image [https://i.imgur.com/XW00vxX.png]

The morning quickly came and Carmen was still reeling from the previous night’s mishaps.

“I'm only a few weeks into my journey and I've already been through so much. This has definitely been a bit more difficult than I anticipated. Makes me wonder what else is in store for me.” She quietly whispered to herself, looking up at the morning sky. She turned her head and noticed that Rivell was sound asleep still, hugging his Manifest like a newborn baby.

“Crazy to think that I would be the trigger for his awakening. Kind of scary now that I think about it.”

She laughed under her breath, getting up from the leaf covered ground. Carmen walked over to some large rocks on the edge of the woods, overlooking the area. As she ascended to the top of them, she could see Cable Village off in the distance.

“Finally! It only took us forever to get here.”

Carmen breathed a sigh of relief as she hopped down from the rocks, eager to wake up Rivell. He unwillingly sat up and after a brief breakfast, they continued their descent into the village.

After a couple miles, they approached a checkpoint with guards standing by. The guards had the crest of the Olun Kingdom brandished on their chest plates, signifying that the duo had made it to Olun territory. The crest was that of a lion’s head surrounded by an intricate shield. Its colors were deep green and gold, accenting perfectly with their fairly metallic armors.

The guards stopped Carmen and Rivell before going through their belongings, thoroughly checking every pocket. They asked a few questions, mostly pertaining to whether they’ve seen shady individuals with stolen objects.

“No sir. We ran into a few bandits, but we didn’t see anything stolen.” Carmen replied calmly.

The guards granted them passage after asking about the bandits in question and the duo officially entered the Olun Kingdom, first stop, Cable Village.

Cable Village was the first major city upon entering the Olun Kingdom, its size only dwarfed by the capital of Olun, Olunas City. The city kept the village in its title to pay homage to its humble beginnings, starting out as a literal village of only ten huts. Many decades later, Cable Village built itself up significantly and became established as one of Olun’s prime locations, having access to many resources and real estate. Cable Village also housed the largest Ability Clinic in all of Olun, making it a coveted destination for many Vestas.

They arrived and quickly found a cheap inn to stay at, as they had been sleeping in the grass and rocks for the whole journey so far. A nice bed would be a wonderful change of pace for their tired backs. They grabbed two separate rooms and agreed to meet downstairs after washing up for a bit. Carmen opened the door to her humble lodgings and saw that it was a small, yet cute space with a bed, desk, closet, and a simple bathroom.

“Nothing like home, but it'll have to do I suppose.” Carmen stated, showing her slight disappointment in the basic accommodation. She set her bag down and leapt onto the bed, embracing its softness. Even though she hadn’t planned on it, Carmen quickly fell asleep, taking an unscheduled nap.

Hours later she awoke with a streak of drool falling from her mouth, pooling up at the bottom of the pillow. Now realizing the amount of time that had passed, she leapt out of bed and freshened herself up. She completely forgot that she was supposed to meet up with Rivell downstairs.

Carmen quickly bolted down the hall to find his room, knocking on the door with great purpose. No response. She knocked again and still nothing.

“Hmm, I wonder if he’s already downstairs?”

She walked down the rickety wooden steps leading to the tavern on the first floor. As she got to the final few steps, she heard a loud commotion brewing.

“Gah you idiot!!!” A woman exclaimed, clearly upset by something.

“I told you to bring my green leather bag, not this yellow one!! How dumb must you be to not follow simple instructions!?”

Carmen saw a lavishly dressed middle aged woman beating on a young boy with tattered and dirty clothing. She was clearly of a higher status and someone of fairly decent importance.

“Why did that stupid school even assign you to me!? So incredibly useless.” She yelled while continuing to beat the boy, smacking him multiple times with the expensive handbag. Everyone in the tavern was watching the scene, fully aware of the situation.

However, no one made a move or even tried to help the boy out. Carmen began to step towards the woman causing the uproar, but before she could get close, another young girl entered the fray. This unknown female grabbed the unruly ladies arm and pushed her to the ground with effortless force.

“How dare you!!” The noblewoman shouted as she hit the ground, shocked that someone would dare raise their hand at her. The mysterious girl stood over the rude lady, staring deeply and angrily into her eyes.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Leave now or else.” She said with great vigor, not showing an ounce of fear.

The lady scowled at the request and quickly got to her feet, heartily slapping the girl across the face.

“You need to learn some manners, little girl! Do you know who you're dealing with?!? I am the daughter of Baron Voscow and you dared to push me to the ground!!? Are you mad!?” She said with a terrifying frown, giving this girl a severe piece of her mind.

She continued to glare at the woman with dark eyes, not backing down an inch and not caring at all about this woman’s position. Everyone in the tavern looked on, surprised to see a woman of such high status act so undistinguished. She felt their judgemental gazes upon her and after a brief thought, she reluctantly collected herself.

“Tsk.”

The woman forcefully grabbed her bag from the floor and swiftly left the tavern in a rage, stomping her feet with each angered step. Just as the noblewoman exited the door, she turned around and yelled out with an irritated cadence.

“I’ll remember this you filthy commoner!! Don’t let me catch you roaming around this city or else you’re dead!”

