“Save my daughter.”

I stared at the man who had appeared before Veronika and us, unsure what to make of the situation.

“Excuse me?” Veronika leaned in closer to the man. “Are you supposed to be the commission we were to expect?”

“No.” The man shook his head. “I’ve been searching for adventurer parties coming through the area. When I heard of you, the Red Foxes being here, I knew I had to act.”

“And you want us to save your daughter?” Dayvin scratched at his chin. “What happened to her?”

The man reached into a vest pocket and withdrew a wrinkled piece of parchment before handing it to Veronika, who grabbed it with a quick snap of her fingers as her eyes began to pour over it.

Unable to see what was written on it, I could only take a guess as the creases in Veronika’s brow deepened along with her scowl until she finally handed the parchment back to the man.

“You expect us to undertake that?”

“Please, it’s just my daughter-”

“I understand that.” Veronika sighed as she took a moment to look at each of us, her gaze lingering a moment longer on me. “But you would be better off looking for either an Iron rank party or a Steel rank solo.”

“This is all the money I have.” The man pointed toward the pouch filled with silver gilly. “I can’t afford to pay for a full Iron party, nor can I afford a single Steel ranker.”

“So that’s why you seemed so desperate for us.” Veronika snorted. “Low enough rank that our rates are manageable, with enough experience that it may still be possible.”

“Please.” The man whispered, his eyes desperate.

“I can understand your feelings on the matter.” Veronika’s eyes had softened, but her tone still held firm. “But I have my own people to consider. There is a level of risk I’m willing to put them through, they are adventurers, but as party leader, I still must ensure that they all come back in one piece. I’m afraid that-” Veronika stopped mid-sentence as her gaze landed upon me once again. “-that I won’t be the one calling it this time.”

“Excuse me?” The man looked as confused as I felt.

“No, the one who will call it this time will be our traveling companion who recently joined us.” Veronika was speaking directly to me. “It’s your call. Normally with only the four of us, I’d be against it, but with another body on the commission and the fact that you’re….”

She waved vaguely as my mind filled in the blank.

That you’re stronger than us.

It was a strange feeling. Less than three days ago, I was being protected by my master, unable to do anything against the dangers of the foes following us. Now suddenly, I was being thrust into the position to determine our fate, whether we should accept the impromptu commission or not.

Veronika has been doing this for years. Best to just follow her lead on this one.

I began to open my mouth to reaffirm Veronika’s initial hesitation to turn down the man when for a split second, I caught his eye.

And I understood.

Pain. Hurt. Fear. Not for oneself but for someone else.

I’d experienced that before. It had only been brief, but when the Sage Hunter had taken my mother, it had been as if my entire world had fallen apart.

And that had only been for a few seconds.

This man had been dealing with that for gods and lords above knew how long.

“Rook, there is a saying that goes ‘To turn a blind eye, is to lose sight of oneself.”

“We’ll do it.” I found my mouth speaking before my mind fully understood what I’d just done.

“Thank you.” I was suddenly caught in a tight hug as the man rushed to me, embracing me. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s, uh, no problem.” I gently detached the man from his hold on me.

“Well, that settles it then.” Veronika nodded as if she had expected it from me. “Why don’t you fill us in on the rest of what we need to know then?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” The man looked about as if trying to avoid our eyes. “I only know what was on that letter.”

“Of course.” Dayvin pinched the bridge of his nose. “If that’s the case, share anything else that we might be able to use. Where was she beforehand, where was she going, etc.”

“She was going to visit her mother.” The man’s lower lip trembled for a moment before he took a moment to breathe in, steeling himself. “She was being escorted by an adventurer, a lone Iron. Figured it should have been easy enough the two of them were in a traveling group with others, so they had numbers in a worst-case scenario.”

“And where does your wife live?” Dayvin questioned.

“She isn’t my wife.” The man shook his head. “We never married. It was more of an… abnormal courting that led to the birth of my daughter.”

Wedlock.

“Besides the point.” Dayvin shook his head. “Your daughter’s mother, where does she live?”

“Kar’anza.”

“Kar’anza?” I turned to look at Dayvin for an explanation.

