Memorable Soul

43 days until Memor becomes a Learner.

Year 953 of Refinery Era Day 170.

Someone is going to read my memories during this project.

Fleets of wagons escaped the village into a temporary camp in front of the settlement, workers busied around, carrying crates, barrels and burlap sacks onto the lines of wagons organized at the edge of the encampment.

Memor was crouched at the perimeter of the encampment watching as the soldiers busied themselves. He was equipped with studded leather armor, a shield and jian that were placed to his sides. Memor was supposed to be volunteering in the labor team, but whatever string Spyro pulled behind the scenes worked.

It was a resource gathering expedition for Alpires trees which had a blue bark and tree leaves, their wood were mostly used for military buildings for its toughness.

A group of youngsters just like Memor paced through the encampment, led by Elena, in between their ranks a brawny man with a beard strolled with the group, from one look Memor could tell that it was Councillor Vicktor's first son. The rest of the group consisted of Luni and some other teenagers from the village.

It's about time I join them. Memor picked up his shield and sword then walked towards the group.

"Mori!" Luni yelled at the sight of him. Memor waved his hand joining the group, he stood next to Luni. The cohort of youngsters all wore similar armor to Memor as opposed to the battalions who wore more metallic ones.

Elena briefed them on the mission, before sending them away, Memor followed his group, but was pulled to the side by Elena. She looked at him with sympathy,"Hey, I don't know who put you up to this, but I can put you back on the labour team if you want?"

That would work, if only Councillor Spyro doesn't have someone watching for him. Memor sighed internally. He looked at Elena with a relaxed smile and said."No, it's fine, I get to spend time with Luni."

Elena nodded as she tried to hide her sigh, then she sent Memor away.

Memor walked through the packed encampment, brushing shoulders against many people as he made his way to his group. In truth Memor felt a little scared, not from the upcoming operation, but the fact that his mind was going to be broken into. He had never experienced it before, excluding the fact that his uncle lives rent free in his mind.

From what he had learned, only Grade 1 Mnemonists could read minds and in this expedition, there were a handful. Of course he had considered other possibilities like a Learner using an Artifact that could allow them to break into his mind, but that would be a far stretch in logic. Memor doesn't know much about Artifacts, the few times he has witnessed his uncle create them he was swatted away immediately. He had seen his uncle use Artifacts before, like the time they had tea with Councillor Spyro, in which he teleported spilt tea above his head. 

The times he had seen other people use Artifacts are few and far between. If anyone were to bring a personnel Artifact for use, it would probably invoke quite an uproar in the encampment, Memor would have heard it listening in on others gossip. And, he has never seen an Artifact which can use a Fragment Ability rather than a Unique Fragment Ability.

Memor slipped through the packed camp, making his way to the parked of wagons in a corner of the camp, near one not far from Memor, he could see Luni and a bunch of his peers chatting. Luni himself was speaking to a short-haired blond girl around the same height as him.

Memor approached, gaining the attention of Luni."Hey Mori," He called as he pushed the girl he was speaking to face Memor,"this is Demi she'll be in our trio when we reach the Aplaire forest."

Demi had a soft smile on her face when she glanced at Memor, but in a moment, her expression dropped, a hint of skepticism crawled through her face as her smile turned more awkward."You're not a Learner."

"Unfortunately so." Memor replied, he watched as her expression shifted to that of suppressed anger and indignation, then she stomped away not saying another word.

Luni watched as the scene unfolded, he stared at Memor with a baffled expression.

He is that clueless, huh? Memor shook his head and stepped into the wagon they were assigned to, a few moments later Luni followed suit as he slapped his forehead, realizing the meaning of her actions.

Without waiting for long the wagons started moving, the encampment was taken down and the expedition began.

Memor sat quietly next to Luni and the brawny man who was supposedly of similar age to himself, granted he was trained by the most known warrior in the village, Councillor Vicktor. Luni conversed with Demi, as Memor made an excuse that he had not slept the night before and was too tired to talk. The truth was he wanted to focus, he observed every person in the wagon that made conversation.

Zinon, a blond-haired man, who gave off a charismatic aura—he had been eyeing Demi for quite some time now. Chara, a blue-eyed lady with long black hair, sat timidly grabbing her knees. Yorgos, the brawny man who sat next to him, from his conversation with the man next to him, Memor could tell how prideful he was. Elias, he spoke with Yorgos, and from his speech to the way he sat and the way he moved, Memor could tell he was a loyal follower of Yorgos, not in the way that he respects Yorgos so much he decided to follow him, but from their conversation, it seem that he just wants to take advantage of Yorgos's status.

Brawn but no brain, huh? There were some other individuals that didn't catch Memor's eye.

The wagons rolled along grassy fields for a long time, as there were no Aplaire forests anywhere near the village. In this time Memor had a lot of time to himself, he revised the knowledge he has gained during the past few days—from the day he met Alara, he has been going to the library everyday afterwards. During those times he has got to know more about Mnemonists, Fragment Shields, Artifacts, and Alara herself.

