《The Everyday Life of A Pathfinder》 Chapter-4: So this is an Uare? Cronk had to stop himself from punching the pathfinder, taking deep slightly shaky breaths he spoke, "Ok that was nice, but what was the point of this? To show me that creature, so I don''t get in over my head? If that''s the case we can head back to town now, I get the point." Shaking his head Vigil replied, "No, the point of going out here is to test your observation skills. Consider that the introduction." Reaching into his oversized bag he pulled out a twenty-five foot long, six foot tall net designed to tangle, and a forty foot rope. "Now is where the training begins." Tossing one end of the net to Cronk along with the long piece rope he pointed towards the water, "Your next step is to get across the river and set up the net. He caught the net and rope in his left hand, and looked down quizzically at the rope. Disregarding it for now, he looked around for a way to safely cross a the stream, but found none. Apprehension began to flood through him as he asked the pathfinder, but felt like he already knew the answer, "Is there a bridge around here or something?" Still smiling Vigil replied, "Nope, you''re going to be swimming across" pausing he continued, "what''d you think the rope was for?" Cursing Cronk spoke, "You''re insane, you want me to swim across this twenty foot lake and get to the other side before an Uare, or whatever that beasts called, decides to take a chunk out of me?" A worm of doubt wiggled it''s way into his mind, ''He''s getting paid to get rid of you, someone must have found out that you were here, and wanted to get rid of some competition.'' Backing away from the river he spoke whilst dropping the net, "I''m not going to do it" and began walking away Not turning to look at Cronk, Vigil mentally clicked his tongue, ''looks like he''s not as brave as I first thought, he''s smart though, so I''ll give him a little push.'' "No one will teach you how to pathfind if you don''t do this you know?" Vigil called after him Hesitating slightly at the pathfinders word he could feel his blood boiling, ''If I don''t learn how to pathfind this whole trip would be worthless, and I can kiss my chances of becoming a general goodbye.'' Turning back around he strode over to the net, picked it up, and jumped into the stream swimming as fast as he could. Unable to resist looking he opened his eyes staring upstream, it was hard to see and the water constantly assaulted his eyes making it fairly painful, but he pushed through the pain, if he would die he would stare death in the face. Seeing a small figure upstream quickly getting larger as it got closer Cronk redoubled his efforts to make it across the stream. Checking on the figure again he saw a blur pass by him several feet away. Mentally breathing a sigh of relief he made his way to the opposite side of the shore. Pulling himself up he silently prayed to every god he''d ever heard of for that amount of luck. Feeling a tug of the net he was holding he looked over, and saw the pathfinder smiling. ''Bastard," he growled ''I''m going to kill him when I get back to the other side. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Still looking at the pathfinder he saw the man putting his end of the rope in the water, a few seconds passed until Cronk did the same. After waiting for around seven minutes a large force slammed against the net, seeing the pathfinder let go of his end of the net he started pulling the net to his side. Hearing a splashing sound he looked over at the end of the shore to see the pathfinder gone, shocked he looked into the water and saw the man leisurely making his way across the stream. Dragging up the net Cronk was finally able to get a better look at the Uare currently tangled in the net. The Uare wasn''t what crock had imagined after his first encounter with it. He had thought it to be a massive fish of some kind, but that was not the case. The Uare was about four feet long, from head to tail; and had a wingspan of a little over two feet. The Uare''s head resembled that of a tall rounded spear tip, with it''s eyes favoring the side of it''s skull rather than the front, most likely so it could move quickly through water without damaging its eyes. The rest of it''s body was somewhat streamlined staying about the same width until it reached the back legs where the tail began to form. The tail was fairly normal starting with the tail starting large and slowly getting smaller as it went down. The Uare''s legs were medium lengthed and well muscled while having three joints instead of two, for reasons currently unknown to Cronk, and at the end of it''s leg was a set of three pronged fingers which could be used for gripping. The most peculiar part that he could currently see would have to be its arms. Its arms resembled that of a large bird wings twisted ninety degrees acting similar to sails, but instead of catching wind it was catching water currents. At the end of it''s wings was the same set of fingers on its feet. That''s all Cronk could currently see to get more details he would need to go over and touch it, but he was still wary to do that. He knew how deadly it could be in water he wasn''t going to underestimate it now. After pulling himself out of the water Vigil quickly strode over to the struggling Uare. Leaning down he quickly picked the animal holding it beneath the armpits and against his chest, so it couldn''t escape easily. Looking at Cronk he spoke, "We''ll be taking this back to the guild hall where you can run tests and observe it at your leisure," Turning to walk up stream he stopped, "and one more thing," Putting one of his arms across the Uare''s body he gripped it tighter against his chest as he reached towards the animal''s mouth and forced it open revealing ... nothing, the Uare did not have any teeth. "Only the females have teeth, and they never leave the den." With that he headed off upstream to the bridge a half mile away. Chapter-5: Warehouse Note: Sorry for the late release, and (maybe) drop in quality. I''m currently writing this in a moving car for a trip, and I won''t be able to write as often as I normally do. Anyway''s next chapter is the first action scene so you have that to look forward to. Thank you for the support, I hope you enjoy the chpater *** The trip back to the town was one of an uneasy silence. Cronk opened his mouth several times to say something, but stopped himself as he thought his words over. Cronk knew that he should harbor feelings of hate or even disgust towards the pathfinder, after all the man had made a complete fool of Cronk. The pathfinder had tricked him into swimming across a river and making him think a completely harmless animal was one which could kill him, but strangely the only feeling he felt was shame. He felt shame because for once Cronk was completely out of his element, unable to make a reasonable decision. Just as the sun was beginning it''s descent into the western mountains the two found themselves at the southern gates of the city, "It''s getting late, we should drop this guy off in the warehouse. I''ll get you started on your observations tomorrow." Vigil said while pointing to the struggling Uare. Still lost in thought Cronk simply nodded, and followed the pathfinder towards the eastern side of the city. The city of Linden started out as a small town whose primary source of income was grain farming. It wasn''t until around 60 years ago, when a mining company started digging around in the mountains for precious gems, or iron, when the town started expanding. The mining company had stumbled across a literal gold mine, which attracted people who sought fortune, which in turn attracted larger businesses. With the sudden influx of people, and businesses many buildings were made to accommodate all of them, and often times the city would just build the buildings wherever there was space, leaving the town''s layout sprawling in every which direction. With many back roads, and dead ends the city was very difficult for newcomers to make their way from one place to another. Arriving at a stone warehouse, towards the outskirts of the city, Vigil knocked on the door, after a few seconds with no answer he knocked again. Cursing he handed the Uare to Cronk, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a key. Unlocking the door Vigil shouted into the warehouse, his voice amplified