The little village of Asphil was covered by the golden light of the sun. It shone upon the ground from its zenith illuminating the busy village. A little girl ran through the village unperturbed by the heavy atmosphere plaguing the adults. They all wore grim faces and conflicted expressions yet she smiled and laughed, focusing on chasing one task running out of her grubby little hands. In front of her was a squawking chicken she had taken an interest in. She ran around the houses, between the people, she didn’t even let up when the chicken ran through the pigs mud bath.

Dirty and spoiled she continued to chase, ignoring the stern scolding of other villagers and enjoying the privileges of being young. The chicken ran for dear life as it navigated round corners, over small animals, and between the large armored legs coming out a house. Its chaser being too absorbed in grabbing its tail failed to notice the giant man before it was too late.

“Ouch!” escaped her pain. She fell down from the force and rubbed her bruised head as she looked up at what hit her. The tall man casted a large shadow over the gawking little girl when he bent over.

“Are you alright?” The man offered a hand. His helmet was very close to her face, its slits absorbing any light shone upon and exposing the man’s face.

“UUUWWWAAAA” the child cried. The loud scream attracted many onlookers while the man in dark armor flinched at her reaction.

*Bonk*

“Seriously?” a red-haired woman hammered the back of his helmet. “You’re scaring the kid; look at how they’re are looking at you. It looks bad on us, y’know.”

Pushing him away the ginger knelt in front of the child and spoke symathetically; “Oooh sorry, did the scary man hurt you?”

The child squeezed her eyes shut to force out some tears while nodding vigorously.

“Yes, he is a bad man isn’t he,” Brair glared at her companion. “But you know what? I got a surprise for you~”

She reached back with both hands and brought out the chicken the girl was chasing.

“Ta-da” she presented.

Having found her object of delight the child squealed and clapped her hands, taking the scared chicken in her chubby hands. She got up and smiling once more to the woman ran away, disappearing into the crowd.

“Don’t you know that you’ll scare the children when you wear something like that?” Brair said angrily. “Why not take it off for a while?”

“No,” the man said. “I could be attacked at any moment, removing my helmet would give the enemy the opportunity they seek.”

“Which enemy?!”

“Hey, Hey, let it go you guys,” A blond haired man placed his hands on their shoulders. “Drac I apologize on Brair’s behalf, its just that she is very curious as to what you look like underneath.”

“I-I don’t,” Brair shook off Luvrit’s hand. “He just ate without opening that…that thing, why would you do that if you weren’t hiding something terrible underneath? I don’t want to see his ugly kisser.”

“He’s just being cautious,” Luvrit defended. “What if I started wearing a helmet all the time?”

“Then I know your hiding something ugly,” Brair said smugly.

“We’re wasting time,” Drac began walking away. “The others are already waiting for us near the forest.”

“Yeah, we’re coming.” Luvrit said.

They walked together from the Chief’s house and out of the village. The village occupied a small space, its streets merely a few houses long before the plowed land was reached, thus it took them only a few minutes to reach the edge and towards the forest far away. The three of them were late because their breakfast was heartier than the others, who had taken their leave to scout out the area. The rest were awaiting their arrival near the edge of the forest.

Peter was, as usual, was trying to flirt with Natravi and like always she was a cold stone to approach. Fliss and Volvo were entertaining themselves over the antics of their comrade cruade to getting laid, until they noticed the others return.

The cheerful atmosphere they had created suddenly vanished, everyone’s expressions turnig grim over the thought of the task before them. Thus began discussions of forming the plan to infiltrate the forest. The White Forest was home to many monsters and the fighters from the previous night were only scavengers, taking whatever’s left of the strong’s meal or dominating aging beasts nearing death. There was also the Löwe to worry about, as well as the light attribute monsters that might’ve come near the edge of the forest.

“We’ll split up in groups of two,” Volvo said, “one will stay here and take care of the fleeing monsters, while the other takes a full sweep of the forest. The group that going to go in the forest will be; Luvrit, Natravi, Drac, and Fliss.”

“Wait up!” Brair shouted, “Fliss is the youngest among us, and he isn’t a good enough fighter. Shouldn’t we let someone with more experience in fighting be in the group?”

