Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 68: Expansion Initiative

"Your body seems to be recovering just fine." The doctor spoke after looking at my reports.

"Your leg especially, I must say your body’s overall healing capability are quite extraordinary. With the way things are going, you should be able to walk back on your two feet in under half a month."

Listening to the doctor, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

I had gone to the doctor the moment I had woken up this morning to ensure I hadn’t gotten any internal injuries after the entire ordeal last night.

"That’s amazing news, My Lord." Kaelix congratulated from the side. He had been present the moment the first attendants had entered my room and had insisted on coming with me to the doctor’s appointment.

He didn’t seem to mind it either, always eager to push me around the fort, taking me to wherever I wanted to visit.

"I have just received a message from Lord Mordek, my lord," Kaelix spoke while pushing me outside the doctor’s office.

"He doesn’t have any major appointments right now, so he is requesting that you join him for breakfast."

I nodded in affirmation. That made sense, he must want to talk about his talk with mother and father, not to mention what he said about the academy.

We soon reached the dining hall; Kaelix carefully pushed my wheelchair inside and brought it to the large table in the center of the room.

On the other side of the table sat Uncle Mordek with his back straight and stern expression, his demeanor nothing like the one I had seen yesterday.

After making sure I was properly seated, Kaelix excused himself and exited the hall.

His exit was soon met by the arrival of several maids and butlers in the room, each carrying several dishes in their hands. The aroma of these dishes was enough to make one swoon, especially someone who had spent the last few months eating disgusting sandweaver’s meat.

Eager to eat my fill, I sat quietly.

Once they were done setting up the dishes, Uncle Mordek ordered them to leave the room. Once they were gone, his demeanor changed as he returned back to his relaxed self like when we had met yesterday.

"How are you feeling today, dear nephew? I hope the doctors gave you some good news?"

I nodded jovially. "They say I should be able to walk in less than half a month; how about you, though? How are you feeling after your talk last night?"

Uncle Mordek’s smile immediately fell. "I dealt with it; you don’t have to worry about it anymore." Saying so, he took the glass of wine on his side and took a giant swig.

"Alright, let’s get to business." He spoke while putting the glass down on the table. "You said something about wanting to join the Sacred Vanguard Academy yesterday, right?"

Sensing the conversation, I turned serious and nodded.

"And I am assuming you don’t know anything about the Expansion Initiative?"

I paused. I had indeed heard some loose details about something called the Expansion Initiative in the undercity, but what did that have to do with the academy?

"Isn’t that the thing where the alliance wanted to expand its territory out in the Expanse?" I answered.

"Correct." Uncle Mordek nodded. "It’s an initiative by the Human Alliance to expand out into Wailing Hollows, something that has never been done before. Our house, including House Serenth, has been advocating for it for several years."

"And what has that got to do with the academy?" I asked.

"Well, like I said, he has been advocating it for years, but we were never able to receive approval due to a lack of support from other major houses. Yet, something changed last month."

Last Month? 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

My mouth immediately became dry. Why did I have a feeling this was somehow related to me?

"Did you hear about Aria Nyrith? Your previous fiance?"

"Yes?" I answered with bated breaths.

"She went missing in the Gleaming Wastes a couple of months ago. Since then, House Nyrith has been doing everything in its power to find her but hasn’t found any signs of her."

"We don’t know why House Nyrith sent their daughter into the Wastes or how she became missing. What we do know, however, is that her disappearance somehow has caused House Nyrith to get behind the Initiative as well."

Damn it, I knew it was my fault. I internally cursed while trying my best not to show any emotions on my face. Once again, I had become the reason behind a massive plot change. I was the one who had killed Siv and thus influenced Aria to go to the Wastes, indirectly ensuring her disappearance in the upcoming months and making it so that House Nyrith supported the Initiative.

Despite trying my best I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. I had known this for a while but at this point the plot had strayed so far away from the original that it couldn’t even be salvaged.

"And how is this related to the academy?" I questioned while trying to look unbothered.

"It’s not going to be easy to expand out into the Hollows. The entire operation will likely go for years and is going to take a large amount of resources and manpower."

"With the minimum entry threshold being the third stage of the Body Refinement stage, Sacred Vanguard Academy has become the home of the most elite members of our younger generation. Some of the students in their final years are even stronger than the average commanders."

"With such a massive undertaking, The alliance can simply not afford to use these resources. That’s why, as of this year, they have delayed admissions and made a massive change in their curriculum by removing most of the theoretical subjects like math and sciences and instead focusing solely on combat."

"They are building a new campus and a new city in the middle of the occupied ground in the Wailing Hollows. From there, students will go on to support the main forces from the background."