Mariner’s Rest was located in Oracle Shores, the western region of the guild’s territory. Silverpine was on the opposite side in the Mystic Woods.

Cal had never been there before but could accurately estimate how long it would take him to get there if he didn’t hold back on speed. Given that it was twice as far away as Lumina, it should take him just under forty minutes to reach the town.

He had passed Tavia’s carriage minutes ago since his speed was more than enough to make up for her head start.

Cal didn’t know if she had noticed him zooming past her like a maniac, but even if she did, it could be possible that she was left clueless about who he was. If he hadn’t been in such a rush, he would’ve said hello just to see the look on her face at his unexpected appearance.

The surroundings changed slightly as he approached Silverpine.

Even though the region was called Mystic Woods, there was nothing woody about the land. It had long been cleared of any forests to make way for vast farmland. Once again, he wondered why the guild was so idiotic about the way it treated its farmers.

Cal slowed his speed when he saw the gates into Silverpine. The walls protecting the town were definitely bigger than Mariner’s Rest. Still, they were vastly smaller than the heavy defenses surrounding Lumina.

Silverpine was nowhere close to as large as Lumina, but it was significantly bigger than Mariner’s Rest.

He skipped the large line of traders waiting to be allowed into the town and swiftly entered alongside the others visiting for other purposes. He looked around briefly, taking in the cozy atmosphere, and noticed that it was more common to see guild members among the crowd than in Mariner’s Rest.

It made sense. Mariner’s Rest was located too close to the wasteland, and its only attraction was being a short stopping point for merchant ships. Silverpine was more focused on trade on the bordering land and was known to have an abundance of ingredients gathered from the region for alchemists.

Cal moved to the side to get out of the main street. “Guard, where’s the Dragon’s Head?”

The guard seemed to be accustomed to speaking to guild members and only looked at his attire once before he quickly replied, though it was with a confused expression. “Take an immediate left before turning right onto a street called Old Path. It should be the third building on the left. It will have the name hanging off the roof.”

Cal muttered a quick thanks before heading in that direction. He was a little surprised that the guard knew it off the top of his head.

He didn’t stop to take in any of the sights, but it was hard not to notice how it was littered with stalls, making it resemble Mariner’s Rest bazaar.

He ignored the calls from the plenty that had no customers and kept an eye on the right side for Old Path. Only a few seconds later did he see it.

Old Path was more of an alley than a street. That wasn’t to say that it was dirty. In fact, it looked as if all the shops on the street were meant to serve customers with far more spending power. Then again, he was comparing this to a street that was filled with stalls.

Cal walked down Old Path and stopped before at the building he was searching for. He understood why the guard knew of it.

The bar had a moving image of a red dragon’s head — snarling and looking around with its gold eyes — and lettering around the image that said ‘Dragon’s Head.’

This is excessive.

He looked around at the other buildings and saw that they all fit the same aesthetic, looking as if they belonged in the most expensive districts of Lumina.

All right, not so excessive.

Cal shifted his body to avoid a couple exiting as he entered Dragon’s Head. The bar was in the center of the floor, with seating of different types surrounding it.

It looked to be a slow day since there were less than twenty people present. Most of them kept to themselves as they read a book while sipping a drink, and a few, who looked to be couples, were enjoying their date.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Thankfully, the bar itself was empty, with only the bartender manning it. Said bartender was the only one who bothered to pay attention to Cal entering.

“I haven’t seen you before,” the bartender greeted Cal when he approached him.

He could see the bartender’s nametag on his shirt. “Is my first time visiting the town. Holt, I apologize for being abrupt. I was told to hand this to you.”

Cal didn’t delay in getting to the point. He pushed the note given to him over the counter and stared at Holt intensely. He obviously couldn't see whatever Holt was supposed to read on the note.

Holt’s eyes scanned the note a few times before he crumpled it up and threw it in a bin below the counter. That raised Cal’s ire, but Holt’s following action quickly calmed it.

“Got it, the house special.”

Cal’s eyes twitched when Holt filled a tall glass with a foamy liquid. He was about to ask why he was being given a beer when Holt slid the glass along with a piece of paper on the side.

“Give it a try! I created this a few months ago, so let me know how you would rate it.”

