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Vener, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 45th day of Fall, Arenfall

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Both the Commanders were all ears on him. Prince Arterius made sure he stood tall and proud as he began to present the plan. He wanted to make them listen, and he did just that.

"We shall continue with Lord Prestonheim\'s plan. The freed slaves along with his small number of specialized units will go to the hole by the morning of Chandea." He glanced at both Commanders who haven\'t reacted to his decision yet. "However, it would be wise to also get help from Commander Crovar\'s men." He rolled a piece of parchment paper and handed it to Commander Crovar.

The old Commander took the parchment from him and read the contents silently.

"By tomorrow, I expect to see 20 of your finest healers be trained under the watchful supervision of Lord Prestonheim on both strategy and fighting tactics. We only have four days to do this, so I want to apologize—"

Commander Crovar glared at him, "There is no need for a prince to apologize!" He said. "As for my men, it would be an insult to me if they aren\'t able to adapt at such a fast pace. My knights had been trained for any condition at any given moment. Four days is too long for us to learn!" He proudly stated.

Arterius stopped himself from cracking a smile, as the Commander\'s words proved to move him. "Very well, I shall leave it up to you, Lord Commader!"

The prince then turned his attention to his godfather, "Do you have any objections to this plan?"

Lord Prestonheim silently nodded and saluted without saying a word.

"The night is still young Lord Commanders, but I must get back to my research. Have you had any news about my master?" Arterius asked both of them.

Lord Prestonheim cleared his throat, "It\'s highly likely that he\'s still within the confines of that damned castle. I have already sent the letters you have written to Lady Bieroff, but she still hasn\'t answer at the moment." He explained.

"How long has it been since we wrote that letter Stolas?" The prince asked his ward.

"About more than a week ago, Prince Arterius." The ward answered, "Close to two if you ask me."

"And my godfather diligently sent that immediately after we wrote it." The prince scratched his head.

Arterius scratched his head as his eyebrows furrowed. The Lady of the House Bieroff had been unresponsive to any of his summons or requests at the moment. Such insolence could get her head on the sharp end of the sword, but that wasn\'t the prince\'s stratagem. He would rather wait it out for now while they continue with entire expedition.

The last thing he wanted is to spread himself too thin by focusing on the fires at all fronts. As the moment, acquiring his master back from the Bieroff household was a lesser priority compared to the expedition at hand.

"Very well, Lord Commanders I won\'t hold you any longer. I shall dismiss you both for the night, but let\'s convene on the morrow. Around the highest level of Obura over breakfast." Arterius sternly ordered.

Both Commanders bowed and saluted to him, thumping their fists on their chest before exiting silently. As they moved towards the tent opening, Arterius noticed something weird. He knew that both Lord Commanders didn\'t get along the past couple of days due to their differences in approach of the expedition. However, as they moved out of his tent, he saw a subtle smile of contentment in both their faces.

It felt like both of the Commanders were testing him, and that irked him a bit. But at the same time, it made him proud seeing them smile like that. It just meant that he had earned their respect, a feat that he thought he could\'ve never done without Prima attached to his name. At this time, he proved to them that he had the mind to command his Commanders.

He sat down and smiled from ear to ear as he unfurled the scroll once again. He had written and formulated the possible strategies they could go through with it. Over a week ago he asked his godfather to let him do the stratagems for the expedition, which his godfather surprisingly had agreed on.

As a greenhorn, he had to meticulously review every account and every idea he had come to mind up to that point. Everything needed to be documented so he can review the flaws and the possible countermeasure for each given situation.

The stressful ordeal affected his sleep, but it was all worth every sleepless night he had—or so he hoped. As he read through the scribbled runes and images, there was one thing that got him so confused, the partial map.

The map was uncannily detailed by the freed slave, but there were things inside there that didn\'t make any sense. The white stone on the left wing of the cavern. As Adaloun described it, it was a slab of stone that had swirls and lines patterned naturally on its surface. It also had thin veins of aetherium ore running in the slab but was physically impenetrable.

