"She's alive?" Caben asked, calmer now compared to the night before.

"I believe she is, but I want to make sure. And for me to do that, I will need to dig through that goblin's memories again and find her there." Adam said, looking at the still blazing campfire.

"Their deaths weren't even glorious." Ruk said with disappointment in his voice, "I swung my ax and then they died. Simple as. Like killing pests."

"Vermin." Caben sneered as he clenched his fists. Several hours ago, he would have launched into a rage and done something stupid. Fortunately, he had cleared his head. Somewhat. He had Adam to thank for that.

"You..." Caben pointed a finger at Adam, "What kind of mage are you?"

Adam blinked, but his surprise did not last long. "I'm an anemancer." He answered.

Caben squinted his eyes, as if he was suspicious of the answer he had just received. "You're a powerful mage then? What rank?" He inquired.

Adam frowned slightly but was not at all offended by Caben's questions. He just wasn't expecting them.

"Rank 1." He said.

Caben's eyes widened and his mouth went slightly aghast as disbelief appeared on his face. "You're lying." He accused, "There's no way a rank 1 anemancer could have done what you did to those goblins."

Adam shrugged his shoulders, "That is my rank. I have the documents here to prove it, wanna see them?" The variety of scrolls containing important documentation was proving more useful with each passing day. Adam had Carnos to thank for that.

Caben sighed, sinking back into his corner by the fire, "No need. Apologies for sounding rude."

Adam shook his head, "What you're feeling right now is understandable. Believe me, I've been in your place before and it's not easy." He shifted on his log, leaning forward. "But there's hope. The fact that I saw your daughter in that memory shard from what I assume to be a month ago means that she is more than likely alive."

Caben leaned forward at the mention of his lost daughter, listening intently to what Adam had to say.

"That said, we do not know where they're hiding her exactly. But once I confirm that she is alive and find wherever she is, Ruk and I will go there and get her back."

Ruk snorted in agreement, "Ha! Darn right we will. My ax hungers more for their blood."

Adam raised a brow as he gave a soft smile to his orc partner, "I thought there was no glory to be had with them?" He asked.

Ruk snorted again as he raised a clenched fist, looking at the clear blue sky. "Rescuing the human child from the hands of small, weak pests is the glory. He then glanced towards Caben, "And reuniting that human girl with her human father shall be even more glorious."

Caben nodded. Adam smiled. Ruk had his heart in the right place, even if it didn't look like it.

The sky was clear today and the mist was far. Adam had pushed it away into the surrounding forest, keeping it there by sheer force of will as he maintained his telekinetic influence over the surrounding area. Thanks to that, the sun was able to shine over the village, basking it with light.

But the campfire was still necessary. The wind was cold and the air thin. Summer here had come and gone, and so came the season of autumn. Winter was on the horizon.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Caben asked as he wrapped himself with a blanket he had been provided with.

Adam glanced at the goblin laying on the nearby dirt, covered only by a thin sheet of linen. It was alive, but unconscious. There was no chance for the creature to wake up, not after having its mind overwhelmed and irreparably damaged. The only thing keeping it going was Adam's hasty intervention to keep its brain from collapsing entirely.

"Some more time, I guess. I don't want to waste the opportunity." Adam said.

"How are sure that there are no more goblins lurking nearby?" Caben asked.

"Because I've been passively covering the forest around us with my senses ever since we came here. So far, aside from last night, I haven't been able to feel the presence of more goblins," Adam explained, "I wanted to try and look further, but doing so would diminish the effectiveness of my senses and leave us vulnerable."

Caben was now looking at Adam as if he was seeing something strange or unbelievable. "Anemancers can do that?" He asked.

"Do what?" Adam raised another brow.

"Sense their surroundings." Caben explained, "Are you using the air to do so? Pouring mana into it?"

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Adam had no idea how to explain his psychic powers to Caben, especially after claiming to be an anemancer. He had no idea if anemancers could really do that. With that in mind, he decided to agree.

"Yeah. I pour my magic into the air, and it allows me to sense things from far away."

Caben placed a hand on his chin. "I see, interesting. Magic is indeed a terrifying and incredible thing. No wonder the richest and most powerful all have it."

It was now Adam's turn to ask questions. "Nobles have magic?"

Caben looked at him as if he was a child who had just asked a stupid question. "Of course! Every noble is. The barons. Viscounts. Earls. Marquess. Dukes. The three grand dukes. The king. All of them are."

Adam nodded, taking in this newfound information about the world. Why didn't Baran or Fred mention any of this? Maybe they figured he would be able to figure it out on his own. But it still would have been good to know from the start.

"Except, I guess, for the princess-governor if the rumors are to be believed." Caben added.

"The princess-governor of Port Silvershore?"

Caben nodded, "I've traveled with some well-connected people. A few of which were servants to a few nobles. They said that the third princess of the Kingdom was found to be incapable of doing magic, a massive stain on the royal family since they're regarded as a bloodline of great mages. So, as a sort of penance and banishment to hide the embarrassing truth, she was sent away from the mainland to rule over the Kingdom's domains here in the new world."

