They followed the same road that had first led them to the town, a soft wind blowing their way.

"So, how do we get to Kalwa from here?" Lovia asked.

"Just follow me," Zane said.

Lovia nodded in response.

The road split at a large tree, one way leading to the mountains they had come from and the other leading to an overgrown path. Bushes were covering the path as well as the small sign that had been put in place to help travellers navigate around the valley. It was completely covered by leaves and vines, some flowers had grown from it as well.

Zane pushed away some of the bushes' branching stems that had grown over the path, like a natural blockade. Lovia passed him and he followed, the stems snapping back violently as he let go of them. The path led them towards a tunnel. Trees growing out of the side of the mountain were covering the path, casting a shadow over it, bushes were growing alongside it, weeds were growing all over it, breaking through the gravel and dirt. There were two burned-out torches at the entrance to the tunnel and leafy vines coming from a tree above covered it.

"Is this even save?" Lovia asked.

"Should be," Zane answered.

There was worry on her face as they entered the dark tunnel. The air inside was damp. Zane pulled out his lantern and lit it, covering the tunnel in a warm light. It was manmade but resembled no architecture either of them had seen in any of the cities. The ceiling was round and just like the walls it was made out of a hard, grey material. But it looked like the entire tunnel had been made out of a single large piece of that material, besides the cracks that had appeared due to roots growing into the tunnel and old age it was entirely smooth, no sign of bricks having been stacked on one another. The walls and ceiling were mossy and a few mushrooms were growing on it.

"Who could have built something like this?" Lovia asked as they walked through the tunnel.

"Hmmm, good question. I don't know for sure but I have heard that this might be leftovers from the old elven kingdom;" Zane answered.

"The elven kingdom? That was thousands of years ago . . . and it's still intact," Lovia said with amazement in her voice.

Zane smiled.

She seems like a kid at times.

The tunnel was long and narrow, both of them could walk beside one another, but just barely, a typical carriage would have no way of passing here.

Every so often there was an arch with symbols on it, they seemed like Runes at first but when Zane compared them to the one on his new gauntlet he noticed some differences. The one on his gauntlet was far blockier and rounder whereas the symbols on the arches were a lot thinner and longer and they were made up out of lines and square forms.

Maybe these are actual letters . . . what could they stand for.

The walls were also lined with torch holders, but all the torches in them had burned out and the wood was beginning to rot already. Unlike the tunnel itself, the torches were relatively new, Zane had heard from some other mercenaries that had shown him this tunnel that a group of mercenaries put them here nearly a century ago.

The tunnel went straight through the mountain, all the way to the other side, making it multiple kilometres long.

"How much longer is it?" Lovia asked after they had been walking for quite some time.

"I think we should be reaching the halfway point soon," Zane said, looking at some of the markings on the wall he recognized from past times he was here.

"W-What!? Halfway point! We have been walking for hours, maybe even half a day now!" she said loudly, her voice echoing throughout the tunnel.

"Better than going the normal way, this one is a lot shorter, and there will be a small base at the halfway point that some mercenaries made," Zane said.

"A base? What do you mean?" Lovia asked with confusion in her voice.

"You'll see," Zane answered.

The markings on the wall had become more frequent and became clearer, they resembled two swords clashing. The tunnel also became wider bit by bit, meter by meter. In the distance, Zane could already see the familiar wooden arch with the sign that read 'halfway point. Lovia began walking faster until she reached the arch, having left Zane behind. He quickly reached the small base, that had been built at the widest point of the tunnel, which was thought to be about halfway through the tunnel.

It consisted of multiple benches with pillows and blankets laid out all over them, there were a large table and even a mattress wide enough for multiple people to sleep on. Lovia was already sitting on a large bench with pillows on it.

"So this is the base you were talking about," she said with a bright smile on her face.

Zane walked around the base, lighting the flame crystals inside the many lanterns hanging from the walls. When he finished he sat down on a bench, facing Lovia.

"How long do we stay here?" she asked.

"We should sleep here, it's probably already night anyway," Zane said.

"Sleep here . . . I mean I guess it's better than walking all the time," she said.

