《Gemstones》


 Chapter 1 - An Unlucky Stone

    Millin is a small town within the nation of Admia, which is itself part of the larger continent of Nebulan. This town harbors something immensely powerful. Something unbelievably dangerous and highly sought-after by any human who draws breath as soon as they learn of its existence. This object is a magic gemstone that has powers that make the one true fear of man nothing more than an inconvenience. This stone has been lost for hundreds of years, and many don¡¯t even believe that it exists at all. Those who still sought the stone were seen as nothing more than fools wasting their time chasing a fairy tale. Although, if you have enough power, even chasing dust in the wind can be seen as productive by your peers.


    This world is a place that revolves around similar magic infused gemstones that separate those with power, from those without. Gemstones like diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, peridot, amethyst, aquamarine, garnet, etc, all have the small chance to harbor a random magical ability that can be used by those in possession of the stone as long as it is touching their skin, or placed within jewelry made of gold. With gold being the only metal able to conduct and transfer the abilities of the magical gemstones, it is the most valuable resource in every nation, except, of course, for the gemstones themselves. Money, power, fame¡­everything revolves around having the correct stones in your arsenal to give yourself the upper hand versus your opponent. These abilities have an infinite number of possibilities. This means that even those without immense wealth can get their hands on gemstones of their own, however, usually the powers in these stones don¡¯t provide much of an advantage to the person in possession of it. Every magical gemstone has use of some kind though, even without an overpowered ability attached to it. Many would not even know what they would do with an immensely powerful gemstone if they didn¡¯t already have protection of some kind. Having a powerful gemstone does little more than put a target on your back, and that is something that Kenrich Caulfield will now learn firsthand as a random discovery ends up making him the most wanted man in the world.


    Kenrich is a man who has lived in the quaint town of Millin within the country of Admia his entire life. He is slightly under six feet tall, with light brown eyes, and has thick medium length brown hair styled only by the gravity that brings it down. He is clean-shaven, and is quite fit due to his profession as one of the town''s few miners that works in their small gemstone mine in the outskirts of the town. Only a few able-bodied men work in this mine, so, very often Kenrich spends his whole workday without seeing another soul. It is lonely, grueling work, but in a small town such as this, work can be hard to come by. The one benefit of working in a registered mine in the nation of Admia is that the government guarantees pay to those who work in these mines. Having a consistent flow of income is a good thing to many, but the mortality rate of working in the mines is high, and the pay, while consistent, is not so. Many make the same if not more money doing far less backbreaking work. In small towns like Millin, it usually is not very difficult to get enough miners to go into the mines, but in many other places, the government itself conscripts people to work in the mines due to the lack of willing workers.


    Admia is seen by most as a very difficult nation to live in. They are led by a very warlike regime that is bent on nothing but the desire to control all of Nebulan. Having many mines that are constantly being worked in helps the Admian military acquire a plethora of gemstones that are useful in battle, which is why many are forced to mine six days a week in order to supply the war effort. However, small towns like Millin are not very often tracked by the government due to the mine not producing a significant magic infused gemstone of any use in decades. Inspectors come once a month to check the mine¡¯s progress, and while pay for their work still comes in, they do not allow any others to apply for the position within Millin due to the seemingly dry mine. Many within Millin feel as though the day will come soon where the mine is shut down and another is built in a far-off area to replace it. A town without a mine is often a death sentence in Admia. Towns with mines are the only ones Admia is keen on protecting during the war, so if Millin were to lose its own, there would be no more protection from the military other than what the town inhabitants could manage themselves. This fear is exactly what keeps Kenrich coming back to the mines sunrise to sunset while many of the other miners instead stay in the bars or mingle amongst the people while faking to the government that they are indeed working.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, you worthless stone!¡± Kenrich grunts. ¡°This pickaxe might as well be a mallet at this point.¡±


    Everyday is like this for Kenrich. He wakes at dawn, grabs a quick breakfast at the Wyvern Tavern, then goes straight into the mine until sunset. He is single-handedly the only reason the inspector has not yet shut down the mine. He spends a large percentage of his money buying magic-infused gemstones from the only place to buy gemstones in the town, Gaen¡¯s Gems, in order to convince the inspector that the mine has not run dry. Only roughly ten percent of all gemstone deposits are actually imbued with magic, and Kenrich has yet to find a gemstone deposit in the past couple years. His father didn¡¯t find one for a much longer time before he passed. Kenrich¡¯s father, Kregrind, had taught him everything about mining and everything about how to lie and keep the mine, and by proxy, the town, alive. Kenrich¡¯s mother had died while he was barely able to walk during a barbarian raid twenty years ago, so being raised by his gruff, mining-obsessed father was definitely how Kenrich turned into the person he was today. Now twenty-one, Kenrich continues his father¡¯s wish of keeping the mine alive by any means necessary in order to protect the town they had lived their entire lives in. This purpose of his would soon turn to something else entirely though with the discovery he was about to make.


    It was about to be evening, and Kenrich was still in the mine, hacking away at the rocky walls at the end of a branching tunnel within the labyrinth. Kenrich knew this mine like the back of his hand though. Any normal person would immediately get lost without a way to return to the surface, but Kenrich knew exactly where he had and had not gone on any given trip underground. It was second nature to him. Pawing at the wall with his dull pickaxe his father had left him, Kenrich saw something strange embedded within the wall after his last swing. It looked to be the corner of some sort of wooden object. Definitely not something you would expect to be this deep underground.


    ¡°What the hell¡­¡± Kenrich said to himself. Buried treasure? Maybe I won¡¯t need to buy more of Gaen¡¯s stupid, overpriced jump gems. He charges way too much for those useless stones.


    Kenrich excitedly swung his pickaxe at the area around the wooden protrusion trying not to damage it in case it was actually something of value. Small pebbles started to fall off of the wall and before he knew it, a small wooden box popped out and landed on the cold, hard ground. He picked up the box and examined it. There seemed to be small remnants of paint that was lost to time, as well as some strange emblems carved into the side of the box. They looked like ravens.


    A box? Kenrich thought. It looks old. The lock doesn¡¯t even work anymore.


    Kenrich slowly opened the small wooden box and inside was a small golden ring with what looked to be a white opal in the center of it. Inspecting the ring, Kenrich noticed that this was no ordinary piece of jewelry. It too had emblems on it that looked like a large, jagged bird reminiscent of a raven. The ring looked very expensive, and meticulously crafted, like something you would see in possession of a member of nobility.


    ¡°You gotta be kidding me,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°A magic ring this deep underground? There has to be a catch of some sort. I¡¯m dreaming right? That lack of sleep is finally coming back to bite me¡­¡±


    After a few moments, and a few arm pinches, Kenrich finally realized that he was in fact, not dreaming.


    This has to be worth a fortune with this amount of gold. Thank God those lazy bastards didn¡¯t show up to work again. They definitely would have tried to pry this thing off of me¡­I have to show this to Gaen.


    For the first time in years, Kenrich decided to end his shift early so he could find Gaen before his shop was closed. Practically sprinting out of the mine, Kenrich kept the box in his back pocket while keeping the ring secure within the grip of his rough and blistered hands.


    ¡°Hey, Kenrich!¡± A man called. ¡°What gives? You always spend your whole days in those mines. You¡¯re like a mole. Where¡¯re you going?¡± Kenrich stopped.


    ¡°Oh. Hi, Ren,¡± Kenrich said, annoyed. ¡°Something important came up.¡±


    Ren was one of the miners that ¡°worked¡± with Kenrich. He was a very lazy man who was both much wider and taller than Kenrich. He had no hair on his head, and his dark brown eyes made him appear like he had one giant pupil in each eye. Ren was the human equivalent of a pig, if there was such a thing. He was definitely the type of person to take the magic ring if he had been with Kenrich at the time.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Hey, now! Don¡¯t you start slacking! I read the board, and we¡¯re expecting an inspector here within the next couple days. I don¡¯t want to have to go back down in those mines, especially with my bad back.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh,¡± Kenrich responded. ¡°I gotta get going.¡± Kenrich continued towards Gaen¡¯s shop.


    ¡°I¡¯m not well enough to go back to those mines! Do the right thing!¡± Ren called.


    ¡°Jackass¡­¡± Kenrich mumbled to himself.


    Kenrich was running through the small shopping district of Millin which Gaen¡¯s Gems sat at the very end of. It was not a very popular shop as many in small towns find very little need for a magic gemstone of their own, especially paired with the prices that Gaen charges. Walking up the stone steps of the store''s entrance, Kenrich entered the establishment to the obvious delight of Gaen, whose eyes lit up the second he laid eyes on him.


    ¡°My boy!¡± Gaen said. ¡°Happy to see you! Here for some gemstones, I presume? I know an inspection is coming up.¡±


    Gaen was a well-fed man of short stature with brown hair that was combed into two equal parts on each side, making his head resemble the shape of a bell. He also always wore small glasses that made his head look comically large in comparison. Gaen was a man who thought of every situation in respect to the financial implications of it, and very rarely operated off of good faith or emotion. That is not to say that he was an entirely cold man, as he had been known to do shows using his magic imbued gemstones for the children of the village. Most argued this was just for advertising, but the smiles of the children were genuine, nonetheless.


    ¡°Not this time, Gaen,¡± Kenrich responded. ¡°I actually found something in the mine that I wanted you to take a look at.¡±


    ¡°Did you find a gemstone deposit?! I never thought I¡¯d be alive to see the day! Maybe I won¡¯t have to skip town after all,¡± Gaen said.


    ¡°Well¡­yes and no,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I found a ring while mining today and I just wanted to know if it was imbued with any sort of magical power?¡±


    ¡°A ring you say? Now, that is strange¡­¡± Gaen said. ¡°Let me have a look.¡±


    Kenrich handed the gold ring to Gaen who took out a small looking glass and inspected the white stone in the middle.


    ¡°Ahhhh¡­a white opal. That is quite the rare stone,¡± Gaen said. ¡°I can¡¯t remember the last time I saw one of these. Most are not imbued with any power at all, but the few that are, usually tend to have restorative properties of some sort.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°So, does it have any magical power?¡±


    ¡°Hold on now. Have patience,¡± Gaen said while grabbing something under the counter. ¡°I won¡¯t know until I use a gemstone imbued with sensor magic.¡±


    Gaen took out a small green stone and held it near the gold ring.


    ¡°Does that thing even work?¡± Kenrich said. ¡°That gemstone looks barely bigger than a grain of rice¡­¡±


    ¡°Now, now,¡± Gaen said. ¡°A magic gemstone can still be used at this size. The rule of thumb is always that a gemstone has to be at least as large as a pea, and this one is just the right size. Carving smaller magic stones is just good business. You get more stones per deposit that way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Now, does the ring have any pow-¡±


    Kenrich was cut off as a small green glow started emanating from the green sensor stone. The green glow was at first dim, but then started to get brighter.


    ¡°Does this mean that it¡¯s magic?!¡± Kenrich said excitedly.


    ¡°Y-yes, but this isn¡¯t supposed to-¡±


    The green sensor stone kept getting brighter and brighter and then got so bright that it was blinding both of them. Green light started shooting out of Gaen¡¯s shop windows, filling the vicinity outside of the store along with the entirety of the store itself.


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve never seen something like this,¡± Gaen said.


    Suddenly, the green stone shattered, shooting green dust all over Gaen¡¯s counter and white button-up shirt.


    ¡°Good Lord!¡± Gaen yelled. ¡°That¡¯s the only sensor stone I have! Those aren¡¯t easy to come by, Kenrich!¡±


    ¡°How was that my fault?!¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Does that mean the stone is powerful?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­immensely so,¡± Gaen said. ¡°It is true that my sensor stone wasn¡¯t very large, but even so, it would take an incredible amount of power to completely shatter one to dust.¡±


    ¡°It must be valuable then,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°So, how much you willing to pay for it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not paying you anything!¡± Gaen yelled. ¡°You broke my stone! You need to pay me!¡±


    ¡°I will! I promise. But I can¡¯t pay you back until I sell this ring somewhere,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to be able to get any sort of value unless you can figure out what kind of magic it has,¡± Gaen said. ¡°You need to figure out what this ring is capable of before someone will pay any amount of gez for it. Too many get scammed these days for people to just take any ol¡¯ magic ring.¡± (gez is the currency of Nebulan).


    ¡°How should I go about it?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Experiment,¡± Gaen said. ¡°White opal tends to have restorative properties, but that doesn¡¯t mean everyone is going to follow that trend. Just wave your hands around or cut your skin and see if you can heal it or something.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way for you to tell me what it does?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Gaen said. ¡°The only way to see what specific power a gemstone has is with a description stone, and those are only held by massive gemstone shops or the government. There¡¯s no way I¡¯d make enough gez in my life for one of those stones.¡±


    ¡°Damn,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°So, I just have to try different things?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Gaen said. ¡°Just don¡¯t try anything in my shop. I don¡¯t need you breaking anything else.¡±


    ¡°Alright. If you say so,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I appreciate the help, Gaen. I promise to pay you back for the sensor stone.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re my best customer. I¡¯ve gotta throw you a bone sometimes. Now, get out of here.¡±


    Kenrich gave Gaen a nod then walked towards the door. He made sure to slip the ring back into his pocket before entering the streets. There is no doubt that if he was wearing the ring, the townsfolk would bombard him with questions seeing as how no one in town could afford a gemstone ring, let alone a miner. The sun was now setting, and the shopping district was completely silent as Kenrich made his way back home. The air was crisp and unpolluted. It was slightly chilly out due to the autumn weather and the stars above were shining brightly. This sort of weather was Kenrich¡¯s favorite. It reminded him of the many autumns he would spend with his father. They would help the villagers harvest pumpkins and gourds which would then be made into pies for the harvest festival which was one of the few times his dad would take a day off from working the mines. This type of weather always brought that nostalgia coupled with both negative and positive feelings of his comfortable, yet frequently lonely past. All of the positive feelings were what drove him to protect the village, and all the negative ones made him unsure of his future outside of this quaint, yet mundane life he had built in Millin. He never felt like complaining before and that was most likely due to his similarities with his father as a creature of habit. But, now with this ¡°immensely powerful¡± ring, life seems to be taking a very different turn, bringing an even greater air of uncertainty to what the future holds. Little did he know that this future would be filled with so much dread.


    Arriving back to his comfortable but small cottage, Kenrich was brimming with excitement as to what kind of power was dormant in this ring and was determined to try and find out. Throughout the night and to the early morning, Kenrich tried many different things. He tried jumping, flailing his arms around, cutting himself to see if he could heal it, throwing things, putting himself in complete darkness, holding his breath, but no matter what he tried, he got no closer to seeing any sort of magical abilities come from the ring on his finger. Kenrich figured that he might have to think outside the box, but it can feel futile when it seems like there are infinite possibilities as to what could trigger a gemstone¡¯s magic to activate.


    ¡°If only this were just a simple flame or jump stone¡­¡± Kenrich said to himself. ¡°I really wish there was a hint or something¡­¡±


    Just then, Kenrich decided to take the box out of his back pocket and examine it for clues. Inspecting the heavily weathered box more closely, he saw what looked to be a small button near the bottom of the inside of the small chest. It was crusted with dirt, but it was indeed a button, and after pushing it, the bottom of the box came out which revealed a small piece of folded paper that, while discolored, was largely preserved. Unfolding the paper, Kenrich saw that it was in fact a note. Hoping it had vital information, Kenrich read it.


    To thee that finds this cursed ring, please hide this chest better than I did. It must be kept out of the clutches of those which wish to use it for evil. This ring is one of the original magic artifacts and therefore cannot be destroyed, so I beg of you, hide it, and hide it well. The very world hangs in the balance.


    Kenrich stood in silence. Suddenly, the thoughts of this being his ticket out of poverty were starting to become less farfetched. The value of an ancient magical artifact is a difficult thing to calculate, but the results will always be extraordinarily large. Definitely enough to both save the village and live a lavish life. The warnings are what keep those feelings of excitement at bay though. In public school, children are usually taught about the most powerful known gemstones and the people that own them, but none of them were described as a white opal ring with ravens engraved on it. After quite a lot of thinking, Kenrich decided it would be best to get some rest and see if he wakes with any new ideas of how to test the stone so that he can then plan what he is going to do with it.

 Chapter 2 - The Village I Fought For

    Kenrich woke without any new ideas. He could hardly sleep at all with the excitement of the possibilities associated with the magic ring, and spent most of the night making up new scenarios of what he would do if he were to acquire a fortune by selling it. He designed an entire mansion in his head. He imagined all the beautiful women who would shallowly love him for his vast fortune as he shallowly loved them for their looks. He imagined hiring a military group to forever protect his village so he could retire from mining. That last thought did make Kenrich feel slightly sad though. Mining was what he remembered his father for. It was his father¡¯s passion to mine until he could not physically move anymore. Kenrich¡¯s passion differed though. Having to be the only miner in a mine that produces nothing of interest for years definitely had a hand in changing his priorities. Kenrich now only cared about protecting his village and finding a way to move on himself without the guilt of thinking he could have done better. And the ring finally gave him hope for both of these.


    Kenrich got out of his lumpy, straw-stuffed bed and walked over to the cracked teapot on the table. Kenrich¡¯s home was less like a cottage and more like a room with a roof. The kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and storage were not hidden from each other by any walls. Kenrich had inherited this home from his father after his passing. Kenrich¡¯s father never thought he needed much, so this home was perfect for him, though raising a family in it was difficult with the severe lack of space. Kenrich¡¯s childhood mostly revolved around him spending time outdoors where he could explore the forests nearby and find some small semblance of privacy that he could never achieve otherwise.


    After picking up the cracked teapot, Kenrich started a fire in a small fireplace in the corner of the cottage, then walked outside to the stream near his house to collect fresh water. On his way back inside, he had already lost half of the water through the cracks of the teapot, even though he tried hard to block the cracks with his fingers. He then placed the teapot on the metal stand in the fireplace to boil the water. He then grabbed a small wooden mug and a spoonful of ground coffee from the canister next to it. He saw that the coffee was getting low which caused an annoyed grumble to leave his mouth. With the inspector coming, he needed all of his money to buy magic stones from Gaen in order to show that the mine was not dry. There was no room for buying coffee in his budget. This annoyance quickly turned back to hope though when he spotted the ring on his finger. Knowing that it was in fact real, brought him back to an excited mood even with the lack of coffee in his future. After finishing his bitter coffee and eating a slightly stale bread roll, Kenrich left for Gaen¡¯s Gems, hoping to gather more information from the only person within miles to have any knowledge of magic stones.


    On his walk to the small shopping district of the town, he was once again bothered by his fellow miners who were upset to not see him going towards the mines. Kenrich made an excuse that he was grabbing some supplies from the tool shop before he got started, and they seemed to accept that although with worried looks on their faces. Kenrich kind of liked the feeling that they were worried about no one being in the mine though. He figured it might make them return to finally start pulling their weight in this town.


    Kenrich walked into Gaen¡¯s shop and Gaen once again looked quite happy to see him. Gaen figured that Kenrich was here to finally buy some gems since the inspector was coming. Once Kenrich stated his business however, Gaen¡¯s expression changed to one of disinterest. Gaen had little interest in things that did not bring him any gez.


    ¡°I already told you that there¡¯s no way for me to see what power that stone has,¡± Gaen said. ¡°You¡¯d have much better luck traveling to Fril to try and find that out. They have one of the most expansive gemstone markets in all of Admia. I¡¯ve also heard they have a description stone, so if you could convince them to use it on the ring, then you would have your answer.¡±


    ¡°Fril is so far away though¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Life isn¡¯t fair, Kenrich. There¡¯s nothing I can do for y-¡±


    Suddenly, there was a loud crash of something solid slamming against the shop wall. Gaen and Kenrich¡¯s attention were then thrust toward the entrance of Gaen¡¯s shop where the door was forcefully pushed open by a heavily armored man. The man entered with four individuals wearing leather armor, carrying sheathed broadswords. There were three men and one woman amongst them.


    ¡°Good morning, gentlemen,¡± the heavily armored man said. ¡°I am Tinsen Entilin, commander of the unit that has entered your village. We are with the Admian military¡¯s fourth division, and we have urgent business with the citizens of this town. We ask you to join all the others by the well in the center of town. This is not optional.¡±


    Tinsen Entilin was wearing full steel-plated armor from head to toe, so Kenrich and Gaen saw him as little more than a war machine due to the lack of human skin shown anywhere on his body. Tinsen was a feared man throughout the region of Southeast Admia which is where Millin was located. Southeast Admia has always been overseen by the fourth division which is considered by many as one of the most cold-blooded of the seven military divisions located within Admia, which is saying quite a bit considering the focus of war in every aspect of high government within the country.


    ¡°W-what do you want?¡± Gaen squeaked out.


    ¡°You will know when you are allowed to know,¡± Tinsen said. ¡°Now, hurry along. We have little time for insubordination with the war going on. Violet, escort these two to the center of town. We¡¯ll look for stragglers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the female guard who was apparently named Violet. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Female soldiers are not very common in Nebulan, but Admia is known for having more than other nations due to their militaristic ways and obsession with having the most soldiers of any nation around them. Violet was covered in form fitting leather armor much like the men who were also present. She had black hair that was mostly hidden within her leather helmet, emerald-green eyes, and was around 5¡¯8 in height. She had a cold look in her eyes of determination and was quite beautiful all things considered.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s this about?¡± Kenrich asked as they walked. ¡°You soldiers never show your faces here anymore.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing good. I¡¯ll tell you that much,¡± Violet said. ¡°This is going to be a difficult time for you all. Forced labor isn¡¯t something I support, but it seems that there¡¯s no way to change the mind of the emperor.¡±


    ¡°F-forced labor?¡± Gaen said. ¡°Are we being sold into slavery?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as that, but it isn¡¯t much better to tell you the truth,¡± Violet said. ¡°I feel for you all, but you should prepare to have your freedom taken away for a time.¡±


    ¡°For how long?! I¡¯ve got a shop to run!¡± Gaen said.


    ¡°It depends on how quickly we find the artifact,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°What artifact?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Violet said. ¡°Just stand with the others and the commander will explain it all.¡±


    Kenrich and Gaen arrived in the center of town and saw that everyone in the village was waiting with them. Millin was a small village of only around three hundred people, so it was not a difficult task for the soldiers to track everyone down. Commander Tinsen then walked towards the front of the group of villagers and started speaking.


    ¡°Thank you all for taking time to be here today,¡± he said. ¡°You have all been brought here to help with the most important task in the history of the great nation of Admia. You will all do your part to help make sure that our empire wins the war by helping search for the Ring of Life.¡±


    There were murmurs from the crowd with many of them sounding very confused. Millin had never been a place associated with anything known as the ¡°Ring of Life¡± as far as they knew, and the town itself had not been of any historical importance at all throughout its existence. The only time Millin was visited by outsiders in the past twenty years was when the inspector came. No travelers ever passed through, soldiers never came to check on the condition of the people, no trade caravans appeared either. Millin was by all definitions, insignificant to everyone except those who lived within it.


    ¡°Now, I know you all must have a plethora of questions, but there¡¯s only one thing you all need to know. This stone is more important than any of your lives, and even my own, so you are all to mine, dig, and search every corner of this village until you find the Ring of Life. You will all get time to sleep at night, and three meals a day, but every other second will be spent looking for the stone without any exceptions.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°What about the women and children?!¡± screamed a villager from the group.


    ¡°They of course will be under the same schedule,¡± Commander Tinsen said. ¡°We can¡¯t have any exceptions. This stone must be found posthaste.¡±


    ¡°What if the stone isn¡¯t found?!¡± yelled another villager.


    ¡°There is no ¡®isn¡¯t.¡¯ The Ring of Life has been tracked to this location, and you will all search until it is found. That is all there is to this. I will not be taking any more questions. The last information I will leave you with is a description of what you are looking for. The stone is a white opal that is on a gold ring with ravens carved into it. Once it is found, we will take it, leave the village, and you all will be allowed to go back to your insignificant lives. You are all dismissed.¡±


    Ever since Kenrich heard about an ancient artifact, he was worried that this would be the case, but now that Commander Tinsen gave a description, it was perfectly clear that the ring they were looking for was the one that he had in his pocket. Suddenly, Kenrich¡¯s entire plan of saving the village and living a lavish life with the sale of the ring was shattered. There was no way he was going to make a single gez off of the ring now, not if the Admian military wanted it. Kenrich was now even less clear on what his next move should be. If this ring was something that the emperor wanted for the war effort then it definitely has immense power. If this ring will truly give Admia an edge in the war, then it most likely will be something that will then start new wars with other neighboring nations that will inevitably cause the demise of Admia and therefore Millin. Kenrich and the other villagers were already lucky enough to not have been conscripted into the war effort yet, but with new conquests, it would be nearly impossible to not find themselves on the battlefield eventually, which would certainly cause the end of Millin due him not being there to lie about the mine not having an absence of gemstones.


    The villagers dispersed and were led away by guards who were taking them to different sections of Millin where they were supposed to dig, looking for the ring that Kenrich had in his pocket. Violet ended up being the soldier in charge of Kenrich¡¯s group which was within the mine of Millin. Kenrich finally got his wish to see the other miners back in the mine with him, but this is certainly not the way he wished it.


    ¡°If any of you find the ring, I need to know immediately,¡± Violet said to us. ¡°You are not to tell anyone else except me if you find it.¡±


    Kenrich mined the rest of the day with Ren, whose back seemed to be just fine now, and his other fellow miners. After a large amount of time had passed, they, of course, found nothing. They were then all led out of the mine by Violet and brought to the center of town where they were first told about their unfortunate futures earlier that day. The villagers were all given rations that consisted of water from the stream next to the town and a single bread roll each. There was no doubt that the villagers would tire of these meals sooner rather than later. Kenrich took a seat next to the well away from the others. He looked up though and saw that Gaen was walking towards him. Gaen sat down next to him and immediately said exactly what Kenrich was expecting.


    ¡°Kenrich. Give them the ring,¡± he said. ¡°Think of the villagers. They said they will leave if they get the ring.¡±


    ¡°Things will be worse if they get the ring,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I guarantee whatever you think will happen is not going to be worse than the situation we are in right now,¡± Gaen said. ¡°What the hell do you think is going to happen?¡±


    ¡°If this ring really is as important and powerful as they say, they¡¯re just going to use it as an excuse to start more wars. That¡¯s all Admia does when they find powerful gems.¡±


    ¡°So what?!¡± Gaen said. ¡°We¡¯re always at war!¡±


    ¡°If we start more wars, there¡¯s a good chance that you, me, and all the others of fighting age in this village will be forced to join the military,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°That would ruin this town and many others like it.¡±


    ¡°Who cares about Millin?!¡± Gaen said. ¡°This village is on its last legs anyway. The only reason I stuck around is because you kept buying my gems. Everyone was going to have to go somewhere else eventually. That¡¯s how these things go.¡±


    ¡°I promised my dad I¡¯d protect the village. That¡¯s all he did his entire life. I told him that I¡¯d take his place, so I can¡¯t just leave this place to die.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s your plan?! There¡¯s no chance that you can save the village now! Either we are all worked to death, or more wars start thanks to the ring and we die anyway! Just give them the ring and everyone can try and flee. That way at least they¡¯d have a chance.¡±


    ¡°God damnit¡­¡± Kenrich said, holding his head. ¡°There has to be a way.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t! Give them the ring!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it some thought¡­¡±


    Dinner then ended and everyone was told they were allowed to sleep for the night. Kenrich, who thought his life was changing for the better, now had the responsibility of the entire village and its people on his shoulders with no idea of what the right course of action was. Days passed, weeks passed, and Kenrich and the rest of the villagers still worked hard looking for something that wasn¡¯t there. Every chance Gaen had, he would urge him to give them the ring, but Kenrich kept refusing saying that he was going to think of a way to make everyone happy somehow. The villagers were looking more battered and malnourished by the day with no one having any time to cook any sort of nutritious food for the villagers to eat. Every time Kenrich saw the children, he got closer to giving Violet the ring. He kept convincing himself there was a better way though and never went through with it.