Upon hearing this statement, the girl disrespectfully stuck her tongue out before giving a defiant reply.

“Yeah, you better remember, filthy cow!”

The lady angrily walked off into the crowd of people outside, wanting nothing else to do with the situation. The bystanders in the tavern continued their previous activities, moving business along as usual. The little boy sat up and gave his thanks to his mysterious savior, feeling grateful for the assistance. She bent over and patted the kid on the head.

“You're very welcome, sweetheart.” The girl replied with a kind smile.

“Now run along home, I’m sure your mother is worried.”

As soon as she stopped talking, the kid began to look sad and dejected.

“I don’t have a mother... I live at the orphanage up the street.” He said, staring down at the ground.

Feeling bad for her inconsiderate words, she told him that she would buy a room for him to stay the night, just so he didn’t have to go back with that lady still around. As she approached the counter, Carmen swiftly stepped in and said that she would pay.

Taken aback, the girl refused her offer, but Carmen insisted. After a brief back and forth, she finally agreed and Carmen paid for a week’s worth of living expenses at the inn for the boy. He graciously thanked her before heading off to his room with a big smile. The girl shifted her attention towards Carmen and posed a question, surprised by her generosity.

“Wasn’t it expensive to pay for all that?”

Carmen shook her head no with a smile, feeling glad that she could be of some help.

“Oh no, I’ve been, uhhm, saving up quite a bit. Don’t worry, It’s not a big deal.” Carmen cautiously replied, hiding the fact that she was a rich princess from another nation.

“Anyways, what’s your name?” She asked the girl curiously, wanting to change the subject.

“Ah, excuse my bad manners. My name is Sarah, Sarah Lichen! Nice to meet you.” Sarah said with a bright smile.

The light from the lanterns in the tavern caught her face and Carmen was able to make out her features better. She had short, curly brownish red hair with the left side fairly shaved, hazel eyes, a petite build, and caramel colored skin. Carmen wondered how old she was because they seemed similar in age.

“My name is Carmen, pleased to meet you as well.”

They shook hands and began to have a short chat.

“That was super bold of you to step in like that, especially against someone seemingly of nobility.” Carmen said, impressed by Sarah’s previous actions.

“Bah, someone had to. I can’t stand those nobility and royalty bastards, always looking down on us as though we’re just insects. She deserved every bit of that.” Sarah replied sharply, clearly feeling bitter about the subject.

“I don’t think they’re all like that though. Seems a bit harsh to lump all royalty into that.”

This statement fired Sarah up and like a lit fuse to a bomb, she blew up.

“What do you know!!?? These morons don’t care about us, all they care about is their money and how best they can exploit those beneath them. What good have they done!? Don’t come at me with that crap, royalty isn’t all bad my ass! Since you like royalty so much, how about you go find that woman and kiss her feet. I bet she’d really enjoy that. Clueless bitch.”

Sarah angrily stood up from the table and swiftly walked out of the tavern, clearly upset by Carmen’s words.

“What.. What just happened??...”

Carmen sat there, shocked by Sarah’s fairly rude explosion. She began to wonder what could have happened to Sarah to bring about that much anguish and hatred. To be able to shift her demeanor so quickly and viciously was definitely not normal.

After sitting there for a time, Rivell walked through the front door and saw Carmen. He quickly rushed over to her, excited to have a conversation.

“Finally, I thought you would never come down stairs. I took a little walk around town to kill some time and there are a lot of shops around here, like, a lot, a lot. The people around seem really friendly and there is even an Ability Clinic that we should check out. Do you want to do that? It probably wouldn’t take too long since it didn’t look really busy, but I guess I wouldn’t know for sure. Ooo, we could eat something too! Do you want to go to a restaurant and get some food? I'm quite hungry myself, but if you aren’t then we coul-.”

“RIVELL!!!! Calm down, you’re doing that thing again.”

Carmen cut Rivell off, annoyed by his flurry of questions and word vomit.

“Ah, so sorry! Got carried away again.” He replied with an embarrassed laugh. They gathered their things and started to walk around Cable Village.

As the duo visited some shops, Carmen seemed lost in deep thought. She couldn’t get those heavy words that Sarah said out of her mind, not understanding why she blew up like that. Carmen also wanted to meet her again just so she could apologize and make amends, as it was never her intention to make someone feel anger like that.

Rivell, noticing Carmen’s rather aloof manner, asked her what was wrong. She told him what had happened earlier at the inn and he looked as though he remembered something.

“Wait, did you say short reddish hair with hazel eyes?” He quickly asked. Carmen nodded with a confused look, not knowing why that would be important right now.

“On my walk earlier, I saw a girl matching that description walking past me towards the Ability Clinic. An old man was waving to her. Maybe that’s where she is?”

Carmen’s face lit up and she immediately left the shop they were in, eager to find that girl again.

“Let’s go, Rivell!” She exclaimed, stepping out into the late afternoon sun and heading towards Cable Village’s Ability Clinic.

Not only would they potentially find Sarah, but this was also a good opportunity for Rivell to have his abilities as a Vesta officially rated. As a newly awakened Vesta, he'd be able to see where he stood against all the others like him.