Chapter One

Taka screamed in terror and shot up in bed, his heart slamming against the confines of his chest as if trying to escape. Wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, he looked around the dim room. Everything was as he’d left it—door closed, his things atop a medium-sized, rectangular storage chest in the corner...

“…Just a dream.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, he reluctantly slid out of bed, recoiling slightly at the cold touch of the floor on the bottoms of his feet. It was moments like these that made him wish he knew even a few spells. The entire room creaked loudly as it lurched to one side, the ship rocked by the violent waves. Holding onto the bed’s headboard to keep his balance, Taka rubbed his eyes and yawned. A heavy clunk rang out as his boots tilted to the side and thumped to the ground.

" ’Smooth ride’, huh?”

When the wave subsided, Taka headed over to the chest and sat on the floor. He pulled his leather boots across the floor towards himself, then slid them on. They were still a bit tight.

‘Well, I only just got them a few weeks ago.’

Next, he attached his pouches to his belt, threw his scarf around his neck, and with a big stretch, removed the last vestiges of sleep from his body.

With that done, he headed over to the small mirror sitting atop the dresser facing the leftmost wall.

In this ill-lit room, he could just make out his defining features; a sharp nose and defined cheekbones, roughly chin-length dark brown hair complimented by his hazel eyes, standing out against his pale skin.

“My hair’s a mess…”

Grumbling, he spent a few minutes combing through it with his fingers and wishing he’d brought a comb. When his hair seemed somewhat acceptable, he adjusted his scarf, then nodded.

“That seems good enough. Okay… Already dressed, so…”

He wore a fitted black top and pants; both were accented deep brown. His top was striking in that it had no left sleeve, and completing the ensemble was a long leather glove ending at his left elbow.

Making his final adjustments, Taka turned from the mirror, and returned to the lockbox.

“Almost forgot,” He muttered, bending down to grab his shortbow and quiver from atop it.

Slinging the bow around his shoulder and tying the quiver to his waist just above his pouches, he stopped just before the door, looking back over his room a final time.

“Okay.”

‘Don’t want to forget something on accident…’

When he was sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important, he turned the knob and left the room, finding himself in the bottom corridors of the ship.

‘Guess I’ll get something to eat.’

Orange light danced upon the halls cast from wall-affixed lanterns. The sounds of people stirring in their rooms, and sickening sounds of those seasick few filled the sleepy cabin hall. Stepping softly, Taka crept through the ship, his destination vivid in mind; the kitchen.

When he arrived, he gingerly reached out for the doorknob, then stopped.

‘I’ve got permission, so why am I nervous? Dane’s not gonna get mad at me for eating an apple, Taka… Calm down. I get you’re nervous, but-’

Ignoring his thoughts he entered, grabbed an apple, and left. His next destination was the deck-- that required a bit of backtracking. He retraced his steps, before coming to a familiar wooden staircase.

He stared at it, then shot an anxious glance back down the hall.

‘I hate this thing. Dane really needs to replace the wood, it’s so creaky.’

Carefully, he headed up the stairs, wincing at every groan and creak. He tried to minimize the noise as best he could by stepping where he thought it wouldn’t, but it seemed like every time it was used, the areas where it’d creak only increased. As he ascended, the air tinged with the unmistakable aroma of sea salt. It was overpowering, yet comforting.

He was now on the upper deck.

The sky was still dark, but at least out here, it wasn’t so suffocating. A slight chill in the air merged with the sea’s scent, tickling his nose.

‘It’s kinda cold out.’

A massive yawn escaped Taka’s mouth. It was so early.

‘Seriously, what time is it?’

He considered going into Dane’s quarters to ask, but recalled being explicitly told not to enter while he was steering the ship. Something about focus, he’d said.

‘Well. Hopefully I didn’t wake anyone up getting up here.’

“Ooh,” Taka suddenly realized, racing over to the taffrail and peering out at the horizon. “I’ll get to see the sunrise, I bet that’ll be pretty!” Then, he took a bite of the apple, making sure to wipe the juices off his lips after.

Engrossed in his thoughts, Taka tossed the apple up into the air. Bad timing-- as he did so, another wave hit the ship, sending him staggering to the side. “Aah!”

As if it were trying to attack him, seawater sprayed over the side of the ship and collapsed into him, drenching his upper body and splashing his lower.

“Oh, gods dammit...”

Maybe he really would have to go ask Dane. Ask him to cast Dry on him, that was.

To make matters worse, the sea had stolen his apple. An unfortunate casualty of its cruelty.

‘I would get another one, but I’m soaking wet, and I don’t want to make Dane mad by trailing water around, or taking another apple… although I doubt he’d care.’

So instead, Taka turned back to the great blue, to the waters of the Azure Sea. It was a beautiful hue of blue already, but it always seemed to only increase in its vividity the higher the sun rose.

This was far from the first time he’d been on a ship. Dane had taken him on countless voyages, after all. Even still, he couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of annoyance at his false words.

Looking out across the great blue, its color becoming more vivid as the sun slowly rose, Taka turned to his thoughts for a while.

‘Yeah, right. ‘Gentle’, huh?’

Dane was a master captain-- if he said something would be a certain way, it was very unlikely it wouldn’t turn out to be so. But even the best captain couldn’t predict the whimsical sea with one-hundred-percent accuracy all the time.

Taka knew that well.

“Hmm,” He hummed. “How long have we been at sea?”

He had no earthly idea. Weeks? A month, maybe?

‘If I remember right, Dane said something happened with the other captains, so we’d be doing the full route this time...’

Usually, the Advent Route only took around a month, but this time it’d taken longer, since Dane had to visit each and every port across Kommodia. They’d picked up many adventurers and merchants, all of whom sought passage to Leln. Their points of origin may have been different, but their goals were shared-- to become an adventurer.

Becoming an adventurer…

There was only one condition; you had to be fifteen.

It was perfect-- Not too long ago, Taka had celebrated his fifteenth birthday, which meant finally, he could register at the Guild. Finally, he could become an adventurer!

A great, beaming, uncontrollable smile crossed his face. Both at the thought, and at what was now coming into view. It was distant enough they probably wouldn’t be there until noon, but he could finally see it, and that sent a chilling ripple of anticipation washing over him. The Azure Coast.

All that was left was to anchor and dock on the coast, and they’d be halfway there.

He couldn’t believe it.

Taka shook his head in an effort to clear his mind. He had that antsy feeling in his chest-- like he was scared, but not quite. Anxiety. When he got nervous, his thoughts tended to run wild.

Sucking in a deep breath, Taka adjusted his posture and leant back over the railing, looking out upon the Azure Sea. As dawn broke and the sun rose above the trees, the sky became a hazy myriad of colors comprised of purples and blacks, oranges and deep, dark shades of red.

The stars above had all but faded as a new day began in earnest.

‘So beautiful… I’m so glad I woke up early today.’

The sounds of severe seasickness-- a splattering, gagging cough as someone expelled the contents of their stomach over the side of the boat pulled Taka away from his thoughts, turning his attention to the off-putting noises.

He hadn’t noticed until now, but there were two other people on deck with him at the moment. An older man with grey hair, whose face was sharp but kind, and a younger one who looked to be around his age. The former was gripping the back of the latter’s shirt, who was the one being sick over the side of the ship.

Taka briefly considered helping in some way, but ultimately decided against it. The thought alone – even just the idea of talking to someone random made his heartrate quicken. Also, the older man had this imposing aura of great strength about him that made Taka wary to approach. The longsword dangling at his side seemed regular enough, but…

‘I guess it’s better if we leave each other alone. That guy has someone to help him already, anyway. What am I going to do, except go over there and put myself into an extremely awkward and uncomfortable situation? Yeah…’

Taka averted his gaze, and kept it trained on the endless ocean for the remainder of the trip, ever-so-slightly uncomfortable. With his wet clothes clinging to his skin, the sea-wind was terribly frigid, now that he thought about it.

#

Hours passed, and then they coasted into the Azure Sea’s coastal dock. The Marvelad grinded to a halt, a creak and cry preceded the anchor’s drop – they had made it in one piece. At once, volunteers rushed to tether the imposing vessel in place. It was perhaps an unnecessary measure, but who wanted their ship to sail away unattended?

Taka raced over to the edge and peered down at the land stretching out before him. An unremarkable beach fed into grassy plains marred by a forked dirt path and marked by trees-- a dense forest spreading outward for as far as he could see. Besides that, there were a few small buildings, and a handful of wagons awaiting their westward-bound cargo; the adventurers.

“Taka!” A familiar, hearty voice cried, shaking him from his thoughts. He turned, knowing who it was-- Dane.

At almost seven feet tall, he towered over Taka. His massive form was decorated by dark green scales, and a powerful tail that swished about behind him. His attire was that of a captain’s, embellished by his feathered leather (or krakenskin, if Dane’s claims were to be believed) hat, and a brooch depicting a sword in front of a hollow sun-- the mark of the Marvelad. He wore a quizzical look as he studied Taka from top to bottom.

‘That story he always told me, about his hat being made of krakenskin or whatever. Has to be the only one I don’t really believe…’

“…why are you all wet, lad? The sssea didn’t get you, did it?”

“Yeah, uh… it did,” Taka managed, with the smallest of smiles.

At that, Dane’s saurian face deepened into a frown. Well, as much of a frown as a lizardfolk could muster, anyway.

“Why did you not come tell me, lad? I would have gladly dried you off. In fact…”

Dane held out his palms toward Taka, then, with a spark of purply-blue mana, he closed them into fists.

“Dry. There you are, lad!” He said, snapping his fingers.

“Thanks… And um, I didn’t tell you because, uh, I didn’t want to bother you. I mean, you told me not to enter your quarters while you’re working, so… ‘cuz you need to focus, right? I mean, it’s not like it’s the first time I’ve gotten soaked, or anything. I can handle a little cold and wet, even if it’s not, like, the funnest thing ever. Besides—today’s a huge day, I had enough to distract myself with. So.”

‘…Come to think of it, I didn’t hear him make an announcement like he usually does… maybe he forgot because this time it’s special, ‘cuz I’m leaving?’

“You can always come and assssk me for thingsss like that, lad. You know that!”

“Right, yeah. Sorry.”

Dane gave a great shake of his head. His maw upturned in a gnashing smile he bellowed, “Not at all, lad! Apologize to yourssself, not me!”

“Oh yeah, um, also… I think you forgot to do the announcements.”

Dane’s immediate expression told him everything he needed to know. He had in fact forgotten.

‘Well, that explains why there’s so few people out right now. They’re probably still waiting in their rooms…’

“You’re correct, lad. One moment…”

Taka watched as Dane spun around and hurried back into his quarters, admiration in his eyes.

As the announcements began, Taka turned to his thoughts.

He owed him a great lot. Dane had raised him, after all. Danehardt Siegmund Hoffnung shone like a beacon of light and hope in his eyes. Even still, when he really thought about it, he didn’t know that much about him. All Dane had divulged about his past other than the occasional tale of adventure, was; he had adventured with Taka’s biological parents. Their party had been named Triple Rose. And when Taka had been born, Dane retired from adventuring in order to raise him. They lived in a house that Dane had built himself on Kommodia’s eastern coast, but they were rarely there. Ever since Dane had started his seafaring business, this ship had been Taka’s home—Dane took him on nearly every voyage he embarked upon.

‘I mean, Dane is just awesome. He doesn’t even have a crew, he’s just that good at managing a ship.’

The announcements ended… and seconds later, the door to the captain’s quarters flung open, and out came Dane. Before Taka could even react, Dane had run over to him and raised him into the air with a grin, “All right, Taka!” Before pulling him into a big, crushing hug.

“O- okay, l- let me go! You’re gonna – ack - kill me!”

Dane’s hugs were always uncomfortably powerful. Taka didn’t like the feeling of his ribs being compressed inward, for one thing. Dane released him, and with solid ground beneath his feet, Taka was finally able to take a breath.

“Whew.”

It didn’t help that now people were deciding to start unloading off the boat. It was embarassing!

“Sssorry, lad.” Dane managed, scratching the back of his head.

“It’s okay. Uh, don’t worry about it.”

Then, it was his turn to embrace Dane, but his was far from crushing. In return, Dane put his arms around him, gently as he could.

Pulling away after a few moments, he took Taka by the shoulders and looked him in the face.

“Lisssten. If you sssee your parents…”

“If I see my parents?”

Dane hesitated a while longer, before shaking his head.

“No. Never you mind, lad.”

Taka blinked.

“Uh… o-”

But he scarce had time to get out another word, before Dane had shifted gears entirely—his face lit up with mirth, his teeth bared in that terrifying, gnashing smile of his. Taka briefly considered the possibility of how this scene looked from the outside—did it look like he was about to be eaten by this massive lizardfolk, to passersby who knew nothing of the way lizardfolk smiled?

“Taka. Don’t ssstay up too late. Make sssure you eat and drink enough, yes? Take care of your teeth, and remember to bathe. Make sssure you eat those sssnacks I gave you, and remember-“

A barrage of words fired rapidly from Dane’s mouth and assailed Taka’s ears.

With a deflated sigh, Taka cut him off. “Alright, okay, I got it. Don’t worry, Dane. I’ll be careful. I’ll take care of myself.” His words had come out a bit more biting than he’d intended, but Dane didn’t seem offended.

Far from it, he looked almost… sad.

“You know, I wish you would have learnt a few sssspells before ssssetting off, lad…”

“Yeah, well… magic’s just not interesting to me, I guess.”

'Well, that's not entirely true. I'm just not great at magic. It's hard, I can't even cast Clean or Dry. Combat magic is out of the question, so yeah...’

“Nothing for it now! All right, lad. If you need anything, sssimply send me a letter, yes? A letter to the Marvelad, I mean to say. I’d love to hear from you!”

Taka nodded, a smile coming over his own face.

“Yeah, I will!”

Putting a hand on his hip, Dane’s blue eyes glittered like jewels under the sun, as he beamed at Taka and rose a hand in farewell.

“Well, lad… Ssssuppose this is it. I’ll be lonely without you here. Suppose I’ll finally have to hire a crew!”

“I guess so. I’ll miss you, Dane.”

“And I you, lad. I love you, Taka-- and I’m so proud of you. I’m truly glad I was able to raise you.”

“T- thank you. Er…”

“I love you, Taka. Now… off you go! Be sssafe out there.”

“Y- yeah… I love you too, Dane. And uh…”

Taka gave a forced, uncertain laugh.

“I- I’ll uh, I’ll try to be safe.”

It was hard to promise something like that, especially given the fact that being an adventurer wasn’t exactly the safest job out there, but he’d do his best.

Double-checking that his pouches were secure, and idly shifting the bow slung over his shoulder, Taka gave one last, self-affirmatory nod.

"Well, Dane!” He beamed. “I'll see you, uh, in the future, I hope. And… Thank you very much for everything."

In response, Dane grinned back. But his smile was weak—the corners of his mouth trembled, threatening to become a frown. His eyes welled up with tears which spilled over and down his cheeks as he was overcome by emotion.

Dane never cried. At least, he’d never seen him cry before. And now here he was, sobbing. His cries were choked and loud— people began to stare and murmur, and, wiping tears from his eyes, Dane turned on his heel and retreated to his quarters, shooting one last sorrowful glance over his shoulder before disappearing inside.