    About two weeks into the forced labor of the village, Commander Tinsen called the villagers back to the center of the village for an announcement. Once Kenrich had arrived, he saw just how many people were suffering, and he couldn¡¯t stand to look at them anymore. The guilt was too much for him to bear, so he just closed his eyes.


    ¡°This has been going on for two weeks now, and it¡¯s going to be much longer if you all don¡¯t start taking this seriously! You all aren¡¯t looking too healthy these days, so I sure hope that you all find the resolve to actually commit to uncovering the ring. Us members of the military are tired too from watching over you all, and we¡¯d really prefer that you speed up this process. To help make this quicker for all of us, we are reducing your meals to two a day, and your time to sleep will be divided in half. This is for the benefit of us all, and I really hope that this helps motivate you all in your search. Dismissed.¡±


    The crowd erupted into negativity after hearing this news. Everyone was exhausted and hungry, so knowing that it was going to get so much worse was too much for most of the villagers to handle. Many fell to the ground in tears, many others were screaming at the military members who in response pushed the villagers to the ground, and others had no reaction at all. They had an absence of life in their eyes before the meeting even started.


    It was another difficult day in the mines for Kenrich and the others that ended in intense exhaustion much like every other day, but this time also was accompanied by the hopelessness that they had to go back to the mines after only four hours of rest. Kenrich did not sleep at all, he thought as hard as he could about what he was going to do and convinced himself that he would put a plan into action the next day no matter what. He could not watch the villagers suffer any more. He had that choice taken away from him though once he heard a violent knock at his door.


    ¡°We know you have the ring, Kenrich!¡± someone yelled from outside the door. ¡°You¡¯ve been sold out! They said you¡¯ve had it the whole time too!¡± Kenrich recognized the voice as that of Tinsen. ¡°Do you take us for fools? You will give us the ring immediately, and then you are under arrest for resisting an order from the emperor!¡±


    Kenrich panicked. He knew that if he was going to be charged with resisting the order of the emperor that it almost certainly meant his death, and with possession of the ring, that would almost certainly mean the death of Millin. Not knowing what to do, Kenrich felt his only option was to escape through the back window of his cottage. The knocking was getting louder, and it appeared they were trying to break down the door. The door was old and brittle, so it was not going to stay latched for long. Kenrich took his chance and leapt out of his window, where he saw two guards on either side of him. The cottage was surrounded. Kenrich struggled, but was able to shake off the guards and run past them towards the forest across the stream near his home. He knew he was being followed and had to lose them somehow, but he knew it was going to be difficult due to the magic gemstones the soldiers certainly possessed. He then felt an intense heat from his right side, and watched a fireball explode right in front of him. He shielded his face, and managed to escape being burned. He knew there had to be more coming so he started running in zig-zags trying to evade their projectiles. Kenrich was faster than the soldiers, but that and a knowledge of the land were the only two advantages he had.


    Kenrich recognized a tree that he carved his initials into when he was young, and remembered there was a small cave that he had used when he was younger that he covered with branches to prevent others from entering. He knew that was his only chance, so he took a sharp right towards the location of the cave. He heard a fireball explode behind him after taking the turn and realized he would have certainly been dead if he stayed on that path for even a second longer. Finding the cave entrance exactly as he remembered it, he slid down the side of the cave wall into the dark hole. He covered most of the entrance leaving just enough space to let some moonlight in so he could see. Kenrich was breathing heavily, and while he felt safe for a small amount of time, he quickly realized that with the importance of this ring, they most likely would never give up on finding him.


    Kenrich had no weapons, and no powerful gems of his own except for the ring which he had no knowledge of the abilities of, so there was no chance he would be able to fight his way out of the village. Knowing that the soldiers had fireball gems definitely cemented just how important this mission was for them. Fireball gems are usually only given to soldiers during very important battles as they are one of the most powerful offensive gemstones. Kenrich sat for what felt like hours, occasionally hearing the crunch of leaves from outside the cave which would make him hold his breath. Suddenly, he heard one set of footsteps coming closer to the cave than any had before. The crunch of leaves came closer, and closer until the crash of someone falling right through the makeshift roof onto the hard cave floor made Kenrich¡¯s heart stop. Much more moonlight was now shining through the hole and he could see clearly that this guard was one he recognized from his weeks in the mines, it was Violet.

 Chapter 3 - A Common Enemy

    Violet was knocked out cold, and Kenrich decided that he should re-block the roof of the cave before the other soldiers saw the opening. After doing so, Kenrich had no idea what to do with Violet. She had a broadsword sheathed by her side, so he could kill her and hope for a chance to escape, but he was not sure if he had it in him to take someone¡¯s life, especially since Violet had been pretty kind to him and the rest of the miners during their time working, at least compared to the other guards. He caught a glimpse of Violet¡¯s head and saw that there was blood dripping from it. Her leather helmet had fallen off during the tumble, so the entirety of the shock was absorbed through her skull. Her black hair was draped messily around her shoulders as the blood ran down her face. Kenrich knew that if a wound like that was left untreated, it would almost certainly result in her death. He thought about letting her die, but the more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt. She was a person just like himself, who had dreams and aspirations and probably a family waiting for her. Kenrich had a problem when it came to being responsible for anything¡¯s death. He could never squash bugs, or hunt, because the more he would think about it, the more he felt that taking their lives would be unfair to them. It was definitely a weakness of his. After weighing the pros and cons in his head, the cons of saving her definitely outweighed the pros, but the thought of the guilt he would feel is what ended up influencing his decision most.


    Kenrich took a water-filled canteen in Violet¡¯s possession and poured it over the wound on her head. He then ripped off his sleeve and wrapped it around her head to try and stop the bleeding. He was no doctor, so he was not sure if this would even work, but the thought that he at least tried was enough to not feel as much guilt if she were to die. Kenrich then made sure to take her weapons off of her which included a broadsword, dagger, and three different gemstones. He did not know what these gemstones were capable of but assumed that the ruby was the fireball gem that the soldiers were given as ruby was notorious for containing intense fire abilities. One of the gems was a garnet, which was a gemstone he often saw for sale in Gaen¡¯s shop. It was always too expensive for him to afford, but he was told that they usually contained far less powerful fire abilities and were usually used for starting fires. Kenrich knew that a fire would make it so he would not need the moonlight he was letting in, so he gritted his teeth and decided to roll the dice to activate the garnet to see if he would be lucky enough to be able to start a fire with it.


    He held the stone in his left hand and then waved his right hand which caused a small flame to sprout out of his index finger. Kenrich had never used a flame stone before, so he was surprised to see that it did not burn him. Kenrich then blocked up the rest of the roof of the cave while grabbing a few branches from the ground so he could start a fire. Getting this fire lit was very important as it was now getting very cold in the cave. A good source of heat was also a good way to increase the survival of Violet in Kenrich¡¯s mind which gave him more motivation to make it work. Holding the flame produced from his finger steady, he gently pressed the flame to the kindling he gathered between himself and Violet. The fire took and the impromptu campfire worked better than even Kenrich had hoped. With the fire lit, weapons in his possession, and having the roof completely blocked, Kenrich was starting to gain more hope of survival.


    After what felt like a few more hours, Kenrich had not heard any more footsteps near the cave but still felt very unsafe when he thought about whether or not he should leave. He was also starting to run out of kindling in the cave to use which started to make him worried about his survival once again. He also felt that he should certainly try to escape before daybreak otherwise he would easily be seen. Kenrich¡¯s indecisiveness was once again causing a halt in progress, but once again, forces other than himself made the choice for him.


    While deep in thought, Kenrich heard a wispy moan coming from Violet¡¯s body. This frightened him and he ran to the other side of the cave making sure to draw the broadsword just in case she ends up being hostile. Violet sat up and held the top of her head.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± she moaned. ¡°What the hell? Where am I?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­Good morning?¡± Kenrich said, uneasily. Violet looked over at him and slowly turned her body towards him.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± she said. ¡°Y-you¡¯re Kenrich! You¡¯ve got the ring, right?!¡±


    ¡°No sudden movements!¡± Kenrich said as he gave the broadsword a wimpy swing.


    ¡°Answer the question!¡± Violet said standing up while holding her head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Stop playing dumb! We heard the testimony from the owner of that run-down gem shop! Give me the ring! Tinsen can¡¯t be allowed to have his hands on it, let alone the emperor!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­what?¡± Kenrich said. ¡°You¡¯re not going to give the ring to Tinsen?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! This ring will only bring more war and more destruction. It can¡¯t reach the emperor. I won¡¯t let it!¡± Violet said.


    ¡°I feel the same way!¡± Kenrich said. ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t tell them I had it!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what your motives were,¡± Violet said. ¡°Just give me the ring. I guarantee they won¡¯t get it under my care.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Goddamnit! Give me back my sword too!¡± she said, starting to walk over to Kenrich before stumbling and holding her head. ¡°Ugh¡­my head¡­¡±


    ¡°See! You¡¯re in no shape to fight let alone escape the rest of the soldiers,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°The ring is safer with me.¡±


    ¡°Did you inflict these wounds on me?!¡± Violet said angrily.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I¡¯m the one who treated them!¡± he said. ¡°You fell down into this cave and hit your head on the wall. Your landing wasn¡¯t very graceful.¡±


    Violet felt the cloth wrapped around her head and saw that it was the same color and material as the only sleeve that Kenrich had left attached to his shirt. She could see that he wasn¡¯t lying. She also knew that he was right and there was no way she would be able to escape the soldiers in her condition. She could tell that Kenrich was not someone who could hold his own in a fight, but he just might be useful for something.


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the plan,¡± Violet started. ¡°You know this land well, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Like the back of my hand,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Then, you¡¯re going to lead me out of here,¡± Violet said. ¡°The only way this ring is making it out of here is if we can use my weapons and your knowledge of the land. We cannot afford to lose any more darkness; we need to move now.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t just leave the village!¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Who¡¯s going to be here to protect them?¡±


    ¡°They sold you out, Kenrich. The gemstone trader informed the villagers that you had the ring the whole time and everyone turned on you. They all agreed that you were to be handed over along with the ring. No one even hesitated.¡±


    ¡°T-that¡¯s not true!¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it is. If you ask me, that¡¯s what you get for making them all go through this for so long. If you just gave me the ring, I would have been able to make sure the emperor would never get his hands on it.¡±


    ¡°You should have told me that!¡± Kenrich barked.


    ¡°How the hell was I supposed to know you had the ring?! If I told people and Tinsen found out, I would have been executed!¡±


    ¡°Goddamnit¡­¡± Kenrich had tears in his eyes. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll lead you out.¡±


    ¡°Good answer. If you do truly love this village, then this is the only way to get the soldiers out of it. Now, let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 4 - The Great Escape

    Kenrich returned the broadsword and gemstones to Violet, put out the dim fire that was burning and slowly and quietly uncovered the top of the cave. Kenrich climbed out easily but had to help the injured Violet by pulling her up. The two looked around through the darkness and did not spot any soldiers.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get a move on,¡± Violet said. ¡°Where to?¡±


    ¡°This way,¡± Kenrich said.


    Violet followed Kenrich as they snuck through the middle of the forest as quickly and quietly as they could. They saw that the sun was starting to come up and hastened their movement.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°Towards Fril,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I guess it would be easier to blend in within a city of that size,¡± Violet said. ¡°That¡¯s still quite the journey by foot though.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to stop in Lampeer on the way,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We should be able to get your wounds treated and hopefully gather some supplies.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m not taking you with me, right?¡± Violet said. ¡°You¡¯re just a commoner. You¡¯d drag me down.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving you a choice in the matter,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I¡¯m going to see this through. It¡¯s not like I have anywhere to go back to anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be a safe journey,¡± Violet said. ¡°We¡¯ll be the most wanted people in all of Admia if you stick around.¡±


    ¡°They already said that I¡¯m being charged with going against the emperor¡¯s orders if I¡¯m found, so even without the ring, I¡¯m a dead man.¡±


    ¡°Wow. They went that far, huh?¡± Violet said. ¡°Tinsen is such a jackass. Okay, you can come. But you better pull your weight. I won¡¯t hesitate to leave you behind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Kenrich said.


    Being betrayed by the people he and his father had spent their whole lives fighting for was a knife to the heart for Kenrich. He did feel responsible for the two weeks of hell they all had to go through though, which made him less mad at them and more at himself. He was constantly convincing himself it was for the best to keep the ring out of the military¡¯s hand, but that does not lessen the hardship they all had to endure. In this way, Violet and Kenrich were opposites. Kenrich was betrayed by his people, while Violet betrayed hers. They both share the same goal though which will drive their journey to keep the Ring of Life out of the hands of the Admian military.


    After hours of walking, the sun was now out. Kenrich and Violet were very far away from Millin at this point though, so they were letting their guards down a bit.


    ¡°Not having a horse is starting to piss me off,¡± Violet said. ¡°I really hope we can get one once we¡¯re in Lampeer.¡±


    ¡°Do you have the money for a horse? I don¡¯t have any money on me at all,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. ¡°Being an Admian soldier does have its benefits after a-¡±


    Violet cut her sentence short as she started patting down all of her pockets in a frantic manner.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me. I must¡¯ve dropped my wallet somewhere¡­¡± she said, dejectedly.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to get a horse somehow,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We won¡¯t last a week on foot once they put a bounty on my head.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to gain money somehow while we¡¯re there,¡± Violet asked. ¡°Hopefully they have a guild hall, I can knock out some missions and we¡¯ll have some horses before the day is over.¡±


    ¡°You sound confident.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite good in battle,¡± Violet said, proudly.


    ¡°Combat missions are usually the ones that pay the best I¡¯ve heard, but we need to get you treated before you do any fighting, so we should do an easy request first,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°You¡¯re starting to sound like my father.¡±


    ¡°Well, he was probably right, just like I am now. Fathers usually are.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to worry about me. I¡¯ve been through much worse,¡± Violet said. ¡°I heard that your father was the one who gave you the task of protecting your village, well, my parents gave me a task too, and guarding this ring is part of it. We can¡¯t waste any time.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about this ring anyway? I¡¯ve never even heard of the Ring of Life,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure myself, but what I do know is that it¡¯s one of the oldest magic stones in history, and the few who have heard of it, don¡¯t even believe that it ever truly existed. It¡¯s a prehistoric fairy tale. Not many passed the legend along. My father told me just how obsessed the previous emperor was with finding it, and how the current emperor carries on that wish in secret and searches for it endlessly. I also heard that they found intel that the ring was hidden deep underground in a region within what is now Millin. It¡¯s hard to say if anyone lived there back then though. This is all ancient history at this point.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t able to learn anything while in the military?¡±


    ¡°Everything about the ring was on a ¡®need to know¡¯ basis, so I didn¡¯t even know they were close to finding it until they were dispatching a unit. Once I found that out, I had to call in a lot of favors in order to get a spot amongst the soldiers sent.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re really a part of something massive, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Massive and dangerous. There is zero chance they will ever give up on finding it.¡±


    ¡°Then what are we supposed to do? We¡¯ll be hunted until we¡¯re able to either destroy the ring or hide it somewhere out of their grasp.¡±


    ¡°Supposedly, there¡¯s no known way to destroy ancient gemstones, but I¡¯ve given it some thought, and I think we should take it to Aquarium.¡±


    ¡°Aquarium? Why there?¡±


    ¡°Queen Puri is very outspoken against the Admian government, so if anyone is going to know a way to keep powerful gems out of Admian hands, it''s her.¡±


    ¡°How the hell are we going to get an audience with a queen? Also, Aquarium is on the other side of the continent!¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure if we find out the ability of the ring before we get there, we can prove to them just how powerful it is. That should give us an audience. Fril has a description stone, so we just need to convince them to let us use it.¡±


    ¡°So, to recap, we get horses in Lampeer, gain access to the description stone in Fril, then go to Aquarium to find out what to do with the ring?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you were paying attention. We shouldn¡¯t spend too long in any one place though. After a bit, they will definitely issue wanted posters of you, and I¡¯m sure the villagers of Millin would be happy to make sure the description is accurate.¡±


    Just then, Violet and Kenrich both saw the outline of a settlement. It was Lampeer. Lampeer dwarfed Millin in its size but was still much smaller than the average town. With a population of two thousand, it just meets the threshold for having a guild hall. Guild halls are essential to the economy of every nation within Nebulan and are places where anyone can post requests to be fulfilled as long as they pay for the posting and offer a reward. After about twenty more minutes of walking, Violet and Kenrich approached the town gate, which was defended by two, disproportionate spear-wielding guards wrapped in leather armor.


    ¡°State your business,¡± said the tall, skinny guard on the left.


    ¡°Just travelers,¡± Violet answered.


    ¡°How long will you be staying?¡± said the short, burly guard on the right.


    ¡°Just for a night,¡± Violet answered again.


    ¡°Do you let your girlfriend do all the talking for you?¡± said the guard on the left. The other snickered.


    ¡°She¡¯s not my girlfriend, and why does that matter?¡±


    ¡°A man should take care of the physically impaired, buddy,¡± said the short guard. ¡°You¡¯ll make the rest of us look bad.¡±


    ¡°¡®Physically impaired¡¯?¡± Violet said, annoyed.


    ¡°Nothing against you, ma¡¯am,¡± said the short guard. ¡°It¡¯s just biology. Women are weak so we men must protect them and take charge.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± Violet said. ¡°I guarantee that I could take you both on at once.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, girl,¡± the tall guard said. ¡°We¡¯d feel bad bullying a poor lass.¡±


    ¡°How about we make a wager then?¡± Kenrich said. He turned and gave a mischievous look at Violet.


    ¡°A wager?¡± asked the short guard.


    ¡°Yes! How about we bet some money on whether or not she could beat you both in a friendly duel?¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Now things are getting interesting,¡± said the tall guard.


    ¡°How much are we betting?¡± asked the short guard.


    ¡°How about 100 gez?¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Haha! Real money! I like that!¡± laughed the short guard. ¡°We¡¯ll take you on. This¡¯ll be the easiest money we¡¯ve ever made!¡±


    ¡°Great! First to get knocked out or give up loses. Please don¡¯t go easy on me. I need to get out some aggression,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Now that gez¡¯s on the line, there¡¯s no way we¡¯ll go easy! Sorry for what¡¯s about to happen, lass,¡± said the tall guard with a big grin plastered on his face.


    Kenrich stood next to the gate and watched the guards go further out with Violet following them. The guards took their places on one side of the open green field, and Violet stood on the other side about fifteen feet away. She pretended to yawn which angered both of the guards, who lunged at Violet before they even agreed on when they would start. It didn¡¯t matter much though as Violet immediately dodged both of their spears before unsheathing her broadsword, and cutting the tips off of them both. The guards looked at their now glorified sticks, tossed them away, and came at her with daggers unsheathed from their belts. Violet put her broadsword away, took a fighting stance, and easily unarmed both guards using only her feet. She kicked both daggers out of their hands before giving the short guard a swift punch to the center of his nose which brought him down just as swiftly. With the short guard grasping his now broken nose, the tall guard understood that they were outmatched and conceded the match. They then reluctantly paid Violet the money promised in the wager. Now, with a big smile plastered on her face, Violet skipped her way back to Kenrich with a wad of gez in her grasp. They then entered the village gates while the tall guard tried to mend his spear, and the short one his nose.


    ¡°That wager was a brilliant idea,¡± Violet said. ¡°You might make yourself useful yet.¡±


    ¡°You flatter me,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°You still moved around too much though. How¡¯s your wound?¡±


    ¡°I told you to stop worrying. Now, why did you think that I could beat them? You¡¯ve never seen me fight before.¡±


    ¡°You said that you were good in battle, so I decided to trust you. I guess you weren¡¯t lying.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen anything yet. Once I¡¯m back to full strength, not even an army of ogres could stand in my way.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure. Let¡¯s find a clinic. We can get you patched up before we check out the guild.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have the money for it,¡± Violet said. ¡°Becoming a certified adventurer costs 100 gez. That¡¯s why I made the wager that high.¡±


    ¡°You should have made it higher then! I didn¡¯t know you had to pay to become an adventure¡­¡±


    ¡°Shows what they teach you in the boonies. And if I made it higher, they might not¡¯ve taken the bet! I was playing it conservatively.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re playing it conservatively with your health¡­¡±


    ¡°Shush. If you¡¯re going to whine this much, then if we have some extra gez after taking on a few requests, we can both get our yearly checkups.¡±


    ¡°If you get an infection, don¡¯t come crying to me.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh, sure. Let¡¯s go check out the guild.¡±

 Chapter 5 - Bureaucracy

    Kenrich and Violet walked towards the guild which was easily the most impressive building in the area. Being funded by the government rather than the town itself, often makes these guild halls appear much more cared for than surrounding buildings in areas that don¡¯t house the most patriotic citizens. The building was tall and wooden with a large metal-plated sign that read ¡°Lampeer Official Guild Hall.¡± Violet took the lead and opened the solid wooden door with Kenrich right behind her. Once entering, they were able to witness the kinds of people that often take refuge in the guild halls of less vibrant cities. A portly man sporting a wooden helmet with spikes protruding from it and a large fur vest was snoring away at the closest table to the door. The way his head was resting with one spike against the table had his neck in a seemingly uncomfortable position that did not seem to bother him in the slightest. Another table showed three men and one woman playing with a deck of cards. Two men on one side of the table were dressed in traditional peasant garb while the other side had the man and woman dressed in mage attire. Another group of two patrons were against the request bulletin going through each piece of paper listed under the label ¡°D.¡± As Kenrich took in these sights, Violet ignored them all and went straight to the desk where a receptionist with her eyes glued to a book did not notice her until she was inches away from the counter.


    ¡°Welcome¡­¡± the receptionist said, disinterested. She didn¡¯t even look up from her book. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to get certified as an adventurer,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Full name?¡±


    ¡°Violet Tilleon.¡±


    ¡°Occupation?¡±


    ¡°Former barmaid, soon to be adventurer.¡±


    ¡°Date of birth?¡±


    ¡°Spring 46th, 1499¡­You¡¯re not even writing anything down!¡±


    ¡°I was just curious. Fill out this form.¡± Still without looking up from her book, the receptionist slid a paper over to Violet. ¡°Bring it back once you¡¯re done.¡±


    Violet stood there for an extra moment staring daggers at the receptionist, who was not affected in the slightest, sighed then turned around to find a free table. Kenrich followed, slightly amused by the situation but making sure that he did not appear that way.


    ¡°What was her problem?!¡± Violet said while filling out the form with a light blue feather pen. ¡°First those jackasses at the gate and now we¡¯ve got ¡®Ms. Ditsy¡¯ here¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve definitely got some real characters in this town so far,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°At least we won¡¯t be staying too long.¡±


    ¡°It all depends on how quickly I can get some quests done,¡± Violet said. ¡°If I just need to kill some goblins, it¡¯s fine, but if we only have a ¡®Find my cat, Mr. Muffins!¡¯ quest, then we might be in trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d much prefer the latter¡­¡±


    ¡°Grow some chest hair, Kenrich. There¡¯s probably going to be a lot of death on this mission, so even you might have to get your hands dirty at some point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer not to think about that now¡­by the way, are you well known in the military? Should we be worried about you getting recognized as well?¡±


    ¡°Most higher ups don¡¯t know who I am, but a few of my connections might sell me out if they knew what I¡¯m doing now. I made a name for myself mostly in the 1st division, so I doubt anyone would recognize me unless we went to their territory in the north.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. With the skills you showed off at the gate, I figured you might be higher up in the ranks.¡±


    ¡°I could''ve easily made commander, but being well known by many was not good for my mission, so it¡¯s not something you have to worry about. I¡¯m more worried about you being recognized. You need to grow out a beard or get a hood or something.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think we have before they spread wanted posters?¡±


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d say two weeks, but since capturing you and recovering the ring is the direct order of the emperor, let¡¯s say one.¡±


    ¡°Not a lot of time to grow a beard¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll make some extra money to get you a hood from the apparel store then, so stop sweating the small things for right now. I¡¯m done with the form, so let¡¯s get started.¡±


    Violet left the table with Kenrich following after. Kenrich was slightly excited to see how this next interaction with the girl behind the counter would go. Violet made it to the counter and slammed the paper on the wood right in front of the receptionist, who didn¡¯t react.


    ¡°I¡¯m finished. Can we start now? I¡¯d prefer to get a job before the sun sets.¡±


    The receptionist looked up from her book for the first time and right up at Violet. The receptionist was plain looking but she had very bright blue eyes like ice that made it hard for Violet and Kenrich to break her gaze. Suddenly, the receptionist raised an eyebrow, and she looked confused and slightly annoyed.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the head wrap?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I got a scratch on my head, but I¡¯m fine. Can we please continue?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°The amount of dried blood shows me that it was more than a scratch.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Can I pick a job off of the board now?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m going to need you to fill out this form.¡± The receptionist slid a new form towards Violet that looked to be several pages long.


    ¡°I just did that! I¡¯m done with this bureaucracy! Can I please just pick a job?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a liability thing,¡± the receptionist said. ¡°See? This one¡¯s different.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done with your forms!¡±


    Kenrich looked around and saw that the few people in the guild were looking amused over the situation developing between Violet and the receptionist. The man who was sleeping close to the entrance and looked the part to be a Viking had awoken, sat up, and began to shout.


    ¡°Stop your bickering!¡± he said. ¡°Seriph, go ahead and take a break. I¡¯ll take over at the counter.¡± The receptionist nodded and walked out the door in the back of the room. The large man walked over and stood next to Violet at the counter. ¡°Sorry lass, but with an injury like that, you must fill out the liability form before taking jobs in my guild.¡±


    ¡°Your guild?¡± Violet said, confused.


    ¡°Let me introduce myself, I¡¯m the guild master, Geralt. My receptionist there is Seriph. Sorry if she seemed a little¡­unfriendly. She¡¯s not the greatest people-person, but she does do a good job here.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s putting it-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± Kenrich said, shaking Geralt¡¯s hand while cutting off Violet. ¡°I¡¯m Kenrich and this here is Violet. We¡¯ve had a long day, so I apologize if we¡¯re a little on edge. This is a very handsome guild hall and we¡¯ll be happy to follow its customs and fill out the form before proceeding.¡±


    ¡°No apology needed!¡± Geralt said in a friendly manner. ¡°Tell you what, just sign your name on the bottom of each page and I¡¯ll have Seriph finish filling out the dates when she gets back, that way you can get a job before the day is done.¡±


    ¡°We very much appreciate that,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just happy to have your business!¡± Geralt said with a smile.


    Violet stayed silent and started putting her signature at the bottom of each page of the packet. As she did so, Geralt and Kenrich kept up some small talk which caused those in the guild to go back to their earlier tasks now that they saw there was not going to be any fighting. After finishing the form, Violet pushed the paper towards the edge of the counter and walked over to the job board. Kenrich gave one last pleasantry to Geralt before following her.


    ¡°Anything look good?¡± Kenrich asked as Violet scanned the jobs labeled ¡°D.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for fixing the situation¡­¡± Violet said after a small pause. ¡°I get easily irritated sometimes, so I¡¯m glad you were here to bring me back to solid ground.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Kenrich said. Violet smiled.


    ¡°Anyway, this here is my favorite so far. It¡¯s a goblin extermination job.¡±


    ¡°How is that a ¡°D¡± rank job? I didn¡¯t think combat jobs would be so low in the rankings.¡±


    ¡°It always depends on the guild. Guilds that don¡¯t get a lot of adventurers are sometimes known to put harder jobs lower so the likelihood of them getting taken is higher, and lucky for them, that¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re looking for.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the reward?¡±


    ¡°800 gez.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s plenty enough to get us a horse and get that hole in your skull filled!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hole in my skull! It was just a cut! But you¡¯re right. We can get a horse to share, get my head stitched up, and get some suppliers before we head to Fril.¡±


    ¡°Is it a lot of goblins?¡±


    ¡°The request says there¡¯s a small band of goblins seen on the outskirts of the town that are making the villagers nervous. It says the request was made by the local government, so we shouldn¡¯t have an issue with getting paid promptly and fully.¡±


    ¡°You think you can take them in your condition?¡±


    ¡°Easily.¡±


    ¡°I guess we have a winner then. Let¡¯s go pick up our badge and take the request.¡±


    Kenrich and Violet walked over towards the counter where Seriph was filling out what looked to be the last page of the liability form. Geralt was leaning over the counter talking to her as she did it. Much like with Violet, she didn¡¯t look up once during the exchange and did not give him a single response as they watched. Based on what Kenrich saw, they seemed to have pretty opposite personalities.


