Page 3 of World of the Forgotten (World of the Forgotten #1)

New Home

I n the end, everyone from the group of newcomers chose to join the scouts.

By the time we were all done signing our contracts, five distinct groups had begun to form.

There were the tough guys, including the spiky-haired muscular man who stepped through the portal first. The other three groups were fairly similar, although they definitely seemed less intense than the first and better balanced.

Most of them had either common themes among their clothing or hairstyles.

I wasn’t sure if that was a good reason to form a group, but in a world chock full of unfamiliarity, it probably lent some sense of comradery that we were all missing.

And then there was my group, the leftovers.

We were a ragtag group of five, including the red-haired man who’d sarcastically called me a genius back at the portal.

The blue-haired girl was also with us, although she’d gone awfully quiet ever since we were given our choice .

I had a feeling she was scared out of her mind, but to be fair, so were the rest of us.

At least, I knew I was. The last was a taller girl with dark hair and dark eyes.

She had an imposing aura, and she didn’t speak much, so I left her alone.

Kai, to my surprise, took charge of the group.

I would’ve thought he’d join another, more extroverted group.

But he seemed perfectly happy with us outcasts and I was glad to have him.

Out of everyone in Cindersea, he was the person I knew the most. It wasn’t saying much, but again, familiarity won out in a world full of strangeness.

As we stood there, awkwardly shuffling our feet and avoiding eye contact, Kai cleared his throat softly. His warm brown eyes scanned our faces, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

“Well,” he said, his voice quiet but somehow filling the space between us, “I suppose we should introduce ourselves properly. We’re going to be working together, after all. At least for a little while until we get settled in this new world.”

The blue-haired girl fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, her eyes darting around nervously. “I-I’m Mira,” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kai nodded encouragingly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mira. I’m Kai.”

The red-haired man snorted, crossing his arms. “We all know who you are, Mr. Welcoming Committee .” But there was no real bite to his words, and I could see a hint of respect despite his sarcasm. “The name is Kuro and don’t any of you forget it!”

“Hello, Kuro,” Kai nodded. He turned to the tall girl with dark hair. “What’s your name?”

“I remember what it is,” she said stiffly. “But I don’t like it.”

“Well, that’s not a problem,” Kai smiled. “This is a new life, after all. You heard the captain, you can be whoever you want in Cindersea. What name would you like us to call you by?”

She looked slightly nervous, but nodded. “I think I’d like to be called Rhia. I don’t know why, but that name feels more like my own than the old one.”

“Rhia it is then.” Then Kai turned to me, staring expectantly.

“I… uh… I’m Oliver,” I said, a little quieter than I meant to. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Sorry. It’s Oliver.” I raised a shaky hand, forcing a polite smile onto my face.

“Well, now that we all know one another,” Kai said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go find our barracks and figure out what guild we’re each going to join. From what the captain said, it sounds like an important decision that we should talk over a bit.”

Nobody argued as Kai turned and led the way back out to the long dirt road that would take us to the city nearby.

It turned out the city was a place called Selas, and it wasn’t a city at all.

In fact, it was merely an outpost, the furthest from the capital city of Cindersea.

It was the place where the newest members of the RSB found their feet, proved their worth, and made a name for themselves.

Of course, that kind of exploration made it a great place for merchants as well, so the city sort of sprung up around an old outpost. However, according to Captain Boromia, it had been decades since any real expansion had taken place.

Apparently, the RSB was having a hard time clearing the local monsters from the area.

And that didn’t make me feel particularly confident about my new job.

Then again, I wasn’t a confident person to begin with.

At least, I didn’t think I was. I only had a couple of hours worth of evidence, but I already felt like I had a pretty good grip on my personality.

Helping the RSB make a safer world for the people of Cindersea felt like a good idea.

I just wasn’t sure I had the stuff to become a real fighter.

In fact, I knew I wasn’t a fighter at all.

Those thoughts and more nagged at me as Kai led our group into Selas for the first time.