With a wistful smile, Taka turned away as well. The raw emotion in the air was palpable, and before he knew it, he was wiping tears from his own eyes.

‘I’ll miss you, Dane.’ He thought.

‘Someday, I hope I get to see you again. I’ll tell you everything. The things I’ve done, the people I met, the sights I saw…’

It was a terribly bittersweet feeling. Like melancholy laid thick with mud, sitting heavy in your chest.

Taka had no recollection of his birth parents. As far as he was concerned, Dane was his only parent.

And gods, would he miss him.

With a deep breath, Taka took his first step off the boat and onto the dock. And then he let it go.

This was it. The beginning of everything; the beginning of his adventure. A tingling sensation spread from the tips of his toes to the ends of his fingers – that realization lit the spark lying dormant within him, embering into a great fire that would never go out.

‘I’ve seen a lot in the last few years, but there’s still so much of the world I haven’t seen, and so much I haven’t done, and I’m gonna get to do so much now, and I’m so scared, but I’m so happy, and oh my gods, I can’t believe-‘

His thoughts raced dangerously fast. It was overwhelmingly nerve-wracking, but so, so exciting!

Taka paused in place and studied the sky, trying to collect himself. He brushed his windswept hair from his face with a grin, feeling the cool breeze against his skin. He held his hand outstretched towards the sky as if to grab it, as if to steal the infinite possibilities it held within.

And then he was, for now at least, calm. With purpose in his step, Taka made his way across the dock and into the clearing, where a crowd of at least two-hundred people waited. There were several soldier-looking types standing watch, who didn’t look like the friendliest people he had ever seen.

He merged into the back of the group, looking around with uncertainty. There were a couple structures laying around, three in total; all small, box-like buildings. Presumably, those were where paperwork was handled… or something? He started toward them, unsure, but then shot a glance backward. He really didn’t know what to do. The merchants seemed to have all gathered by those buildings, and he started to feel the guards scrutinizing eyes pierce into him as he hesitated, so he disappeared back into the sea of people.

Was this the right place? Were these people adventurers?

‘Uh…’

There was a pink-haired catfolk clutching an elegant staff, a dark-blue-scaled dragonfolk with a large axe at his back, and a beautiful elf clad in exotic armor. There were beastfolk of all kinds—wolffolk, birdfolk, and even some resembling insects.

‘I’m not gonna ask them for help. I’m not gonna do that. No, no, no. We don’t need to do that, okay? So calm down. These people are all adventurers. I guarantee it. Also, Dane wouldn’t have left us somewhere stupid. This is it, the carriages are here and everything. Okay?’

Taka found his gaze wandering, flitting from face to face. If he found someone else, and they seemed nervous too, maybe he could find solace in that, and maybe a little… calm?

But he fell short. He couldn’t tell how anyone was feeling. Most of them seemed bored, if anything.

‘…Great, I’m nervous again. So much for being calm. Okay, well-’

His thoughts rambled as the uncertainties piled up. What if he wasn’t in the right place? What if he was doing something wrong? If so, what was that something?

Before he managed to instill within himself a panic attack strong enough to bring down the heavens, a loud and clear voice shut down both the clamoring crowds and his spiraling thoughts, diverting all attention unto themselves.

“May I have your attention please!”

The speaker, a dark-skinned human was standing atop a roof, their long red hair burning furiously in the sunlight as they bellowed, “I am a representative for our government’s adventuring branch; if you require a name, you may call me Mylli. Unfortunately, there are some formalities I’m required to go over; First, this year marks the Advent Route’s thirtieth anniversary. I see many among you are young—you will pave the way for the next generation of adventurers, and they shall pave the next. Understand that being an adventurer is not a free pass to do whatever you like; you are still expected to uphold yourself as a proper member of society would. That is to say, there are consequences for your actions,” she narrowed her eyes, scouring the crowd with her gaze before continuing; “For those older amongst you, your duty must be to set an example proper for those lacking the wisdom of age. This world needs adventurers—your importance in ensuring peace cannot be understated. Even if some people misconstrue what it means to be an adventurer, the government knows full well your value. Do not forget that. Lastly, for when you arrive in Leln: your first destination should be the Guild. If you cannot find your way there on your own, ask. Any questions?”

For a second, nobody spoke up. The hums of the forest nearly drowned out by the crashing of the waves filled Taka’s ears, until…

“Yes, I have a question,” It was a spectacled boy wearing white robes who’d raised his hand. He continued, “May we stay here and-“

The boy suddenly stopped. No, that wasn’t it. He had been interrupted—shouldered aside.

“Um, no! Excuse me! I have a question!”

Forcing his way to the front of the crowd, was a man of thin build who looked no older than Taka himself was. A cursory glance revealed all-- he exuded a distinct air of entitlement, eyes glinting with pity as if he were looking down upon everyone present, while he faced them and made himself known.

“Greetings, I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre, of House Aschwaz,” He declared with a bow, before looking up at the speaker glaring down at him from the roof.

Taka found his eyes inexplicably glued to the man, despite his… irritating behavior.

Why was that?

His garb? It was simple enough fare for a noble; robes clasped taut by an emblem representing their House. His were charcoal black, and as they billowed in the soft breeze, Taka caught a glimpse of its rich blue interior.

His… hair?

It fell to about neck-length and was a darker black than his robes exterior. Although under the light, it appeared to shimmer a black hued blue. Most eye-catching about it was the lustrous azure streaks running across its length, contrasting with the dark. With his hair swept back by the wind, ever-so-pointed ears revealed themselves.

A tinge of surprise lit up in Taka’s chest—a sort of “Oh, huh.” kind of feeling. Since half-elve’s ears tended to look more like human ears than full-elve’s ears, which were long and stuck outward, it wasn’t uncommon for half-elves to be mistaken as human; especially when their hair was obscuring their ears.

‘His hair is so nice. I wish my hair looked like that.’

It was strange, though. Taka had seen many people while traveling with Dane. A lot of nobles and merchants, and all blends of adventurer, too. So, he wasn’t quite sure why this guy was so… eye-catching, if that were the right word.

“I do have a question, for you, er, Malley, was it?”

“…Mylli.”

“Right, yes, Mylli. Forgive my-”

“You are not the force which this world revolves around. Make it quick.”

“Yes, well,” He muttered, his mouth curling upward in a smug, self-confident smirk. He thrust his hand out to the side before saying, “That is rather debatable. However, digressions aside, my question pertains to this… wagon. You called it a carriage, yet it is unlike any carriage I’ve ever seen. There are not even cushions for us to sit upon! It’s a ramshackle, horrendous thing. I’m certain this must have been some sort of mistake or miscalculation on your part—in which case, you are lucky. I am willing to give you a second chance! Because it would simply be silly to expect a member of House Aschwaz such as I, to sit on tha-”

Sardonic laughter wretched itself from the depths of Mylli’s throat, cutting his ridiculous “question” short. A look torn between a grimace and confusion crept across Beriyl’s slender, pale-toned face. His vibrant blue eyes narrowed as he tried to process what could only have been an abject refusal.

“You, half-elf, are hilarious. And you have a lot to learn. Your status will earn you no favors here—this is not your cushy life in whatever fancy castle you crawled out of. If that’s all you had to say, rock-man, then get back in the crowd.”

She minced no words—they were cutting and quick. As was the deep frown settling over Beriyl’s face at being called “rock-man”.

“R- rock?!”

As the words left his lips, it was as if he had confirmed what he had been called. And with that confirmation, his face froze over with shock as he sputtered out the insult three, four times, before he finally withdrew, disappearing quietly back into the swathe of to-be adventurers.

With a self-satisfied smile, Mylli looked back over those gathered, who had begun to murmur amongst themselves and shoot nasty looks toward the noble who had just made a terrible fool of himself.

“Now, to the person who was rudely interrupted by that nonsense—yes, you may stay. The drivers will return the night after tomorrow to gather those who stayed behind.”

The boy bowed his head, offering a gracious, “Thank you.”

A few other people asked questions after that, but Taka didn’t really listen to them.

And then the guild representative spoke up again.

“We will now begin the boarding progress! Rest assured, there are seats enough for all present, so do not fight or you will be detained.”

‘I wonder if people fight here a lot. I mean, that’s probably why she mentioned it, Taka…’

“Pick a carriage and form a line of six. Proceed in an orderly fashion, please. Take your seats one at a time, and for the love of the Seven, do not fight.”

Mylli hopped off the roof, and thus ended their speech. Taka noticed them shaking their head as they landed—just how often did she need to tell people those things?

With shared looks and mutters amidst the mass of adventurers, everyone shifted about until the lines were formed. An accidental brush of the shoulder here, a yell there; it wasn’t exactly orderly, but at least nobody had been punched in the face. Yet.

Trying to turn his attention to something less overstimulating while still finding his way into a line, Taka glanced over at the many rows of carriages.

‘Lot more carriages here than I thought there’d be,’ He observed.

At a distance, it really hadn’t seemed like that many, but up close… wow.

There were a lot—way more than a mere handful. They were all simple and open-topped, with one driver and one horse per vehicle. They didn’t look all that comfortable, either. Unlike the half-elf from earlier, he wasn’t about to start screaming about it.

As his line shuffled slowly, a fight broke out some lanes down. Unsurprisingly, just as the government representative had promised, the instigator was detained.

The rest of the boarding process concluded without incident—Taka clambered up onto the carriage, being given the choice between two long, wooden benches which looked very uncomfortable.

He chose the left—since nobody was sitting over there yet -- claiming the first spot he saw.

‘If six people can board this carriage, and there’s two right now, well… now three… please don’t sit next to me. Okay, thanks. Well, that’s interesting. The rest of our line is empty, so- oh.‘

At the end of the carriage, struggling to pull himself up onto it, was the half-elvish man who’d made himself into a laughingstock.

His outburst earlier hadn’t gained him any friends, as evidenced by the fact that nobody moved to help him, opting to either avert their eyes entirely, or look down upon him with pity.

Taka himself watched him for a few seconds, debating what he should do.

‘I mean, he’s annoying, but he needs to get on this carriage too, and… I don’t know, maybe he’s tired? He’s a jerk sure, but I feel bad for him, and…’

Taka stood from his seat and bent down, extending a hand to the man.

“Here. Um, you’re Beriyl, right?”

Beriyl stopped struggling, and locked eyes with him. Something akin to disgust flickered across his face, his hand moving in a flash—subconsciously, Taka’s hand dropped to his side. It stung.

‘Wh- what the-’

“I don’t touch filthy commoners!” The half-elf cried, forcing himself up with a strained grunt.

Taka was utterly taken aback. His eyes wide—he shook his head with clear bewilderment, staring at his hand. A protest almost left his lips, but it died before ever reaching anyone ears. His hand wasn’t even dirty. He was clean. In fact, he’d bathed just the day before.

So, what the hell?

“What the hell?” He echoed under his breath.

And to make matters worse, Beriyl had just stolen his spot on the bench.

In that instant, it really felt as if all the goodwill he’d tried to put into him had been crushed in totality. Why had he even bothered?

With a huff, he sat down at the far-end opposite Beriyl, his mood soured. Right before he started muttering insults under his breath, someone began to speak.

“That boy tried to help you, and you slapped his hand away,” A chiding, clear voice came. It was an older elvish woman, sitting across from them. For a moment, Taka thought she was addressing him, but he quickly realized the true target of her words.

“Honestly, you’re disgusting. Just like every noble I’ve ever met.”

Beriyl’s face was red—although if it was from embarrassment or anger, Taka couldn’t tell.

“S- shut up! What gives you the right to talk to me like that? What gives you the right to speak to me at all?!”

Anger it was.

“We’re going to be sharing the same carriage for the foreseeable future.” she cooly answered, crossing her arms. “I don’t see why I’m not allowed to speak on your distasteful behavior.”

“B- b- b- because I’m-“

“And besides, if you were so concerned about “touching commoners”, why did you touch his hand?”

“S- shut up! Be quie-”

A deep, gruff voice shut it all down.

“Final call for last minute boardings!”

It came from the bald, wispy-mustached man at the reins.

“We depart in thirty!”

Echoing down the boundless rows of carriages were statements in a similar vein—calls of acknowledgement shouted over the myriad conversations held in idle chitchat, as everyone acquainted themselves with one another.

Last minute preparations were underway, soon to be finalized. Drivers darted to and fro, grabbing supplies, refueling lanterns, and feeding the horses. Some affixed weapons to their belts, others clutched crossbows. For what it was worth, the driver heading this carriage seemed to have everything in order; he simply puffed on a pipe as he watched his colleagues skirt about.

“Alphonse! Got everything?” A man asked as he hurried past their caravan.

The driver lowered his pipe, exhaling a smoky breath before replying, “That I do, Revan!”

“Hendricks, you need anything?”

“Nah, all good here, Smiths!”

Taka watched this all unfold with vague interest—and slight annoyance. As they were sitting here still preparing, apparently, the merchants were getting into their luxurious carriages and leaving.

‘Lucky.’

Taptaptaptaptap.

Beriyl’s foot tapped with impatience, drawing Taka back to reality.

‘Oh right. I guess I should thank that girl for saying that.’

“Uh, thanks.”

“Well, I didn’t do it for you. I just can’t stand nobles. In fact…”

The elf shot a questioning look over at the driver.

“Can I get on another carriage? I don’t think I can suffer that rock noble.”

“…Rock…?” Beriyl murmured, his eyebrow twitching as his voice rose to an outraged yell. “Rock?!”

The driver forced a smile. “Yes, but you’d best hurry.”

She nodded, quickly rising to her feet and hopping down off the side.

“Thanks,” and with that, she was gone.

Taka almost felt bad for Beriyl. People really didn’t like him. But maybe that wasn’t surprising, and maybe he shouldn’t have felt bad for him—but he couldn’t help it. Even if Beriyl deserved the response he was getting, it still didn’t feel right. It felt like everyone was picking on him, or something.

‘I mean, it’s not like he’s made a good first impression on me or anything. He’s really just rude.’

When he looked over at him, the half-elf’s face was beet red.

“I-“ Beriyl’s voice shook.

“I am not a rock, I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz!“

‘Isn’t a beryl a type of rock, anyway?’

“Isn’t a beryl a rock, anyway?” Taka blurted out, making the grave mistake of airing his thoughts without thinking.

Beriyl’s immediate reaction told him that he shouldn’t have said that—he looked about ready to explode, like a tea kettle left overlong on the fire.

Huh. Was that steam coming out of his ears?

“I- My namesake, my-, you! No! The, the, the beryl GEMstone… is not simply a rock! If anyone is a rock here, it is you! I am a GEMSTONE, polished by my renowned lineage, and what are you?! A rock, polished by naught but dirt! My “Beryl” is spelled with an “I,”, so you get “Beriyl”, not that you would know! Just because it’s pronounced the same, doesn’t mean… Hmm! Do you want me to write it down for you? Oh, but maybe my handwriting is too neat, so you wouldn’t be able to comprehend it! Perhaps!?”

Taka’s eyebrow twitched.

‘Wow! This guy is absolutely insufferable!’

Not waiting for a reply, Beriyl spelt his name out loud, then produced a piece of paper that already had his name on it and pushed it into Taka’s face, who shrunk backward to get away from him.