    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯ve chosen a job? Seriph just finished the form, so we can give you your badge after your registration payment and then Violet¡¯ll be an official adventurer!¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Kenrich said. ¡°And yes, we have. We¡¯re gonna get rid of the goblins outside of town.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly aiming high. That¡¯s the most dangerous ¡°D¡± rank job on the list.¡±


    ¡°Also, the best paying,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°That it is, lass. Just please look after yourselves out there. Goblins are a clever bunch.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Violet said, handing Geralt the 200 gez we received from our earlier wager.


    ¡°Please stand on that red circle,¡± Seriph told Violet.


    ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need a picture for your adventurer badge! Make sure to give us a big smile!¡± Geralt said.


    Violet stood on the red circle and gave a cute smile which contradicted the dangerous aura she exuded normally as a soldier of the Admian military. Seriph lazily held up a white stone from the desk and it flashed at Violet, who flinched badly. Seriph then set the stone on the desk and pressed it against a card on the table. After pulling it off, a picture of Violet appeared. There was no cute smile on the card though as the flinch was captured in its entirety. Her eyes were halfway shut and both of her hands were thrust in front of her looking as if she was under attack. Kenrich snickered when he saw it but tried to keep his composure. Violet on the other hand was beet red and flustered.


    ¡°I-I wasn¡¯t ready!¡± she yelled. ¡°Let¡¯s do another!¡±


    ¡°I apologize but picture stones only work so many times, so we can¡¯t use more than one on each person unless their eyes are closed,¡± Seriph said.


    ¡°They¡¯re almost closed! See?!¡± Violet said pointing at the picture.


    ¡°I can still see your eye color, so it doesn¡¯t fulfill the recapture requirements,¡± Seriph said.


    ¡°I think you look quite n-nice,¡± Kenrich said, still trying not to laugh.


    ¡°Bite me!¡±


    ¡°Now that the registration is complete and you¡¯ve chosen a job, feel free to go ahead and attempt to complete it when you¡¯re ready,¡± Geralt said. ¡°If you need more information than what is on the request then I recommend asking Leonard and Lenfil who guard the front gate. They¡¯re the ones who first reported the sighting.¡±


    Kenrich and Violet looked at each other, sighed, then thanked both Geralt and Seriph before leaving the guild hall to start the request.

 Chapter 6 - Deadly Progress

    ¡°I just can¡¯t win today¡­¡± Violet said as they walked towards the town gate.


    ¡°I¡¯m here suffering with you,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to show this damn picture to every guild hall you visit!¡±


    ¡°If I get certified, I¡¯ll make sure to sneeze as they take my picture, so we¡¯ll be in the same boat.¡±


    ¡°You better. The amount of hits to my pride so far is more than I¡¯ve ever experienced in my entire life. Speaking of which, I¡¯m not asking those guards for help. There¡¯s no way they¡¯d help after I made them look silly.¡±


    ¡°We need all the information we can get, Violet. You can just let me do the talking and I¡¯ll see if I can get anything from them.¡±


    ¡°As long as I don¡¯t have to interact with them, then have it your way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I¡¯d prefer we get your head checked as soon as possible before I have to drag you around in a wheelbarrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m made from much tougher stuff than you, village boy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Kenrich and Violet arrived at the gate and saw the guards were still trying to reattach their spear tips to the sticks that Violet cut them from. They looked up, saw Violet and immediately had a mix of terror and anger plastered on their faces.


    ¡°What do you lot want?¡± said the shorter guard.


    ¡°Hello, it¡¯s nice to see you both again,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We just got certified as adventurers and took the goblin job. We were told that you two were the ones who witnessed the goblins first. We¡¯d just like some information then we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±


    ¡°The location we saw ¡®em is on the request. Can¡¯t ya read?¡± the tall guard said.


    ¡°Did you see the weapons they had? How many were in the group? Did anyone try to take the request before? Just any information you might have will help us take care of this for your village. It would be a lot less work for you two if we took care of it for you, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Work all that out yourselves!¡± the short guard said. ¡°We¡¯ve no reason to answer your litany of questions. Now, begone!¡±


    ¡°Think about it like this,¡± Violet said, taking a step towards them. ¡°I bet we¡¯re the first people to take this request, aren¡¯t we? And I bet the villagers all wish it were you two out there protecting them rather than having to put up a request in a place where adventurers hardly ever visit. So, let¡¯s make a deal: You give us all the information you have on the goblins, then we¡¯ll go take care of them and let you both take all of the credit. We¡¯ll still get the request money from the guild of course, but you can tell all the locals that you pulled the request and decided to take matters into your own hands. You can even attribute those injuries and broken weapons of yours to your heroic fight against the goblin horde. How about it? We have a deal? I¡¯m sure you¡¯d rather not tell them what actually happened, right? Given that I¡¯m just a weak damsel who¡¯d never be able to knock you two on your asses.¡±


    Kenrich was taken aback by Violet¡¯s monologue since she said she wasn¡¯t going to interact with the guards, but he¡¯s glad she broke that promise. This was certainly an offer they couldn¡¯t refuse.


    The guards looked at one another and thought for a moment before saying exactly what Violet wanted to hear.


    ¡°Fine. You gotta deal,¡± the short guard said. ¡°Go ahead and tell ¡®em Lenfil. You ¡®ad a better look at ¡®em than I.¡±


    ¡°The information ain¡¯t exactly gonna be ¡®helpful but we were at this gate when we saw a small band of green creatures rummaging ¡®round in the trees in that forest,¡± Lenfil said. ¡°Didn¡¯t really get a good look at ¡®em, but they ¡®ad to be goblins.¡±


    ¡°Lord above, you truly do not leave these spots do you?¡± Violet said with her hand pinching her forehead.


    ¡°Keeping ruffians like you lot out of the city is our job! We ain¡¯t got the manpower to go dancing through the forest!¡± Leonard said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to do a good job of that either,¡± Violet retorted. ¡°Anyway, is that really all the info you have?¡±


    ¡°We kept our end of the bargain, you better keep yours,¡± Lenfil said, smugly.


    ¡°I knew this was gonna be a waste of time,¡± Violet said. ¡°C¡¯mon Kenrich, let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    ¡°We appreciate your time,¡± Kenrich said before following Violet down the road.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Useless guards¡­¡± Violet muttered.


    ¡°That information was better than nothing and I don¡¯t care for taking credit anyway,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Taking credit would just put more eyes on us that we don¡¯t need right now.¡±


    ¡°I agree with that, but how was that information helpful in the slightest?¡± Violet said, annoyed.


    ¡°Knowing where they were positioned when they saw them kinda makes you wonder if they are even goblins at all.¡±


    ¡°I suppose, but I¡¯m not sure what else it could be. Maybe a slime?¡±


    ¡°What if it¡¯s something even more dangerous?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Either way, I can take them down just fine. I just want to keep moving and we need a horse to actually keep ourselves ahead of our hunters.¡±


    ¡°At least let me help. Without you, I¡¯m definitely done for.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m glad you realize that,¡± Violet said, hiding a smug smile. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, no harm will come of me or you, but here-¡±


    Violet threw a small object towards Kenrich who fumbled it a bit before corralling it. It was a fireball stone.


    ¡°You trust me with one of these?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to learn to be useful somehow and this is the first step. It¡¯s a ranged weapon that¡¯s easy to use, so just make sure not to aim at me and everything will be fine.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    He had some nerves about holding something so dangerous, especially after being shot with them only half a day earlier and seeing their destructive power. He realized that this was Violet¡¯s way of showing she had some trust in him though and wanted to make sure not to let her down.


    ¡°We¡¯re at the edge of the forest now¡­you ready to go hunting?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be¡­¡±


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡±


    They started making their way through to the middle of the forest making sure to keep their steps as quiet as possible in order to both hear the enemy while not giving away their own position. Violet was in front and was giving Kenrich hand signals that at first, he didn¡¯t understand, but now thought he was getting the gist of. Open palm meant stop. Closed fist meant go. Originally, he was just copying her movements, but now his eyes were fixed on her directions. Violet seemed as calm as ever which made sense due to her background, but Kenrich could barely maintain his breathing. He had never been in a fight before and knowing that his opponent would try to kill them was thrusting him on the edge of panic. He knew that he¡¯d just have to give his trust to Violet just like she did to him, but it¡¯s difficult when your life is on the line. When fleeing his hometown, at least he had the option to run away from his attackers which was always his go to tactic, but here, he knew he had to fight. Suddenly, Violet threw up another open palm and started looking around intently. After a few moments, Kenrich understood why. He heard some loud crunches in the leaves around 20-30 feet in front of them and his first thought was, there¡¯s no way that¡¯s a goblin. A loud crash sounded as a tree made contact with the ground and what sounded like thousands of tiny footsteps started rushing towards them.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been spotted!¡± Violet yelled. ¡°Get ready for a fight, village boy!¡±


    Kenrich looked forward in terror as he saw the being that contained the raw strength to level that tree. It was an ogre. Kenrich had never ever seen one in anything other than a textbook, and he wished he went his whole life with that being the case. It was massive, dark green, and fierce. It had to be triple the size of Kenrich and it wielded a large club that looked to be the remnants of a tree. One swing of that, and¡­Kenrich didn¡¯t want to think about it. A group of goblins were running from the sides of the ogre seeming to be its henchmen which made the situation even more terrifying. It was a small army against an injured soldier and a pacifist from a disconnected village. Kenrich thought about their odds of winning in his head and realized that it would only make his mental state worse.


    ¡°Snap out of it, Kenrich!¡± Violet said before giving him a smack on the head. ¡°Back up and shoot fireballs at the ogre, I¡¯ll take on the goblins!¡±


    She then pushed him, and he ran back before taking the gemstone in his left hand, opening his right palm and thrusting his arm which caused a fireball to shoot off of the side of the ogre¡¯s face. The ogre made a guttural and savage noise that frightened Kenrich even more. He thrust his arm again trying to keep the ogre off balance. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins now. He felt disconnected from his body and was operating off of pure instinct. At the same time, Violet was running straight into the crowd of goblins with her sword in hand. The goblins tried to surround her, but it didn¡¯t matter as Violet easily carved her path through the crowd by dodging and parrying their every attack. From the outside, it appeared that the goblins had the upper hand as you could barely see Violet in the middle of the crowd, but looking closer, you saw small makeshift spears and green limbs flying out of the pile showing that Violet was doing a lot of damage. The ogre took a few more fireballs to the chest, arms, and legs, which unlocked a more furious and primal outburst that ended with the ogre rushing towards Kenrich who could not move anything other than his arm which continued the barrage of fireballs. Violet saw this out of the corner of her eye. She jumped out of the crowd of goblins easily and ran behind the ogre before slicing the back of its leg causing it to come down on one knee.


    ¡°While it¡¯s down, Kenrich!¡± Violet yelled.


    Kenrich was still in the middle of his fugue state, but was able to gather just enough resolve to shoot an accurate and final fireball straight to the face of the kneeling ogre. This shot was enough to down the ogre for good as its face imploded on impact of the fireball before scattering its ugly expression on the forest floor around them. Kenrich fell back on the ground. He could give no more. This didn¡¯t matter to Violet though as she was able to dispatch the remaining goblins easily. Goblins are not skilled fighters and instead rely on tactics and cunning to down more dangerous prey, but Violet was way too much for them to handle. In the end, they didn¡¯t land a single blow on her. Green bodies that weighed much less than they had when the battle started laid around the forest floor as Violet sheathed her sword, pocketed some gemstones she was gripping, and went over to Kenrich offering him a hand.


    ¡°Nice work, village boy,¡± she said. ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that there¡¯d be an ogre of all things! That was nice shooting on your part. Look! Its face looks like a hollowed-out pumpkin!¡±


    Kenrich looked over at the ogre carcass and vomited on the forest floor while still seated.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a baby,¡± Violet said. ¡°C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll help you up.¡±


    Kenrich grabbed her hand and was helped to his feet like he had weighed nothing at all. The adrenaline had not worn off yet, but he still felt a small amount of relief knowing that the fight was over.

 Chapter 7 - Reality Kicks In

    The walk out of the forest was silent. Violet could tell that Kenrich was still mentally recovering from his first of what would end up being many bloody battles and decided to give him some space. She remembers her first time being covered in blood and guts and how she didn¡¯t fare much better even though it didn¡¯t really phase her now. She was only 16 at the time of her first expedition into enemy territory. She remembered how it felt like she lost a part of herself the second her blade had pierced the neck of a boy who looked not much older than herself. Violet felt that she was better off without that part of her, especially if this mission was going to be successful, but somewhere deep inside her, she also wonders what would happen if she never joined the military at all and refused to follow her parents'' wishes. It was pointless to think about this now, but she was doing her best to try and relate to Kenrich and the internal struggle he was dealing with now.


    They made their way to the gate and immediately, Leonard and Lenfil could tell something had happened but seeing that they were both in one piece, they assumed rightfully that it was good news.


    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Lenfil asked. ¡°We ¡®eard a large crash, so can we assume that something was out there?¡±


    ¡°It was an ogre, you useless lout,¡± Violet said without stopping.


    ¡°Is-is it done for?!¡± Leonard said nervously.


    Violet held out a large, dismembered finger without turning around. She heard a sigh of relief from behind her as they continued walking towards the guild hall.


    The sun was starting to set, but Violet figured that there would be no problem collecting the bounty now that there was still light. They had to make sure and strike a deal for a horse as soon as possible after all. Kenrich was still silently following behind as they opened the door to the guild seeing the two familiar faces they hoped would still be around.


    ¡°Nice to see you both in one piece!¡± Geralt said. ¡°Did you end up fulfilling the request, or did you have a question for us?¡±


    ¡°The request has been fulfilled,¡± Violet said. ¡°Here¡¯s the proof-¡±


    Violet laid down several goblin spears as well as the ogre finger that dwarfed them.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Geralt said. ¡°An ogre commander?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Violet responded. ¡°It and the goblins are no longer a threat to the city.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very impressed. I didn¡¯t take you two for such adept warriors, but I¡¯m very happy to be wrong. We greatly appreciate your service. Let me get you that reward.¡±


    Geralt went to the backroom after picking up the proof that Violet had laid out. While they were waiting, Seriph, who was sitting in a chair pulled up to the outside of the reception desk, broke the silence between Violet and Kenrich.


    ¡°It was your first real fight, huh?¡± Seriph said to Kenrich. Violet looked upset by Seriph¡¯s tone and decided to answer for him.


    ¡°People aren¡¯t usually surrounded by blood and guts,¡± she said. ¡°Leave the guy alone.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was just asking. He seems pretty down is all. Was it gross?¡±


    ¡°I said to leave him al-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Yeah, it was my first time fighting something that wanted me dead. I¡¯m just not used to the blood and gore, yet I guess. Sorry if I worried you. I should act a little tougher.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that, Kenrich,¡± Violet said. ¡°The first time is always hard. You definitely pulled your weight out there, so I don¡¯t have any complaints.¡±


    ¡°I barely did anything. You¡¯re the one who took out the horde of goblins single-handedly while also saving me from the ogre. You¡¯re amazing.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing¡­¡± Violet said, blushing. Compliments to her skills in battle have always been her weakness. ¡°It would have been a lot to handle on my own, so I¡¯m glad that you were there as my backup. It was a lot to ask of a simple village boy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad it all worked out for the best,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°How did you manage to get out of the horde of goblins to save me though? You hurdled over them easily!¡±


    ¡°Thank my jump stone,¡± she said, holding up a small green stone. ¡°Having the right stones in your arsenal is very important in battle. Gemstones are what evens the playing field against opponents with more strength and larger numbers.¡±


    ¡°I always thought jump stones were useless¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Not if you use them correctly! Here-¡± Violet placed the green stone in Kenrich¡¯s hand. ¡°I have extra jump stones, so it¡¯s fine if you keep hold of one. It might get us out of trouble someday.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just keep making yourself useful.¡±


    The back door opened, and Geralt came out holding a small bag along with some papers.


    ¡°The reward is yours as soon as you fill out this sheet right here,¡± Geralt said, humorously.


    ¡°Of course. More paperwork,¡± Violet said lightheartedly.


    Violet quickly filled out the paper at the counter, received the reward from Geralt, and after receiving a recommendation for a stable in the city and explaining that they would prefer for the credit to go to Leonard and Lenfil. The latter request being begrudgingly accepted by Geralt, they said their goodbyes and left the guild.


    ¡°This city truly doesn¡¯t have much to offer,¡± Violet said. ¡°Can¡¯t believe there¡¯s only one stable in the whole city. They can basically charge whatever they want!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure 800 gez will still be enough to buy at least one horse. They¡¯d have no business if they charged too much. There isn¡¯t nearly enough commerce here to make any sales if the common folk couldn¡¯t afford it.¡±


    ¡°Even so, I wish we had some options.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll work out. Just remember we have to save enough to stitch that hole in your head shut, so don¡¯t fall in love with some purebred.¡±


    ¡°Look who¡¯s trying to play the leader now.¡±


    ¡°As far as I¡¯m concerned, we¡¯re an equal partnership.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re becoming more useful by the hour, but you¡¯re still not leadership material yet.¡±


    ¡°Me getting you to admit that much is enough for right now.¡±


    ¡°Still got a ways to go,¡± Violet said.


    They arrived at a small stable that looked largely abandoned. They were facing the back of the building, but even so, they could see through it with the many holes in the thin wall. There didn¡¯t seem to be any horses at all within the building at first glance. This worried Violet as she thought that they might have been too late. Geralt had told them that they would be open as long as there was an ounce of daylight, but the place seemed deserted. After around 20 seconds of taking in the sight of the place, they heard a crash from inside the stable and saw a small wooden brush roll out of the side of the small building. Chasing after it was an old man who seemed to have quite the pep in his step contrary to his ancient appearance. His gray hair was sticking straight up, and he was quite skinny which made him appear like a paintbrush with a very short handle. This amused Kenrich, but he managed to keep a smile off of his face as he did not want to make a bad first impression. He looked up at Violet and Kenrich while adjusting his small circular glasses.


    ¡°Hello, sir. Are you the owne-¡±


    ¡°QUIET BOY!¡± the old man said, cutting off Kenrich before rushing straight into Violet¡¯s personal space. ¡°Now, what is your name?¡±


    ¡°V-Violet?¡±


    She was obviously unprepared for this close encounter. The old man then took her hand before placing a small, wet smooch on her dirty hand which was still foul from their battle in the forest. The old man tried and failed to retain his composure as the taste of her hand was almost certainly filled with dried goblin blood and a hint of dirt.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°A b-beautiful name for a classy w-woman!¡± It seems he could not get the taste out of his mouth.


    He then took a few steps back and without acknowledging Kenrich for a second, asked Violet what brought her out here.


    ¡°We need to purchase a horse, and we need one today,¡± she said.


    ¡°Of course, of course! Not a problem at all!¡±


    The old man then ran into the stable and brought out a single solid brown horse that was both undersized and seemingly underfed.


    ¡°This one right here is a bargain! Normally, I¡¯d charge 700 gez for a striking stallion such as this, but for you, young lady, 600 and he¡¯s yours!¡±


    Violet had a puzzled look on her face. Business negotiation wasn¡¯t her strong suit, but she knew that the old man would most likely not listen to Kenrich at the moment.


    ¡°Do you have any other horses available? This one seems a little¡­unwell.¡±


    ¡°I promise you lass that this horse is fit as a fiddle, and I can get the sale done in no time at all! All you gotta do is sign this contract! It¡¯s a steal at this price!¡±


    Violet looked back at Kenrich who just shook his head. Turning back towards the old man, she tried to put on a tough expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want this horse. Show me what else you have, or we¡¯ll take our business somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Oh-ho!¡± The old man said, pushing his thumbs under his discolored suspenders. ¡°Sorry, but there are two things wrong with that. One, I¡¯m the only stable you¡¯re gonna find in at least the next fifty miles, and second, this is the only horse I have for sale at the moment. I apologize for the inconvenience, but these are the facts, miss.¡±


    She looked back at Kenrich once again, who this time just shrugged his shoulders. They both understood that they had no leverage in this situation and were at the mercy of this old con artist.


    ¡°May I take it for a test ride at least?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°By all means!¡±


    ¡°Hop on up with me, Kenrich. We need to make sure that it can support both of our weights.¡±


    The old man looked nervous when she proposed this, but he had no grounds to object. Kenrich was also nervous. He approached the horse slowly and after getting a better look at it, became even more nervous and slightly disgruntled. Violet had no fear however and hopped onto the horse''s back without issue. Even though the quality of the horse was suspect, the saddle itself looked quite nice. The leather had no chips, and the foothold did not have an ounce of dirt on it before Violet changed that with her first step. The horse seemed to be supporting Violet¡¯s weight just fine which was a good sign due to the armor she was wearing. It was not the same plated armor she had worn when Kenrich saw her for the first time in Gaen¡¯s shop, but the light armor she wore still weighed a good 10-20 lbs.


    ¡°So far, so good,¡± Violet said. ¡°C¡¯mon up, Kenrich.¡± She put out her hand, and Kenrich reluctantly accepted.


    Kenrich made his way on top of the horse and took his place behind Violet who took the reins and started them on a slow trot. The horse seemed to be supporting their weight just fine, and Kenrich noticed that the horse actually seemed a little sturdier from on top. He put his arms around Violet¡¯s waist to stay balanced which she took as a sign to start going quite a bit faster. Since it was nearly dark and they were near the exit of the village, there was a large amount of space to gallop without having to wonder if Violet was actually good at driving a horse. Kenrich had a mix of anxiety and excitement filling his body as the horse galloped through the street. This is the first time he had ridden a horse in at least a decade. The last time being during a petting zoo in Millin that took place during the harvest festival. This memory replaced his excitement with a wave of sadness that he tried to suppress, but it was difficult given how fresh a lot of his psychological wounds were. Violet, on the other hand, was having a wonderful time. She was pleasantly surprised with the giddy-up the horse had and was starting to grow quite attached. It listened to every direction she gave it and showed no signs that it needed any form of training which was perfect given that their timetable had no room for such a thing. Violet brought them back to a slow trot and jumped off the horse with an obvious smile on her face that betrayed the very little bargaining power that they still had. Kenrich made his way down as well and stood back as he was sure that the old man would not change his gender preference when it came to business.


    ¡°So, I take it he was a good ride, miss?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, it wasn¡¯t bad¡­¡± Violet was now petting the horse¡¯s black mane lightly.


    ¡°Does that mean we have a deal?¡±


    Violet nodded her head. Violet then proceeded to fill out even more paperwork to make everything official. They shook hands, the old man wiped his hand on his pants which were not much cleaner, and Violet and Kenrich were on their way back towards the heart of the city.


    ¡°Ready for a checkup?¡± Kenrich asked as they walked down the quiet street with Violet leading the horse beside her.


    ¡°I am just gonna get some stitches and we¡¯ll be on our way. We can¡¯t afford much now anyway, and we need to grab some food and water before we head out. Not that I¡¯m complaining as ol¡¯ Reliable here was worth every gez,¡± Violet said while resting her head on the horse with a cute smile on her face.


    ¡°We¡¯ve barely had him for ten minutes and you¡¯re already attached, huh?¡±


    ¡°So what?! He¡¯s an integral part of the team!¡±


    ¡°So am I, but you never fawn over me like that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not even remotely as cute as he is.¡±


    ¡°Ouch!¡± Kenrich laughed. ¡°Anyway, have you thought of a name for him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to think of something that¡¯s both strong and cute¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Kenrich thought for a bit. ¡°How about¡­Atlas?¡±


    ¡°Atlas, huh¡­¡± Violet mumbled. ¡°I like it! Atlas it is! I think that¡¯s a wonderful name for such a handsome horse.¡±


    ¡°Glad you like it,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Good timing, too, cause it looks like this is the place.¡±


    ¡°That dirty old man may have been a pervert but at least he was able to give us clear directions,¡± Violet said. ¡°Now let¡¯s get this over with so we can start making our way towards Fril before Tinsen and his cronies gut us.¡±


    Violet tied Atlas to the hitch outside and then they walked into the small wooden building that was labeled Local Clinic - Dr. Reeds. Inside the building, the walls were bright white with the floors being light gray. It felt very blinding to Kenrich after walking the dim streets of Lampeer as the room was also very well lit. The lanterns that were hung from the ceiling seemed to have been refueled recently. There was not a lot in the building other than a few cabinets that took up the wall furthest away from the door along with a reclining chair that seemed to be where the patients were supposed to occupy. There was one man in the room with them who wore a white lab coat that was just as white and clean as the walls surrounding them. He looked up at Kenrich and Violet and welcomed them into the clinic calling himself Dr. Reeds. He was a tall man with black hair that was styled handsomely to one side. He had the skin of someone who had spent a lot of time in the sun but without suffering a single blemish because of it. That is all to say that he was very handsome and looked both sturdy and trustworthy.


    ¡°What brings you both here tod- Actually I think I have a good idea now. Need a head wound dressed, miss¡­?¡± Dr. Reeds asked.


    ¡°Violet, and yes,¡± Violet said. ¡°I just need some stitches then we¡¯ll be on our way. Normally, I¡¯d rub some dirt in it and call it a day, but my traveling companion here won''t stop complaining.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders which is very important inside and out. Please take a seat right here and I¡¯ll take a look.¡±


    Dr. Reeds took off the makeshift headwrap that Kenrich had made and looked closely at the wound. The blood on the wound had dried but it looked like it would open back with any slight pressure exerted on it. He had Violet lie back in the chair and started getting to work. He cleaned the wound and started using a needle and thread to close it. The whole process took about thirty minutes which was enough to lose the little bit of daylight that they still had.


    ¡°Alright, you should be good to go, miss Violet,¡± Dr. Reeds said.


    ¡°Thanks, doc,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Make sure to keep the area clean and it should heal within a couple weeks. You don¡¯t need to worry about having them removed as they should disappear on their own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s some nifty technology,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°The threads are from a fiber stone, so the process is a lot less difficult than it was before they started being used for medical purposes. Threads of pure magic can materialize for whatever amount of time the producer wishes. I set them to three weeks just to be safe, but two weeks should be plenty for the wound to close. Where would we be without gemstones, huh?¡±


    ¡°Things would certainly be different¡­¡± Kenrich said while twiddling with the ring in his pocket.


    ¡°One more thing before I let you go,¡± Dr. Rands started. ¡°You lost a lot of blood, and your body hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet so you should take it easy for at least the next couple days. If you push yourself too hard, you might end up passing out due to lack of blood flow to the brain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, doc,¡± Violet said.


    Violet paid Dr. Reeds then her and Kenrich left the clinic having accomplished all they had set out to do in Lampeer. All that was left was to gather some rations which they were able to do at a small general store that they were happy was still open since the sun had set. After that last stop, they finally had run out of funds. They made their way to the end of town and stopped outside of the gate to make sure they were on the same page.


    ¡°Should we really travel in the dark?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to worry about that. We can¡¯t stay somewhere so close to Millin for more than half a day. With Atlas, we can finally cross some real distance, so we need to start as soon as possible,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Yeah, but what if there are bandits, or wolves, or something else dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take ¡®em out.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Reeds said to take it easy.¡±


    ¡°It was just a doctor¡¯s suggestion. Doctors are all quacks anyway.¡±


    ¡°In one ear, right out the other¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was fine before he sewed magic threads in my head, so now I¡¯m definitely fine.¡±


    ¡°If you say so. I¡¯m just glad we don¡¯t have to walk to Fril.¡±


    ¡°That makes two of us. Now, let¡¯s move. We¡¯ve already wasted enough time.¡±


    Violet mounted Atlas and drug Kenrich up right after. He took his place right behind her and put his arms around her waist to keep himself stable. Off they went towards Fril. Which would end up being the place where they finally learn of the Ring of Life¡¯s power in the worst possible way.

