(Eve)

"That should do it." Tightening the last strap of Amelia's armor. "Although, I'm surprised no one else has arrived yet."

"Well, we are a bit early. Say, why don't we go over the mission one more time before everyone arrives?"

I raised my eyebrow at her, but she didn't look at me. It will be our fourth time going over it, and she must be nervous.

"That's a good idea." I said instead, pulling out the article from my pack. "Let's see, an escort mission involving bringing a merchant and his son to the city of Arondite. Then for what's to be expected; five days total travel, two days to get there, one day to rest, and two days to travel back. We'll be traveling in a caravan and there will be several adventurers along for the ride."

Amelia nodded.

"Are you sure you feel up to this?" I asked. We'll get a penalty, but we can still return the contract."

Amelia stared at that and gave me a small smile.

"No, no. Getting out of the city for a while is a good idea. I'm starting to get anxious with how peaceful it has been. I keep getting the feeling that someone is watching me, but there is never anyone there."

"Peaceful?" I asked. "I must have imagined that bar brawl last night."

She snorted and shook her head. "That is peaceful compared to the last couple months."

I grinned, but the smile faded.

"You hadn't mentioned that feeling before. How-"

"Why are we even doing this mission again?! Shouldn't we be out hunting monsters?!" A voice yelled out with an arrogant tone from down the road.

Mana circulated from my heart, empowering my sight, and I followed the noise. I saw two men making their way towards us. One was a taller man with a bald head, a few markings on their body with many scars, and a pair of dull gray eyes. The other was a man who was a few inches shorter but with longer hair that could just be put in a ponytail, skin that showed tiny battle scars, and eyes that looked like the sea.

"It looks like the others are arriving now, we'll continue this conversation later." Amelia whispered to me.

"Looks like we aren't the first ones here this time, aye?! The bald man roared to his buddy as he punched him on the arm. "The names Rillon, Rillon Cassemir. I've never seen you two before; new to the scene, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, we recently moved here. My name is Amelia, and my friend here is Eve." she gestures with her hand towards me.

The giant man puffed out his chest and struck a pose. "Well you two pretty ladies won't need to worry about a thing, you have the pleasure of working with the greatest adventurer this side of the continent. You two should fe——- ouch!" Being forced to finish his boasting early as his friend punched him in the back of the head.

"Allow me to apologize for my friend, my name is Eloso Velor. I know my friend can be quite obnoxious, but I promise he is quite reliable." Reaching out quickly to shake both of our hands. "I look forward to working with the both of you on this journey."

"We look forward to it as well." I replied, walking up next to Amelia.

"If I may ask, what are your mana types? My friend here is a fire mage, and I use wind." Creating a ball of wind in his hand.

"I am also a wind mage." Creating a similar ball in my hand. "While my friend here is an ice mage."

"A fellow wind user," the man beamed at me. "Perhaps we can teach each other some new abilities together."

"I think that would be a great idea, we'll probably have plenty of time."

"Hey you three, there's a carriage coming this way!" Rillon yelled out.

"That one must be carrying the last of our group."

Amelia and I whipped around at the unfamiliar voice and found a petite woman staring back at us. She had tanned skin, sandy brown hair, and sky-blue eyes that widened at our reaction. Her cheeks reddened, and she looked away, clearing her throat.

"Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt. I'm Lisa Khestri, an earth mage."

Amelia laughed and patted her shoulder, nearly knocking her over. She settled herself with a staff that stood well over a foot over her.

"Apologies for not noticing you, I am E——-."

"Another pretty lady to join us on our adventure! You won't need to worry about a thing; just stick close to me, and I'll ensure you are protected from anything that might happen." He finished with a puffed-out chest and a thumbs-up, and I could only wonder how much of an idiot this man was.

"I am so grateful to have the company of such a strong and brave man," she said in an incredibly sarcastic tone; her earlier meekness vanished.

They continued to talk, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and looked up at the sky. There was a particular scent in the wind that I couldn't place, although it was familiar. I noticed when a very ornate carriage was several feet away, a servant opened the door.

