"Is everyone alright?" the youth asked, his amber eyes scanning the scene over, from the bears to where Troy and Reina stood rigidly, still a little shell-shocked by their brush with death. When he saw Rust, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, but before he could get a word out, Troy bounded up to him, interrupting whatever he was going to say with a loud whoop.
"Solaar! Thank the Six you're here!" The man ran up and clapped the youth on the back. Solaar gave him an exasperated smile, his nose wrinkling a little at the blood smearing onto his armor before turning his attention back to Rust. Rust returned the gaze, sucking in a deep breath as he tried not to show how unsettled he was on his face. The youth wasn't displaying any hostility toward him, but his inner sense was still going haywire. It would be best to be careful around the other boy until he knew more about him, he decided. And more about myself, too.
"Who's the new face?" Solaar asked as he gently peeled Troy off his back, stepped over the corpses, and yanked his spear from the tree trunk with a small flourish.
"Oh! He's.... actually, I don't know," Troy admitted. "But he's a great guy! You don't know this, but before, there was another mutated bear. That one, in fact," he said, gesturing to where it had fallen. "I was sure it was over for us, but then swish! Slash! This kid right here killed it with one strike! You should've seen it," he said, doing a clumsy reenaction with his arms.
"That... did that really happen?" Solaar's gaze lingered on Rust for a few seconds longer this time, his eyes unreadable.
Troy nodded his head enthusiastically, reminding Rust of a chicken. "It's true," Reina said, having collected her shield to inspect the damage. "I've never seen anything like it." Her voice contained an edge to it, though Rust couldn't quite place what emotion lay behind it. Troy had obviously noticed too, giving her a concerned glance and mouthing something that Rust couldn't make out.
"Wow..." Solaar didn't react to it, however, instead bending down and examining the first bear's body. "Just as you said, one strike." He raised his eyebrows as he gave Rust a smile. "Must have been an impressive technique."
"Not as impressive as that spear throw," Rust said, managing to return the smile as he finally pushed down his discomfort. Troy laughed at his words, a booming sound which came from deep within his chest.
"Look at this cheeky foundation establishment brat, comparing himself to a peak three flame warrior," he said. "Kid, what's your name? Your full name. I have to know which of the three big clans has been hiding you." Troy leaned toward him, perhaps looking for an insignia on his clothes. "Guess it's not the Cloudtides," he mused, glancing at Solaar, who shook his head. "I can't believe I haven't heard anything about you. With a technique like that, even if they have to use pills later and force your cultivation to two or three flames, it still wouldn't be a loss."
All of this speculation was flying over Rust's head, but he tried to remember it for later. "My name's Rust," he said. "And as for my family..." he paused, debating for a second whether to reveal his amnesia. He didn't really want to, but it wasn't something he could hide, anyway. Just as he opened his mouth to tell them he had no clue about anything else, something flashed in his mind. "The truth is, I... I don't have one anymore. I'm from Shadowrest," he said. The words surprised him. It was a lie, he was sure of it. He had no clue what Shadowrest was or what it had to do with a family, but Troy nodded as if what he said made perfect sense. In fact, his gaze turned softer as sympathy spread across his face.
"Of course! I should've known," he said. "So it's Rust, huh?" Troy stuck out his hand. "After an experience like that, I feel like we're already pretty acquainted, but for formality's sake, I'm Troy." When Rust took his hand, he shook it vigorously and pulled the boy in for a hug. It still startled him a little, but by this point, he was getting accustomed to Troy's overly emotive gestures. "And of course, this is my lovely partner Reina." Rust and Reina exchanged pleasantries briefly, while Troy dragged Solaar over from where he was putting the bear heads in a sack and making markings on their bodies. Rust's interest piqued when Troy brought the other youth over. He'd been wanting to know exactly who he was ever since seeing him.