Zane looked around the base, the infrequent use had made it become quite dusty.

Guess that's what's to be expected when only about ten people know about this tunnel in the first place.

"By the way Zane, we barely know anything about each other, tell me about yourself," Lovia said.

"W-What? What would you even want to know about me, I'm just a mercenary that might have become a bit too famous for his own good," Zane said.

"Well . . . how about you tell me where you're from and why you became a mercenary," she said.

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Where I'm from and why I'm a mercenary . . . is that really so interesting?

"Fine, I'm from a big farm over in the Rilva Highlands . . . but I didn't like being there, I always read about these amazing places and creatures so I decided to run away, leaving my family behind. I then became a mercenary after I met two orphans who had left the orphanage to go on an adventure . . . that was fourteen years ago now," Zane said.

He felt a few tears trying to come forth but he managed to suppress them.

"Don't you think your family might be worried?" Lovia asked.

"I dunno, haven't seen my parents or my siblings since then . . . but I know they left the farm at one point, so I have no clue where they are today," he said.

"They must be sad."

"Who knows," Zane said. "So, what about you? Where are you from? And why did you really decide to become a mercenary? You said it was to make some money but there's no way that would be the best way to do that."

"W-Well, I'm from a small village in the Velva Highlands . . . and I became a mercenary because . . . because I kind off admired them, a . . . family friend always used to tell me stories about all these crazy powerful people like Gilma, Hugo and well, the Reaper. All of them are mercenaries so I decided to become one as well," she said.

Zane began laughing.

"D-Don't laugh at me," Lovia said.

"That has to be the strangest reason I've ever heard," he said, still laughing. "Well, I'll go to sleep now:"

Zane stood up and went over to the large mattress, laying down on it. It was thin and uncomfortable but still a lot better than sleeping on the ground. When he slowly opened his eyes he didn't feel like he had slept very long and was still quite tired. Zane rolled over, Lovia had laid down on the other side of the mattress.

Best not wake her for now.

All the lanterns in the room had been put out. He sat down at the table and turned lit the lantern hanging above it. His stomach was rumbling from hunger. Zane took out the pouch filled with dried meat. By the time Lovia woke up, he had already finished eating.

"Yo, finally awake," he said.

Lovia nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "Good morning," she said, trying to suppress a yawn.

No way it's morning right now.

Once she had eaten as well the two of them moved on with their journey. They left the small base, going back into the dark tunnel, Zane's lantern still the only source of light they had. Just like on the other side of the base the walls were covered in the mark, notifying travellers that the halfway point was close. The tunnel went on for a long while, there was no light appearing in the distance, indicating the exit.

As they got further away from the halfway point the tunnel became narrower as well, forcing them closer together. Their shoulders rubbed against each other often as they walked down the tunnel. The walls were a lot more cracked here on this side as if something had crashed into them, or maybe something had hit the mountain from above, putting more weight on the tunnel for who knows how long.

After what probably was another half a day of travel they could finally feel the first sign of the exit, a soft wind blowing against them, giving them hope to escape the rather damp air in the tunnel. More signs kept appearing, mushrooms were now growing on the tunnel's floor and up its walls, a bit further were the first other types of plants, weeds were growing through the cracked floor and the walls were covered in vines. And there it was, in the distance, they could see the star-filled sky.

"Have we really been walking for two days?" Lovia asked.

"Well, It is a mountain. We're lucky that this spot is only this thin," Zane answered.

They reached the exit to the tunnel, like the entrance it was covered in plants, and hidden behind bushes and trees. But unlike the entrance the exit was broken, pieces missing from both wall and ceiling, or rather this wasn't the intended exit. On the outside, there was somewhat of a crater on the side of the mountain which had exposed the tunnel. And there, to one side of what was now the exit, was a massive speartip, just like the one the spear that had killed the massive basilisk, but the handle of this spear had broken off and fallen, now resting on the side of the mountain. Towering in the distance they could see the ends of three more spears, all sticking out of the mountains surrounding the Alva Valley.

"What happened here?" Lovia asked.

"Probably remnants of the fight between that basilisk and whatever killed it," Zane said.

