The autumn breeze swept gently through the garden of the mayor’s villa, claiming the first leaves out of the trees. It was too soon for them to fall by themselves, but time waited for no one. Asha knew that very well. She had now been alive for 25 autumns, and by elven beliefs, it was time for her to choose a path. This wasn’t rushed, by her age, any human or beastkin would already have more than a decade of training in their craft. She had got all that extra time to decide, but still…

The young woman was usually fearless, but the obligation to decide on a path brought a knot to her heart. Deep inside, she felt that her calling was still to come. Her mother insisted that nature had already called her, and the powerful blessing revealed by her deep dark green eyes left her without arguments against the claim. Elven blood was always accompanied by a blessing of nature, but it would rarely come as strong as hers.

Asha wasn’t born with the same eye color as her parents; the blue meant a connection with rivers and lakes for her father and with springs for her mother. In truth, it had little to do with heritage, each elf would have their own connection with nature. The green on hers formed a connection with the trees and plants, the life that sprouted from the earth itself. However, what made her different was the depth of her blessing, the dark on her green was proof of it.

Still, Asha didn’t agree with her mother. Nature hadn’t called her, at least not in the way her mom meant, it had always been there, it was part of her. She could take the easy way and become a pure anthomancer, or a herbmancer, or even a woodmancer. But none of those appealed to her.

Her dad had defused countless fights, appeasing his wife by justifying Asha’s rebellious behavior as the influence of her blessing. It was true in a way, her connection was wild, and clamored for freedom. However, this wasn’t the effect of an external force, it was part of her being.

Even now, confused and unwilling to study the elven craft, Asha would act instinctively and use her natural anthomancy to bend tree branches in a way there weren’t supposed to. She was angry with the so-called ‘natural order of things’, the only order she yearned to recognize was freedom.

The elf spend the entire morning staring at the garden trees until she was tired of thinking. She would rather look for answers outside, so she left. The streets of Mountainend looked the same, quiet and uneventful. Though, not really. There was something different, something Asha couldn’t identify. People, the stores, the Inn, it all looked pretty much the same, but their rhythm had changed, it was faster and more… meaningful. She could easily feel that sort of thing.

She tried to search in her memory for something that could explain the subtle change... the bookstore! It had opened for only a few months but had already attracted adventurers to town, regardless of how weak they were. The store had also contributed to the town’s trade through Rick, who miraculously became a decent hunter. That one was a mystery for Asha, she couldn’t fathom how the bookstore helped him in such a short time. Maybe… it could help her too.

The elf laughed at her naïve thoughts. It was a store, for Gods’ sake, it was opened to earn profit not to help confused young elves with their meaningless struggles, as her mother had called it. Scrubbing the idea out of her mind, Asha continued to walk aimlessly until she passed by the market and heard a commotion.

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Most of the merchants and store managers were circling the central square, shouting what sound like prices at a group in the center. She observe the scene, searching for the reason for the turmoil, then she saw Rick bargaining on prices with the traders. Beside him, a robed girl, a burly man in poor-quality armor, and a foxkin wearing a tunic. The adventurers, she concluded.

Rick and Iris were haggling on prices for each part of the loot, while Cyrus weighted the cuts, and Hakon collected the coins. The meat of three slain wolves wouldn’t amount to 80 kg, a fourth of what the hunter got from the boar. Fortunately, wind essenced meat could be sold for up to five times more than earth essenced, not because of its value, but because of the density property of the meat. Earth essenced would become heavier while wind essenced would turn lighter.

In the end, they got 24 silver coins for the three wind cores, and 28 silver for the meat, from which they had saved 10 kg for personal consumption. Previously, the group had agreed on leaving the captured wolf to Rick, so the coins would be dived amongst the trio. Hence, each of the three adventures ended up with 17 silver, and as for the remaining coin, they planned to drink it away in the tavern.

Asha watched the group leave towards the Inn and decided to follow them. Even from distance, she could sense their unpleasant smell; they should have just returned from the forest.

The young elf didn’t like drinking, but it wouldn’t be her first time visiting the place. She passed through the old barely hanging doors and paused to find her target. Behind the counter, old Saul was serving ale to a far-from-sober customer, and a few tables were half filled with acquaintances. For Gods’ sake, night would only come in a couple of hours later but people had already managed to get drunk. They wave a sign, inviting her to join them, but thankfully, she found the target and escape in their direction after declining with polite excuses.

“Hi, Asha. You…” A confused Rick managed to say.

Iris rolled her ideas and offered a polite greeting to the elf. ‘Well done Rick, that was smooth’, she almost said. In her opinion, Rick was just a little less stupid than Cyrus. Anyway, who wouldn’t have a crush on the beautiful wealthy elf lady?

“Sorry, Asha… I mean, please sit.” The hunter stuttered further earning a sneer from the Mage.

Asha, on the other hand, didn’t mind Rick’s embarrassing behavior. Her presence was, after all, unexpected. She did have a clear goal, but that wouldn’t allow her to skip the proper etiquette. After exchanging greetings and names with the golden trio, she still waited for their drinks and food to be served before moving on the subject.

“I saw you at the market… You caused a pretty big commotion. Did you go hunting again?” She asked tactfully. The question had been aimed at Rick, but she made sure to glance at each of them carefully, cueing that they could also answer.

“Well, yeah. But this time I went more as a guide than a hunter…” He admitted but was interrupted by Iris before saying more.

“You looked like a danm good hunter, for me. Killed a beast and captured another, that’s very good by my book.” Iris mocked his lack of self-confidence and false modesty. And Rick could only cough and blush in response. He wasn’t trying to hide his feats. The work he did in the forest was very different from his usual hunting.

“Well, it’s good to improve. You should be proud of it, Rick. I heard you have been going to that ‘bookstore’, I’m very curious about what they sell…” She offer a sincere compliment before going for the subject that she was really interested.

Rick was more than happy to talk about the bookstore, but before he could, Iris interrupted him again.

“We can tell you a lot about the store, but before would you mind doing me a favor?” The mage said excitedly while taking out the purplish crystal.