 Chapter 8 - Serendipity Pt. 1

    Kenrich, Violet, and Atlas had been galloping for an hour in silence before Kenrich posed a timely question.


    ¡°So, how long until we¡¯re there do you think?¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t say. I¡¯m not too familiar with this part of the country,¡± Violet mumbled with a mouthful of stale bread. ¡°The more important thing is to keep moving no matter what. We¡¯re just gonna get to Fril, use that descriptor stone, and then leave with our new leverage.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s definitely no way we can get an audience with Queen Puri without it. I still don¡¯t know how we¡¯re gonna get them to let us use it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that when we get there.¡±


    They galloped for ten more minutes before they saw a lone horse heading towards them at a slow trot. This was not an unusual sight as most of these dirt roads from city to city are followed both ways. Lampeer wasn¡¯t a huge city by any means, but it wouldn¡¯t be out of the realm of possibility for someone to make their way there from Fril. If only it were that simple though. The horse was only around thirty feet away when a huge cloud of mist had started spewing out of the ditches on each side of the road. The mist took away the little visibility that was still available to Kenrich and Violet. It quickly went from traveling by dim moonlight to swimming through a damp shadow.


    ¡°It¡¯s an ambush!¡± Violet yelled.


    Atlas was heavily startled by the loss of his vision and jumped backwards, standing on his hind legs and neighing as if there were flames in front of him. This caused Kenrich, who was just as frightened to loosen his grip on Violet and fall backwards onto the dirt path. The pain shot up his back into his neck and the wind was knocked out of him which made it impossible to get back up before he was surrounded by four masked men wielding rapiers. They each only had one hand on their rapiers with their other hands gripping something tightly. Almost certainly some magic-infused gemstones. Kenrich could only see the back of the horse so he had no idea what Violet was doing and could only guess her actions using sound.


    Clang! Clink! Swoosh! Thud!


    These sounds only made Kenrich more anxious. He was not sure what he could do but he knew that the masked men surrounding him would not let him anyway. He could only sit and wait. Violet had jumped off the horse shortly after Kenrich was thrown off and immediately started sparring with two masked men who were trying to subdue her. She had no time to pick through the few magic gemstones she had to try and gain any advantage and instead just started elegantly swinging her sword at the men who defended her blows easily. One man tried to get behind her and disarm her but her reflexes were too sharp and she pushed him to the ground. Finally, the scuffle stopped with the appearance of snide and proud sounding voice.


    ¡°Oh, why must we fight?¡± the man said. ¡°We only wish to ask you a question or two!¡±


    Kenrich finally had enough breath in his lungs to sit up straight and was strangely put to ease by this voice. The thought of their ambushers not trying to kill them gave him a bit of slim hope. Or a bit of Stockholm Syndrome perhaps. Things were silent for a moment. Violet kept her eyes on her two targets as well as the man she pushed to the ground but she had stopped her assault. The voice came through the fog again.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you have both seen reason! We do not wish to hurt you so please just cooperate. Here, as a token of goodwill, the fog is no more!¡±


    With a thrust of his hands, the masked man with the proud voice seemed to push all the fog away into the forest. Kenrich and Violet finally got a good look at the situation they were in. There were eight total masked men with masks that look like black hoods that covered their whole face with a white curl that protruded on the front of it. It looked reminiscent of a crescent moon. The rest of their outfits were the same shade of pitch black. The only person who deviated from this trend was the man with his arms fixed into a dramatic pose that he had kept since dispelling the fog. The white protrusion on his mask was much more full than that of the other attackers. It covered almost the entirety of the black hood over his face leaving only a small sliver of black on the edge. It looks as though he had put his mask on slightly crooked in the morning and could fix it with a minor adjustment, but it was without a doubt intentional.


    ¡°See? Isn¡¯t that better?¡±


    ¡°What do you want?!¡± Violet yelled.


    ¡°Just some information, I promise! We don¡¯t just go out and kill strangers. We¡¯re not evil!¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask again¡­What. Do. You. Want?¡± Violet said once again, this time in a deadly serious voice that even frightened Kenrich.


    ¡°Stop with the murderous gaze! You¡¯re too scary, miss! Too scary! Fine. Let¡¯s get straight to the point. You came from Lampeer, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your concern,¡± Violet answered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a probably. Now, did you see any suspicious people while you were there? I imagine in a town that small, it would be pretty easy to spot people who don¡¯t¡­fit in, right?¡± Violet and Kenrich were silent. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a suspicious individual who might have access to something reminiscent of a fairy tale. So, if you saw anyone in Lampeer that looked especially nervous, or was trying very hard to keep a low profile, we¡¯d love to know!¡±


    ¡°What was the point of ambushing us then! Why not just ask us!¡± Kenrich said, his voice still slightly shaken.


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t, you might not¡¯ve stopped! We always make sure to take every precaution to accomplish our missions after all. Also, a flex of our power is a wonderful interrogation tool.¡± The man said the last part in a voice almost as frightening as Violet¡¯s. ¡°So, you haven¡¯t seen anything at all, hm?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Now let us pass,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Well¡­I guess if you haven¡¯t seen anything. Such a shame.¡± There was a long pause that lasted for several seconds. No one moved. It would¡¯ve been awkward except for the single fact that the man with a proud voice would not let it be. ¡°It really is strange though. You both are traveling so late at night. A normal person might have spared some gez to spend the night in an inn. Traveling at night can be quite dangerous after all.¡±


    ¡°We ran out of money,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We¡¯re making our way to Fril in order to take some adventuring work. There has never been much of that to offer in Lampeer.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are right about that,¡± the man said. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to impress that I think you two are suspicious! That would be mighty rude of me! Especially since we are looking for only one poor fellow. I find it unlikely that he would be able to quickly find a companion to travel with, especially one so adept with the sword. Not impossible though¡­¡± Uncomfortable silence filled the air once again. ¡°Well, safe travels! Oh, and sorry about the scare. It¡¯s just how we do things.¡±


    After that last sentence, the man hopped onto the horse and the rest of the attackers each split up and took refuge in the ditches once again. The man began his slow trot and after a few minutes, he was far enough away that Kenrich felt confident enough to break the silence.


    ¡°What the hell was that about?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Violet answered. ¡°All I can say for sure is that they aren¡¯t military and they are definitely looking for you. I don¡¯t understand how they got the information so quickly. There must be a mole in the military with access to a communication stone.¡±


    ¡°Should we keep going towards Fril? That¡¯s the direction they came from, so there might be more of them. They¡¯ll probably receive fresher information, including my description, within the next couple days.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to take the gamble. You already told them that we¡®re going there, so, if we break course, we¡¯ll basically be telling them that you¡¯re the guy they¡¯re looking for. We just need to get that descriptor stone and get to Aquarium as fast as we can. We¡¯ve no other move than that.¡±


    ¡°Still doesn¡¯t seem like a very good move, but I know you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°I am right. Just stay close to me when we get there and keep your face hidden. If you do that, we might just make it.¡±


    They got back on Atlas and decided to keep heading towards Fril. The journey was almost over even if they did not know it yet. Kenrich wrestled with whether or not to ask a question that had been on his mind since the attack and, after a bit, finally worked up the courage.


    ¡°If we run into them again¡­do you think you could beat them?¡±


    Violet was silent for a moment.


    ¡°Honestly, I was fighting to kill back there and I didn¡¯t land a single clean hit with my blade. The worst part is that they weren¡¯t even fighting back! They were just defending and waiting for a chance to disarm me! They were exceptionally skilled. That¡¯s why it¡¯s important that you keep a low profile from now on.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I just wish I could help more. I didn¡¯t do anything but fall on my ass back there.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a village boy. Leave the fighting to me for now. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get stronger as we go. Maybe we¡¯ll even have some time down the line for me to train you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d train me?¡±


    ¡°If you want. This mission might take years at the pace we¡¯re going at now, so having you not be a liability on the battlefield would lighten the load a bit.¡±


    ¡°I would like that. Also¡­I never really got a chance to say it, so, thank you.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°You could have easily left me behind by now and taken the ring, but you didn¡¯t. I know that this mission is important to you and I¡¯m just a liability dragging you down, so thank you for putting up with me so far. I promise that once you start training me, I¡¯ll take it more seriously than you could even imagine.¡±


    ¡°There was no chance that I¡¯d leave you alone to die. Like you said, they know your face and even if you didn¡¯t have the ring, they¡¯d kill you. You¡¯re more valuable than you give yourself credit for, so stop moaning about being useless. You¡¯re here to help me talk my way out of my problems, and I¡¯m here to help you fight your way through yours. Once I get you trained, I¡¯ll be the weakest link.¡±


    It was very rare to see Violet be so humble and admit she herself had faults, so Kenrich greatly appreciated it. He was starting to grow quite fond of Violet, who was also happy that he was here as well. This fondness quickly turned to a massive amount of inspiration to become as useful as he possibly could. With how patient and kind Violet had been, he knew he had to return the favor somehow. Little did he know, Fril was going to present the perfect opportunity to do so.

 Chapter 9 - Serendipity Pt. 2

    Violet and Kenrich had finally made it to Fril. Fril was one of the largest cities within Admia and was a major powerhouse in the ways of magic, knowledge, and weaponry. There was no doubt that a city of this amount of importance was filled to the brim with Admian soldiers and, most likely, more members of the secret organization that they had just encountered. The city itself had a population of over 20,000 residents and looked, in all ways, civilized. The roads were perfectly clean and made of a handsome assortment of cobblestone that looked both elegant and sturdy. The buildings were much the same being made of mixtures of brick, stone and wood, showing that the city planners cared a lot about the appearance of even the most insignificant buildings within the high city walls. Violet had been to many cities of this size in her life and therefore was not phased in the slightest, but Kenrich on the other hand, had a heavy feeling of insignificance as he spotted the massive wall with cannoneers and soldiers patrolling the massive city¡¯s entrance. He knew it would only get worse when they entered. Living your whole life in a small village without seeing just how large the world truly is would be a lot for anyone to handle their first time. The large amount of people would certainly help with keeping them hidden though. Insignificance is safety to a wanted man.


    Violet and Kenrich approached the gate of the Fril which looked much more serious than the one of Lampeer. Whether this would make it easier, or harder to enter quietly would be anyone¡¯s guess. Two soldiers dressed in the traditional plated armor that the Admian military frequented walked towards Violet and Kenrich as they slowed Atlas¡¯s trot to a stop before the gate.


    ¡°Welcome, travelers,¡± said the handsome soldier on the left. ¡°What business do you have in Fril?¡±


    ¡°Just travelers looking for some guild work,¡± Kenrich answered.


    ¡°I see,¡± the guard responded. ¡°How long do you think you will be staying?¡±


    ¡°Not long,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Two or three days depending on the work available.¡±


    ¡°Any magic stones on your person?¡± The older guard on the right asked.


    Kenrich had a slight bit of panic at this question. He could not afford to look like he was lying as they might check their baggage and, in turn, find the ring. If they expressed that they were there for adventuring missions, then he must prove that they have gemstones of combat ability and make it look believable enough that the guards would have no reason to think they were hiding gems. He thought quickly and came up with the best answer he thought he could give.


    ¡°Just some jump stones and a fireball stone.¡±


    ¡°A fireball stone?!¡± The older guard said.


    ¡°Now, how did you get your hands on a powerful gem like that?¡± The handsome guard said. ¡°Those should only be in the hands of Admian soldiers!¡±


    ¡°Is-is that so?¡± Kenrich said. ¡°It was passed down by my late father, I didn¡¯t know that they were of such importance. I¡¯m from a very small village.¡±


    ¡°Your father must¡¯ve been a former soldier,¡± The older guard said. ¡°He gave his life for the war effort it seems.¡±


    ¡°A strong-willed Admian through and through,¡± The handsome soldier said, nodding. ¡°Sorry young man, but we must confiscate that gemstone. I know it¡¯s a family heirloom of sorts, but we¡¯re at war and gems of these sorts must all be turned over to the military.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°That will make our adventuring a little more difficult, but I understand.¡±


    ¡°We apologize, young man,¡± The older guard said. ¡°We can tell that you knew no better though, so there will be no citation for withholding military gems. Just turn over the gem and we¡¯ll allow you to enter the city.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sirs. I appreciate your understanding and hospitality.¡± Kenrich got off of Atlas and put his fireball gem in the hands of the older guard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± The young guard said. ¡°We wish you luck in your adventuring, and hope you enjoy your stay.¡±


    The guards both hit their spears on the ground three times and after a few seconds, the gate started lifting. Kenrich got back on Atlas, with Violet¡¯s help, and they made their way into the city.


    ¡°That was some quality acting,¡± Violet said as they made their way down the street.


    ¡°Thanks. It¡¯s a shame we lost our fireball gem, but I couldn¡¯t think of a better way to keep them from searching us.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Once we begin your training you won¡¯t need a gem like that. Close quarters combat is much more thrilling and honorable anyway.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll find cutting off people¡¯s heads ¡®thrilling¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What could be more exciting than a life-or-death battle?! There¡¯s no feeling like it in the world!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re starting to sound like an adrenaline junkie. Keep your psychotic tendencies to yourself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me psychotic!¡± Violet threw her fist back at Kenrich¡¯s ribs. ¡°More people would agree with me than you, village boy.¡±


    ¡°A-and that¡¯s why this country is always at war,¡± Kenrich said, holding his ribs.


    ¡°Don¡¯t count me among them!¡±


    ¡°You basically did that yourself!¡±


    ¡°Whatever. I¡¯m just saying you better get used to hand-to-hand combat soon because the time of your face not being known is most likely over. The second we leave this city and head towards Aquarium, your training starts. Every night we will spar until you can hold your own against me.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me. I want to become stronger, and I know with you as my teacher, I will be.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Now, focus on being invisible. Our quarreling will definitely put more eyes on us than we need.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The city was bustling as they expected. Carriages were zooming down the roads constantly with bystanders crossing the streets between them seemingly playing a dangerous game. That is how life is in large cities though. Customs were a lot different here than in a place like Millin and you could tell that easily just by witnessing how the citizens of Fril acted towards one another. None of them opened doors for eachother, nobody was striking up conversations with strangers on the streets, and the homeless were ignored. It was as if everyone was treated as either invisible or an obstacle. Once again, this was a good thing for them, but the total disconnect between these people made Kenrich slightly sad.


    Even though trotting by horse had them going much faster than they would have been going on foot, it still took several minutes to locate the guild, which was in the middle of the city, as most of them were. After locating the guild, they entered to ask for directions to the gem shop. The guild at Lampeer never looked like it fit into the city because of its elegance compared to the rest of the underprivileged city, but, with this guild, it almost looked lesser compared to the buildings surrounding it. It seems like most guilds are built on the same blueprints regardless of the importance of the city. Things were much different once they entered the building though. The guild was absolutely packed with people of all different sizes, ages, and origins who left very little space to move around except for the path down the middle that went from the front door to the reception desk. Violet took the lead, and Kenrich followed her to the line that started in front of that desk. Luckily, even with the massive population of the building, the line only consisted of one tall and skinny man wearing a bright green robe and a hat reminiscent of something a conquistador would wear. It was black with a gold feather poking out of it. Judging by his conversation with the receptionist, he did not seem to be an adventurer.


    ¡°No, no! Think of it like this! A partnership would benefit you most! This guild would gain much, MUCH more than I would! I¡¯m giving you this deal on a silver platter. Please just let me speak to the guildmaster and I¡¯ll convince her, and she¡¯ll thank you for it. She might even give you a promotion!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, but guilds aren¡¯t allowed to make partnerships with independent merchants. That¡¯s the policy of this guild and all others in the country.¡±


    ¡°The amount your guild would save on the purchases of paper and burlap would vastly outweigh any risks involved; I swear it!¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°We have no issues with our current vendors and while I appreciate your passion, I must ask you to leave before I call security.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll come back later. All I ask is that you think about it and mention it to the guildmaster. Tell her about all the money that she¡¯ll save and I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be begging for my return!¡±


    ¡°Sir, you¡¯ve never even given me any real proof to back up your claim, and also, do not come back later with the same request. I don¡¯t want to have to put in a ban for you in this guild.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate your time,¡± the green merchant said before turning around. He paused for a second and looked at Violet. ¡°Just a fair warning, the receptionist is both unfair and uncooperative today.¡± He whispered to her.


    ¡°Kinda seemed like you were trying to scam him and the guild,¡± Violet responded bluntly.


    ¡°I would never! I follow through on all of my deals correctly!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you do, now step aside please-¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where the gem shop is in this city? We¡¯re new here and you seem like you¡¯re pretty knowledgeable, being a merchant and all.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do, and because of your politeness, I won¡¯t even charge you for the info!¡± The green merchant said enthusiastically. ¡°Once you leave this guild, go down the street to the left of the front of the building and take the first right you find. I imagine the building will stick out quite a bit once you locate it.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful,¡± Kenrich said with a smile. ¡°Thank you very much for the information. We owe you one.¡±


    ¡°Cashing in favors is the most important currency to us merchants, so expect me to call upon you someday!¡±


    ¡°I thought money was the most important?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°Ignore her,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°She¡¯s not usually so combative. If we cross paths again, feel free to cash it in. I¡¯ll be glad to repay the debt.¡±


    ¡°Such a polite man! Your kindness is wasted in this horrid city. My name¡¯s Farrell, what should I call you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Ricardo,¡± Kenrich said, shaking Farrell¡¯s hand. ¡°And this here is Isabella.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you both,¡± Farrell said. ¡°May our paths cross again and fortune guide our paths!¡± Farrell then left the guild with a pep in his step.


    ¡°Ricardo? Isabella?¡± Violet said, annoyed.


    ¡°We need aliases, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Maybe you do, but I don¡¯t. Like I said before, unless we head up north, no one''s gonna know my name.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t the military try to look for you? Do they not look for missing soldiers?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t. Dead and missing soldiers hold no significance to the Admian military. They¡¯d never devote resources to locating what they consider insignificant cannon fodder, living or dead.¡±


    ¡°If you say so. Well, we have the info we need, so let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you promised a favor to that con artist.¡±


    ¡°I mean, what are the chances we¡¯ll run into him again?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, low.¡±


    They then left the guild and followed the directions that Farrell had given them. Making their way down the last street, they saw what he had meant when he said ¡®...the building will stick out quite a bit once you locate it.¡¯ There was a building that had a massive line wrapped around it that immediately put both Kenrich and Violet in a sour mood.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the place, then I say we throw the ring in a sewer grate and give up,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°The wait might take hours¡­¡± Violet said, dejected.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just get in line¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    They took their spot at the back of the line which was difficult to locate due to it being behind the building.


    ¡°Are you two also here for the new shipment of glitter gems!¡± The excited woman in line in front of them asked.


    ¡°No. We¡¯re not,¡± Violet said in a very irritated tone.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe it when I heard they were getting more in!¡± The woman continued. ¡°That¡¯s why we chose to settle down in Fril, don¡¯t you know! This city has the best gem selection in all of Admia!¡±


    ¡°Sure sounds like we chose the wrong day to come,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We weren¡¯t expecting it to be so busy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s always like this,¡± the woman said. ¡°This is the most popular spot in the city! I¡¯m here every day to look at their new stock. Also, to get a look at the purveyor¡­My, what a handsome man he is! And a gentleman too!¡±


    ¡°The purveyor of the gem shop? Is he well liked?¡±


    ¡°Yes! If he ran for mayor, it would be an easy victory, but he¡¯s much too humble to try something like that.¡±


    ¡°He must have access to the description stone then.¡±


    ¡°Not only that, but he is also the owner of the stone! That¡¯s what put Fril on the map. This city was almost as disheveled as Lampeer before he came with such a powerful stone. You two must not be from around here if you don¡¯t know the history.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just travelers looking to stock up on some gemstones before taking on some requests at the guild.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Where are you from?¡±


    ¡°Lampeer, actually.¡± Kenrich could see the immediate look of disgust on the woman¡¯s face after he finished saying that.


    ¡°Lampeer?! Keep some distance then, welp! Wouldn¡¯t want to catch whatever assortment of diseases you might be carrying. Whatever you¡¯re hoping to accomplish in this wonderful city, you better make it quick.¡± The woman then turned around and took several steps away from them.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s one way to get her to stop talking our ears off,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know people held such contempt towards Lampeer here¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°It could just be an issue with her. Lampeer might not¡¯ve been the nicest city, but there were some good people there.¡±


    ¡°Maybe she had a run-in with that old con artist.¡±


    ¡°He sold us a wonderful horse! Take it back!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really gonna defend him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m defending Atlas! Say you¡¯re sorry!¡±


    Kenrich looked up at Atlas who was standing behind them still being led by Violet and apologized. He figured he should not try to piss off Violet any more than she already was from waiting in this line.


    An hour had passed before they finally made their way inside the building. Taking a look inside, it was clear to see that they were not exactly the clientele that the business was hoping for. The shop floor was filled with workers all dressed in tuxedos looking like a parade of penguins. Each one was behind a glass case that were lined with gemstones that had descriptions under each one saying their functions. There were stones that promised higher stamina, night vision, healing, and the ability to breathe underwater, all located in one case that were labeled ¡°Quality of Life¡± gemstones according to the banner above them. Another banner labeled ¡°Music/Arts¡± had music playing stones (with a different song labeled under each), picture stones, and pencil stones, which were described as being able to write in ¡°any color you could imagine.¡± The last case had a banner that read, ¡°Recreational.¡± Inside were the aforementioned, ¡°glitter stones¡± which were advertised as ¡°portable party makers,¡± as well as game stones which each had games written under them including freeze tag, hide and seek, and catch. There were also projection stones which had a list of programs that could be viewed on them. After taking in the sights, Kenrich immediately felt out of place. Even though they had washed their hands and faces in a steam on their way to Fril, they were both still quite dirty.


    ¡°These prices are outrageous,¡± Violet said. ¡°Way above market value.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what good rapport with the citizens does,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Let¡¯s try and locate this ¡®handsome purveyor¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Over there would be my guess.¡±


    Violet pointed at a large group of people who were crowding around something that could not be seen from where they were standing. Heading closer to the group, they found out that Violet was right on the money.


    ¡°Oh, please won¡¯t you show us again, Sir Verect!¡±


    ¡°Yes! Please do that trick again! The one with the water stone!¡±


    Kenrich and Violet managed to push their ways to a spot within the group where they could view the spectacle and saw a very handsome man in a tuxedo and a top hat with a red ribbon wrapped around it, thrusting his hands out at his sides. He had blue eyes, a chiseled jaw, and a bushy handlebar mustache.


    ¡°Now, now! Please don¡¯t push one another! There is plenty of me to go around!¡± said the man who must have been ¡°Sir Verect.¡±


    Everyone in the group heeded his words and stood silently and patiently waiting for Verect¡¯s next trick. Verect took a blue stone in his hand and put it in his cheek. He then cocked his head back and a huge spout of water started protruding from his open mouth. He then started to spin in circles on the tip of his toe with one leg thrust behind him making him look like a mix between a ballerina and a magician. Suddenly, he thrust his hands in his pocket, grabbed more stones and shot glitter all around him without stopping spinning or spitting. The crowd cheered and then Verect stopped his motion and took a bow.


    ¡°You too can perform tricks like me by buying my stones! Impress your friends, family, or maybe that special someone¡­¡± He winked at the crowd. ¡°Thank you for your time!¡±


    The crowd clapped furiously and then made their way to the gemstone counters. Violet saw this as an opportunity to get Verect¡¯s attention and called out to him before he was able to make his way towards the back of the room.


    ¡°Sorry, lady. No autographs,¡± he said, waving her off.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what we want,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We have a request.¡±


    ¡°Make an appointment with my receptionist. Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Violet said. ¡°Please, I¡¯m your biggest fan!¡±


    Verect turned around and looked at Violet up and down.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± he grasped his chin. ¡°Now that I get a good look at you, you¡¯re quite the looker. Fine. You may join me in my room, and I¡¯ll hear this request of yours.¡± He then looked over at Kenrich. ¡°He can¡¯t come though.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Violet said. ¡°Stay out here, Ricardo.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be okay?¡± Kenrich whispered.


    ¡°Leave it to me,¡± she whispered back.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait outside by Atlas.¡±


    Violet nodded and made her way to the back of the store with Verect.

 Chapter 10 -Serendipity Pt. 3

    Violet followed Verect closely. They entered the door at the back of the store which led to a hallway that had four different doors laid out in a row. Once they got to the last one, Verect opened the door, and they entered. The room was oppressive. The floors, walls and furniture were all a dark maroon, velvet color. Verect gestured towards the hideous velvet couch in the middle of the room and Violet sat down.


    ¡°Would you like some wine?¡± Verect asked. ¡°A good business deal should always be accompanied by a bit of alcohol.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, thank you. I don¡¯t handle my alcohol very well.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason to build up that tolerance.¡± Verect gave her a wink. Violet tried with all of her might to not show a look of disgust on her face.


    Verect got out two blush pink glasses and filled each of them with some wine that was on the counter across the room. The wine matched the room. He handed one glass to Violet who took hers reluctantly and then sipped his own before sitting on the couch next to Violet. He was a little too close for comfort, but Violet knew she had to endure for now.


    ¡°So, I was wondering-¡±


    ¡°Hold on just a moment,¡± Verect interrupted.


    He got up, took out a gold ring and slipped it on his finger. He touched the dark green gem on the ring and music started playing lightly. The music was a soft and romantic accompaniment of guitar and piano.


    ¡°Just a little bit of ambiance,¡± he said. ¡°It always puts me in a good mood, you want me to be in a good mood, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­?¡±


    ¡°Good girl. Now, what¡¯s this request of yours?¡± He nudged himself an inch closer to Violet.


    Violet was now really having trouble keeping her composure, but she knew this was more important than her pride.


    ¡°I was wondering if you might let me borrow your description stone for just a moment. I found this stone and I really, really want to know what it can do.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Verect seemed to be deep in thought. ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t even entertain such a request, but seeing how you¡¯re my number one fan, and because you¡¯re so beautiful, I might be convinced to let you borrow it¡­for a price.¡±


    ¡°What price?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a hint¡­¡±


    Verect then closed his eyes and pursed his lips, putting his face close to Violet¡¯s. Violet could take no more and shoved his face away with all of her strength which sent Verect off of the side of the couch with a thud.


    ¡°Wh-what the hell?!¡± He got up holding his head.


    His tophat had fallen off and he had wine spilled all over his face. Violet couldn¡¯t deny how good that had felt, but knew that she needed to make herself scarce. She took her cup of wine, threw the liquid in Verect¡¯s eyes, dropped the glass, and ran out of the room. She heard him grunt from the room as she made her way down the hall. She threw open the door to the shop floor and tried to walk quickly without drawing too much attention to herself out the door to where Kenrich said he¡¯d be waiting. She made her way outside and Kenrich saw a mix of fury and elation on her face that made him incredibly confused.


    ¡°We need to go,¡± she said, untying Atlas from the wooden hitch rack in front of the store.


    ¡°What?! Did you steal the stone?!¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°No! Now, c¡¯mon!¡±


    Kenrich was now incredibly worried. He started wondering if they had been found out, or worse, that she had been attacked by a member of that secret organization. He had no time to sit and worry though and made his way onto Atlas. Violet had led them as far away from the gem shop as she could and then decided to stop after seeing an open bench which was one of the few places she had seen that was devoid of people. They stopped, Violet tied Atlas to the edge of the bench, and then they took a seat on opposite sides.


