Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 6 And you are already a mortal
Miltiades stopped outside the woodland.

As the vice-officer of Lokos No.90 Seventh Company, there are very few people who can make him stop his platinum heavy boots, hold the middle of the spear tightly, mobilize all his energy, and ponder over whether his words and deeds can defend the glory of the tyrant. few.

When he walked through the market of the city-state and enjoyed the gaze of farmers in the fields of the kingdom, he did not deny that the vigorous pride in his heart spread to his limbs.

But today, his pride was infinitely reduced.

Like the ordinary habitable places on the planet Olympia, the woods under this cliff are primitive and dense.Leaves and branches rubbed against each other, unknown birds whispered in the guard's ears, and the smell of earth and vegetation quietly penetrated through the gaps in his armor.Nature is always trying to tell strange stories in a language they don't understand, and Miltiades enjoys these hidden experiences.

However, his worries gradually condensed with the in-depth exploration of the guards.

For the Lokos area, there are too few living animals here; the hoofprints and traces of animal life decrease from the outside of the forest to the inside, and the birdsong becomes more and more distant, like an invisible dam or rift. Barring other spiritual beings, only the trees themselves, which were unable to pull out their roots and fled on their own, were left, as well as the Guard members who were stupidly and boldly going deep into this inaccessible place.

The air became thicker, and Miltiades preferred to believe that this was an illusion.

Through the gap between the long and narrow dark green leaves above the head, in the blue sky, the vertical wisp of gray-black smoke became apparent again.

These days, according to the order of the tyrant Damex, they went down to the seldom-visited dense forest at the bottom of the cliff, followed the possible traces of the life of the wild people, and looked for their targets.

Miltiades lowered his head slightly, hoping that the shadow of his helmet would block the expression of his eyes.He waved forward and the Lokos Guard moved on.

The thorny dwarf ferns in the forest and the fragile carapaces of the nameless insects were yielding to their hard iron boots, which made Miltiades feel better psychologically.

With his newfound courage, he ignored the slender cutting marks that began to appear on the surrounding tree trunks, which could only be caused by extremely sharp blades swiping at high speed, and the charred dead branches that could not be recovered after being burned by the sourceless flames, and tried his best Turn a blind eye to the mutilated animal bones being devoured by natural decomposition.

"No problem," Miltiades said to himself, "a god-given boy who can kill Epidae is capable of all that."

He began to control his breathing, knowing that if he didn't he would collapse into a disgraceful faint due to the excessive breathing rate.

He turned back and asked the soldiers beside him in a low voice: "How far are we still?"

"I don't know, sir." The soldier replied honestly. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his mouth grew wide like a new attendant. "Look! Sir!"

Miltiades turned sharply forward.

The woods are parting on both sides.

The intertwined branches in the sky no longer overlap, and the light gray sky pours out from the hollows of the leaves.Whether it was twisted vines or straight and firm forest trees, they all slid and opened towards the sides of his body.

In the huge roar that was heavier than thunder, the land twisted and undulated like waves, the rocks settled and moved, and the dry and hardened soil on the surface was pushed open, broken, and peeled off by the moist brown-black soil rising from the ground.A black road guarded by trees grew in front of the Guards.

Then, belatedly, fine ice crystals arrived, spreading from the tip of every leaf and the tip of every broken root to everything in Miltiades' eyes.

The bright blue was like fine particles, filling in all the unevenness and imperfections of the entire world in front of him, and finally formed a pure, brilliant, and gorgeous icy scene.

Even the highest snow mountain in Olympia does not have such a clean area.

If this is human work, then Miltiades can foresee that he will never encounter a case in which a living craftsman is better than a godlike nature from now on in his life.

----

Morse withdrew the shining light from his fingertips, and satirized loudly into the forest, "Your steps are not weaker than molluscs crawling on the mucus secreted by their soft muscles", and let the wind carry these words to the forest. To the ears of Locus Guards.

Perturabo had almost finished grilling the fish, but the group of professional soldiers hadn't arrived yet.

What are they dawdling about in the forest?Who tramples fewer leaves than anyone else?

Someone poked him in the arm, and Morse accepted two skewers of grilled fish that exceeded his expectations.Before he could take his first bite, Perturabo interrupted.

"Do I need to avoid talking to you?" he said.

"Our conversation?"

"Your conversation with those Lokos."

Morse tore open the flesh with his teeth.At this moment, he suspected that Perturabo was studying the seasoning ratio on his own, otherwise he would not be able to explain the history of the birth of this salty, bitter and sweet dry thing.

He chewed what was in his mouth, and said vaguely: "Why should I talk to them? These people come looking for you, of course you are the one to talk."

He took another bite.Occasionally eating this kind of weird stuff helps to broaden the boundaries of body and mind and re-love life. "After I finish eating the fish, I will reserve a place for you."

"Can't you be there?" Perturabo's voice was calm, his fingers slightly curled up.

"What am I doing here? Playing epic music on a leaf flute for Lokos' first meeting with Perturabo?"

"I'll go with them."

Morse narrowed his eyes.What was Perturabo thinking?
He waved to Perturabo, and when the boy came, he patted his shoulder affectionately and said in a very insincere tone: "Goodbye, Perturabo. I wish you a bright future."

Perturabo stared at him, the black pupils in his ice-like eyes dilated, his chest heaved violently a few times, and he reluctantly said, "I don't want it."

"Don't tell me you fell in love with sleeping in the grass with me." Morse's tone was cold. "If you don't want to go, you can refuse by yourself."

"I can't." The boy spoke quickly, his lips barely keeping up with his voice. "you go."

Morse pulled back, his patience gone like his smile. "Who do you think I am to you? Why should I speak for you?"

"Then who am I to you!" Perturabo snatched another skewer of grilled fish from Morse's hand and threw it away viciously. "A stranger? A lodger? A tool?"

"Your self-awareness is very clear."

"Damn! So you throw me away, you wish I was taken away by the Lokos! What will this get you? Will the Lokos reward you?"

Morse pondered for a few seconds. It is said that if the food is picked up within three seconds of falling to the ground, it will not be dirty, so he let the grilled fish fly into the air and condensed the light to perform a simple burning sterilization on it.

The grilled fish flew back into his hand, and he pointed it at the trembling Perturabo.

"Take it," Morse said.

The metal pole that pierced the grilled fish seemed to pierce Perturabo's anger, and the boy's momentum relaxed like a balloon with a hole in it.

He stretched out his hand slowly and at a loss, and suddenly accelerated when he was about to get the grilled fish.Perturabo was still in a daze until Morse let go smoothly and handed him the grilled fish.

"Sit down," Morse said.

The boy sat on the floor.

"Take a deep breath?"

Perturabo complied.

Morse shrugged and continued eating his fish.The fish was almost finished, but the parts inside that hadn't been marinated thoroughly with the weird seasoning were still fresh and tender.

He settled the food and clapped his hands. "You are afraid, Perturabo."

"I……"

"No? No, you're afraid of meeting the Lokos. Do you know why?"

Perturabo lowered his head, and the trembling of his body was clearly reflected in his swaying hair.He let the awkward silence drag on for a long time, until every second he wasted brought the Lokos a step closer.

"It's not me they're looking for," the boy whispered. "They're looking for an all-around prodigy, a heroic figure who will accomplish great things."

Morse stared at him, thoughtful: "And you're already a mortal, Perturabo."

(End of this chapter)