Powerful torrents of wind were crashing against the high wall separating the Empire's territory from the Dark Lands. The wall was long, protecting one of the most important cities closest to the Border.

After the Dark Lands expanded, absorbing several villages with the Dark Mist, Order directed its forces towards this city, Falrin. For a long time, it was just a normal town of smaller than average size, but with the arrival of the forces of the Order, everything changed.

It was now one of the largest and most developed cities in the eastern part of the Empire, as this was where it faced the influence of the Empire.

However, it was hard to call Falrin a prosperous city. Most of the development was due to the military factor. The city expanded and became more favorable for living, but not always for ordinary people.

Much of the city was taken over by Order control, as well as the numerous units of Fate Knights that were permanently stationed here. Their job was to protect Falrin from the waves of monsters that occasionally attacked the city.

For the monsters, there was a certain benefit in this, as Faalrin had a lot of valuable resources, especially Mana Crystals, which were necessary to maintain the functionality of the city. 

Mana Crystals could help monsters evolve, and if any of them had already gone through the Awakened Process, they could directly absorb energy from Fate Knights.

Ordinary people were constantly on edge as their city could be attacked at any moment. The Fate Knights and ordinary Knights did their best to protect Falrin, so gradually it became a fortress city.

On one of the walls, stood a man in dark blue armor, as his blue eyes stared into the distance while the wind fluttered his short black hair.

"Mr. Marcus!" A gentle female voice sounded, from the west side of the wall.

Marcus turned around with a calm look, glaring at his subordinate.

"Sara, what's wrong?" Marcus asked, clearly seeing that she was alarmed.

Sara fixed her long blonde hair, then straightened her back and with a serious expression said, "Crusader, Eler Uri, asked Order for a rescue mission! Order has handed it over to us!"

Sara hadn't finished her message yet, but Marcus had already understood as he turned his head towards the Dark Lands.

"Who are we supposed to rescue and how deep is our target?" Marcus uttered, holding his hands behind his back.

Sara blinked, surprised that Marcus had guessed so quickly, then she said, "It's Zayne Fellen, Traveller. According to unconfirmed information, Erel Uri wants to offer him to become a Fate Knight after the tournament at Zexiton Academy ends, which starts in two days."

"Oracle from the academy has determined that Zayne Fellen was kidnapped by Chaos Power and transported to the northern part of the Dark Mist Forest! According to current information, he is still there and he's fine!" Sara finished her report.

Marcus took a deep breath, "It's pretty far, though if we take one of the fast routes we can get there pretty quickly. Fine, prepare a squad of five men, including you and me."

"Agh...? Only five?" Sara was puzzled, "Mr. Marcus, are you sure...?"

Sara was one of the most loyal subordinates, willing to do almost anything Marcus would say. However, when it came to the Dark Lands, she would start to worry. Even the Fate Knights couldn't be sure that they could return alive from the Dark Lands. 

"Yeah, this is a rescue mission. We don't need firepower, all we have to do is reach a certain point quickly and return back just as quickly. Five men will be more than enough, especially since we'll also be in a squad." Marcus explained, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Unlike Erel, Marcus wasn't a Crusader, he was a Fate Knight, but he was very close to moving up. He was a Fate Knight Commander, as well as one of the members of the war council of the Falrin, which showed his importance to the Order.

He only needed to take a little time and become somewhat stronger so that Order could fairly promote him to Crusader. 

"Sure, as you command! I'll do everything right now!" Sara exclaimed respectfully, taking one last look at Marcus' left shoulder plate before heading downstairs.

There were three white crosses on his shoulder plate, which meant that he was a Third Rank Fate Knight. This was the highest rank, the only thing that could be more important was the commander status he had.

Marcus shook his head, then his ring sparkled. A lighter and a cigarette appeared in his hand, which was immediately lit with a red flame.

"Agh... Somehow I don't like this at all..." Marcus muttered, exhaling a hot puff of smoke, "Erel always seemed too stubborn to me. He's determined to recruit this Zayne Fellen, plus he's also a Traveller..."

Marcus sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Well, that's probably right, but it's definitely not worth risking the lives of the Fate Knights to save him. Damn, the worst thing there is is obeying stupid orders."

Less than an hour later, the squad was ready.

Marcus and Sara stood in front of the other three Fate Knights. They each had one star on their left shoulder pads, Sara had two. Among them were two men in bulky armor and massive swords, one girl in light armor, and two daggers on her belts.

"Fine, Sara has already informed you of everything. The mission is simple, we must rescue a young man who had the misfortune to be the target of chaos." Marcus said calmly, tossing aside the last cigarette of the many he had smoked recently.

"Commander, I have a question." The girl with a serious expression asked.

"Hm? Go ahead." Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"What should we do if we encounter monsters or Chaos' followers along the way?" The girl said confidently.

Marcus waved his hand, "Nothing. If the fight can be avoided then that's what we'll do. We'll only fight in desperate situations."

"But, isn't destroying the followers of Chaos and cleansing the Dark Lands of monsters our duty?" The girl straightened up.

Marcus glanced reproachfully at Sara, making her look away, then he stared at the girl, "What's your name?"

"Fosca Fucci, First Rank Fate Knight!" Fosca said proudly.

"First Rank, while you are quite young... You recently became a Fate Knight, right?" Marcus asked. 

He didn't know every Fate Knight who was under his command, as there were quite a few in Falrin and they changed from time to time. Some were leaving for other positions, some were resting due to injuries, and some were dying. Fresh blood was always coming in, it was a never-ending process.

"Nineteen! I became a Fate Knight at fifteen! Got promoted six months ago!" Fosca quickly replied as if she had been waiting for this question.

The other two Fate Knights received wide-eyed looks. Normally, the earliest age to become a Fate Knight was eighteen, before that it was only possible to be a candidate. However, even for such a result, one had to have talent.

Fosca, on the other hand, was able to do it three years earlier than most talents. Even if Zayne were to accept Erel's offer and immediately become a Fate Knight, he would already be three years too late since he was eighteen, practically nineteen.

"I see... From the looks of it, you're proud of your results. Well, I won't hide it, it's actually amazing and commendable. However, there's something you need to realize..." Marcus muttered, then his silhouette disappeared.

In a heartbeat, he found himself right in front of Fosca, with his sword held to her neck. She didn't even have time to react, to her it looked as if Marcus had just teleported to her.

"If you want I can put you on patrol right now. Given your confidence and skills, you can probably handle a few monsters. However... sooner or later, you'll face the kind of opponent that will pull your heart out of your chest, and you won't even notice it." Marcus coldly said while slightly tilting his body forward.

The sharp blade of the sword left a cut on Fosca's skin, from which trickles of blood flowed.

"We still have time to kill monsters, now the only thing I care about is accomplishing the mission and not letting any of you die for the sake of it. In the future, each of you can bring a lot of value to society, but that won't happen if your arrogance causes you to die today."

Marcus took a step back and returned his sword to its scabbard in a smooth motion.

Fosca gulped, she realized that if Marcus, her Commander, became the enemy, her head would already be on the ground. 

"Do you understand, rookie?" Marcus looked at Fosca from top to bottom. She was First Rank and was technically far from being a beginner anymore, however, she didn't dispute that.

"Yes. I will do everything in my power to successfully complete the mission. I hope this young man is worth it." Fosca said respectfully, holding her hands behind her back.

Marcus nodded, "Me too." Then, he looked up at the blue moon, "Well, let's head out. Dark Mist Forest is a dangerous place, but only in certain areas. Oracle from the Academy will guide us."

There was a white crystal hanging from Sara's belt, through which messages could come to them from anywhere in the empire.