Anna and Bradley waited outside the stables while their client gathered the list of needed materials. They were working with the town's apothecary; they needed some specific ingredients that dangerous beasts usually surrounded. Bradley was leaning against the stable fence, looking over the dead grass field.

"Are you nervous?" Anna asked Bradley.

"No," Bradley responded. "Why did you have to put Izzy and Tycen together on a team?"

"Oh," Anna said, her voice softening. "I see. You like her again?"

"That's not what I said," Bradley snapped, indignation in his voice. He looked at Anna, who raised an eyebrow. His shoulders slumped. "Fine. I never stopped liking her. She just never liked me to begin with."

"I see," Anna said.

"When my father approached me with the information that I would be marrying her, I was ecstatic. The girl who I had always had a crush on."

"What happened?"

"I was a jerk. I had to play up the disrespectful tough guy, for my father's games. It turned her off of me real quickly, and I've never been able to recover. She's been nonstop talking about Tycen. I can't even hate him cause he is such a good guy," Bradley sighed loudly.

"If it is any consolation," Anna said. "Tycen will not interfere."

"He won't? I believe it when I see it," Bradley huffed.

"Believe what you must. I know Tycen very well, he is a good man, and he will not interfere."

"Right," the apothecary, Preston, walked out. "Ready to go? Lots of sick people, he he." Preston was middle-aged and not a magic user. He had fair skin, short brown hair, and brown eyes. He was an average-looking man. He had placed several notices for many ingredients.

"Lead the way," Anna said.

"Are you sure you don't want a mount? I have plenty?"

"We are fine walking, thank you," Anna said.

"Magic-users," Preston said to himself as he rode off on a unicorn. Preston was quiet as he led them through the forest. He would hum a tune to himself now and again. They entered the forest clearing, and a cool, refreshing breeze replaced the dry, warm air. The forest canopy covered up most of the sun, with plenty of foliage adding humidity to the air. Anna noted the stark difference in climate between the two locations, no more than meters apart.

Preston stopped and dismounted when they approached a tree. Several mushrooms were on the edge of the tree. He carefully removed them from the bark and placed them in the bag he was carrying.

"These are excellent to help with those who are hungry," Preston explained. "They have magical property inside them that fill up the stomach."

"Is that what you want?" Bradley asked. "Artificially filling up stomachs. How long does the effect last?"

"Several hours," Preston said. "We don't have much other choice, sadly." He got back on his unicorn and continued his way through the forest, looking at his parchment of ingredients. This went on for thirty minutes. Preston would walk and stop at a tree, collect the ingredients, explain what they did and what they were for, and then continue on his way to the next item.

"This is the best trip yet," Preston said. "We've hardly had to face any creatures."

Anna smirked. The reason they hadn't was because she was projecting her aura to the surrounding areas, preventing any monsters who were small and afraid to be curious and come near. It was something that she had learned from Serenity. She was grateful for the aura dragon. Serenity had always been willing and open to teaching Anna in her free time. Not for the first time, Anna wished she had her own familiar. All the things she could learn, all the power she could wield. She had to admit to being envious of Levi for that.

"You're doing it, aren't you?" Bradley whispered.

"Yes," Anna nodded. Bradley smirked.

"You're pretty badass," Bradley said. "Your team seems unusually strong… how did that happen?"

"Thank you, Bradley," she replied. "We are strong," she nodded. "If I am being honest, it was Piper."

"Oh?"

"If I can give you any real advice, it would be to have a friend as good as Piper. She has been my rock, even when I didn't know I needed it. When we first met Levi, he had appeared in front of us, naked, confused, and speaking a foreign language."

"He what?" Bradley said in surprise.

"Yeah, it was not a good sight… I was naturally, not wanting to help him. I turned my nose at him and sent him on his way. I had good reason for it of course, but Piper didn't see it that way. Piper had good reasons for why we should have helped Levi. She was right, I should have helped him."

"Why didn't you?"

"Would you?"

"Not a shot," Bradley said. "I'm an aristocrat of a very big house, that would be dangerous."

"That was exactly my reasoning," Anna nodded. "A Princess should never put herself in danger. So I left him. Piper wasn't happy but eventually she got over it. Sadly, eventually wasn't as soon as I had hoped. It was nearly a day, even longer, when she did. It was all because she saw Levi in the guild district. The two of them hit it off. Piper was my only true friend so I stuck around. I then found out that Levi's work ethic and potential were incredible. I wanted to work with him, Piper had already at that point-"

"This should be the last location," Preston said. "It's just inside this cave." He glanced at Anna. A grin slowly crept over his face as he went into the cave. Unbeknownst to Anna, as she told this story, Preston looked at them several times, listening in on the story as he continued to lead the two wealthy adventurers toward a trap.

"He's up to something," Bradley said.

"Absolutely… I just don't know what-"

"We can answer that…" Five people, including Preston, walked out of the cave entrance. They were wearing ragged clothes with patched cloaks, each of them holding different weapons. The one who spoke was wielding a long sword. It was skinny but close to 3 feet long. "We paid Preston here to bring us any newcomers. Just so happen to bring us some royalty."

