Odyssey Journey (3)

The sun rose as usual. On the seaside raft, Alexios frantically struck with his chisel, while Gorgias used his nimble hands to quickly bind the canvas spread on the ground to the mast. His younger brother Lycurgus stood guard with his bow.

As expected, enemies soon appeared—one squad on the left and one on the right, both heading their way.

Facing these raiders, Lycurgus simply nocked an arrow and waited. His arrows were few; he couldn't rapid-fire to suppress them, so he had to make each shot count. Seeing this, his brother picked up his shield and spear and stood beside him.

Just as the opponents closed to sufficient range, swish—an arrow struck the neck of a boy on the other side. The youth fell to the ground with an arrow through his throat.

This was a common flaw among many trial-takers: to reduce weight and carry more supplies for mobility, they wore only leather armor, cloth armor, or even no armor at all. But the two brothers had only discarded their shoulder guards and knee guards, still retaining full bronze breastplates and Corinthian helmets.

Two more arrows flew, but they were blocked by the opponents' shields. The enemy covered their torsos with shields—they had learned their lesson. Lycurgus didn't care. He pinched his last arrow, shot again, and it struck the exposed calf of one of them.

The opponent was clearly stunned, not expecting a master archer on their side. But it no longer mattered. Lycurgus had to drop his bow and draw the Lasidream Battle Knife at his waist, a blade from his cousin.

Obviously, the two opposing squads also feared each other; neither dared to attack first. The three sides were deadlocked. Until one squad, having already lost a member, couldn't bear the wait any longer and charged.

But their close-combat skills were clearly no match for the two brothers. The enemy rushed in with short swords and javelins, only to be slaughtered.

The other squad, however, shrewdly filled the gap and immediately joined in. One youth wielding two swords moved nimbly, his blades constantly hacking at Alexios's shield, forcing him onto the defensive.

This left Lycurgus to fight two-on-one. Fortunately, he had already shot one in the calf, leaving the man limping and unable to help his comrade much.

Alexios kept threatening with his spear tip, maintaining distance and waiting for an opening. The dual-sword youth suddenly lunged from the left side of the shield—as the saying goes, "a shorter weapon means greater danger"—he wanted to close in and escape the spear's reach.

But in an instant, the dual-sword youth felt his footing give way and crashed to the ground. Alexios had stuck out his leg for a trip—a wrestling technique. The Lasidream people excelled at wrestling, and this leg-sweep trick was something his cousin had taught him.

Before the dual-sword youth could react and get up, Alexios drove the counterweight at the butt of his spear straight into his face.

After finishing that enemy, Alexios immediately turned to his brother. Lycurgus had already split the skull of the limping foe. But the one with sword and shield had given Lycurgus trouble—his arm and thigh were cut, and his chest and abdomen had taken several hits, though the breastplate had blocked them.

Alexios twisted his waist, put his strength into it, and hurled his spear. It pierced through the last man's leather armor, pinning him to the ground.

Alexios hurried over, pulled the spear from the corpse, and asked urgently:

"How much longer?"

Gorgias was tying ropes frantically, not even looking up:

"Five minutes. Five more minutes."

Alexios found the time estimate grim—four more squads were approaching, and his brother was wounded. The next fight would be even harder.

As the four squads drew near, the good news was that two of them had started fighting each other early. But the remaining six were nothing to scoff at. The brothers stood ready and engaged them in a tangled melee. Alexios raised his shield and thrust, but the opponent's hand axe slammed straight onto his Corinthian helmet.

Alexios heard a thud as his helmet rang. He tried to shield-bash, but then the enemy's face was pierced by a javelin.

It was Gorgias. The little fisherman had stopped his work and joined the fray, accurately throwing his only two javelins, killing one enemy here and piercing the thigh of Lycurgus's opponent.

He took the trident off his back and went to help Lycurgus. This skinny pagan was tougher than he looked, using the trident to parry a spear aimed at Lycurgus and steadily forcing the enemy back.

Alexios glanced sideways and felt a surge of despair. The two squads had decided their fight—one squad, reduced to one man, retreated; the other, three wounded, charged over.

Worse, two more squads appeared in the distance. These men wore red cloaks, Corinthian helmets, and bronze armor. They, too, were Lasidream warriors.

Alexios had no time to think. They had to finish off their current enemies quickly, since everyone in their small group was injured.

The three who had won their fight rushed forward. Just as they were about to reach them, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—several sounds of breaking air, and all three collapsed. Multiple Lasidream-style javelins and throwing spears had pierced them. It was the distant Lasidream warriors.

Alexios, Lycurgus, and Gorgias could only grip their weapons tightly. They had to defend the raft.

The six warriors slowed their pace and approached on foot. The leader took off his helmet:

"Your Highness."

Alexios realized he knew the man—the son of a Reserve Officer under his uncle's command.

"Maximus, what are you here for?"

Alexios felt a bit dizzy, whether from blood loss or the blow to his helmet.

Maximus replied:

"To help you, Your Highness. We haven't forgotten what the King did for everyone."

Alexios and Lycurgus finally breathed a sigh of relief:

"And what about you?"

Maximus puffed out his chest and answered:

"Walking back with shame is better than having our own people's blood on our hands."

Alexios nodded.

Maximus then pointed his spear at Gorgias:

"Your Highness, we can trade him for one of our own."

Gorgias was startled!

Alexios shook his head:

"I've already made a promise. I must keep it."

Maximus said no more upon hearing this and had his men hand over the corpses and their supplies to the prince.

High in the sky, aboard the Storm Eagle Gunship, Anthony asked Peter beside him:

"Captain, isn't this cheating?"

Peter stared intently at the screen and replied:

"Anthony, strictly speaking, almost no one plays by the rules. The ration bars they eat are made with Black Adeptus Mechanicus tech, and so are their collapsible water tanks."

"The purpose of these rules is to test their will through wilderness marches; to confirm their bloodlust through mutual slaughter; to assess their leadership and obedience through three-man squads; to gauge their adaptability and execution through sea voyages. What they're relying on now is unity and trust, brothers and comrades-in-arms—this is within the rules, and should even be encouraged."

"What I don't want to see is someone breezing through the trial with a mechanical crossbow, wearing Flak Armour, and hauling a speedboat engine on their back."

Peter kept his eyes on the screen and continued:

"I'm starting to like those Lasidream people more now. They're brave, tenacious, brutal, but with a sense of honor—they're practically perfect Neophyte candidates."