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Jack tensed one fist while collecting a small amount of green in the other palm. His eyes not moving from the blue orb. Should they move first? No, they should counterattack. Who would use the defensive spell? Stella would have to. Jack looked around to see everyone else calm.

Ace looked at him with concern. "We aren't being hunted. Is there a reason you are on edge this much?"

"What if they are Lok's men? What if they want revenge?"

"Still, that was a month ago, why would they attack now? They would risk waking the animals and they should know about that as hunters. I understand the blue orb isn't helping the situation, but combat options aren't the only options. William, what do you know about the adventures code?"

"Oh, I know what you are talking about." Stella took over. She ducked to the ground and created three medium sized earth pillars and released a flash of green wisps to the sky that dispersed as quickly as it formed. "All house leaders learn the military signs in case of emergencies. Then I learned that adventurers use the same codes."

"What was that code for?" Tana asked.

"We come in peace," Stella answered.

All eyes turned to the silhouettes. The faint blue glow didn't provide many details on the face of the holder, but it helped them keep track of the user when they jumped from the height. The orb whipped from their hand creating a water torrent aiming directly for the ground, but before it could crash, the shadow with the shield used it to ride the spell. It was a boy, he seemed to be Jack's age. A big smile looked to be on his face as his locs were dragged away with the wind. That confused Jack even more. Who smiles when going to crash into the ground? In a turn of events, the shield curved the water mimics to keep it in an uplift as the boy skated around the cave beyond a basic run speed. He twisted his body and came to a stop in front of the team.

"Did you see that? That dismount was killer!" The boy exclaimed to the crew, or maybe to himself. The water user ran up to meet them. She had deep red hair and rich green eyes and wore an expression seemed to mirror that of the boy.

"Did you guys see that? Oh, that was a killer dismount. I was scared it was going to fail. I wasn't sure if my nervousness would throw off the spell. We also had to rush it down because—"

"Yea, why were you guys using pillars? Was it for a trick too? Did I steal the show?" The boy released a hearty laugh.

"Are you adventurers?" William was the first to speak up.

"Yea, we are. We are heroes!" The boy replied. Jack's face turned red. So brave. Stella noticed the expression and couldn't help but giggle.

"No forreals! We are adventurers," the girl chimed in.

"Oh, no I was laug—"

"They were asking because the pillars were code." Another boy around the same age with swooped back blonde hair arrived to greet them. An older man ran behind him awkwardly. All four of them had dark goggles on their persons. They looked like a cool team. Jack wondered if Luna or Stella would agree to uniforms. Ace would probably love it.

"Code? Code for what?" The boy with the locs looked confused.

"The adventures' code. They were saying they are peaceful," the blonde one said.

"Oh, that is cool. I had no idea!" the girl replied.

"You are supposed to know this. We went over it many times!" The older man caught up. He had long grey hair tied up and a surprisingly lean physique. "I am sorry about them. My name is Gray. The one with the Spell Rider is Wave."

"I am Rose..."

"I am Bruce," the blonde haired one said after.

"Are those codenames?" Tana asked.

Rose giggled. "It is, except for Bruce. He doesn't do anything that he thinks will make him look less cool."

"We are adventures from a small town called Runnel Village," Gray mentioned.

"That is quite the distance from here. It is far south on the North Continent, right?" William asked.

"Yea, we don't have roots anywhere. We are currently on a mission for Rort Kingdom," Gray responded.

"Who are you guys?" Wave asked. "All of you are adventurers?"

"I just write," William said.

"I am emotional support." Tana smiled.

Everyone introduced themselves except for Luna, and Tenny's introduction dropped jaws as expected. Jack didn't think the reaction ever got old for the little creature, because he enjoyed introducing Luna as well. The discussion of their purpose or their backstory was interrupted by Jack's stomach rumbling. Wave's stomach joined his like long-lost friends.

"Great, I am going to cook something now. Join us outside." Ace grinned.