"Technically," Anna said, without a trace of fear in her voice. "I am the only royal. He is an aristocrat."

"Shut up," the woman with the long bow spat. "We don't care for your technicalities."

"I don't care that you don't care."

"It's four against two," the man with the sword said. "Give up and come with us."

"No, thank you," Anna said. "Maybe you should go get some of your backup, and then the fight would be even." Bradley held his hands out and conjured a bow. Anna pulled out her wand, and her spell book floated in front of her.

"This is your first warning," Anna said. "Leave or die."

"You think you can kill us?" one of the bandits scoffed. "We're all 2-stars, little girl. You're not strong enough to–" An onyx stone that was covered in sharp ice smashed through the bandit's head. The bandit fell backward as if they were shot and landed on the ground, dead. Before the other bandits could react, an arrow went straight through the neck of the ranger bandit. She grabbed at her neck ineffectually as her blood splashed out of her neck. She slid to the ground dead.

The bandits screamed at their fallen friends. A blizzard of massive hail pelted the team of bandits. Once the storm cleared, all the bandits were dead, and Preston was left alive, with his leg severely broken. Anna walked up to Preston with an unamused look on her face.

"I-i I'm sorry… they told me I had to or they'd kill my daughter…" Preston cried. "She's all I have in this life."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Where is your daughter?" Anna asked, voice icy.

"In the cave," he cried.

"Go get her," Anna said.

"I can't walk, my leg is broken."

"It seems like you better crawl, then, friend," Bradley said. The man, dangerously close to being in shock, nodded slowly. He began pulling his limp leg behind him as he entered the cave.

"So what evolution are you going for?" Anna asked.

"Not sure," Bradley said. "I'm a couple of months away from that."

"That's not that long," Anna said.

"Perhaps not," Bradley said, placing a finger on his chin. "I can already conjure the bow. Maybe it would be good to have conjured arrows."

"Mana arrows, that seems practical, but you would need to train your wisdom up significantly."

"I know," Bradley said. "That's where I'm struggling at. I am not sure how to do that."

"How good is your mana control?"

"Adequate," Bradley said.

"It might be good to try to enhance your arrows with mana, pack a better punch, and it should count toward Wisdom gains."

"That's not a bad idea," Bradley mused.

"Talk to Levi," Anna said. "He's the best one of us who can control his mana. He's a natural at it."

"You think he'd teach me?"

"Of course," Anna said. "Levi will likely be a professor, whenever he retires from doing what ever he wants."

"I see. It is clear that I have a lot to learn," Bradley said.

"We will guide you as best that we can," Anna said gently. She turned to the cave entrance. Slowly, Preston limped out with a teenage girl by his side. She was about his height, with light brown hair that fell past her shoulders. It was matted and messy. She was just as skinny as the rest of the village. She had marks on her wrists like she had been chained up. Anna's heart broke as she saw the disheveled teenager.

She pulled two health potions out of her inventory. To the two non-magic users, it might have looked like she yanked the potions out of thin air.

"Here," Anna said. "Potion of Regeneration, it will heal vitality and restore your stamina."

"We're without magic," Preston said. "This won't work."

"It won't heal your mana since they don't exist but it will heal your leg and give you energy back, everyone has vitality and mana. Drink."

"We cannot afford these," Preston said. "Please."

"That is why I gave them to you, drink," she said a bit harsher this time. They both looked nervous and then sipped the potion. The teenager's eyes grew wide as she tasted the drink.

"It's sweet," she said.

"Ugh," Preston said, sticking out his tongue. "Too sweet."

"Dad, you just like your bitter root drinks," she wined. She looked at her hands. The magical healing was coursing through her body. The marks on her wrist slowly faded, her face became a little less sunken, and her posture straightened. Preston's leg took a little longer for the magic to heal, but in a few minutes, his leg was healed, and they were ready to head back to the village.

"What is your name," Anna asked the girl.

"Trixie," she said. Her voice was soft and sweet.

"I'm Anna," Anna introduced. "Lovely to meet you, Trixie."

"Thank you for rescuing me," Trixie said softly.

"Thanks for not killing me," Preston said. He held his daughter up onto the unicorn. "Why didn't you?"

"We figured something was going on with the bandits," Bradley answered. "If you were working with them, we would have killed you after."

Trixie's face went pale after those words.

"But it did not come to that," Anna said.

"That's good," Trixie said, her face lightening. Anna noticed that Trixie often looked at her with admiring eyes. One time, their gazes met. "I'm sorry, you're just so cool! I want to be like you when I grow up," Trixie said.

"I am nothing special," Anna said.

"Don't let her lie to you," Bradley said to the teenager. "She's strong, smart, pretty, and a good friend. She is worthy of your admiration, she has mine." Bradley said with a soft smile.

"I am going to work my but off to get a magic essence," Trixie said. "That's how I got kidnapped. I was in the forest helping dad look for stuff. But I will do what I need to in order to get that essence!"

***

Tycen and Izzy walked to a bedraggled-looking building. The roof had missing shingles and cracked windows, and the wooden door was old and falling apart. Tycen and Izzy shared a look, and then he knocked on the door three times.

