The Mechanical Era

21st of Sunt, 5018.

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

The sound of the rooster crowing woke up Carson, Herrold, and the other musketeers in the tavern, who comfortably lay on their hay beds. They were extremely tired after the journey and wanted to make sure they caught up on some sleep. The boat was not a comfortable place to sleep, as it rocked around from side to side, making them fall off their beds.

They got off the bed and headed straight for a bath. Carson and Herrold made sure to take a cold bath, to wake up every sense of their body in preparation for what was coming ahead. It appears that the others thought the same as well, as they had done the exact same thing.

It was not just the musketeers, but also the knights and demonologists. Everyone was excited to some degree to explore that strange place and wanted to make sure they were fully awake. After the bath, they made sure to fill up their bellies full of nutritious food, that would give them a boost of energy throughout the day.

Once they were finished, they packed up their things, carried them in a leather bag, and waited for the demonologist to arrive. The demonologists, despite being a little shorter and slimmer than the musketeers, appear to be heavy eaters.

"Alright. I don't think we did not get to properly introduce ourselves, so let us do it now," Carson spoke up. He turned around to face the musketeers while standing straight.

"Good morning Privates! I am Major Carson Williams. As you all know, I will be your major for the duration of this expedition," Carson told the other troops.

"Tell me, what are your names?" he asked. If he was to be instructing them, he would need to familiarize himself with them. The foreign musketeers went on to recite their names, as well as where they were originally stationed, and their accomplishments. From what Carson saw, they were well-behaved musketeers.

"I am pleased to meet you all! I hope we can all work together and defend the demonologists from any harm," he replied with a charming smile. Carson then went on to introduce the other two properly, just in case they didn't know. As he was in the middle of doing so, Carson heard a masculine voice, interrupting him.

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"Excuse me, Major Carson!" Carson his head around, to see an average man, with a brown mustache, wearing glasses, boots, and a beige outfit, consisting of shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, and a hat.

Following closely behind, are more demonologists, wearing similar attire to the strange man that called out his name, as well as a few knights, wearing runic armor. There are about 5, to be exact. All male, all putting up a mean face.

"Ah! Mr. Jonus Hull. I see that you are livelier than ever," Carson remarked. He had met up with the man beforehand when he first arrived. Though, when he did, Carson was half asleep, and the man was slightly drunk.

Jonus Hull was the leader of the expedition. He and his team had been assigned to look into the newly discovered structure, to unlock of its secrets, as they have done many times before.

"Yes, I am! I made sure to fill up my belly will all the food I can ingest! We are going to need a lot of energy, you know?" he remarked. Carson put up a smile and nodded.

"I guess so. Well, we should get going now. Say, how far is the site? What method are we going to be traveling to the area?" Carson questioned Jonus.

"The palace had given me some money. So I decided to rent out some caravans. The place is a little far from here. About 2 hours in walking distance. It was the reason that nobody found that place yet. I will tell you the rest of the details."

"Alright then. Do you know where the caravans are?"

"Of course I do! Just follow me! They are not that far."

Jonus started to walk on the streets of the small town, followed by his assistants, then the knights, and finally the musketeers. They made their way to a caravan station, where they get their caravans pulled by horses.

Jonus, Herrold, the leader of the knights, and Carson, all travel in one caravan with the luggage, while the others traveled in different caravans. While Jonus drove the first caravan, the knights drove the others, holding the other demonologists and musketeers. As they went by, the musketeers had their guns out, ready to shoot at anything that came running at them.

"Alright. We have left the town. Can you spill us the details of this demonic structure? When was it found? Why is it there?" asked the leader of the knights.

He went by the name Esther Ho. He was a scary-looking dude with short black hair and a burned scar on his face. His primary weapon was the spear, although he did carry a sword just in case.

"Gladly, Knight Esther. You see, we found this place about a week and a half ago, on the... 12th of this month, deep inside the forest.

We suspect that it was built by demons, humanoid demons, around 200 to 300 years ago, although we cannot be certain."

"What is the abandoned place used for?" Carson asked.

"Don't know," Jonus replied truthfully. A flare of anger just lit inside Esther.

"What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you a demonologist? It is your job to know!" he replied.

"Let me rephrase it for you then, Knight Esther. I am currently not aware of its true intentions, and I need to explore the area roughly before I can make a judgment."

"Do you have a guess at least, Mr. Jonus?" Carson politely asked the demonologist.

"There are a lot of things. Maybe it is a place where they just hung out. Maybe it is a failed attempt at opening a strong portal that would last. Maybe it contains a secret weapon. Who knows?" he replied. There was a silence between the three until Jonus spoke up again.

"...However, I do think there is something odd about the place. "

"Odd? What do you mean?" Carson asked, his interest sparked. Jonus turned his head to face Carson, making direct eye contact.

"I suspect something is inside. Something that the demons do not want us humans to find out."