“It’s a small village to the south, about a two, maybe three-week trek. By the Helena mountains.”

That one rang a bell. I’d heard stories of them since I was young when my mother had recounted her time as an adventurer.

“Toward the central desert’s southern coast sits a mountain range that scrapes the heavens. They say miraculous riches and marvels can be found within the deepest mountains of the range. Still, only the greatest of adventures can access all but their most outer reaches.”

“Really?” Young me had asked, wonder in my eyes.

“Mhmm. My party attempted to access the mountains in our prime, but we were denied by the guild. Mind you, we were a well-known and high-ranked gold party. But even then, we were informed we would have to be at least nizeium to gain official access to the mountains.”

“So what happened after?”

“Oh, we attempted to climb them anyway. You can’t exactly have an established watch for an entire mountain range. We only made it past the slopes of the first few minor mountains before we gave up and retreated.”

“Why?”

“We encountered a Peak Lion, except it was unlike any we had seen before. When the sun hit it just right, the colors of the rainbow would be reflected off it like the sun’s rays off the morning dew. It shredded metal like tofu and could shrug off all but the biggest magical attacks.”

“Kar’anza isn’t within the mountains themselves, is it?” I pondered aloud, beginning to fear that the Red Foxes were far overestimating my abilities.

“No.” Veronika shook her head. “Before Tez and Zet joined us, Dayvin and I had been out there a few times while traveling to nearby villages for one commission or another. Still-” Veronika stared up at the ceiling. “-this letter here paints a picture that isn’t just as simple as retrieving a missing daughter. She never reached Kar’anza. There appears to have also been some strangers appearing recently throughout the town, usually only staying a day or two before leaving.”

I felt my blood freeze, my mind turning back to the group of cloaked strangers who had appeared in Junaper.

“What sort of strangers?”

“The letter didn’t really say.” Veronika shrugged. “Other than that, they all had three triangles tattooed on their hand. Why, do you know something about them?”

“No,” I answered honestly after realizing the description didn’t match the Sage Hunters.

“Well, the fact that there may be another group we are contending against doesn’t fill me with confidence.” Dayvin leaned back, eyes closed, with his hands behind his head. “But it’s a rare few adventurers that never encounter a potentially hostile group. May as well give the twins a taste.” After several seconds of silence, he peered out through his half-closed eyes before pointing at me. “You as well.”

I was about to inform him that I had experienced dealing with a group of hostile human foes, but I closed my mouth on second thought. One, it would do little good other than to sound like a kid trying to boast, and two, I wasn’t the one who dealt with them; it had been my master.

“So when do we leave?” I put the question which everyone had been wondering out there.

“Well, it’s a two-week journey at best, so probably tomorrow,” Veronika answered.

“Excuse me.” The man spoke up, sticking a hand up as if waiting to be called on.

“Yes?” Veronika signaled for the man to speak.

“Since you were adventurers, I thought you could shorten the trip.”

“Being adventurers doesn’t make physical distances any shorter,” Tez answered, the first time I’d heard her voice in some time.

“What about the nearby Ring Gate?”

“No.” Veronika instantly shook her head. “Only a handful are stable enough for uninterrupted travel.”

“Ring Gate?” I felt left out, unsure of what they were speaking.

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“Ancient devices left over from the lost ages. They can connect with other Ring Gates, but most follow a one-way circuit. Specifics of how the gates work, most have been lost to time, or simply aren’t functional.”

“And we don’t want to take this specific gate because….?” I questioned.

“Because anything could happen with them. There is no rhyme or reason with how the unmaintained gates operate.” Dayvin answered the question, saving Veronika time.

“Another question,” I said. “Why are they called ‘ring gates’ in the first place?”

“Because they are all marked by the same ten rings carved into them, as well as the fact that they are physically giant rings.”

The name had given me suspicions, but that all but confirmed it.

“I think we should take the gates. I might be able to get them to work.” I offered up.

“Fine.” Veronika tossed her hands up. “Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work. It’s in the same direction we need to travel anyway.”

“Thank you.” The man rushed forward to hug Veronika this time, but she thrust a hand in his face before he could reach her.