by the echoing inside, "WAKE UP!". Hearing a falling sound accompanied by quite groaning Vigil made his way towards the noise talking loudly, "Jago I swear to god if you keep falling asleep on duty I''ll have guild master schedule you for another week of this." Hearing the voice of his old master, Jago called out while stretching his back, "Nice to see you too Vigil," Standing up he waited for Vigil to round the corner, and when he finally did he saw another unfamiliar face holding onto an Uare, smiling he spoke to Vigil, "So you''ve finally decided to accept another apprentice after four years? Did I set your standards to high or something?" Snorting at Jago''s narcissism, he thought about retorting, but his former apprentice wasn''t completely wrong so he ignored it for now, "He''s still on the trial period, if he does good on the rest of the observation test I''ll accept him Snorting at the man he responded, "He''s still on the trial period, if he does good on the rest of the observation test I''ll consider him." Standing all the way up Jago walked over to Cronk, and spoke "My names Jago, Vigil''s former apprentice, it''s nice to meet you," Going to extend his hand Cronk realized he was still holding the Uare, and instead simply nodded, "Cronk, likewise" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Pointing to the Uare, Jargo spoke, "We better get that one into a container before he tries to escape," motioning for Cronk to follow him he moved towards the back of the warehouse while explaining, "We have several warehouses and every warehouse is separated into two types, dead and living. The living warehouses are further separated into types of environment, for example to the right is swamp lands." Trying to scratch the Uare''s chin he spoke, "This little guy lives in the rivers, but they occasionally go on land, so he''ll go into the semi aquatic section." Arriving at the back Jago motioned towards a medium sized, ten by ten by ten foot, container filled mostly with water, but having a small stone island in the middle, "Just toss him in and you can come back in the morning to start the experiments." Doing as he was told, he put the Uare into the water, and then turned to ask Jago a question in a slightly concerned voice, "Is this what pathfinders do? Just sit in warehouses all day?" Scratching the back of his neck Jago spoke with a weak smile, "This is actually a punishment for something I did, normally pathfinders are out in the field guiding people through locations, and before you ask what I did ... let''s just say that there is a lot less animals in the living warehouses than there normally are." Cronk furrowed his brow, and opened his mouth to ask for details, but was cut off before he could speak, "You should probably head off to the pathfinders guild with Vigil before it gets late." Jago continued speaking through a yawn. Bidding Jago farewell he made his way towards the warehouse exit where Vigil was currently staring at the darkening sky. Hearing footsteps he spoke, "Let''s go to the pathfinders guild and register you as a trainee you''ll get a room to stay in and a meal everyday." Without waiting for his answer Vigil began walking through the winding back streets of Linden towards the guild hall. *** Ethan, Mary, Mark, and Ilo were standing at the corner of one of the many intersections of Linden waiting for their prey to arrive, "Are you sure he''s going to be here today?" Ethan spoke a little quieter than what was absolutely necessary. "I saw him head to one of the warehouses a few minutes ago, this would be the quickest way to get to their guild hall...I think at least." Mary tried to reassure. Patting Ethan on the back, Mark jokingly spoke, "Calm down Ethan, Mary''s practically a genius you know. She can multiply and everything" Ethan opened his mouth to voice another one of his concerns, "What is our parents fi-" But was cut off by Ilo who had gone out to scout, "Mary was right he''s coming right now, he''ll be here in about five minutes." The atmosphere turning serious as Mary laid out a map, and went over their plans one more time, "Ok, last time we did this he had a pouch identical to this one ," holding up a small green coin purse she continued, "The plan is for Ethan to grab his pouch while he''s not paying attention," Circling an intersection she gestured to Mark, "after that he''ll meet up with Mark, here, and hand off the real coin pouch while dropping the fake one on the ground. After that Mark will circle around and go the long way towards the guild hall. Ilo you''ll be on the rooftops again, if something goes wrong bird call me everyone''s locations, and try to buy time until I get there." Taking a deep breath she finished "Everyone understand?" Looking around to her friends she saw them nodding their heads in consent, "Alright let''s do this." Not a chapter So the chapter I was just working on got deleted (Writting it on RL, browser crashed, reopened browser, content gone), so yeah...no chapter today. Chapter-6: To run from the wind As Cronk followed the pathfinder out of the alleyway he was met with a quite street with only a dozen people sluggishly walking to their houses after a long day at work. As he looked closer at the people''s faces an odd feeling washed over him, ¡®Are they not happy to go home?¡¯ Cronk had never seen a sight like this, even when he would visit the dingiest of cities in the north people were always smiling when it was time to go back home. Feeling his brow furrow deeply, in equal part anger, and confusion, he opened his mouth to ask pathfinder a question, ¡°Why is everyone so unhappy here?¡± Seeing the pathfinder stop, and raise his brow, the pathfinder spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re saying. I haven¡¯t seen anyone who¡¯s unhap-¡± The pathfinder was suddenly interrupted when he was shoved aside by a small child. Reaching out to the child to grab it Cronk stopped when the pathfinders voice range out, ¡°DON¡¯T!¡± Stopping he turned to look at the pathfinder, but the pathfinder was already running after the figure while calling out over his shoulder, ¡°Go ahead to the guild hall I¡¯ll be there in a bit!¡± *** Ethan saw the pathfinder walk out of the alleyway, and had started to walk towards him, but when a second figure emerged from behind the pathfinder Ethan stopped. Starting to panic Ethan breathed deeply, and tried to remember what Mary had told them before. Hearing Mary¡¯s voice in his head he repeated the words, ¡°1. The pathfinder will never accept help from other people even if they try to assist him.¡± Calming his breath Ethan darted towards the unsuspecting pathfinder. Reaching the pathfinder he inexpertly kicked the back of his knee while shoving him with his body in an attempt to topple the man over. The attack wasn¡¯t as effective as Ethan would have hoped, but it did succeed in putting the man off balance, fumbling with his knife he managed to cut the pathfinders coin purse from his belt. Running away he saw the other man reach out a hand to grab him, ¡®I thought she said no one else would help?¡¯ closing his eyes and continuing to run he heard a voice ring out, ¡°DON¡¯T¡±. Not looking back he turned into the alley the pair had just came from. Passing a few crates he briefly thought about hiding behind them, but remembered the last time they tried to hide. ¡®2. The pathfinder is very observant, distractions and hiding have never worked.¡¯ Instead he threw the crates down behind him. That might buy him a few seconds. A sudden stream of bird calls caught Ethan¡¯s attention. High pitched ,pause, short, short, short, medium length coo. ¡®If I keep running this route he¡¯s going to catch up with me before I can meet up with Mark¡¯ coming to a decision Ethan turned into a right alley way. He would circle around, and go a different route. Running, Ethan whistled four times in rapid succession, and hearing nothing in response he continued to run. Making his way back to the main road he just came from, a long mournful whistle cascaded over him, ¡®Great, and now we don¡¯t know where he is.