"Hello?" A young man answered the door. He looked to be half Tycen's age.

"Hi, we are here for your notice that was posted on the board," Tycen said.

"You're a big man," he said, craning his neck to look up at Tycen. "My older sister put that notice up. She's out right now, so maybe you'll have to come back."

"No, no," a voice called from behind Tycen and Izzy. "I'm here, I'm here, yes, please, we desperately need your help."

"What can we help you with?" Izzy asked.

"Everything," she said. "I'm Julie, and this is my brother Rome. Our parents left many months ago and have yet to return. The house started falling a part and I, well I just don't know how to do any of this. Between my brother and our younger sister, I just got too busy." Tycen frowned as she told her story. His face must have shown something besides sympathy because Julie was flustered. "I know it's not good work for mighty adventurers like yourselves, but…"

"That's not why I frowned," Tycen interrupted her, rambling. How old are you, Julie?"

"Eighteen," she said. Izzy gasped.

"And how about you?" Tycen said, asking Rome gently.

"Ten!" he said with pride.

"How old is your sister?" Izzy asked.

"She's 5," Julie said.

"What do you do for work?"

"Uhhh…" her face got bright red as she glanced at her brother.

"She helps some of the families around the town," he said.

"Yes, let's call it that." Tycen and Izzy shared another glance as they looked at the teenager with assessing gazes. Julie shrank under their gazes and ushered them inside. She began pointing out everything that was wrong with the house. To put it nicely, there was a lot of work that needed to be done.

The exterior was no indication of how rough the interior was. An odd stench emanated from the kitchen. The wooden floor was waterlogged, moldy, and creaky, and the foundations were experiencing some wood rot. Tycen looked around to see if there was anything causing the smell.

"We've been getting sick frequently but can't afford to stay at the Tavern in town," Julie explained. "I was able to scrape enough cash for hiring some adventurers who could be kind enough to get me the materials in the forest to rebuild the house."

"This is no place for children to stay," Izzy said. It is not surprising that you all have been getting sick." She pulled out a small box from thin air. Here is enough copper for a few nights' stay and meals at the Tavern. Go now. Tycen and I will have it fixed before we go."

"We could never take your-"

"We weren't asking," Tycen said, gently prodding his aura to get her to move.

"Yes, yes, sir, " Julie said. She grabbed her brother and younger sister and followed them to the Tavern.

"This town seems a lot more rundown than it should be," Tycen said, watching the children rush off to the Tavern.

"It does," Izzy said. "Even without regular aide, it seems like they should be a little self-sustaining but they are not."

"Not even close," Tycen said. "Cleansing Breeze," he chanted. His wings began glowing a radiant orange; once the glowing reached its apex, he flapped them hard. A cooling breeze rushed through the house, eliminating all odor and killing all mold.

Izzy took a breath. " Thank you for that," she said. That smell was getting to me."

"Of course," he said. "The mold was all over the place, no wonder they were always sick. Hey team drones," Tycen called. Three drones walked into the house, looking at the state of the place. "Can you suck out all the water in the wood in the house?"

The drone in the middle nodded. Their orange bioluminescence glowed brightly as water droplets started being extracted from the house's wood. The mimics all absorbed the water as it came. The process took a few minutes, as there was a lot of water throughout the house's structure.

Tycen started searching the rest of the house for any practical tools to help re-do the flooring and roof. He found some nails halfway rusted and a hammer staff with no head.

"Awesome," Tycen said. "We'll find the supplies we need in town. Come on, let's look at another notice. While we do."

Izzy agreed; she pulled out another notice and read it out loud, "Help wanted for -"

It was finally sundown, and Tycen and Izzy made their way back to the Tavern. Both of them were hungry; they spent the day building, cleaning, and walking back and forth between projects. This went on for the whole day. They had completed three notices and even killed some lesser monsters, which was perfect for Izzy to learn while having the added protection of Tycen. It appeared they were the first to arrive at the Tavern, so they chowed down on some food while they waited.

"How did you know how to do all of that work around the houses?" Izzy asked.

"I grew up in a town like this, well, not quite like this. We were kilometers away from the closest big city, and rarely had people come and help us. So, we learned how to help ourselves. I learned how to put floors in, replace windows, put a roof on, and have basic shelter when you need it, things like that."

"Oh," Izzy said. "I see, I wasn't aware of that. That must have been hard," she said sympathetically.

"It was, but hard work isn't bad," Tycen said. "Hard work is the foundation for my power, I was the hardest work in my tribe, which was why they blessed me with some spells once. I wasn't going to squander that opportunity. That is why I am grateful for my team, they are hard workers."

"You don't have to tell me that," Izzy chuckled. "My body is going to crash in about five minutes. Let's recount the events of the day," she counted on her fingers. "I passed out due to looking at the blank void in reality; we ran so many kilometers, we fought a monster, then a bunch of mini monsters, entered into this really sad town, and helped a few families out. To call yourselves hard workers is an insult to you all. I will be lucky to wake up in the morning at all."

"You did great and got stronger," Tycen smiled. "But yes, rest will be gratefully appreciated."