“Can you not push random shit into my face?”

Beriyl pouted.

“So vulgar. And when you’re the one who asked.”

Taka rolled his eyes, shook his head irritably, and didn’t reply.

‘Uh, I didn’t even ask. I asked if a beryl was a rock, not whatever you just spewed out at me. Actually insufferable. Now I regret helping you. Every interaction we’ve had so far has been negative. Maybe I should just get off and do this tomorrow. It’s probably too late to switch carriages… Ugh. I don’t know if I want to be on a carriage with this guy for the next, what, day and a half? Good gods.’

The drivers cracked the reins—it was nearly time.

The carriage started moving, tremoring beneath Taka as they began to roll across the earth and into formation. The path may have been forked, but all forty-some carriages were headed the same way. It had been about half an hour since he’d departed from the Marvelad, and it was another half before they finally set off down the path, the air filling with a chorus of wooden clacks and rumbles, of horse hooves steadily beating the ground. Taka watched with sentimentality tugging at his heart as the Marvelad grew further and further away, until he could no longer see it at all.

“Goodbye, Dane,” he whispered, voice inaudible above the clamor.

He was going away. To a new life, a new place, by himself.

‘I’m scared. I’m pretty scared.’

That was true for many reasons.

‘I don’t wanna disappoint him.’

His middle name was Dane’s namesake, after all.

Exhaling shakily, he studied the blue expanse above. The forest stretched outward to their immediate sides, but did not obstruct the sky. Aside from the distant, nearly drowned-out conversations of adventurers in neighboring carriages, it was quiet. Peaceful, even.

Sunlight filtered through the forest canopy, beaming warmth upon the carriages. A soft breeze blew, while birds filled the air with song. Colorful insects danced in the air as the trees went past.

Summer was about midway through, so the world was steadily winding down towards winter. With half the year left, it wouldn’t blanket everything in snow for a while yet.

It was all but a distant thought.

Leaning back and closing his eyes, Taka simply enjoyed the moment. The forest noises were a welcome alternative to the whiny cries of the noble sitting beside him. It was perfect. He could almost feel them washing away all the negative feelings that had sprung up because of the idiot next to him.

A moment passed, and then his eyes fluttered open in surrender, accompanied by a quiet sigh.

He just wasn’t tired. Made sense, since he’d only gotten up a few hours ago.

So, instead of trying to force himself into sleep’s grasp, he resigned himself to watching the scenery.

And as he did, his mind wandered on and on. His thoughts blitzed past the forefront of his mind until one tugged at him.

‘You know what, I feel like I’ve seen that idiot, annoying half-elf guy before. The robe he’s wearing seems familiar, at least… uh, wait a second.’

Taka tilted his head ever-so-slightly in the half-elf’s direction. All he needed was a cursory glimpse of his clothes, and…

He snapped his gaze away, trying to remain inconspicuous. Fighting to keep a nervous smile down, he stared at his feet, his hands, the forest… anything but the half-elf.

Anyway, he had it—Beriyl likely was the same guy who’d been throwing up, earlier that morning.

‘Maybe he just has a similar robe, but I sorta doubt it for some reason. It just feels really… Now that I think about it, this morning, hadn’t there’d been one other person on deck besides me and the rock-noble?’

Taka trained his eyes back on the sky, shaking his head to himself.

‘Well, oh well. It doesn’t really matter. It’d just be kinda funny if I knew for sure it was him. I’m sure if I said anything about it, I’d probably get a reaction out of him. I think I’d feel bad if I did that though, not exactly his fault he was seasick. I mean, if you think about it, it’s kind of weird. He’s been quiet. For ten minutes, at least. Like, that’s been cool, but what’s he doing?’

With that thought in mind, he glanced over at Beriyl again; somewhat unsurprisingly, he was currently nose-deep in a book, oblivious to the world around him. The cover was a simple thing-- red leather, text scrawled in a fancy golden font reading; “E’s Monster Bestiary: A-Z Kommodian Compendium of Beasts for the Traveling Sort,”. Along the binding, the author’s name was simply marked down as the letter “E”. Taka must have stared for too long, as he soon found Beriyl staring back at him, expectantly.

“Uh, so, what’re y-“

Taka never even got to finish half his sentence before Beriyl began excitedly vomiting out words.

“You’re interested!” His eyes gleamed with a ravenous thirst for knowledge. Immediately, Taka realized his mistake.

“O- oh, uh,” He stammered, trying to get himself out of whatever situation he’d landed in. “No, I mean, not really, um, I-"

Too little, too late. Beriyl had begun to chatter away.

"You see, it's a book commonly referred to as the ‘Monster Manual’. It’s official title, however, as you can see, is…”

And so, Taka tried his best to tune him out as the man went on yet another rant. However, a new voice soon cut through the noise and brought him back to earth. It had come from a man seated directly across from him. Looking up at him, he saw that he was a human man of fair complexion, who appeared to be entering his forties or fifties. His face was rugged; rough-hewn with a single scar running down his lower right cheek to his chin. He wore a stubble-y beard, with curtained brown hair that inched just slightly past the tip of his ears. A brigandine breastplate covered his torso, while pieces of leather armor protected his shoulders and forearms. A collared shirt, plain and worn, jutted out from under the equipment. A longsword in its scabbard rested across his lap. With his simple, for-purpose garb, he looked more like a bandit than he did an adventurer. Now, what really caught Taka's eye was the diamond-shaped crystal hanging around the man's neck.

‘What a pretty necklace…’

Much to his disappointment, when the man noticed his staring at it, he tucked it away beneath his shirt.

Taka couldn’t hide his disappointment, lowering his gaze.

"…important read.” He muttered, his tone flat and expressionless as if held under a waterfall of monotony. Everything Taka had seen pointed to one conclusion: the man was exhausted. “Knowledge…” He continued, pausing to heave a tired sigh. “…can be the difference between life and death out there."

To this, Beriyl nodded, and a self-satisfied smirk slowly began to inch its way across his face.

"Yes, I do pride myself on my reading habits!"

In reply, an empty, thin smile stretched itself across the man’s weary face. It didn’t reach his eyes.

‘He looks incredibly depressed. I hope he’s alright.’

He realized the problem with that thought right away.

‘Idiot, Taka. Obviously, if he looks like THAT, he’s not alright. But… I’m still gonna say it. I don’t know what happened to him to make him like that, but I feel bad for him. He looks really awful. It makes me sad to look at someone who looks like that. It just feels bad. But I hope he’s alright. I mean, yeah, I hope he’s okay.’

Hours passed in relative silence. Eventually, the sun fell beneath the horizon, casting dark across the world. Magical lights hovered in the sky, trailing the many carriages from above. They provided just enough clarity for reading underneath them, but the forest which had since spread outward remained obfuscated.

Of Taka’s carriage, the pink-haired girl was trying to sleep, while the depressed-seeming man wordlessly studied his surroundings with a steady gaze. Beriyl, as usual, was burrowed deep in a book. Taka had no idea how he could even read like that—the light hovering over the other carriages just barely reached them.

He was so bored.

Besides watching the scenery, which he could no longer do for obvious reasons, he’d tried to peer into the other carriages to see what everyone else was up to. Unfortunately, he’d had minimal success with that method of entertaining himself. It didn’t help that no one in this carriage had cast Light, although even if they had he doubted he’d be able to see much of his surroundings.

In any case, he didn’t want to talk to Beriyl. He didn’t feel like he could strike up a conversation with the man across from him, and the girl sitting adjacent that man seemed extremely anxious and shy, so that was off the table as well. He didn’t really want to stare into the other carriages anymore, as that felt kinda creepy to him. It was unfortunate, since they were pretty much the only thing he could see at the moment, other than the twisting silhouettes of the trees.

‘Really don’t have anything to do, except sleep, I guess.’

Watching the stars in the moonless sky, he got as comfortable as he could, then shut his eyes and tried to rest. It wasn’t too bad. The benches were long enough that he had space to lay down, and using one of his softer pouches as a pillow, it was an experience approaching comfortable. Granted, this was only possible because there was just one other person on the same bench with him, but anyway…

…

"Hey you."

Him again. As if he needed it to be any harder to fall asleep on the carriage.

‘Maybe if I just don’t reply he’ll leave me alone.’

“Hey, you,” The voice was louder, more demanding this time. Taka kept his eyes closed—trying not to smile half out of nervousness, half out of amusement, as he wondered if Beriyl knew he was awake.

“Hey!” Now, Beriyl’s voice was just short of a yell. His nerves overshadowed by annoyance, Taka’s eyes flew open.

“What?” He snapped, glaring at the half-elf. “What do you want?”

Oblivious or uncaring to his anger, he smiled. An arrogant smirk, to be exact.

“Do you possess the means to use magic?”

Taka blinked, dumbfounded. For a second, he simply stared at the man, before saying, “…Do I- do I what? …uh-”

“Magic. I need you to cast me a Light,” the half-elf replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“…no, I… No-- first of all, do I look like a mage of any kind?”

To that, Beriyl lowered his voice and leaned up next to Taka, who shrunk instinctively backward as he encroached.

“Wh- what are-“

He was close—too close. Close enough that Taka caught the scent of roses wafting off the half-elf.

‘He smells… good? Like flowers…’

“I don’t know what you look like, you ignoble cur,” Beriyl hissed into his ear. “Now provide me a Light so I may continue my reading… without disruption.”

With that, Beriyl placed himself back in his seat and stared expectantly at him.

‘Without disruption? You’re the one who...’

A heavy, exasperated sigh escaped him as he slumped backward, frowning.

“Look; I don’t- I don’t know how to reply to you. I don’t know what you want from me, I don’t even know who you are. So please, leave me the hells alone. And don’t… don’t do that weird ear-whispering-thing ever again. It’s weird and I hate it.”

As Beriyl listened to Taka speak, his expression was steadily replaced by a frown deeper than any before it. His eyes narrowed, his face grew red, and he began to shake.

“You- I! How dare you speak to me like that, I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz! I can’t read without light, and the residual from the Light spells over there is no longer enough! So-”

Taka rolled his eyes, interrupting with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Okay, your majesty. Why should I give someone I don’t even know special treatment?”

Beriyl was quickly running out of avenues of protest it seemed, because his next response was one Taka had already heard several times.

“Because I’m Beriyl Edmund-“

Another loud sigh cut him off.

“Yeah, I know. I got it.”

Gesturing frustratedly with his hands, Taka continued, “Look; I can’t cast any actual spells. I can manipulate the, uh, aether in the air like everyone else, but I can’t make water, can’t make light, can’t make fire. I can’t fight with it, basically. I could make it slightly hotter or slightly colder, in like, a very small area, maybe. Uh, haven’t tried that, to be honest. Not that it really matters, because I’m not a spellcaster. Nothing I can do is gonna be something you can’t. You’re a mage, aren’t you? So just cast the damn Light spell yourself. Pull it from your mana pool. That’s how that works, right? Just cast it. It’s not a lot, right? For you mages? Whatever you use tonight should be back by tomorrow, right? When you sleep, it'll recover? Yes? Right? Okay? So just do it, and stop fucking bothering me!”

With that, he turned away and, eyes closed, took a deep breath. His heart thrummed with anxiety—thanks to Beriyl, now he was stressed out. If only to escape the bothersome man beside him, he tried to sleep.

‘It’s like he’s never been told “no” before. Good gods.’

For all of three seconds, Taka was left to this attempt, until…

“A torch,” came that same voice.

Forcing himself upright with a huff, he glared at the insufferable half-elf.

“What about a torch? No, I’m not gonna give you one, I don’t even have one! So just leave me alone! What is wrong with you??”

Beriyl gaped at him as if he’d just said the most unreasonable thing he’d ever heard.

“But, I…”

"No torches," called the carriage driver, adding, "That's a fire hazard, and beyond that, the last thing we need is monsters trailing us… not that I’m all that worried 'bout that, what with all the steel and sausage here!"

The man guffawed. Nobody laughed with him, aside from the driver ahead of them.

Taka was confused. What did he mean by sausage? Steel was obvious, since most people aboard the carriages were armed, but… sausage? There was no sausage here.

“Well,” the man cleared his throat. “For what it’s worth, me and a few other drivers have been pushing the government to allow us a bit of extra budget! Hopefully by next year, we’ll get a few lanterns affixed to the carriage themselves. Bet that’d solve your issue!”

Beriyl remained silent, a dissatisfied scowl stuck on his face.

A sudden wind came rippling through Taka’s hair and clothes, tearing through the forest. The trees seemed to howl in pain as they swayed; the haunting melody sending chills down his spine. Briefly, he caught a sweet scent which tickled his nose—roses. He knew well enough what that was from now, but didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

The carriage jolted roughly, coming to an abrupt stop as the horse leading it reared upward, hooves beating at thin air as it cried and neighed with terror.

“The hells?! Easy, girl! Easy!”

A collective series of protestant neighs echoed down the row of carriages as all ground to a halt—wild-eyed, the horse’s tails swished with fear. All of a sudden, an oppressively thick air of panic had settled in overhead, and clung tight to the hearts of the horses.

Taka had been nearly flung from his seat, which was scary enough, and him staring out into the darkness of the forest was only exacerbating the worry he felt.

The roughly two-hundred adventurers making up the forty-or-so carriages were wide awake now, and each was handling the situation differently. A few of the mages several carriages down had sent their Lights deeper into the forest, attempting to unveil whatever threat had accosted them, if it were even a threat at all. Horses could get jumpy at night—it might have just been a wild animal.

Taka watched from the side as those wielding weapons hopped from their respective carriages and headed after the Lights, through the grassy clearing and towards the dense woods. People were forming groups, bumping fists, laughing and joking.

It made him almost jealous.

‘I kind of… want to join them. Um, no you don’t, Taka. Do you want to die? No, what the hell are-’

“Alphonse!” The driver behind them shouted. “The ‘venturers are- should we be letting them do that?!”

The bald man in question turned around with a shrug, his tone cold and uncaring.

“Who cares—let ‘em do what they want. If they die, they weren’t fit to be adventurers in the first place.”

For the first time in hours, the man seated across from Taka spoke.

“Nobody is going to die tonight.”

His words carried such a gravity to them, it gave him chills.

With one hand wrapped tight around the hilt of his sword, his face set in an intense glare directed at something in the distance, he exuded an aura of collectedness that no one else on the carriage really possessed. There was the currently pale catfolk girl clutching at her staff and shaking like a leaf, and then there was Beriyl, who had shrunk away into the corner, trembling with fear like a trapped mouse.

Taka looked up and down the row of carriages—to his great surprise, some people (from what he could tell, anyway) were still asleep.

‘How the hell are they still asleep after that? What?’

At any rate, all that was left was to wait. Wait and hope a sudden scream didn’t pierce the night air. That nobody died. That there were no monsters. There were plenty of things to hope for.

Thirty minutes must have scraped by, before the adventurers who had set off into the forest wholly unprepared returned through the brush and strode into the clearing. Seeing them, Taka released a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding.

“Find anything?” One of the carriage drivers called out to the approaching group.

“Nothing of note,” A gruff voice replied, coming from a bulky man who wielded a massive weapon carved from stone. He seemed distinctly disappointed.

