The hippo, amped up like it had just downed a triple espresso, kept its breakneck pace admirably, but eventually, it slowed down. Liam was swivelling his head left and right, searching for his foxy friend. Then Mela joined him on the front of the cart.

Liam, trying to break the ice, said, “I know you do not want to talk about it, but, what is your class? In there we did not need it, out here.”

The sun was at its zenith, and the hippo, now moving with the enthusiasm of a teenager asked to do chores, slowed down. Liam, now a self-proclaimed mystical beast whisperer, deduced it was snack time. He offered the hippo meat and bread.

Back on his bench, Liam gave the hippo's lead a celebratory slap, and they resumed their journey.

Breaking the silence, Liam asked Mela, “So, your class?”

“I’m a thief,” she replied, her gaze fixed on the horizon.

“A thief?” Liam echoed, his voice tinged with the shock of someone who just found out their grandma was a secret agent.

No answer.

“How does one even...?” Liam continued.

“It is a difficult class to get. I come from a wealthy background and my father got the idea to secretly train me. And, his whole life of secrets and lies fell apart. I was too young for the death penalty and…”

“…was 'gifted' to mages.”

Liam was processing that for a moment.

“But how do people know you're a thief?” Liam eventually asked.

“If you use an inspect skill, my class just pops up,” she explained.

“Wow. That simple, huh?”

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“There is a skill that lets you change your status to anyone not much higher in level. I don’t have it yet.”

Liam, ever the optimist, piped up, “So, we just need to keep you under the radar until you can level up your stealth mode!”

---

As Liam and Mela arrived at a crossroads, Liam halted the hippo.

“Which way to go?” he pondered.

Mela shrugged but the hippo appeared to be itching to go straight on. Perhaps that's his normal route? So Liam chose to go left. And they were off again, journeying until nightfall. They slept under Liam’s stolen robes and started travelling at day break.

Three days later, they glimpsed a city by the sea. It was a charming place, with tiny white towers and sprawling green fields. Mela gazed in awe.

“Never seen the ocean?” Liam asked.

“What's an ocean?”

“You know, the giant pool?”

“It's stunning.”

As the sun set, the ocean sparkled like a disco ball. The hippo that could definitely participate in a beauty pageant, trudged on.

“See, Mela, the world's a big place. We’ll just sell our hippo-ride and hitch a boat. They haven’t found us yet,” Liam schemed.

Mela eyed him. “Are you a genius or just fantastically clueless?”

Liam hesitated. “Um…”

“Is it courage or just being daft?” she pressed on.

Liam stammered, “Well…”

Mela smiled, “This is beautiful. She looked at the ocean..”

Liam decided to leave it at that. To be honest, it probably was more luck and stupidity than anything else.

Reaching the city took longer than expected, so they camped out one more night. In the morning, Curo woke them.

“Hey, Curo,” Liam greeted, but froze. Curo was soaked in blood.

“Oh no, Curo!” Liam checked for wounds but found none.

“That's not your blood?”

Curo nuzzled Liam, and Mela watched, puzzled. After a moment, Curo bolted away.

“I think that was a farewell,” Mela said softly.

“Oh no! My first buddy,” Liam sighed. “Why all the blood?”

“They maybe lied about tracking us but not about wild beasts. Curo was our guardian,” Mela realized.

Liam sighed, “Farewell, brave friend.”