"Heiki, wake up!"

"Huh?"

Haru, who was already on his guard, began to draw his rapier using his right hand.

Sinister feminine sneers reached the ears of Heiki, who pulled his long sword from its scabbard with his left hand.

The two young men had cold sweats at the approach of these cryptic laughs getting closer to their location.

Suddenly, a long serpentine tail passed the veil of darkness that ruled this part of the palace in ruins, gushing at full speed at Haru.

PENG!

The clash in between the scaly mass and Haru's rapier generated a loud shriek which echoed around the palace.

"A Lamia!"

Haru retreated a few steps because of the power of the blow. However, during their brief exchange, his eyes have managed to seize the vague appearance of a woman with serpentine features.

The blood red irises of the creature managed to pierce through the wall of darkness, their brilliance being able to scare the most seasoned warrior.

Seemingly unaffected, Haru adopted a perfect posture of fencing by moving his left hand behind his back while placing the blade of his rapier vertically and symmetrically in front of his face.

"「Heaven's Piercer! 」"

He broke his posture during the following second, before making a quick thrust forward. The rapier's blade immediately guided the air around Haru, forming an extremely sharp wind blade that gushed towards the Lamia.

PENG!

Without even hurrying, the serpentine creature swept the blade of wind as if it was nothing by waving her scaly tail.

She then put her gaze at Heiki who was busy attaching wooden cases on the back of what appeared to be a large wyvern with green scales.

"Haru! How many are they?!"

"Forget their number, we won't even be able to kill one! She managed to deflect my「Heaven's Piercer! 」as if it was child's play! We run!"

Heiki having ended his task in a hurry, climbed immediately on the back of the wyvern.

"Ina!"

Hearing the call of one of her masters, Ina quickly opened her eyes. For much of her life, she had lived in this ancient war-torn area and was thereby, always ready to face the danger at any time.

On his side, Haru was evading the multiple assaults of the Lamia with a disconcerting agility and precision. His attempts to counter-attack all failed because the scales of the creature were as solid as his rapier, which was a magic artifact. He opted for a strategic retreat, slowly backing towards the position of his wyvern.

Rheeaaahhr!

The sound of Ina's roar began to shake the ruins, summoning a gigantic meander of tree protuberances which surrounded the Lamia on all sides, preventing her from continuing her assaults.

"Well done, Ina!"

As a Sylvan Wyvern, Ina was a magical creature that had complete control over nature. Because of this, she was a great ally and an extremely valuable mount for the Merchants.

Haru wasted no time and executed a powerful jump from his position to land on the scaly back of the wyvern, right next to his twin brother.

"Fly!"

After receiving her order, Ina began a frantic race in a straight line, ravaging the walls of the palace already in ruins before deploying its beautiful wings whom greenish scales shone.

The majestic creature immediately took flight, destroying what was left of the roof of the habitation while rising high in the sky.

From this height, it was possible to see the entirety of the ruined, ancient city—now dubbed Whiteshadow. The large buildings and huge towers that were piercing the sky testified of the glorious past of this ghost town. Unfortunately, they serve now as shelters for the monstrous magical creatures that populate the ravaged lands in the West of this continent.

Heiki admired the view below him, beginning to utter in a depressed tone:

"I see that we are still not ready to participate in the selection. Ksh..."

"Don't say that, Heiki. The Lamia come from deepest lands of this continent, west of the Crystalshadow Valley. This is an area which novices like us cannot even dream to access. In fact, we've never put feet in this famous Valley. We've just been unlucky enough to come across one of these creatures so close to The Gate." Haru replied while smiling, wanting to comfort him.

"Yes, but... During selection, we are obliged to pick up goods from the Deep Lands, right? The Crystalshadow Valley is the limit that separates these dangerous land and the Shallow Lands to which we are accustomed. Most Merchants who will participate in the selection have already set foot in the Crystalshadow Valley at least once." Heiki retorted immediately, doubting some of his brother's words.

"Don't worry. There's still nine months before the beginning of the selection. We have just to train hard and find even more powerful magical artifacts. But first..." Haru showed a big smile while observing the landscape below him.

They had just flown over a huge chain of mountains, which separated the Forgotten Realms from the rest of the continent. These mountains are called The Gate and serve as a wall that separates these two different worlds.

A little further on, a small village was visible, hidden between two hills. Their bell began to ring at the approach of the huge wyvern.

"We will honor our title as Merchants!"