"No, that is okay. We have food packed. We couldn't take your resources." Gray started to rummage in his bag.

"Woah, what do you mean?" Ace asked.

"I mean, it is common practice that ledgers don't offer much even for adventures, and if you hunted something then we don't have a right to it." Gray had a clumsy but experienced way of speaking. Jack's imagination drifted to grand adventures that the older man must have experienced. It quickly shifted to adventures he wanted to go on, until he was brought back to life by a startling laugh from his mentor.

"That is one way to complicate it. My friend, it is simple. Everyone is hungry, and we shall all eat. Follow me."

***

It may have been the nature of the request, the earnest tone of the moustache or maybe the timid nature of the other adventurer, but Ace had his way. They sat around the fire in the gentle snow fall outside the cave. A wonderful smell emitted from the pot as Tana and Ace continued to cut up green seasonings while the rest of them laughed around the fire. They had offered to help but the Stella and Jack were completely captivated by attempting to use the Spell Rider, which went as well as anyone could imagine.

"So, this one could use any type of mimic to ride on?" Jack asked.

"Yea it was originally just a blue board, but the guy who gave us the mission was able to tune it. It takes more Mana and its harder to use now but I can do so much more."

"It lets you control written spells, too? Rose was charging the spell, but that sounds borderline impossible," Stella mentioned.

"Oh no, since it is modified, it uses Wave's mana to make the spells and well we both can manipulate each other's water spells."

"Yea, we have been practising it for a long time, but it still takes us time to use. Rose has to slowly draw the wisps for me to remember the feeling of her signature. That is why she thought she rushed it for the trick."

"Why would you need to do it anyway? Wouldn't the board do the same thing?" Stella asked.

"I can explain this one." Bruce looked eager to lecture, but his voice remained stoic. "The Spell Rider still uses a Syng end and can only create the spell from a certain direction, and thus it wouldn't be able to create a force strong enough to stop that falling momentum, but with a bit of mental calculation I came up with the method of using a pre-existing spell to have enough of a buffer."

"Yea, he is smart." Wave smiled.

"That is really cool. I think it is really cool. Gosh, what is your story?" Jack asked.

"This guy here is a pretty big fan of heroes." Stella had the wicked grin that Jack liked when it was aimed at Ace and William, but not so much him.

***

"The kids are really getting along. They all seem so wonderful and full of energy. Even the quiet one." Tana giggled.

"Reminds us that our bunch is made of kids too. The things I have seen them do already." William poured out drinks for those by the fire.

"I always saw them as kids. It is why I am here." Tana took a sandwich from her bag as she saw Luna approaching with fire in her eyes. The little one took a seat next to her and silently went about her interests. "What about you Mr. Gray. How did this happen?"

"Yea tell us, how you entered into the most dangerous profession known to man?" Ace's face was still facing ahead, but his eyes slid to the corner and locked gazes with the other mentor.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

"Well, you are a mentor, and most heroic tales have a tragic plotline for the mentor. Am I mistaken my writer friend?" Ace embraced the theatrics.

"Well, you do have a point my friend. The history books say that many a mentor has died in the betterment of their students. Once they are not mentors in a school, or remained in the village, then they have a high chance of not making it." William's tone seemed calmer and flatter. It felt scientific. His tone even took Ace back a bit.

"Y-Yea, what he said." Ace smiled.

"You are in the same boat," Mr. Gray reminded him.

"Oh no, I am different," Ace said.

"How?" Gray asked.

"Trust me, he is different," William said while pointing to Tenny.

"He is different," Tana said while pointing to Tenny.

"I am special," Tenny said while blushing.

"We weren't talking about you. Nevermind them, tell us your story," Tana said.

"I can't quite say it is a long story, but my life has been a bit of a long one." The older man stared into the distance. "I was a soldier for most of my youth. Eager and hopeful to be a hero of my village. I wanted to have a high rank, and work towards making things better for my home. I quickly realised the world is a big place, and it is filled with mighty strong people.