Adam had only ever watched the goings-on of politics on television from the comfort of their living room couch. He often avoided political conversations, mostly due to the high likelihood of it devolving into a nasty contest between ideas and beliefs.

Somehow, for some reason, despite now living in a world that lacked the luxury of open and available sharing of information, he was now learning about the dirty realities of medieval politics.

"You think it's true then?" Adam asked.

Caben shrugged, showing he was undecided. "I'm not sure. Maybe. Maybe not. It's royal politics, it's full of lies and deceit. For all I know, the rumor is just part of a ploy to discredit the royal family. I mean, not everyone likes them."

The sun then disappeared behind a thick cloud, casting a wide shadow over the village and the surrounding forest. The fire crackled and burned. Ruk looked bored but was nonetheless listening. Adam, meanwhile, now had some new questions in his head.

"What did you do for a living, Mr. Caben?" Adam asked.

Caben hesitated for a moment as his shoulders slumped even further. A sigh later, he gave his answer.

"I'm a landless knight." Caben said without any hint of pride for the position. "Well, I was, until I renounced it some months ago."

Ruk took an interest in the topic and joined the conversation, leaning forward from his log.

"Oho, this human was once a Swornsword!" Ruk said.

"Landless knight? Swornsword?" Adam had some idea about what these words meant, but he wasn't at all sure if the definitions he knew were the same here.

"He's a skilled warrior, brother. He's like a berserker but different!"

Caben cringed, looking away from the fire as he glanced to the side, looking at nothing in particular. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a skilled warrior, but I once wore armor. Once had a sword. Once held the banner of my lord."

Adam felt the rise of many different emotions from Caben, and none were pleasant. The man had a troubled history. A past that was either haunting him with trauma or pulling him down with regret. He did not know exactly but the hints he was getting were enough to form a broken picture.

"Why did you renounce it?" Adam figured that it was better to ask a question than to assume uncertainties.

"Because what's the use of having an oath to a lord who does not care to fulfill his end? There was no honor. There was no glory. All I did was serve someone who gave me neither yet asked for both." Caben's tone began to sour, becoming louder as bitterness took a hold of him. "My... family... and I.. we went to the new world because he promised me a land of my own. A place where I could build a home for myself and my wife and daughter."

Caben stopped as he grit his teeth, still looking away from the fire and avoiding the curious gaze of the Rukdam Duo. After a minute of silence, he continued.

"It's funny when I think about it. You know? He wanted me to protect the explorers as they mapped and surveyed the region, finding fertile lands, deep deposits of ore, and riches. Enough gold and silver to make his House among the riches in the kingdom. I was promised a share. What a fool I was for believing him." Caben's face twisted into a frown. "Because of my foolishness, I was away from my family for many months at a time. Then one day, I went back, and...."

Adam felt a surge of extreme anguish as Caben relived the memory of his recent and final return to Casmont.

"I protected strangers from vermin, beasts, and magical abominations. But I wasn't even there to protect my family!" Caben clenched his fists as anger and anguish mixed within him and boiled. Fearing that the man would again try and do something brash, Adam readied his telekinesis. It was unnecessary.

Caben calmed himself down, breathing heavily as he glanced at the unconscious goblin before returning it to the fire, falling silent once more.

"The goblins," Adam stood, "Where did they come from?" He walked towards the unconscious goblin and stood beside it, staring down on the admittedly pitiful looking thing.

"If the old scholars are to be believed, then they once terrorized the old world over a millennia ago, only to be wiped out by a great purge of sorts. We thought them extinct. Not until we found them here in the new world." Caben explained.

"You seem very knowledgeable. Is it a perk of being a knight?" Adam asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm well-learned because I aspire to be. My honor demanded it."

Adam knelt down on the goblin and removed the thin sheet covering it by pulling at one corner, revealing a bruised and swelling creature underneath. The oil leaking from its skin has seeped into the sheet, making it useless for anything else. Washing it was not an option.

With a flick of his hand, Adam threw the sheet into the campfire with his telekinesis, not wanting to hold it any more than he had to. The sheet burned quickly amongst the flames, reduced to ash in moments.

"Brother?" Ruk asked as he stood, walking towards Adam's side.

"It's time to begin. Mr. Caben, Ruk. Hold the creature down."

Ruk held the creature down by the legs while Caben had its arms. With the goblin secured, Adam placed his hand on its oily face, pulling away the disgust he felt upon touching it.

Adam then closed his eyes, focused his mind, and summoned his power. It flowed like a wellspring, rising in a rush before pouring forth from his mind, through his palm, and into the goblin. After a few seconds, a psychic connection was formed. A one-way and one-sided bridge.

The darkness was soon replaced by a vision of a shattered mindscape and Adam found himself standing in the midst of memories. Foul and twisted.