“I’ll pass.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” The man awkwardly shuffled about before finally pointing toward the door. “I’ll just be going. And, uh, thank you. Thank you so much.”

We watched him leave, the sluggish satisfaction from our earlier feast gone. We got up, ready to turn in for the night, when Dayvin suddenly held out a hand before gesturing for us to follow him as he instead directed us outside.

“Why are we out here, Dayvin?” Zet had his hands on his hips, annoyed about being dragged outside.

I nodded in agreement, my teeth chattering, the desert nights far chillier than I expected.

“Veronika may be fine trusting us in the hands of a kid we picked up the other day, but, and don’t take this personally, Rook, I can’t accept risking ourselves unnecessarily because she has some romanticism about finding strange kids in the desert.”

“None…. Taken?” In truth, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to what he had said.

“I need to see more of what you can do before I’m satisfied.”

We all looked toward Veronika, who had been silent, but she shrugged as if what he said was fair.

“Go ahead. Just don’t end up beating on each other too badly. I’m going to sleep.”

Just like that, she turned around, heading back inside toward the lodging they had paid for.

“And you? You can turn this down, but if you do, I’ll tell him we won’t be taking his commission on second thought.”

“I’ll do it,” I answered, my chin high.

The noble part of me would say it was because I didn’t want to disappoint our requester in his time of need.

But the realistic, egotistical part of me knew I wanted to prove myself. Weeks of feeling like useless baggage had made me feel defiant and combative; I wasn’t so oblivious as to ignore or misunderstand my feelings.

“Follow me then.” Dayvin pointed toward the outskirt of the small city. “Probably best we take this outside city bounds, so no one thinks a mugging is happening. Otherwise, we all may end up locked up for the night.”

I remained silent, with nothing else to say as we walked through the rough-looking roads. There was still some activity about, but it was clear most of the city was turning in for the night, lights beginning to be blown out or turned off as we walked by, until at last, we had made it to the outer portions of the city, stepping outside of the short wall.

“So, how are we doing this?” I asked, still thinking about the best way to beat the hammer-wielding man.

“Oh, you won’t be going against me.” Dayvin chuckled before pointing at the twins. “Veronika and I can whip some sense into these two. But together, they are greater than the sum of their individual parts. Chalk it up to their being twins or whatever. You get the point either way.”

“So that’s why they came along.” I wondered why neither of the twins had bothered asking why they were expected to come along, but it turns out they had known the entire time.

“Wait, how exactly should we spar without cutting each other to ribbons?”

“You and Tez will only use the blunt side of your weapons. Zet, you know the deal.”

Zet nodded, reaching into the folds of his billowy pants. A moment later pulled out his chain, removing the circular blades from either end.

I’m still impressed that he can easily hide that chain in his pants.

“Will still hurt like hell, but I trust Zet and Tez well enough that they know to not follow through on a potentially lethal strike. I will call the winner based on my own judgment. Everything clear?”

“Crystal,” I muttered as I drew my sword.

“Good. I want you all to stand out fifteen paces from each other.”

I turned away, counting my steps, assuming the twins were too.

“On my mark, you may begin.” Dayvin raised his arm as my eyes darted between it and the twins. I watched as Tez pulled out a small metallic cylinder. Giving it a quick flick, the cylinder sprang outward, elongating instantly into a full-length metal staff, the bladed crest popping out from the head of the staff a moment later.

Something about that is a little intimidating.

I shook my head, forcing the thought aside.

Focus.

I was letting my nerves distract me, my mind summoning thoughts of things other than the fight.

Focus.

I licked my lip, waiting.

Come to think of it, this will be my first time sparring against another person since-

Since the Sage Hunter.

Except, that hadn’t been a spar, but a full-fledged fight to the death.

Focus.

“Begin!” Dayvin swung his arm down, the signal I’d been waiting for. I shot forward instantly, closing the gap as quickly as possible. In a two-versus-one fight, I’d be at an apparent numerical disadvantage.

The solution to that problem was easy. I simply needed to equalize the numbers before they could capitalize on them.

Zet first.