¡¯ 3. The pathfinder is tricky, if you can¡¯t find him chances are he¡¯s right in front of you. *** Vigil was currently sprinting through the underground sewer system, it wasn¡¯t exactly a faster method of travel, but it allowed him to stay hidden from the kids, and to catch Ethan we would definitely need to stay out of the sights of Ilo. Those two were fairly coordinated, Vigil smiled as he thought of what they could do when they were older. Maybe he would train them even if they couldn''t win. He had to hand it to the kids, in just over a year, and a half of doing this they had improved a lot. They started assigning roles to each of the team members, and even used bird calls to communicate so he wouldn¡¯t figure out what they were planning, but over time, or maybe even because of those things the kids had gotten formulaic. He could now predicate what they would do, he wouldn¡¯t always get it right, over 50% of the time he was wrong, but 50% was a large percent. It didn¡¯t help their situation that didn¡¯t even need to predicate their plans anymore, because they would just tell him through the bird calls that they never bothered to change. Climbing up the ladder that led to the main road he emerged from a pothole in the middle of the street in time to see Ethan emerge from an alleyway a few meters away. Climbing all the way up to the street he began his chase again. *** Ilo had been jumping from rooftop to rooftop, frantically following Ethan, and the pathfinder. It was his job to call out information to the rest of the team, but he couldn¡¯t do that if he didn¡¯t know where the hell he was. Sighing he let out a low whistle, and continued to follow Ethan to the main street. Seeing nothing on the main road he continued to look around. Hearing Ethan yell he looked over to the street in time to see the pathfinder emerge from the sewer system. Cursing, Ilo let out three high pitched calls in quick succession, letting the rest of his team that Ethan was in danger. ¡° Ilo take the coins!¡± hearing Ethan call from below Ilo looked down in time to see his friend hurl the coins to a nearby rooftop. Cursing Ilo sprinted across the rooftops trying to get to Mark, so he could get it to the guild hall. *** Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Mary was currently sitting on a rooftop, in the middle of Mark¡¯s route, next to a crudely fashioned, and frayed net. Hearing Ilo¡¯s warning whistle Mary jumped up, she had assumed that they would at least get to Mark before pathfinder got close. Frustrated, Mary kicked the net. They were so close a few tries ago, but then Shaun decided to quit, and took half the team with him. It would have been manageable if pathfinder changed the rules, but he hadn¡¯t even done that, he just shrugged saying, ¡°Ok¡± Feeling her rage grow she grabbed the net, and ran towards her brother. She¡¯d be damned if they failed to get the coins to the pathfinders guild. Arriving at Mark¡¯s location she called down to him, ¡°Be ready to run,¡± while slipping him a sheet of paper with the new plan on it. As if on cue she saw Ilo running at full speed towards their location with pathfinder not far behind him. Readying her net she dropped it right before Ilo dashed under, the net had a few seconds of fall time, and she guessed by the time it fell the pathfinder would be under it. Her guess payed off, as the pathfinder reached out to grab Ilo, but the net fell directly onto the man stopping him and making him stumble forwards. Hearing a small shout she heard Mark say, ¡°Ilo we need to go now,¡± and with that the two ran off on their path, leaving Mary behind. Turning back Mary saw that the pathfinder wasn¡¯t struggling which she found odd. Climbing down from the rooftop she approached the pathfinder, and half jumped when the pathfinders hand darted out, grabbing her foot, ¡°You¡¯re out,¡± he said. *** A few minutes later of constantly looking over their shoulders Mark, and Ilo felt a weight left from their shoulders as they finally saw the guild hall 100 meters away. By this time the sun had already set, and only candles from people''s houses lit up their way to their destination. Dashing a few meters ahead Ilo tried to get to the guild hall quicker. The figure of the pathfinder sprinted out from an alleyway a few meters ahead making the two children stumble in an attempt to negate their speed. Half yelling Mark spoke, ¡°How¡¯d you know it was us!¡± Breathing heavily the pathfinder spoke through pants, ¡° I didn¡¯t, I scared a few couple trying to find you.¡± Giving each other a brief glance the two children darted off in different directions, Ilo to the left, and Mark back the way they came. *** Glancing between the two running figures Vigil darted after Ilo. Ilo was the last one to have the coins, and instead of running back like Mark did he ran to the side, probably to get a better position, and make a dash for the guild hall. *** Hearing footsteps following him Ilo frantically picked up his pace, only sparing a glance down at the green coin bag that Ethan had thrown him. 80m: Just passing some crates Ilo pulled them down behind him trying to buy a few more seconds, yet the footsteps got ever closer 60m: Almost feeling the pathfinders breath on his neck, Ilo stumbled around another corner stopping just out of sight. 50m: The pathfinder rushed around the corner pushing off the wall opposite of Ilo in the same move he uses to not lose momentum. That¡¯s when Ilo acted as soon as he saw the pathfinder rush around the corner he jumped back into the alleyway, and set off back to the guild hall. 40m: Losing all of his momentum Vigil cursed, and sprinted after the child 30m: Feeling like his legs were about to give out, his lungs barley were taking an any air, and his heart jumping out of his chest Ilo neared the guild hall 20m: Able to see the details of the door Ilo reached out his hands while yelling ¡°WORK!¡± 10m: Ilo suddenly found himself on the ground unable to breath with the pathfinder looking down at him. ¡°You were so close, don¡¯t give up you¡¯ll get it next time,¡± he heard the pathfinders words through a haze. Smiling he responded, ¡°No, we won this time.¡± Reaching down to his belt he opened the coin pouch, and poured its content onto the ground revealing a dozen cloves of garlic. *** Note: Jesus this took forever. I decided to make this longer to make up for not posting yesterday. If there were any mistakes that made the fluidity of the story fell off feel free to tell me. PS. Foreshadowing, Foreshadowing, look at the goddamn foreshadowing Chapter-7: Short explination Vigil looked down at the contents of the bag, mouth slightly agape, as he realized what must have happened. Ilo used himself as a distraction to lure him away from Mark, which gave Mark the opportunity to make a break for the guild unhindered. Hearing a roar of laughter from the guild hall, no more than ten meters away, Vigil¡¯s suspicions were confirmed. Letting out a heavy sigh he spoke rubbing the side of his head, ¡°I¡¯m going to be hearing about this until I die aren''t I.¡± Picking up the somewhat conscious Ilo he headed towards the guild. Opening the door he saw twenty of his guild mates standing in a circle around Mary, Ethan, and Mark as they shared their recent exploits, staying mostly true to the actual events. Hearing the door open Maruccio turned, seeing Vigil he called out while shaking his head, ¡°Oi, did you really lose to a bunch of children?¡± Walking past his friend, Vigil responded, slightly mumbling through gritted teeth, ¡°Stuff it Maruccio.¡± Seeing Vigil carrying Ilo Mary suddenly stopped her explanation, and ran to check on her friend. Shaking him a bit her face relaxed as she heard his pain filled groans, realizing that Ilo was fine she turned to Vigil with a smirk, and asked, ¡°So you finally going to train us to pathfind?¡± Lightly hurling Ilo at the girl, Vigil responded, ¡°Come back in the morning, I¡¯m going to sleep for now.¡± Ignoring the children¡¯s protest he walked up the stairs, opened the door to his room, and passed out as he landed on his bed. *** Mark called after the pathfinder while stomping his foot, ¡°What do you mean comeback in the morning? Wait where are you going, do-¡± the sound of a door slamming cut him off mid sentence. Grumbling he felt someone pat him on the back, turning he saw the man who was accompanying the pathfinder earlier. ¡°At this very moment, I know exactly how you feel,¡± Cronk spoke to the kid. Ignoring the man he walked over to Ilo and hung one arm over his shoulder while motioning for Ethan to do the same. Hefting their friend up they walked out the door and back to their houses. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. *** Walking back to the bar Cronk pointed a thumb to the children, and asked the bartender, ¡°Hey Perry, what was that all about?¡± Putting some liquor in front of Cronk the small bartender replied, ¡°Well you see kids don¡¯t normally like random people touching them.¡± Giving Perry a quick look of disgust he downed the liquor, and spoke, ¡°You know I meant about stealing the coin pouch,¡± Shrugging at the larger man Perry feigned a look of innocence, ¡°No in fact I didn¡¯t¡± getting another look from the man Perry decided it was time to stop teasing him, ¡°Well you see about half a year ago a lot of the local kids wanted to learn how to pathfind, but the age requirement to start learning is 20, mostly because of the amount of risk pathfinding has. Even after learning the risk they still wanted to do it, so we...¡± Thinking over his next words the bartender continued, ¡°We made a task for them to accomplish, that task was to steal the coin pouch of our top pathfinder, and deliver it to the guild hall. If they did that we would train them. Of course we didn¡¯t actually expect them to succeed especially since over half of their team left.¡± Downing more liquor Cronk spoke, ¡°Looks like pathfinder put you in a very precarious situation,¡± Setting down the larger man¡¯s order of fish, Perry spoke, ¡°Are you sure you should be getting this drunk? You know you have your observation test tomorrow.¡± Eyeballing the unseasoned fish Cronk responded, ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure, getting drunk is the only way I can eat your southern food,¡± and with that he tentatively started chewing on the fish. Waking up the next day Cronk had a massive headache, but his stomach was finally full, so that was a plus. Getting dressed cronk opened the door, and was about to head off towards the warehouse when he was stopped by the children from yesterday, ¡°Vigil told us to go to the warehouse with you, while he gets our lessons ready.¡± Chapter-8: The World Of The Living Tempted to slam the door in the children''s faces, and go back to sleep Cronk cursed the pathfinder, ¡®I¡¯m not a babysitter!¡¯ Pushing through the swarm of four kids Cronk walked out of his room while waving his hand dismissively, ¡°Yeah sure, just don¡¯t mess anything up, I don¡¯t feel like cleaning up after you 1,2,3,4 children. ¡°Hey we¡¯re not kids, we¡¯re thirteen,¡± Mark spoke while stepping towards Cronk with his arms crossed ¡°Actually I¡¯m twelve,¡± Ethan quietly mumbled off to one side Completely ignoring their protests Cronk stumbled down the stairs, ¡°You''re not, not kids until you can pull your own weight¡± Reaching the ground floor of the guild he looked around to see the place was mostly dead. Only three people were currently down here, and they were all responsible for running part of the guild. Figuring the rest of the pathfinders were still sleeping Cronk payed it no mind. Hearing his stomach growl Cronk, looked over to the bar, he was tempted to eat something before leaving, but the horrible tasting fish hadn¡¯t treated his tastebuds kindly even when drunk, so he didn¡¯t want to taste it sober. Sighing he went to walk out of the guild when the receptionist called out to him ¡°Cronk, just reminding you, you have your observation test today with Jago in warehouse A2. Opening his mouth to ask where warehouse A2 was Cronk, remembered when he first tried to ask a random citizen direction, and quickly closed his mouth. Turning to face the receptionist he nodded and spoke, ¡°Thank you Pete,¡± turning back he walked out of the guild, and down the street, with the children noisily following him. After walking for a good ten minutes Cronk turned to walk down a back alley which looked vaguely similar to one he had been in yesterday. ¡°Hey, Mary is there a shop this way or something?¡± Ethan whispered Thinking for a second mary shook her head, ¡°Nah, the only thing in that direction is the fishing market.¡± Stopping in his tracks Cronk turned to the children ¡°You mean warehouse A2 isn¡¯t in this direction?¡± Cronk spoke while pointing down the alley. Shaking their heads in unison the kids looked at him strangely. Feeling his head pulse he pointed to the kid who said the fish market was down the alley, ¡°Can you lead me to the warehouse?¡± Nodding Mary turned and motioned for everyone to follow her. Reaching the warehouse 12 minutes later Cronk knocked on the warehouse doors. Hearing Jago¡¯s voice from inside call out, ¡°One second¡± Cronk leaned his shoulder against the stone walls. Opening the door Jago saw Cronk accompanied by the kids, ¡°Wow you¡¯ve been busy since the last time I met you¡± Feeling like he should just slam his head into the nearest wall Cronk rolled his eyes, ¡°Not my kids! I¡¯m here for the observation test.¡± Waving him off Jago walked towards the back, ¡°Sure they aren¡¯t, anyways follow me so we can get started,¡± Following Jago Cronk cursed the pathfinder, ¡®What are you doing?¡± *** Vigil lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he came back to the world of the living. Sitting up, bits, and pieces from his dream asserted himself in his mind, or rather his nightmare. It wasn¡¯t always the same dream, but they all shared one thing in common, failure to protect his clients. Recounting previous events he stretched his back, and spoke to himself, ¡°As long as I don¡¯t make the same mistake it¡¯s fine.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Standing he looked down, and let out a small laugh as he realized he¡¯d fallen asleep in his previous day¡¯s attire. Changing out his leather armor for a more comfortable set of linen clothing he opened his door, and walked towards the receptionist desk on the first floor. ¡°Hello, I¡¯d like to know which room ¡­ Cronk was assigned to,¡± Vigil spoke while thinking to himself, ¡®I think that¡¯s how he introduced himself to Jago.¡¯ The receptionist was to absorbed in his paperwork to look up, pointing upstairs he spoke, ¡°Morning¡¯ Vigil, Cronk is room 57. You going with him to the observation test?¡± Looking around the guild, and not yet seeing the children yet Vigil spoke, ¡°No, I¡¯m going out today. The children that were here last night should be back sometime this morning, tell them to follow Cronk until I get their lesson¡¯s ready. Nodding his head the receptionist spoke, ¡°Will do, good day pathfinder.¡± ¡®Cronk will do fine of the observation test, and the children aren¡¯t particularly annoying. It should be fine.¡¯ Vigl reasoned. It was time for him to pay his respects Walking down the winding streets of Linden, Vigil found himself in front of the flower shop. Stepping into the threshold of the shop he started mentally listing off names, ¡®Charles, Sarah, Mag, Uther, Tel¡­¡¯ ¡°10¡± he said out loud as he started looking for the specific flowers. After grabbing the flowers he walked towards the shopkeep. Showing her the flowers, he picked up a watering pail, and handed her the necessary coins. The shopkeep had followed the man with her eyes as he walked through the shop with practiced ease grabbing all the usual flowers. She had gotten to know the pathfinder over his many visits, he would always buy the same flowers. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t in a talking mood she gave him a brief smile, and handed him a watering pail. Returning the shopkeepers smile he grabbed rested the flowers on his arm taking care not to break them. Grabbing the pale he set off to his next destination Arriving at his next destination he walked past the familiar gray stone, and black gates leading to the graveyard. Walking without delay he arrived at the first grave. Kneeling down he poked a small hole in the bed of the grave, and placed a flower inside. Lifting up the water canister he began to water the two dozen or so flowers which sprouted from the grave. After finishing that he sat down and began praying. Barely thirty seconds passed before Vigil was interrupted by an angry voice behind him. ¡°I thought I told you to stop coming here.¡± Turning Vigil saw an older woman staring down at him, standing up he gave the women a smile, and spoke, ¡°Nice to see you again Samantha, I was just about to take my leave.¡± Walking away he heard the woman''s voice called after him, ¡°Stop placing flowers in my sons grave!