“How do you think Fliss’ll grow if he doesn’t fight in dangerous situations,” Volvo glanced at Drac, “Also, with Fliss next to Luvrit and Mr. Drac I think he will be safe enough, as long as they don’t go too far in.”

“It’s alright Brair, I’ll be fine” Fliss smiled at Brair.

“But…Argh,” Brair exasperatedly sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders in defeat. ”Alright, take care of yourself.”

“Hmmm, do I see this as a possible couple? I didn’t think you would be into that type, Brair.” Peter teased.

“Come here, you wax head,” Brair tried to grab Peter’s hair.

“Hehe, ok, ok.” Peter held up his hands in surrender but Brair didn’t care as she punched him in the gut, hunching him over.

“Enough!” Volvo shouted. Leaving Brair and Peter aside he addressed the others; “Everyone, I hope for us to dine tonight so be careful out there.”

“We will see each other soon,” Drac said walked into the forest with Luvrit, Fliss and Natravi trailing along.

Drac allowed Luvrit to take lead after entering thickening undergrowth of the forest. They walked for a few minutes through the dense leaves and thick bushes until they reached a small clearing, paved due to a few fallen trees. The golden rays highlighted the moisture in the air, along with the unsettled dust. Luvrit climbed atop it and took his bearings in the crescent view. They were surrounded by tall trees covered and surrounded by green moss but to their left was a small clearing between the tall pillars of nature. Hesitating for a minute, he walked towards the clear sign of recent disturbance.

Soon they were met a group of monsters feasting on a pile of ripped guts and entrails of some unfortunate creatures. Those monsters were goblins, reflecting the sunlight from their bulbous lumps and drool down their lipless mouths. Luvrit, Natravi and Drac made a pincer attack on them eliminating the possibility of escape, while Fliss provided back up from far away.

Luvrit adopted a basic style of sword, upward slash-block-side slash-block-repeat, while Natravi kept to her toes, jumping around and slicing throats with only the momentum of her body. While the two used swords to match their enemies Drac took it all with his armored fists. Punching flesh and bones, slapping away stone hammers and pikes, he didn’t stop when the goblin died. He continued on till a bone broke or squelching sounds of mashed organs could be heard. By the time he was finished his arms were covered in blood, but the dirty yellow colour didn’t stop there.

Luvrit and Natravi had taken to the sides while Drac charged head on with only his arms to protect him from the bloodbath, so when the fighting starting he bore the bulk of the bloodshed from all sides. When the fighting finished Natravi and Luvrit only had a few streaks of blood trailing their threads, but Drac was different. His entire upper body was covered with blood, the yellow colour mixing in with the black armor like oil, glistening it in the sunlight. Some chunks of guts stuck to his hands and knees while an eye had found its way to his neck. It stuck there, staring at the others until he popped it off between his fingers, wiping some of the blood along with it as he threw it in the plants.

Natravi showed to reaction to that but Fliss and Luvrit were clearly surprised. The blond whistled a tune as he looked at the results of their slaughter, smiling proudly. But Drac wasn’t finished, he bent down to one knee at the dead monster’s corpse the goblins were eating and cupped his hands in a prayer.

“O Bozhe, in janwaroe ko mir dae.” Drac quietly murmured.

“Interesting, never heard of that language, what was it?” Luvrit asked.

“Because I spoke not one but two tongues. A mix of my parent’s.”

“Huh, where are you from?”

“…” Drac stood up from his kneel and faced Luvrit.

“Alright, follow me.” Luvrit said as he led them back the way they came.

“Why would you pray for the monsters, Drac?” Luvrit asked.

“I don’t have any right to judge those creatures, they were enjoying a meal and we killed them for the threat the posed not the crimes they committed, the right to judge remains with the entity above.”

“You believe in a higher power?” Luvrit asked they walked deeper.

Suddenly they were confronted with another group of monsters. This time they were quadrupedal creatures baring sharp fangs, fur clumped together into pointed spikes and a face resembling a wolf’s. They were much larger than any normal dog and had split paws similar to the hooves on a camel.

