The month of Solara, the 12th day of Nimbus

“Hmm….” Sly let out a loud audible hum and looked across the table from where Lyra and Eamon sat. “Hmm.” She continued humming and sipping her ale, glaring at them, waiting for someone to crack first.

Lyra gave in to her prodding with raised hands in surrender. “Sly, will you say something or continue humming like that?” She stopped eating her bread and hot porridge to glare back.

Sly smirked. “Was waiting for one of you to spill the beans. Neither of you have spoken to each other for several miles, except when we came upon Fiends in battle, but even that was sloppy at best.”

Lyra frowned. Crossing her arms. “I have nothing to say to him.”

“What she said,” Eamon mumbled after.

Sly pressed her lips together and looked at them again with tired, lidded eyes. “Uh-huh, right.” She sat the mug down on the table. “I advise you two to nip this in the bud because if something worse comes along and you two still act like children, you’ll see Lumos quickly. Now, let’s finish breakfast and head over to the guild.”

Eamon’s brow rose. “What for?”

“We'll need to supervise the area as best as possible so there's no panic while this is still fresh news. Especially with these new Rifts and the Magycte Beasts, places don’t know about it.”

Once they finished with breakfast, they left the Tavern.

•†•

The 14th day of Aurorion, Isselgrade

During their two-day journey, they were in Isselgrade, a town half the size of Sylvanbrook. However, there were by far more commercial buildings and businesses along the sides of the city, where they walked along the cobblestone walkway.

The streets were wide, but plenty of people—local and tourist—walked the city in their gowns, breeches, and waistcoats. There were a couple of drawn carriages by horseback, dropping people off.

Lyra kept her mother updated through Voxlink messages during the journey, except for the argument with Eamon and the encounter with the Magycte Beast, assuring her of her safety and well-being.

Eamon, too, had messaged Ealdred and, like Lyra, omitted his argument with his master’s granddaughter. He did not want to give a bad impression that he was bitter about Riftbreaker.

Although upset, he could not deny that Lyra was skilled with the sword. Master Ealdred had made the right choice, but he wished Lyra would be angry with him so she would stop asking questions. He lacked answers—most things felt hazy, making his head hurt, which could raise suspicion.

“Here we are.” Sly gestured in front of them.

They stood in front of the Locksmith guild. The exterior was a vernacular brick-laden establishment with a dark roof and four windows, two on each side. A black sign written in gold letters read: Isselgrade Guild.

They walked into the guild and were met with the bustling energy of fellow Locksmiths, wearing assorted outfits of varying styles, all sharing the adventurer aesthetic of shorts, trousers, and fitting shirts for comfort and free movement. The armband emblem of the Locksmith is on their lower shoulder to identify themselves to the public.

The guildhall was a vast chamber with intricate tapestries depicting the history of the Locksmiths, Wellsprings, and Lumos herself. Between the tapestries were bookshelves loaded with textual information for all Locksmiths. The smell of old books and the outdoors clung in the air. Wooden boards in the middle of the room had listings for Locksmiths to sign up for jobs.

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They walked along the red carpet, and the guild’s receptionist, a kind-hearted woman with warm brown eyes and a brunette pixie cut, greeted them. The nametag on her buttoned blue read: Elen.

“Morning, Elen,” Sly said, leaning an arm on the desk. “My group and I just came into the city and wanted to pitch in our services if needed.”

The woman’s eyes twinkled, and her tiny face bobbed up and down. “Oh, thank Lumos for that! We have been facing an influx of strange Rifts in the surrounding areas. The local Locksmiths are stretched thin; they’re attempting to manage the disruption of these anomalies, causing the power to turn off every so often.”

Laura and Eamon thought it strange that there were Rifts close to cities and people and wondered what the connection was if Luminous Forest was brimming with old magic. What did the surrounding area of Isselgrade have?

Sly offered their help and handed in their Rank ID cards. Elara’s eyes bugged out seeing Sly’s, and she apologized profusely for not recognizing her. She let out a small smile and said flirtatiously, ‘It’s no problem at all. You have a lot on your plate. The receptionist blush a deep shade of red.