¡± This scene repeated itself 9 more times, with the only difference being if someone showed up, and who showed up. Sometimes it was a friend, others a lover, but in the end it didn¡¯t matter. Vigil wasn¡¯t here to talk to the living. Leaving the graveyard with pail in hand he walked towards the warehouse, ¡°Now back to the world of the living.¡± *** Note: Tried to give a better sense of Vigil''s character. If you have any tips, or suggestions feel free to comment (plz do). Im going to be gone for a bit Sorry for the lack of a chapters, but I''m having some things to sort out before I can write again. I''ll be back most likely by Thursday if not before. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I''d also like to take this time to thank everyone who''s read my story up until now. I hope you continue to enjoy. Chapter 9: The test begins You thought I dropped this didn''t you? (joke) *** Blurry, and red eyed Jago guided Cronk towards the Uare container glancing at the children every once in awhile with a raised eyebrow. Reaching down into the container a warm jaw clamped around his hand. A small yelp of surprise wormed it¡¯s way from Jago¡¯s lips, resounding towards the warehouse. When Jago calmed himself he looked down to see the small, toothless Uare clamped around his extended hand. Smiling at the sight he spoke, like someone sold him a cute puppy, ¡°Awww, sorry buddy, but you don¡¯t have teeth¡±. Jago slammed his hand, and, by extension, the Uare¡¯s head against the container as his face contorted into a scowl. The Uare slid off of his land, and back into the water of the container. A small pang of guilt rang through Jago, he never did like hurting the animals, but the rules stated he had to provide the hint to the tester. Yet again, Jago reached into the container, and gingerly plucked the disconcerted Uare from it¡¯s container. Handing the Uare to Cronk, Jago explained as if reading off a script, ¡°The test will begin shortly. The purpose of this test is to discover the participants ability to draw conclusions based on visual clues, and context. What you need to find out will be written on a piece of paper in your testing room. This test has no time limit, but once the answers are submitted the test is over¡±. Flashing Cronk a grin he laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much, you¡¯ll do fine. Vigil doesn¡¯t take anyone as his apprentice¡±. Seeing the children playing out of the corner of his eye he paled a little, ¡°at least I hope he doesn¡¯t¡±. Jago lead the group to the building on the east side of the warehouse. The building was fairly bland made out simple clay bricks, and holding no windows. The insides of the building were as simple, if not simpler, than the outsider with each room being identical to the last. Jago spoke as they entered the building, ¡°This building is called Warehouse A2 Building Two, The building on the west side is called Warehouse A2 Building One. B Two is responsible for observations, while B One is responsible for experiments, and testing. Opening a door marked ¡®9¡¯ a single raised, marble slab table presented itself. Several large drawers could be seen protruding from multiple places on the sides of the table. ¡°The test will start as soon as you enter the room, there is a syringe in the leftmost drawer that will put the animal into a deep sleep¡± Jago spoke while strolling to a stool in the rightmost corner of the room. Jago¡¯s heart rate began to quicken as he sat down, he wanted the northerner to pass. They desperately needed pathfinders, and not many people applied because of the low acceptance rate. If nothing changed soon there would be hell to pay. *** Cronk entered the dark room only illuminated by 5 candles, four near each of the corners of the room sitting on a metal plate connected to the ceiling by chains, and one on the table. The flickering flames lit up a pale sheet of paper resting on the table. Scanning the paper Cronk opened the leftmost draw, and pulled out one of the many synergies. Placing the syringe in the creature''s neck he injected the greenish fluid into the Uare. Five minutes later it was sleeping soundly. Unsure of if he read the directions correctly he re-checked the list. Cronk began to think back to yesterday¡¯s events at the stream. Vigil had said male Uare didn¡¯t have teeth, and that was confirmed when he had opened the animal''s mouth. His eyes wandered to the unconscious Uare as he thought. Tentatively reaching out a hand he gently opened the creature''s mouth, maybe if they didn¡¯t have teeth they just swallowed its food whole. Reaching a finger to the back of its throat he tried to expand it, but couldn¡¯t his brow furrowed. The Uare¡¯s throat wasn¡¯t large enough to eat a fish whole, and it couldn¡¯t even expand its throat to do so. Thinking back he thought about the Uare females, Vigil said that only the females had teeth. Cronk had originally thought they were there for protecting the nest, but maybe they had a different purpose. Pushing the question aside for now he moved to the next two questions. The next questions were much easier than the first. The Uare had completely ignored him when he was crossing the stream, if that was because he was to big to fit in it¡¯s mouth Cronk didn¡¯t know. A shiver thundered across Cronk as he imagined what an Uare could do if it was larger. Writing down his answers he once again moved on. This question made Cronk actually think. Picking the Uare up he began to turn it, looking at every inch of the animals. Testing the animals flexibility he was surprised at it¡¯s body structure it¡¯s spine seemed similar to that of a water snake which would explain how it could swim in the water, but not how it gathered its extreme speeds. Staring at the wings he began to wonder. They looked similar to triangular sails for catching, but the Uare didn¡¯t spend enough time out of the water for those to be useful. ¡®Maybe they aren¡¯t for catching wind¡¯, Cronk thought back to when Vigil spoke to him about environment. Why would a Uare be so deadly in a stream? What did a stream have that was special about it? Realization hit Uare like a hammer, and he wrote down his answer. Looking at the last question his brow furrowed, how the hell was he supposed to figure out what this Uare ate last? Rifling through the drawers he looked for some type of tool that might help him. Opening the right-most drawer a chill crept through his body, and his heart rate increased. Taking the drawer from its slot he carefully placed it on the table, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then reopened them. When he reopened his eyes a knife sat there taunting him, turning towards the children he spoke, "You may want to leave for this next part". Chapter-10: The Point of The Test ¡°Why?¡± Ilo simply asked while jumping in an attempt to see what Cronk had brought out from the drawer, but Cronk was obstructing his view. ¡°Just walk out of the room, and I¡¯ll tell you about it later¡±. Cronk was lying of course, while it was true he didn¡¯t enjoy the presence of the children he did think children are things to be protected. Opening her mouth to speak Mary hesitated, calling to her friends she spoke, ¡°We¡¯re waiting outside, come on,¡± with that Mary walked out of the room followed by Ethan, and Ilo, but Mark stayed. ¡°Bu-¡± He began his protest, but Cronk¡¯s gaze stopped him. It wasn¡¯t one of anger, rage or even frustration, but rather a soft pleading one. Baffled by Cronk¡¯s behavior Mark let out a huff, and walked out after Ilo, ¡°Fine, but you better tell us afterwards¡±. As the door slammed shut Jago shook his head, and sighed at Cronk¡¯s over protectiveness., ¡°You do know the south is different than the north right? We don¡¯t coddle our children down here¡±. A scowl forced itself onto Cronk¡¯s face as he stared at the small sharpened knife, ¡°I learned of your silly customs before coming down here. It almost made me cancel my trip in disgust, but I need to learn pathfinding, so I¡¯ll put up with your beliefs as long as they don¡¯t conflict with mine. I¡¯m not going to sacrifice my own beliefs because someone else will anger at it¡±. Facing Jago Cronk was greeted by the man placing his hand over his half of his face while letting out a laugh, ¡°You¡¯ll put up with our beliefs as long as they don¡¯t conflict with yours? Sorry to have to tell you this Cronk, but the world doesn¡¯t work like that. Sometimes your beliefs won¡¯t help anyone, for example when you leave here if you go by your beliefs, and