The monsters stalked the group and slowly began surrounding them. But the chance to surround was taken away when Luvrit decided to charge ahead. He took to the center while Drac and Natravi took to the sides, stopping the wave of wollfels on their tracks. Adopting previous maneuvers the group attacked with speed and precision, taking out as many shocked wollfels before the others realized what was happening.

The remaining few jumped with vicious ferocity, aiming to knock down the blond. As the claws came close Luvrit suddenly kicked his legs up and fell down, narrowly missing the front paws. However the wollfels hind legs caught him across the face kicking him down. That was it; the frenzied animals chance was upon them. They twisted themselves around and took a lunge for the human’s head ignoring the shadow casted upon them, till it was cleaving their bodies apart.

Luvrit wasted no time in rolling away as the blood spurted everywhere. He jumped up at the ready, but hesitated to charge at the sight before him. The black sword was stuck into the ground where he lay only minutes before. Decapitated heads and their bodies gushing blood lay on either side of the sword, oiling it with blood. Drac forcefully pulled out the sword and wiped the blood on the ground, before placing it back on his back.

“Thanks,” Luvrit gulped, rubbing his neck.

Drac nodded in turn and waited for Luvrit to take the lead once more. After some silence he spoke once more.

“So, ya’ think the’-”, Luvrit suddenly stopped and coughed. “Excuse me. So you believe in a higher power.”

“I do,” Drac wiped off some blood on a plant as they walked the long trek to the other side.

“So you’re a practitioner of the Holy Scripture?” Fliss asked once they reached the fallen tree.

“I don’t practice any religion from the Seinaru Kingdom to the tribes in the far west. I am knowledgeable on the teachings of the Holy Scripture however, due to my upbringing,” Drac responded.

“But you don’t follow it?” Luvrit asked.

“No I don’t,” Drac said.

*SQUEAL*

“AHHH,” Fliss shrieked. Everyone quickly turned around to see a brown boar suddenly rush past Fliss. Natravi took out her sword to attack but the boar jumped out of the way and ran towards edge of the forest.

“Are you alright?” Natravi asked, slowly inching forward.

“Ye-yes,” Fliss said wiping the tears away. “Just surprised. Haha.”

“Who would’ve thought,” Luvrit laughed. “It would be an animal that got the jump on us.”

“That is a cause for concern,” Natravi said grabbing Fliss closer, causing Luvrit to smile. “You should walk closer.”

Fliss nodded, still shaken up by what could be his dinner run past him.

“Interesting, that there were animals like that living in the forest,” Luvrit commented as he continuing leading. “You good back there, Fliss?”

“I’m fine. Can we not talk about this anymore.”

“Alright, sure. So Drac, if you don’t believe in any religion what do you pray to?”

“I speak to an unknown entity that I know is out there and thus…that’s my version of god,” he spoke after some time. “A religion itself is untrue if it’s name changes along with time and languages.”

“I wise man once said the same thing to me once, false religions rely on the passages of time,” Luvrit smiled as he flicked sweat off his brow, the endeavor failing due to the mud caked on his gloves. He frowned and he tried wiping it off on his clothes before trying again only to fail once more. Eventually he gave up and decided to conserve his energy in the humidity.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Hmmm, he could be someone I know. After all, there aren’t many who share the same-” Drac was interrupted when a large brown creature with a dog-like appearance suddenly jumped out of the shrubs and attacked him. Drac brought up his arms to defend himself but inadvertently allowed it platforms to jump from, over him and towards Natravi. He turned around as soon as the dog’s feet left his arms and caught its tail midflight. Pulling it back he redirected the monsters attention to himself and shot an uppercut to its flailing head.

*Tssch*

The sound of the brain contacting with the skull resounded in the quite forest. The force caused its head to pull back so hard that its neck broke and uproot the chain of bones running in the middle its back. The tear in its neck caused bile and blood to gush out and onto his armor, before he quickly threw the dead body into the bushes.

“You didn’t have to overdo it.” Natravi said as she wiped a streak of red on her cheek.