"I didn't want to abandon my dreams, so I kept pushing despite not being such a great fighter, and all that hard work landed me into fighting behind the great Arthur Magna, the Tiger of Balt."

***

"The famous hero soldier that retired years ago?" Jack asked.

"30 years ago, but I heard that he didn't really retire, but he became a powerful rebel after all the things the empire made him do," Stella said.

"According to Gray, he is the leader of the Rebel Army," Bruce said. "Gray went through a lot. He told us he was completely crushed."

"He could use Dark Mimics. That only happens for super crushed people," Wave jumped in.

"He said he is from a village close to ours but didn't feel like he could go home, which is a total drag, but he found a home in our village," Rose took over the story. "Most of the village stayed away from him, but he was kind to the three of us. He told us stories and that got us excited."

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

"After some time, we found out that he could use Light Mimics. That's super super rare, and they rest of the village began to seek advice from him as a sage."

"Our Mystical Creature says that Light Mimics are useless, unless they can still use Dark Mimics as well," Stella awkwardly mentioned.

"No way! Light Mimics are super cool. We can totally see in caves so easily," Wave protested.

Bruce flatly said, "Besides the point. There is a recognition that comes with being able to use Light Mimics. There is no disputing the fact that not everyone can do it. Our teacher is special, and he has gotten us this far."

***

"I still think it is completely useless unless you can use Dark Mimics." Tenny's voice pierced with disappointment.

"Maybe so Mr. Tenny, but it is what I have."

"I think it should be considerably rare, since you are the first person I met with it. I have heard of some that could have used it before but lost the ability," William said.

"It is because of those kids. I don't know how much they know but I used to go to the bridge in the town quite often, and each time I would wait for just the right weather. Just the right situation, but I am not sure when it would come. I am not sure if the day they found me was the day, but for whatever reason they were excited to be passing by.

"They must have been around 4 or 5 at the time, and they were with Wave's mother. They stopped to tell me the story of how they were going to play in the campgrounds, but Rose fell and knocked out her tooth. They asked me if I had any stories, so I told them I had a few. His mother invited me back their home where I told them stories of the things I have seen. The good parts of course. They grew up and still came back to listen to more stories. I stopped visiting the bridge and began to wait for the days they would show up. I guess I wasn't fully ready to let go seeing them grow up, since I am here making sure their first adventure stories are successful."

***

"Mr. Gray was so cool, telling us about the world. He was a soldier and I even met others that knew about him. He wasn't famous or anything but still, people around the continent knowing about you is such a cool idea," Rose said.

"I totally wanted to be like that. We wanted to be cool and famous too. We asked him to join us. We wanted to be adventurers," Wave said.

"He told us no." Bruce laughed. Jack thought it was nice to see a happier expression aside from the default brooding. "He said before we leave the village, we need to figure out what kind of people we want to be. If we left with half a heart, then the half at home will always pull us back."

"Oh yea. Then we went all around the village and asked everyone if they had anything for us to do. We helped an old lady see the bridge. That granny hadn't been to the bridge in years. There was so much waterworks, it was funny, but there was this strange feeling in that," Wave said.

"We also took on some other missions, like retrieving things so the military doesn't have to. I got to see some amazing things right around the village that I had no idea about," Rose said.

"I enjoyed the training and becoming strong," Bruce said.

"Now we are adventurers that see cool things, help grannies and kick ass." Rose wore a huge smile. "What about you guys?"

"Food is finished. Everyone come over!" Tana yelled from the other group. Wave picked up the Syng tool and joined the rest walking forward.

"Well Stella was kind of an adventurer before, and she came into Ace and my home village. Some other things lead to others and Ace saved us from some trouble. He asked us to join him in saving the world, and in return, he would make us some of the strongest ever."

"That is a bold statement. Do you think he can do it?" Bruce asked.

"Oh definitely, feel these muscles." Stella began to flex. Rose indulged her as they both shared a chuckle. "I haven't even been training that long with him. Impressive right."