From the carriage came a very young boy, who couldn't have been much older than 15. He had short red hair, brown-colored eyes, and a very slim build that didn't make him look like much. His added standoffish body language didn't do him any favors, but from the mana surrounding him, I could tell he was skilled—more skilled than any of the others here.

"Woah, hold on. Hey, Eloso. Isn't that kid…? I've heard everyone in town talking about him. He has short red hair, baby-brown eyes, and no weapons. It must be our lucky day; we have a prodigy on our hands." Rillon said. Then he marched over to the boy, completely ignoring the uncomfortable body language he displayed. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders and walked him over to us.

After a few minutes of pulling and some head punches from his friend later, we all managed to introduce ourselves to the boy, and I found out he was a noble named Iphan Varant, proficient in nature and fire magic. Then, just moments later, a caravan of at least a dozen carriages arrived.

"Looks like it's time for us to get ready to go finally," Amelia said, picking up her pack as I did the same. As a young girl and, who I could only assume was her father, who stepped off one of the middle carriages.

"Adventures, thank you for gathering here today. We know your time is important, and we appreciate you protecting us on this long journey. I am Hinter Banut, and this here." Gesturing towards a small girl who wore a pink fluffy dress. "This is my daughter, Cyrla Banut." Finishing with a gesture for her to introduce herself.

"As my father said, we greatly appreciate all of you for helping us. I hope to become an adventurer too one day, but I admittedly am too scared so I hope to gain as much knowledge and courage from you as I can across these next few days." Finishing with a curtsey and a pat on her head.

"I've received a report from the adventures guild on your names, mana types, and weapons. With this knowledge, I've already decided where I'd best like all of you to be positioned for this journey." He finished as he walked around, shook our hands, and exchanged small talk.

As he got closer, I saw a very clean-cut man with shaved hair, a chiseled jawline, and a decent build. But what caught me were his golden eyes, which had a slight ruthless glint to them, as if he valued every second just as much as money.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You and I are going to become great friends on this trip." Rillon was saying to Iphan who made no effort to hide the horrified look on his face after the two of them got placed in the front of the caravan together.

Amelia and I were placed in the center, and the other man and woman took up their positions in the rear. We swiftly took off.

"So, how long have you ladies been adventurers?" asked an older, frail man with gray hair, bluish-green eyes, and a few missing teeth.

"Not even a month yet." I said with a slight smile.

"Still new huh? That's good, the world can never have enough adventures. The name is Timothy, but you can call me Tim."

"My name is Eve and my friend on the other side of you is Amelia."

"It's great to meet the both of you, why don't both of you climb up here. It'll surely be better than walking this whole time."

"That'd be great." Quickly climbing up onto the carriage, Amelia and I sat on opposite sides of him.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"We appreciate you letting us ride on the carriage with you, do you happen to enjoy this line of work?"

Amelia asked

"It's not so bad, the boss takes good care of us and pays well, it definitely gives plenty of stories to tell."

"Well, we have a long journey, would you like to tell us some of them?"

"Yeah that's a great idea, we can all share stories of our adventurers. There was one time a few months ago that….."

Countless stories were told, mostly by Tim, with Amelia and I sprinkling in our own experiences. But truly, I didn't mind at all. In fact, it was quite welcomed and made the trip pass by super quick. However, I couldn't help but notice Tim seemed to become more and more tense as we approached the forest I had seen off in the distance.

"Hey Tim, I can't help but notice that you've been tensing up more and more the closer we get to that forest. Are there dangerous beasts in there or something?"

"Well I had planned to tell you when we got closer, but leave it to an adventurer to have this level of intuition." Softly chuckling to himself before continuing. "This forest is well known by all merchants and bandits alike, there are some dangerous beasts in these forests but there's nothing more scary than the bandits when it comes to this forest."

"The bandits? Why would they be your bigger fear over the forest beasts?" Amelia asked, not taking her eyes off the approaching forest."

"It's the pathing and environment of the forest itself that makes the bandits more scary. Most beasts, unless you really get into higher classes, are of low intelligence. Even if they are powerful. They don't hide signs of their locations or travel patterns and our scouts such as lord Iphan up front can detect them from far enough away for us to change course. However the bandits are different, the roads in the forest are twisty and windy while also having layers of fog in the early and late hours. This clouding up your vision along with short sight lines is the perfect location for bandits to set up ambushes." pausing as the forest was almost directly in front of us. "When we enter this forest, one of you needs to guard the front and left side of the wagon while the other covers the rear and right."