“It was necessary for the others to see” Drac said as he gripped his hand tightly, pointing to the different similar creatures that had moved in the surrounding bushes. At the revelations Fliss let out a small yelp as the other two took up their stances to face off their enemies. The creatures encircled the four, careful to not stay out of bushes for too long.

After sometime, a white wolf-like creature with large curved fangs and a thin tail came out. It stalked the tallest among ground as it waded closer towards corpse in fluids, nudging the broken head with its own. When the body made no movement the white creature howled to the sky, soon followed by the rest of the pack. Everyone flinched in their place, getting ready for an attack. Only Drac stood his ground and looked solely at the white creature, balling up his fist before relaxing it when the monster turned around and jumped back into the bushes, taking its pack with it.

“That was scary.” Fliss sighed and bent over.

“What do you think that was all about?” Luvrit asked.

“A warning,” Drac pointed around them. “They probably warned the other monsters about us, about this. They should’ve left at least.”

“Just to be sure, let’s take another round.” Luvrit suggested.

“Uhhh, I don’t feel too good.” Fliss said as he vomited over. Natravi knelt next to him and with a gasp slammed his chest, pushing him back up.

“He’ll be fine, just exhausted his mana.”

“Well, if our magic man isn’t feeling too good we should take a break for a while then,” Luvrit said leaning next to a tree.

“That would be good, but-but how about getting out of here first?” Fliss suggested, eyeing Natravi.

“It’s alright, if they wanted to attack us they would’ve done it before. Besides, we’ll be ready for an ambush if it comes our way.” Luvrit took out a dirty, greasy cloth and began wiping his sword with it.

“Rest would be nice,” Drac nodded at Fliss.

“What?” Luvrit laughed, “You’re tired? You’re as big Volvo, perhaps bigger-”

“The bigger we are, the easier we tire.” Drac sat against the furthest tree looked at Luvrit on his right and Natravi and Fliss on his left.

“It’s improper to check ones strength based off of his or her rank. The rank is nothing but a number given to contain one’s brilliance in the natural society. That’s why I was so hesitant in becoming one of the mercenaries.”

“Oh, and why did you become a mercenary?” Luvrit asked resting his chin over his sword’s handle.

“…It was better than being a freelancer.” Drac said. “The pay was more stable and I would be properly compensated for, if something goes array. Also, there are other benefits to being a mercenary which I thrive to achieve.”

“Hmph” Luvrit smiled, “Yes there are, but we don’t talk about such things, not I public at least.”

“Stop it!” Fliss squealed like a girl as Natravi stumbled back. The two seemed to be in a heated discussion completely separate from Drac and Luvrit’s.

“Something wrong, Natravi?” Drac asked.

“Yes, it would seem that Fliss-”

“No!” Fliss forcefully clamped Natravi’s mouth with his hands and stumbled atop her. The two struggled for a moment but Natravi was eventually able to walk away freely.

“Fliss,” Drac addressed the blushing youth as he shakily stood. “I understand that Natravi has found out some private matter about you. But please understand that she wouldn’t reveal something to us as I am forbidding her from meddling in your matters. Alright, Navi?”

“…Very well uncle.” Natravi nodded as she leaned next to the tree where Fliss later sat.

Silence ensued there on, only being broken when one consumed their rations once in a while. Eventually, Luvrit stood up and motioned for them to follow him. They made one final sweep across the area they had previously covered and finally reached back to the broken trees from where they slowly moved out to greet their friends waiting for them.

When they came out of a forest a sight much like their first encounter with the goblins in the forest greeted them. There was blood and guts splattered in patches on the grass and bodies of orcs, goblins and a few wollfels creatures laid down. The others in the group were cutting off their evidence of personal kills to trade for a few coins when Brair noticed them approach.

“Took ya’ long enough,” she smiled. The sun was just starting to fall illuminating the sky orange.

“Who sent the pig?” Volvo asked, pointing at its corps.

“Fliss,” Luvrit smiled. They soon exchanged stories and found that the howl from the white wollfel had caused a lot more monsters to run out the forest at once, straining their partners.

“If you had time to take a break,” Peter scolded. “You should’ve come out to help us instead! I was in danger over here.”