"Totally. Does that mean he thinks he is one of the strongest in the world?" Rose took a tighter grip on Stella's arm.

Stella's eyes sharpened and locked onto hers. "He definitely is. He is the strongest."

"Oh, but wait, wouldn't that make your adventures really boring?" Wave asked.

"No, Ace doesn't technically fight. He is just a mentor," Jack answered.

"How come?" Wave asked. "Now it sounds like it is a waste."

"I guess it is something similar to your master, but he said he made a promise, although he never really told us more. To be fair, we never really asked, but you are right, it really is a waste. All that power, there should be a responsibility that comes with it I think." Jack was looking down at the ground while walking.

"I can definitely ask him for you guys. I got this." Wave jumped slightly.

"You don't hav—" Jack looked up to see Stella had turned around marching towards him with a terrifying scowl. Jack swallowed a lump in his throat. Her fist crashed into the side of his face causing him to stumble three steps back before falling on his butt. He spat red into the clean white snow, before wiping any dripping from his mouth.

"Responsibility for what exactly? Since when have you been trying to pass responsibility onto others. Aren't you the leader? Worry about your own journey and don't try to understand his. We are only here because of a divine gem, and kindness, remember?"

"Stella! What's wrong? Jack, are you okay! What happened?" Tana ran over from the side.

"Nothing. Jack was just being stupid." Stella turned and sat down with the rest of the crew, where it looked like they were trying to get answers.

"Are you okay, Jack? Wipe the blood with this." Tana gifted a yellow piece of cloth.

"Yea, it was nothing. I was being stupid I guess."

They all sat down to a solemn mood with Stella and Ace being the only ones to have completely moved pass what just happened. The awkwardness presented differently in everyone else, but Tana's expressed itself in apologies as she passed filled bowls to everyone. Everything melted away with the warmth of the food as they all enjoyed the meal. Chilli with potatoes and bread. Jack pouted a bit as his meal came with a slight taste of blood every time it swashed over to the side of his mouth.

He might have deserved it, but he wasn't wrong. It was a waste. If he had that power, then so much could have been done differently. Villages could have been protected. No one would have died. No one would have to worry if he was around. That is what a hero is. That is the hero he wants to be. No one should have anything to fear if he is around.

"Why don't you fight?" Wave's question snapped Jack back into the group.

"That is rude to ask!" Gray immediately snapped.

"It is no problem. The truth is that I made a promise to not fight in the past and that is important to me. I guess I owe my friends a reason behind the promise, but there is just a lot behind the decision. It mostly boils down to regret." Ace paused for a while. It was just enough for Jack to feel a knot in his stomach. "Guilt or sadness was the reason. Maybe both.

"I have been alive for quite some time. It might not seem that way, but you have to trust me. My body itself is weird, and I have healed from a lot of wounds, but these scars never seem to fade. It is a reminder that I have something to atone for and this might be my way of punishing myself. I know it is flimsy, but it is what I believe. Lastly, I don't think I can walk that path of forgiveness. Mr. Gray, I admire you and also envy you. Trust me guys, I am the last person in this world that you want to feel like he has been forgiven."

"You are scared?" Tenny's tone sent a chill down Stella's spine. She looked to Jack as he seemed to have a similar reaction. Things are not as they seem. "You never seemed like you were scared."

"It isn't every day. It comes and goes, and only recently it has been coming more, but yea, my friend, I am really scared."

"Scared of what?" Tana stepped up.

"Not telling!" Ace stuck out his tongue. "That is enough about me. Is that all you guys were talking about on that side? How did the Spell Rider attempt go? Should we get one?"

A sigh released from his team members while the other crew seemed to laugh at the mood swing. The moustache had charisma; he could definitely draw in a crowd.

"We were talking about why we became adventurers," Rose answered.

"That is fun. Who are you favourite heroes from history?" Ace asked.

"Mr. Gray!" Rose first.

"Me too! Mr. Gray was the coolest!" Wave second.

