May ye rest well,

Dear departed.

May ye fight well,

Dear departed...

“This... is a bit much...” Rai said.

Sin nodded in response, without saying a word.

Rai and Sin had woken up and prepared themselves for their first dungeon expedition. They came to the Academy, only to find the archaeology society scrambling amongst themselves for some reason or other.

They seemed to be confused about something to do with the expedition.

“Guys!” Rai shouted.

No response.

Rai had to get their attention somehow...

And he knew just how to do it.

Stormflow.

*SNAP!*

The room’s walls echoed with Rai’s thundering finger snap.

Quickly, everyone quieted down.

“Hey.” Rai said. “What’s up?”

They all looked between themselves before Maya spoke up.

“Finally! You’re here... we need you to help us choose the right tools for the expedition!”

“That’s it? That’s what that whole commotion was about?”

“There were some disagreements so... it got more heated than you’d think.”

“Yeah!” Feris said. “We should take as much papyrus as we can so we can write down all of the phrases in the Ancients’ language! We can’t read em, but we can trace em mindlessly to avoid the mind-break... These fuckers can’t see that it’ll only help future scholars when they’re actually able to read the writings!”

“What about us though?!” Amy asked. “We only have space for either all the papyrus, or to pack a bunch of soothing bells! The herb used to soothe the undead when they’re unrested! Surely we should focus on our own safety over future academics, no?”

“We won’t even need ‘em, dumbass! Just don’t fight the undead and we’ll be perfectly fine! Did you just forget what Ricolo said about the undead being docile??”

Amy was about to reply in her frustration, but Rai interrupted.

“Okay!” He shouted, quietening the two of them. “So... if there’s not enough space for both things, then why don’t you halve the leftover space between them? I’m sure we won’t need that many soothing bells, and I’m also sure there won’t be that many Ancient writings to trace. How does that sound?”

...

Silence followed.

It was almost like both Feris and Amy were considering Rai’s proposed compromise, before Feris finally answered.

“... Fine.” He said.

Amy looked at him, surprised that he’d concede even a little bit of papyrus. But she felt like it would’ve been in poor standing of her to not accept this compromise now that Feris already had.

“... It’s fine with me too.” She said.

“Good. Then let’s get it all packed and get to Rodrick’s office so he can send us off.”

Begrudgingly, Feris and Amy packed only half of what they wanted into the big knapsack.

Rai let out a soft sigh, then instinctively looked at Sin.

She stood, grinning wide, pointing two thumbs up at him.

Rai smiled a touch. But he felt deep down that this was probably going to be a common occurrence between the group. They simply disagreed on what was more important, which wasn’t inherently a bad thing, Rai thought.

But it was definitely going to bring him more grief than he initially realised when he became their leader.

As the group packed all of the things they needed from Rodrick’s classroom, which had a lot of supplies for dungeon expeditions, surprisingly, they then decided who would carry what. Tullian and Maya were elected as the pack-mules of the group, as they drew the shortest straws for their respective sub-groups. They had to carry the big bags with the majority of the supplies. Maya wasn’t too happy about it, but Tullian accepted his duty without a fuss.

Once they were finished packing their supplies, the society reminded themselves of who was in what group.

“So, Feris, Maya, and Amy, you’re all three in Sin’s group. Tullian, Lina, and Hiron, you three are in my group. Everyone good with that?” Rai asked, re-confirming what they had decided during the first briefing.

They all looked amongst themselves. No one replied.

“That silence probably means those groups are well balanced enough. Right then. Let’s get going to our first dungeon!” Rai declared.

The group sounded more enthusiastic on Rai’s declaration. They clearly didn’t care much for the logistics, but the prospect of the actual expedition was exciting for them. Though, Tullian seemed to be a bit more reserved than normal. He felt a lot more distant than everyone else was.

But Rai couldn’t exactly blame him. He probably felt conflicted about learning what he did.

They all left to Rodrick’s office together. Which wasn’t saying much, as it was only a few steps away from his classroom.

*Knock knock*

A reply didn’t come. Though, the group heard shuffles from inside the room. Then, the door opened quickly.