“Come on, who’d believe that?”

“I would” Natravi chipped in as they walked back to the village. The villagers started to part for them and give them a clean route; straight to the Chief’s house. “He seems quite unreliable.”

“Hey, I can take care of myself quite well.”

“See, what did I tell you?” Luvrit laughed as Peter placed an arm around his shoulders and whispered something, causing him to laugh greatly.

“…Mr. Volvo.” Drac asked.

“Yes?”

“What’s wrong with the villagers?”

“Oh them? Don’t mind ‘em,” Volvo’s dismissed, his calm voice juxtaposing the tense atmosphere. “They hate us.”

“Hmph, we’re risking our lives to protect them, not cause them harm.” Natravi made a disgusted face at the villagers.

“Oh, but we have Miss Natravi.” Volvo answered, “Where do you think the guild gets its money to pay for our services? The villager put together a large sum to be able to acquire our services, many of them lost their farming lands and livestock to be able to live in safety, so their anger is understandable.”

“I didn’t have such problems before. So why now?”

“Beauty isn’t shown the ugliness of the world, lest it turns evil itself and become a greater threat.” Drac responded as he walked into the Chief’s house.

“Weird,” Natravi frowned. Drac placed a reassuring hand over her shoulder before leading her into the house.

“Ahh Sirs, it is nice to see you all are well,” Chief smiled profusely. “I hope our problem in the forest is taken care of?”

“Yes, the monsters near the forest have been taken care of,” Volvo took a seat in the guest room, “I would appreciate it if you would sign here please.”

Volvo took out the parchment and motioned for the seat opposite to him. The others filed in after the chief and stood on both sides as he sat down. The Chief gingerly took the quill and wrote down his first name under Volvo’s, but not his last.

“Why did you stop?” Volvo frowned.

“…” The Chief licked his lips and stared at the mercs standing behind Volvo, “I am greatly in your debt for what you did today…but since you’ll be travelling back to Yikensworth through here…I would greatly appreciate it if you would do what you did today once more. Then I would sign my last name, please?”

“Excuse me?” Volvo raised his eyebrow as he stood up, subsequently the Chief shrank back. “I did my job and will have what you promised!”

“Yes, yes of course,” The chief guiltily looked at his fidgeting hands. After some time he brought his head back up, clearly not giving up. “B-bb-but if you come back you might receive more benefits than before; better lodging…maybe even some entertainment?”

It seemed the chief was really pushing his bravery as he kept himself from trembling. However, nothing could be done about the sound of his heart pumping loudly.

“You little piece of-” Volvo shouted at him as he leaned forward to grab his throat. But an armored hand shot out and grabbed it before it could reach its target. Drac motioned for the window behind him as Volvo raised his eyebrow in question, the others standing behind Volvo also turned to look. Dark figures stood in the night on the other side of the window looking solely at their Chief. For some, their eyes betrayed their expectations of an execution.

Volvo’s face turned sour and he dejectedly sat down, everyone returned to their previous positions as if the scene didn’t happen. It was clear the a harsh response to the provocations would lead to a complaint being sent to the guild, leading to an investigation. This would destroy their reputations as mercenaries and they would be wanted as criminals.

“This may make things difficult.” Natravi sighed as she leaned against the shelf on the fireplace.

“No shit!” Volvo’s mood reflected on his change in idiolect. “Listen here old man, how about you offer us some more silvers or more goods than was originally promised if we do agree to do the round-about trip? You get your extra protection and we get our share of money. Hmmm?”

“My good sir…we paid for your services from the last few patches of crops the monsters hadn’t trampled…and the coppers” the old man quietly sobbed. Gasping for air he resumed; “The coppers belong to those families who tried to do the guards’ jobs and fought the monsters out three weeks ago. Their dead now. The money earned from selling their goods at the locals market was all we could offer because we ourselves couldn’t afford to give anymore. We still have the taxes to pay.”

Realizing the sympathy spreading in his group Volvo said;

“Alright, stop.”

“The only money we have is for the rations we can buy at your guild to keep us going through the oncoming winter.” The chief continued. “It’s too late to grow crops now, the pigs and chickens are all we have to keep us going through winter.”