"And this," Troy paused for dramatic effect before announcing triumphantly, "is Solaar. You're in luck, kid, being able to meet such a bigshot on your first day in Lanarium. It might mean nothing to you right now, but soon enough, you'll understand the significance of the name Solaar Cloudtide." He gave Rust a nudge with his elbow, pretending to whisper as he continued. "He doesn't like doing it, but he might make an exception this time, since it's your first time meeting. If you can get his autograph, it'll make a nice souvenir. His calligraphy's really good, you know. Always fetches a handsome price with the fangirls. And boys."
"Don't—don't introduce me like that," Solaar groaned. "You're making me look like a freak."
"You're making me look like a freak, for putting up with you." Reina gave Troy a light knock on the head, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever. Killjoys," Troy grumbled. "The point is, Solaar is the strongest—"
"Second strongest," Reina corrected. Her partner gave her a dissatisfied look as a shadow flitted over Solaar's face.
"You know I refuse to count Suria," Troy insisted, before continuing to speak. "As I was saying, Solaar's the strongest member of the younger generation here in Lanarium. That spear throw earlier was probably pretty intimidating, but don't worry. It's rare to see someone who has that level of strength around here, especially if you don't enter the highest districts where the big houses live." Rust processed this information with some relief. At least he wouldn't have to tiptoe around every single person in the city, for fear that he'd encounter a psychopath and end up dying without even knowing the reason.
Solaar excused himself and went back to doing what he was before, while Troy's features took on a slightly more serious tone.
"That's about it for introductions, I think. Thanks again for saving our skins back there, Rust. At first, I was wondering how we were going to repay you. We don't have much money or influence, unlike Master Cloudtide over there, but since you're a refugee from Shadowrest, that makes things easy. You're going to need information, and conveniently, I'm the best gossiper in all of Lanarium! Everything you need to know, I'll tell you."
"Self-proclaimed best gossiper," Reina scoffed.
"Shush. Nobody's challenged me for the title, so that must mean everyone else agrees, right?"
"Probably because you're such a small fry that nobody's even heard of you."
Troy gave her an exaggerated scowl. "Don't listen to her. She's just sour because she's jealous about all the things I get to hear because I actually talk to people."
"I hear about them anyway, because you never shut up about the so-called next big opportunity you've heard about. Except remember that one time it turned out to be a complete trap, and we got ambushed and almost died?"
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you? Look, that was one time. My instincts are good and you know it. If we did everything the way you wanted to, we'd still be begging for scraps for another decade."
"Just remember, even if your leads are usually real, it only takes one botched one, and then we'll be dead, no matter how many previous successes we've had. Like this time. If it weren't for Rust, we'd be the ones getting hauled back to Lanarium in a sack, not those bears."
"Hey—"
"Troy, Reina, Rust!" Solaar called out, interrupting the bickering. "I'm done over here, so let's go back."
"Ugh, whatever," Troy grumbled as he pulled Rust on ahead. "Since Reina obviously doesn't appreciate my talents, I won't be sharing them with her anymore. And then she'll realize what she's missing out on. Right, Rust?"
"Right..." It'd be good if the information was actually of that high a quality, but he doubted it.
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Once the trees had thinned a bit, the city walls immediately came into view. At first, Rust thought that they simply hadn't been very far to begin with, but he quickly realized that rather than being close, the size of the city was simply much bigger than he'd thought. Though the four of them were walking at a brisk pace, it still took several hours, and by the time they reached the gates, the sun was already high in the sky.
While they were walking, Troy made good on his promise, filling Rust in on all the latest news in the city. He was a good storyteller, using specific instances to explain how the different ruling factions in the city behaved, and describing his personal experiences and learnings from interacting with them. It was much easier to understand than it would otherwise have been, and Rust was forced to admit that there might be something after all to Troy's proclamations of being the best gossiper in the city. Even so, best gossiper or not, with so little of his own memories to go off of, it was pretty hard to follow along with many of the explanations. Some descriptions seemed to tickle at the edges of his mind, bringing with them a sense of familiarity which was just out of reach, but he didn't dwell on it. He was sure that his memories, or at least the important ones, would come back in time. The spontaneous fabrication of his backstory and the sudden burst of power and proficiency he'd obtained when fighting the bear were proof enough that they would come to his aid when necessary, as far as he was concerned. So, since he wasn't sure what it would actually make sense for him to ask for clarification on, he just nodded along. It would surely make more sense once he saw the things being spoken of for himself.