Soon, before even Memor noticed, the expedition team were already staring into a blue forest. Elena's team set up camp, large and small white tents sprung up all around the area bordering the Aplaire forest, at the center of camp an even large tent was erected—it held a fragment shield that protected the encampment from Sorrow Rains.

Memor strolled through the camp after helping his peers construct their tents. He walked to where the Aplaire forest was. The lush green grass faded into sapphire blue where the biomes met, through the thick tree trunks, Memor could spot a roaming hog peacefully enjoying the blue grass, where the shade missed, golden streams of light shot past, bring a vibrance to the place, sparks of light would drift from and away from the beams, at times they would settle on a bright red flower, that shivered in the wind. The tree bore red fruits, like an apple, but was as large as a watermelon. The trees whispered songs of life mixed in with it.

How unfortunate. Such a beautiful place was going to be destroyed. Despite being in his emotionless state, Memor could still appreciate beauty. He returned to camp, preparing with the rest of his peers for what's to come.

It was time. Groups of three gradually and carefully, walked into the Aplaire forest, their backs to one another, each holding a shield and sword. Memor watched as groups of three ventured into the forest in rows spanning the whole encampment. Before long, it was his trio's turn, he stood back to back with Luni and Demi despite her reluctance. 

The trio slowly treaded into the blue forest after the team before them who was only a few meters in front. They crept into the forest watching the large red fruits above them.

"I wonder if they are going to piss on us first." Luni jested.

"It wouldn't matter, in the end we are all going to get a piece of it." Demi replied, her voice tinged with disgust.

Memor stayed quiet, as a normal human he can't sense the attacker from the Phantom Realm, he needed his full focus on his surroundings.

A few groups ahead of them, a team of three slowly stepped through the blue fields, their eyes stuck on the plum red fruits above. They passed over four dangling fruits. Just then one of the fruits lifted a slight bit, shaking the leaves close to it. A few centimeters away from the fruit, two eyes opened in dark blue. The red fruit was dangling off their neck, it opened its mouth and spat a yellow sizzling liquid from its maw. The person watching from behind was too late to notice, he attempted to raise his shield but the liquid had hit a part of his face.

"AAHHH!"

Memor peeked through the trees and groups of people, a man laid on the floor, struggling, his face dissolving.

"AAAHHH!!"

"AAAAHHH!"

In a moment, all around them people started screaming, another team close by received a stream of acid shot downwards, this time it was blocked in time, and a teammate jumped into the air and slashed at the attacker.

Plop.

A head dropped from the trees, it was that of an ape, fully blue in fur and skin color, even their eyes were a shade of blue. Memor didn't pay it much attention, he was the most vulnerable of the strike team.

A fruit near Memor shivered, a stream of yellow fluid beamed at Memor, He raised the shield, blocking. lowering his shield, he saw the fruit that shot the stream swing through the trees towards him. He would normally dodge, but right now he had to protect his teammates backs. The fruit swung closer, then lunged, Memor blocked with his shield, he was too weak to take the blow and was thrown to the ground, knocking both his teammates down with him.

Raising his head, Memor spotted his attacker, an Acid Chimp, it had long limps and a slim torso, all completely blue. The Acid Chimp charged at Memor then leaped high into the air aiming for his head. He raised his shield.

BAM!

The Acid Chimp struck Memor's shield, and started to pummel it. Underneath, Memor could hear the sound of sizzling wood past the shield. He stabbed with his sword, he drew blood. The Acid Chimp yelled in agony. It retreated, then grabbed Memor's ankle and started to run.

Memor's body streaked through the battlefield, despite being thrown around Memor never dropped his weapons, The clothing on his arm tore revealing the delicate skin underneath which was soon scratched and marred in scars. While being dragged through the battlefield, Memor saw glimpses of the ensuing battles, Acid Chimps lay lifeless on the blue grass, their blood seeping into the soil. Elena's army was winning, but that doesn't mean Memor was, he tried to slash at the Acid Chimp's arm but it was too far.

Just then, he abruptly stopped, he felt a heavy mass on his chest, looking up, it was Yorgos, he held a mace in his hand, tainted in blood. Glancing down, a severed hand held onto his ankle, it didn't seem like it was slashed, but was torn to shreds where it would connect to the arm. The armless Acid Chimp ran desperately trying to escape, its face shown with fear and dread. Yorgos gave chase, not sparing Memor another look.

Despite his hulking figure, he reached the Acid Chimp with tremendous speed. With his mace he swung down. The head of the Acid Chimp cracked, then exploded in red and white, painting him and the ground into a bloody mural.

Yorgos stared at the dead ape for a while, then turned around and walked to the sprawled out Memor, he gave him a disdainful look, stepping over him to join back his team.

Than you I guess? Memor stood back up, he felt alright despite being played around by an Acid Chimp. He checked his grip on his shield then ran in the direction of Luni and Demi. passing through the crimson filled battlefield, the blue ground almost disappearing in the blood shed. Overhead he ran past many fruits.

Just as he ran past one fruit, it shivered, but didn't attack, slowly following behind Memor.