A little white-red bird was 'knocking' at the window. It was standing upright on the railings with only its claws grasping on it. The railings were 5 centimeters thick, but it is made up of reinforced iron, a cheap but sturdy metal you can certainly trust your life on.
But what grabbed Mark's attention is not the bird nor the railings, but the red letter attached to its legs. At this point in time, Mark's injuries were almost healed up, at least on the surface. He got up from his bed and opened the window to the balcony. He grabbed the bird by its feet, afraid it would fly away, then undid the string on its feet and took the letter and threw it to his bed.
He did all this in 5 seconds because he was scared by the bird's flapping. It was flapping when he was taking the letter from its feet, so after taking it, he immediately let it go.
The bird fell a bit but managed to fly away from his window. The bird was fast, so fast that it was gone from his sight only after a few seconds. That doesn't mean it reached far though, only that maybe it already reached its destination? But that's a topic of tommorow.
As Mark saw the bird fly away from his window, he looked at the direction it was flying and closed the window. He went back to his bed and saw the red letter. He sat on his bed and opened the letter. On it was some strange symbols, glowing as if lava.
It then glowed brighter, until a few seconds later, the glow was as blinding as the sun, strangely though, the light did not emit heat. After a few moments later did it disappear. The letter disappeared.
Mark was shocked and scared, he looked for it all around his apartment. He even searched his bathroom, yet when he looked at the mirror, a symbol that looks like a knife is stabbing a symbol that looks like an eye appeared on his forehead. It was small, just by the corner of his forehead, but Mark was alarmed at this development.
He was terrified! This morning he fought against some people who were asking for money, then later a red letter that presumably brought these symbols to his forehead. Coincidence? Mark thinks otherwise.
"These events must be connected somehow." Mark murmured to himself.
"Those people must have been a part of some gang or something." Mark thought.
"But why would they waste a treasure such as this to... curse? me? Is it even a treasure in the first place? What the hell is happening!" Mark was saying all of these out loud while he was scratching his head, hoping for answers.
*knock*knock*
"Oh sh8, is it them again?" Mark thought, he then slowly walked towards the door. Slowly opening the door, he peeked out and saw an unfamiliar man holding a bunch of papers.
"Hello sir!" The man said, shocking Mark for a bit, but he didn't let it show on his face.
"Wha What?" Mark answered while shivering lightly.
"I was wondering if you are interested in joining the Warrior School south of the city next month! We are opening again for more enrollees! The fee is only 10 silver and if you pass the entrance exam, you can live inside the school with free lodging and 3 meals everyday. You then have to pay 5 silvers each month for the teachers. The specifics are in this flyer. Feel free to go to the school anytime you want to apply for enrollment, the entrance exam begins next month. See you there!" The man spoke really fast as if he memorized this speech already. He handed a piece of paper and quickly left. Mark was standing at the door unable to process what just happened.
Only a few moments later did he went back in his apartment and closed the door.