Chapter 204 The World Below part 4 (1/2)
The rest of the new Legionaries were gathered together in a cl.u.s.ter at the end of their ward under the watchful eye of a few Centurions.
The young soldiers felt restless. They still didn't know how to feel towards the Legion and the seniors who had cared for and trained them for so long. The pain of the Baptism was still fresh in their minds, the scars still raw. Many of them felt a strange dual emotion towards the people they had once admired, equal parts anger and respect.
Aurillia stepped forward to address them.
”Thank you for gathering young Legionaries. You have endured the pain of the Baptism and suffered the loss of friends, as have we all” she looked each of them in the eye directly, letting them see that she knew of their pain, shared it.
”I'm sure you've felt it already, the changes in your body. You are no longer what you were before. Your very flesh has been infused with mana and this means a few things will change. Firstly, you can never live on the surface without regular doses of liquid mana to support your body. The mana there is too thin. Here inside the Dungeon you'll be fine but in the upper levels you'll begin to feel a bit weak”.
Murmurs erupted from the new Legionaries at these words. Unable to live on the surface without liquid mana? If the Legion were the only ones who knew how to make it, isn't this just another way for them to be controlled?
”It also means” Aurrilia interrupted their thoughts, ”that so long as you are able to absorb enough mana you will be able to do things that you had never imagined possible before”.
Now she glared at them. Impressing her will on them. All of them wilted before the strength she held in her gaze.
”I know that you are questioning the Legion, I did once also. When you have experienced the fight we are engaged in for yourself you will no longer hold any such childish notions! If you truly want to protect you loved ones from the horrors of the Dungeon, then you've come to the right place. The Abyssal Legion stands on the frontline against the true threats and for thousands of years we have done battle far beneath the surface, an unending war that few people in Liria have ever heard of”.
She glared at them once more.
”Come”.
So saying, she turned and pushed open the heavy wooden doors that separated their ward from the rest of the Legionary building before marching briskly through. The former trainees followed closely behind, trying to not stare at the bustle around them. Legionaries in their customary blackened leather armour stood in guard positions down every down corridor or pa.s.sage they moved through, auxiliaries dashed about, delivering papers, meals, equipment or any of the million other tasks that the Legion needed done in order to operate. The new Legionaries were hardly spared a glance as they followed behind Aurillia, escorted by the Centurions who followed them.
The castle was carved directly into the wall of the s.p.a.ce in which Railleh was situated. As with all things the Legion constructed it was built on very clean lines, straight corridors and square rooms, giving the entire structure a very austere feeling. It was easy to tell that the structure was old. Possibly too old.
Mirryn looked around and made a few estimations in her head before she came to the shocking realisation than this base, indeed, the city of Railleh itself, probably predated Liria by a considerable amount of time. The Legion had been here long before the nation of her birth had even been created? This whole city?
It didn't make sense. Why would the surface be so neglected that it was the last place to be developed, to be made habitable for people? She thought of her family and their humble history, working hard to carve out a life for themselves in the frontier kingdoms and the pride they had felt at what they achieved in such trying circ.u.mstances.
Was it all a joke? There's an entire city down here! Long before her ancestors had even thought to join the expedition to the frontier.