"This level of destruction . . . I hope whatever did it is not aggressive towards humans," Lovia said, looking at the speartip besides them with amazement.

Zane nodded.

Although it's probably dead by now . . . killed by Vin or something like that, if it wasn't him that is.

They walked along the crater which was filled with many large trees, bushes, flowers and other plants. Pieces of the tunnel were scattered around all over the crater and hidden behind a few large bushes was a massive object that looked like a scale to the two mercenaries. Lovia was constantly amazed, looking at all these things from a time long past, and even to Zane, who had seen these things many times, they were still wonderous. The crater reached all the way down the side of the mountain to a hill, a large chunk missing from it.

"This crater is massive . . ." Lovia said, still in total amazement.

The night was cold and quiet.

"So where do we go now?" Lovia asked.

"We could either camp out here or go to a small goat farm . . . I do know the owner but I don't know if he'd let us stay the night," Zane said.

"Let's try the farm first then," Lovia said.

Zane nodded.

Lovia followed him over the hill and onto a slim dirt path leading along the edge of a large forest. It led them towards a large tree that seemed strangely out of place in this area. It was larger than other trees, it's trunk much brighter, its leaves much bigger and greener, its branches much longer. A house was built around it in a square form, a warm light coming from inside. Next to the house was a large open field, surrounded by a high wooden fence on two sides, the house's wall to one and the steep side of the mountain on the other. Inside were a good three dozen goats and there was a small den built near the house, a large dog with a long, thick, shaggy dark grey and white coat of fur covering its face and eyes.

The dog looked at them with its dark eyes, following them with its gaze as they got closer. It showed them it's sharp teeth. Zane took off his hood, showing the dog his face. The dog immediately ran out of the den and towards the fence, its tail raised high. The dog raised its body, putting both front paws on the fence, beginning to bark.

Lovia began chuckling. "The dog must like you," she said.

"Strangely enough," Zane said.

"Is it?" Lovia asked.

Zane shrugged.

"Wha-" Lovia began.

"Will ya stop barkin' ya damn dog!" someone yelled.

There he is.

"An' whad du ya want 'ere?" the person asked, looking at Zane.

But Zane didn't answer.

"Girly, whad du ya two want?" he asked, looking at Lovia.

"W-We would like to ask for shelter, just for the night," she answered.

"Ya want shelta for da night eh? An' why shuld I give ya shelta?" he asked.

Lovia looked at Zane, looking for help.

He might have some problem we could help him with . . . or maybe we can pay him . . . I do have enough money.

The two now stood right before the stairs leading up to the door the old man was leaning out of. He wore dirty clothes, his head was already balding and all the hair that was left was already grey. His beard was long and one of his eyes was missing. Zane pulled out a small pouch filled with silver coins from his satchel.

"Money? Nah, I dun't need that. There's another problem ya can help me with," he said. "Come in first."

He held open the door so the two could enter. The inside of the house was warm and inviting. Lots of furniture and shelves, all filled with some weird objects, lined the walls. The man led them to a large table with six chairs around it, next to it was a counter with a heater and a knife rack. The three sat down at the kitchen table.

"Want anything ta eat?" the man asked.

Lovia looked at Zane, again looking for help. He nodded. The man stood up and walked through the long room to the other end and disappeared behind a door. A few moments later he returned with a plate, bread, cheese and dried meat on it.

"There ya go," he said as he put it down on the table.

Zane and Lovia began eating.

"So girly, who are ya? Neva seen that guy with anyone," the man said.

"I'm Lovia, his new partner," she answered, before taking another bite from a piece of bread.

"Lovia eh? Whad a lovely name. I'm Gerd," he said.

"Thanks for the food, Gerd," Lovia said.

"Dun't worry 'bout it, yer gonn' 'elp me with me with ma lil problem anyway," Gerd said.

"So what exactly is your problem?" Lovia asked.

Gerd took a piece of bread and began picking off small chunks and eating them.

"Ya, see . . . it all started . . . a few weeks ago," he said, eating a chunk of bread every few words.

"What started?" Lovia asked.

"Well ya see . . . ma goats . . . sumthing's wron' with 'em," Gerd said.