Without replying, we both took our positions on the wagon: Amelia covered the rear and right, while I had the remaining area.

I could feel the atmosphere rapidly shift as we entered the forest. It was like traveling between different worlds. Death and battles seemingly clung to the forest's fog, and a scent of blood covered the land.

'Breathe. Breathe. Just breathe, ' I said, feeling the tension on my bowstring grow by the minute. 'Wait. Can't my wind vision just allow me to see all of the surrounding area?

Mana pulsed from my body and was carried away by the tense winds around us. I expected to detect trees and perhaps some animals stalking about, but I was only met by distortions around us.

I scowled and created a gust to try to clear some of the fog, but the wind simply moved around it like they were solid objects. Worse, the smell of blood increased.

I wrinkled my nose at the pungent odor and recalled my mana. Instead, I was sending mana to enhance my ears. If I couldn't see, it was the next best option I had.

The jumping heartbeat in my chest, the sound of the wagon wheels, the distant howls of wolves in the distance bring back unwanted memories, and the inability to see more than a few feet in front of me. This was the perfect place to inflict fear and anxiety into someone before you ambush them. It's easy to see why this place and this route would be popular for such actions.

I fought the growing urge to enhance my entire body. I could maintain it for much longer than before, but not even close to the entire trip.

We stopped a few times because of beasts on our path, communicating silently. Yet, as the long hours passed, no people appeared.

'When will they come? From where? How many? Surely they would know how many adventurers are on this mission, would they still attack even then? If they did, does that mean they already know they're stronger?' Feeling the string of my bow grow more tense with each passing moment.

"Alright, the exit is just up ahead. You both did well," the old man's voice said, breaking the long silence to my side, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

'Is it already over?' I asked, but as I looked around, I knew it wasn't a question that required an answer, so I just took my spot back beside Tim. Despite having not moved for a while, my body was sore from the pressure.

"That should conclude most of the dangerous parts of this path, most times it's smooth sailing from here on out! So let's enjoy the rest of the trip with as many stories as we can tell!" Lifting his fist slowly into the air.

I gave a strained laugh, my nerves still pulled tight from the experience.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I allowed myself to relax as his stories quickly started to back up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How is it that I always manage to pull the first night watch? Do I have some secret curse on me or something?" I grumbled to myself.

As I continued around the back of a carriage, I froze and felt my cheeks redden. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Only all of it." The boy said, pausing his sword maintenance to give me a soft smile. "But it's not a big deal. I was never a huge fan of night watches myself, but I'll take this anyday than having to spend my watch with… my new friend." He sighed.

"We can agree on that," I said, letting out a laugh as I took a seat a few feet away from him.

"You said your name was Iphan, right? I don't think we got the chance to properly introduce ourselves." I leaned forward and offered him my hand. "My name is Eve."

"Iphan, yes. It's a pleasure, Eve." He accepted my outstretched hand.

We sat silently for a few minutes, him stealing glances at me like he wanted to start another conversation but couldn't bring himself to.

"You know," I said. "It's going to be a really boring couple of hours if you can't even ask me a question."

Iphan stiffened, and I laughed.

There was a forced maturity in the manner in which he carried himself, but I saw the flashes of youth in his expressions that reminded me so much of the older kids I used to watch back home.

"Do you… like having mana? This power?"

"Hm, do I enjoy this?"

I took a minute to think through my answer. It was clearly something important to him, so an immediate response seemed rude.

Do I like having this power?

It's something I always wanted, something I thought I would never attain. While I lied that it was alright, I knew deep down that I would never have been satisfied.

But that was.. before.

Now, though?

My heart tightened at the memories.

"It's something I wanted my whole life. It was something I thought that I wouldn't have until recently. Almost a year ago, in fact." My eyes widened slightly at the realization, but I continued. "But this power is different than I imagined. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing. I want to say yes… but there is something else…"

The tightening in my heart became painful, and I grasped my chest with a hand.

"I need it." I whispered into the wind.