Another person added, “I found some cool berries, but- hey!”

“You can’t eat those!”

“I wasn’t-“

Taka stifled a laugh. Even if it wasn’t that funny, he was tired, he was anxious, he was hungry, and…

He was glad nobody had died. Even if he didn’t know any of them.

Monster or not, the forest was still scary at night. Staring into it made him feel like he was seeing things—unnatural figures and other horrific impossibilities.

‘I really wish it were daytime, to be honest with you...’

Everyone got re-settled, the carriages began to move again, and Taka finally closed his eyes.

Sleep came—troubled and uncomfortable perhaps, but it came nonetheless. At the very least, he hadn’t been bothered by that damn noble this time.

#

A lone goblin stumbled from a nearby nest and upon the trail, where it chanced to see the line of carriages. Its ears twitched with cruel anticipation, lips upturning in a malevolent smile. Brandishing a shoddy, rust-worn blade, it crept closer and hid behind a bush as images of suffering played tauntingly in its mind’s eye.

Saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth as it stared—this many dead would serve its Lord well. If it did the deed, surely it would be given a taste of His power. The tantalizing scent of flesh mingled with the disgusting stench of steel and leather, and many, many other things, becoming as one scent—prey.

Peering closer, stepping carefully so as to not reveal itself, it scanned the tops of the carriages.

In an instant, all its machinations were shattered.

Adventurers.

Just the thought sent a pang of fear through its chest—and this many.

Suddenly, it felt the wind against his back. And then, it heard and saw as the horses reared upward, whinnying with terror.

A shiver ran down its spine. It knew this sensation well—it was being watched. Its eyes darted about—who? It did not take long for it to see who—a human man, about one-twenty feet away. Middle seat of a middle-aligned carriage, his face set with grim resolve, eyes like daggers. That gaze and all the anger behind it was directed right at it.

It had killed many adventurers. It had killed many, seen many reactions to death and all the variants of suffering it could inflict. It knew what it felt like to be stared at with animosity, hate, to be pled with…

But not like this.

In a blind panic, it scrambled backward and fell onto its rear. It had to retreat back to the nest, back to safety. Where it could live another day. If it lived, it could kill again.

Hmm…

It stopped idle-mindedly as it relived a recent memory. Just a few days ago, it’d been able to kill. If it lived, it could kill again. Shivers of joy washed over it in waves as it smiled, finding solace in that.

It had forgotten all about the danger lurking behind it.

Yes, indeed… How unfortunate that it would have to wait to kill again.

But as quickly as that sensation had come, it faded, replaced by overwhelming terror as soon as the image of the adventurers made its way back into its brain.

Adventurers.

Propelled by blind terror sustained by that image, it ran through brush and bracken, cutting itself on thorns and sharpened sticks it had once fashioned as traps.

It ran, from the noise, from the horses, from the adventurers.

Scrambling as it had, it had nearly dropped the blade it carried. If it had lost it, there was no doubt it would have been killed by the leader.

Finally reaching the nest, cleverly hidden by a mess of lichen and leaves, it stopped. Relief washed over it, but something was… wrong?

Why was the entrance unhidden? Why was it pushed apart, as if there were adventurers?

No, it assured itself. Must be a patrol. Something. Not adventurers.

It pushed past the dark entryway and into the damp cave. Home.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

It smelled of mold and death—the scent of blood clung heavily to the air.

That was not unusual. Perhaps the adventurer they had killed the other day had not been thrown out or eaten yet.

He stepped forward, deeper into the cave, then… froze.

Corpses. Goblins. And two of them.

Abject terror seized at his thumping heart, before pleasure overrode any fear he might have felt at the sight. He smirked—bursting out into a cackling laughter that echoed throughout the cave.

He did not have to share anymore! He could be leader, yes, he! He could finally be leader of the cave. It was about time. But wait, if they were killed, who could have-

And that was where the goblin’s thoughts ended.

A flanged mace suddenly connected with the back of its skull, throwing it to the floor where it crashed its head against the stone, splintering its teeth in its mouth and sending its vision swimming with red. As it died, the man whom the weapon belonged to dusted his hands together. He was a sturdy, well-built man with brown hair and grey eyes.

"Seems like that was all of them."

“Nice goin’, Ramsay.”

A party of four adventurers. A routine, monthly check on the nearby area had revealed a single cave hosting a goblin nest, and so adventurers were dispatched to deal with it.

“What was this one doing?”

A female paladin clad in full plate armor peered down at the monster, a disgusted grimace darkening her face. She returned her weapon to its sheath after cleaning it, then looked over at her companions expecting an answer.

A blond fighter with his hair tied into a long, ponytail gave a disinterested shrug, as he stowed his gilded spear behind his back.

“Who knows? I’m about ready to be out of here, if it’s all the same to you.”

A deep laughter echoed throughout the cave. It came from a scruffy, middle-aged man, resting his bloody, cleaver-like greatsword across his shoulder as he cocked a grin towards his friend, saying, “Hah, well spoken, Soril. Could’ve said the same thing myself! Oh, and well done, too! Not bad, kid!”

The spearman simply shook his head.

“I am not a child, Max. I am fifteen.”

“Yeah, whatever!”

“Let’s just get out of here, you guys.” The paladin interrupted before any further squabbling could take place, starting off toward the entrance, adding, “I’d rather not spend any more time in here if we don’t have to.”

“Yeah, yeah. Comin’, Cass,” The greatsword-wielding man exhaled, before nonchalantly following suit.

By government mandate, all Lords were required to conduct regular checks on their lands with the purpose of rooting out goblin nests. If any were found, adventurers were to be hired and sent to deal with them. As an arm of the royal government, the Guild played a crucial part in the safety of the realms, especially during Advent Month. What good would new adventurers be if they wound up dead in their first week? As such, during the month of newcomers, all earnings from goblin quests were doubled—with the coin coming straight from Guild coffers.

It was for a sound reason; when left to their own devices, goblins would spread like wildfire—and an infestation of them was no joke. They were beings capable of great evil, and consequently, as a pest, they had to be eradicated.

In the end, there were always more goblins. And no matter how many adventurers fell to their cruel blades, there would always be others who would kill them.

And so, the four put the den behind them and returned to Leln, exchanging banter along the way, to rest their weary legs and drink themselves to a deserved sleep. Pride themselves on a job well done, and all that.

But the evil persisted. Through the pervasive darkness of the cave shone two hate-filled red eyes, watching.

A single goblin had survived the fight, by hiding beneath the body of another. This goblin was young, although age made no difference in a goblin's capability to visit great torment and evil upon those it came across. This goblin had survived the destruction of its nest. Deep in its black heart, the resentment and hate it felt towards all life spilled over and consumed it. It seethed with rage, with disappointment towards itself. It had not been able to kill the adventurers.

And yet…

Now he was the leader of his nest. He liked the sound of that.

Yes.

A haunting smile stretched across the vile monster’s face, tongue lapping at dry lips. He could just taste the blood in the air. Wanting more, he bit down on the inside of his mouth until it filled with the taste of copper.

Finally, he could taste it. Finally, he could think.

He was not dead. He had not let Him down yet.

So he would wish, with his whole being, to Him.

Sargantas.

As he thought that name, he could feel his hatred growing stronger. In the depths of that hate the goblin wallowed, and in the depths of that hate did he nourish himself and grow stronger. He would start a new nest, near the place those adventurers had come from.

And when he was stronger, when he’d become an ogre, he would kill them all.

He threw his head back in a cackle.

He would grow the nest.

He would start anew.

And then, when the time was right, he would destroy the adventurers.

Suddenly, he doubled over and vomited. A green, slime-like substance piled from his throat onto the floor, and inside the mess was one of his own. Yet, he felt no love for the creature. A cold indifference, instead.

What was truly on his mind, was killing. Soon, he told himself.

Soon.

#

Taka awoke to the sounds of water. Still half-asleep, he nearly thought it was raining.

But then he came to, and saw that it was just that half-elf guy, Beriyl, refilling his waterskin for what had to be the fourth or fifth time since they’d left the coast.

‘…um, how much water is this guy drinking?’

To his chagrin, Beriyl must have noticed him staring at him, because he turned and said something so incredibly stupid, Taka wasn’t sure his ears were working right; “Hey. You. Where are we going?”

“Uh… huh?” He mumbled drowsily, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to wake up faster.

Time inched ever closer to dawn—fringes of light cascaded over the horizon as the sun peeked above it, gradually illuminating the still-waking world.

“Um, are you talking to me?” Taka’s voice was a hushed whisper, but Beriyl didn’t seem to catch on. Instead, he sighed and kept talking at his “normal” volume, which was already pretty loud.

“Who else would I be speaking to?” He replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I don’t know, but be quiet. It’s very-“ Taka yawned. “It’s very early.”

Beriyl’s face upturned in a taut, falsely pleasant smile as he spoke. He’d waited patiently for Taka meet his gaze again before speaking, and Taka listened as the idiot repeated something that made no sense at all, in a voice far above “people are sleeping” levels.

“Our destination. What is it?”

With another big yawn, Taka slumped back in his seat, staring at the noble.

“Um… it’s Leln. Are you being serious?”

“Yes, quite serious. Thank you. Was that so hard? I swear, you commoners…”

‘Okay, you know what? If he’s gonna be like this, I just woke up, and I’m not gonna deal with it.’

With that, Taka shut his eyes, but unfortunately that didn’t keep Beriyl from bothering him.

“You know!” He began, still far too loud for the time it was. Taka’s eyes shot open—and snapped on to the man as he hissed, “Beriyl- Be quiet, you’re gonna wake someone up!”

Was he even trying to be quiet? The smirk on his face – and his next words -- told Taka that the answer was, in fact, no.

“That’s below my concern. And it’s Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz to you. Now, what I was going to say before you so rudely interrupted me was, I read that it was in Leln the Hero Lelnas buried his sworn enemy.”

“Oh really.” Taka grumbled; disinterest written plain across his face.

“Yes! The book I was reading last night told of that.”

“…I thought that was the monster whatever.”

“No, no, that’s a different book. When I asked for your assistance with a Light, do you recall? I was perusing a different tome, then. A fable, by Bartholomew Xassord.”

“…right..”

“Yes! And-“

At this point, Taka decided to interrupt him before he actually woke someone else up.

“Why are you awake right now? Why?” He hissed. “I mean, don’t nobles usually sleep in, or something?”

“Hahaha! Well, I couldn’t very well leave my valuables unattended, now could I? Not with all this riffraff around! Oh, and I assure you, I got plenty of sleep! But thank you for worrying about my well-being.”

Taka scoffed and turned away. “Yeah, okay…”

‘Really hope he didn’t wake anyone up. I mean, he woke me up, and I’m so-‘

Another yawn wrenched its way from his body.

‘…Maybe I should go back to sleep.’

He shot a glance around the carriage, that thought echoing in the back of his mind. The man with the scar hadn’t stirred—his eyes were closed, but something about his body language, the way he clutched the sword laid across his lap, gave Taka the feeling he wasn’t asleep. The catfolk girl, however… was currently glaring at Beriyl. Beriyl, who, of course, didn’t have a care in the world when it came to other people, apparently.

Eventually, he found sleep.

The next time Taka opened his eyes, it was to the break of dawn—to golden rays of sunlight spilling over the landscape, guided by the sun as they rose. The days warmth hugged at his body, and it wasn’t until he felt that sensation that he realized how cold he’d been. He took a deep breath of the morning air—a soft breeze making it all the more refreshing.

“Haaaa…”

He stretched his torso upward, intertwining his hands as he forced the sleep from his limbs. Next, his legs… and then he paused, stricken by the sight before him.

The carriage rocked beneath him as they travelled through the forest, down a well-trodden dirt path...

And toward Leln.

Leln.

They were getting closer to the gates—his carriage was nearer the top formation-wise, but he’d been watching people pull in and disappear around the corner for what felt like ages. That meant there had to be people already getting off and going on their way, and there was a carriage pulling past the gates just now…

He practically couldn’t wait.

‘I can’t believe we’re finally here. Holy shit!’

He flicked his gaze to his right—Beriyl was still there, looking tired and irritable.

‘…maybe he didn’t sleep very well?’

Well-rested and invigorated by the dawn and profound excitement, Taka decided to ask a question that’d been bothering him for a while. He hadn’t asked it yet, because he knew he’d probably start something, but he was happy, and sometimes, he asked stupid questions when he was happy.

“Hey, why’d you uh, wanna become an adventurer? I’m curious.”

Instantly, Beriyl’s face darkened, and he looked downward, hesitating.

"That’s..."

For a moment, he stared quietly at the palms of his hands, before clenching them into fists.

"Absolutely none of your concern," he finally mustered, voice wavering. Then, he turned and peered off into the distance.

“Uh, okay..." Taka studied him for a second, then shook his head slightly in confusion and glanced away.

Just in time, too.

The carriage rolled steadily past the gate, then kept going. Following the drivers ahead of them, and the guards’ directions, they eventually came to a section off the main road assigned purposefully for Advent Month carriages. There was more than enough room for all forty-some carriages in here.

To be entirely honest, riding through the bustling streets, watching as people looked up at them (they may not have been looking at him directly, but his nerves ensured it felt like it…) and the fact that he was in a new place, by himself? It was all extremely overwhelming. So much so, he found himself pulling his scarf up over his nose to try and hide-- But for better or worse, he didn’t get much time to dwell on it.

“Welcome to Leln. Now get off.” The man at the reins droned, voice gruff and grumpy.

‘I wonder if, um… Did that guy even sleep? I guess not, yeah, I guess he probably couldn’t, but…’

First to reply, of course, was none other than Beriyl. Rising from his seat, he cocked his head and quipped, "With pleasure!"

The other two got off without commentary. The catfolk shot one last nasty glare in Beriyl’s direction, and a look of pity, or… understanding, in Taka’s.

For his part, he grabbed his stuff and hopped off the carriage, feeling the gravelly dirt crunch beneath his feet.

He was here.

That realization hit him like a wave—he was here!

Excitement, for what laid ahead – anxiety, for the uncertainty of the future – sadness, for having left Dane – and happiness and pride, for having finally made that first step, by himself, for himself. He was that much closer to becoming an adventurer, and he’d done it all on his own.

Taking his first few steps away from the carriage and back into the main street, stopping just before the gate, he looked around in awe at all the buildings, all the people wandering through the town; there were towering beastfolk and nimble halffolk, stout dwarves and beautiful elves, as well as some lesser seen races, like half-demons and insect beastfolk. Taka even saw a few dogfolk-- if he remembered what Dane had taught him, they’d lost the Kaardan War and consequently became a slave species, so there weren’t too many of them around anymore. Wolffolk, on the other hand…

Leln was in full gear due to Advent Month; everyone seemed extraordinarily busy, hurrying here and there, with horses pulling wagons trotting noisily down the roads, carrying important people and various goods. Storeowners advertised their services at the front of their establishments, smiling at all the profit – all the new adventurers coming into town.

“Thirty percent off, yes, thirty percent off!”

“Weapons! Sellin’ weapons here! Fifteen percent off all swords! Offer’s good for an hour!”

“Got potions great and minor, arrows and all manner of things here! Forty percent off, won’t get it anywhere else! First five customers get two potions free with a purchase of three!”

