Chp. 9: An Old Friend
The truth about why I hurt Ritsuko was that I believe she is a traitor. The three Gods of Fortune told me that the person closest to Maeno would be his biggest enemy. If Ritsuko had woken up from that beating my shade beast gave her then she was the traitor. It was told by fate that the traitor would end up hurting Maeno. That means even if I had almost killed Ritsuko she would have lived it because she was meant to hurt him.
I’m not really all that attached to Maeno, but I do need to protect him because that’s my job. I wasn’t just paid to keep him safe. Six hundred pecunia is a hefty amount of money, but I take missions for far higher pay. Maeno is suppose to be the kid that changes this world. He may not change it for the better, but maybe he can. If Maeno truly can change this world I would go through hell to make sure he could complete his purpose.
Maeno seems like a good kid in all honesty so I think he can make this world a better place. He doesn’t act like someone capable of betrayal. He also always is honest and says what is on his mind. However he is way to trusting of others. It makes my mission easier that he can trust me, but if he just trusts everyone he is bound to get himself in trouble eventually.
Ritsuko is a problem though. I am almost certain she is the traitor that is going to hurt Maeno. I don’t understand how she could hurt him though. She definitely does love him a lot and I know she is very protective of him. I know her feelings aren’t an act, but I do know one thing. I am sure Ritsuko has romantic feelings for Maeno, but with those feelings I wonder how she could bring herself to hurt him. Maeno is harder to read about his romantic interests. If he also likes Ritsuko there should be no reason for her to hurt him.
After I heal Ritsuko I ask Maeno “Where are you guys training at?”
Maeno pulls out a map and says while pointing “A lake nearby.” His finger is on Lake Nanne. It is a fairly large lake and the area around it is perfect for training. It also has a nice view. I have been to Lake Nanne three times before in the past and each time I wondered why I didn’t just move and live there. The area around Lake Nanne is perfect in more ways than one.
It has really sweet berries I love eating called reka poma berries. The berries are so sweet; almost like an explosion in your mouth. The first bite of one of them is crazy good and if you eat them quickly the flavor expands and lasts a while. I love most of the sweets in Barui and the other large cities, but nothing is better than the reka poma berries. While I’m here I should probably grab a couple so I can take them back with me. They do have a few small seeds in them since the berries are about the size of my fist, but I wouldn’t have time to grow them. The berries also make some killer juice. If the juice is made correctly and the pulp is concentrated the juice is better than any kind of alcohol and could probably get you drunk.
Other than the berries Lake Nanne also has many other attractive parts to it. It has really clean water this is because it is untainted with fish. I’m fairly sure there is no aquatic life in there. That is part of the reason it is untainted. People only really come to Lake Nanne for water. Since there are no fish people only take the water and leave. Many don’t even stop to view the scenery. It is a real shame too because I want to make a house and live here.
Lake Nanne also has rare plants that have curative properties to them. It has trees unique to its area. The trees are a brownish red. Their leaves are a beige color. The trees also don’t grow any taller than fifteen feet either because their roots don’t go down all that far. The Lake has many wonderful parts to it, but I don’t think that many people know about it.
The interesting part of the Lake though is entirely the water. No living animals go into the water because if they do the don’t live very long. Supposedly when Aquarius originally created the lake she cursed it to avoid it being tainted. If any living creature without magic energy stepped into the water they would be killed on the spot and their soul energy would be used to keep the lake alive. The curse specifically says steps. This means they can drink from it, but not bathe in it.
Lake Nanne also absorbs any magic energy directed at it. I have tested it before by firing at the lake with my strongest energy attack. It didn’t do anything to the lake. The lake took the hit and not even a ripple occured in it. I wonder what kind of magic protects it from a magic blast of that degree. I’m sure I will find out in due time though.
I realize I have been thinking too much and look back up at Maeno. I notice Ritsuko is starting to wake up as well. I say to Maeno “I’ll give you some time alone with her. I’m going to head to the lake and wait for you guys there. We will have a talk about Ritsuko at a different time.” I use shadow step and teleport to Lake Nanne. The second I get to the lake my attitude changes.
The magic of this area has changed considerably. It is a lot weaker than it was the time I visited prior. It has enough magic energy that it should continue to sustain itself for awhile. I will feed the lake with my own energy though tomorrow after I wake up. Right now I want to go find some Reka Poma berries. I’m excited thinking about it. I walk over around the lake to its west side and find the reka trees. I grab one of the berries and take a bite of it.
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The sweetness hits me and I almost fall over because of how strong it is. The sweetness lingers in my mouth for a moment and then becomes a gentle bitter. The bitterness of the fruit is not overpowering and it doesn’t taste bad either. Strangely it complements the fruit. It is almost like the bitterness is there to help you recover from how strong the sweetness. If I had to compare this berry to something it would be like getting hit really hard in the face. It knocks you senseless for a moment and then the bitterness kicks in and helps you recover your senses.
It tastes as good as I remember, but something about the fruit itself seems off. The fruit is as big as it normally is, but instead of being circular in shape it is more ovular. I wonder what brought about this change in the fruit. A lot of things about this world are changing after magic has come into existence again. I don’t know how people are obtaining meat anymore considering there are no animals. The plant life is growing thicker and becoming more vibrant in colors and it nows glows a faint green color. At night time the faint light of the trees are bright enough to provide light even though normally they don’t give off any kind of light.
