Derek groaned in pain as he opened his eyes, the stars had been replaced by a wooden ceiling. Confusion flooded his brain as he glanced around, there was a candle burning softly on a table to his left and a decent bed beneath him. He tried to sit up only to wince in pain and fall back again. Spots swam in front of his eyes, and his body felt heavy. It was a small neat little room, it was dark out so the candle was the only light. Amongst the shimmering shadows he got the feeling that he was in an older home. Probably in the slums of Talik, though he still felt groggy and soon passed out once more.

Derek awoke again, not aware of the passing time. A man was standing over him, humming an unknown tune with the odd accompaniment of the scent of salt. he seemed to be checking on his wounds, Derek's head felt fuzzy and he couldn't think straight. The man changed his bandages, cleaning his body with a rag dipped in a bowl of cold water. It was no longer night so the room was easier to see, cracked walls and weathered wooden floorboards gave the renewed impression that this was an old home. He could feel sleep at the edge if his vision once more, he tried to push against it. He knew there was something important he needed to do, but couldn't quite place it. That itchy feeling of something hiding at the tip of his tongue guided him into sleep once more.

Derek sprang up and winced, he looked down at his chest which was bandaged up quite well. A plate sat on the table to his left, a cup of water next to it. Derek grabbed the glass and poured it down his dry, itchy throat. After wetting his throat a slew of coughs racked his body as he seemed to be cracking the shell of internal dryness. As the coughing fit subsided he began eating, demolishing the plate's contents in seconds. After he set the plate and cup back down he propped up the pillows beneath him. That feeling came back, the itch to get moving.

His mind started turning, Where am I, what happened? Then suddenly it hit him, Serine! Derek scrambled from the bed clumsily, he tumbled onto the floor as consequence, banging his elbow against the bed frame. Ow! Damn! He struggled to his feet, his chest burned like a thousand needles were pressed against it and he felt something wet being to soak it.

"Woah woah, there back to bed mister!" a voice called out firmly, a man stood in the doorway, he approached Derek and pushed him back towards the bed. The man was strong, surprisingly so.

"I must go, they have her!" Derek exclaimed, struggling against the man to no avail.

"You can't go anywhere without opening that wound, you're lucky I know basic first aid." the strange man ushered him back to bed with a stern voice. Derek sighed as he stopped at the edge of the bed, "Fine, I can heal myself," he was annoyed as he cast healing magic on his chest, the pain flamed up before it felt better.

"You're an adventurer?" The man asked, he looked at Derek with inquisitive green eyes.

"Yeah, my name's Derek, I'm a C ranked adventurer, and I have something very important I must leave immediately for." Derek told him firmly before moving to step past the man, "Thank you-" he paused as he realized he didn't know what the man's name was. The older fellow smiled and spoke up. His voice was soft, smooth, comfortable even.

"Call me Griax, Sounds like you have somewhere you need to be." The man was dressed in a simple shirt and shorts with a strange flowery pattern. He had a necklace with a pendant shaped like a snake. His white hair was swept back and dangled on his shoulders.

"Yes, my friend was taken by slave traders, I must find them." Derek spoke urgently as he moved from the bedroom to the main area of the home. Griax followed behind him, his footsteps quiet even in such a creaky old home.

"Ah, slavery huh? Your best bet is to head for Otalos, center of trade. Though, you might have to buy her back." The man spoke calmly as he sat down at his kitchen table, he pushed a pouch of silver pieces towards Derek. "I wish you the best, Derek." He gave a good-natured smile, however for some reason it felt, ominous.

Derek approached the table, ignoring the tingle in his spine as he accepted the coins graciously.

"Thank you sir, I will repay you for your kindness one day." Derek offered before turning to leave quickly, however as the door closed behind him he heard a voice in his ear.

"Oh, I'm sure." The breath brushed his ear and caused him to whip his head back towards the home. Behind him there was an old dilapidated home, Derek frowned as he pushed the door open to see that there was no man anymore just an old dusty abandoned home. Filled with dust and cobwebs, there was no evidence of his stay or the older man's existence.

"What the!?" He frowned in confusion before closing the door back. He shrugged it off, it doesn't matter, whatever, I need to find her.

Derek sighed, and took off down the street. It didn't take him long to head out from the entrance of Talik and start down the path at a brisk jog, this road met up with the road that led to Aguris, but Aguris was a branch off. This road was originally built between Otalos and Talik. The trees passed by him ominously as the sun set behind him, they seemed to glow red, everything seemed eerie especially after that man and his disappearing trick.

Derek heard the sound of hooves ahead of him, there was a carriage riding up the path from Aguris, he leaped through the trees. The two roads met like an upside-down V, near the bottom of the V was where both the carriage and Derek were. Derek crossed a straight line to the other road, he skidded to a stop in front of the carriage which also came to a stop.

"Excuse me young man, you seem to be blocking the road." The carriage driver was an elderly man, the man was dressed like a merchant and had a long white beard, a lantern hung from a hook atop his carriage.

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"I need to get to Otalos, could I hitch a ride with you sir." Derek asked, he approached slowly, the old man nodded.

"Sure thing young man." Derek hopped up beside the man as he got permission. The man snapped the reins and the horses started once more.

"The names Derek." Derek gave his name as he sat down, he leaned back, still exhausted from his injuries.

"Names Jack, What's got you in such a rush young man?" Jack spoke with an old gravely voice. The trees passed by steadily, they watched silently, their shadows long and reaching.

"I'm chasing a group of slavers, they grabbed a friend of mine, and nearly killed me." Derek explained openly, the man nodded thoughtfully in response. Silence reclaimed the night as the moon began to set.