For all the businesses openly shouting at the crowds and hoping to hook someone, there were a sizable number not bothering people on the streets. Taka watched as the depressed guy from his carriage headed into one such place-- a general store for adventurers, by the looks of it. It was small, painted an off bluish-green, and nestled betwixt several other buildings, making it not particularly eye-catching.

Suddenly, Taka was thrown from his thoughts as someone roughly shouldered past him, pushing him aside. He opened his mouth to say something, but his assailant spoke first.

"Get out of the way, you imbecile!"

Taka blinked. He could tell exactly who it was. Didn’t matter that he couldn’t see his face…

“Imbecile?”

The owner of the posh voice turned around, revealing someone dreadfully familiar: Beriyl.

“Are you talking to me?” Taka pointed at himself unenthusiastically, despite knowing full well that he was talking to him.

All things considered; this noble was lucky Taka didn’t possess an aggressive temperament. It made him wonder though, had Beriyl ever set someone off so bad they beat him half to death?

‘…probably not.’

Even if it had, it doubtless wouldn’t have done much to change his behavior. Taka wasn’t speaking from experience, but people like him never learned from violence. And violence wasn’t the right way to change someone’s tune, anyhow…

Beriyl upturned his head, looking down his nose at him.

"Yes, who else might I be talking to? Do you see any other imbeciles around?"

…

It was funny. Just the other night, this “mage” had asked him to cast a Light for him. Surely, he could have just done that himself. Unless…

Taka smiled. Now it was his turn to turn up his nose.

‘Imbecile, huh? Yeah, I’ll show you imbecile, you imbecile....’

"Look, you’re the one who couldn't even cast a simple Light spell on your own. I don't think-"

Before Taka’d even finished his sentence, he’d successfully set Beriyl off like a pin to a balloon.

“I-!” He sputtered, flustered and struggling to maintain his composure. “Well!” He hmphed. “Seeing as it is an elementary spell that even the pettiest of magicians can cast, I assure you, of course I can cast it you fool!” With a huff, he added, “I simply didn’t want to waste any of my precious mana on such a trivial thing.”

Taka nodded, and with a sarcastic gesture of goodbye, walked off in a random direction, ignoring the rest of the half-elf’s nonsense.

“Riiight… Bye.”

He had things to do— arguing with a smartass like him was not one of them. Taka knew his first stop should be the Adventurers Guild, but he had no clue where it was.

Then, he spoke without thinking.

"How old is that guy, even...?"

It was an utterance meant mostly for himself, expressing his disdain with Beriyl at the moment. Yet, as luck or perhaps fate would have it, Beriyl had heard it, and of course, was very upset by it.

"Me?! How old are you!?" He had practically screeched.

"Fifteen," Taka turned around, calmly conceding his age without issue.

"I am sixteen!" Beriyl loudly declared, with a smirk.

"Yeah? Well, you act like a twelve-year-old."

Beriyl was even further upset by this, as evidenced by his face which was now very red. Then, he said something to the effect of expressing that, but by that point Taka had stopped paying attention and was looking down the road where all the carriages were being held.

From what he could see, the bald carriage driver was absent. That wasn’t too big of a deal, since he felt like that guy was one of the least likely to actually want to help him.

In fact, Taka still remembered when just the night before, the man had said something about not caring if the adventurers died, and…

He shook his head. Not important right now.

‘Focus…’

There were a few adventurers still idling in the area. Briefly, he considered asking them for directions, but the looks on their faces made him believe they’d just yell at him.

Apprehension coursed through his veins, rooting him in place. This place was so busy, so loud, and he had no idea where to go.

‘I have to ask someone, obviously. Okay, but ask who?! Ask who?! Who am I supposed-‘

His thoughts spiraled. Unbeknownst to him, there was a very irritated looking half-elf standing right behind him, tapping his foot impatiently with his arms crossed.

Overthinking would do him no good. He knew that, so why was it always after he’d overthought something that he remembered that?

He’d made his decision. He was gonna do this—no backing out.

His extraneous thinking had helped with one thing, at least. There’d been a blond ponytailed guy with a fancy spear at his back heading his way for a while, and he’d be entering speaking distance any moment now. Out of everyone Taka had seen, he seemed least likely to explode in his face. Looks could be deceiving, sure, but he really doubted this guy would-

‘Okay, let’s do this.’

“Uh, uh, excuse me!” Taka called out to the man, as he cut through the crowd and stepped into the clearing. Closing the distance with long, purposeful strides, he stopped before Taka and allowed a warm smile to brighten his face.

“Hello there,” he said, peering down at him. “Did you need something?”

“Um, yeah, uh….” Taka stammered, before finally managing a half-decent, “Do you, uh, know how to get to the adventurer’s guild?”

“Yes, I do,” The man began, brushing his ponytail back over his shoulder. “I could take you there, if you like? I’d just need a few minutes to settle this errand first.”

Taka quickly shook his head.

“Oh, uh, no, that’s okay! Um, I just don’t know how to, uh… get there.”

With a firm nod, the man pointed in the opposite direction.

“Gotcha. It’s in the town square. Just head down that way until you see a massive red building, and a fountain. You’ll know it when you see it, I think.”

Taka breathed a quick sigh of relief, then almost bowed, stopped because he realized he didn’t really know how to do it right, and instead nodded frantically.

“Ah, okay, okayokay! Th- thank you, sorry to bother you.”

The blond man just laughed.

“Not at all. Good luck out there.”

With that, their conversation was at an end. Taka was glad he’d run into someone so amiable. He was also glad that it was over, because asking random people for help made him incredibly nervous.

‘That guy was so nice though, so why was I nervous? Like, yeah he was cool. Nice hair. Very nice. He was pretty handsome. Yes, I get it. Yes, he was very nice. And- Okay, shut up.’

Through the crowds of people he went, trying his best to avoid bumping into people. Behind him trailed the noble, who was terrible at that. Every time he bumped into someone, he’d mutter under his breath—it was a wonder how he hadn’t been grabbed by the lapels and punched in the face by now. Unfortunate.

Eventually, Taka noticed the half-elf following him, but didn’t bother saying anything. He did, however, find himself thinking; ‘Why is this guy following me?’

If it was because he thought Taka knew the way around town, then he was dead wrong. Taka was practically lost, running off the blond spearman’s directions, and repeating under his breath a mantra of; “Red building and fountain.”

Every so often, he’d shoot a glimpse back at him—and there he would be, avoiding eye contact, pretending to buy something at a stall or study an item on display… Occasionally, he’d fall behind and race to catch up, making an absolute clumsy fool of himself as he did so.

Under normal circumstances, Taka might have thought to lead him astray to see if he were truly being followed, but this time, he didn’t. He was already lost enough. And it was clear to see that Beriyl was following him.

Taka didn’t really know or like the man, but for some reason, felt obligated to wait for him when he slowed down. As the rude noble did so every few minutes, this quickly began to make him very upset.

#

An awe-stricken breath escaped him as he entered the town square, the wind breezing against his skin and rippling his clothes as he looked around. It was busier here than along the main street, although maybe that shouldn’t have surprised him. People poured in and out of buildings, with most adventurers going straight across and into what Taka could only assume was the Guild. Like a vortex, it was truly attention pulling—red and gold and utterly towering, it must have stood at least twenty feet taller than any other building in the area. It also seemed to be relatively new, the paint was in tip-top shape, the wood revealing no blemish nor defect.

Shaking him from his observations, that noble brushed past. Wordlessly, he watched as the idiot entered the guild with so much arrogance in his step, you’d swear he’d found the place himself.

‘Well,’ he thought. ‘We’re here. I don’t know what that Beriyl guy’s problem is, but we’re here. Now, let’s see…’

Crossing his arms and trying to push down his nervous excitement, he went over a mental checklist like he usually did. Find a party, buy any needed gear, register with the guild…

‘…Okay, yeah. Register first. Let’s figure out the other stuff after.’

Now it was his turn to meet the guild head on. Slowly making his way across the clearing, he came to an abrupt stop just before the doors. They were tall, wide things made of solid wood, fitted with golden knockers that presumably deserved as handles. He reached out for one of the rings held in a sculpted lion’s mouth, then stopped himself. ‘What if this wasn’t the right building?’ Doubt whispered insidiously into his ear, continuing, ‘What if you open it, and-‘

“Well!” He slapped his face with both hands, putting a stop to that.

“I won't get anywhere by standing around. Come on, Taka…”

‘You can do this. You got this. You’re gonna be okay.’

With a deep breath, he gripped both rings and pulled the doors open. Instantly, a blast of cold air hit him in the face.

“Whoa!” He exclaimed, though he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t weird to open a door and have it be colder inside than outside. But then again, he did say weird things when he was nerv-

“Close the damn door already!” Someone shouted from his left, taking him out of his thoughts.

‘Woops.’

“Uh, sorry.” He apologized, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him.

Clack.

To Taka’s immediate left was a long velvet-cushioned bench lining the wall, which atop sat an irate halfling with a large axe on his back. Evidently, he was stronger than he looked.

“Hmph,” The man grunted with a half-hearted eyeroll, as if daring him to say something.

But Taka said nothing. Avoiding confrontation, he instead turned away and let his eyes wander about the room, until they settled on what was just above that halfling-- A large and round golden clock.

If he had to guess, it was probably the size of, or maybe a bit larger than a dresser or three. Its presence left ample space on the wall, sure, but it really was eye-catching nonetheless.

The guild hall itself was surprisingly spacious, in that it seemed both very long and very wide; although, you probably wouldn’t think it to be, what, with the hundred-some people currently in it. The building’s height wasn’t for show: flights of stairs led to the upper levels, which held meeting rooms, storage, and so on and so forth.

The crowd was a blending pot of life – men, women, and those in between, adventurers new and old, folk of all races… Some conversed with companions, while others were off to the side, scrutinizing the job board. Many were in line, of which there were two. One along the wall nearest the job board, and one in the middle. At the head of the latter was someone Taka had unfortunately been seeing a lot of lately-- Beriyl. Despite only being able to see the back of his head, he knew it was him.

That noble’s hair was incredibly unique; Taka had traveled with Dane for years, and not once had he seen someone with hair like his. Not even here in this room, where upon looking into the crowd he saw shades of every color adorning heads—not one of them bore Beriyl’s raven-locked, blue-streaked combination.

A clear voice shouted to be heard above the clamor, tearing him out of his idling thoughts; “Newcomers! Registrations will be the middle line!”

Hit by another wave of emotion, one thought played in his head: Here, he’d become an adventurer. For real. He’d really, finally, be an adventurer!

The thought made him unbearably excited. What would his party members be like? How would he find them? What would his first job be? What would-

He got in line, grateful for the directions provided by the employee earlier. Grateful, that he didn’t have to rely on Beriyl’s presence in it and indirectly trust such a pampered noble, least of all someone he didn’t even really like.

‘It’s like, we’re, um… like oil and water.’

In any case, it didn’t seem like the wait would be too long. Taka was at the very back, and there was countably about fifteen people ahead of him, with Beriyl’s turn set to be after three (from what Taka could see) others. It seemed like it was taking about five to ten minutes per person, which meant…. Hm.

‘So, like… it’ll be an hour or two? I hope not. That would kinda-’

“Ah!”

A rough pain shot through his shoulder as someone shoved him aside—their face obscured by the hood they wore, Taka had no clue who it was. He barely managed to keep his balance, and turned to say something, anything, but they were already melting into the crowd, leaving nothing but an ingenuine “Sorry!” in their wake. Their voice suggested a young girl, so…

‘I guess maybe she’s in a hurry or something.’

He didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t a big deal, it was a busy day, she apologized, yeah. It was okay.

Elsewhere in the guild, a lone lizardfolk woman looked around in confusion, seemingly lost. There was a dwarf arguing with his party members about something or other, while chugging heartily from a flask. The employees continued issuing directions. A rough-hewn man dressed in simple traveling clothes and a mix of brigandine and leather armor— the selfsame man who’d spoken to Beriyl and Taka on the carriage— entered the guild and stepped into line quietly.

To Taka’s great surprise, not even an hour had passed before he found himself at the front of the line.

#

As the clock’s hands struck noon, the air began to fill with a slow, gentle tune. The chimes were loud, reverberating throughout the hall before falling off into silence, consumed by the ever-present chorus of voices.

It was overwhelming. So overwhelming, in fact, that he had forgotten where he was standing, and that someone was currently trying to speak to him.

“Um… are you alright?”

An electric feeling jolted through his mind for a split second, that realization that something demands your attention.

‘Oh shit.’

“Ah!” He gasped, turning his attention to the voice in front of him. Awkwardly, he tried to recover, stammering, “Yes, er, uh. Sorry. Yeah?”

Greeting him from behind the counter with a slightly strained smile was a human woman.

“Welcome to Leln’s adventuring guild. May I help you?”

His heart pounded in his throat as he nodded.

"Oh, y- yes. Um, I- I'm, uh, um, here to register with the, uh, guild as a, uh, a- adventurer."

While he had intended to speak calmly and confidently, his voice wouldn’t comply and his tongue had gotten twisted up, and his throat, and… he’d failed completely.

"Certainly," She immediately replied, quick enough to make Taka think she’d been preparing to say that ever since he’d gotten in line. Although, what seemed more likely was that she’d just been handling guild registration affairs for a while.

Something he did notice, idly looking around while the guild lady flipped through a stack of papers, was that the guy who’d followed him here – Beriyl, if he remembered right -- was nowhere to be found. Ah, well. He hadn't really been paying all that much attention to anything while he’d been in line, so it made sense he hadn't seen him leave. Right before he stopped looking for the half-elf noble, he caught a glimpse of another semi-familiar face waiting in line.

‘It’s the depressed guy from before… What’s he doing here? He looks like an adventurer to me already, but maybe he isn’t, and… oh, or I guess he could be in the wrong line. But if he was already an adventurer, wouldn’t he-’

“Ahem.”

Taka spun around.

“Oh, um…”

His eyes fell down upon the piece of paper waiting for him on the desk. Reaching out for the pen beside it, he couldn’t help but apologize for the umpteenth time.

“Uh, sorry…”

‘I should ask about the bell,’ His thoughts needled.

“Uh, is this the...?” He asked, trailing off as he pointed awkwardly toward the paper.

The receptionist huffed, before forcing her face into a tight-lipped smile.

“Yes. You just need to fill it out and hand it back to me. Please, take your time.”

She was clearly getting tired of dealing with people. Come to think of it, she looked awfully tired. Taka wondered if maybe she were depressed as he stared at the pen, trying to instill enough confidence in himself to ask his burning question.

‘Should I just ask her now? I want to know about it. But isn’t that weird? Or rude? I don’t know, but I’m just sitting here. I can’t just sit and stare at it. She’s going to think I’m a weirdo. Or that I’m creepy. Because I’m just sitting here. Decide something, Taka! This isn’t that hard. Ask her or don’t. Don’t just sit here. Come on, come on, come on… Agh!’

The lady narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

“Something the matter?” She sighed, her tone softening as she then added, “Do you need me to get someone who can write for you?”