He took a seat at the bar and practically ignored Holt’s meaningless words. He didn’t know why all the secrecy was needed, but he was getting more worried about Oleg by the moment. He took a sip from the glass and looked at the note.

Some fringe Initiates have been seen in the Frostguard Dominion’s territory. It looks like a voluntary desertion, but signs indicate it was a forced transfer. Some failed Trainees who left a year ago have turned up at the border but are entirely non-responsive. This has the potential to spiral out of control.

Cal felt a weak connection in his memories that wanted to make itself known. The problem was that the connection was so faint that he couldn’t grasp enough to know the details. All he felt was that this was familiar to him.

The note contained a message that was concerning, but it didn’t mention anything about Oleg by name.

He put down the drink and glanced at Holt, who was waiting for him patiently for his opinion on the ‘drink.’ He said, “That note I gave you. What did it say?”

“I should show you the new menu,” Holt shrugged casually.

Cal finally realized that Holt wasn’t a regular bartender. He could sense a faint presence about him. If he had to make a guess, Holt was no weaker than he was.

For someone like that, being a bartender was nearly unbelievable to Cal. Whatever Holt’s reason was to be in this position, he doubted it would be revealed to him easily.

Cal had to reluctantly accept Holt’s refusal to expand. “What was I supposed to do with this? It means nothing to me.”

“Then do nothing,” Holt shrugged… again.

He tapped his fingers on the counter and took another sip of the beer to keep up appearances. He couldn’t risk ignoring this if whoever was dragging people over to the Frostguard Dominion had targeted Oleg for some reason.

“I have nothing to go by. No lead. No clue where to start,” Cal sounded increasingly frustrated with every sentence. “I need something more—”

“That’s too bad,” Holt interrupted. “Try this one instead.”

Holt took the original drink he had given Cal and replaced it with another. The new glass also had a note beside it.

He was getting tired of the notes.

Cal gave Holt a look before taking a sip of the new drink and reviewing the note.

Twenty miles east of Silverpine after dark. Abandoned quarry. A low-level meeting consisting of ten people. The presence of an Apprentice equivalent is likely. The rest will be Initiate equivalents.

“… This is sufficient,” Cal nodded slowly.

“Good taste!” Holt motioned for him to finish the drink. “Let’s not waste the two silver you spent on this.”

He chuckled at the charge and downed the drink before leaving the coins on the counter. Holt removed all of it—the glass, coins, and note—and bid him a farewell.

Cal swiftly left the bar and retraced his steps back to the gate. He had plenty of time to prepare for his trip out of the town.

There were things that he needed to get. A map, a real weapon, some potions, and a change of clothes that was more appropriate for combat. He hoped it didn’t come down to it, but he had no illusions of the type of people he might encounter.

Of course, before all that, Cal wanted to speak to Tavia. If there were going to be ten presences at this vague meeting, it would be better to have backup.

He was confident that even if he went alone, the situation would still be in his control, but he would have to rely on his superior physicality and quickness of casting to make that happen.

Cal knew there was a chance that he was overestimating himself, so he intended to ask Tavia to follow, just in case.

He saw the guard that had given directions to the Dragon’s Head and walked to him.

“Did you find the bar?” The guard asked when he noticed Cal.

“I did,” Cal thought about the exaggerated secrecy he experienced at the bar and added, “but the new drinks I traveled for were a little disappointing.”

The guard winced, “If you want some places that serve true drinks instead of expensive curiosities, I can recommend some places.”

Cal pretended to think about it before shaking his head. “Unfortunately, I’m not in the mood for more.” The guard looked sorry for him. “Did you happen to notice a carriage come through?”

“A carriage?” The guard eyed the long line of carriages that were waiting to enter the town. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

Cal laughed lightly at his mistake. “The only passenger should be a guild member, and she wouldn’t be using the line for trade.”

Unexpectedly, the guard’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh! She passed by a few minutes ago. It looks like she was headed to the center of town.”

Cal thanked the guard for the second time in the last hour and headed deeper into the town. He was a little apprehensive about speaking to Tavia about this.

He didn’t forget that he was the one who recommended that she not risk her life trying to pursue the goal of saving her friends. And here he was, jumping into an unknown situation to possibly save Oleg.

Cal also had a small hope that the note was just an error. Tavia had claimed that Oleg was safe. He would forget about the note if she could tell him Oleg’s current location.