While his chain was a viciously swift weapon once it got moving, it made for a relatively poor defensive tool if an opponent slipped past his guard. Dashing in close, his eyes widened in surprise as I was suddenly before him, unwilling to give him a chance to begin whipping the chain around. I swung forward with my sword, intending to strike him with the flat of my blade. At the last moment, it was deflected as Tez intercepted, lunging forward as her staff caught the blunt side of my sword.

Damnit.

I grit my teeth, trying to redirect my sword, but she had the advantage of leverage on me with her longer weapon, not to mention she was strong. I was no slouch, but her time spent as a bona fide adventurer had added considerable muscle to the girl several years my senior.

Back.

I jumped out of the way just in time to watch one end of Zet’s chain sweep through the sand where I had just been standing.

Ouch.

Had I taken that hit, it would have left an exceptionally nasty bruise behind and, worse, knocked me off balance for his sister to take advantage of.

Left.

I spun to my right as the back of Tez’s staff was thrust at my face like a miniature battering ram.

And in this case, it was my nose that she was trying to batter down.

Jeez, it’s like they’re actively trying to break my bones.

I threw myself backward, avoiding the blunt end of Tez’s staff and Zet’s chain sweeping through the sand where I had just been standing, the chain coiling before being yanked back.

Interesting.

Without the blades attached, I had assumed Zet would utilize it like a whip, but the way the chain had swept past reminded me of a lasso used for tying up escaping cattle.

Jump!

I threw myself to my feet, leaping over Tez’s staff as it swung low, meant to knock me off balance.

That or break my ankles.

They aren’t giving me an inch!

I could understand now why Dayvin and Veronika had struggled when fighting against the twins as a pair. It was as if every movement was done in perfect synch with one another, with barely any time to react between their continuous assault.

I’m in a deadlock. No, worse, I’m the one losing ground here.

I couldn’t rely on ruptured body. Using it more than once every few days would worsen the backlash exponentially. Besides, it was a final attack, a tool to end a fight before it could start. If I tried and failed, my speed and agility would significantly drop as my body stiffened up from the repercussions.

I’d be a sitting duck, a lamb to the slaughter.

Metaphorically speaking, that is, or at least I hoped.

No gimmicks, only pure sword fighting.

I sucked in a breath, drawing in mana. The chaotic flow of thoughts instantly slowed, rearranging into a neatly ordered fashion.

Well, maybe a few magical gimmicks.

Watching the twins, I tracked the way their bodies moved. They were coordinated with one another, but that didn’t mean the movements they were synchronizing with were exceptionally well-practiced either. I could see the individual gaps in their defenses and inefficiencies in their steps. Taught by Dayvin and Veronika, they fought with a soldier’s mindset, but this wasn’t a battlefield where you had hundreds, if not thousands, of others standing side by side, where rigidity and well-established defensive lines were bread and butter. This was a skirmish between adventurers.

Well, two adventurers and one wanna-be adventurer.

Going on the offensive, I shot forward, miming as if I were about to make a downward sweeping strike at Tez’s calf. Instantly her staff was swung low to intercept; simultaneously, I saw Zet’s chain snap forward to take advantage of the split second where I would be stunned after finding my attack rebuffed.

Except my attack wasn’t rebuffed.

Rather than commit, I forced my body into a forward roll past Tez and toward Zet, whose chain had just been flung forward.

While their weapons were anything but battlefield commonalities, the way they fought assumed there would always be someone at their sides, like soldiers on the front line.

This wasn’t a battlefield. There was no one guarding their sides or backs; I’d already taken note of their tendency to leave themselves open in a way that soldiers wouldn’t usually have to worry about. I couldn’t blame them; it was simply the effect of having been trained by former soldiers.

Rolling past Tez, I was free to attack Zet head-on. He yanked his chain back, but it was too slow as I ran up and slugged him as hard as possible.

It wasn’t a part of any of my sword styles; I just wanted to land a nice solid punch after they’d almost broken my bones several times in one fight.

Damn, that felt good.

Zet staggered back, but I wasn’t done yet. I kicked his shin, causing him to drop to his knee as my sword stabbed out toward his face.

No, of course, I wasn’t about to kill him.