    ¡°So, are you gonna tell me why we were running?! Did we get found out?!¡±


    ¡°No, no, nothing like that,¡± Violet said. ¡°I just¡­might have¡­shoved Verect to the ground.¡±


    ¡°WHAT?!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! He forced me to! When I asked to use the stone, he basically said he would only let me if I had sex with him!¡±


    ¡°What if he comes for us though?! You heard that woman! He has a lot of power in this city!¡±


    ¡°What the hell was I supposed to do?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­I mean, I totally understand why you did it. It¡¯s just¡­man, what are we supposed to do now?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that part. I have a plan.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°I got a good look at the backroom of the building and there are only four rooms in the hallway. I didn¡¯t see anything that could safely and discreetly house a powerful description stone in the room I was in, so that only leaves three rooms¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you getting at?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll plan a heist.¡±


    ¡°A heist? What are we?! Petty thieves?!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be whatever we need to be in order to complete the mission. It¡¯ll take much too long to try and locate another city with a description stone, and we know for a fact that Verect has one, so we wait until night, and we break into the gem shop and take the stone for ourselves.¡±


    ¡°This is such a bad idea. The security in that place is definitely tight, so how are we supposed to get in?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to wing it. We can¡¯t go near the place while the sun¡¯s still out, so we¡¯ll have to play it by ear when we get there. Even if we make a mess, getting the stone is all that matters.¡±


    ¡°I guess we have no choice. Let¡¯s just find a place to lay low until dark then,¡± Kenrich said.


    Violet and Kenrich got on the road again and looked for the inn that was closest to the corner of the city. They wanted to be as far away from the gem shop as possible just in case a search for Violet started. They did not have any money left so they could do nothing more than sit in the dining room to the displeasure of the barmaid, who saw them as nothing more than squatters. Kenrich convinced them that they would leave before dark and promised a full day¡¯s payment just for being able to sit there until dark which allowed them to continue their squatting. They filled up on some bread and water from Violet¡¯s pack, and Kenrich, who was sick of the constant bread, tried to sneak a bite of one of Atlas¡¯s carrots which was met with a quick smack to his fingers at the hands of Violet. After enough time had passed to where they could see darkness out of the window, Violet and Kenrich got up and started to head towards the gem shop, hoping that their barebones scheme would work out somehow. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    They arrived at the street that housed the gem shop and saw that there seemed to be no people around the building. It was close to midnight now, and they assumed that the business would be closed, and most bystanders would be indoors which was necessary to make this heist even remotely possible. They tied Atlas to a pole that was on the same block as the gem shop, so they could have a quick escape if needed, and walked towards the side of the building. Violet took the lead and sidled her way to the entrance with Kenrich right behind her, copying her movements. Seeing that no guards were posted at the front of the building, Violet grabbed the doorknob and attempted to turn it. She thought there was no chance that the door was going to be unlocked, but, to her surprise, the doorknob turned and the door opened.


    ¡°It¡¯s unlocked?¡± Kenrich whispered. ¡°That seems a little too convenient.¡±


    ¡°It could be because they have other measures in place so keep behind me and don¡¯t touch anything,¡± Violet whispered back.


    They snuck into the shop floor and moved quietly and slowly towards the back door that Violet had been led in by Verect earlier. It was weird seeing this area in two extremes on the same day. When they first arrived, there was glitter flying through the air and it seemed like the most populated area in the country, but now, it was dark, empty, and deathly silent.


    They arrived at the back door, and Violet again turned the doorknob, which again, opened.


    ¡°This is getting weird,¡± Kenrich said quietly.


    ¡°Just stay close,¡± Violet responded.


    They made their way to the hallway and scanned the area. After seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Violet went towards the first door in the set of four and reached for the knob. Kenrich saw her hesitate though as she started putting her face closer to the knob like she was inspecting it. She suddenly gasped and looked back at Kenrich with wide eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s scratch marks on the keyho-!¡±


    Slam!


    The door behind them was forced shut, and a masked man rushed straight towards Kenrich who immediately braced himself. Before impact could be made, Violet took out her sword and blocked the thrust of the masked man¡¯s rapier by smacking it away. It flew out of their hands and hit the ground. Violet then thrusted her sword at the masked man who jumped backwards into the shop floor. Violet took Kenrich¡¯s hand and ran out the same door. There was no chance that the masked man was alone. They had to escape. Once they made their way out the door, two rapiers from both sides of the door were thrust towards them which Violet blocked upwards. One by swiping her sword and one with the kick of her foot. She slipped under their blades and pulled Kenrich after her as they made it closer to the door. But, before they could even get halfway, they saw that there were four more masked men in front of the only exit. The moonlight shining through the window reflected off of the crescent moon shaped protrusions affixed to each of their masks. Violet started weighing her options. She ran every calculation she could in her head, and she could not find a single one where they made it out of this alive. With no concrete options, she let instinct take over instead.


    More rapiers made their way towards them. It was clear that they had no interest in taking prisoners. Violet¡¯s adrenaline was pumping through her entire body, and she was deflecting the rapiers the best that she could. Having to protect jabs at Kenrich and herself made this already impossible task, even more difficult. She was cut on her arms, her legs, and her face, but Kenrich was able to escape any eternal wounds to this point. During her defense, she saw that they had made their way a few feet within a window. It was not the kind of window that opened, but Violet saw this as the only option available, even if the outcome was not what she wanted. She pushed Kenrich as hard as she could towards the window.


    ¡°Go!¡± she yelled. ¡°Out the window! Get far away!¡±


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t just leave you!¡± Kenrich said, his voice shaking in fear.


    ¡°There¡¯s no fucking choice! Now, go!¡±


    Hearing their plan, the masked men that were guarding the door ran towards the window to stop Kenrich¡¯s escape. Kenrich looked over at Violet one more time, grit his teeth, and barreled out the window. The glass shattered easily, and he found himself covered in cuts on the cold ground, laying in a pile of glass. He got to his feet quickly, ran to Atlas and looked back towards the window. He hoped to see Violet coming after him, but he saw something horrible instead. Through the moonlight, he saw that Violet could defend herself no more as a rapier was thrust through her neck. She gurgled as blood poured out her mouth. She had no more strength to fight. Her eyes went blank, and she fell to the ground. Two of the masked men then started looking through her pockets. Kenrich could only manage a weak, open-mouth scream. His fear had suddenly turned to intense rage, and he saw himself distracted with delusions of ripping out the eyes and guts of the masked men who did that to Violet. He snapped out of it though, after seeing a group of masked men jumping out of the window and running towards him and Atlas. He knew that even after what he saw, he had to honor Violet¡¯s request and get himself and Atlas out of danger.


    Kenrich had no idea how to drive a horse, but it was almost as if Atlas knew the situation because he ran full speed with very little direction from Kenrich. They ran, and ran, and ran until Kenrich spotted a ditch that he thought would be deep enough to hide both himself and Atlas. They made their way down the hill and Kenrich told Atlas to stay out of sight, which he seemed to understand. Atlas layed down and with the wall above the hill, the darkness of night, and the dark brown coat he had, it would be nearly impossible to see him. Kenrich sat down in the mud next to him and tried to control his breathing. After catching his breath, he decided to use the adrenaline pumping through his veins to try and pull the glass shards out of his back and legs. The blood all over his body did not faze him at all. All he could think about was how useless he was. The entire time they were in the shop, no, the entire time they had been together, she had protected him, and he could do nothing to repay her. The self-hate he was feeling towards himself was transitioning, once again, towards an intense anger at the masked men that killed her. He had no idea what to do with these feelings. What was he supposed to do now? He was sure that the attackers would pin the break-in on Violet by leaving her body there which would make it impossible to go back and try to get the stone. He decided that he could not let them leave her body on display for the city to gawk at. He had to get her back and give her a proper burial. It was not much, but it was the only thing he could do for her after all that had happened.


    ¡°Atlas, stay here. I¡¯ll be back. I¡¯m gonna go get Violet away from those fuckers. I won¡¯t let them use her as their fucking prop.¡±


    Atlas gave a small nod and put his head back down. Kenrich took that as him understanding his words and started making his way towards the top of the hill. He got to the top of the hill but kept himself behind the short wall that separated it from the street. He made his way across the hill which spanned a large perimeter of the edge of the city. He kept going, peeking his head up every few minutes until he found the street that he knew the gem shop was on. It took him over thirty minutes to find the street and he tried to focus his vision as far as he could to see if he spotted any more of the masked attackers. He did not think he saw any. He hopped over the wall and started making his way towards the gem shop. The entire walk there, he found himself gritting his teeth so hard that he was afraid he would chip them. He tried to relax, but it was difficult knowing what he was about to see. He did not know if he would be able to handle seeing her lifeless body, but she gave her life for him, and this was the absolute least he could do.


    He was finally close enough to the building that he could see just how wrecked it was from Violet¡¯s fight. Several windows were broken, and the front door was wide open. He peeked his head in the window, but the movement of the moon caused it to not illuminate the inside like it did before. He went around to the front door, lightly pushed it aside, and went in. There was glass all over the inside of the shop floor. A lot of the glass cases were broken, and he could spot a few random gems mixed in with the shards of glass strewn across the area. He caught himself trying to buy as much time as possible, but he knew he had to look. He gritted his teeth once again, even harder than before, and looked up at the area he saw Violet fall. There laid her body. The blood was still fresh but it was not flowing out of her anymore. Her eyes were open and the beautiful emerald eyes she had before were now gray and disturbing, like a dead fish. Kenrich wanted to vomit, but he held it in. The smell of copper surrounded her body. Kenrich went to his knees. He cared little that there was glass under where he kneeled. He couldn¡¯t hold back his emotions. He grabbed Violet¡¯s hand, which still had a small bit of warmth to it and shed tears.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­It¡¯s my fault¡­¡± Kenrich gripped her hand. ¡°I wish I never found this stupid fucking ring!¡± He reached into his pocket, ready to throw the ring at the wall, but suddenly, a white light started emanating from the ring. The white light swirled above Kenrich¡¯s head before shooting into Violet¡¯s body. Her body started convulsing. Kenrich had no idea what was happening, but waited patiently and hoped, with all of his being, that the power of the ring would be able to undue death.


    Cough! Cough!


    Sound started to come out of Violet¡¯s body, and Kenrich could not believe his eyes. Violet sat up, held her neck, and looked over at Kenrich.


    ¡°Wh-what happened¡­?¡± she asked softly.


    Kenrich said nothing. He only grabbed Violet and embraced her.

 Chapter 11 - Training Starts

    ¡°Easy there, village boy.¡± Violet lightly pushed him off of her. ¡°What did you do? I died¡­Didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°It was the ring. A bright white light came out of it and shot into your body and¡­ here we are.¡±


    ¡°It can revive the dead?! That¡¯s insane. This is insane¡­¡±


    ¡°This must be why the military, and those masked freaks really want their hands on it.¡±


    ¡°The rich and powerful would do anything to stay alive forever. Ugh¡­I can still feel that blade in my neck¡­¡±


    ¡°Is the wound closed?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I can still remember what it felt like. It¡¯s horrifying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re okay¡­Thank you for saving my life.¡±


    ¡°Well, you came back for me and brought me back, so we¡¯ll call it even. Actually¡­why did you come back?¡±


    ¡°I thought they might try to use you as a scapegoat for the break in, and I wanted to give you a proper burial.¡±


    ¡°Using me as a scapegoat? That does make sense. Not really much of a scapegoat though because we did break in.¡±


    ¡°I guess so. We didn¡¯t take anything though. We¡¯re not going to need that description stone anymore so we should just get to Atlas and get out of this hellhole.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­maybe we should take some stuff.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking of looting not even a minute after being brought back to life?¡±


    ¡°Think about it! We have no money and there¡¯re literally magic stones all over the ground. We need funds to make this mission possible. If we starve, it wouldn¡¯t be that exciting of an ending.¡±


    ¡°Once again, I¡¯m not really here for ¡®excitement¡¯ but I understand what you¡¯re saying. Let¡¯s just take what we can quickly and get out of here.¡±


    Violet and Kenrich went through the rubble and picked up every gem that they saw. They weren¡¯t sure how many would actually be useful, but they couldn¡¯t afford to be picky. Violet then used her dagger to break open the cash box under the pay counter. After they finished their plundering, they snuck back out the front door.


    ¡°I guess we can call that mission a success, huh?¡± Violet said with gems and gez inflating her pockets.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t think it could¡¯ve gone worse, but we¡¯re both alive so let¡¯s just take what we can get and head towards Aquarium,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I also think it¡¯s safe to say that we¡¯ve been found out by those masked freaks. We¡¯re being hunted by a lot of different people now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about that. On the bright side though, with this ring, we can just keep bringing each other back! That¡¯s a little comforting.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to not make this a habit.¡±


    They made their way back to Atlas, and, under the cover of night, made their way to the back gate of the city. Kenrich told the guards that there was a break in at the gem shop and that was enough to make the guards leave their posts for long enough that Violet could pull the lever without any resistance. They left the city. As they galloped down the road, Kenrich wondered where they were going to stop next. Aquarium was weeks away even by horseback so there was no doubt that they would need to make several stops before arriving at their destination. After around half an hour of running, they made their way to a forest where they finally decided to set up camp for the night.


    ¡°It feels like I haven¡¯t slept for weeks¡­¡± Kenrich sighed.


    ¡°There¡¯s been no time for it,¡± Violet said. ¡°Get used to it because we¡¯re not going to be able to stop like this often.¡±


    Kenrich and Violet set up a tent using a tarp they had purchased in Lampeer along with some sticks found in the forest around their campsite. Violet started a fire using the flame stone and they sat down around the campfire. Violet observed Kenrich start picking some glass shards out of his knees and decided to help out.


    ¡°We should have a healing stone among these ones we¡¯ve taken. It should close your wounds,¡± she said, rummaging through her pockets.


    She took out one stone, gripped it, and put her hands close to Kenrich. It shot out a huge puff of glitter directly into his wounds.


    ¡°Ow! Ow! That stings! What the hell?!¡±


    ¡°My bad,¡± Violet said, giggling. ¡°Let me try this one¡­¡±


    She gripped another stone and out of it came some light bongo music.


    ¡°...They do say music is healing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not funny! There¡¯s glitter coursing through my veins, Violet! I know that you know which stone is the right one!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. Here-¡± She tossed him a white stone from the pile.


    Kenrich took the stone, and a green light surrounded him, closing his wounds. He gave a sigh of relief while leaning back.


    ¡°You¡¯re a sadist¡­¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a pervert!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t call you that! Now, what stones do you actually have?¡±


    ¡°I just grabbed whatever I could find. I¡¯ve got two healing stones, three music stones, one glitter stone, one stamina stone, and two water breathing stones. So, those along with the flame stone and jump stone I already had, and I have quite the arsenal. What stones did you grab?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­I¡¯ve got this white one, and two of these purple ones. And that jump stone you gave me.¡±


    ¡°One healing stone, and two glitter stones then. Not as impressive as mine.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sharing them anyway!¡±


    ¡°I guess we should. Here-¡± Violet gave Kenrich one of the water breathing stones and one music stone.


    ¡°You¡¯re stingy.¡±


    ¡°I already gave you a jump stone and a fireball stone¡­which you gave to the enemy!¡±


    ¡°You know that I had to!¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. Anyway, are you ready?¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°Your training! We¡¯re starting it now.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready. I want to be stronger.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I wanna hear.¡±


    Violet and Kenrich finally began their training to make him a competent warrior. Violet started with a lecture on how important your fighting stance is to your balance and ability to defend yourself. After a bit of practice, Violet was satisfied with Kenrich¡¯s understanding. They grabbed two sticks from the woods to start their first sparring match since Kenrich was without a sword of his own. Violet did not hold back, and Kenrich was covered in bruises by the end of it while she had not been hit a single time.


    ¡°You can¡¯t like¡­ease me into it a bit? My hand is purple and twice the size!¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Looks like a gorilla¡¯s¡­¡± Violet said inspecting his swollen hand. ¡°If I hold back, how are you gonna get any better? We don¡¯t have enough time to be babying you.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­I understand.¡±


    They continued sparring and Kenrich still struggled immensely with staying on his feet with Violet¡¯s continuous onslaught.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t fend me off, then there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll survive against those masked freaks!¡± She said, swinging her stick gracefully and precisely at Kenrich¡¯s arms and legs.


    Kenrich was slowly improving and was able to take more hits if nothing else. He still could not land any blows though. This training continued for several days as they traveled down the road towards Aquarium. Kenrich was now able to block some of Violet¡¯s attacks as he began to recognize her fighting patterns. He realized that even if he did not have the combat skills yet, he was starting to unlock a combat awareness that seemed to be in him already. Every time he did block one of Violet¡¯s attacks though, she would improvise immediately after and almost always knocked him to the ground. The healing stone that Kenrich possessed began receiving daily use at the end of every training session.


    A few more days passed, and the supplies they had were starting to run low. They decided they would finally make a stop and chose to resupply at the nearby city of Forge. Forge was a city that was aptly named for its production of metalwork that included armor, swords, and statues. Forge was in a strange place politically though in that it was not a large enough producer of weapons to have the complete protection of the Admian government. The lack of a gemstone mine did not help either. That is all to say that Forge was both isolated and uncared for.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of this place,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Are you sure we can get a quality sword here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s literally called ¡®Forge¡¯,¡± Violet said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I traveled through here a few years ago and they forged this dagger I carry. They do fine work. The ol¡¯ blacksmith Breld may be a bit rough around the edges, but he is very serious about crafting a proper blade. Now that your training has come this far, we need to start sparring with real weapons or else you won¡¯t be able to fight anything.¡±


    ¡°Those healing stones won¡¯t reattach my arms!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll use the ring on you if anything goes wrong. Don¡¯t you worry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not funny.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve blocked my attacks before. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    They made their way to the front gate of Forge and saw that there were no guards manning the area. The gate was wide open.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little strange, but that means not having to deal with any more gate guards which is fine by me,¡± Violet said.


    They made their way into the gate and Violet¡¯s eyes were drawn to a man and a woman who seemed to be frozen in a very awkward position.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with them?¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Violet thought before getting off of Atlas and walking over to them.


    She went right up to them and inspected their faces which housed blank expressions. They didn¡¯t appear to be breathing.


    ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± Violet said. ¡°They¡¯re not moving¡­or breathing.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep looking around,¡± Kenrich said.


    They made their way through the streets of Forge and saw even more people stuck in the same state. They saw that all the businesses, including the weapon¡¯s shop, seemed to be closed without any sign of life around them.


    ¡°What could cause something like this?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Could be some sort of magic stone but it¡¯s not one I¡¯m familiar with,¡± Violet said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say what this trance is actually doing to them. I can¡¯t tell if these people are alive or dead.¡±


    ¡°Let me try using the ring on one of them¡­¡± Kenrich got off of Atlas and touched one of the unmoving villagers while gripping the ring in his pocket. It had no effect.


    ¡°I guess that means that they¡¯re probably alive,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Maybe we should head over to the guild and see if anyone there is still able to move.¡±


    They made their way to the guild and did not see any signs that it was closed so inside they went. There did not seem to be any life within the building but after the door clicked shut, a head shot up from behind the front desk. It was a frail and scrawny man. He looked sick and afraid.


    ¡°A-adventurers?! Oh! Please help us!¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll pay you anything!¡±


    ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a necromancer! They¡¯ve frozen everyone with some strange spell!¡±


    ¡°How are you still unfrozen?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°I am one of the few that escaped the spell so far. The rest who evaded it have already left the city. I stayed behind hoping that an adventurer would come in the guild and help free the people. Please! You can have any reward we are capable of giving!¡±


    ¡°Do you know how they activated the spell?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°The necromancer comes out in a cloak and runs through the village touching people! Anyone who is touched gets frozen in time. They bring a small army of zombies and they take as many of the frozen people they can carry and bring them to the cave outside the city! Oh please! I know they¡¯ll be back to pick up the scraps, so please! You¡¯ll help us won¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Any reward we want?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°Yes! Anything your heart desires! Just please end this terror!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do it,¡± Violet said.

 Chapter 12 -Practice Makes Perfect

    ¡°Can we really take out a necromancer?¡± Kenrich asked as they rode Atlas towards the front gate. ¡°The guy in the guild said that he comes out with an army of the undead.¡±


    ¡°Actually, he said a ¡®small army¡¯ so don¡¯t go exaggerating,¡± Violet said. ¡°We¡¯re finally going to get you some actual combat experience against some lesser beings, and we¡¯ll get a nice reward at the end. It''s a win-win!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a weapon though¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m going to let you borrow this-¡± She shoved her broadsword behind her into Kenrich¡¯s lap. ¡°I¡¯ll be using my dagger for this mission. Fighting the undead is child¡¯s play, so this will be more than enough for me to take out the whole nest by myself. Of course, I plan on letting you do most of the work. You gotta learn somehow.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­I don¡¯t feel so good all of the sudden.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. The undead are uncoordinated and almost always unarmed. It should be a cakewalk. Just remember your balance and your breathing and they¡¯ll be no match for you.¡±


    They made their way towards the cave that the man in the guild had pointed them towards. After arriving, Violet tied Atlas down near the entrance and they got ready to enter.


    ¡°It sure is dark in there,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame we don¡¯t have a light stone.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, our eyes will adjust after a bit. You ready to go?¡±


    ¡°I guess so.¡±


    They made their way into the cave and Kenrich once again was letting fear take over his mind. Even after the battles he had been in, and the week of training he had received, he still had an issue when it came to crippling anxiety before a battle started. There is nothing man fears more than the unknown. They made their way down the cave slowly, trying to remain quiet. Kenrich had to duck slightly while going through the first section of the cave, but after a bit of walking, they entered a large inner sanctum that had a ceiling that seemed to be able to form its own clouds with how high it looked. In this room, they heard the rattling of bones and squelching of flesh that made it apparent that their first battle of the day was upon them.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got company!¡± Violet said. ¡°Remember what I taught you!¡±


    Kenrich got into the stance that Violet was always badgering him about and got ready to intercept the zombies that were making their way towards them. It was very dark but he could make out their movements just enough to defend against their weak attacks. He dodged a bloody fist to his right, another to his left, and found himself not being as unbalanced as he remembered during their first couple fights. He made sure to remember the movements that Violet had taught him and saw himself able to easily dodge the clumsy strikes of the undead.


    ¡°Nice dodging, village boy. But make sure to fight back as well! Don¡¯t just dance around like a ballerina!¡± Violet called from a few feet to his right.


    Kenrich took these words to heart and started to swing the broadsword at the zombies in front of him. The sword cut brilliantly, and he was able to take off their heads and limbs easily with an accurate swipe of Violet¡¯s sword. He felt good. He felt¡­powerful. It was the first time he could remember ever feeling like that. He continued his onslaught using the basic swordplay that Violet had taught him. A strong vertical slice, another zombie down. An accurate horizontal slash, now a zombie was without their left arm. A powerful thrust, and now a zombie had a gaping hole where its face used to be. He was making quick work of the undead regardless of their numbers. He looked over at Violet who was doing her usually graceful routine of slashes that made mincemeat of the zombies in an even quicker amount of time than what Kenrich was capable of, even though he had a much longer blade. He was impressed with her skills like usual, but he was also impressed with his own. Violet had said that undead were easy targets, but it still felt good to have the upper hand for once. After about ten minutes, the room of the cave was silent again.


    ¡°Nice work there!¡± Violet said, giving a friendly elbow to Kenrich¡¯s ribs. ¡°You didn¡¯t even get hit! I must be one helluva teacher.¡±


    ¡°I tried to remember all the stances and attacks you showed me, and they really worked wonders,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°You really are a great teacher. It feels good to learn from a master.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­you¡¯re just saying that¡­¡± Violet was blushing and twiddling her hair.


    ¡°Should we keep going?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s safe to say that the necromancer is not in this section, so they must be deeper in. Follow me,¡± Violet said.


    They made their way towards the back of the large room and found another tunnel that they decided to trek through. After a bit of walking, they saw that the path split into two.


    ¡°The paths diverge, huh?¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Looks that way. Which do you want to look through first?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Actually¡­I think we should split up.¡±


    ¡°S-split up?! What if I find the necromancer? I¡¯m not ready for that yet!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve done very well so far, so consider it the final test of stage one of your training if you happen to meet. Besides, if we go down the same path, it¡¯s possible that they will try to escape out the other tunnel if we choose wrong.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this, but¡­okay.¡±


    ¡°Good boy. Now go ahead and choose a path. You¡¯ve earned that privilege for your work so far.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll take the left one.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take the right. We¡¯ll meet back out here at the crossroads once we¡¯re done exploring our paths,¡± Violet said. Kenrich nodded.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Kenrich went down the path on the left, and Violet, the path on the right. All Kenrich wanted was to not have anything to do with the necromancer, at least not alone. Violet, on the other hand, wished the opposite. She was impressed at how quickly Kenrich had been learning the combat moves and strategies which had taken her much longer when she was first in the academy. She was never that good of a student. Kenrich holds her and her skills on a pedestal, but she believes that it is because he had not been exposed to more skilled warriors yet. Now that she had been bested by those masked warriors in Fril, she felt that his opinion of her must have been lowered. Even if she was outnumbered, failure was not something that she accepted of herself, so why should someone else accept it? Her faults, her failures, her insecurities¡­none of them had ever been accepted by anyone before. Being a woman in a military academy was difficult because if you ever failed, they would use it as fuel for why a woman should not be allowed to enroll, let alone able to join the military at all. She managed to make it through and graduate, but she was a ¡°C¡± student at best. Whether it was because of the self-loathing attitude developed by the country and environment she lived in, or because of being disgruntled by the burden of her parents¡¯ request of her to live her whole life for the mission they entrusted to her, she did not know, but she never had much drive to excel. Regardless of her thoughts of herself, Kenrich truly did think she was amazing though. His opinion had not changed even a bit, even after everything that had happened. Violet would never believe that though.


    Kenrich walked through the path which felt like he was making his way through the stomach of a giant worm with the wetness and shape of the tunnel. He tried his best not to think about that though and instead tried to keep himself focused on what was in front of him. Now that he had been in the dark for so long, he could see much better than he could at the start. He did not even know that his eyes could adjust to such extreme darkness, but he was happy to be wrong. After a bit of walking, without seeing any movement at all, he saw what looked like torchlight ahead of him. He had a sense of foreboding at the sight of this. He worried that this certainly meant he was in for a fight ahead. He knew he could not turn around though as Violet would just kill him herself if he ran with his tail between his legs after all the training they did. He swallowed his fears and doubts and went towards the light.


    As he turned the corner, he saw a medium sized well-lit room with a massive cage in the corner of it. Inside was a woman who was chained to the wall. The woman weakly looked up at Kenrich, who was still standing in the entrance to the room and tried to stand up. She lost her balance though and went right back down to the floor. Kenrich scanned the room cautiously and did not find anything that looked to be a necromancer (not that he knew what one looked like). This room also seemed to be the end of the tunnel so Kenrich let out a sigh of relief assuming that the necromancer would have to deal with Violet instead of him. He had no doubt that she would win that fight, especially since she thought him capable of it. Kenrich walked up to the cage and kneeled next to the padlocked door.


    ¡°Are you okay, miss? Did the necromancer lock you up here?¡± He asked. The woman gave a light nod. ¡°Do you know where the key is?¡± The woman shook her head weakly from side to side.


    Kenrich thought for a moment. He could go back and try to find Violet, but there were too many unknowns. It was entirely possible that the necromancer was not in either path. Also, he did not want to have to make this poor woman wait any longer than she needed to for freedom, so he decided to try and break the lock using the blunt end of Violet¡¯s sword.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Clank!


    He had managed to break off the lock. He hurried and opened the door and kneeled next to the woman.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m gonna check on the chains on your arms. I promise not to hurt you.¡± The woman nodded.


    He inspected the chains on her arms, and they seemed sturdy. He was not sure if there was any way to get them off without either finding the key or cutting off her hands. He decided to check out where the chains met the wall and saw that the area looked like it had eroded a bit. This seemed to be the only way that he was going to get her out of here, so he prepared the woman and himself for another bashing with Violet¡¯s sword. The woman braced herself while facing away from the wall, and Kenrich lifted Violet¡¯s sword above his head, ready to try and dislodge it from the wall.