lie to those children, they won¡¯t be prepared when they take the test. Then they¡¯ll fail their test ,all because you wanted to protect them. Belief, and choice have no place in pathfinding. The only choice you will ever be responsible for when you become a pathfinder is who you let live, and who you let die. Blood boiling, Cronk clenched his jaw, and took a deep breath, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this later. Right now I have a test to finish¡±. Jaw still clenched he picked up the knife putting it to the Uare¡¯s stomach the animal twitched, a sign that it would wake soon. Reaching towards the left-most drawer the same monotone voice sounded , ¡°For the test, participants can only use one syringe¡±. Movement stopped, Cronk balled his fist, and breathed a heavy sigh ¡®Do all pathfinders just want to make my life miserable¡¯ The Uare¡¯s leg began to twitch as Jago spoke, ¡°If the Uare wakes up while you¡¯re working you might mess up your cuts, and cause it a lot of pain. Even if it did stay asleep we don¡¯t have anything to stitch the anima-¡±. ¡°Shut up,¡± Cronk half growled at him. This man was annoying him. Taking the knife he put it next to the animal''s eye, and without hesitation stabbed through it¡¯s eye, piercing it¡¯s brain, killing it. Cronk didn¡¯t care for the Uare in the slightest, so why would he hesitate to kill it? Stolen novel; please report. Flipping the dead Uare onto it¡¯s back he made a sloppy incision across its stomach, it wasn¡¯t like he would have to stitch it back up. Peeling the skin back he was presented with the animal''s abdomen. Finding the stomach he made another incision. A foul smell forced it¡¯s way out of the stomach, and started to fill the room. Using two of his fingers Cronk widened the cut, and looked into the animal''s stomach. What he saw surprised him, their was still a small part of him that believed that the Uare swallowed their prey whole, but the animal''s stomach content only contained small balls of chewed up meat. Having his hypothesis disproven Cronk took a step back, and began to brainstorm, ¡®The balls of meat are obviously chewed, so they have to get outside help, most likely from the females. It¡¯s probable that the females chew up the food while the males go out, and hunt food, but why don¡¯t the females just g-. No that¡¯s not the question I was asked, I found the answer to the first question now I need to focus on the last one¡¯. Plucking one of the fresher balls of meat from the Uare¡¯s stomach he began to turn it in his palm. Using the knife he slowly cut the ball in half, and was met with a small blue fin. The fin was similar to the fish that he, and The Pathfinder used as bait yesterday. Writing down his last two answers he walked over to Jago, and held out the paper. No bothering to look at the page Jago spoke, ¡°Congratulations you passed your observation test¡±. Feeling like he had missed something, and that every single pathfinder was just screwing with him, he rubbed his head with one of his bloodied hands. ¡°How¡¯d you know if I passed if you didn¡¯t even look at the paper?¡± Cronk asked ¡°The main point of this test isn¡¯t to test observation,¡± Jago explained, ¡°The point of the test is to see if someone is able to kill a harmless animal, and then desecrate it¡¯s corpse, I know that sounds harsh, but it¡¯s true. Doing these types of things to animals is one of the costs of having safety, and knowledge. Sadly this is the test that get¡¯s a lot of people, which is why we have it early on¡±. Seeing Cronk¡¯s surprised face Jago continued, ¡°I know what you''re thinking, ¡®how could someone not do what I just did, it was so easy¡¯, but you¡¯d be surprised by the amount of people that, when it comes down to it, can¡¯t kill a helpless living thing. Hell most of our soldiers won¡¯t kill an unarmed enemy even on the battlefield¡±. Sighing Jago finished, ¡°You should go find Vigil next he¡¯ll tell you when your next test is¡±. Still surprised at Jago¡¯s statement Cronk wiped his hands on the inside of his shirt, and reached for the door only to have it randomly open. The pathfinder walked through the door, and stretched his back, ¡°Congratulations on passing Cronk, but now isn¡¯t the time for celebration we have a job tomorrow¡±. Pausing for a second he looked around, ¡°and by we I mean all of us¡±. *** Alright...I''m gonna take a nap. Chapter-11: Preparing to depart Sorry for the late post I wasn''t expecting my nap to take that long (joke). On a serious note though I''m going to start writting some of my chapters in advance, so when I have stuff to do I don''t have to write a supper short chapter, or something. *** Vigil sat against the one of the many gates leading out of the city, the sound of productivity resounded from above him as the workers began to add stone brick to the gate. The city of Linden is very conscious about how much space buildings took up, so if a building was deemed ¡®too big¡¯ then the occupants of the building would be ostracised until they renovated the building. Not even the city was free from this ostracization which was why the previously large gates were being downgraded into smaller gates only large enough to fit carts through them. In an attempt to muffle the noise Vigil laided down, and threw the oversized bag over his face. Oddly enough the children were the next ones to arrive, their steps were awkward, and heavy under the unusual weight of a bag. They walked in sullen silence towards the gate too preoccupied with the events of yesterday to be joyful about their first lesson. Yesterday, just after Cronk had kicked them out, Vigil had arrived at the warehouse. Briefly telling him the events that had unfolded they recoiled at the pathfinder¡¯s look of annoyance. Signalling them to stay quiet Vigil had cracked the door open just enough for the children to hear everything that Jago, and Cronk argued about. After that they had stayed together all night, barely getting any sleep. They had just stayed up bickering back, and forth on what they had heard without coming to any action that everyone agreed with, so they all tried to push the the problem away. Not saying a word the children slumped down a little way away from the pathfinder staring down at their feet. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Cronk, and Jago arrived together, they both slept at the guild, so it was naturally they would arrive together. While Cronk was simply walking Jago was practically skipping through the streets. This would be his first time back in the field for the last few weeks. It had been incredibly boring work, it might have been bearable if he had been allowed to experiment on the animals, but he hadn¡¯t even been allowed to that. Seeing Vigil he began to wave, but stopped when he spotted the children just staring at their feet. Sighing he turned to Cronk, ¡°You¡¯re from the north right, you think you can make the children not make this trip miserable?¡± Involuntarily twitching his left eye Cronk replied, ¡°Just because I¡¯m from the north doesn¡¯t mean I do well with southern children. As you clearly stated yesterday our countries are different¡±. Rolling his eyes in returned he opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it. Their relationship right now was shaky. One wrong word from him might make it impossible for them to work together in the future, an eventuality Jago wanted to skip. The last to arrive were the party of adventurers who, thankfully, were completely sober. Jago raised an eye at the bags which the errand boy¡¯s carried, they weren¡¯t bad if they wanted to go camping, but they were collecting large rocks, and with bags like those they wouldn''t be able to hold to many. Nudging his ex-mentor awake he asked, ¡°Do you have any extra bags. The errand boy¡¯s brought nap sacs or something¡±. Im sorry Hello, first off I''d like to apologize for dropping off the face of the earth without notice. I have no excuses for that. I''m going to continue writing this fiction as I did before, but I''m going to start from the begging and rewrite the chapters. The events taking place will largely be the same, and the main difference will be writing style and foreshadowing future events.