Freedom Jumper-Chapter 179: Call to Arms

"Hey! Do you hear that?"

Standing atop the wall – pacing back and forth every thirty feet, was an armored Protector holding a silver runic sword. On his back was a white fur cape that revealed its bright blue underside when flapping in the wind.

In the distance, a sound that broke the natural peace of the night echoed.

CAW! CA-CAWW!

"You're right! That's the sound of a nistor! I'll make the call for everyone nearby!" A second Protector who was on patrol of the wall began quickening his steps in the direction of the closest tower. In his left hand was a silver emblem, dangling from a silver embroidered chain.

And in his right, was a forged metal sniper accompanied by a long engraved barrel. Its weight was by no means 'hard to handle', but had the firepower to bore a hole through one of the towering trees.

All of a sudden, a bright light appeared in the sky – a beam of condensed fire that created thousands of small shadows...

All hesitation and desire to see what was happening left the marksman Protector. His steps became intentful, faster, and ended with him slamming his emblem into something into a perfectly sized activation mantle.

"TOWER SEVEN!! NISTOR"

The tall tree trunks that stood in front of the wall — towering over the kingdom like giants, were given a bright yellow glow as a way to not just scare off the beasts, but to allow the marksman to do what they do best.

This plan had been perfectly crafted as an intentional gap of roughly 75 feet were between the wall and the first of the towering trees.

Bright lights instantly blanketed the area, activating down the wall one after the other. Any unfortunate beast would have been temporarily blind by the lights.

Every single Protector stationed in the vicinity had been alerted, even the Protectors who stood guard in the storage house just before the wall.

One by one, weapons ranging from bows to runic snipers rested on the knees of the protectors who took their stance.

Meanwhile, Elijah and Niko were still outrunning the nistor's who had regained their trail. The moment the lights had removed the darkness, Elijah and Niko took a breather while streaking across the brightly lit space.

They were only barely visible because of the speed they traveled at.

That was until they left the horizontal range of the bright lights...

A shadow that streaked across the light field quickly caught up to Elijah, and dug its feet into his back. Currently, the position was rather awkward — a tight tug that left both backs wide open.

However, thanks to this position, they also had both of their backs covered by each other.

In fact, whenever Niko witnessed the black wings of the bird appear before his eyes, he unleashed another beam of condensed fire that lit up the sky.

"They are going to keep coming after us if we don't leave the sky!!" Niko exclaimed.

"What should we do!!"

Elijah knew very well it would be in his best interest to not lead the group of nistor's into Tavenas.

Niko knew this fact as well, and thought of a plan that could potentially spell disaster.

"Land in front of the gate!! Inside Tavenas!" Niko was tired of holding on and was worried about Elijah's mana capacity.

Whoosh!

On the way to their destination, they saw large numbers of elemental spells going off in the form of bullets. This was to be expected since the Protector's have a long history and experience with runic weaponry and the beasts that are now invading their lands.

Unfortunately, the set of lights that are laying waste to the darkness are also creating the perfect battlefield for a specific type of beast.

Shadow Panther's.

Since all of the focus was on the chaos outside the wall, Elijah was able to land behind a familiar storage house — in a small gap between the wall.

Of course, this was after he finished a wrestling match with a few nistor's, receiving even more small injuries that would have to be healed as soon as possible.

Huff huff... Elijah and Niko's chests rose and fell with every breath. Sweat filled with regret was dripping down their faces, but still, they persisted as sharp blades were tightly grasped in their palms.

Elijah first began healing his shallow wounds, and even found two deep scratches against the back of Niko's shin that he healed. The wounds would likely scar since Elijah couldn't put all of his mana into a full recovery, but even then, there were ways to heal the scars.

Subsequently, Elijah began walking through the tall grass and weeds that did not get much sunlight. "We have to help them! This was our fault."

"We should show them our emblems, and also take off our black coverings," Niko explained.

Elijah hastened his steps, and immediately began throwing off his black jacket while Niko did the same to his black cloak. During this time, sounds of horrible screams were constantly being repeated. Screams that are likely a mix between pain and victory.

To tell the truth, Elijah felt horrible as he knew this would've never happened if it weren't for his impulses.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing out here? Did you forget about the curfew?!"

Elijah and Niko were both startled by the gatekeeper. In the midst of dozens of white and blue uniforms, two thirteen year old children — despite their 'mature' appearance — did not fit in with the crowd.

At first Elijah hesitated because of a sense of familiarity, then backed up when witnessing his steps quicken.

Elijah prepared for the worst once the familiar brown hair and defined build came into view.

"Wait a moment! You are the kid who knocked me out!! You— you are not from this kingdom!" Benson, a previous gatekeeper, pointed all the eyes in the surrounding area towards the two kids.

I swear, this idiot will get knocked out again if he dares to speak another word... Elijah muttered under his breath, admonishing the man with the emblem he pulled out from his 'jacket'.

"If there is a tragedy happening outside the wall, why are you not doing your duty and instead lecturing kids who are showing you their emblem?" Niko entered the conversation after listening to Elijah's insensitive words.

This question brought back normalcy to the surrounding area. Bags of arrows and mana batteries continued to be hauled by Protector's — helping each other through the wide and tall door of the tower.

"Hmm... Well either get out of here, or use your abilities to help us. I can tell you have an affinity for fire..."

"What?!" Elijah was truly dumbfounded at the idea that they would be allowed to help, but quickly changed his attitude. "Okay, we will help."

"Jeez, I can't believe this is still an option..." Benson's eyes rolled and pointed near the west door of the tower. "You may join the Protector's on the allure, to the west of the tower. Please have your emblems at the ready as you will surely get weird looks and questions the moment you step foot inside."

Elijah and Niko gave a weird smile and watched as Benson returned to the gate — ready to open it at any moment's notice.

Once inside the Tower, Elijah was dumbfounded by how big it was inside. A spiral staircase that lined the edges was present and wide. In the very center stood a magically powered elevator that could transport any weight of goods to the very top of the tower, or to just the entrance of the allure

Elijah and Niko dodged and weaved while waving their emblems in every direction. Their goal was to not impede the efficiency and work of the Protector's who were in the midst of a crisis.

This was visibly confirmed by bodies and limbs being transported on the gravity elevator.

"Seriously! People are dying out there and we are employing the help of these kids?!"

"You have got to be kidding me... I better not see your bodies on the lift..."

"Pffff... I can't believe we have to put up with this shit..."

Many different inflammatory phrases related to Elijah and Niko's aid were made while walking up the wide spiral staircase. Each time a large figure blocked the light on the wall, they were both forced to look at their feet from fear of embarrassing themselves.

What Elijah would guess about the circumstance of this endeavor would be that Adventurer's of any rank are warranted to aid the Protector's and Peacekeepers whenever necessary.

It is especially common when the beasts outside the wall go on a rampage, or are caused to act a certain way by someone's greed...

While dodging the looks and indecent phrases of the people they passed by, their faces were constantly meeting each other — silently sending their plans through the look in their eyes.

However, once the sight of the open battlefield came into view, all thoughts became halted.

"HOOK!!"

What looked like a chain filled with glowing runic symbols was thrown over the wall. When it returned, a bloodied Protector was seen clutching his sword tightly.

"We can't do anything out there because of the shadow panthers! The moment we step out of the light, we would be taken!!"

"Are you suggesting a retreat into ranged firepower?"

"At this point... that is the only option. After all, our goal is not to kill them, but to stop them from killing us."