“Uh, no…” Taka muttered. “I know how to write. It’s, um… Sorry. I’ve had this question, and maybe it’s kind of stupid, and if it is then I’m sorry, but uh, what’s with the bell? The, um, the clock thing? What does that bell sounding song mean?”

That same taut smile. Stretched thin over countless hours of the same conversation, over and over. This however, seemed to be a new question, as she answered with more clarity, and less of a “this is a job I’m only working at for the coin” tone of voice.

“When the chime plays, it means it is midday. It does so twice a day, once at noon and again at midnight.”

“Oh. Thank you. That’s interesting.” Taka said, smiling nervously.

“Certainly.”

And then, he finally took up the pen and put it to the paper… where he immediately found himself distracted by his stomach. It felt like an empty pit, and kind of hurt. Which was understandable, considering that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.

‘Well, I’ll just have to grab something to eat after this.’ He quickly decided, narrowing his eyes and studying the paper.

It was fairly simple paperwork, from the looks of it. It contained areas to fill out his basic information—his name, age, and “role”, amongst other minor things. In the role section of the form, there were several checkboxes and a blank line preceded by “Other:”. Taka, having never done paperwork before, was completely and utterly lost.

‘Uh…. Vanguard fighter, spellcaster, healer, scout, other…? Is this my role? Oh. There it is. Role. Okay, um… I’m obviously not a healer and I don’t think I’m gonna be much of a fighter, I’m not a spellcaster in any way, so…’

“Would you like some help?” The lady behind the counter asked.

“O- oh, er. I’m just completely lost. I’ve not done paperwork before, and…”

“Not a problem at all,” She interrupted, unintentionally. “We get many people like that. What are you confused about?”

Taka held the paper out to her and pointed at it.

“I don’t know how to explain it. The role thing. How do I know what to pick?”

The receptionist smiled. It wasn’t a derisive one by any means, but Taka felt like she were laughing at him in her mind.

“That’s just asking for your role in a team dynamic. If you can cast spells, I’d recommend you circle spellcaster. If you’re comfortable on the frontlines, then I’d suggest fighter. Does that make sense?”

Taka blinked and struggled to think up a reply fast enough. He failed, and so the guild lady followed up with another question, aiming to guide him onto his right answer.

“In a team dynamic, in what role do you think you would be most helpful?”

“Oh. Um… I- I mean, I’m perceptive, I… guess?”

Leaning forward over the desk, the guild employee let one finger come to rest upon a particular unchecked box.

“Then, I’d suggest circling Scout. A perceptive party member in the scout role is never a bad thing. The ability to recognize traps or ambushes is an invaluable skill in any party composition.”

Well, that thought alone made him very stressed out. What if he messed up and got someone killed? What if he wasn’t fast enough? What if he actually wasn’t perceptive, and he was wrong? What if-

“Don’t worry. You can always come back and have it changed in the future.”

‘That makes me a little less worried, I guess, but also not. I… gah, aghhhh!!!!! Whatever, whatever. Whatever, whatever, whatever. Shut up, it’ll be fine. Stop worrying. Taka. Stopppppppp! Dane always told me to stop worrying so much, and I just can’t! Just stop! Quiet! No more thoughts. No. Circle it.’

Pulling the paper back toward himself, he circled; “Scout”, then finished the rest of the page in a few minutes. Handing the sheet of paper back, he was then instructed to place his hand on a glowing sigil on the desk.

A few moments after that, he received a necklace known as an “adventurer tag” from the receptionist. As he was told, it would be used to quickly detail his name, rank, and age if he died.

“…Oh, great!” Taka sarcastically quipped. The receptionist waved her hand and gave a dry smile.

“Don’t worry,” She tried to reassure him, her tone clinical as she elaborated, “It has purposes beyond that. One such example is when you’re trying to form a party; they can help expedite the process. Lets you get a good idea of what role a person might be best suited for in your composition. Of course, people can lie, but that’s outside guild jurisdiction. Other than that, we’ve got your info on file now, so we probably won’t need to see it again. By the way, when I say “we”, I’m speaking of the Guild.”

The rank that he now held was the rank F, titled "Clay". The first ranking out of many for adventurers. It supposedly symbolized the "moldability" of fledgling adventurers, such that who they were now and who they were in the future could potentially be quite different. As Taka was told, the ranks went something like this, from highest to lowest:

Rank S: Legendary

Rank A: Platinum

Rank B: Gold

Rank C: Silver

Rank D: Copper

Rank E: Bronze

Rank F: Clay

It was impressed upon him that, by the end of their career, most adventurers ranked somewhere between Gold and Copper, with most never seeing Platinum and only one person in history being awarded an S-ranking; that person being, of course, the Hero Lelnas.

Then, he was buffeted by seemingly hundreds of rules and things to remember. When he finally left the guild building behind, he almost felt more stressed out than he had first entering it.

#

Standing outside the guild hall, head reeling with information, Taka found himself in a state vastly different to the one he’d been in a few short hours ago. For starters, the tag dangling from his neck hadn’t been there. He fidgeted with it for a moment, before tucking it beneath his shirt. The metal was cold and uncomfortable against his skin—he didn’t much like the feeling, so he decided he’d put it away in his bag whenever he had the chance. There wasn’t any rule stating you had to wear it, anyway.

‘At the same time though, I kind of want to wear it. It’s proof I finally got to realize part of my dream.’

Clearing his mind, he took a deep breath in, then exhaled. The last time he had stood in this square, just earlier that same day, he had not been an adventurer. Now that he was, he didn’t really feel too different. His stomach, however, thought otherwise, as evidenced by its angry growls.

‘Well, my damn stomach aside, that wasn’t so bad. We did it, anyway. Good job, Taka. See what happens when you just try?’

He had overcome one major hurdle, and consequently felt less tormented by his nerves. That done, he went over his mental checklist again.

‘Get my gear, so, go shopping, find a party, and then… possibly take jobs, right…? Or maybe, since it’s the first day it’s too early to…? Gah!’

He’d just figure it out as he went along. Of course, he could go and eat now, and then… No! The idea of stopping didn’t sit well with him, he really wanted to get his gear while the sun was still up. So, that was what he was gonna do; his “damn stomach” could wait.

‘It’s annoying, but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. But still… I ate all the snacks Dane gave me and I’m still hungry. But that was yesterday! So? So what? What the hells do you- shut up! This is not productive. Stop yelling at me. Myself. We will eat. Later. It’s fine. Shut up!’

Right. With that out of the way, next he'd check out the various specialized adventuring shops. As Taka recalled, there was one such building that had really caught his eye when he’d arrived, and so he began to make his way back towards it.

Leln was surprisingly large, despite how it appeared. It had the “feel” of a very small town, yet was unquestionably a decent middling size, with its own districts and market. He’d stolen a few glimpses at said market on his way to the guild—the food vendors peddling street food were particularly intriguing… Especially to his stomach. Altogether, it was exactly what Taka would have imagined and expected from a town with a reputation for being “the best for new adventurers”.

The air was full of noise as people hurried around him—busy as usual, if maybe a bit less busy than it had been when he’d arrived. Here was to hoping his estimate would be correct, that getting back to that spot would only take him thirty or so minutes. (accounting for the crowds, having to stop, getting distracted, etcetera.)

For the most part, he made good progress. He only got distracted a few times, but in his defense, the tavern sign he’d passed by was really eye-catching. In a funny sort of way.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before he found himself standing in front of the store he’d had in mind. It was in an interesting spot for sure, directly across from one of Leln’s entry gates. Looking at it again, Taka had to wonder why it had caught his eye to begin with. It was a very plain and simple building, with a sign reading “Earlbarx’s Adventuring Goods” nailed inches above the doorframe.

“Hmm…” He quietly hummed to himself, before…

“Ah.”

He remembered now. It was because that man had come here, almost immediately after getting off the carriage. That guy seemed like a very purposeful sort, in that he likely never did anything out of what was absolutely necessary.

One final thing of note to Taka was that this area felt practically deserted compared to the rest of Leln. Well, perhaps deserted was the wrong word to use. There were a few people here and there, but it paled in comparison to what he assumed could only be the hundreds, if not thousands of people elsewhere.

As he stood about and entertained his mind, losing track of everything and spacing out as usual, he heard a voice. Posh and whiny, it didn’t take long for him to put a face to it. It was none other than Beriyl’s.

“Please, I implore you! I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz, I demand a discount! I am nobility, for the love of the Gods! Don’t you-”

Yep. Definitely him. Taka briefly considered turning tail and just going to grab lunch instead, but he had walked all this way, and it wasn’t like he was allergic to Beriyl, or something. At least, not that he knew of.

‘Is it even possible to be allergic to a certain person?’

Maybe he’d find out, he mused as he headed up the short set of stairs, sighed, and pulled open the door. The sound of a bell welcomed him inside—he froze, standing awkwardly in the doorway as it echoed shrilly throughout the room, wondering if Beriyl would turn around to insult him again.

But soon enough, the sound stopped, and the noble was still yelling and gesturing dramatically at the storekeeper, as if he’d never even heard the bell ring.

“Enough!” The storekeeper bellowed, slamming his fist on the countertop as the door creaked shut.

“Nobility or not, you’re not getting a gods damned discount! Now, if you’re buying anything, do so! If you aren’t, get the fuck out!”

The storekeeper was a stout dwarf with a fat face, which was currently colored beet red in his anger. His wispy mustache seemed similarly angry, moving dramatically as he argued with the stubborn noble.

Taka had to hold in his laughter. For some reason, it was utterly hilarious to him that Beriyl had apparently just waltzed on in and demanded a discount before even trying to buy anything.

“B- but, I’m a noble!” Beriyl’s voice wavered as if he were about to cry.

Taka found himself wondering if Beriyl’d ever been told “No,” before. Evidently not, it seemed.

‘Wonder how long these two have been at it?’

As their unending argument continued, the dwarf’s face continued to grow redder and redder, as if he were a bomb about to explode. Taka had never seen someone’s face get so red.

So this is what they meant when they described people looking like tomatoes in books.

Other than Taka, Beriyl, and the shopkeeper, there was only one other person in the store— an orange-haired catfolk who was trying his best to stay out of it. If it weren’t for his stifled laughter, Taka wouldn’t have even known he was there—he was that good at blending in.

Anyways, Beriyl was fighting a losing battle. Earlbarx had to keep his prices the same for everyone, so he could keep his business afloat. Handing out discounts based on things like noble status, or any other such nonsense was a good way to run your business into the ground.

As Taka continued to idle indecisively about a few paces from the door, the bell rung again, signifying a new arrival. An incredible presence fell over the room, rooting him in place and silencing Beriyl and the shopkeeper, the latter’s eyes wide with surprise and fear.

‘Who? Who is it? What is the shopkeeper looking at? What is this imposing aura!?’

He could feel it; Two eyes burrowing into the back of his head. A massive presence was behind him. It was terrifying, to the extent he didn’t want to turn around.

‘What the hell is this? S- some kind of monster?!’

As shockingly as the sensation came, it went. Taka almost fell to the ground in a huff of relief. The imposing form of a familiar man passed by him and stopped just behind Beriyl, who craned his neck upward with a silent look of disbelief etched plain across his face. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the man did not return his gaze.

‘By the gods, is he tall.’

Looking on with awe replacing fear, that was all Taka could think. He himself didn’t feel particularly short, standing at about five-four at fifteen years old, but with the literal tower of a man that was before him, he suddenly felt very small indeed. Even Beriyl stood a bit taller than Taka, but not by much. And then here you had this guy, who absolutely dwarfed the both of them.

There was no doubt about it; This was the same man from before, from the carriage, from the guild. He’d run into him three times now—each time, he felt more and more drawn to the man. He wasn’t sure why, but he was very curious about him.

A few moments passed in utter silence, as the tall man stared expectantly at the shopkeeper. That same shopkeeper, who moments prior had been red with rage, was now pale and trembling under his fierce gaze.

“Y- y- yes?” Earlbarx finally gave, his voice an unsteady whimper.

Beriyl’s face contorted into a look betwixt annoyance and anger. He was being ignored. Him!

Taka, still spectating, had to envision himself a solid wall—a dam, to keep from laughing. It would hold back the laughter, but for how long, he wondered?

"Arthur. Here for my sword, left it with you earlier? I’ll take two healing potions from your stock, as well."

‘Arthur, huh?’ Taka finally had a face for- uh, a name for the face.

“T- take? I- I won’t be strongarmed into-“

Arthur sighed heavily.

“I’m not strongarming you. I’ll pay.”

"O- Oh, of c- course!" The man quickly bent over and grabbed something, straightening back up and placing two corked thin vials filled with a red liquid onto the counter with a glassy tonk.

Arthur glared at the dwarf expectantly.

“And my blade?”

Earlbarx shivered at the intensity of his tone—flinching as Arthur reached out for the vials and tied them to his belt. The dwarf did not reply, and so Arthur fixed his stoic gaze upon him once more. His tone almost accusatory, he asked again.

“Where is my sword?”

"Uh-h-h-h, r- right, j- just a moment!"

Hopping off his stepping stool, the shopkeeper briskly disappeared into the back of the store. Moments later, he re-emerged, awkwardly clutching a longsword tight to his chest. It was almost comical—since he was a dwarf, the blade of the longsword alone was longer than he was tall, which meant he had to hold it in a certain way to keep it balanced and prevent the end of the sword from scraping against the ground. The end result was an oddly amusing waddle of a walk.

"S- sharpened and oiled as you asked,"

Clambering clumsily atop his stool and looking as if he had suddenly grown in height, the dwarf appeared behind the counter and laid the sword carefully down. It seemed he’d gained some confidence, as he began talking with less stutters.

"Tried to do what I could for the scabbard but it's a bit rough. Might I suggest-"

"No."

Not letting him finish, Arthur gruffly shut him down, completely shattering the dwarf's newfound confidence.

"R- right," The dwarf quickly patted the scabbard and then retreated from his stool like a guard abandoning his post, staring warily up at Arthur as if he were some sort of wild beast that’d attack at any moment.

"Any- uh,” He gulped. “A- anything e- else?"

When Arthur turned and walked off to another part of the store without a word, Earlbarx visibly relaxed, letting a sigh of relief escape him.

With him gone, that just left the matter of Beriyl—who was currently stunned into utter disbelief. His mouth agape, he made strange sounds resembling what Taka could only assume was meant to mimic those of a dying fish.

“Pfft….”

Uh oh. The imagined dam was breaking. First, his immature temper tantrum, and now this… It was simply too much. Taka bent over, the dam collapsed, and uncontrollable laughter flooded out.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“Y- you…!” Beriyl cried, his voice shaking as he spun around and thrust an accusatory finger toward Taka, who was currently hunched over and practically in tears.

Laughter! And at his expense, no less! How dare he?! The half-elf’s slender face was red with embarrassment, although Beriyl would have insisted it was rage, and his whole body was beset by tremors.

“How… how dare you!”

Taka’s laughter subsided, and he straightened up, taking a few deep breaths to make his stomach stop hurting faster.

“S- sorry, um… heh-“

Taka’d intended to actually apologize, he hadn’t meant to make anyone upset. He knew he shouldn’t be laughing, but his brain didn’t care; Before long, he found himself thrown into another fit of laughter. The idea of Beriyl as a fish was too ridiculous for Taka to handle. This posh, bratty noble, as a fish!