At the last second, I swerved my sword off to the side, the blade stabbing past his ear as I saw sweat drop from his brow.

“Zet is out,” Dayvin called. Satisfied, I spun around to face my final opponent. The smirk upon my face was promptly wiped away when her staff swung out and cracked me in the side; too slow was I to defend completely with my sword.

That one’s on me.

I’d gotten carried away and forgotten that Tez was behind me. It wasn’t as if a person or monster would let you take a time-out after beating one of them in a fight.

Lesson learned.

Had I not gotten my blade partially in the way of the strike, Dayvin likely would have called the fight then and there; her bladed staff, if turned the right way, would have sliced cleanly into me.

I’d paid for the lesson with a bruise on my side, but it was a low price.

I stood up, my feet softly sinking into the sand as I padded toward Tez. Zet had the more outright dangerous and ridiculous weapon between the two twins, except its unwieldy nature had been his undoing, too cumbersome when forced into a close-quarters fight. While Tez’s weapon was more mundane in comparison, it was reliable, and Tez herself, I had quickly realized, was the better fighter between the pair. I couldn’t afford to relax just yet.

Already took a hit that I could have avoided.

Tez had evidently learned by watching that it was unwise to let me take the offensive, the gaps in their defense glaringly evident to me, so she came to me, her bladed staff shooting forward in a fast jab.

I side-stepped the strike, attempting to grab the haft of the staff and pull it away from the girl, but it proved a mistake as she yanked back, her grip far stronger than I anticipated. Pulling me forward, she slammed her head forward to headbutt me, but I dropped out of the way, sweeping a leg from under her as I thrust my sword down. The girl rolled out of the way, sweeping her staff out to knock me down with her, but I stomped hard, trapping the staff underfoot before kicking out with my other foot and dislodging her hand from its grip on the shaft.

Unarmed, she raised her hands, the tip of my sword a hair shy from poking her nose.

“Tez is out.” Dayvin sighed as I lowered my sword. “That makes Rook the victor.”

I smiled, satisfied with the result.

It’s not like I practiced wielding a sword since childhood for no reason.

“Damn.” Zet whistled as he approached us. “And you didn’t even move as fast as you did with the ants.”

“I don’t like to pull that out too often,” I answered, shaking his outstretched hand.

“Hmm. Don’t know why.” Tez seemed far sourer about losing than her brother, but with a sigh, she stretched her hand out, a show of goodwill. “It’s like you saw right through us.”

“You guys have a pattern. You fight like you’re expecting no one to try to go around you.”

“Our fault.” Dayvin acknowledged. “Veronika and I learned to fight after enlisting. When we began teaching those two, they must have picked up on some of our habits from our time enlisted.”

“That’s what I figured.” I dusted some sand off my clothes as I looked between them, finally settling my gaze on Dayvin. “So, are you satisfied with what you saw?”

“You’re good, better than us.” Dayvin snorted as if that much was obvious. “Even without that flashy move from the other day, you took those two apart without much effort.”

“Hey!” Tez was staring daggers at Dayvin, but he shrugged, unbothered. “What? I watched the entire thing from the side. Except when he forgot about you, he never looked like he was doing more than biding his time.”

I half smiled as Tez began to argue with Zet and Dayvin about how hard they may or may not have pushed me. As entertaining as the scene was, the afterglow of my victory faded as my pride was replaced with something else.

Guilt.

Am I really who I think I am? Or is it just a side effect of being a reincarnation?

The thought troubled me more than I cared to admit. My pride as a swordsman; I’d spent years working my ass off. Was it all just a farce?

Was I a fraud?

We began making our way back to our lodging, and while I hadn’t been the one on the receiving end of the beatdown, I was silent all the same. The small city was even darker than when we’d first set out. When we finally returned to the adventurers’ rest, I spotted only a single person at the bar drinking the night slowly away.

I quickly departed from the Red Foxes who were rooming together, bidding them good night before slinking away, looking forward to the thoughtless embrace of sleep.

Fraud.

Fraud.

Fraud.

I settled into my cot for the night until I was finally lulled to sleep by the cruel whispers of my mind.