Without realizing it, time had pa.s.sed. So focused was he on practicing his new mana technique, Eric hadn't even noticed that the sun had risen, dyeing the fields below in a golden light which sparkled as it reflected off the river water.

Eleanor had long since returned to Eric's side, nestling herself in his hair as she watched him manipulate the arcane construct. Currently, Eric was engrossed in attempting to create a sword out of mana. While a standard rectangle or cube were fairly easy to create at his current level, the increased complexity that the edges and hilt of a sword provided were proving tough.

With an annoyed scowl, Eric watched as the mana structure collapsed once more, shards of violet disappearing into the morning light as his concentration wavered.

"You almost had it that time," Eleanor remarked cheerfully.

Looking up, Eric smiled. Eleanor loved lying in his hair as they travelled, peeking out from underneath his hood as he adventured through Nova.n.a.lba. He'd been so engrossed in his practice, that he hadn't even noticed her settle into her favourite spot.

"And just how long have you been up there?" Eric demanded, injecting a tone of mock seriousness into his voice.

"A few hours. You've gotten a lot better. Two weeks ago you couldn't even make a square out of mana, and now here you are attempting to create actual objects," Eleanor replied.

"Yeah, it turns out I can study... when the subject is as interesting as magic," Eric remarked, more to his own benefit than Eleanor's.

"Is it almost time to get going? You told Nelo- Er, Ryan, that you'd meet them after sunrise," Eleanor said. She'd been doing her best recently to use his friends' real names. Despite Eric telling her that it didn't matter, she still tried her best to keep them all straight. Secretly, Eric thought it was adorable, although he'd never tell her.

"Is it past sunrise already?"

"Yup! The sun rose almost an hour ago. But you were doing so well that I didn't want to interrupt you."

"d.a.m.n," Eric swore. "Well… It's not like we agreed on when after sunrise we would meet."

Rising to his feet, Eric placed the unnamed mana technique back in his storage. Stretching briefly, he set off from the hill, following the river back towards Vindammer Town. Instead of heading for the gate he'd left from a few hours previously, Eric headed for the opposite side of the town, making his way towards the eastern wall where the a.s.sault expedition force would be setting out from.

Eric's eyes widened as he rounded the corner of Vidammer's northern wall. Hundreds of adventurers were standing around on the open plain to the east of Vindammer, milling around aimlessly in small groups as they chatted and joked about the a.s.sault. In the middle of the field, a makeshift platform had been constructed from wooden planks, hastily nailed together to allow three men to stand and observe the gathered militia.

Searching through the crowd, Eric hunted for his friends as he observed the militia members gathered. A few he recognized from the tournament, but the vast majority were new faces, which stared blankly at Eric as he pa.s.sed by. Unable to find his friends, Eric found himself a place on the gra.s.s, sitting down to wait for the expedition to begin. Since the entire group had made it into the top thirty-two with the exception of Gio, he would simply meet them again once the elite platoon was formed, Eric reasoned. With an idle yawn, Eric began to practice his magic once more, constructing simple rune formations as he waited for the expedition to set off.

"Attention!" a roar shattered the still morning air. The gathered militia all ceased their current actions, swiveling their heads towards where the roar had originated from: the raised platform in the middle of the field.

"As you all know, I am Lord Alistair Crowsea. I shall be your commander for today's a.s.sault on the goblin forward bases. As militia, it is our duty to protect our own homes and the homes of those who cannot protect themselves. If the goblin menace isn't dealt with, then they shall continue to expand southwards. Goblins cannot live alongside civilized races - if they continue south then there will be casualties. These casualties could be your neighbour, your friends, your sister, or your mother."

Pausing, Alistair stared down at the gathered militia. The militia had gone silent, a solemn air filling the plains.

"However, that will not happen! Today, we shall sweep the goblins from our lands, and drive them back to the north! Brothers, sisters, lend me your strength! Today, we show those monsters the pride of Nova.n.a.lba!" Alistair roared, his voice resounding throughout the plains.

With a resounding roar, the militia responded to Alistair's speech, clanging weapons on shields as they howled their strength to the sky.

Calming down, Alistair regarded the a.s.sembled militia warmly. "There are more than thirty confirmed goblin bases that we must destroy today. As such, you will be divided into platoons numbering roughly fifty members each. Each platoon will be commanded by a captain. For the division, check your militia badges to find your platoon. We depart from the Vindammer teleportation circles in half an hour. Good luck! And tonight, may your blades be dyed in the blood of goblins!" Alistair cried.

