“I swear, I’m not making this up!” the young wizard stomped her feet in frustration. “This really happened!”

“Y’know, the last time you claimed that a rumor was true, it was immediately proven to be a hoax the next day,” the young ranger replied, resting his arms behind his head as the two of them walked the market streets of Tisah. “Seriously, you take these things too seriously, Ren.”

“No, this time, I swear it’s real!”

“You said that last time too, you dunderhead.”

The two of them entered the Tisah guild house. Their bickering instantly drew the attention of almost everyone there, though not many of them seemed to mind it.

As they approached the receptionist, she greeted them with a smile and a sigh. “Welcome back, Nelo, Ren. You were arguing when you left, and you’re still arguing.”

“Whatever,” Nelo waved his hands. “Anyways, we finished the commission. The thief was, as it turns out, an ordinary house cat.”

“Oh my,” the receptionist says, thought she wasn’t really surprised at all. “Let me guess, was it Mittens?”

Nelo shrugged his shoulders. “I’m getting tired of taking commissions like this, man. I wanna go hunt monsters!”

“One day, you’ll be able to take on the harder commissions, I promise!” the receptionist said. "Just keep working hard! And, you know, maybe get more party members. I know that two people can technically form a party, but we can’t issue you a combat quest until you have more members. For your own safety.”

“Well, we’ve been looking for—hey!”

“Miss Olara!” Ren pushed Nelo aside and leaned over the counter. “Nelo won’t believe me!”

“Oh? What is it this time?” Olara replied, clearly amused by their antics. Nelo and Ren were no older than fifteen, and both eager to become adventurers.

“She keeps talking about this story she’s heard somewhere,” Nelo explained, pushing Ren away. “Something about a hero’s party disappearing out of thin air.”

“Ah, you must be talking about the Dragonslayer!” Olara said.

“Huh? You know of it?”

“See! I wasn’t lying! It’s true!”

Ren grabbed hold of Nelo’s shoulder and shook him around, much to his annoyance. After they calmed down, Olara continued.

“It was the talk of pretty much everywhere a few months back. This legendary adventurer, Kalaman Kampus the “Dragonslayer”, was pretty active around these parts for a while. But one day, he suddenly vanished. Nobody knows where he or his party went.”

“Right! Right!” Ren said giddily. “My dad told me about it a few days ago! He said they were last seen boarding a ship, but that ship was never found again, either! He said that a sea monster must’ve ate them!”

“That’s right,” Olara said. “Quite mysterious, isn’t it? Their party was strong, too. There was Kalaman the Dragonslayer, Armei the Maiden of the Sun, Remina the Arclight, Alkith the Hero of Contingency, and Van Lendi of the Holy Waters. They each have their own legends, but together, they made one hell of a team.”

Nelo crossed his arms. “Hah! I know. Ren won’t shut up about them. They’re not real! As if someone can kill a dragon by themselves.”

“He did! Barehanded!”

Olara chuckled. “I don’t know if he did it barehanded, but I can assure you, he did exist, Nelo. In fact, I even saw him myself once, though only briefly. I can attest to his strength.”

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“...For real?” Nelo said, still doubting a bit. “If they’re really that strong, then why would they die to some sea monster?”

“Truth is,” she sighed. “We don’t really know what happened to them. All we know is that they were last sighted boarding a ship, and they were never seen again.”

“Really? No clues at all?”

“Just a scant few. They found pieces of debris from an unidentified ship off the coast of Mambhaling. Said the ship probably exploded during the voyage somehow. They might have survived, but I’m not betting on those chances.”

“But they’re heroes, aren’t they?” Ren said with a downcast look.

“Happens all the time in this profession, sweetie. Even the mightiest ones fall in time. But enough about that. I’m sure you want to take another commission before the day ends, so...”

Olara takes out a sheet of paper from under the desk and places it in front of the two young adventurers.

“Sweet! What is it?”

“Are we gonna go find another lost kitty?”