~

Derek looked up, the sun shone above him, they were traveling along a road with open fields on both sides.

"Something up?" He was asking because Jack had nudged him.

"There's some horses coming up on us, they could be bandits." The old man explained, Derek stood up and gazed behind him.

"What are you carrying?" He asked, his gaze trained on the horses approaching fast.

"A person. . . Specifically a noble."

"Wait, you're an undercover carriage!? You let me ride so casually, I wasn't expecting anything too important." Derek exclaimed, the horses had gotten much closer. There were three of them, each wearing mercenary style armor, cobbled together with different pieces. They looked experienced, and their weapons were of high quality.

"Do you have a bow?" Derek asked, the man stood up and lifted the seat, underneath hid a bow, some arrows, and a sword. Derek slung the quiver over his shoulder and grabbed the bow. He also pulled the sword before dropping the seat once more, the man sat back down.

Derek handed the man the sword as the men on horses caught up, an arrow sailed over the carriage.

"Definitely a threat." Derek stood atop the seat, holding his bow over the carriage roof. He fired arrows at the men behind them, There were more than he initially counted, more like ten of them. A few of them looked greener, Derek aimed for the less experienced-looking mercenaries.

He managed to hit a few of his shots, killing two of them and injuring three of them, but they'd caught up. The head mercenary swung his sword at the driver of the carriage, the old man reacted quickly, swinging his own sword. The speed and deftness of his skill was surprising for Derek. He hadn't expected Jack to be a skilled swordsman.

The carriage slowed before stopping against the side of the road, Derek slipped from his seat, leaping atop the horse that skidded past the carriage. The rider was surprised as Derek landed behind him. With his own quick hands he grappled with the man for mere moments till the blood poured from his throat as Derek leaped from the horse. When Derek landed he flicked his blade to knock the blood off.

Taking the blade in his teeth he raised his bow once more and pulled the string till it creaked. He sniped another of the mercenaries, the man was struck in the chest and fell from his horse, smashing his head against a large rock. He also managed to finish off the two injured ones, there were only three left. Two were locked in combat with the surprisingly strong old man, while the other headed straight for Derek. He slung the bow over his shoulder and gripped his blade as he leaped towards his new opponent with a stab.

The man blocked, sliding past the attack, Derek landed on his feet and spun around. The man swung his sword, Derek Blocked with his knife, bracing his hand against the back as he moved out of the way. He let one of his hands drop and brought it around behind him, the mercenary's sword smashed into the ground with a heavy weight.

He lifted the sword quickly, no strain showed in his face, he seemed to be able to wield that great sword like a short sword. Derek ducked, the wind from the blade cut through his hair and chilled his neck, Derek performed a sweeping kick on the man's legs. There was no reaction, aside from the pain in Derek's ankle, he sidestepped another heavy swing. Damn, this guy's tough. Derek leaped, wrapping his arms around the large man's neck, he swung around onto his back. He tried to stab the man in the throat but was quickly yanked off and thrown to the ground, a sword quickly followed.

Derek rolled away as the ground exploded from the force of the strike, he barely got to his feet before launching himself at the man. The mercenary's sword rose, it grazed his cheek and arm as he shot past, and buried his knife into the man's chest. A flaming pain coursed through his forearm and cheek as blood began to drip from his wounds like scarlet tears.

The man looked down with surprise, thud, the great sword dropped from his hand and the man fell onto one knee. Derek tried to move as he saw it coming when a deep and sharp pain bloomed in his lower abdomen. The man punched Derek in the gut and sent him flying, Derek gasped for air, wincing as he hit the ground in a tumbling roll.

The man fell forward, smashing into the ground, burring Derek's knife beneath him. I really don't wanna dig that back out. He thought when suddenly a hand fell onto his shoulder.

"I'll buy you a new knife, that could have been bad without your help." The old man spoke, Derek turned to see the other two Mercenaries dead as well. Derek nodded and followed the old man, Jack, back to the carriage.

"We're almost to the city, you'll need to be up for the identification process." Jack spoke calmly as he snapped the reins, the carriage was moving once more.

Derek frowned as he rested his heart and Body from the sudden exercise. I hope word that I'm a criminal hasn't reached Otalos yet. He thought hopefully, though the frown stayed as he felt his recent string of bad luck was likely to continue.

~

Griax smiled happily, almost laughing with joy. "Oh boy, that went just swimmingly! What a good kid, he'll make a wonderful pawn in the future. Not that he'll be able to reunite with that girl, no hopefully he'll do some of my work for me after all." Griax passed his hand over his head and black curly hair replaced his white wispy locks. His face regressing to a young man, as he was in the process of changing his clothes.

"You know, it's too bad I don't have a servant like Maxwell, someone to share in my delight. Ah well, I've just not met anyone up to the task yet. Besides at this point it's just me and Asmodeus on this team with Maxwell and the others over there." He pulled on his usual black suit Jacket and began fixing his tie. "Hmm, what about Sariel, I wonder have you awoken yet? Maybe I should go look and see."

A frown finally brought a close to his endless smile, "but, I have no idea where the hell they tossed her core. When she revives she could be in the middle of the ocean for all I know. Damnit!" Griax smashed his fist into the wall, an explosion of greenish black energy exploded outwards and the wall ceased to exist. In fact it wasn't just the wall, a crater formed around him.

"Ah, oops. I lost my composure. . . How unsightly." Griax sighed, straightening his tie as he stepped out of the home and the alley, gazing up at the stars he sighed before turning and walking down the alleyway, disappearing into the silent shadows.