Scarlett and Alaric waited in the cover of her mystical cloak for the Emperor’s men to pass. During this time, Alaric kept his eyes away from Scarlett and more on the mystical garb that was keeping them hidden.

He’d quickly sated his curiosity on how they looked on the outside. A vine clung to the opposite wall where none had been before and through it, Alaric stared at their location. There was nothing but the darkness of the shadow cast by the wall looming over them.

While he was still curious on how the item worked, he was more wary of what his guardian had just told him seconds after the pair had gotten themselves into this situation.

Their fast conversation had gone like this:

[ You’ve got some nerve acting normal around a girl! ] Alia had barked in an exasperated tone, [ Do I have to teach you this, too? ]

[ Teach me what? ] Alaric tried to decipher her words. The more he asked questions though, the more agitated the guardian seemed.

It was only after Alaric tried shifting his weight that he noticed the sweet but subtle scent of lavender and peach, the girl's breathing rate as she held him inside the special cloak… and the ample contours of her feminine body.

Turning red, Alaric turned away from her… [ Oh. ]

[ You’re too slow, Alaric ] the guardian facepalmed.

[ Is that a bad thing? ] he mentally screamed, [ Oh for the sake of the Constellations, I need something else to focus on… Oh, I know. ]

Just like that, Alaric’s mind was scattered in several places at once, giving him a view of several parts of the city of Melbourne through random vines that had sprouted during his stay here.

That did the trick—maybe a little too well.

Alaric’s heart went cold at what he saw. He saw the Emperor’s men searching the market and barging into people’s houses, turning everything up and down in search of something. It seemed their search was yielding no results… and they were slowly getting agitated. Either that or they were quite the impatient bunch.

Still, they made Alaric quite uneasy.

“Alistair… I have a question,” Scarlett suddenly asked.

“What is it?” Alaric answered quietly.

“How did you know where the Emperor’s men were?” she asked.

“I have an ability that allows me to see in many places at once,” Alaric explained absentmindedly.

“Okay,” she nodded, “Are there any restrictions to this ability?”

Alaric pondered her question, “Restrictions?! What kind of restrictions? I don’t think I follow.”

“I mean… Does it have weaknesses? Are there things you can’t see when you use this ability of yours?” the girl tried again.

“I can see pretty much everything I want to, I guess. I’ve never been in a scenario where there is something I can’t really see,” he replied, trying to understand what she wanted to know. After a short pause, he gasped, “Oh right… There is a limit to how many things I can see at the same time.”

The girl pinched the bridge of his nose, “So, not only can you see places you shouldn’t, you can see multiple places.”

Alaric tilted his head in confusion. How had she turned the limitation he’d just mentioned into a strength?

‘This girl can be confusing sometimes,’ he sighed. The boy’s guardian groaned from the depths of his shadow. Alaric could feel her emotions and they only made him furrow his eyebrows, ‘Scratch that! Females can be confusing.’

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[ Focus, Little Prince! ]

[ Right. ]

“The Emperor’s Men are leaving, probably to search somewhere else. We should be able to make it to the Guild now,” Alaric explained.

With a nod, the girl took the cloak off and stowed it in her ring. Together, the pair made it to the Guild without any further incident.

Guild Master Schiller was at the receptionist’s table when they arrived. He spared Alaric a glance before his face turned sour and he walked away.

“What’s that guy’s problem?” Scarlett wondered.

“He tried to talk me out of taking on the Quest for the Storm Orb,” Alaric responded, making it to the receptionist’s desk.

“You’re going to talk to Ms. Sariah about that today, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yes, I will.”

“Good! If we manage to get at least three Storm Orbs, the money from this hunt will look like pocket change,” the woman responded with a snicker.

At the reception, Helga regarded the pair, “Done with the hunt?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s see the cores you brought back,” Helga beckoned.

“We brought back the corpses of MudHounds. Is there somewhere we can unload them without causing a mess?” Scarlett tried, leaning over the counter.