With a resounding cry, the militia answered Alistair's parting words. As people around him cheered, Eric's attention turned towards his militia badge. Alistair had said that the badges would show them which platoon they were a part of, but currently, Eric saw nothing different about the silver pin.

While Eric was staring curiously towards his badge, the other two men on the platform were conversing with Alistair. As the conversation finished, both men saluted him, jumping off the platform and heading in opposite directions while Alistair fiddled with a strange circular object under his cloak. Tapping the mysterious object against a ring on his left hand, Alistair held the object aloft, closing his eyes tightly in preparation for what came next.

With a burst of light, the circular object flared to life, an enormous beam of multicoloured light bursting from the surface and shooting into the air. Sensing a disturbance nearby, Eric looked up. With a dumbfounded expression he watched as the beam of light climbed high into the air, where it then split into hundreds of smaller strands of light, each strand of light descending towards a different militia member. Still clutching his militia badge in his hand, Eric observed as a strand of light approached his hand, burrowing into the militia badge where it disappeared. As the light faded, Eric's militia badge began to glow, a bright white and blue emblem appearing upon its polished silver surface.

As the last strands of light disappeared, Alistair opened his eyes. "Your badges show the symbol of your platoon. In a moment, the captains will produce a similar symbol in the air above them. Please head towards the symbol that matches your badge," Alistair explained simply, pocketing the strange orb and raising his right hand into the air.

As he did so, a new light flashed from a badge clutched in his fingers. Rising into the air, the light took on the shape of a crest, with the appearance of a white crow over a background of waves, similar to the emblem currently shining from Eric's badge. Across the plains, similar emblems began to appear, shining brightly above the heads of the militia as they watched, transfixed.

Snapping out of his reverie, Eric began to head towards Alistair, elbowing his way through countless other militia members attempting to head in every other direction. As he closed in on Alistair's position, he encountered Ryan who was talking with Mikasa and another man as they moved in the same direction as Eric was.

"Eric! Glad you could make it, Jun bet you wouldn't come," Ryan said cheerfully, waving him over.

"Bet with who?" Eric asked curiously, giving Mikasa an awkward nod.

"Griffin. He also bet that you'd be late, which Mark took up and lost."

"Poor Mark - if he would just tell me about these bets and agree to give me ninety percent of his winnings, I would make an effort to show up on time," Eric lamented.

Ryan laughed, "No you wouldn't."

"No, I wouldn't," Eric agreed. "Where are the others anyways? I thought you'd be with them."

"Nah, we split up a little while ago. I was with the others from the sword group. Only Mikasa and Zwei here made it into the top thirty-two though."

"Good to meet you, I'm Zwei," the man accompanying Ryan said, offering his hand which Eric shook. Zwei was an older gentleman, with grey hair and an impressive looking moustache. His kind eyes twinkled, as if he'd just heard a joke, and couldn't wait to tell everyone.

"I'm Mikasa - I think we've met," said Mikasa, offering her own hand.

"Yeah, sorry about yesterday. You fought well though," Eric replied.

Face hardening, Mikasa looked away. Seeing this, Ryan laughed while Zwei looked on in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"The young Miss here was certain she could defeat you. Your sudden reveal of your skills has left her most upset," Zwei explained. "She's done nothing but talk about you all day."

"I have not!" Mikasa yelped, turning furiously upon her companion.

"Haven't you? Maybe I should call Saber, or Tafita over to confirm?"

"Don't you dare," Mikasa threatened, her hands going to her waist where two swords were sheathed. Zwei smiled simply, not saying another word as Ryan did his best to disguise his laughs as coughs.

Shaking his head, Eric came to a halt. Just in front of him was a large group of people. In the middle stood Alistair, conversing with the man who'd given out prizes the day before, Wavemoon or something like that, Eric thought as he gazed towards the rest of the group.

Most of the faces around Alistair were unfamiliar, men and women with short cropped hair, an abundance of scars, and lithe builds. However, outside the main group stood another distinct group, comprised mainly, Eric recognized, from those who had made it to the top thirty-two of the tournament.

Aria and Turk were both present, as were Seryllia, Gorin Greatarm, Kifax Catclaw, Tanix Reveil, and many others. Conspicuously absent were Hydrus, Barns, and Grott. Although, whether they'd deserted, or just hadn't arrived yet remained to be seen. Spying the rest of their friends, Eric and Ryan headed over to where Griffin, Mark, and the others were standing, with Mikasa and Zwei in tow.