"Virgo," Bruce third. His response drew the eyes of his teammates and the chuckle of his mentor.

"That sounds like him." Gray had a rough laugh. Jack wasn't sure how a laugh could sound experienced, but it did. "I believe it is only fair that you all answer as well."

"I like Princess Anne of Astrona," Stella first. "I know she was an enemy to the empire, but they said she single handily stopped the empire from going to the south continent. She was also a Mystical Magic user and that is so cool."

Luna pointed to her sister when eyes fell on her. Stella's eyes watered. Tana and Stella wrapped their arms around the little one. William explained to the confused members that it was a long story, but it was a strong moment.

"When I was a kid, my mom told me one story about Tami," Jack said. "They called him the miracle bringer, because he would go around and help every village. He never had a purpose and was good at everything they said. I just thought it was that cool that nothing ever seemed like a problem for him. Mom used to tell the story, and I would picture my dad as Tami. It always made me smile. Talking about it out loud, really shows me that my mom tried to be like that too. I wonder if she was inspired."

"I heard of that story," Rose mentioned. "They call him the man who took the world and gave it back. He would help anyone. Chiefs, kings, wanderers all the same. His gifts became grander and grander, but he never took them. I guess that is why the gifts got grander, but overall, it was a great story of a modest hero."

"Yea, my dad told me to go and see the world and take what I want from it. It reminded me of the story."

"That story reminds me of another one I heard, about a modest hero again, but cooler." Bruce had all eyes on him. "There was the secret hero of the empire. The Invisible Prince."

"That story is made up. No one believes it. It doesn't even make sense," Rose mocked. "Don't tell a fairy tale and ruin Jack's story."

"No, no that is okay. I never heard of it," Jack said.

"Me either," Tana and Stella mentioned. Ace shook his head.

"I heard it, but it is mostly told in southern villages." William began to collect everyone's dishes and passed around the drinking bottles. "I can't say I really heard anyone spread that fable much past Nocturne."

"If it is popular in the capital, then I think it would have been a more famous story," Stella said.

"It is said that before the war ended there was a secret warrior prince from the empire. He conquered much of the continent but never took credit. It always went to his brother, Prince Aren. They said he was strongest in the empire a time, but he didn't want the throne, so Aren became emperor," Bruce said.

"No way, I heard he was the brother of the Emperor Nerven, and he was the one that held together the empire during his rule," Wave said.

"I heard, he was Nerven's brother, and Aren's real father. Aren killed the Emperor when he found out to keep the throne," William said. Everyone looked at him in shock. His story was clearly a variation they never heard, but after a minute of processing they all seemed to agree that it made sense. Jack thought politics were confusing if this was understandable, but whatever the truth was, if there was an invisible prince, then he must have been very strong.

"I agree with Rose. That story sounds made up. War is scary, if there was someone winning all the time then I am sure they would have been super famous. I am sure the history books have it right," Ace said as he took out some fruit from the bag. He tossed it to them.

"Fruit. The mission. I almost forgot. Thank you for the meal, Ace." Wave jumped up from his seat.

"We don't have to rush. It isn't like there is a time limit." Rose stretched her legs, not looking ready to get up. Bruce seemed to share the sentiment as he took a bite into the pear.

"I like to get stuff done quickly. We can help more people that way." Wave stretched a large grin and supported the enthusiasm with a thumbs up.

"It is just good manners to not keep people waiting. I agree with Wave. We are extraordinarily grateful for the meal. I hope we get to meet again." Gray stood up as well.

"What was the mission? Maybe we can help?" Jack asked.

"You should definitely let him help. It would be like hero training." Stella smiled.

"It isn't anything special. So, when a Mystical Creature dies, for some reason, the ground becomes fertile. Like extremely good for growing," Wave carried on.

"I have been told recently." Jack laughed.

"Oh, cool, then that makes it easier. Do you know about Mystical Flowers?" Wave asked.