"Stolas," He called out his ward. "Have you asked Adaloun about the white slate planted on the cavern\'s wall?"

His ward tried to recall what the freed slave mentioned to him. "He said it was just a wall with patterns on it and aetherium veins." Stolas answered. "There\'s nothing more to it."

"There\'s nothing more to it, huh?" Arterius scratched his head. "What if, that slate could mean something?" The prince felt uneasy about leaving that detail untouched.

"Should I call him here?" Stolas inquired.

"No." Arterius answered. "Let\'s go over to their camp. Bring some of those coal sticks and a piece of parchment." He ordered.

"Wouldn\'t it be more convenient for you if you stay here and I call him here?" The ward wanted him to reconsider.

"I wanted to take a breath of fresh air anyway, so why not just go there!" He exclaimed.

Stolas took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "That\'s going to be a bad idea."

"I need to also walk this damn leg, Stolas." The prince scoffed. "I need myself some fresh air, don\'t let me beg."

"Fine." Stolas replied. "I will prepare your hood and the sturdier cane." He went away and got everything ready for Arterius.

The prince on the other hand felt a certain excitedness. He never had experienced walking along the camp during the nighttime and he was curious to see what\'s the freed slaves\' life during that time.

The walk going to the freed slaves\' tent was not as arduous as the uphill climb. However, the graveled ground made it difficult for him to walk on a steady gait. Stolas had to guide him through it all.

Arterius watched every other tent as he walked past by them. He saw the big bonfire and huddled knights singing merrily around the flame. Some knights slept on the ground with a mug on their hand while others were still drinking the last batch of beer, he brought with him from the Principalia.

They weren\'t able to notice him, either because they\'re too drunk or they\'re in too much focus on merry making they don\'t give a damn.

"Aren\'t they drinking too much?" Arterius asked his ward.

"They\'re enjoying their last moments with their comrades." Stolas answered. "Look over there!" He pointed at the other knights sitting somberly on the campfire.

There was a dichotomy of emotions swirling around the camp. The mishmash of joy and sorry started to hit the prince\'s own emotions.

"What have I got them into?" Arterius whispered to Stolas.

"You got them to claim their own glory and become one of the foundations for the Principalia\'s rise to dominate the world." His ward proudly answered.

The answer made Arterius uneasy. He knew Stolas so well, but it was the first time he heard that from Stolas. It felt off putting and unnatural for him to say.

"Be honest with me, Stolas." He sighed. That\'s just your way of saying I might be dooming them to their deaths." He gritted his teeth in frustration.

This was the first mission Prince Arterius had where he was given the liberties to have control of the mighty knights of the Principalia. To him it was an honor to command the knights towards building the future. However, it was also daunting especially when it dawned on him that their lives were also placed under his hands. They will die for the Principalia and to him to acquire their future power.

It was something that the young prince wasn\'t ready, but he pushed through with that responsibility because he knew it was the only way to succeed.

They had already walked past the partying knights and their noisy singing. They took a left at the blacksmith\'s tent and headed straight to a small campfire near the outskirts of the camp. From the distance he saw four people around the campfire.

The freed slaves were laughing over an inaudible story one of them had shared. Prince Arterius could feel his heart raised as they slowly approached them. He didn\'t know what to say. He thought it would be awkward to simply interrupt and go straight to the point.

He held Stolas by the arm, "Stolas, you were right. This was a mistake." He whispered.

"What?! You\'re saying it now? We\'re here already!" He whispered back.

"Ay! How goes der?" The dwarf shouted. "Izzat yah, Prince?"

Everyone stood up waiting for him to respond. From the looks of it, they were already noticed by the time he changed his mind. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. It was too late to go back, and it would only be a wasted effort if they did.

Prince Arterius gestured to Stolas to show themselves to them.

"Yes, good evening…ummm..everyone." He greeted as he approached them.

The freed slaves bowed and greeted him back but up to that point he was lost for words and had nothing more to say other than the greeting.. He sighed as he finally decided to play the conversation by the ear.