    Smack! Smack! Smack! Crumble!


    He had managed to separate the end of the chains from the wall. Her hands were still bound with the chains, but at least this way they could head back towards the entrance. He was sure that they would be able to get the cuffs off safely somehow once they were back in the city after breaking the curse. He helped the woman stand up. Getting a better look at her, Kenrich saw that she had a very pretty face and that she was quite young, maybe in her mid-twenties. She appeared malnourished and weak from being held captive. Her brown hair was shoulder length and a frizzy mess while her brown eyes had huge bags under them showing a severe lack of proper rest. Who knows how much longer she would have lasted if left here. Her clothes were nothing more than rags that made her appear like she was wearing a potato sack that had been mauled by wolves. Areas of her skin were bared through holes in her garments but nothing risque could be seen.


    ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    So, she can talk. He thought.


    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s get out of here. My partner might be able to help get these chains off, and if not, I¡¯m sure someone at the village will help. In the meantime, I¡¯ll hold the end of the chains, so they won¡¯t weigh you down so much. Can you walk on your own?¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Alright, just follow behind me. I¡¯ll keep you safe.¡±


    Kenrich retraced his steps down the path with the woman following behind him. It took some time, but they were back at the crossroads that Violet had designated as their meeting spot. Violet was not there though. Kenrich wondered if he should go and try to find her, but he did not want to leave the woman alone or make her go down the path if Violet was fighting the necromancer. He thought about leading the woman out of the cave and having her wait by Atlas, but as he was thinking it over, Violet poked her head out of the path on the right.


    ¡°Did you find the- Wait. Who¡¯s this?¡± Violet asked while pointing her finger at the chained woman.


    ¡°She was imprisoned in a cage at the end of the path. I managed to break her free but I wasn¡¯t sure how to get the cuffs off without hurting her.¡±


    ¡°Did you find the necromancer?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°Are you saying that you didn¡¯t?¡± Kenrich questioned.


    ¡°There was no necromancer down the path I took.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see them down my path either¡­¡±


    ¡°Was she the only prisoner that you found?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, there was nothing else in the room. So, what do we do now? Is it possible that the necromancer went back to the village?¡±


    ¡°I feel like we would¡¯ve crossed paths with them, but it is pretty dark¡­¡± Violet said. She then closed her eyes and scratched her head. ¡°I guess we should head back towards the village for now. Does this woman here have a name?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask yet.¡±


    ¡°Not much of a gentleman, are you?¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon, I broke her out of prison, what could be more ¡®gentlemanly¡¯ than that?!¡±


    ¡°M-my name is Sophia,¡± the woman said. ¡°Thank you for rescuing me. You¡¯re good people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Kenrich,¡± he said, giving Sophia a warm smile. ¡°This here is Violet. We¡¯ll be happy to escort you out of here and back to your home.¡± The woman returned a pleasant smile.


    They started heading towards the entrance of the cave. Violet and Kenrich were walking side-by-side with Sophia following a few feet behind (or as far as the chains would let her). Violet could not help feeling like something was off.


    (To Kenrich) ¡°What happened to ¡®Ricardo¡¯?¡± Violet asked. ¡°That guy disappeared before I even got a chance to get to know him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a problem with telling her my real name,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I just wanted to be sincere.¡±


    ¡°In all seriousness...There¡¯s something fishy about all this,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Do you think the necromancer might be in some secret room or something?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s something el-¡±


    Suddenly, Violet stopped walking. Her voice was also cut off as if she had lost the ability to talk in the middle of their conversation.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± Kenrich asked.


    Violet¡¯s face had the same blank expression as the villagers they saw in town. She was frozen.

 Chapter 13 - Trust

    ¡°Violet, this isn¡¯t funny!¡± Kenrich said. He was hoping with every fiber of his being that she was playing a joke on him.


    Kenrich put his hand on his sword and looked around the best he could through the surrounding darkness trying to spot the necromancer, but all he noticed was that Sophia was closer to them than he remembered her being. Close enough to touch them¡­Everything clicked in Kenrich¡¯s head and he jumped back away from Sophia. He was hoping that he was incorrect, but part of him knew that he was not.


    ¡°Sophia¡­you¡¯re not¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not what?¡±


    Sophia¡¯s voice was no longer soft and sweet like it had been before. It was dark and grating. The stuff of pure evil. It was apparent that Violet¡¯s intuition was spot on. Kenrich readied his sword and prepared for what might be coming. He had no idea what tricks a necromancer might have up their sleeves, but the one thing he did know was he could not let her touch him. Violet had always told him that the blade was an extension of a warrior¡¯s body, and in this case, that was the only part he could touch them with. Sophia(?) thrusted her hand towards him at a speed he could barely track. He was narrowly able to dodge by throwing his body violently to the ground. Dazed from the impact with the stone floor, he was slower to react to her second attack. He had no time to dodge. His only choice was to block it. He closed his eyes, and thrust out Violet¡¯s sword. He kept them closed for a moment, then opened them to see that the necromancer was on the floor writhing in pain. In his lap, he saw a severed hand. Realizing that he had the advantage, Kenrich got to his feet and got into his fighting stance. He took a vertical swing at the necromancer, but they jumped back at such a speed that it looked like they teleported. Kenrich realized that this speed was going to become way too much for him to handle when his visibility was so low, so he turned and ran as fast as he could towards the entrance of the cave. The necromancer was fast but the entrance was close enough where he felt like he could make it. He spotted the orange light from the outside but heard a set of very quick footsteps behind him. He made his way into the field outside the cave and saw the sun was setting. He quickly turned towards the entrance and saw the necromancer standing there. They raised their remaining clenched hand into the air while chanting some unintelligible spell. A group of ten zombies started coming out of the entrance and heading towards Kenrich.


    Now that they were in the light, Kenrich saw the disturbing truth. The zombies were dressed in the same clothes as the frozen villagers that they saw in Forge. There were men, women, and even children who were hobbling across the field. They had already begun the first stages of decay. Kenrich was horrified. There was a man who was stumbling around with broken legs, a woman was tripping over their own intestines, and a young girl was missing both of her eyeballs among the many horrible sights. He could barely look at them now. He felt such disgust and rage towards the necromancer for putting these people through this. He got in a fighting stance but he was not sure he could bring himself to strike down the zombies now that he knew that they were who he was trying to save. He decided to try and dodge their attacks and make his way to the necromancer, who was trying to stay behind their horde.


    Kenrich had an even easier time dodging now that there was light and easily made his way towards the necromancer who seemed taken off guard at how fast Kenrich was able to move. He took another swing at the necromancer, who again dodged easily by bending their body backwards under the blade¡¯s path. The necromancer tried to perform a sweeping kick to finally make contact with Kenrich and immobilize him, but he was able to jump over their leg just in time. Kenrich knew he was too close and started retreating to gain some distance from the necromancer. He knew he should not turn his back to them but that thought gave him an idea. He kept running away from the necromancer and focused his ears as much as he could on their quick footsteps. They got slightly loud, and louder, and louder, and¡­swing!


    Kenrich had spun around and swung his sword horizontally straight at the neck of the necromancer. The blow landed. The necromancer¡¯s head hit the ground and their body slumped over. All of the reanimated corpses went limp as well and spread out evenly amongst the battlefield. Kenrich fell on his rear and looked out at the carnage. Sophia¡¯s pretty face and hand had been separated from her body, and the villagers desecrated corpses lined the path back to the cave. Another absolutely horrible view for Kenrich¡¯s eyes. The second most horrible yet on this journey (with Violet¡¯s corpse taking first place). He caught his breath, got back up, and went into the cave hoping that the curse on Violet had been broken. He started to jog towards the cave, but before he could enter, he saw a familiar face pop out.


    ¡°This is quite the mess,¡± Violet said. ¡°I knew something was off about that girl. Why keep a single prisoner out of the hundreds kidnapped?¡±


    Violet walked past all the villager corpses and made her way to Kenrich.


    ¡°I would¡¯ve thought that pretty face was just the work of a copy stone or something, but it looks like it¡¯s the true face of our necromancer. It¡¯s a shame. Pretty girl like her could¡¯ve definitely found a different line of work¡­You okay?¡±


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I am.¡±


    ¡°I guess not. I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t understand. Sights like this aren¡¯t exactly what normal people get used to. Nice work taking her down though! You saved the village¡­or at least what¡¯s left of it.¡± She said while looking over at the corpses.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Maybe I can use the Ring of Life on them!¡± Kenrich said suddenly with enthusiasm.


    He took his place next to a young girl who was without one of her hands and gripped the ring while laying his fingertips on her cold forearm. Nothing happened.


    ¡°W-why isn¡¯t anything happening?! Why won¡¯t it work?!¡± Kenrich yelled.


    ¡°There must be some condition to it working that we don¡¯t know yet,¡± Violet said. ¡°Maybe they have to have all their body parts or something?¡±


    Kenrich tried using the ring on several of the bodies but the ring reacted with none of them. He got up and stood there, dejected. Violet walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kenrich. Guess there are things we don¡¯t understand about the ring yet. At least we saved the rest of the villagers who were frozen in Forge. Go ahead and get Atlas ready and I¡¯ll go see what stones the necromancer had on her.¡± Kenrich nodded sadly and made his way over to Atlas to start untying his reins.


    Violet went over to the necromancer¡¯s body and started sifting through their pockets. She found three different gemstones. She inspected them and then stuffed them in her pocket. After making her way back over to Atlas and Kenrich, they made their way back to Forge to see if the spell had been undone and to report to the man in the guild and receive their reward.


    ¡°What kind of gems did you pick up?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a speed stone and then this black one and this purple one. It¡¯s safe to say that one of these probably gives the power to immobilize people while the other creates zombies out of corpses,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s kinda like the Ring of Life, huh?¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me a zombie?!¡±


    ¡°N-no! I¡¯m just saying that because it raises the dead.¡±


    ¡°Choose your words more carefully, jackass. I¡¯m no zombie. Anyway, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find some use for these stones eventually, so I¡¯ll keep hold of them.¡±


    Making their way through the village, they saw none of the frozen villagers that they had seen coming in. It seems like the spell had indeed been broken. Satisfied with the outcome, they went to the guild to try and find the man who gave them the mission. Making their way inside, they saw that man talking with a few citizens who must have been part of the group who were unfrozen.


    ¡°That¡¯s them! The saviors of Forge!¡± the man said.


    ¡°Hey! Now, that¡¯s a face I recognize!¡± said a massive bronze-skinned man wearing a black apron.


    ¡°Breld! How the hell are ya?¡± Violet said, walking up to the man and grabbing his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m well now, thanks to you! Who¡¯s your friend?¡±


    ¡°This here is Kenrich. We¡¯re on a top secret mission, so keep it on the down low.¡±


    ¡°Always moving from place to place¡­So, do I understand that you might be here for me to craft another blade for ya?¡±


    ¡°No other reason to be in this dump,¡± Violet said. Breld gave her a punch to the arm and they started laughing.


    ¡°No better place to get metal work done than Forge, lil lady! What kind of blade are we looking to forge?¡±


    ¡°A broadsword for Kenrich here. He¡¯s begun training under me and we¡¯re ready to start sparring.¡±


    ¡°Is that right?¡± Breld then put his face to Kenrich¡¯s ear. ¡°Make sure to protect your vitals, young man.¡± A cold sweat came over Kenrich.


    ¡°What did he say?!¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°N-nothing!¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Come bring that horse of yours by my forge and we¡¯ll get that sword started for ya! No charge of course for our saviors.¡±


    They made their way to Breld¡¯s shop. The building looked like it was in dire need of repairs but the forge itself in the back of the shop looked brand new.


    ¡°Breld does not care to upkeep anything but that dumb forge so watch your step. Might fall through the floorboards,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Oh, quit your whining! I¡¯ll get to that when I get to it! Now, young man, it¡¯s time to choose the metal and design you¡¯d like for your new partner. Any preferences?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­I really don¡¯t know anything about swords.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna need a longsword that¡¯ll make use of those long arms and muscles of his,¡± Violet said. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d recommend a lighter metal but I¡¯ll let the kid have his fun. Tell ¡®em about the options, Breld.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing. The metals we have available are bronze, steel, carbon, and if you want something really fancy¡­we¡¯ve got a fire crystal large enough to forge into a weapon if you¡¯re interested.¡±


    ¡°Fire crystal?¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°It came from a massive quartz deposit I won a bid on back in Darkvent a couple years back. Don¡¯t tell anyone, but¡­it¡¯s imbued with fireball magic.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding!¡± Violet said. Her eyes were lighting up. ¡°You can make a sword out of that?!¡±


    ¡°Most blacksmiths wouldn¡¯t dare to carve a massive crystal into a blade, but I don¡¯t hold that same fear.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll take that one! Will it be able to shoot fireballs?!¡± Violet was jumping up and down.


    ¡°That¡¯s the idea. We¡¯ll need to make the hilt out of gold to make it so he can cast while holding it, but I¡¯ve got plenty of leftover gold so it¡¯s not a problem. How¡¯s that sound, son?¡±


    ¡°A gold-hilted, fireball magic-imbued, crystal sword?! Where the hell do I sign?!¡± Kenrich said. He and Violet were both shaking in anticipation.


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Let me get my cutting tools and start smelting the gold. It¡¯ll take some time, so feel free to make use of the guest room while I work. Should take no more than three hours.¡±


    They made their way to Breld¡¯s guest room which was located in a building next to the forge. Kenrich could not believe that his first sword would be something so extravagant. A magic crystal sword was something that the folk heroes in his dad¡¯s old stories would have had. He never imagined he would be able to wield something like that. He never knew such a thing was even possible, and judging by Violet¡¯s reaction, she did not either.

 Chapter 14 - A Mage? A Warrior?

    ¡°A crystal sword with fireball magic?!¡± Violet said, sitting on a dirty, unmade bed in the guest room. ¡°I¡¯d almost be honored to get cut with something like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll get your wish if you end up teaching me too well. Are gemstone swords rare?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the first I¡¯ve even heard of such a thing. I¡¯ve spent a lot of time around a lot of different warriors, and I have never seen a sword made of crystal before. I just can¡¯t wait to see what it looks like.¡± Violet said. Kenrich smiled.


    Kenrich then sat on the other end of the same bed that Violet was on. He had a major worry now after the situation with the necromancer. He had thought he could use the Ring of Life however he wanted but it seems that this was not the case. He felt some solace knowing that he and Violet could revive one another, or maybe even someone else who deserved it, but now he was more worried about their dangerous journey and about losing Violet again or his own life. Death has always been the one avoidable truth and having a way to undo it at any moment with such ease was definitely worth the time and resources of any influential person to give in order to gain that power. He was starting to wonder if the Ring of Life was even that powerful to begin with. These thoughts would be harshly disproved in time though.


    ¡°So, are we going to continue to Aquarium once the sword¡¯s done?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Of course. We can¡¯t stay in one place too long. We¡¯ve gotta continue your training as well, so we can¡¯t waste any more time,¡± Violet said. ¡°Guess it can¡¯t be helped that we¡¯ll be stuck here for at least a couple more hours though. Let''s stock back up on supplies. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t cost a thing now that we¡¯re known as the ¡®Saviors of Forge.¡¯ Maybe they¡¯ll build us statues.¡±


    ¡°That would be a nice breadcrumb to leave our many hunters.¡±


    ¡°Gotta cut them some slack sometimes, y¡¯know?¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯ve sure cut us right back¡­¡± Violet threw a fist at Kenrich¡¯s gut.


    ¡°With me not having to babysit you, it won¡¯t happen again!¡± Violet said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t either,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°I feel like that battle unlocked something in me that I didn¡¯t know I had. I finally feel like I might be able to keep up in a fight.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why experience is so important. You only fought a bunch of zombies and one necromancer though, so you¡¯ve still got a long way to go. I am impressed with how far you¡¯ve come in only a week, nevertheless. We¡¯ll be arriving in Aquarium in about two more weeks, so I¡¯m confident that you¡¯ll at least be able to defend yourself once we get there. There¡¯s a chance that every place we go we¡¯ll have enemies, and in a place as large as Aquarium, we can practically guarantee it.¡±


    ¡°I thought Aquarium was a peaceful nation? Would they not be able to keep the Admian military and those masked freaks out?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°I think it¡¯ll be unlikely. Queen Puri is very outspoken against King Thelden and the Admian conquests, but Aquarium itself doesn¡¯t hold enough power to keep them from looking around as they please. She doesn¡¯t want to give Admia a good enough reason to declare war. Denouncing him is all that she can do while keeping her people safe. Also, those masked freaks somehow figured out we were who they were searching for and that we¡¯d break into that gem shop, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯re more than capable of making it into Aquarium,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°So, laying low in Aquarium is probably out of the question¡­¡±


    ¡°They are the only nation that could potentially give Admia trouble, but that won''t stop them from declaring war if provoked. We only wish to receive Queen Puri¡¯s help in preventing the ring from making its way to Admian hands. They''re the only place where something like that is possible. Queen Puri does already have one of the Shift Stones under her control after all.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a Shift Stone? I¡¯ve never heard of that,¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Read a book sometime. They¡¯re the most powerful known gemstones in Nebulan. They house powers that have the potential to shift the balance of the world. Queen Puri has the Liquid Ring which holds the power to create a never ending amount of drinkable water.¡±


    ¡°So people never go thirsty there, huh?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have to pay for water at all. They can use as much as they want for no charge. That¡¯s why Queen Puri is looked up to by so many. Many other leaders would tax their citizens for such a thing, even when production is free, but she never hesitated for a moment to make sure the whole nation never had to. It¡¯s also why Aquarium houses so many refugees.¡±


    ¡°That is really admirable. Being able to be as frivolous as you want with life¡¯s most precious resource, the people must be pretty happy there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard for anyone to be happy with the Admian conquests, but Queen Puri is really good at distracting them. It¡¯s the best people can do these days surely,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°So, would the Ring of Life be considered one of the Shift Stones?¡±


    ¡°Undoubtedly. Perfect resurrection would be the most overpowered ability any magic stone has ever had. None of the other known Shift Stones could hold a candle to such power.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ The more I think about it, the more anxious I get. Maybe if we give the ring to the masked men they¡¯ll keep it out of Admia¡¯s control¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. We have no idea what they¡¯re plotting to do with it, and they KILLED ME! I¡¯ll hold a vendetta forever for that! No one¡¯s ever killed me before!¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d prefer to live my whole life without getting killed¡­¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°That was a dumb sentence.¡±


    ¡°I mean like being killed by someone! I don¡¯t count natural causes as ¡®getting killed¡¯!¡±


    ¡°Whatever, dumbass. Another thing opening a book might fix for you.¡±


    ¡°Do we need to take things outside?!¡± Kenrich said. ¡°We haven¡¯t sparred in a bit after all!¡±


    ¡°So, now you actually want me to kick your ass? Who¡¯s the pervert now?¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?! And I never called you a pervert!¡±


    ¡°Uh huh. I''m totally slicing off your arms once we start training with real swords.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even joke about that!¡± Kenrich yelled.


    After a bit more arguing, Kenrich and Violet finally left Breld¡¯s guest room to acquire some supplies in order to be ready to get back on the road. They made their way to the market square to see if any shops had begun to open now that the necromancer had been defeated. They found that everyone knew who they were immediately and all the vendors that were present offered them whatever resources they wanted. Kenrich and Violet were able to restock on food, water, clothing, and all the other essentials without making a single dent in their wallets. Being heroes was a good thing when it came to receiving rewards, but Kenrich still worried about becoming more known and making it easier for their hunters to track them. Violet held these same worries, but could not deny that these rewards helped offset some of that worry. Kenrich¡¯s new ability to fight also gave Violet some confidence and even some slight anticipation for their first tough battle together. There was a part of her that wanted to fight those masked men again, but she knew that was selfish of her. She wanted to prove that she was the superior warrior to them more than anything. After what she said about them to Kenrich during their first meeting, she had never felt more shame. She wished she had never admitted that she thought they might be more skilled than herself. Kenrich had thought that she was strong for it, but she beat herself up about it, and after losing her life in the gem shop, she was struggling with her own confidence.


    They made their way back towards the guest room, but were intercepted by Breld who was holding a bagged object that was shaped exactly like what Kenrich and Violet were hoping it would be.


    ¡°I-is it done?¡± Violet asked nervously.


    ¡°It is. My finest work yet, I¡¯d say,¡± Breld answered.


    Breld threw off the cloth bag and under it was a sword that sparkled. It was white like a cloud during a summer day, but imposing like the tooth of a wild beast. The golden hilt made the sword look like a piece of modern art, almost unfit for the battles it was going to see in the future. Almost too perfect to stain with blood. Breld held it out to Kenrich and he gripped the gold handle while getting into his basic battle stance. It felt good. It felt right. Kenrich knew with the entirety of his being that this sword was meant for him and only him.


    ¡°How d¡¯ya like it? I used a steel-gold alloy in order to keep the hilt from bending on you during battle. It should still conduct the magic just fine. Why don¡¯t you give it a test by shooting that barrel right there?¡± Breld pointed to a barrel in the corner of the shop that seemed to be empty.


    ¡°You truly do not care about the state of this place, do you?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix the barrel when I get to it! Now, go ahead, lad. Light it ablaze! It works just like a magic stone. Just point the tip of the sword at your target just like you would with your hand using a fireball stone.¡±


    Kenrich remembered how he used the fireball stone during their battle with the ogre commander and remembered Violet¡¯s advice on treating the sword as an extension of his arm. Putting these together, he made a perfect shot right at the unsuspecting barrel which was quickly turned to ash. It felt so natural to him. Having a weapon that could be both powerful at short and long range brought Kenrich¡¯s confidence to an all time high which made him more excited than ever to continue his training with Violet.


    ¡°Nice shot! Seems you got the hang of that quickly,¡± Breld said. ¡°Make sure to not hurt Violet too bad once you start sparring now. I¡¯d love to see that Admian soldier¡¯s blade she wields try to keep up with my greatest work.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the sword, it¡¯s about the wielder,¡± Violet said. ¡°Kenrich is still a long way away from landing any blows on me.¡±


    ¡°I sense talent in this young man. You better watch out or he¡¯ll surpass you before you know it!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well¡­thank you, Breld. I very much appreciate you forging this for me. I promise to take good care of it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I can ask of you. Thank you two for your service to this village and I wish ya both luck and good health on this ¡®secret mission¡¯ of yours.¡±


    Kenrich and Violet said their goodbyes and left Breld and Forge behind to continue their journey to Aquarium.


    ¡°They never did ask about what happened to the captured villagers,¡± Kenrich said as they rode Atlas down the road just outside of Forge.


    ¡°I think deep down they knew what happened. The fact that we didn¡¯t bring any of them back, was enough information for them. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll give them all a proper burial.¡±


    ¡°The world is a horrible place sometimes.¡±


    ¡°There is definitely a lot that needs to change to bring peace and balance to this world, but that much is out of our hands. Hiding this ring is all we can do right now,¡± Violet said. ¡°Although, with a sword like that, maybe you can be the hero this world needs, huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nowhere near good enough for that, and I probably won¡¯t ever be.¡±


    ¡°A hero isn¡¯t as black and white as it seems like in the stories we¡¯re all told as a child. Heroes are just people. They¡¯re flawed. They have moments where they¡¯re weak. There are times where they can¡¯t save everyone. But¡­they are the ones who never stop trying to make the world a better place.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this kind of romanticism from you, Violet.¡±


    ¡°There was this little girl back home who really wanted to be a hero. Plans changed quickly for her due to familial circumstances though.¡±


    ¡°This little girl was trapped in your mirror, I¡¯m assuming.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. It¡¯s all in the past though. Fairy Tales and real life rarely mix after all, so it was just a dumb girl¡¯s dream.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re a hero.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not. This mission that you undertook to keep this ring out of King Thelden¡¯s hands is something a hero would do.¡±


    ¡°And doing that only keeps things from getting worse. A hero makes things better.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think being a hero is that black and white.¡±


    ¡°...Maybe not.¡±


    ¡°Once we complete this mission, maybe we can continue our fight to make the world a better place,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Possibly. For now though, you aren¡¯t even close to strong enough to be talking like that. You ready to continue your training?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡±

 Chapter 15 - Cue the Training Montage

    Clink! Clang! Swoosh! Crunch! Thunk! Fwoosh!


    ¡°Shooting fireballs isn¡¯t fair!¡± Violet yelled.


    ¡°You told me to fight with everything I¡¯ve got! Also, you knocked me to the ground, so I had to do something!¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°You really think I¡¯m gonna kill you?! Fine. If you¡¯re gonna use magical stones, then I will too¡­¡±


    Violet went to her pack and grabbed a handful of magic stones. Kenrich gulped. He knew that he was about to get humbled.


    ¡°Now that the playing field has been leveled. Let¡¯s continue,¡± Violet said mischievously.


    Kenrich saw Violet¡¯s hand gripping several gems and knew that he was about to be in some real trouble. Violet thrust her sword at Kenrich at an amazing speed which he was barely able to dodge. While he was off balance, Violet knocked Kenrich down to the ground with the blunt edge of her sword. Now defenseless on the ground, Kenrich did what he had done last time and shot a fireball right at Violet, who dodged easily. That dodge left just enough time for Kenrich to make it back to his feet though. He tried to gain some distance and ran into a long-range position in order to start a barrage of fireballs, but he turned around and saw that Violet had disappeared. He then started to scan his surroundings, but he saw no one on the ground except for Atlas who was watching the battle unfold from a safe distance. Unexpectedly, Kenrich felt a large weight jump onto his shoulders which caused him to reel backwards. To his surprise, he stopped halfway and found himself unable to move at all. He was frozen at a 90-degree angle with his open mouth facing up towards the clear sky. Violet put her face right in front of Kenrich¡¯s and showed him the black gem that they had taken from the necromancer.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to really like this gem,¡± she said. ¡°Being able to immobilize you whenever I want is quite the power to have.¡±


    She then took a familiar gem out of her pocket¡­and shot a puff of glitter into Kenrich¡¯s open mouth shortly before unfreezing him.


    PFFFFFT! ¡°What the hell, Violet?!¡± Kenrich yelled, trying to scrape glitter off of his tongue.


    ¡°You started it! We¡¯re supposed to be training your swordplay, and you started shooting fireballs! Take this as a lesson. Gemstones mean everything when it comes to battle. Using the speed stone to keep you off balance, the jump stone to leap on your shoulders from above, and then the freeze stone to stop you in your tracks is quite the deadly combo.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay! I won¡¯t shoot fireballs!¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re excited about your new magic sword, but you mustn¡¯t focus only on the ranged capabilities. Proper swordplay comes first, then we¡¯ll worry about getting you more acquainted with using it and magic stones concurrently.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master¡­¡±


    ¡°Good boy. Now get into stance alpha and I¡¯ll come at you with a thrust! Make sure to block it, village boy.¡±


    They continued training over the next several days by using the eight stances that Violet had been teaching Kenrich. She came at him with several different attacks, and he was tasked with either defending or parrying each one. He had been doing very well with these exercises lately and it was clear to Violet that he was ready to move on to more advanced training.


    ¡°Alright, Ken. We¡¯re finally going to start introducing magic stones into your swordplay,¡± she said.


    ¡°Ken?¡±


    ¡°Do you have a problem with it? Your name is too long, so we save time by cutting out a syllable.¡±


    ¡°How conservative of you. Can I give you a nickname too?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What?! Why not?! Your name has more syllables than mine!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a whiner¡­Fine, but only if I approve of it.¡±


    ¡°How about¡­¡¯Letty¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not. I¡¯m not someone¡¯s grandma.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­How about ¡®Vio¡¯?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not very good at this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just throwing out some ideas! Fine. What about ¡®V¡¯?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You just took out all the letters of my name! Whatever, it¡¯s still the best suggestion so far, so go ahead I guess.¡±


    ¡°V it is! Now what are we doing in today¡¯s training, Master V?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start letting you use some enhancement stones while fighting me. We¡¯ll start with a stamina stone to keep it simple, but we¡¯ll also be using jump and speed stones as you start to get used to dealing with the new capacities given to your body.¡±


    ¡°What does an enhancement stone feel like?¡± Kenrich asked. Violet thought for a second.


