, venom dripping from his words and continued in a low growl. “Damned demons let loose on the garrison without pain nor fear, faught like the god’s damned hoard of legend and ripped through the recruits like fucking paper.”

“Oh,”

“Your fucking right, ‘oh’, and you little shitstains think you got what it takes to fight them?”

“Well you lot don’t look much better,” Aiden retorted.

“Us older men are tired, and the younger lads are green, but we’ll pass on our wisdom and the sprouts will learn; they now know what it is we’re fighting. We also don’t have anyone walking around with literal shit stains.”

“So do we,” Aiden insisted shaking the bundle of horns before him.

The man laughed, “take a second look,” and pointed at Arthur.

“What?” Arthur twisted around and finally noticed the giant brown patch of the seat of his pants. “Seriously you guys? You didn’t bother to mention this?”

“Brother dearest, we thought it was a fashion statement—didn't want to embarrass you.” Morrigan kept a straight face, Aiden choked out a snort of laughter, Arthur glaired.

“Well, it’s not a fucking shit stain.”

“Right then,” Deegan stated, his only acknowledgment of the childish spat being the whisper of a smile and a twinkle in his eye. “Follow me; I’ll take you to the Master Sargent for assignment.”

“Assignment?” Arthur asked, but the man was already moving. The trio hurried after him.

As majestic as the Wall’s exterior was, the interior was rather spartan. Deegan led the trio down long unadorned hallways lined with plain doors and lit with pale blue light coming from no discernible source. This was either the first instance of magic the players had seen in the game or an instance of the developers being lazy. Aiden hoped it was the former, but had a sneaking suspicion that it was both.

Occasionally Aiden could see some geometric symbols carved into the stone walls breaking up the monotony of the endless corridors, and from the way Degan was checking them, Aiden guessed they served a similar function to high-density residential signage back on Earth. That was not comforting. Aiden had either lived in or visited those massive complexes of steel for most of his life and he would still get lost in them if his augments didn’t guide him every step of the way.

If something went wrong, Aiden didn’t like his chances of finding his way out and he suspected that might be on purpose. The Wall was a major fortification, and any decent fortification tended to be built somewhat like a maze. They did pass by other soldiers in uniform, some standing at guard, most rushing by, and all appearing far more capable than the ragtag group that met them by the gate. They didn't seem the sort to give out directions at any rate.

Finally, after too many hallways and far too many stairs, Deegan stopped at a door slightly different from the rest and knocked three times then waited. Four uncomfortable minutes passed before the word “Enter,” sounded from the other side and Deegan ushered then all in.

Aiden noticed three things immediately upon entering, the room was nothing like the bare halls. Maps covered the walls with marker and lines dotting the mountain range they depicted, where there weren't maps, there were shelves full of documents and where the shelves were full, documents were stacked neatly on the floor. Frankly, the room should have been cluttered but somehow it maintained a ridged order; this was the first thing Aiden noticed.

On the far wall was a beautiful painting depicting a vista overlooking a sprawling rainforest marked the second object of interest. A beautiful painting to be sure, but it was the flying birds and the resulting trees that drew Aidens eyes to it and then to the final, but likely most important aspect of the room, sitting at his desk in front of it.

The man, Aiden assumed to be the Master Sargent, radiated power. His eyes were cool steel and seemed to cut into Aiden as he examined him. Aiden tried examining the Master Sargent, in turn, but could only feel more intimidated. His hair was flame red and his frame looked as though it had been chiselled from hard stone only to be marred by grisly scars, one of which ran up his neck and just past his square jaw. Aiden let out a relieved breath when the Master Sargent’s eyes moved on from him and landed on Deegan.

“What have you brought me solder?” the Master Sargent’s words were low and grated like a mill-stone.

“Three Hero sprouts hoping to join up, Sir.”

“Join?” Aiden began to voice his confusion.

“Quite.”

Just that one word Aiden could not speak, he didn’t even need to try, he just knew somehow. Forget the weird hallway lights, this was the first real magic he’d seen in the game and it was fucking awesome.

“We’ve had a few Heroes enlist and I’ll give you lot the same deal I gave them. This is a proper military installation and we do not accept mercenaries. You will either enlist as fresh recruits or you will leave. There will be no special treatment for being heroes; you will serve within the ranks and potentially rise within them as any other solder would, and you will serve a minimum term of service of two years or be branded a deserter. This is not negotiable. Your response?”

New Quest

Enlistment: Join the ranks of the Garrison as an enlisted soldier for a minimum of 2 years

Reward: 50 Aes per week, skills training while enlisted, minor skills learning boost while enlisted, assorted bonuses based on performance

Failure: Death (death penalties applied), Desertion (you will be named a deserter and will be punished as one), Disobeying orders (specific instances will be punished according to severity, severe instances will instantly fail quest)

Aiden felt the restriction lift but did not feel like speaking. Two years of commitment? Instant failure for death or desertion, possible failure for disobeying orders and penalties based on military law. Not just military law but feudal military law. Aiden had no doubt that it would be unpleasant. The rewards were at best ambiguous and at least mundane. Basic pay didn’t seem to be worth much without anything to spend it on, but he supposed it would be useful in the future. The training was what he really cared about though.

Doing random things and getting random skills was fine but it wouldn’t make him great. He’d already noticed his skill gains becoming slower as they passed level 15, and if this was like any game at all that problem would only become more pronounced. More important than all that though, was that he was tired of always being mediocre and bumbling about like some idiot. He knew on some level that he wasn’t really an idiot, that he was even decent at some things, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

He didn’t want to an idiot, and this felt like a chance to be something more. Besides, even with the penalties, he could still run away—it wouldn’t be the first time. Aiden took a deep breath and made his decision, not waiting for the others.

“I accept… Sir,” Aiden said. He didn’t sound half as confident as he wanted to.

Morrigan stepped forward and declared “We accept as well.”

Arthur simply nodded.

The Master Sargent smiled and Aiden could have sworn he was looking at a wolf baring its fangs.