“Greetings, young archaeologists!” Rodrick said. He had a knapsack on his back. “There’s been a change of plans!”

Rai looked at him quizzically.

“What kind of change in plans?” He asked, cautiously.

“I’ll be joining you on your expedition.”

“Eh?... Uh... it’s not that we don’t want you, but I’m curious as to why?”

“Hmm... since you just came back from there, you would probably know about the monster problem...”

“Yeah. We ran into one on our way to my home... It massacred the whole village that we went through, but my mum and grandad were safe, thankfully.”

Lina and Amy were shocked. Even the others were surprised, minus Hiron and Tullian. They might’ve been decent enough fighters, but they hadn’t encountered any real monsters or beasts until their so-called ‘tournament’.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Rai. But that leads me to my reasoning. I’ve been informed that a Lich has been spotted near Kigglesbury. Now... be aware that it’s only a rumour, and that it might not have anything to do with the House of the Brave, but I will be joining you on your way to and from Kigglesbury. However, I will not be attending the ruins with you. My goal is to confirm whether the lich is real, and if it is then I will need to exorcise it. That is my duty on this expedition. Is that clear?”

Rai nodded.

“Clear as day. Will you be staying with us where we’re staying?”

Rodrick shook his head.

“I’ll be on the move for the most part, but I’ll find shelter when I need to, you can have faith in that. Very well, shall we leave? I can see that you’re all prepared now.” He said, gesturing towards the big bags on Tullian and Maya’s backs.

“Haha. We’re ready indeed. Let’s go!”

And so they made their way out of the Academy.

On their way out, many students wished them well on their first expedition, and even some second years made it a point to wish Rai good luck, though they felt like he wouldn’t need it.

Rodrick led them all to the portal to Udra in the portal house, and paid the toll for all of his students.

They went through the portal.

As they exited the portal on the other side, Rai and Sin looked over at Townsend. There were more people around there now than when they were here before, which probably meant that business was picking up today. Rai was glad to see that.

But they weren’t here for personal business this time, so they couldn’t go and see Bort like they wanted to.

“The path is this way.” Rodrick said.

The others ignored him. They were too enthralled by the fact that they were in a completely different region than most of them were used to.

Rodrick quickly realised that this was the first time that most of the society had been in Udra. So he let them soak it in for a moment.

Amy pulled Rai’s sleeve and pointed towards Acies.

“Is this your home?” She asked.

“It’s one of my homes, yeah.” He replied. “See that inn over there?”

The others nodded.

“That’s Townsend. Me and Sin used to meet up there every month when we were kids!”

“I used to sneak out of the Underworld and come here to see him.” Sin added.

“That’s... so cute!” Maya exclaimed. “You two are just the cutest, I swear.”

Lina seemed to agree, what with her nods of affirmation and flushed face.

“Great. I think I’ve had enough of all your lovey-dovey bullshit now, so can we go to where we need to go?” Hiron frustratedly said.

Rai smiled at him.

“You’ll find your soulmate at some point, I’m sure.”

Some giggles followed Rai’s dry delivery.

Hiron simply sighed and turned around. He started on the path to Kigglesbury.

“Alright fine, we’re coming.” Rai relented.

They all stopped dawdling about, and followed Hiron down the path.

Rodrick understood now that he needed to take a back foot here. This entire expedition was less about him leading it and had more to do with how the society handled it themselves.

He’d try to sit back and observe now.

Fortunately for the archaeology society, there were no bandits or highwaymen on the path to Kigglesbury. They managed to arrive there in around an hour or two of walking.

As they laid their eyes upon the village, it seemed like Rai and Sin were the only two not surprised at the state of it. Even though they were in the Lands In-between, given how close Kigglesbury was to Udra, it made sense that it’d be affected by Udra’s problems just as much the towns and cities within the region itself.

Kigglesbury was clearly a rural town, however. It was situated in the middle of a field past the forest that led out of Acies. Surrounding it were lush greens and sporadic groves of pinewood trees. The buildings in the village were made of cobble, which was surprisingly different to how buildings in Acies were made.

There were some kids playing outside one of the buildings, and a couple of adults sat on chairs outside another.

They were busy talking about something, until the society entered the village.