“Alright,”

“We only ask of this so that the young children don’t have to starve through the winter. So we don’t have to bury their lifeless bodies-”

“ALRIGHT!” Volvo yelled, slamming his arm on the table.

“Chief” Drac placed a hand on the old man’s shoulder. “If this was your attempt to gain favors, it is very convincing…but you must keep in mind that you’re problems are not the worst we have seen. Each mercenary has been through hell to get to where they are now, they have seen and experienced as much, if not more than what you are going through. Even those who are new to the profession chose it because they have gone through something terrible. Your situation isn’t special its pitiful.”

“Drac!” Brair and Fliss scolded. Everyone seemed shocked at him, only Natravi and Volvo remained undisturbed and silently nodded.

“That being said,” Drac removed his hand and sat down next to the Chief. The chair was positioned sideway to allow space for his swords. “I am willing to help you out with your little problem.”

“Oh thank you sir,” Chief bowed.

“Volvo we should help as well,” Fliss pleaded.

“Fliss, it’s not like I don’t want to help too but our situation isn’t very favorable either.” Volvo said painfully. “If we do this now then all other villages are going to ask for the same treatment, and we don’t have enough rations nor do would we have the time to help them all out. The quest expires in a week and if we stay here to help them then it’s going to take much longer, that would reduce the rewards…and we can’t afford it.”

“But…” Fliss tried but he couldn’t make an argument form.

“Hmmm, how about only I make the rounds?” Drac offered. “Mr. Volvo I understand that you have to get the rewards as quickly as possible, so why don’t we make a deal?”

“I’m listening.”

“I can make the rounds back with one from your group and in return you keep hold of my share for me. This way the villages will get what they want and you can get the signature you need.”

“How-how would I know you’re going to keeping your promise?” Chief said crossing his arms.

“I thought so” *Sigh* Drac slowly reached at his back and procured a large sword, as wide as a man’s thigh, and slowly laid it out on the table turning it towards the trembling man. “This is a sword made from Inconel; a form a steel metal mixed with aluminum, nickel and various other metals, I am giving it in your possession as my word that I shall return to you to perform my duties. All I ask in is that you finish your signature to let us receive our rewards properly.”

“What if-”

“You can also try to sell this sword too,” Drac said, “it is made from the same metal used in mountain carving machines that the Dinn use, so I am confident it will fetch a high price. But please wait until I come to retrieve it…”

Drac leaned closer to the chief.

“…otherwise I would be very upset,” He spoke in a low voice, sending chills down the ancient spine of the man.

“…” The old man said nothing. He licked his lips and slowly finished his signature. Volvo took the parchment and thanked the man for his assistance, rolling it up and tucking it away. The Chief tried to move Drac’s large sword but failed to gain even an inch in displacement. Drac held the handle and moved it to a corner of the room, resting it gently against the wall…but hesitated to let go. After a few minutes he gingerly withdrew his hand and stormed out. A loud ‘bang’ of a door slamming shut followed by a few shouts of the frightened villagers could be heard.

“We shall be taking our leave then,” Volvo said as he tapped the table twice before leaving. They caught up to him a few hills away when he had slowed his pace and seemed to have calmed down. By this time the moon was directly over head, glinting off his black armor and showing the hilly dark green grass in their surroundings. The group had positioned themselves so that only Drac, and Natravi walked at the back, giving him some space. Brair walked ahead with Peter and Luvrit, holding a silent conversation with the two.

“Thank you for helping them,” Fliss was the first one to speak up. He smiled from ahead the man behind the helmet.

“Yes, Mr. Drac,” Volvo said “Well handled.”

“I will be depriving of one of your members on your journey back.” Drac said with an edge in his voice told them he held the sword very close to his heart.

“Oh yeah, so you’re taking Fliss?” Luvrit asked.

“No, Peter shall be accompanying me.” Drac said.

“Yess!” Peter punched the air. “Thanks Drac.”

“Shanxx?”

“Yeah” Peter looked back at Drac.

“I will be keeping the night watch, so you can sleep peacefully.”