Iphan watched me for a silent moment and then smiled sadly.

"I've seen that look in your eyes before. My father says that's what I lack." He laughed, a rough, loathing thing that came from deep within.

"He must say that a lot."

"Is everytime he sees me a lot?"

I chuckled.

Iphan sighed.

"I've always hated it. Even before I awakened I was trained to be better than everyone else, held up to that standard for as long as I could remember. Escaping my family's home isn't an escape either. People I meet all expect the same, look at me the same and treat me the same. As if I belong elsewhere. Above. It's lonely up here."

I remained silent, unsure what to say.

"The worst part is that they are wrong. I've met those that are above us… the patriarch of my family and Lord Greed. To them I am as insignificant as a wailing infant. My potential is only special when you compare me to the normal ones around us, the ones I belong to."

He cleared his throat and gave me an assessing look.

"Did I hear you right that you only awakened a year ago?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hope you were all able to get a good night of rest. Before we start our journey back up I wanted to warn all of you there have been reports of beasts and bandits scattered across the roads ahead. Please keep doing your best to protect us, and this trip will be over within the next few days! Let's get this journey back on the road."

"Yes, sir!" We all yelled in unison as everyone quickly took their spots back on the wagons, and the rumbling of the wheels was back underway.

Amelia scooted closer and eyed me.

"What happened?"

"Why do you think something happened?" I asked.

She gave me a flat look.

"I'm thinking through some things. I promise to tell you when I finish." I gave her a genuinely warm smile.

Amelia pouted a little but nodded.

The next few days were all relatively routine and boring. No more beasts or bandits had been spotted, but thankfully, Tim never seemed to run out of stories, so we were never bored. It was just story after story until we stopped for night watch and dinner, and then it was always right back to it the next morning. Before we knew it, it was the last day of our trip, and our final destination was fast approaching.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure we are all well aware that our final destination is fast approaching. I want to thank all of you again for everything you've done up to this point. When we reach the city, you are all free to stay for a few days. We will pay for the hotel room and food for those days as an extra thanks from us." He sat back down in his wagon as we slowly moved down the steep gulch.

"Hey, that's not a bad deal huh?" Amelia teasingly asked as she nudged my arm with her elbow.

"Well, it would certainly beat where we have been sleeping recently. I think we should take him up on that offer…….." The man paused as a faint but somewhat familiar scent was carried along the wind.

"Eve?"

Answering with a finger to let her know to be quiet as I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath filled with ambient mana. There was a hint of a chemical odor coming from the walls around us. No wind traveled through the stone, so I was only getting a hint, but it dredged up an old memory. A memory from back in my village when I had gone with my mother to check on a nearby mine being cleared.

My eyes shot open, and the world shattered.

The sound of explosions resounded from the walls, followed by the loud cacophony of fracturing stones.

My mana was already moving to create a wall of wind around us, mana leaving my heart to empower my body, but it was too slow. Far too slow. I was entirely powerless as the chunks of stone that, moments ago, were sturdy walls slammed straight through the carriage below.

Gravity just began to pull me down as white-hot pain erupted from my left shoulder. I was ripped to the side and began to spin until another force slammed into my stomach, robbing me of my breath. Stars filled my blurring vision until there was another more distant impact, and darkness took me.

There was shouting and pulses of mana all around me. I absently recognized some of them but couldn't focus enough. My mind faded again. Right before I was gone, my mind latched onto one of the pulses, and I shivered at how weak it felt.

I attempted to move my left arm and was greeted with a shock of pain that forcefully brought my mind to awareness. Stifling the scream that came with it, I opened my eyes, noting that one wouldn't open all the way. Gingerly, I looked down at my body and cursed under my breath. My left shoulder was useless, and there was a piece of stone impaled into my stomach, not to mention the countless cuts and bruises I could make out on my exposed skin.

I wasn't going anywhere with the stone still in me. I knew I shouldn't remove it, but… I could feel Amelia's mana moving slowly away.

I gripped the stone with my right hand, twitching at the pain, and took in a deep breath… which also hurt.

I braced myself and pulled. There was no stifling the scream this time. I let the world hear my agony for what felt like hours until, with one final tug, the jagged bastard was torn out. I rested my head on the cold stone beneath me as my body spasmed from the pain.

