Today, Lucky was going on a small routine check-up on the expeditionary forces.
Mutant Forest was a large area.
Due to the mysterious decrease in mutants, many countries including Pandora had begun expanding into the forest.
Today, Lucky was both scouting the forest for future cities to build and also for his own amusement.
He had been stuck in Oer for pretty much all his lifetime in this world.
And thus, he needed fresh air.
Joining the current expeditionary forces was just an excuse to breathe that fresh air.
As days passed by and they entered firther into the forest, Lucky noticed an individual soldier always leaving the camp after lunch.
He always brought with him a sword.
'A sword? When did our army give out swords?' He thought.
'No, wait. Is this that guy? That Master Knight who applied to our military?'
'What's he doing here? I thought he was going to be an Aura instructor....'
Whatever it was, leaving the camp by himself was definitely suspicious.
Following the suspicious goblin, Lucky found himself in a bit of a pickle.
"Come out!" Yelled Aurea.
Then, a young figure emerged out of the bushes a couple meters away from Aurea.
"Oops, you caught me...." spoke Lucky, raising his hands to show that he was unarmed.
"A human vampire?!" Exclaimed Aurea.
"Obviously? So why are you pointing that sword at me?" Asked Lucky calmly.
Aurea noticed that he had already unleashed his full Aura into his sword, forming a Sword Aura. That sword was now pointed at Lucky.
'When did I???' He thought. He must've instinctively done it.
His enhanced senses kept blaring alarms. The vampire in front of him was much much stronger than him.
'A stronger Master than me, no a Grandmaster?!' He thought.
"Who are you?" Asked Aurea.
'I have never seen any non-goblin vampires here....' he thought to himself.
"I should be the one asking that, who are you to be pointing that toothpick at me?" Lucky asked back, annoyed at the hostile behaviour of Aurea.
"Are you from Pandora?" Asked Aurea.
"You keep asking stupid questions. If I wasn't from Pandora, why would I be here in the middle of nowhere?" Replied Lucky.
Having not been to the barracks in months, Lucky had never seen nor met Aurea.
After the soldiers got used to their new training regiment, there was no need for Lucky to supervise their training anymore. He had left their training to trusted officers under Elena's direct orders.
Aurea simply did not trust Lucky's words.
"Are you still not letting that down?" Asked Lucky.
Unfortunately for Lucky, Aurea had already let go of his reason. His mind had fully entered fight or flight.
Then, Aurea made the first move. He dashed forward and reached Lucky in a blink of an eye.
His sword aimed straight for Lucky's neck, clearly aiming to behead him.
But before his Aura-clad sword could even reach Lucky's nape, Lucky had already punch him straight on the jaw.
Aurea flew in the air by several meters.
When he landed, he was already unconscious.
'Phew, luckily I held back. That idiot almost made me blow his head off....' thought Lucky.
****
Opening his eyes, Aurea saw an unfamiliar room.
'I.... where am I??' He thought.
Feeling his whole body ache, he couldn't help but remember what had happened to him.
'My jaw.... it's broken,' he thought.
Unable to speak due to his broken jaw, he tried to get up, but he also couldn't.
'Is my whole body broken?'
After an hour of boredom, someone finally came to check on him.
"Oh, you're awake!"
It was Ooro Baldur, the 4th Circle Mage.
"Seeing as you're already wide awake, you must know that your entire body is heavily injured."
"Well, no worries. You are now in Oer Academy Hospital. What is a hospital? It's this new type of medical facility where all wounds and illnesses get treated. Unlike the clinics we're used to, this one is open for the wide public and not run by just one physicians or a clan of physicians. Well, here they're called doctors," explained Ooro lengthily.
'I know what hospitals are, I've also been learning things in the military for months!' Grumbled Aurea in his mind.
"Well, I've got bad news and good news. But let's start with the bad one first," spoke Aurea.
"The bad news is that your body is simply too old to fully recover from your injuries."
An average goblin lifespan was 30 years old, and currently, Aurea was already at 25 years old. He was equivalent to a 60-year-old in human age.
Now, in this world, the lifespan of beings could be lengthened through various means.
For Aura Wielders, they achieve Body Reconstruction at Transcendence. A transformation that returns their body to their youth, and can be repeated as long as they've built up enough Aura inside of their body.
This was a natural byproduct of mastering Aura up to such lengths, the reasons why it happens were still much of a mystery.
What's clear though, was the fact that each Body Reconstruction needed more Aura than the previous one. Making it harder and harder to keep doing.
For Mages, they have spells that can slow down their aging. To access these spells, you'd have to at least be a 4th Circle. Otherwise, you won't have enough mana.
They not only cost a lot of mana to activate, but they also continously drain your mana.
Ooro, as a 4th Circle Mage, was also using one of these spells. Although he was already 40 years old, his face still looked like a 15-year-old goblin.
Thus, Ooro was akin to an 80-year-old human looking like he's in his 30s.
Speaking of which, Aurea's father was also a Mage due to his mother's lineage.
"It's a miracle that you even woke up. You've been asleep for more than a month!" Added Ooro.
"I've been checking up on you everyday, and the reason why was to thank you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making us change our minds. This place is truly wonderful!"
"There are so many new and interesting knowledge to learn in this place. I genuinely grateful that you made us join Pandora!"
'Did I do that? I regret it,' thought Aurea. Truth be told, he was annoyed at Ooro and his disciples.
The way they only prioritized getting their asses to safety.
The way they looked down on others for not being mages.
The way they have a superiority complex when it came to knowledge.
Although he did not hate them, those things have always irked on him.
That was why he decided to leave them to join Pandora. He even announced it to subtly invite his fellow knights to join him.
But he never thought the mages would join as well.
During his thoughts of regret, Ooro kept explaining to him the perks of being an academy researcher.
Yes, Ooro was now an academy researcher after just a few months. Though his students chose to be teachers, for some reason.
Seeing and hearing Ooro yap about his great life here made him compare his own miserable military career.
"Ah sorry, I forgot my purpose in telling you all of this. Simply put, would you be willing to join in my research?" Asked Ooro.