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Sorry again. Prologue 2.0: Canceled Meeting Vigil found himself striding down the street, his boots lightly brushing against the worn cobbles - cracked and broken from years of neglect. His strides were evenly placed, the rhythm of his steps in direct contradiction with the evening''s innately mellow nature. Minutes dragged themselves by and with each second the scowl on the man''s face only seemed to deepen. It perpetually annoyed Vigil when a client missed their appointments. It wasted his time, yes, but that was only a minor inconvenience. The real problem was that it was a precursor to how they would inevitably act when he had to guide them - the trips always seemed to dissolve into babysitting. However, he still couldn''t cancel the meeting; there was a certain etiquette which pathfinders had to follow, so if they didn''t come to him, he would go to them. Reaching the adventurer''s guild he lightly grabbed the handle and slid the door open, the irritation trapped, writhing, underneath his skin. His eyes moved sporadically around the room, quickly scanning it for any signs of his clients, but it was utterly useless - he had forgotten to ask for their appearance when agreed to the job. Right hand pressed against his forehead he quickly rubbed his temples before retracting it back to his side and walking to the front desk where a smaller kid greeted him. "Hello again Ethan", he started before looking further behind the counter "I don''t see the others today. They leave you behind to go off and play?". Ignoring Vigil''s prod Ethan flashed the man a tentative smile "N-no they''re off getting food for tonight, we have cooking duties for the next week" taking in a deep breath he continued "We almost got you last time. We''ll get you this next time". "If you think getting caught in the first two minutes is almost then sure, you were close" Vigil snorted, pulling out a piece of paper as he did. "While I''d love to talk to you more I need to ask you if you''ve seen a ''Green archer who thinks she¡¯s the shit, an Assassin who acts like a wuss, a mage who can¡¯t wake up to save his life and a very handsome warrior''. Why the errand boys assign themselves roles is beyond me, but that''s not the point" he waved dismissively "Apparently, the leader is named Ralph, you know where they are?". A frown forming on the boy''s lips he pointed at a table in the corner "Yeah, they''re over there. They just got back from a big job a few days ago. They had a bit of a rough patch before that, so ... y''know. Take it easy on them?" Waving Ethan away Vigil walked towards the table - his irritation dispersing after his short conversation.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Hey newcomer" The soft drunken voice of the assassin sung to him "who might you be". "I''m your pathfinder. I was waiting for you by the city gates, but you never showed, so I came looking" he stated, taking a seat as he did. A loud thump resounded through the building as a skull smashed into the table, "God damn it. That was today, wasn''t it? We''re really sorry I completely forgot about it". Facial expression lightening slightly Vigil replied "It''s fine. You can reschedule for tom- the day after for assistance. It''ll cost you slightly more, but nothing overly expensive". They would likely be hung over tomorrow and going on a hike with hung over people was never a good idea. At that the archer finally spoke up, her speech slurred "You''d do that? Thanks man you''re the best". Standing up Vigil quickly grabbed a napkin, pulled a pen out of his pocket, and quickly scribbled down a reminder. It read ''Meet the pathfinder at the western gates on the 18th''. "It was nice meeting you all, but I''ll be leaving for now" and with that, he darted out of the hall. If he had to stay there any longer and listen to their drunken speech he might have to go against Ethan''s wishes". Thirty minutes later Vigil opened the door to his own Guild Hall and sprawled himself out on the nearest couch and called out "Hey Maruccio, are there any jobs in the next two days? The mountain party got drunk and will be out of action for a while". A larger man with long red hair, which descended to his ears, walked out from one of the back doors and sat down on the couch opposite to him, "Aye, there are some jobs ... but I''m only going to give you training ones" he stated witha sour look in Vigil''s direction. Maruccio and Vigil had a very tentative relationship. They had known each other for a long time and helped make the pathfinders what they were today, but their differing thoughts on how to handle pathfinders made it difficult for either to communicate. Pathfinders, as they are now, were hard to find. Becoming a pathfinder was an arduous journey which took many years to complete and very few people managed to make it, thus their numbers were low. Both of them realized this, but Vigil wanted to keep the requirements high and have a few high-quality individuals while Maruccio wanted a large number of somewhat quality pathfinders. Smiling through grit teeth Vigil stood up "Sure, I''ll take the job. Where are they?" Pointing over towards the town square he replied, ¡°Currently waiting at the training field practicing fencing or something. I¡¯d better hurry, if I were you wouldn¡¯t want guild master finding out you had another of your jobs pushed back¡± Walking out the door Vigil held his middle finger held high as he yelled out behind him, ¡°I hope you get bitten by an Uare". *** Alright, first rewrite''s done. I have a lot planned for this story and a lot of interesting plot points to hit later on. Chapter 2.0: The General In Training Vigil lazily made his way towards the center of the city, marked only by the peculiar marble spire which reached into the sky. No one truly knew how it got there, not even the royal lineage itself since it came from conquered land, but by the same coin, no one admittedly cared either. Farmers and merchants aren''t paid to speculate on the nature of a tower. However, the spire brought tourism which in turn brought business, allowing Linden to flourish and not descend into the broken cities of the south - their walls continuously breaking under violence or neglect. The pathfinder''s eye''s darted across the winding backstreet - looking for the landmarks to guide him to his destination. Finding his way to the training ground, just as the last light was disappearing over the mountains, he made out four pairs of figures fitting straw dummies. Seven of them were obviously guards shown by the insignia on their shield, their straight swords, and heavy chain mail armor, but the seventh was something else entirely. He was taller than the average height of 5''8 but also lankier than one would expect. He wore leather armor only broken up the occasional steel plate covering a vital organ or the chain mail on his joints and neck. Instead of a shield and sword he carried a lengthy rapier - it''s edging barbed and it''s tip sharp. Adorning his head, covering the face, was a steel helmet which looked identical to the Linden soldiers except for the small but innumerable holes where the eyes lay. "You have to be kidding me. I''m going to stab Maruccio when I get back to the guild. Tricking me into training a damn Northerner". While not particularly racist he simply had no wish to teach someone as needy as those from the north. Not like he had a choice anymore, he had accepted the job and would see it through to the end, but he could feel himself recoiling at the thought of the constant complaining about food, or beds, or whatever else they didn''t find up to par. With a heavy sigh escaping his lips he made his way towards the man, but stopped as he saw the man was about to spar. Smiling Vigil sat down, now if only he had something crunchy to eat. *** Cronk had traveled to Linden for the better part of a month now with the goal of becoming a pathfinder, or more specifically to gain the knowledge they had about the environment. While knowing about the environment wasn''t particularly useful if he used the information correctly it would boost him, leagues, ahead the rest of the candidates. However, the trip wasn''t without risk. With him being so far away he wouldn''t have as much contact with the council or the libraries of information back home. If this trip were to come out fruitless then he''d have to drop his candidate position.