    ¡°...It¡¯s a lot like taking a deep breath of clean air. A feeling of being reset, almost. It is a good feeling, but each stone only helps with one quality, so you must be aware of your normal capabilities when using one. For instance, a speed stone may give you a huge boost to speed, but if you crash into a wall, or trip, the damage to your body will be heightened just like your speed. People die from reckless use of enhancement stones all the time, so knowing your limits is important.¡±


    ¡°I think I know what you mean. I used to play around with jump stones when I was young, and I remember how bad it hurt when I took a bad landing and smashed my face into the mud. I can¡¯t imagine what would¡¯ve happened had the surface been more¡­solid.¡±


    ¡°You would¡¯ve left a nice red smear on the ground. Jump stones only add resistance to your legs, so you must always prevent yourself from landing on any other body part. You could have easily died before even finding the Ring of Life. Maybe it would have made my life a little easier, but it¡¯s not like you¡¯ve been totally useless.¡±


    ¡°You just wait until my training is complete. I won¡¯t hold you back anymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan. Now, let¡¯s get started.¡±


    Kenrich started with the stamina stone, just as Violet had instructed and he could understand why she described the feeling the way she did. It felt like a slight increase of power that seemed to make everything clearer around him. With the stamina stone, his task was to try and keep up an attack for as long as he possibly could. He got into his stance and came at Violet who defended his blows. He was able to continue his attacks for almost twice as long as usual before he got tired. He had now realized what he was missing out on his whole life. He had only used jump stones back home in Millin, and the fireball stone that was confiscated in Fril, so he never knew just how much they could increase human capabilities. It was an intoxicating feeling. Once Violet was satisfied with Kenrich¡¯s understanding of the stamina stone, he moved on to the jump stone, which, as mentioned, he actually had some experience with. Violet started to show him new slashes and dodges that jump stones made possible. It took a bit to get used to, but he had a mechanical knowledge of how to do them at the very least. After a few hours of trial and error, they moved on to the speed stone, which had the biggest learning curve and danger of the three.


    ¡°A speed stone is going to be a big adjustment, but when used effectively, it can be the most powerful gem in your arsenal, so listen closely!¡± Violet said. Kenrich nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll be going about twice as fast as normal, so start out with a light jog to get used to the change in momentum because it¡¯ll be a lot different than what you¡¯re used to.¡±


    Kenrich gripped the speed stone in his hand and tried a light jog towards the setting sun. His brain could not process this massive speed boost however and he fell almost immediately.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we start with a light jog,¡± Violet said. ¡°You have to train your brain to be able to handle that amount of speed when you¡¯re used to a lot less when you put in that same amount of effort. After a few tries, you¡¯ll start getting the hang of it.¡±


    Kenrich practiced his jogging for around thirty minutes which led to a lot of scraped knees and bruises which made the acquisition of a healing stone all the more convenient.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re able to stay on your feet, try sprinting past me,¡± Violet said. ¡°I¡¯ll use the freeze stone on you if it looks like you¡¯re gonna crack your head open.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of horses when people can just use these,¡± Kenrich said, catching his breath.


    ¡°Are you trying to say Atlas¡¯s obsolete? You got a death wish?¡±


    ¡°N-no! I just mean, why don¡¯t we see people use these for transportation more often?¡±


    ¡°Two reasons. Scarcity and danger. With the number of times you¡¯ve sprained your ankle, I figured you¡¯d know that reason at least.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess that makes sense. What are they used for then?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re usually seen as a stone commonly used by outlaws and bandits. People who don¡¯t care about the risks and only care about the potential crimes they can commit with them. They¡¯re expensive on the black market though, so usually only wealthy crime syndicates have access to them.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that using one makes people see you as a criminal?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much. Hard to break the stigma.¡±


    ¡°Guess we shouldn¡¯t use it recreationally then. We don¡¯t need any eyes on us.¡±


    ¡°Exactly right. Now quit stalling and get to running! We don¡¯t have all day!¡±


    Kenrich got in his running pose and prepared to run as hard as he could just like Violet requested. He had to trust that she would immobilize him if he looked like he was about to fall. He took a deep breath and counted off in his head.


    3¡­2¡­1¡­Go!


    He ran with all of his might. He did not feel his legs one bit. In fact, he felt like he was not in control at all. After a few seconds, he realized that his head and torso were falling behind and he was in danger of falling backwards. Luckily, he was able to correct it well enough and continued going. He realized that he already passed Violet, who appeared as just a blur in his vision, and since she did not immobilize him, he assumed that he passed the test. He ran for a few seconds more then stopped in his tracks with a triumphant stumble. After looking back at Violet, he saw her give him a big thumbs up.


    ¡°Nice work!¡± she yelled. ¡°We¡¯ll do some more drills tomorrow, but the amount of progress we¡¯ve made today is more than enough to feel accomplished. Let¡¯s take a brea-¡±


    Violet¡¯s speech was cut off. Kenrich was pretty far away from her, but he could just barely make out what he knew was the cause of it. Beside one of the shrubs next to their campsite, he saw a masked man with a rapier.

 Chapter 16 - It Was Not Pretty

    The masked man raised his sword and thrusted right at Violet¡¯s back. Violet was well trained though and sensed their presence just a split second before it was too late. She limboed under the blade and swept her feet to try and topple her masked attacker. The man saw this coming though and dodged backwards. There was now some distance between the two. Kenrich and Violet simultaneously and correctly realized that there was no chance that this masked man was alone. On cue, three more masked men came from the brush as if they teleported there. There had only ever been rumors of magic stones that could teleport people, but the same was true about the Ring of Life. Seeing that she was outnumbered, Violet focused on dodging and defending in order to formulate a plan. Kenrich saw her deflecting and dodging the many rapiers coming towards her body and knew he had to do something. He gripped the speed stone that he had just successfully used for the first time and bolted right to where Violet was. He was still unsteady on his feet, but he knew of something he could do regardless of his precision. He crashed right into one of the attackers who was propelled around ten feet away from the battlefield, dazed. Kenrich was dazed too, but he knew there was no time for that and got up almost immediately and put his back against Violet¡¯s. The three masked men surrounded them, and shortly after, the fourth joined them as they made a diamond around both Kenrich and Violet.


    ¡°You ready for the final exam, village boy?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± Kenrich said, trying to appear confident.


    Violet thrust her sword at the nearest attacker, who dodged, and then slapped away a rapier coming from her left side. Kenrich thought about trying to shoot a fireball with his new crystal sword but decided against it after he remembered one of Violet¡¯s teachings: ¡°Never do your strongest attack first, unless you¡¯re severely undermatched.¡± He knew they were outnumbered and that the masked men were skilled, but somehow, he felt like they had a shot at winning this fight. Whether it was the blind confidence his sword gave him, his belief in Violet¡¯s skills, or his belief in his own, it did not matter, Kenrich was always someone who operated off of improvisation more often than he should. Still gripping the speed stone, he gave a lightning quick slash at one of the masked men, who was barely able to deflect the blade. Seeing that the man was now off balance from Kenrich¡¯s blow, Violet stopped her grudge match with the other three attackers and flew across the battlefield straight at them with her sword held in front of her. It pierced the attacker right through their chest and they hit the ground immediately. One down. The other attackers saw this, and one tried to thrust another rapier at Violet whose back was turned, but Kenrich was in the right place to smack the blade upwards. Violet turned around quickly and did a quick horizontal slash at the man¡¯s stomach, but he dodged just in time to only receive a flesh wound.


    The three remaining masked men were lined up side-by-side at one end of the battlefield, while Kenrich and Violet stood side-by-side on the other about fifteen feet away. The three men stood for a second, and then suddenly the one in the middle held up a stone and started shooting mist out that immediately started taking away Kenrich and Violet¡¯s visibility just like back in their first run in with the masked men. At the last possible second, Violet was able to witness the two other attacks dart in different directions.


    ¡°They¡¯re coming! Get ready to defend!¡± Violet yelled.


    Kenrich was sweating bullets and was terrified not knowing where the blade was going to come from. The buildup is always the worst part. The mist had taken up a majority of the field at this point, so trying to run out of it would spell death as you would no doubt be cut down before you made it close¡­At least if you did not have a speed stone. Kenrich gripped the stone once again and darted through the mist. All he could hope for was that he would not trip on something. It was a gamble, but one that paid off. Finally, being able to see across the field once again, he marveled at just how large the cloud of mist was. He realized that he had come out of the left side of the cloud and knew that the creator of the cloud must be at the very start. He sprinted along the side of the cloud and sure enough, saw a masked man who was continuing to spray mist out, adding to the cloud. Their back was turned. Kenrich thought that this was as good of a time as any and shot a massive fireball from his sword straight at the back of the masked man. The man¡¯s limbs were separated from their body and the explosion thrust away the mist cloud with the sheer force of it. The masked man lay in several pieces opposite to the trajectory of the fireball which created a bloody and burnt mess of what used to be a human. Kenrich did not know how to feel, but buried the feeling deep inside him for later since the job was not finished yet. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    With the mist gone, the two remaining masked men and Violet were uncovered. They had both found Violet, who was injured in the blind fight. A rapier had made its way into her side. She gripped the wound with one hand while defending their blows with the other, but the sweat beading on her forehead and shallow breathing showed that she would not be able to keep up for long. Seeing this, Kenrich once again used the power of the speed stone and tackled a masked man using his momentum. Pushing them to the ground, Kenrich had made the man drop their blade, but he dropped his as well. Not knowing what to do, Kenrich, who was on top of the man, decided to start throwing his fist into their mask.The man took a few punches, but then managed to turn the tide on Kenrich, flipping him over and changing their dynamic. Now the man was throwing his fists into Kenrich¡¯s face. Kenrich was a strong man, but it was clear that this man was just as strong, if not stronger, and had much more hand-to-hand combat experience than himself. After a few moments, Kenrich¡¯s vision started to go dark, and he felt like he was going to black out.


    Violet was still in immense pain from her wound, which had punctured one of her kidneys, but knew that she had to do something so she fumbled in her pocket for the freeze stone which she knew could turn the tide of this battle. She found the stone and gripped it tightly and desperately. The masked man was still thrusting his rapier at Violet who was only able to smack it away lightly. The masked man seemed to be playing with her. They were not fighting to kill anymore. They got enjoyment out of seeing Violet struggle. Violet could sense this and knew that it gave her a chance to use the freeze stone if she played her cards right. She continued batting away the rapier thrusts lightly, but after a few similar light thrusts, she used all of her remaining strength to smack away the rapier with all of her might and power. She tensed her muscles so hard that blood shot out of her wound and started dripping from the corner of her mouth. The masked man was not expecting such strength and let go of the rapier which flew out of his hand. Using the moment of confusion to her advantage, Violet once again used the jump stone to shoot herself across the battlefield. She managed to get a finger on the masked man, and he was now stuck in place. Violet had immobilized the man, but she had little strength left. She was bleeding out on the ground now after her harsh landing. She looked over and saw Kenrich continue to take punches to the face and could tell he was not going to be able to stay conscious much longer. She did her best to try and get his attention while the masked man was busy pummeling him.


    Kenrich looked over and saw Violet holding up the black stone. He knew that she wanted to toss it to him, but he could not think of a way to catch it without it being intercepted by his attacker. He then had an idea.


    The masked man gave Kenrich one final punch, and Kenrich¡¯s eyes shut, and he stopped moving. Violet looked over in horror thinking that they lost. She screamed internally, thinking that it was about to be the end of their lives and the lives of many once Admia got the ring under their control. Who knows how many soldiers they would revive to host an infinite army, or how many times they would revive themselves to hold Admia under the same gruesome leadership for the rest of time, she was not sure if the ring could prevent death of old age, but she knew if anything could, it would be the Ring of Life. The masked man sat up and stared at Kenrich¡¯s unmoving body. Satisfied, the man got up and went to retrieve his weapon. Once the man walked towards his weapon, Kenrich¡¯s eyes shot open, and he looked over at Violet. She took a second to feel immense relief, then tossed the stone perfectly onto Kenrich¡¯s chest. He gripped the stone and thrust his arm at the masked man and grabbed his leg. The man froze in place.


    Kenrich let go of the man¡¯s leg and just sat up looking at the sky. His entire face was on fire. He could not see out of his left eye. His nose was broken. A few of his teeth were broken. His mouth was filled with blood. He just felt like total and utter shit. Remembering Violet¡¯s condition though, he got to his feet with a stumble and shuffled towards her pack which was on the other side of the battlefield. He got to the pack and put his hand in the bag, which got blood all over the inside of it from his bloody knuckles. He took out a healing stone and shuffled back to where Violet was. He kneeled next to her and put the stone into her weak hand. She gripped it lightly as a light green light enveloped her.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­¡± Cough! Cough! ¡°...two healing stones¡­dumbass. Go grab one for yourself,¡± Violet said, weakly. Kenrich nodded and went back towards Violet¡¯s pack.


    He knew that there were two stones, but all he could think about was getting her one. He did not think about healing his own wounds for even a second, even though it had become something that he was accustomed to over the past week.  She was in much rougher shape than he was after all. He secured a healing stone of his own and made his way back towards Violet. Low on strength, he laid down right next to her and gripped the healing stone. It felt good. The effects of the healing stone warmed his body. Violet and Kenrich laid together side-by-side, peacefully. The battle had been won, even if it was not pretty.

 Chapter 17 - Unmasked

    There was nothing quite like the feeling of laying down after receiving so many injuries. Their bodies were throbbing. Their vision was hazy. But, they knew that it was over, and that was enough to feel a hint of joy. The healing stone working its magic helped too of course. Healing stones are very useful when it comes to closing wounds, but the one thing they cannot do is replace the blood you have lost. Violet was feeling better now that her laceration was closing, but she would need a lot of rest to fully replenish her vigor. Another thing that healing stones cannot do, which Kenrich was just now beginning to realize, was regrow your teeth. Kenrich felt his tongue over the empty space that once contained one of his incisors and pushed out a pained chuckle. Sometimes when bad things happen, all you can do is laugh. There were so many questions that they both had, but the fact was, they were finally going to get some answers.


    The two masked attackers who had been frozen were still stuck in place and as far as they knew, they would stay that way until touched again while holding the freeze stone. This is why they felt enough safety to catch their breath and tend to their wounds. They both knew that they could not leave these masked men alive, which is something Kenrich tried to push out of his mind, while Violet, on the other hand, felt nothing of ending their lives, especially since they did everything in their power to end theirs. Their next move was simple. They would tie up the masked men and get the information they wanted out of them. Who are you? Why are you hunting us? (They were pretty sure of the answer to that). And a follow up, what do you plan to do with the ring? Violet was sure they would think of more questions as the interrogation went, but this was a good starting point in her mind. After around ten minutes of lying on the ground, Violet¡¯s wound was fully closed, and she was able to get back onto her feet. Kenrich was already sitting up at this point. He looked over at Violet.


    ¡°Are you okay to stand?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take a lot more than a hole in my stomach to keep me down. How about you? Can you stand?¡± Kenrich nodded and got to his feet with a wobble. ¡°That was nice work, Ken. You passed your exam.¡±


    ¡°Fuck the exam! How did they find us?¡±


    ¡°Calm down. We¡¯ll get our answers here, shortly. I¡¯m not at full strength yet, so help me tie these two up.¡±


    Kenrich tied the two masked men up and fastened them around a sturdy looking tree they found with Violet¡¯s instructions. Thanks to the freeze stone, they were able to manipulate their bodies easily and disarm them of all of their weapons and gems, rendering them powerless to both escape and fight back.


    ¡°Did you double-knot it?¡± Violet asked. Kenrich nodded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be going anywhere,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to¡­torture them, are we?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do what we have to in order to get the info we need. You can wait by Atlas if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, no. We¡¯re in this together. I¡¯ll help.¡±


    ¡°Just remember that they would do this to us in a heartbeat. They might try to make you pity them, but we can¡¯t, and we won¡¯t. They die here.¡±


    ¡°O-okay¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to unfreeze them now.¡±


    Violet gripped the black stone that had won them the battle and touched each of the masked men lightly on their shoulders. They rustled a bit then fixed their gazes on their captors. Kenrich looked especially nervous, while Violet had intense hate and bloodlust in her eyes.


    ¡°Good morning, sleeping beauties! We have a lot of questions for you! And you¡¯re gonna answer them all for us, okay?¡± Violet said in a cute voice that slightly disturbed Kenrich.


    They sat there motionless, waiting for Violet to make her first move. She walked over to the masked men and grabbed a hold of each of their masks. She ripped them both off easily and exposed a sight that Kenrich wished he had not seen.


    The masked attacker on the left was a young woman. She had a small scar on her cheek and her brown hair was cut very short. She looked no older than eighteen, which Kenrich hated. The attacker on the right was an older man. He had short black hair and many scars on his face. He looked like the dictionary definition of a hardened war veteran. Each scar almost certainly had a story behind it.


    ¡°Now we can talk face-to-face,¡± Violet said. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal, we want to know who you are, and how you found us, okay? Tell us now, or your deaths will be slow and painful.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°W-we ain¡¯t tellin¡¯ you nothin¡¯!¡± the young woman said.


    ¡°Calm down, Iris,¡± the older man said. ¡°Let me handle this.¡± The older man looked at the young woman with genuine affection in his eyes. The kind you see a father give to his daughter. ¡°Miss, I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know. All I ask is that you let her go. You can take all of our weapons, all of our gems, and I promise on my honor that she will leave and will not be a threat to you anymore.¡±


    ¡°H-hey! What¡¯s the big idea?! You can¡¯t just go deciding that for yourself, Alfie! We¡¯ll make it out of this somehow!¡± the young woman said.


    ¡°Quiet, Iris. Just let me handle this¡­please.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make this really simple for you two,¡± Violet said. ¡°Tell us everything we want to know, and you¡¯ll die painless deaths. That is the most you will get from us. You came out here and tried to kill us. Giving you a quick death is more than you deserve.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± the man said. ¡°And I am fully to blame as their commanding officer, but she was only following orders. She did not choose to join the Coalition of the Full Moon. It was forced upon her. Please¡­have mercy. I won¡¯t ask for any for myself. Only for her. She¡¯s too young to throw her life away like this. I¡¯m begging you.¡±


    ¡°If you truly believed that you wouldn¡¯t have had her out here trying to assassinate us. You did answer our first question though, so you¡¯re both much closer to earning a painless death. What is this Coalition of the Full Moon? What¡¯s its purpose?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything, I promise. Just let her go¡­please.¡±


    Kenrich could not stand to look at them. Seeing the man begging for that young woman¡¯s life was too much for him to handle. Violet had said to not pity them, but he could not help it. Even though he knew that he was the man who had broken his teeth, and she the girl who was toying with an injured Violet. Human emotion is a tough thing to kick without enough experience. Violet had a lot of that experience, but Kenrich only had a little, with most of it coming during this journey.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t do that,¡± Violet said. ¡°Just accept your deaths with honor like true warriors. I¡¯d advise that you start with answering the questions sooner rather than later if you want to meet your loved ones in one piece.¡±


    Kenrich knew that what they were doing was for the greater good, but he could not help but feel like a villain in this moment. All he could think about was how glad he had been that the masked man that he exploded into bloody chunks never showed him their face.


    ¡°Please¡­She is only a child,¡± the man pleaded.


    ¡°A child that seemed to have a lot of fun with me while I was bleeding out back there. Enough begging. This is your last warning. Answer our questions, or else-¡± Violet brandished her dagger in one hand while using a flame stone to ignite the end of her fingertip with the other.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Iris. This is the end of the line for us. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t keep my promise. Do we have your word that our deaths will be painless?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very well trained. I promise you won¡¯t feel anything,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°A-are you giving up, Alfie?! We always manage to make it out! W-we just need to come up with a plan!¡± Iris said. Her voice was shaking.


    ¡°They have us, Iris. I¡¯m sorry. Just close your eyes and think of home. I¡¯ll tell them what they want to know.¡±


    Iris let out a small, wet snort and tears started to run down her face. She closed her eyes.


    ¡°The Coalition of the Full Moon is a secret organization that has been around for hundreds of years,¡± the man started. ¡°It has never been under the control of any nation¡¯s government and has members spread out through all of Nebulan. Its only purpose has been to usurp the governments of each nation in order to unite the world under one flag. This world is broken. War rages in every corner of the globe and every nation cares only for their own ends. This division will keep taking lives, destroying families, and creating orphans until the end of time until real stability manages to bind everyone together. The coalition was made for that exact purpose. Our founder has a lot of skilled warriors and powerful gems under her control and her connections are far reaching. Information is power, and information within the coalition is spread quickly.¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with us, though?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have some idea. That ring you two are hiding, it¡¯s much too powerful to just keep under your control while parading around the land. If any nation comes into possession of that ring¡­it would be calamitous. The power to undo death with no consequences¡­no one nation should hold such power. That¡¯s why the coalition needs it! To keep it out of the wrong hands!¡±


    ¡°You say that like you are ¡®the right hands¡¯,¡± Violet retorted. ¡°You all just go out and indiscriminately kill people who you see as in your way! You trashed that gem shop back in Fril! You killed me! And I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve killed a lot of innocent people along your journey for ¡®unity¡¯. Don¡¯t make me fucking laugh, trying to act so noble!¡±


    ¡°Do you really think you can keep the ring safe on your own! It¡¯s only a matter of time before the Admian military captures you! Hell, they probably wouldn¡¯t even do that! They¡¯d just kill you both on sight!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you two aren¡¯t too different after all then,¡± Violet said. ¡°Enough stalling. Tell us more about the ring. It¡¯s plain to see that you know much more about it than us.¡±

 Chapter 18 - Moral Ambiguity

    ¡°What do you wish to know about the ring?¡±


    ¡°We used the ring to revive me with no issues, but we attempted to use it on a zombie, and it didn¡¯t work. What are the conditions of it working?¡±


    ¡°The legend must be true then¡­¡± the man said, thoughtfully.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kenrich asked. His mind was now thrust off of their captors'' impending deaths and put on the ring.


    ¡°Ancient texts that were passed down stated that the only circumstance where the ring would have no effect would be when used on a member of the undead. These ancient texts haven¡¯t existed for hundreds of years, so these words had only been passed by word of mouth, but if what you said is fact, then it must be true.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Kenrich asked. ¡°So, what about if someone dies of old age, or if someone loses their limbs?¡±


    ¡°Again, this is only what has been spread through word of mouth, but it was said that if you die of old age, your body gets reset by ten years once the ring is used on you. It was also said that no matter what, you will be brought back whole again. Whether that means you grow new limbs, or the old ones reattach, I do not know.¡±


    ¡°If the ring can undo not only premature death, but old age as well¡­¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°A tyrannical ruler could reign for eternity¡­¡± Violet said.


    ¡°That is exactly why the ring must be in the hands of people who will protect it,¡± the man said. ¡°Our founder would never let it fall into the clutches of any country¡¯s government. You two cannot protect the ring on your own.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve done a pretty good job protecting it so far,¡± Violet said. ¡°Besides, we aren¡¯t traveling aimlessly. We have a plan.¡±


    ¡°Plan or not, you will be found, and you will be killed.¡±


    ¡°Good thing the ring undoes death then, huh? Now, how did you find us?¡±


    ¡°Like I said before, information travels very quickly within the coalition. We knew of your acquisition of the ring only a day after you escaped from Millin. We tracked your movements from Lampeer to Fril, then Fril to Forge, and it was easy to tell which road you¡¯d taken from there. You¡¯re going to Aquarium, right?¡±


    ¡°H-how do you know that?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Those uneducated in politics always believe that Queen Puri is just and wants nothing more than to protect her citizens along with the rest of the world. They believe that Aquarium is a safe place. They believe that it would keep out the hands of foreign influence. But none of these facts are true. If you bring the ring to Aquarium, it would be no better than giving it to the Admian military! Queen Puri is no saint!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still the only chance we have,¡± Violet said. ¡°The only thing I know for certain is that handing over the ring to Admia, or to you guys, would bring unfathomable destruction to this world.¡±


    ¡°You are misguided. We only wish to keep it out of government hands.¡±


    ¡°Like I¡¯d believe that it would be so simple. Just like everyone else, your motives aren¡¯t pure like you claim them to be. No government, or organization should be able to wield such power. We will keep this out of the hands of you, and everyone else who would use it to create more destruction,¡± Violet said. ¡°Now, I believe you answered all of our questions. You¡¯ve earned yourselves painless deaths. Did you have questions for them, Kenrich?¡±


    Kenrich thought long and hard. He was not sure they would get an opportunity to ask members of the coalition point blank questions again. Especially a member as knowledgeable as this ¡®Alfie¡¯. He observed their uniforms for a second and a question that seemed useless at first was asked anyway for no reason other than curiosity.


    ¡°Can you explain these emblems on your masks?¡± Kenrich asked. ¡°This one only has a small white curve on the edge of the front, but yours is larger. They just don¡¯t make sense to me.¡±


    ¡°The masks are based on the phases of the moon. Our lowest soldiers have only a crescent moon, while those higher in rank have moons that appear more full due to their skill and position.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Seems you¡¯re all ranked pretty low,¡± Violet said. ¡°That man we met on the road to Fril though, his mask was almost completely white.¡±


    ¡°C-completely full?¡± the man said with a slight excitement. ¡°Has he seen your faces? He must have. I suppose the ring will be in the coalition¡¯s custody soon then.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°If someone with a moon that full wants you dead, then you will die. It doesn¡¯t matter if they take both of you on alone with no magic stones, they¡¯d crush you easily.¡±


    Violet felt a cold fear run over her. She noticed that the first fight they had lost, the masked men all only had crescent moons, and the fight today that they barely won, was the same minus the commander¡¯s whose was only slightly fuller. It was not even at half. If they had to face warriors even more skilled than these¡­What chance would they have? Kenrich felt similarly. The freeze stone was the only reason they were able to worry about this to begin with. Without it, they would already be dead.


    ¡°It¡¯s cute of you to worry about us, but I promise that we¡¯ll be fine,¡± Violet said, trying to appear confident for the sake of both Kenrich and her. ¡°Well, this was a nice chat, but we should really be getting back on the road.¡± Violet looked over at Kenrich. ¡°Go get Atlas ready¡­¡± Kenrich nodded. He knew what was about to happen. He started walking and tried to push out the sounds that were happening behind him.


    ¡°Is there truly no way you can let her go?¡± the man said.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t. I¡¯ll make it quick. You will both know peace,¡± Violet said, unwavering.


    Violet took out her broadsword. Iris opened her eyes after hearing the blade being pulled out of the sheath. She let out a small, defeated whimper, and her eyes locked with Violet¡¯s. Violet could see intense feelings of fear and loathing in her eyes. She did not hesitate. The swing of her blade was strong, elegant, and true. The sound of the young woman¡¯s head hitting the grass was the only sound anyone heard. The man gave out a guttural moan with tears welling up in his eyes. He looked up at Violet. Violet saw no fear and loathing though, only sadness and a small hint of gratefulness.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± he said softly. ¡°I didn¡¯t want her to see me die first. I appreciate you making it painless. She¡¯s been through a lot in her short life. She doesn''t deserve any more suffering. Now, go ahead¡­I¡¯m rea-¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, Violet performed another quick slash. His head hit the grass and rolled right next to Iris¡¯s. Violet took a deep breath and went back towards Kenrich after picking up the weapons and gems of each of the fallen members of the coalition, except the one that Kenrich had killed. Their body was too deformed, and their clothing had melted into their skin, so looting them was too much trouble in Violet¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Are we going to bury them?¡± Kenrich asked, holding Atlas¡¯s reigns.