"That I am not sure about. I just heard that a lot of things grow." Jack looked to his friends, but the puzzled look was shared with all of them.

"Mystical Flowers grow only where Mystical Creatures have died. They are completely unique because there is no seed, it cannot be produced anywhere else. They only found out about them a couple of years ago. They are pretty rare, but not highly in demand since they are just pretty flowers."

"I can imagine the rarity. It has been hundreds of years since a Mystical Creature has died," Stella said.

"No, one has been killed much more recently," Jack said.

"Well, I am not sure, but the flowers are still not guaranteed even if it is a corpse spot. Pol...Pollen Village...I think its Pollen Village."

"Nectar Village," Bruce corrected.

"Yea, Nectar Village is a corpse spot, but there hasn't been any spotting of Mystical Flowers there. It could be with the use of the land. No one is sure," Wave continued.

"Why are you collecting them?" William asked.

Gray took over. "An interesting inventor from a kingdom nearby is interested in it. He is becoming quite famous. Linako Lates, and he told us there is this rumour floating around that the flowers might be able to be used as a power source of some kind."

"Oh, they don't have seeds, so they are created from mana in mana rich environments." William said. "That makes a lot of sense. It could power Syng Tools without people's mana."

"The development hasn't provided any fruitful revelations yet, but I think Mr. Lates will be able to create something amazing." Gray waved.

"Let's go see what it is like. I never seen one in person." Wave took a step. This time everyone joined in jumping up.

***

Teal leaves the size of their palms with orange and yellow patterns imprinted in circular shapes, intertwining with each other. The pattern never came close to the edge of the multi-pointed leaves, resulting in a teal border on each leaf that stacked on each other, all collected by a thick red stem connecting to the soil. The flower screamed special as the pattern emitted a subtle glow of the same colour.

Jack leaned in until his nose was almost touching the plant. He inhaled and began to cough immediately. Smoke. It smelled like burning wood, a smell he couldn't forget. He looked over to Ace quickly, with a pale face. His heart rate settled. He hadn't thought about it for a while.

"What's wrong?" Ace placed his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"It smelled funny. I was just surprised," Jack smiled calmly.

"Oh, what does it smell like?" Tana rushed forward. "Woah, this smells like firewood. Burning firewood. It feels like I'm back in the kitchen in the Tavern, so nostalgic. Did it remind you of the forge back home?"

Stella and Tenny had a worried look on their faces. They didn't like the expression that dropped on Ace's face for a second. Jack nodded his head to Tana's delight.

"It is way cooler than Lates described it. I think it is named Vel's Bloom. It is how they name all of them."

"They each get their own name?" Tana asked.

"Yea, everyone and every thing's mana is different, and the flower is born from mana, then Vel's Bloom can only be found here. Every corpse spot has its own unique Mystical Flower, they say. This is the first one I have seen, but the logic adds up," Bruce explained.

Each flower held their glow as they entered the bags. The team brought 6 sacks about half their size and 4 was filled already, but it didn't even make a dent in the field lining the edge of the cave. Everyone lent a hand. Laughs were shared between them as they were lost in their work.

"Sheesh, there are a lot of flowers, also heads up," Ace said after a whistle.

"Huh?" Jack barely catching the last words. Stella rushed pass him and placed her hand just off the ground. A massive yellow wall formed in font of all of them. They could only see red orbs scattering with thuds against the wall.

"Tenny..." Jack jumped to his feet.

"Sure thing." A thin black sword was falling in front of a running Jack. His right hand grabbed it while the left was forming a red orb. A dash around the wall revealed the warrior was already close by. A sword and shield charging at him. Jack launched the red orb against the shield, stopping him in his tracks as Jack tried to dash to side but the warrior was already in the motion of crashing his sword down in that direction. Jack used the broad side of the thin blade to guide the slash away from him. He backstepped just in time as the sword was brought back from an upward direction. Jack finally took a good look at the opponent. He felt his stomach turn.

"Garret? What are you doing here?"