Their journey ended in front of an enormous gate decorated with lines that formed some kind of symbol or diagram. A rune, his subconscious informed him, although other than that, there was no further elaboration. To the sides of the gate, a pair of men in white armor greeted them with a salute and a bow. They stood flanking a tall mirror, and a cursory glance revealed they were both one flame warriors, at about the same level as Troy and Reina. There was no information on the mirror, though. Emblazoned on their armor was a shield, the symbol which marked them as the City Guard, the organization responsible for maintaining general order and the law. Nominally, it was unbeholden to anyone except the city's Hegemon. In reality, though, at least according to Troy, the influence of the three big houses ran deep, and it wasn't uncommon for members of the big houses or their vassals to use the City Guard as a pretext or borrowed knife.
Troy exchanged a few words with the guards, mostly an introduction of Rust, before standing in front of the mirror. A light shone out from its surface, and underneath it, Rust could see a few wisps of dark smoke rising from Troy's body. Once the smoke had petered out, he moved back to Rust's side as Reina took his place. Rust's confusion must have been showing on his face, because Troy quickly explained what had happened.
"I forgot that not every city is lucky enough to have an Artificer as a Hegemon," he said. "This here is called the Mirror of Purifying Light. It's a tool he made that inspects for and cleanses the minor amounts of Corruption you get from being in contact with corrupted beasts and objects. Really great for the little people here. These small wisps of Corruption might not seem like a big deal, but letting it run amok can lead to all sorts of problems. Disease, mostly, but also mutations, as I'm sure you've become all too acquainted with recently."
Rust was not, in fact, particularly acquainted with this "Corruption", though he could take a guess about its effects from the way the mutated bears had looked and his subconscious judgment that they had been 15% corrupted. It was something he wanted to learn more about, but Troy spoke of it like common knowledge, so he'd have to find out more on his own if he didn't want to seem like a weirdo.
As Solaar entered the mirror's light after Reina, it occurred to Rust that this was the first time he'd be looking at his own reflection. As he waited, Rust could feel some anticipation building for being able to get a good look at himself. But once it was his turn, as he stepped in front of the mirror, what he saw made him freeze. The young man looking back at him wasn't too out of the ordinary. He had brown hair, dark eyes, and a toned but somewhat lanky body, none of which surprised him. But behind his eyes, it was as if there dwelled the shadow of a prehistoric beast. Faintly, he had a premonition of being covered in blood. As the vision grew clearer, bones seemed to litter the ground. A coppery smell filled the air, suffocating him like a claw around his throat. And just as it was about to become unbearable, it vanished. He was left staring at a normal reflection of himself, albeit with a few new beads of sweat rolling down his face. "You're all cleared. Welcome to Lanarium," the guard next to him said, stepping aside. Rust took his place next to the others, deep in thought. Judging from their undisturbed faces, he was the only one who saw the scene from before. What the fuck was that? If the others hadn't seen anything, then the likeliest explanation was that it was his inner sense acting up again. He'd seen a reflection of himself, and instead of the usual evaluation, visions of bloodshed flooded his senses. Were those his memories? Or something else? It was disturbing either way. A low rumbling interrupted his thinking as the gate began slowly opening, the runes on its surface lighting up with a blue brilliance.
"Hey, snap out of it, Rust." Troy patted him on the shoulder as the gate fully opened. "No need to be so shocked already. I haven't even shown you the good parts yet," he said with a laugh. Rust returned the laugh and shook his head a little, clearing his mind. Troy was right. There'd be plenty of time to ponder what he'd seen later. Right now, it was time to enter the city. As he stepped through the entrance, he couldn't help but feel excitement bubble up in his chest. Finally, he would get to see what Lanarium was like.