I had been focusing all the mana I could muster into that area, and it seemed to be doing the job well enough. It was not what anyone could call healing, but it slowed the bleeding, so I didn't pass out in seconds.

Good enough.

I crawled over to what was left of the carriage, just a wheel and some of the broken frame. Reaching out, I grabbed what looked sturdy and empowered my arm to take most of the weight as I slowly stood up. The world spun a little, so I unfocused my eyes and used the wind to see around me. It was an instinctual decision that helped a lot. I turned myself in the direction of Amelia's mana, realizing it had stopped moving for now. Small mercies.

The wind brought a piece of wood into my hand to use as a cane, and I stumbled forward into the chaos and death I hadn't noticed before.

There were dead scattered around; some I knew, and others were strangers who had to be bandits. I numbly regarded what I could see of Tim to my left… what was left of him. I bit my lip and turned away, stomach clenching. One foot after the other, I continued. Flashes of mana neared, but I ignored them. I was defenseless if someone came to stop me, so I kept walking. Eventually, I saw Iphan fall out of the sky, creating a crater around the person he had been standing on. He noticed me and ran over. He was speaking to me, but I only heard the beating of my heart and carried on. Iphan followed me for a few paces, then disappeared again.

I reached the end of the battlefield and still hadn't reached her. She was close now, though, just around the side of the stone walls that hadn't been affected by the earlier explosions. I was dragging now, but I was there. One more step, and I cleared the wall. I froze. There were three people in black cloaks with the same color cloth wrapped around their heads and in the center one's arms was an unconscious Amelia.

Ice filled my veins. My empowered body tried to move, to dash toward them, to at least take one step but I was drained. My vision was darkening around the edges.

NO!

I grit my teeth and released all the mana empowering my battered body into the wind around us, sending a small tendril beyond the men. I slumped with little mana remaining in my body but channeled the wind next to me into a spiraling blade. Finally, the men noticed me and one of them dashed toward me. I released my spell and aimed straight at the man with Amelia in his arms.

He cocked his head, watching it fly at him until he waved his hand, and the wind dispersed harmlessly.

The other man reached my side and grabbed my arms to put them behind my back. I yelped in pain and sagged toward the ground. The man bent down to pick me up, and I emptied my mana heart to empower one last attack. My jaw strengthened as my teeth met his throat, and I tore it apart with no hesitation. Blood erupted from exposed veins, covering my face with the slick liquid, the man gasping for breath as he attempted to hold everything in.

I hit my knees, completely spent. I pulled on the last string, connecting me to the wind behind them. My mana was dispersed to the point that it shouldn't have the mana signature of an attack. I had to delay them for as long as possible. The others might be able to make it in time, or at least Iphan; I had sensed him coming this way a few moments ago.

The gale tore through the foliage behind the men and passed through them. The man to his right was forced to the ground by the unexpected force, but the middle man, the one holding Amelia, didn't even budge. The only thing it did was loosen his face-wrapping, revealing scarlet red hair underneath.

My eyes widened, as did his. With one step, he disappeared from his spot more than thirty feet away and appeared before me. I reached out to Amelia's sleeping form and rested on her cheek.

"Wake…up." I croaked.

Finding what he was looking for in his pocket, the man pulled out a small metallic diamond and moved his hand toward my head. I tried to evade, but my body was unresponsive.

"AMELI-"

All thought ceased when the device made contact with my forehead.

A bright light swept over my eyes, and I felt myself falling. I started flailing in panic, involuntarily wincing at expected pain. Yet the pain didn't come, and after a moment, I wasn't sure why I expected to feel any pain. I continued to fall in the blinding light. I fell and fell until it was all I knew.

I blinked.

I was standing in a large passageway lined with large stone bricks. Turning around, I found a solid wall behind me. I reached out and… yeah, that is a stone wall. I'm not sure what I expected. Facing front again, I walked over to the only thing in this section of the building: a solitary window with light pointing directly to a dark wood pedestal. I approached it and studied the lone item on a red pillow.

"A kunai made out of ice?" I asked the air. "Am I supposed to know what this means?"