    ¡°We have no time. I¡¯m sure we can count on their comrades to give them proper burials if they truly are as honorable as that man believes. Now, let¡¯s go. We should make it to Aquarium within the next couple days.¡± Kenrich nodded, but he hated that they left them out there like that.


    They finished packing up their campsite and went back to traveling towards Aquarium. They learned a lot during this unlucky encounter. Violet and Kenrich¡¯s minds were so full of new information and new fears that they stayed silent for the first entire day of traveling. Kenrich thought over and over about how they killed those people, and that the ring could truly undo any death as long as a corpse had not been reanimated. Violet¡¯s mind was full of the same fears of not being a strong enough warrior, and the fear of the Coalition of the Full Moon¡¯s members who had been tracking them during the majority of their journey. She knew they would meet again, and she knew that the next meeting could easily be their last. Over the next few days, Violet trained Kenrich harder than ever and he was now as competent with the blade as Violet could ask of him. She had taught him just about everything that she knew. All that was left was to hone those skills until they became instinct. This required time that they did not have any more though.


    They were now only an hour away from Aquarium. Kenrich could see the massive wall that surrounded the border, likely to discourage an Admian siege, and became nervous about what might lie ahead past those walls. Violet sensed this nervousness and did her best to lighten the mood.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ever going to get used to your new hillbilly look, Ken. You look more like a vagrant every day with that hole in your face.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you find it so humorous. Eating has been a huge pain in the ass.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure. Give up on being a vampire because no one would take a vampire with one fang seriously.¡±


    ¡°That was never an aspiration of mine¡­¡±


    ¡°Vampires are real, y¡¯know? Who wouldn¡¯t want to be immortal! That¡¯s the whole reason we¡¯re the most popular people in the world, right? Why don¡¯t they just get bit by vampires?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think people like the idea of having to change their entire diet from tasty food to nasty blood. Blood tastes awful. Besides, aren¡¯t they weak to like thirty different things? Also, since they¡¯re undead, they won¡¯t even be able to use the ring to revive themselves.¡±


    ¡°Those are all fair points but consider this¡­you could turn into a bat and fly! That¡¯s worth the risks, as far as I¡¯m concerned.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can get you bit once this is all over. You¡¯re not getting any of my blood though.¡±


    ¡°What if I get thirsty?¡±


    ¡°Deal with it on your own! I¡¯m not going to become your personal feeding bag!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so selfish¡­¡± Violet pouted.


    Violet was a strange girl. Kenrich had never met anyone with two very distinct sides like this. One where she¡¯s a coldblooded killer, and one where she jokes around and gets easily flustered. It was hard to gauge which personality was really her. Kenrich was just happy to be having lighthearted conversations again though. It was something they were going to need before the journey ahead. If there was one thing the masked man was right about, it was that Aquarium is not nearly as safe as it seems.

 Chapter 19 - An Improbable Utopia

    They started to approach the large wall that separated the war-torn nation of Admia from the safety of Aquarium, and all Kenrich could feel was a sense of foreboding. More often than not, when they enter new towns they always run into some problems, and now that they were entering a new country, especially with them coming from one known for starting many of the ongoing wars, he expected this pattern to continue. Violet cared not for what hiccups they might run into though. With how far they have come, and how much they have survived, she did not consider the border patrol of a pushover nation to be much of a threat.


    The wall was large and magnificent. It showed no signs of ever having been attacked before, and seemingly had no imperfections at all. Kenrich could only imagine how much a massive wall like this costs to build, but with not having to spend a single gez on water, he wondered if that balanced the costs out for Aquarium. The wall stretched into the horizon as far as they could see which made them believe that the nation was surrounded by this wall in its entirety. They were now within shouting distance of the front gate, and what they saw puzzled Kenrich, but annoyed Violet. All the guards that were on duty at the gate were sitting in a circle with their weapons laying in the dirt beside them. They were playing a card game of some sort. They did not seem to notice Kenrich and Violet coming at all. As they got closer, Violet made their presence known.


    ¡°So, can we just walk on in, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Pardon us, miss!¡± A tall guard with a young face said, dusting off his greaves as he made his way off the ground. ¡°We do apologize. We weren¡¯t intending to ignore you. It¡¯s just been a slow morning at the gate is all. We only need to ask you a few questions, then we¡¯ll let you in.¡±


    ¡°You say that like you intend to let us in no matter what,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Are you not wary of us coming from Admia?¡±


    ¡°And you say that like you wish I would turn you away!¡± the guard laughed. ¡°We don¡¯t turn people away. Our only job is to record the kinds of people that enter, that is all. Now, what¡¯s your business here in Aquarium? Are you refugees?¡±


    ¡°Does the queen hold that same sentiment?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Oh, of course! It¡¯s by her orders that we don¡¯t turn anyone away. She wants nothing more than to help anyone and everyone.¡±


    ¡°Is it common for visitors to be able to have an audience with the queen?¡± Violet asked.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± the guard held his chin. He was genuinely giving it some thought. ¡°Citizens often get some time with the queen if they have a good enough reason, like a concern or suggestion, but I don¡¯t know if she sees foreigners the same way. She¡¯s a very nurturing person though, so I¡¯m sure she does sometimes! Is that why you are here?¡±


    ¡°No. It was just a question I had on my mind,¡± Violet said. ¡°We¡¯re here to do some work at the guild. Is there one here?¡±


    ¡°Yes there is! Loch is like most cities in Aquarium, just follow the road straight out of the gate, and it¡¯ll take you to the heart of the city where you can check out the board and see if anything is to your liking. We¡¯ll let you through now, so welcome to Loch!¡±


    ¡°Loch, huh? Well, thank you,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°You both take care now!¡± the guard said, waving them off as they entered the city.


    Once they entered the gate and made their way down the streets of Loch, Kenrich saw similarities and differences as he thought about the time they had spent in Fril a few weeks prior. Much like Fril, the buildings were all stone and very sturdy looking, but that was about where the similarities ended. There were large canals that seemed randomly distributed across the city. Kenrich thought it made sense that a place called Aquarium, which houses infinite water, would have something like that, but he was not sure of the purpose they served. They did not house fish, there were no boats, and no citizens seemed to be even acknowledging them.


    Maybe they are sick of water, he thought, before realizing that was dumb, and that he was glad he did not say it out loud. A human being sick of water is a human sick of living.


    Another easily noticeable trait of Loch when compared to Fril was how the people treated one another. In Fril, people never acknowledged one another out in public and just tried their hardest to get to where they wanted to be as quickly and efficiently as possible, while in this city, Kenrich noticed that everyone seemed to be having a conversation with someone. People of all colors, ages, and sizes were chatting with one another in friendly ways. Maybe this was the difference in Admian cities versus Aquarium¡¯s cities.


    ¡°This place makes me sick,¡± Violet said, shivering.


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something so fake about all this cheer in the air.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you just can¡¯t stand being in a happy environment. Sounds like you¡¯re a little homesick.¡±


    ¡°My childhood was mostly fine, jackass! There¡¯s just something off about this place.¡±


    ¡°Coming here was your idea, so don¡¯t get cold feet now.¡±


    ¡°I never get cold feet. Just watch your back. If what that old man said was true, then there might be Admian soldiers or members of the Coalition in this country just waiting for their chance at us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t want to cause a public scene, so we should be safe for now.¡±


    ¡°Even so, just keep an eye out for suspicious characters. Especially in the guild. We¡¯re only going to ask for directions to the capital, so try not to make a lasting impression to any aspiring bounty hunters.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about you picking a fight with someone, so just let me do the talking.¡±


    ¡°People piss me off! And that was always your role, Ken, so work your magic.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    They made their way towards the guild at a slower speed than they would have liked with the great number of Hello!¡¯s and How are you?¡¯s that the citizens were throwing at them. Violet kept giving them all unfriendly looks, but Kenrich was happy to keep up appearances for the both of them. They were now outside the guild which was pretty standard for what they had seen so far. Like previously stated, most guilds are built under the same blueprints no matter the city or nation they are housed in. Violet got off of Atlas and tied him to a hitch outside before they entered. The feeling of deja vu Kenrich had felt managed to survive as they entered the guild as well due to another familiar sight.


    ¡°No, no, no! You¡¯re not getting it! 200% profit¡­MINIMUM!!!¡± A familiar voice said at the counter of the guild.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking tell me¡­¡± Violet said. ¡°Not this jackass again.¡±


    ¡°Do me a favor and wait outside by Atlas, okay?¡± Kenrich asked. He felt a ¡®lasting impression¡¯ incoming. ¡°I know you have a weird vendetta against all merchants that don¡¯t sell you horses, so let me take care of gathering the info.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna hold a vendetta against you if you don¡¯t stop treating me like a rabid dog!¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t supposed to make a scene, right? I promise that I¡¯ll handle it. Spend some quality time with Atlas while you wait.¡±


    ¡°Whatever¡­¡± Violet said, before making her way out the door and over to Atlas.


    She rummaged through her bag and got him a carrot. After giving it to Atlas, she felt happy for the first time since they entered Aquarium as she joyfully watched him chew with a cute smile on her face.


    Kenrich, who was still in the guild, waited for his chance to ask the receptionist for directions but wondered if the loud, familiar voice would know. Unfortunately, he forgot about a previously made promise to that voice.


    ¡°Sir, please don¡¯t spit so much when you talk. There¡¯s no guild who will take this deal, so please give up on it for my sake and the sake of other guilds around the globe.¡±


    ¡°See! That¡¯s how I know you weren¡¯t listening! I¡¯m not talking about total sales, I¡¯m talking about profit margin. Working with me will slice those overheads in half! I can get you the same amount of product for half the price! Now, shake my hand!¡±


    ¡°You need to leave, or I will call for security.¡±


    ¡°I can see you¡¯re not in a cordial mood today, so fine, I will leave. At least take my business card for when you change your mind though. But, wait too long and it¡¯ll be too late! I¡¯m heading straight to Paradise Falls to talk to Queen Puri herself, and I know someone as refined and intelligent as her will understand the profit to be made. Good day, ma¡¯am. Please send my regards to the guildmaster,¡± the green-clad merchant then spun around and started walking towards the door.


    ¡°Just a word of advice, the receptionist is a little crabby toda- Hey, wait¡­ Don¡¯t I know you?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Kenrich. We met over in Fril at their guild. It¡¯s funny to see you again in the same circumstances, Farrell.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Kenrich! It¡¯s nice to see you! I could never forget such a polite young man such as yourself.¡± Farrell offered his hand which Kenrich accepted. ¡°Where¡¯s the gloomy lass?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s outside feeding our horse. What brings you all the way out to Aquarium?¡±


    ¡°Business of course! It¡¯s always business. What about yourself?¡±


    ¡°We are trying to make our way to the capital in order to get an audience with Queen Puri. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know the way, would you? We don¡¯t know this land very well.¡±


    ¡°Oh-ho! My boy, what a chance meeting this is. This must be fate. I do know the way, and I also believe that you owe me a favor from last time¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kenrich had completely forgotten. ¡°I suppose I do. Did you have something you needed a hand with?¡±


    ¡°I sure do! Two sets of hands actually. I¡¯m making my way towards Paradise Falls myself, and I was going to hire some labor to help me make my way there, but if I can pay you in information and with being your guide there, I¡¯d say that we can make a deal that benefits the both of us.¡±


    ¡°You could lead us there?! That would be wonderful! What was it that you needed help with?¡±


    ¡°Just some grunt work. I have goods that I need to transport to the capital so that I may convince Queen Puri to make a deal with me. She is not the type of person who shakes hands without seeing proof of a man¡¯s words.¡±


    ¡°Will we be enough to carry it?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem! You two will do just fine. Should we add your companion to the negotiations, or do you make the final decisions?¡±


    Kenrich thought long and hard about this question. He knew that Violet would not like this idea one bit and would insist on finding the place herself, but Kenrich knew that this opportunity was too good to pass up. They could have a guide straight there, and he could ask questions to someone who actually knew about the country they were in, which would make him feel a lot better about their mission. Information is power after all. Those ignorant to the ways of the world are bound to be taken advantage of by it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that no matter what he did, Violet would almost certainly not like it, so he took some initiative.


    ¡°I do speak for us,¡± he said. ¡°And, I agree to your deal.¡± Kenrich brought out his hand for Farrell to shake who took it gladly.


    ¡°Wonderful! Being able to move all the inventory I purchased here for free is more than I could have ever asked for. Let¡¯s go tell your companion the good news!¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Kenrich said. He was not excited about this.


    They made their way outside, and saw Violet tending to Atlas with her back turned. After hearing the door close, she turned around and her eyes widened as she saw the two of them standing side-by-side.


    ¡°You did not¡­Did you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We have¡­reached a deal. We can repay our favor too,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°You really trust this con-artist?! And favor for what?! All he did was tell us where that damn gem shop in Fril was!¡±


    ¡°And it was very helpful. It granted us more time which is very important right now, and this deal will grant us even more. He¡¯s going to guide us to the capital.¡±


    ¡°In exchange for what?¡± She folded her arms.


    ¡°Just some grunt work, miss!¡± Farrell answered.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a damn grunt!¡±


    ¡°We only need to help carry some of his wares, V. It¡¯s a good deal for us.¡±


    ¡°Kenrich here told me he speaks for the both of you, so you should be happy he even values your opinion, miss.¡±


    ¡°Speaks for me?! My ass he does! The answer is no. C¡¯mon, Kenrich. We¡¯re leaving.¡±


    Kenrich knew that he could not let this deal fall apart if they were going to get to the capital quickly, so he went over to Violet and mustered all of the charm and charisma he held and went to work at convincing her to bear with it.


    ¡°Please, V. Do this one thing for me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust him, Kenrich. For all we know he doesn¡¯t have any idea how to get there. We¡¯d do better just finding the place ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Violet put on a frustrated face. ¡°After all we¡¯ve been through, I can say without a doubt that I trust you¡­So, do you trust me, V?¡±


    Kenrich could tell that Violet was about to break. He knew that she had a soft spot in her, and after all the training, near-death experiences, and actual-death experiences, he gambled on the belief that these all meant something to her, like they did to him. And, his gamble paid off.


    ¡°I do trust you, Ken, so fine. I¡¯ll let you have your way, just this once. But, if this turns out badly, I will throw in your face the biggest ¡®I told you so¡¯ in human history. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Thank you, V. I¡¯m happy to have your trust. I won¡¯t make you regret it.¡±


    Unfortunately, the coming events would prove again that Violet¡¯s intuition is usually right.

 Chapter 21 - A Lesson on Stones

    Now that the deal had been officially made, Kenrich and Violet followed Farrell to an inn that was a few blocks away from the guild. They wanted to leave as soon as possible for a plethora of reasons, but most of all, it was Farrell who could not seem to stand to wait a second longer to hit the road. Once arriving at the inn, Farrell took a few moments to gather all of his things while Violet and Kenrich waited outside. After a few moments, Farrell was lumbering out the front entrance dragging some large sacks behind him which were filled with the goods they were about to transport. They realized that the pile of burlap and paper that they were contracted to start hauling was not nearly as massive as they thought it would be, and once it was separated amongst the three of them, the weight was nothing more than that of a large bag of flour.


    ¡°Any stops you two need to make before we saddle-off?¡± Farrell asked.


    ¡°We have plenty of supplies, so we should be good to go,¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°Wonderful! Then let¡¯s not dilly-dally!¡±


    The group then made their way out of the town to start their journey to the capital of Aquarium, Paradise Falls. As they left Loch, they noticed even more canals that were running through the open space outside of the city. It looked as if the entire country was connected by these canals, regardless of if there were people around them. It seemed like a massive waste of resources to Violet, but Kenrich could only think about how cool the idea of it was. While it is true that Aquarium has unlimited fresh water, they would still need the labor to dig these canals across the entire nation which rivals Admia in size. This sort of infrastructure would definitely be unheard of in Admia where many cities are left to rot by the government if they do not have immediate military use.


    ¡°So, how long of a journey do you think this will be?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Two days if we hurry,¡± Farrell said. ¡°Think less about reaching the destination and more about the journey though, my boy! There¡¯s no feeling quite like being on the road!¡±


    ¡°We¡­don¡¯t exactly have the best luck on the road,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°It¡¯s nice to have you along though. We know nothing about Aquarium having been in Admia the majority of our lives.¡±


    ¡°I still think we could have figured it out,¡± Violet said. ¡°You better not lead us on a longer route, green-coat. We need to be there as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Green-coat? That¡¯s a new one. Not as vulgar as I¡¯m used to though, so I¡¯ll take it as a term of endearment my dear,¡± Farrell said with a hint of humor in his voice. ¡°I promise that it will be as quick as I can make it. I have business at the capital too after all. There will be very few stops we need to make.¡±


    ¡°There better be no stops.¡±


    ¡°There is a deal I have to make in Ravine, but it will be quick and it¡¯s right on the path straight there. It will take a few minutes at worst.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to be your damn entourage! We have no time to wait for your scams!¡±


    ¡°Scams?!¡±


    ¡°V, please. It¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯re already getting a pretty good deal with this stuff being the only cargo we have to carry. We can waste a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too damn soft.¡±


    ¡°Both polite and reasonable? You¡¯re truly a rare breed, Sir Kenrich!¡±


    ¡°Just Ken is fine, Farrell. I¡¯m just happy to have you on board.¡±


    Violet sighed and rolled her eyes.


    They traveled on the road for a few hours, passing through a few cities before dusk started to settle in which caused the group to pull over to the side of the open road to set up camp for the night in a nearby forest. Violet hitched Atlas to a nearby tree and Farrell did the same with his own horse. The sun was almost invisible in the sky now, and the forest they set up near gave them cover that made both Kenrich and Violet feel at ease for a bit. They both could not completely let their guards down though after what happened the last time they set up camp. They were not sure how the members of the Coalition appeared so quickly in their camp and until they knew, they could not be sure it would not happen again. Violet¡¯s first thought was that it was a gemstone that gave them this power, but of the gemstones that she found on their bodies, none of them had an ability like that. Just some more speed stones and some mist stones. The camp was now set up, and everyone was prepared to settle in for the night.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take first watch,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°Okay, but make sure to wake me up in a few hours so I can take my turn,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°You need to make sure to get some sleep too.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± Violet said. She was not a very good liar.


    ¡°I can stand watch as well,¡± Farrell said.


    ¡°Can you even fight?¡± Violet asked, dismissively.


    ¡°I travel alone often, miss. It¡¯s hard to be always on the move if you can¡¯t take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to carry any weapons,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°These stones are all I need-¡± Farrell showed them an assortment of different colored stones in his palms.


    ¡°That¡¯s an impressive amount,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Can you use them all?¡±


    ¡°Of course, my boy! My father owned a gem shop, and he taught me how to control a vast amount of them from an early age¡­I could even show you a thing or two if you wanted. I¡¯d definitely consider myself an expert in this area.¡±


    ¡°Well, actually he alread-¡±


    ¡°Really?! You will?!¡± Kenrich said, cutting Violet off. ¡°Do you really not mind?!¡±


    ¡°Of course not! Go ahead, pick a stone at random and I¡¯ll show you the best and most efficient way to use it.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Violet, why don¡¯t you sleep first then? Farrell and I will take the first watch.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an expert in gems too! What about our lessons?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a great teacher, but it¡¯s not often I get to learn from a different source, y¡¯know? Besides, there are stones here I¡¯ve never seen before!¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Have fun. I¡¯m going to bed.¡±


    Violet did not know why, but she was a little irritated by all this. She decided to do her best to get some sleep.


    Farrell began telling Kenrich about the many types of gems in the world and showing him the ones that he had that Kenrich was unfamiliar with. Kenrich learned that most gems fall into one of four different categories: passive, creation, offensive, and the Shift Stones. Passive stones were ones that enhanced someone¡¯s abilities without the need to activate them through any physical means other than being in contact with the stone or wearing gold jewelry with them embedded. These included water breathing stones, speed stones, jump stones, etc. Creation stones are known for creating different matter through activation of them. This includes stones that create fire, ice, lightning, wind, light, as well as photograph stones, glitter stones, healing stones, etc. Offensive stones (which sometimes overlap with other categories) are stones that are often used by militaries for dealing damage in battle. Some examples include fireball, weapon creation, raise zombie, lightning spear, ice spike, etc. The last category, the Shift Stones, include all of the known most powerful stones in the world which Violet had explained the concept of to Kenrich a few days earlier. Kenrich already knew about the Liquid Ring, which was held by Queen Puri, but Farrell told him of some that he had never heard of before. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Knowing about the Shift Stones is important for any merchant. There are five that are known by the public as of today. Whether or not there are more out there being used without our knowledge, who can say? But I believe that there are many more out there. It¡¯s likely that there are plenty that are being hidden from the world for one reason or another.¡±


    ¡°Y-you think so?¡± Kenrich said.


    ¡°I do. A great burden it must be for them. Keeping secrets is not something that humanity is very good at for long periods of time, but I digress. Let¡¯s continue our study of the Shift Stones.¡± Kenrich nodded. ¡°Alright, so you are already familiar with the Liquid Ring, so the next to discuss is the Night Ring. It is not known who holds this stone, but it has been confirmed to exist and to be within the nation of Darkvent. If I had to guess, it would almost certainly be under the control of their government, but they vehemently deny that fact.¡±


    ¡°Why would they deny it?¡±


    ¡°Darkvent is a nation of little intrinsic value on its own, which has kept it safe from conquest for many years. The land is filled with swamps, marshes, and most notably ¨C darkness. If word got out that the government had the stone, Admia would certainly break down their borders and take it by force. As of now, Admia still suspects that they hold it, but without proof, they can do nothing more than window shop within Darkvent hoping to stumble upon it.¡±


    ¡°Since when has anything ever stopped Admia from starting a fight with someone they know they could beat?¡±


    ¡°I tend to agree with you, but the power of the stone itself is a deterrent. Knowing that is within the nation, but not knowing where, creates too much risk for even Admia¡¯s military.¡±


    ¡°So, what does the Night Ring do?¡±


    ¡°It creates a massive army of warriors made from shadow that obey the wearer of the ring.¡±


    ¡°A ring that creates an army out of nothing?! How could Admia help themselves from taking something like that?!¡±


    ¡°Darkvent is a difficult nation to traverse, and if they manage to use the ring within the darkness of their land, it would be able to push away any army, even Admia¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t they use it to fight against Admia then?! The rest of Nebulan suffers every day from the way they bully the world¡­If they have this type of power, why not use it?!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a catch to using the stone, sadly. Once there is light in the sky, the clones disappear. If they were to fight any battles, they would only be able to fight during night. That¡¯s why the stone is so useful for protecting a place that is draped in darkness constantly. If they were to plan an assault though, it would not go well for them.¡±


    ¡°So, they can only use the stone for defense? That really is unfortunate.¡±


    ¡°It truly is a shame, but at least those within Darkvent are safe under that stone¡¯s protection¡­I can only imagine what a stone like that would go for on the market today¡­¡±


    ¡°I doubt you¡¯d be able to sell it before they flay you and take it from your cold dead hands,¡± said Violet from within the tent next to them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say something so frightening!¡± Farrell yelled.


    ¡°Sorry Violet, are we keeping you up?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to sleep anyway with what happened last time we tried to relax,¡± she said while leaving the tent. ¡°Besides, this is a history lesson that I¡¯m interested in. Go on, pickleman.¡±


    ¡°Pickleman? Now we¡¯re getting closer to what I¡¯m normally called. Alright, Violet. Feel free to sit in on the lesson.¡±


    ¡°I could be the one giving the lesson. I¡¯m only here to observe. This is all information I know already.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why haven¡¯t you shared it with Ken here?¡±


    ¡°We were getting there!¡±


    ¡°Regardless, I¡¯ll continue on with the lecture and save you some future work. The next known Shift Ring is the Meteor Ring which is allegedly held by the nation of Shangloo in the north. This stone has the power to change the weather in a very wide radius.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­Shangloo. I haven¡¯t thought about that place for years.¡±


    ¡°Have you been there before, Violet?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°My first military expedition was there. It was one of the few places where Admia lost a few of the battles.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were a soldier, Violet,¡± Farrell said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not anymore. That was a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­But, yes. The war with Shangloo was definitely closer than most expected it to be,¡± Farrell said. ¡°The Meteor Ring played a key role in that.¡±


    ¡°How would changing the weather help them in battle?¡±


    ¡°During a lot of the battles, Shangloo would plan an extreme weather change that would directly affect Admian troops based on what we were wearing. If they saw us bundled up, they would throw in a heatwave. If they saw us with lighter wear, they would throw a blizzard at us. It was like that throughout the whole war. It was a horrible time to be an Admian soldier. I can still feel the frostbite on my fingers and sunburn on my neck¡­¡±


    ¡°Did Admia win the war?¡±


    ¡°They did,¡± Farrell said. ¡°There was great sacrifice, but Admia did not let up. They now lead Shangloo as a sort of puppet-regime.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you said the stone is allegedly there?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°Correct. Admia claims to have made peace with Shangloo, but no one is stupid enough to believe that. They control their government, and they have almost certainly taken the Meteor stone as well, even if they deny it.¡±


    ¡°Why would they care about any of that?¡± Kenrich asked. ¡°Everyone is aware of Admia¡¯s aggressiveness, so who are they trying to fool?¡±


    ¡°Very few people are buying it, but those who are, are the only ones that need to,¡± Violet interjected. ¡°The rich and powerful of Admia that know nothing of the horrors of war, or the effect that Admia has had on the world, love their blissful ignorance.¡±


    ¡°Violet is exactly right. It¡¯s nothing more than to keep good relations with their biggest donors who claim to dislike war and conquest while keeping their fingers in their ears and their eyes closed to the truth.¡±


    ¡°What a sorry state of affairs¡­¡± Kenrich sighed.


    ¡°It truly is. It gets no better either because the next Shift Stone is the Death Ring which is kept within the Admian military.¡±


    ¡°With a name like that, there¡¯s no way it can be anything good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not good, but I would consider it the least powerful of the Shift Stones,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°You should not underestimate it, Violet,¡± Farrell said. ¡°It still has the power to grant death to anyone who the wearer comes into contact with. It works through clothing and armor as well, so it is a force to be reckoned with.¡±


    ¡°Even so, it can only be used once per day.¡±


    ¡°That is true, but I can¡¯t help but think that there are things about it that we still don¡¯t know. Admia controls all the info that we know about the ring after all.¡±


    ¡°That''s a scary thought,¡± Kenrich said. ¡°Being able to kill someone every day is still a horrifying power to have.¡±


    ¡°A nice, heavy club gives you that same ability though,¡± Violet said.


    ¡°The only stone left that we haven¡¯t discussed is certainly the most powerful, but it¡¯s also the one with the least known about it. It¡¯s the only one of the Shift Stones that has never been completely confirmed to even exist even though everyone is being told it does by the World Church.¡±


    ¡°The Stone of Creation?¡± Kenrich asked.


    ¡°So, you knew of it already?¡±


    ¡°Only from a few religious lessons I had back in my hometown. They didn¡¯t really tell us much about it other than it being the first magic stone to exist and how it was said to be used to create our world.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a dumb fairytale,¡± Violet said. ¡°If you believe that a tiny rock made a bigger rock that was thousands of times the size and filled it with people, then you should be put in a mental ward.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re not the religious type then, huh, Violet?¡± Farrell asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a way to try and control people and have them do your bidding. The World Church is run by a bunch of freaks who are only vying for power. That stone doesn¡¯t even exist.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it does, maybe it doesn¡¯t, but regardless the World Church does hold a lot of power. I wouldn¡¯t be so eager with your lack of belief as we make our way through these towns. Many would see you hanged for such words.¡±


    ¡°Like I care.¡±


    ¡°You should. The power of the majority is enough to overwhelm most opponents. Anyway, that is the end of my lecture on stones for tonight. I can show you more tricks and teach you some more another tim-¡±


    Out of nowhere, they heard an intense rumbling around them. As Violet looked through the brush of the forest, she saw many sets of red, glowing eyes.