By now, the only other customer— the orange-haired catfolk — was starting to become visibly irritated. He had just wanted to come in and get something, but as he was very sensitive to sound, every time someone started shouting he had to cover his ears, which meant he couldn’t do much at all. And there had been a lot of shouting since that noble had entered the store.

Suddenly, Beriyl stomped the floor repeatedly with his foot.

“Okay, that’s it!” He cried.

“I’m leaving, I don’t need anything anyway! I am Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz, I will not be treated like this! Goodbye!”

With that, the half-elf aggressively flung the door open and fled into the town. The door slowly began to close on its own, and eventually did with a clack.

With Beriyl gone, the shopkeeper dwarf heaved another relieved sigh, the catfolk grumbled to himself, and Arthur remained silent, glaring darkly at a length of rope. Taka stood in place, feeling more than a little guilty. It hadn’t even been that funny. Why did his brain do this to him?

‘Well, uh… I guess I can start shopping now.’

But as he tried to decide which part of the store to check out first, he realized something; what did he need, to begin with? What did he even want? Looking down at himself, he ran over what he currently had, touching them as he went along. Two daggers, his bow, twelve arrows. He had some empty pouches on his belt, and his coinpurse was attached to the back. He had a simple leather waterskin stashed away, too. Taka’s hands stopped just short of his coinpurse, then he shifted his position and crossed his arms. Oddly, his belt felt a little lighter than usual, but for the moment, he didn’t think much of it.

“Well,” He mumbled to himself. “Guess we could look at swords, and then grab a potion or two, like that Arthur guy did, uh… maybe if they have chainmail or something, and…”

Having decided, Taka wandered around, idly picking up swords and pieces of armor. Nothing felt right--, but what did “right” even feel like? He was completely lost. What if he chose the wrong things? What if there was-

“That sword is too long for you.”

Taka was thrust from his thoughts as a familiar voice shook its way through his skull. Blinking, he found himself looking at a weary-faced man—Arthur.

“Whoa!”

The longsword he’d apparently picked up while meandering about wobbled dangerously to the side, threatening to fall. Arthur stopped it with a hand.

“A shorter blade would be better for you.” He repeated, taking the sword from Taka’s unsteady grasp. His focus was on it, but he was undoubtedly speaking to him.

“Shorter swords are better for people unused to them,” He continued. “It is easier to learn to wield a shortsword than a longsword. Longswords can get caught in tight places that a shorter sword won’t.”

Now, he was just rambling, but Taka felt that it made sense. Sort of. Maybe. Some of it had to be right, right? Maybe?

“Oh… uh, right,” He began, scratching his head.

“Um, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. The longsword thing. Sorry. That’s my bad.”

Arthur shook his head.

“No,” he said. “There’s no problem.”

Taka peered down at Arthur’s side and spotted his longsword.

‘Ah right. He just had that repaired or whatever, didn’t he? That’s why he was here. And I guess that explains why he came in here earlier, too.’

So, Arthur was either an experienced swordsman, or a hypocrite. Taka wasn’t sure which, but the man certainly looked like he’d seen something. The scar crawling from his chin up his lower-right cheek, gave him some credence, too…

Maybe his advice was- well, wait, what if he had just cut the scar into his face himself? No, that didn’t make sense. He didn’t seem like the type. Then again, Taka didn’t know him at all, so-

“Are you alright?” Arthur tore him from the web of his thoughts once more, as he stared at Taka, who happened to be staring at him.

Taka blinked. “Uh, yes. Sorry, I got distracted.”

“Get a shortsword. From what I’ve heard, most low-ranking monster jobs take place in enclosed spaces. We’ll be able to take those starting at D-Rank. And…”

‘We’ll? Also, who refers to their rank as the letter grade? Just say Clay, or whatever. But isn’t D-Rank called Bronze? Or was it Copper? …this is confusing.’

“…you don’t want it catching on a wall.”

Uh oh, he’d spaced out again. What was Arthur talking about? Was it swords still?

His brow furrowed in confusion, Taka glanced up at the man as he continued to repeat himself in different ways, until a new thought entered his head.

What if they partied up and took a few jobs together? Taka would certainly feel safer with this man around. He at least seemed to know what he was doing. Definitely had the air of someone experienced, anyway.

"Healing potions. Two. Always have those on you. Even the cheap ones can make a difference—though those won’t close a wound, they’ll stop you from bleeding to death. Make sure you get an adventurer's kit, the torches and rope included should prove especially useful."

"...okay."

Taka nodded, but he wasn’t sure he understood. It was a lot to process all at once. Swords, potions, be careful of your sword catching on a wall, torches, ranks…. He almost wanted to scream.

For a brief moment, Arthur simply studied Taka, looking him up and down. It made him uncomfortable.

“Uh…” He began, meaning to ask why Arthur was staring so intensely at him.

"Chainmail.” The man said with a snap of his fingers, before Taka had a chance to even ask.

“Wh- what?”

“You should invest in light mail armor. Something you can put under your top.”

“…like what?”

“Light chainmail. Mythril works best, if you can find it.”

Taka tilted his head. “Uh, right…”

‘I don’t really want to wear armor, though…’

Finally, Arthur nodded, satisfied that he’d done all he could.

“Right. Good luck, then. Fare you well.”

Then, he turned around and began to make his way toward the exit. Taka noticed an open-faced helmet dangling from his bag, which clattered and swayed as he moved. Had he purchased that helmet here? To be fair, Taka couldn’t expect himself to notice everything. He was perceptive, not all-knowing. In fact, there had been plenty of times in the last twenty minutes alone where he hadn’t noticed something because he wasn’t paying attention, so…

His thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the shrill chime of the greeting bell. Looking up, he realized Arthur was moments from leaving, his tall frame silhouetted by the bright light let in from the now open door.

He thrust out his hand.

“W- wait!”

For some reason, he felt as if the man left, he'd never seen him again. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much, but he had to…!

Arthur stopped in his tracks.

"Yes?"

Taka froze up. He didn’t have anything to say, but he didn’t want him to leave. He couldn’t exactly just tell this perfect stranger; “Hey, don’t leave me, please! Stay here, because of some random feeling I have!”

So instead of saying something, he just shook his head with a shaky breath, and stammered;

“Uh, it’s- it’s nothing. Sorry, thank you for uh, the help.”

An incredibly awkward farewell which left Taka fidgeting anxiously until Arthur smiled, nodded at him, and then was out the door. When the door finally shut, he heaved a stressed sigh.

‘Alright. Okay. Calm down. Sword, shortsword, all that stuff, right? Chainmail, if I can find it and, obviously, afford it… Then there’s potions, an adventurer’s kit, and, uh….’

His racing mind ground to a halt as his hands grasped at thin air where something should have been. An intense wave of despair washed over him as his heart plummeted into his stomach.

“No... Oh no.”

His coinpurse was gone.

#

“No, no, no…!”

Taka’s eyes defocused as he felt himself overcome by his emotions and that nagging hunger deep in the pit of his stomach. He retracted into his mind, recalling the past as if it were the present.

It was the day of Taka’s fifteenth birthday.

“Don’t sssspend it all in one place, yesss?” Dane had smiled as he handed him a pouch tied taught with a length of red rope. In it was thirty gold—the same amount Dane himself had begun his adventuring career with all those years ago. At the very least, it’d be enough for Taka to get some essentials, and a couple weeks in an inn. Although, he sincerely hoped it’d get him further than that.

The days after had been busy, filled with preparation for the trip that was to be Taka’s true present. The trip itself was no surprise—Taka had expressed his desire to be an adventurer ever since he could speak, and he’d been quite the talkative kid.

Even now, he could still recall nearly all the stories Dane had told him about his adventuring days.

A concerned voice cut through the haze of panic. His chest heaving with each breath, Taka looked up. Up. Why was he…

He was looking up at the orange-haired catfolk from earlier, up at his face etched with worry, up at his offered hand.

‘Why am I on the floor?’

Hesitantly, Taka accepted the catfolk’s hand and was pulled to his unsteady feet.

“Uh, you good?”

But Taka didn’t quite hear him. He hadn’t remembered getting on the ground. He remembered panicking, and then he remembered thinking about what Dane had done for him, and then… and then he didn’t remember. How exactly-

‘No, it doesn’t matter!’

There were more pressing things at stake—he had to find his coinpurse. Had to.

Not even thinking to thank the kind catfolk or catch his breath, Taka spun on his heel and was out the door. The greeting bell screamed unhappily as Taka spilled down the steps, tearing up his hands on the dirt and gravelly rocks. Sharp, burning pain flared through his palms as droplets of red fell into the dirt.

He was bleeding. That fact alone would normally have ripped him from his dazed panic, but he didn’t have time to worry about that right now. Forcing himself to his feet, he snapped his head this way and that-- where was the thief?! No, more importantly, where had it been stolen? The store? He doubted it; Arthur and Beriyl wouldn’t do something like that, and the Catfolk man had never gotten close enough. The guild? Maybe.

Taka’s chest hurt. Each breath seemed to serve only to make his heart pound faster. Putting his fingers against the bridge of his nose, he slumped down onto his knees.

“Okay, deep breath…”

First, he needed to slow down and think. Where did he last remember having it?

Come to think of it, he hadn’t had it back when he’d entered Earlbarx’s. He couldn’t have; his belt had been lighter since leaving the guild, but he’d been so caught up in his plans he hadn’t noticed at all.

And since he’d left the guild roughly forty minutes ago…

Taka swore under his breath. Whoever his thief was, there was no way they were still there.

No way they’re still there. That realization swam about his head like a fish in a pond. But then he shook his head roughly and pushed himself to his feet. He needed that money. He couldn’t just sit here and give up.

‘Right. Even if the chance isn’t very high, if I sit here and do nothing, it really will be a zero chance I get it back. At the very least…’

Maybe it was only lost. Taka would have vastly preferred that reality to the confrontation he’d inevitably have to go through had it truly been stolen.

But no. That optimistic blip of a thought was shattered when he remembered the girl who’d slammed into him while he’d been waiting in line. He’d caught the faintest glimpse of the hooded figure’s face-- If he saw her again, he had a feeling he’d know. It was more likely it had been stolen; and by her.

If he could just find her, he could ask for it back, and then maybe she’d just… give it back. Maybe. Hopefully. Taka had never been in a fight before, so he didn’t have much confidence in himself in that regard.

Swallowing the tightening unease forming in his throat, he began making his way back toward the town square.

#

The square was busy as ever. Since this part of town was so heavily adventurer-centric, most of the foot traffic was unsurprisingly adventurers. Said adventurers trotted about, standing out in the swarms of townsfolk going about their day amid opportunistic merchants trying to secure their next big customer. Guards watched from the sidelines—additionally, two heavily-armored knights bearing the crest of Hamelan were keeping vigil, standing beside the door to the guard’s office at the opposite end of the area.

‘Maybe I should ask the guards. Hamelan knights are supposed to be super capable, right? I bet if I asked one of them…’

He shook his head. No, this wasn’t exactly a matter worth bringing to the guard’s attention—much less a knight of the Kommodian capital’s. Those knights were here only as added security for Advent Month, to bolster the town guard. They had more important things to deal with, surely. Besides, he could solve this himself. Right?

He told himself that, wanted to believe that, but the festering doubt remained to wear down hope. How was he supposed to find one person out of this many? The odds were impossibly daunting.

At a loss, Taka found himself approaching the guild. He just had to find someone who seemed… openly suspicious. Not that he really knew what that meant. If it were one person, it wasn’t like they’d be waving the coinpurse around while shouting about how they’d stolen it. Taka might have laughed at the idea if he were in a lighter mood, but it only deepened his frown in the moment.

And what if it wasn’t an individual, but an organization? The thought alone made him sigh.

“I don’t wanna think about that…”

As he tried to push his energy in a more productive direction, his eyes locked with someone in passing; A cloaked figure with red eyes, crimson skin, and horns protruding through holes in their hood. A half-demon.

In a flash, a fragment of an image raced to the fore of his mind—being shoved aside by a hooded figure with similar features back at the guild. The echo of their hasty apology left no room for doubt as his mind screamed; ‘That’s her. That’s the one who stole our coinpurse!’

Taka stepped forward, voice cracking, sabotaging all possible confidence in himself as he yelled, “H- hey!”

The girl stared at him from under her hood for a moment, before her eyes widened with shock. Her hands flew outward, pushing him back as she cried, “Get away from me!”

Taka staggered but managed to keep his balance, as the girl turned on her heel and fled into the crowd.

“You-!”

Wasting not a moment, he bolted after her, swearing in his head.

Why was she doing this to him?! That money was his, and she wouldn’t even, you know, ask?! She’d gotten away once—Taka had no intention of letting it happen again.

“Stop!” He shouted as he tore after her. “My coinpurse-!“

Through the streets of Leln they went. Before he knew it, he was following her into the market, weaving past vendor stalls and people, around corners, further and further as his avenue of pursuit grew increasingly narrower.

Down the thinning road, the half-fiend had begun overturning stalls and shoving passersby, doing anything, everything to stop Taka from catching her. Produce, jewelry, and other glittering things littered the ground. Merchants cried over spilled goods, trying to salvage what they could, as bodyguards stepped forward to prevent theft while their employers handled the issue. Some shouted insults or swore, others merely looked on with bewilderment in their eyes.

A pang of empathy resonated in his heart—then turned to anger. He had to get his coinpurse back, and he had to stop her. It wasn’t just him anymore that she was affecting, it was all these people and their livelihoods!

He cleared the obstacles with agile grace, offering frantic apologies without slowing his pace.

His feet burned, legs ached, and his stomach…

Around another, and he was gaining on her. Almost there, almost! Another turn, and suddenly, as a startled scream cut through the air, he ground to a halt.

A towering human man glowered down at the fiendish girl through curtained brown hair. For half an instant Taka almost thought a bandit had wandered in and started trying to kidnap people. Until he saw his face.

“Arthur!” He gasped.

Where had he come from? Had he just been waiting there? Why? Suddenly, there were a lot of questions that needed answers.

“Taka.” The man’s face softened when he saw him, but he kept his grip on the girl’s wrist. His frame was outlined by the sun, giving him an almost heroic appearance. Even if what he was currently doing didn’t exactly look heroic. Taka would never say it aloud, but he was quite handsome.

“She stole my… coinpurse,” he huffed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. His exertion had really caught up with him—if she got away again, he didn’t think he’d have it in him to give chase.

Arthur nodded. “I know.”

A desperate cry wrenched itself from the girl's lips as she struggled in vain.

“L- let me go!”

Yet nothing could move Arthur's hand—nor sway his heart. He peered down at her, his gaze hardening into that same stoic mask. Freezing under his sight like she'd been petrified, a sheen of cold sweat beaded across the thief's forehead; A pitiful whimper slipped from her as he growled out a fate-sealing, "No.”

"Uh, wh- what do you mean? How do you know? I mean, I'm not like, uh, not happy or anything, but…"

Without missing a beat, Arthur provided a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"I heard you outside the shop. Beriyl should be here soon, too."

Taka just about physically recoiled at the mention of that guy's name.

'Not Beriyl again. I don't have anything against Arthur, but Beriyl…'

Beriyl was a piece of work that he would rather avoid. Idiot, pampered, fancy rock name, annoying, antagonistic… Huh. Maybe it really was possible to be allergic to certain people, after all?