The bustling atmosphere hit me like a wave.

The narrow streets were lined with wooden buildings, their facades weathered but sturdy.

Merchants called out their wares from colorful stalls, the air thick with the scent of spices and freshly baked bread.

Despite the apparent lack of expansion, the outpost-turned-city thrummed with life.

It was far more vibrant than I expected for a place apparently struggling with keeping monsters at bay.

Kai led us through the winding streets with surprising confidence, as if he’d walked them a hundred times before.

I found myself wondering, not for the first time, just how much he really knew about this place.

However, when we had to turn around more than once, I realized he was just as lost as us.

“The barracks should be this way,” he said, gesturing towards a large stone building at the end of the street.

Its gray walls stood out starkly against the wooden structures surrounding it.

Everything about it was sharp edges, fresh paint, and clean lines.

It looked solid and well built, like it could withstand anything.

In fact, there was little doubt in my mind that it wouldn’t make a great stronghold should the city ever come under attack.

As we approached, I noticed other groups of newcomers converging on the same spot. The tough guys were already there, forcing their way through to get the best rooms. In fact, by the time we reached the building, all the other groups had already gone in. We were the last to arrive.

“Hold it,” a guard called out, raising his hand as we tried to go inside, stopping us in our tracks. “Sorry. Barrack’s full.”

“Full?!” Kuro snapped. “How can it be full? We were promised a bed, man! And food!”

“This new group was bigger than usual,” the soldier explained flatly, clearly already over Kuro’s attitude. “You’ll have to use the auxiliary building. ”

“Can you tell us where that might be found?” Kai asked, holding up a hand to silence Kuro before he could speak again.

The guard sighed as if Kai had asked him to chop off his own arm. “Fine. I’ll show you the way. But you better memorize it because I’m not doing it again.”

The guard led us down a winding path away from the main barracks, grumbling under his breath the whole way.

As we walked, the well-maintained streets of Selas gradually gave way to more run-down areas.

The buildings here were older, their paint peeling and wood splintering in places.

Siding rotted away and bright green moss clung to the wood shake roofs.

Everyone we passed by stared at us, but said nothing.

They all looked terribly skinny and run down.

There weren’t many people much older than us, and I didn’t see any kids.

I was starting to get the feeling that life in Selas, maybe in Cindersea, was a lot harder and shorter than the captain had led us to believe.

Finally, we came to a stop in front of a squat, weathered building that had clearly seen better days.

The roof was lopsided, grass grew high all around the outside, and the door hung slightly ajar, the interior nearly lightless thanks to a lack of windows.

The guard gestured towards it with a lazy wave of his hand.

“Here you are. Auxiliary barracks. Make yourselves at home.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and marched back the way we’d come, leaving us to stare at our new accommodations in dismay.

Kuro was the first to break the silence. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he groaned, running a hand through his red hair. “This place looks like it could collapse at any moment. Are we seriously expected to sleep here?”

Mira whimpered softly, her blue hair seeming to droop along with her spirits. “M-maybe it’s not so bad inside?” she offered weakly, though her voice trembled with uncertainty.

Rhia, her dark eyes narrowed, stepped forward and pushed the creaky door open wider. A cloud of dust billowed out, causing us all to cough and wave our hands in front of our faces. As the dust settled, we peered inside.

The interior was just as dismal as the exterior suggested.

The building was split into four rooms. Two sleeping quarters held two rickety bunk beds each, their thin straw mattresses sagging in the middle.

Cobwebs decorated the corners, and a musty smell permeated the air.

A single, green flamed flickering lantern cast eerie shadows across both of the rooms.

The other two rooms, a bath and a combination kitchen living area, were a little better, but clearly had not been used in a long time.

However, there was a fresh pile of logs next to the fireplace and the hand water pump, after a bit of work, still pumped clean water into the bath.

The only problem was, it was freezing cold.

“Well,” Kai said, his optimism sounding ridiculous in conjunction with our surroundings. “This is home.”