Elen cleared her throat after snapping out of her flustered reverie with Sly’s courtly responses. “W-Will these two C-Rankers handle this? I know it’s a usual Rift quest, but if you’re saying that these Rifts are even more volatile than before and producing Magycte Beasts.” She whispered so no one but them could hear. “I wouldn’t feel right about sending them out there.”

“Don’t worry, Doll face, they’re with me. They work well together, and they even tried synchronizing.” Sly turned to them, confirming they would be on their best behavior.

Elen’s eyes widened. “Kesync? Really? That is impressive for your ranking. If the Rosevera Whip vouched for you and you’ve managed to sync at your level, I can rid myself of the worry and guilt.”

Eamon bowed. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“We won’t let you down,” Lyra said, with tightened fists in the air.

“And they're both Ashbourne,” Sly added. “One being his granddaughter and the other his adoptive father.”

Elen’s eyes were even wider than before being in the presence of the Sentinel Rift Breakers heirs.

“Will we be working with anyone?” Sly asked.

“Let’s see, give me a moment…” She wounded a small crank on a wooden terminal with brass accents. The small display screen booted up, showing a black-and-white interface. The Voxframe usage was for communication and basic data processing– similar to the Voxlink, but not portable– and could send and receive messages and access guild records.

“...It looks like one group of Locksmiths finished a quest not too long ago. As soon as they come in–”

Before she finished, the doors opened to see six Locksmiths entering the guild's halls.

The first person who walked to the front desk had a powerful presence and notable features. A flowing gray beard reached his chest. He stood at an average height of Sly’s six feet, with piercing blue eyes, a weathered face, and clothing matching his years of field experience.

“I trust all went well, Master Thaldir,” Elen responded.

“Aye,” the five other Locksmiths walked behind him. “We’ll be taking another Rift quest. I’ll say this: they’re unlike any we’ve encountered before; it's like it's brimming with chaotic energy.”

His group nodded in agreement.

“Did these Rifts produce creatures like you’ve never seen before? Magycte Beast, to clarify.” Sly questioned him.

The fifty-some-year-old Locksmith turned to her. “You mean the stuff of legends from the Primal Chaos Era?”

Sly shook her head. “They aren’t just legends anymore.”

“She’s right, Master Thaldir.” Elen nodded. “Sly and the two Ashbourne Locksmiths took them out. The two of them even synced doing it.”

The group was awed at Lyra and Eamon and surprised at their skill.

“I thought I recognized, ya. The Rosevera Whip and…Ashbourne, you say?”

Both Lyra and Eamon introduced themselves, proceeding with Thaldir.

“Names Thaldir Ironshroud. I am pleased to meet the famous Sly the Rosevera Whip, the granddaughter and the adoptive son of Ealdred the Sentinel Riftbreaker. This is my crew.”

He stretched out his arm to the other party members with him.

A handsome man with a short beard cropped dark hair, and broad shoulders introduced himself next, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. The name’s Jalen Strongarm.”

“Sorrel Wynerra,” the pale and lean man bowed. Some strands of his raven black hair, not pulled into a ponytail, fell in his blue eyes.

“It’s good to meet you three!” A boastful voice said. “Gavrik Maddox, at your service.” A burly man with an imposing physique, dark skin, closely cropped hair, and a well-kept beard.

The last two members were Elessa Hyarm, with flowing red hair and amber eyes that looked like fire as she introduced herself with a smirk, and Rylia Zameria, who continuously pushed her windswept silver hair behind her ear and voiced a quiet introduction that was almost too low to hear.

“Since you three are looking for a quest and have fought a Magycte, want to join our party?” Jalen asked them. They accepted.

“I’ll put your names in the database,” Elen said. “Be sure to report back together when it’s finished. And do keep that information about the Magycte Beasts to yourselves; we don't want to cause too much panic or confusion.”

The Locksmiths all agreed to that notion. They left the guild and conversed with each other before leaving for their following location in the Strange Rifts.