“It’s an investigation quest,” Olara explained. “The commissioner’s been hearing strange noises in an abandoned house to the west, and he’s certain it’s a monster of some sort.”

“What?” Nelo’s eyes glistened with excitement.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Nelo. Your mission is to observe from afar and confirm if there really is a monster there. You are not going to go in and fight it.”

“But—”

“No buts. The guildmaster would kill me if anything ever happened to you two.”

Nelo clicked his tongue. “He should mind his own business.”

“Your father’s just worried, Nelo.”

Nelo grumbled for a bit, but eventually took the quest and set off with Ren. The two of them walked through the crowded market streets, trying to make their way to their destination. However...

“Nelo, are you sure we’re going the right way?” Ren asked.

“Shut up! I ... I know what I’m doing!” Nelo lied.

The quest directions weren’t very specific, so they ended up wander around the streets for a while. Nelo stared at the map, but had no idea how to make sense of the directions he was given.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?”

“No! I think...”

“Give me that!”

“Hey!”

Ren took the map and quest notice out of her Nelo’s hands and tried to read it. However, after a while, she scratched her head.

“...These instructions are confusing. And the handwriting is hard to read,” she commented. “We should go ask for directions!”

“...Humiliating.”

“Oh, boo-hoo for you.” Ren approached the nearest person she could find and tugged at her sleeve. “Excuse me! Can I ask for directions please?”

The lady with short black hair turned and smiled at them. “Of course! What do you need?”

Ren showed the map and directions to the lady. She inspected the map for a whole three minutes, before nodding, and saying, “yep. I don’t have any idea where that is, sorry.”

“Wow. Thanks,” Nelo said sarcastically, to which Ren elbowed him in his sides.

“I’m not actually from around these parts, and I’ve only recently just arrived here, so I’m not very familiar with the layout,” the lady explained, not showing even an ounce of embarassement.

“You’re a traveler?” Ren asked.

“For now, at least. Actually, can I ask you for directions?”

“Huh?” Nelo said. “First, you fail to give us directions, and now you’re asking for it?”

“Nelo!” Ren elbowed him again, harder this time, which caused him to almost fall to his knees. “Forgive my brother, he’s rude. All the time.”

“Hey!”

The lady laughed. “It’s alright. I quite like rude people, actually.”

She took a glance at Nelo, and her smile softened for a bit. Hey eyes pierced into him, and he found himself averting his gaze as his heart began to race slightly.

“Huh? That’s a strange type you have.” Ren scratched her head.

“I think they’re fun to tease, that’s all. So anyways, I was just hoping to ask if you know where the airship dock is.”

“Oh, those? It’s over that way, near the shore.” Ren pointed. “Can’t miss it.”

“Are you planning on riding one?” Nelo asked, having calmed himself down. “Those ships are headed for the new continent, you know?”

“I know. That’s where I’m heading.”

“Feralter, right?! I want to go there, too!” Ren said enthusiastically.

The lady smiled. “We’ll, if you’re heading there, then I’ll be seeing you.”

She waved goodbye and started walking, her white robe fluttering in the wind.

“...What a strange lady,” Nelo said.

“She was very pretty though,” Ren added. “Especially her eyes.”

“Really? They looked freaky to me. Who has yellow eyes?”

Ren continued asking around for directions. However, the lady with the yellow eyes kept popping up in Nelo’s mind. Something about her was ... different. Weird.

He looked back, seeing her figure fade away into the crowd. He’ll probably never meet her again. But he thought that maybe, just maybe, it’d be nice if they could.

Nelo joined his sister in asking for directions, determined to finish this quest. One day, he’ll rise through the ranks and become a great adventurer. When that time comes, he’ll voyage to the new continent. Perhaps he’ll find her again there.

“We should’ve asked for her name.”

“She’s out of your league, Nelo.”

“Shut up.”

The days will go on like this for a while, with him chasing after that dream.

[https://i.imgur.com/8wUNgvr.png]