“A couple of scrubs like you could never take down a den of MudHounds,” Helga replied with shock in her voice.

Alaric was taken aback by the claim. Didn’t Helga know that Scarlett was a Silver-rank adventurer? Besides, the woman wasn’t an adventurer, so why was she judging their abilities?

“What seems to be the matter, Helga?” a familiar voice interrupted.

“These two claim to have taken down a few MudHounds. Let me ask. Was their den in the Purified Zone or did you wander into a field of Mist Shrooms?” she spoke derisively.

Chuckles filled the room as everyone caught up on the joke the receptionist had just made. ‘What are Mist Shrooms?’ Alaric hadn’t caught on to the joke.

{

Subject of Research: Mist Shrooms.

Mist Shrooms are wild mushrooms that grow just about anywhere moist and rich in aether. Their spores contain a powerful hallucinogen that makes anyone who inhales them experience vivid and exhilarating hallucinations. Their name comes from the mist-like dust that’s always around them when their spores are released into the air.

Side note: Mist Shrooms are valuable ingredients when creating elixirs that have to do with Illusions, Light and Sleep. They are famous among apothecaries for their potent effects when used for making sleeping drafts.

}

The voice went silent as it had come, giving Alaric all the information he needed in a concise summarized form. Now Helga’s joke made sense… but it also made Alaric want to smack her in the face.

Instead, he sighed and reached for the bracelet on his arm, sending aether through it with the request for a single MudHound. A few seconds later, the bracelet hummed to life and a large beast fell on the floor in front of the receptionist’s desk with a loud thud.

“There are about 37 more of those in here, including their alpha of course,” Alaric explained.

The whole room had gone silent as they stared at the two young adventurers in a new light. Alaric was about to continue explaining when someone banged the table, “What proves you’re the ones who did this?”

Alaric turned to the source of this disturbance to witness a man who could easily be twice his size. Muscles rippled through his ill-fitting armour and a wild untamed aura hung around him as though he was looking for something to hit.

The abhorrent smell of booze was rolling off him as he spoke and Alaric could tell this man was looking for some action. “Who else could have done this?”

“Oh, I don’t know. That girl over there. I believe she could with her fire birdie but you… you don’t even have a guardian. How dare you stand here and claim to have taken down a pack of MudHounds? This Guild has rules, you know.”

Alaric felt his head go light and wanted to take a step back. What did he have to gain from this one-sided argument? Everyone here was just so biased towards people who fought without guardians. If no one believed he could, then why did he even bother?

[ Don’t you dare back down, Alaric ] Alia’s voice tore through his thoughts, [ So what if he doesn’t believe you did it? ]

Alaric took a deep breath and looked up at this hulk of a man, steeling his resolve. Worst case scenario, he got his face bashed in… right?

‘No turning back now…’

“And what do I care if you believe me or not?” he replied through gritted teeth. Aether surged through his body as he clenched his fists and looked up at this drunk excuse of a man.

The man tilted his head in surprise, “Would you look at that? You’ve got some spunk.”

Alaric had just relaxed when a heavy fist went crashing into his gut, ‘Crap! I let my guard down.’

His body flew through the Guild Hall and crashed at the side of the entrance before he crumbled in a heap, stars dotting his eyes… ‘What’s that man’s fist made of?’

“Tell me, people. Would an adventurer capable of defeating a pack of MudHounds fall for a sucker punch like that?” the man yelled out.

The man’s chuckles rippled through the room, catching everyone’s attention. “There's no way he could be that strong.” “They didn’t even have an Earth Mage with them.” “They must be lying.”

[ If you don’t get your act together, Alaric, that man might take your prey ] Alia whispered into Alaric’s mind.

In the next moment, Alaric was seeing red, ‘I’ve had enough of this.’

His body shot off the floor with the force of a cannonball, raising dust and shooting straight for the drunk man. The man’s spirit vessel shone bright, which meant he was of a higher Temper Rank. Surely a punch with the force of a few hundred kilograms wouldn’t kill him.