It is almost dusk now so before Barui closes down its shops I’m going to go visit. I do want to visit my guild and see the sights, but I am also interested in sweets. I however also want to know how people are still getting food if they don’t go out to hunt animals. I haven’t seen any animals in at least three months. I tried asking Agate about it about two weeks after I started learning magic because it was strange not to hear a single bird chirp in the air.
There are no animals, but I have still seen monsters roaming about. The wyvern that attacked me in the sky and swallowed my dragon honestly scares me. I am strong without my magic, but that creature was something entirely different. I get the feeling if I were to go head to head with it I would lose. I don’t know what that creature is called, but just thinking about it sends chills down my spine. When it opened its mouth all I saw was blackness. It is not the kind of blackness that you see when enclosed in a dark room without light. Its mouth was like a void. Very similar to my Gate of Shadow ability except I get the feeling that it didn’t lead to another place, but instead broke down magic into a consumable form.
I need to head to Barui since most of the good sweet shops close down in about twenty minutes. I am going to fly over there. I could warp in, but there are two issues with that. First if anyone sees me I will immediately be branded a magic user. I know that shouldn’t be a big deal, but considering I’m trying to keep my notoriety down I really shouldn’t do anything to attract attention. Most people in Barui probably can’t even use a basic low level spell and I’m using a high level teleportation spell. The second reason I don’t want to warp in is that I’m going to burn through too much magic. A single teleport for me over a course of five miles takes around three percent of my total energy. Just today I have hopped around twelve miles along with burning magic turning into a crow, running, summoning an illusion dragon and the illusion I used to beat up Ritsuko. That isn’t really all that costly for me, but I prefer not to use over twenty five percent of my energy on traveling each day.
I realize I also still haven’t put on clothes yet. I’m still wearing my shadow cloak I made earlier today. I can’t change now though because I need to turn back into a crow. I change into a crow and take off into the sky. Right now the sky is a dark red almost the color of blood. The sun will probably set in about fifteen minutes so I need to hurry to Barui. I use a magic boost to increase my speed.
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I am now less than a mile from Barui. I am flying just above the treetops because I am honestly scared to go further up in the sky after earlier today where I could have been consumed by a magic devouring beast. I look around for a deserted alleyway to go into so that I can turn back into a human and change into clothes before anyone sees me. I remember the alley that Ritsuko lead Maeno in to speak with him and decide to change there.
I touch down on the ground and start changing back into a human. “Open Gate of Shadow” I reach into the portal and pull out my clothes and my gear. Since I don’t need my weapons right now I prop them against a wall. I start putting on all my clothes starting bottom up. Before I can put my shirt on my swords fall off the wall causing a clutter. I quickly put my shirt on and a white jacket I always wear. I put my swords in their sheath under my jacket and put my twinblade back into my Gate of Shadow.
I step out into the street and I decide I need to head out to the sweet shops first. The whole street is still busy since the Gate of Truth hasn’t been removed yet and everyone is going hysterical over it. I have to actually push people out of my way to get to the confection store. I decide I’m not going to buy any warm pastries since i won’t have time to eat them.
I decide to go in and buy some mints and some berrie paste. I choose whiti berrie flavor. Whiti berries are sweet and have a nice aroma to them ,but its a well known fact that they are good when mixed in with sugar as a paste. This particular berry paste goes good over bread recently baked. Along with the paste I buy one loaf of enriched grain bread. I spread the paste over it and wait.
The bread soaks up the flavor nicely and the heat of it causes it to become almost a glazing. Once it reaches the point where the paste starts to harden again on top of the bread I take a bite into it. The paste from the berries softens the bread a little bit making it easier to chew. The paste mostly overwhelms the taste of the bread with its sweetness, but the hint of bread flavoring gives it a very fierce taste. This is comparable to a gardener harvesting fresh fruit and taking a break for lunch to rest; so he can back to work. The first bite of the food I’m eating makes it seem like I haven’t eaten all day and awakens my appetite for more.
I quell this urge and take my time eating the loaf. I enjoy it until the very last bite and it leaves a taste in my mouth along with the urge to drink some water. The cost of this whole dinner for me is one hundred and fifty four pecunia. I have lots of money from my time as a assassin well over the thousands. I don’t really use it for much other than sweets though.
After I finish my loaf of bread covered in whiti berry paste I leave the confection shop and head over towards Dragon’s Fang to see my old guild mates and also to get information from our Glen Baitor who is the leader of our information section in the guild. As I push my way through the streets I stop outside the guild. I don’t walk in because I forgot something very important. I left the guild without reason and I never came back. I left two years ago after I quit being an assassin.
None of my friends in the guild ever knew I was a killer. The reason I even made so much money was that I was in the guild taking high ranked quests for money and I had my off time job of killing people for money. I quit stopping by the guild because I never needed to. I forgot how long it has been since I’ve been in here. After two years I’m not sure that my guild will accept me coming back. The worst part is that even if they do accept my return, I’m quitting to join Maeno’s guild when he comes back in to take his preliminary quest. I turn around and start pushing away. As I do I hear a familiar sounding voice call out to me and ask “Soren is that you?” I turn around and see Karen who is the guild master’s daughter.