Cashel drove back home in complete silence, his mind going over the rather brief meeting with who he assumed was the leader of the black market awakeners.
It would have been a huge lie if he said he was not excited. In fact, his joy could rival that of a child getting the toys he asked Santa for.
He had a list of weapons to demand once he got home and read through the details of the contracts, the things they would give him besides his payment.
And even better, he could do his favourite job while also working with Andeen or watching over her.
It was a win-win.
His phone suddenly buzzed as he drove onto the empty road heading towards the city they lived in. He brought the screen up on the projector and glanced at it.
A message from Andeen.
Honey, I’ll be coming late today, so come pick me up. And I might have a mission tomorrow in a dungeon. Here’s the details.
North Cornwall Road, Mainland, Gate A-173.
Cashel did a double take and a smile suddenly found its way to his face.
"...Guess we’re working together without a hassle after all."
The sound of heavy boots echoed down the empty pristine halls of the SAMD headquarters.
Andeen moved calmly, her staff stretched out in front of her even when she could practically hear where she was going. She was in her uniform, the white coat over a white body suit with a belt bouncing on her hips as she moved.
She paused at a turn and then turned around when she felt something, but it vanished as fast as she sensed it.
A sigh left her lips.
She had been needlessly paranoid these days, like she was being watched constantly, and it started after Cashel got registered with the Awakener organisation and hunter association.
"Calm down, he’s not going to die," she muttered to her worried selves as she continued ahead. She made her way down the door and out into a vast garden with a cement-floored centre.
The sounds of energy blasts cutting through the air from one end of the massive field, the sound of speedy movements from the forests and arrows hitting the tree barks hit her all at once.
She frowned slightly and clicked her tongue once the vibrations faded. Then she shifted her head to the centre where a woman in the same white suit and a buffed man wearing a white oversized jumpsuit with the upper part tied around his waist stood.
A frown appeared on her face when she saw they were sparring together.
"General!" she half-yelled, and even then her voice barely rose over the noise in the field. When she got no reply, she tapped her staff on the ground, sending a gentle wave of cool air towards the two and they both stopped mid-attack.
General Rain tilted her head backwards, her legs wrapped around the huge man’s torso, then she grinned. "You’re here, wonderful." She unstraddled him, tapped his cheek and turned to face Andeen.
"You asked me to come in my combat suit," Andeen began, making her way over to them. "Is there an issue?"
General Rain studied her. From her long pale hair flowing over her shoulders, then her pretty staff and her fogged-over pink eyes.
She loved admiring Andeen.’It’s such a shame she’s married,’ she thought pitifully and placed her hands on her hips.
"You’ll be back on active duty from tomorrow," she said, expecting a reaction or a change, but Andeen remained still.
Her head turned slightly to the man beside her.
"Andeen?"
"I heard you, General," Andeen answered immediately before turning her head to her. "What does this have to do with me being here?"
The man beside Rain glanced at her briefly before looking at Andeen with a narrowed gaze. Rain simply laughed, waving her hand dismissively.
"You’ll begin training from today to prepare for tomorrow and the next two days’ mission. The higher-ups specifically said you’d have to work harder now, especially with the gate and dungeon irregularities, and also the SAMD would have to handle in-city situations," she paused. "Since he black market awakeners have already started moving and will be active from tomorrow, same with the mercenaries," she snorted. "Apparently Cashel Altar awakening somehow made everyone sit up."
Andeen narrowed her eyes. She had no idea why she was being told this, but she could easily tell they were going to make her pay for Cashel not joining the military and SAMD
It was annoying.
She let out a sigh and adjusted her grip on her staff.
"The higher-ups initially ordered my deployment only during disaster-level threats. I can’t go into random dungeons in my..."
"Your condition?" Rain completed. "Well, you won’t have to worry about that. We have new division commanders to work beside you with your team, and they will be happy to help you."
Andeen frowned but only briefly before letting out a sigh of acceptance. She lowered her head. It had been quite an awful while since she trained or fought seriously. All she had to do was use her basic abilities and that was it.
She clenched her jaw tight and thought, ’Why did he have to awaken?’ She found herself selfishly regretting Cashel’s awakening because it was only making things hard for them.
And she still had not heard anything about the meeting with the other organisations.
"I don’t like this," she murmured under her breath and Rain nodded. She placed a hand on Andeen’s head and patted her gently.
"This is the job you’ve always wanted. You don’t expect it to be fun. Just endure and push through. It will eventually get better." Rain comforted her softly, but even Andeen knew those were just sweet lies.
Even General Rain herself had served in the regular military before awakening and she had gone through the same thing. The only difference was she was not running out of time due to her class and she had no issue and wasn’t constantly worrying about someone else.
She envied her sometimes, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy having Cashel by her side. She would give anything to keep that.
She heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time and raised her head. "If I’m going to train I can’t use this place," she said, referring to the small space and the number of people here.
Rain raised a brow, momentarily confused. When she remembered what type of skill the S-ranked soldier before her possessed, a maniac grin formed on her face.
"If that’s the case, we’ll move to the training building."