Deciding that he wasn't likely to get a better explanation from someone as vague and unreadable as Arthur, he simply decided to accept the situation for what it was with a shake of his head, coming up closer to the thief and her "captor".

“Well, thanks, Arthur. I, um, really appreciate it.”

“Of course.”

Seemingly on cue, a certain half-elf noble staggered into view from behind him, looking like he'd been through the wringer.

“I… huff… have arrived…” Beriyl gasped.

And then he unceremoniously collapsed onto the ground.

Taka blinked, momentarily stunned into silence.

"Um… welcome."

It was awkward and terse, but he didn't have anything better to say. Not to him, anyway: "Please give me my money back."

It came out more pleading than he'd intended, but whatever.

The girl squirmed uncomfortably as she met his eyes. Hers were purple, and wet with unshed tears. A forced smile played on her lips; hope danced across her features. Then she nodded.

"S- sure,"

Averting her eyes, she muttered, "It's… in a pocket within my cloak."

Taka stepped forward to reach in and take it, but stopped himself.

"I don't understand. Why did you run and do all that stuff if you're so… so willing to just give it back? Like, why steal it?"

“Oh gee, I dunno, why does anyone steal stuff? ‘Cuz I needed the money? I'm trying to save up to get a trip to Hamelan, so I can reunite with my family. Something like that.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, but irregardless, that last bit made him pause.

“Oh, uh…”

Taka almost felt bad taking his money back now. Before he had time to do anything, however, Beriyl put himself between the two, and began one of his typical absurd tirades. He must have been feeling better, since he was back to acting like this.

"She's lying!" He exclaimed, thrusting an accusatory finger in her face, causing her to wince. "Come now, Taka! I know you're a fool, but you can't be this foolish!"

"Beriyl, be quiet."

But quiet he could not be.

"This is all a ruse! A sob story designed and weaved specifically to elicit a reaction in you that results in you feeling bad when you’ve done nothing wrong, for once, at all!!!”

“For once?” Taka's voice revealed his thinly veiled irritation.

“Yes, for instance, you do many things wrong. Take right now: you’re breathing, and alive. So if you could just stop-“

“Enough, Beriyl.” Arthur cut in, but not before Taka was able to have his say.

“My gods, you’re such an insufferable asshole.”

“Insufferable?! A-?! How vul-!“

“Enough!” Arthur bellowed, silencing them both. “We are attracting a crowd.”

"Look, um…" The girl in his grasp said. "M- my arm's going to sleep. Your name's Taka, right? Can you get your purse back and be done with it? And let me go. Please don't turn me i- in."

Perhaps if she had both of her arms free, she would have placed them together in a pleading gesture.

Arthur spoke before Taka found the right words to answer her with.

"Taka will decide your fate," he said.

"Wh- what? Me?" His eyes widened. "Um, you want me to… what? Why?"

"She chose you as her victim. Now that she has been caught, you must decide what will be done."

Well, that was easy. Although he knew this probably wasn't a great idea, he was going to do it anyway. It felt right: he'd get his money back, make her promise not to steal again, and let her go. If her story was true, he would feel immeasurably awful about turning her in to the guards.

What if, because of her imprisonment, something bad happened to her? Half-devils were not treated well at all, and as far as Taka was concerned, no harm had really been done. Nothing made her deserve the treatment she'd probably receive in jail. She'd made him really scared, yeah, but it was fine now, right? He was going to get his money back. There was no need for her to suffer.

And besides, if he did turn her in, the chance was high she'd have all her coin confiscated. If something like that happened because he turned her in, and she never got to reunite with her family? That was just…

Taka didn’t know if what she'd said was true, but he wanted, perhaps foolishly, to believe that it was. So, he looked her in the eyes. This was as serious as he could possibly be.

“Are you telling the truth?”

He could hear Beriyl going off like an alarm spell in the background but chose to ignore him.

“Y-yes,” She mustered.

Taka carefully considered his next words before speaking. “Alright,” He finally began. “Will you give me my money back yourself if I tell Arthur to let you go?”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

She nodded immediately and enthusiastically, a smile spreading across her face as her eyes lit up.

“Yes!”

Then she paused, brow slightly furrowed; locking gazes with Taka, not once breaking contact, her voice turned quiet, pleading-- almost meek.

“But um, you w- won't, uh, turn me in, right…?"

He hoped this all meant she was telling the truth.

“I won’t.” Then he glanced up at Arthur, and shot a sideways glare toward Beriyl. "We won't. You can, uh, let her go now, Arthur."

Arthur made a facial expression that said he didn’t agree with what was happening in any capacity, but he did what Taka said and released her.

Immediately, she reached inside her cloak and produced the stolen coinpurse.

“Here.”

Taka reached out and grabbed it, then shifted it around in his hand, feeling its heft and weight.

"It's all still there, I didn't…"

Just to check, he untied the bag and peered inside. It would take far too long to count all thirty coins, he decided, but taking one out and making sure it was real should be fine. So, he did, examining it at different angles, although he wasn’t really sure what he was looking for. The sun bounced and reflected off the golden surface, and Taka hastily put it away as people started to stare.

He nodded, and muttered; “Right,” then stashed the purse away in one of his empty pouches.

Now it’d be safer. Hopefully. When he looked back up, the girl was still there.

“Um,” Taka began. “Do you need anything? Like, you’re still here. I kind of assumed you were gonna leave.”

“Oh,” The girl began. “Actually, I was wondering… Wondering if maybe, you could… give me a few gold?”

Taka’s heart jumped into his throat. On one hand, he wanted to help her, because he felt bad for her. On the other hand, he felt this was a terrible idea, and somehow, a scam.

With all the expenses that an adventurer faced in their daily lives, most of them couldn’t afford to be charitable, plain and simple. Taka, having just started out, still had several things he needed to purchase, so he especially couldn’t afford to be.

Which didn’t explain why he was now taking his coinpurse out, and handing three of the most valuable coins in the world to the person who had literally stolen them from him within the same hour.

“What a waste of coin! You really are a fool!” Beriyl cried.

“Beriyl, shut up.”

“Shut-!?”

“Both of you, stop.” Arthur mediated. “It’s Taka’s coin. Let him do what he wants.”

"Hmph!"

Pressing three gold into her palm, Taka said: “I hope that’s enough. I hope you're able to see your family soon, and, um… I, uh, I know what that’s like. And please stop stealing. You’re- you're an adventurer too, right?”

“No, um… I’m actually not.”

“Oh.”

‘Yeah. I guess not everyone is an adventurer.’

“I mean, are you doing this often???“

She laughed. Or maybe that was a scoff?

“Nah, mostly just during this whole Advent month celebration nonsense stuff. Lots of people at the guild, harder to get caught with so many around. I guess I got a bit cocky today though, hung around after stealing from you. To be honest, I had you pinned as an easy mark; I mean, you were staring off into space.”

A bemused breath left her. “Guess that means if I do it again, I’d better be more careful, huh? Pick someone less sharp. Uh, not that I’m gonna steal again.”

She was definitely going to steal again.

“…you really shouldn’t be stealing at all, but… please just don’t steal from me again. Like, I’d really prefer if you didn’t steal at all, it’s really bad, but-“

“Yeah, yeah…” Her hands clapped together. “Welp! I’ve uh, got stuff to do, so bye!” With a wave and a wink, she pulled her hood back up and dashed off without so much as a look behind her, leaving Taka dumbfounded and these words in the wind: “Thanks for the gold!”

“Uh, sure…?”

Before he had much time at all to process what had happened, Beriyl’s shrill voice was back to screaming in his ear and rattling its way through his skull.

“I told you she was lying! But did you listen, no! Honestly, serves you right!”

“Enough.”

It was nice having Arthur around. Every time Beriyl started screaming, all the guy had to do was say something like “enough” and he immediately stopped. Ah, peace and quiet.

Finally able to think, Taka gazed back at the destruction wreaked by the thief. With her gone, that just left himself, Arthur, the idiot noble and the matter of several overturned stalls. To be honest, it was surprising the guards hadn’t been called; maybe it hadn’t been as bad as it looked, or maybe they were just late?

The latter seemed likely--- aside from a few still-fuming merchants, the place looked more or less back to normal. So there was that taken care of.

The suffocating vice of anxiety that had clamped itself around his lungs fell away, and in an instant a shaky breath spilled outward. Taka could finally breathe again, and Good gods, he was starving.

“In any event, you’re welcome,” Beriyl remarked out of nowhere, his face upturned in a self-satisfied smirk. He posed dramatically and struck his finger out toward Arthur. What was this, some sort of play?

“If not for me, this… you…” His air of bravado evaporated as it became painfully clear he had not thought of what to say before opening his mouth, the words tumbling awkwardly out before he abruptly went silent.

Arthur heaved a great sigh.

“My name is Arthur.”

With this reply, Beriyl immediately launched back into his explosive boasting. “Yes! Verily! Indeed, Arthur, if not for me, you, Arthur, would not have caught that thief!”

The man in question shook his head with open disappointment.

“You didn’t even do your part of the job correctly.”

This seemed a shocking revelation to Beriyl, as he spent the next several minutes sputtering nonsense with his mouth agape. At this, Taka had to yet again try—and fail at stifling his laughter.

Beriyl sure liked to talk a lot, and he was very dramatic; so much so, that he was hilarious. To Taka, at least. The overwhelming majority of his experiences with the man had thus far been negative, but at least he’d gotten a few laughs – at Beriyl’s expense – out of all the annoyance.

“Your job was to cast a simple spell. You were supposed to slow her down, but you didn’t. You’re lucky I was able to intercept her.”

Arthur spoke in a way that was clearly strict, but not unkind.

‘Almost like a father disciplining his child.’

Beriyl laughed.

“And what, pray tell, do you know of magic?! You muscle-bound… er, brained fool!”

The noble’s face was tomato red at the mistake, but only for a moment. He sure rebounded fast.

It was weird, though. Wasn’t it? He’d run into Beriyl and Arthur both several times that day alone, and now here they were again. They had nothing to gain by helping him, yet here they were, anyway.

‘Well, apparently Beriyl didn’t do that much, but Arthur’s helped me twice now. Back at that store, and now here.’

“Well uh, thank you. For helping me get it back. I really appreciate it, Arthur.” A weary smile crossed Taka’s face. Thoughts of food and a warm bed flitted to the fore of his mind—it was just past noon, and he was already thinking of sleeping!

“Yes.” Arthur gave a curt nod.

Unfortunately, Beriyl decided that the thanks meant for Arthur was also meant for him, because Taka was forced to watch as the idiot’s face twisted back into that godawful smirk, as he forced himself into another absurd pose.

“I know, I know!” He exclaimed. “I proved invaluable to the plan, so lavish me, Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz, with thanks and praise in equal measure! It’s only natural a member of nobility should help the common people, even ones as dirty and disgusting as yourself!”

When neither thanks nor praise came for Beriyl, he dropped his awful stance and smirk, and instead pouted in silence. That lasted all of two, three seconds before his face lit up and he started squawking again.

“I know! Let us form a party! You two will be my minions, and I shall be the leader! A perfect plan!”

“…He was right, after all.” Arthur muttered to himself, the words so quiet Taka barely caught them. “A party. That should work.” Then, louder. “Our party. I will lead.”

The grim, resolute way Arthur’d said that aside, who said he was joining up with these two? Just because he’d met them a couple times today didn’t mean he wanted… and definitely not with that godawful noble!

At the mere notion of not being elected party leader, Beriyl began loudly protesting—but neither paid him any mind. Arthur met Taka’s level gaze.

“This must be fate, after all.” He said. “We’ve met many times today. Something greater is at play.”

Taka shook his head. “What are you talking about? And I never said-“

Arthur grunted.

“…It is more than a coincidence we three have met more than once today. Is that not odd to you?”

“I-“ Taka felt like he was being borderline confrontational. His weight shifting foot to foot, his next words were more defensive than he’d meant them to be. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about, what are, what... I don’t-… Look, I don’t want to be a part of any party that guy’s in, to be honest with you.“

“Me?!”

“Yeah, you’re annoying and rude. And-“

“Absurd! I, Beriyl Edmund Ciphre von Aschwaz, rude and annoying?! Poppycock!”

‘Poppy… what?’

“Stop.” There Arthur was again.

Taka leaned back a bit, collecting the sky in his eyes. “I mean, all right. To be honest, like, look, okay? In my opinion, yeah sure, it’s a little weird we keep running into eachother, but like… Yeah, sure, maybe something bigger or whatever is at play, but I don’t know, okay? I don’t know, and I’m practically starving to death, I really don’t feel good, and I just don’t wanna think about this right now, okay?”

“Hm. I see. Let’s go eat, then.”

Taka huffed. No matter what, these two wouldn’t leave him alone, and… Ugh. His head was starting to hurt, his skin clammy with cold sweat. That telltale sensation of sickliness billowed about in his body, an uncomfortable nausea building in his head.

Suddenly, he wobbled and almost fell over. Thankfully, Arthur steadied him with a hand.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Y- yeah, I just need to eat something.” Taka murmured, a hand on his forehead.

‘I do not feel very good.’

Arthur let him go, and almost immediately Taka fell to his knees, unable to support his own weight anymore.

“Oh, damn it, I really don’t feel good…”

It was too late. He’d waited far too long to eat, and now he was paying the price. His body was weak, cold, and trembling. His hands had begun to feel tingly and weird, electric almost.

Alarmed, Beriyl raced past Arthur and knelt down beside Taka.

“A- are you quite alright?!”

‘Is he actually worried about me? What the hell?’

“I thought you hated me, or something.” Taka managed between breaths, a wry, weak smile on his face. That was all he could muster the energy to do; talk, breathe. His body was too heavy, too weak to obey his commands; Like a block of solid iron was pressing down on him.

“I never said that.”

He could hardly keep his eyes open. Beriyl wouldn’t stop staring at him, and he looked kind of scary with how serious he was being, and so Taka let his eyelids fall. Listening to his body was far easier than defying it.

He remembered what Dane told him to do when this happened: just focus on breathing. Breathe. In, out. His chest rose and fell with each shallow breath.

“Don’t close your eyes.” Arthur’s voice was there, but… distant.

“Taka, are you alright?”

…

“Taka!”

“Yeah,” he managed to mumble, voice tinged with irritation.

What was it with these people? Why did they care so much? They didn’t even know him. Just because they’d run into each other several times that day, didn’t mean…

Yeah, sure, they’d helped him, but he found the noble insufferable and the tall man overbearing.

"I just need to… need to eat."

Just a minute. If he could be afforded just a single minute to catch his breath, he'd surely feel better.

‘I'm fine, I'm not dying, give me a minute! Stop fretting over me like I’m a damn baby or something!’

Thoughts like these ran through his mind, but he no longer possessed the strength to voice them. He was hot, but paradoxically cold. His hands surged with a thousand pins and needles—tired, hungry, weary, weak, cold, hot, sweaty…

This had always happened to him, and he’d never figured out why. He'd simply pushed himself too hard, too fast.

‘I'm fine,’ He thought, a voiceless answer to repeated questions.

‘Dammit. How annoying.’