Peter flinched at that comment and turned around disheartedly.

“Hey, Drac?” Brair spoke up, having finished her silent conversation with Luvrit.

“Yes?”

“Isn’t your share supposed to be my cut?” Brair pointed to herself, “You broke my share after all.”

“Yes, it is your share.” Drac said, “But I should be the one to receive my share and give it to you. Who knows, you might take my part of the reward, buy your healing potion and claim it wasn’t enough. I would keep owing you for an endless cycle wouldn’t I.”

“I see, hahaha” Brair looked at the sky, “I didn’t even think of that.”

The group traveled in such fashion; talking, laughing, and taking occasional breaks, at one point; Natravi and Drac had a private conversation away from the group. No one knew why but they didn’t question it when she took out some food out of Drac’s pouch to nibble on.

Luckily, no creatures of the forest made an encounter with them that night. So when the sky turned slightly blue, the group was able to get a good night’s rest with Drac as their watchman. He refused to get off the shift despite the pleads of Peter.

They reached the next village on the second day in the afternoon, a quick visit to the wealthier village’s Chief they quickly set to work; splitting up like before and hunting down creatures of the forest.

“Hey, uhh guys, I don’t feel so good” Fliss said as he hit the ground. Natravi was the first one next to him and called it off as mana exhaustion.

“How about I take him back then? There isn’t much more to-” Luvrit offered.

“I shall take him,” Natravi made the decision as she slumped Fliss over her shoulder, leaving the two to take care of the rest.

“Hmm, is there something going on that I am not aware of?” Luvrit asked Drac as they watched her take him away.

“Something is going on, but I don’t know anything about it.” Drac explained “She will reveal it in her own time, till then I trust you won’t speak of it to anyone Luvrit.”

Unlike previous requests, Drac’s voice was filled with concern.

“Of course Drac, I’ll keep it private. It seems Fliss doesn’t want anyone knowing either.”

“Thank you. That we get back to it then.” Drac motioned to the gathering creatures behind them. Luvrit jumped around and faced the enemy with his large sword, just as Drac threw a rock at one of them; smashing its skull. They fought like this for the entire day while Natravi hurriedly carried Fliss to the village, staring at him with a complicated look.

Once she reached the other group who were finishing off the remaining monsters on their side, she laid Fliss down for Volvo to have a look at him. Volvo had a proud smile on his face as he examined him.

“You’re training him to increase his mana pool aren’t you?” Natravi asked.

“Why yes I am.” Volvo took out some herbs from his pouch and force fed it to Fliss, having it gulped with water from his gourd.

“Then…You know?” Natravi eyed Volvo’s reaction.

“Yes I do, but keep it a secret” Volvo paid little mind to Natravi’s glare. “Like the boys said before, you know?”

“I understand.”

“Hey Volvo, what’s wrong with him.” Peter called from far away. He was being kept at a distance by a certain red head blocking his path.

“Nothing serious Peter, Natravi is just going to take him to the village to rest for some time.” Volvo responded.

The sun was slowly setting down and evening had just arrived when the rest of the group joined Fliss and Natravi in their special guest house much like the previous chief’s own house. Fliss was feeling much better and immediately apologized for not helping out till the end.

“Nonsense, brains” Luvrit sat on the chair next to Fliss, on the table; dinner was laid out for them, prepared by Natravi and Fliss while they waited for the other to come back.

“Well I’ll get this thing signed,” Volvo took his leave as the rest of the group sat on the remaining 3 chairs to eat.

“You did well out there, killing off the monsters with continuous tier two spells isn’t easy.” Luvrit praised.

The 6 ate and conversed that night, recuperating from previous long journey. Once Volvo came back, they ate some more and returned to their separate rooms. This house only had 6 rooms so two people had to share it together. Drac didn’t hesitate at all and immediately jumped at the opportunity to share a room with Peter which was easily accepted by everyone, much to the latter’s protests. All went smoothly for the next 2 days, Fliss showed great improvements in his ‘training’ and Drac kept finding situations to keep Peter as a room buddy. However it all changed on the fifth day, when they reached their fifth and final village.