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He had waited in the training field for two hours before he had gotten tired of hitting dummies and requested a spar with one of the soldiers. A larger man whose build was hidden under their heavy armor. He didn''t know if he could win against such an opponent, but it didn''t really matter anyways. A general didn''t have to be good at fighting they just had to be smart. Making the short walk to his luggage he produced a dull practice rapier and moved into a stance. The fight was over quickly. The man''s shield was able to catch the majority of his blows and even when he did land something it didn''t even scratch the heavier armor. He might have won if he had pretended to be a worse fighter, baited him into overextending, and then shoving the rapier into the slit in the man''s helmet, but that would''ve killed him. Accepting his opponent''s hand he patted the dirt of his clothing and gave the man a smile "That was a good duel. I wouldn''t want to redo that in a real battle, though". About to ask the man for a rematch he heard a heavy cough behind him. Twisting his head Cronk was greeted by a middle-aged man with tan skin, much like those of the southern kingdoms. Brown hair curled slightly right above the man''s eyes and leather armor, unlike his own, adorned his body. Sheathing his sword he turned around fully and saw the large Pathfinder insignia which sat on the man''s right shoulder. "Quite the display of prowess you have there. I was shaking in my boots" the pathfinder spoke staring Cronk directly in the eyes. "I assume you''re the one who requested Pathfinder training?" Nodding Cronk held the man''s gaze, unblinking "Yes I did, but I was told it would take a few days to find someone willing to train me". He had planned to look around the city for the next few days trying to find a library or a food place which didn''t feed its customer''s pig feed, but that could wait - pathfinding was more important. "Excellent" the man continued "My name is Vigil. I will be your trainer for the next two days and maybe even after that. Before we start I am required to warn you that the pathfinder program is not for everyone and very few people succeed. After one year of training, you will take a test and if you pass you will become a certified pathfinder. 10% of income will go towards training other pathfinders and paying for the guild''s funds. Do you understand everything I just said?". It was blunt and to the point, if it weren''t for the man''s stare. The words seemed more like a challenge now. Feeling the need to look away Cronk responded in turn "I understand". ''After all'', he thought ''I don''t need to take the te-''. A sudden ringing broke through his mind and caused Cronk to flinch back slightly and turn away from the pathfinder. Stunned he turned back to face the pathfinder to see him already walking away "Hurry up, we''re going to go catch some Uare". Several questions passed through Cronk''s mind as he jogged to catch up mostly ''At this time?'' and ''What the hell is an Uare?''. Chapter 3.0: Not the strong Strolling beside the pathfinder, Cronk unwittingly let his hand drift to the hilt of his sword - a nervous tick of his. He wasn''t used to places like these. The buildings were too rectangular, the streets too windy, and the colors all to dull in their uniformity, and it was writhing underneath his skin. "Are you sure this is the best time to exit the city?" Cronk asked, looking up at the faded marmalade sky, "navigating in the dark isn''t easy". "I know a lot more about this land than you Northerner, it will be fine". Feeling another question arising from Cronk''s lips the Pathfinder put forward one of his own. "Do you know how Pathfinders function, why we do our job so well? It''s because we know a thing or two about a thing or two, and I can only assume that''s the reason you want to become one of us". Pausing for a moment he continued "So I want to know how much you know. How much I''ll need to teach you". Not fully understanding the man''s ramblings Cronk creased his eyebrows and slowly nodded "Okay. What do you need to know". "What does it take for an organism to survive?" Vigil quickly shot of his question, expecting an immediate answer. "The ones who are strong enough to kill their prey" "No, can a strong organism gather food if they don''t know where it is" "The ones who know where to gather food" "No, just because you know where to gather food doesn''t mean you can" Frowning now he continued "The ones who gather enough food" "You''re thinking too narrowly" the man sighed "survival isn''t a single dimension" Clenching his teeth Cronk threw his hands up in defeat "Fine then, what does it take for an organism to survive". "No, you have to figure that on your own" Vigil said as he waved a dismissive hand in the Northerner''s direction. Despite his relatively calm exterior, with only his jaws clenched, Cronk was raging. He simply didn''t know what the man wanted. He was a teacher, so why wasn''t he teaching. Vigil thoughts of a completely different kind, the answers he had given had disappointed him, yes, but they weren''t the worst he had heard. The Uare trip would probably show the Northerner what the answer was.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. *** About an hour later the two were somewhere inside the eastern part of the Kiver forest, named after the country''s first king - just like the five other Kiver forests. This particular Kiver forest was split in two by a large stream about thirty feet across and twenty feet deep on average. The stream held several colonies of Uare along its banks. Vigil lead the way, a large lantern held high, lighting the way in front of him. Seeing the stream''s slow rapids at the tip of the halo of light the pathfinder set off to work. Rope, a small blue fish, a sturdy branch, and five minutes created a shabby makeshift fishing rod. Handing it to Cronk Vigil placed the lantern on the edge of the creek and sat down. "I don''t think this is a very good pole for fishing. There''s no hook or anything". Cronk said as he twisted and turned the pole. He examined the small blue fish for a moment, it scales reflected the small amount of light of the lantern and looked much like running water would. Another sigh exiting Vigil''s lips he pointed at the stream, "You''ll see in a moment, all you need to do is hold it a good four or five feet over the water". An uneasy feeling filled Cronk as he saw the Pathfinders smile - it felt liked he was being fooled, but he did what he was told. After thirty minutes Cronk''s eyes started to flutter, his mind groggy. Turning to the pathfinder he called out "Hey you want to trade spots?" To which the usual "No" responded. Turning back his previous weariness dispersed and the rod was jerked to the side as a large blur shot out of the stream, grabbed the fish, and slammed back into the river - taking the rod with it. One second passed, then two, and finally three before Cronk registered what he just saw. The speed it held, the force that the rod endured. Even if he was paying full attention, in a stance, and had a tighter grip he doubted he''d be able to hold it. He doubted that even he and the pathfinder would be able to hold it with combined strength. Face paling he finally realized the implications. Turning to the Pathfinder he stuttered slightly as he pointed towards the river "Was that an Uare" A large smile plastered on Vigil''ls face as he responded "Yep" Cronk took in a deep breath in hopes of calming himself, but it failed. All the unknowns were building on him. "Okay that was nice, but if this was to tell me not to get in over my head I get it. Let''s go back to town now". As Cronk started to stomp away he felt his feet tangle in something and give way. "No" the man spoke, "this is to test something else entirely". Looking down at his feet Cronk saw a large net and, entangled within the net, a rope. "You''re next step is to cross the river and catch one of those Uare". Headache forming Cronk looked around for a bridge or a rock formation that he had not previously seen but found none. Already knowing the answer he grit his teeth and asked: "Don''t suppose there''s a bridge around here". "No, you''ll be swimming across". *** *** Forgot to put my upload schedule. I''m very busy with school, so I''ll probaly only be uploading once or twice a week. What I want to know is this: Do y''all want me to post the chapters every week or post them all at once when I''ve caught up to the main story.