Freedom Jumper-Chapter 170: False Victory

The day continued into more chaos, resulting in dinner being delayed until seven o'clock!

Luckily, the only people complaining were the people barred from joining the expedition teams, which included anyone injured or under the age of eighteen.

Upon Elijah waking, he smelt a hot meal sitting on the end of his bed. Roasted meat with eggs and wild berries. Not a single person was within the tent, which likely meant they were helping out with the aftermath of the chaos. Elijah took his sweet time chewing every piece thoroughly, and properly swallowing his food.

After wiping his mouth on his leather chest plate, he strapped it onto his body — overtop of his back long sleeve shirt.

The night was young, and in the midst of this night were still at least 200 people moving about. Carriages that were filled with beast corpses were being brought to "the freezer", while large amounts of orange and yellow beast cores were being hauled to a storage building.

Based on the conversations running frantically in the near distance, Elijah was able to surmise that the beasts had been stopped, at the expense of a fair share of lives.

To Elijah, the entire ordeal felt like a false victory with the knowledge of the hellfire commander in his head.

"A lone man known as The Handler? Pff... I'd prefer to call him, Beastman..." Elijah muttered to himself while walking through the crowds of people. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

At least the forest fire was contained and eventually extinguished...

A simple man passing by carrying a wheelbarrow full of glowing cores stopped in his tracks. "Kid! Are you helping at all right now?"

"No. I just woke up." Elijah quickly responded whilst staring into the pile of money.

"Go to the northern edge of the outpost and help transport the beast cores. Tell them Cason sent you." Cason pointed in the direction where he came from, then quickly continued on his path.

Elijah began walking, trying to keep an eye out for anyone he knew. 'Seems like the rush is warranted by their hunger. So who gave me my food?'

Dozens of people manning a large pile of beast cores that only increased as time went was seen. "Ahem. Cason sent me to help transport beast cores."

"Ah! So that Cason is truly hungry! Hahahahaha!" The burly man wiped alive off his lips, and continued. "Grab one of these wheelbarrows or baskets and get to work. They go to the southern storage house."

Elijah assumed even if he couldn't find the exact spot, he would just be able to follow anyone doing the same action.

After loading two dozen beast cores in a wooden basket, Elijah threw it over his head with all the raw strength he could muster. Truthfully, he could've gone for the wheelbarrow, but he wanted to use his arms. Working his body is not something he has done in some time, which will change once his academy classes begin.

Walking into the stone storage house gave him chills. Not just because of the temperature, but also because of the vibrant gradients of color plastered across the stone walls and ceilings.

Hallways upon hallways of scaffolding held numerous numbers of different items related to swords, armor, runetec, bones, beast cores, mana crystals, and so much more.

Just by the looks of it, this storage house was used solely for goods, and not anything food related.

Elijah was directed by a resource worker to the back left corner of the storage house, which was where the beast cores created a gradient of colors that stained the lofted wooden and stone ceiling.

A man was there already unloading different crates and wheelbarrows, and smiled in response to Elijah. "Thank you for the help, you may grab yourself a plate of food in the dining hall."

"Ah... Thank you. I will do that." Elijah did not say much other than agreeing.

"Elijah! Over here!" Niko waved his hands in the air upon seeing a familiar face walk into the dining tent.

Elijah pulled out a chair and slowly sat down. "Did you guys leave food at the tent for me?"

"Yes. I put it there only 30 minutes ago. Was it good!" Joffrey added, setting his metal fork on the off-balance wooden table.

"Thank you. It was very good." Elijah paused, taking a deep breath while scanning the area.

Other than Songa, Henry, and two of the academy children, everyone was accounted for.

Elijah knew something bad must have happened, but still decided to ask. "Where is everyone else?"

"Look..." Joffrey glanced at Finn while dropping his head. "Songa is gravely injured, Henry is practically limbless, and the other two children are gone..."

Niko, Kithus, and Ronny couldn't look anyone in the eyes while they spoke. However, Niko and Kithus seemed to be acting as if the tragedy had no effect on them.

"Well, I'm sure there were a lot more deaths than that. Let's just be grateful we are still here." Finn tried to heighten the mood, but with his hair covering his eyes, his effort amounted to almost nothing.

"We will be going back to Tavenas tomorrow morning. The rewards and compensation will be deliberated over, and given to you within a couple of days. If I were any of you, I would try and help the outpost in as many ways as possible. Even the menial tasks..." Joffrey's statement concluded the dinner everyone was already finishing up.

Everyone stayed in similar age groups as their strengths would be needed in different areas. Joffrey, Banks, and Finn joined in on harvesting beast cores in the evening, while Elijah, Niko, Kithus, Ronny, and 3 other kids around their ages focused on transporting small goods to the different storage houses.

Soon, midnight had arrived, alongside the completion of all tasks that needed to be finished.

Yes, there were still beast cores inside the forest, but far too deep to gather during the night. It is very well known amongst the people that some beasts are far more active during the night.

Inside the tent and curled up in his thin bed sheets, Elijah began to ask questions related to the war. "Tell me Joffrey, what do you know of the neighboring kingdoms?"

"I don't know as much as a peacekeeper, but what I do know relates to the good and bad sides at play. Take the Frostfire Kingdom for example. They were the ones who invaded your entrance exam, and have been invading different places across the kingdom lately."

"But... It is rumored that they are working with the Rentri Kingdom across the ocean. They both want the same thing, the destruction of our Kingdom."

"What beats me is why they haven't combined forces and wiped us out. It's like there is something else at play..."

Elijah began thinking. The Frostfire Kingdom is home to the blue elves. And the Rentri Kingdom is something completely new to him. "Are there any other kingdoms?"

Joffrey adjusted himself in his bottom bunk not too far away from Elijah. "Of course! There is Donbad, Osanis, Corith, Elysium, and The Nine. Although, not a single squeak had been heard from Elysium in a very long time, and The Nine isn't a kingdom, but a place run by the people equally. No one even knows where they exist, we just know that they do."

"Who knows! There may be some places no one has found in this world! After all, it's extremely hard to explore considering the beasts that roam everywhere uncolonized."

Joffrey paused before saying his last statement, something he had almost forgotten. "Don't be going around saying the names of these places. It's highly confidential considering I am not even supposed to know of these places. But... I have a friend in the peacekeepers who likes to talk, hahaha"

Elijah didn't ask anymore questions as he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, but also because he could tell other people were trying to sleep. Elysium seems like a kingdom built within nature. Maybe they didn't want to involve themselves in a pointless war, and stopped any effort at showing themselves to the world.

The Nine, is something that interested Elijah even more so than Elysium.

What could the name mean, and why were they hiding themselves?