Rastel opened his eyes after experiencing the now familiar flashes of light that preceded logging into the game. He was still laying comfortably on the bed and Myra was nowhere to be found.
Getting off the bed, he didn't hesitate to go down the stairs and look for Myra. After discussing his plans with Natsu some more, he had decided to hurry off to Kurn before the expedition should move.
Considering they knew nothing of the politics at play or how serious the conflict at Aysver currently was, they ended up going for the 'earlier the better' route.
He didn't find anyone around the inn as he went down the stairs so he headed outside. He went out to meet the glaring morning sun. There were signs of the settlers been busy as they moved about doing one thing or the other.
He looked around but couldn't find Myra, it was only after a moment that he found the old man ordering some of the men to move some wooden crates somewhere.
"Old man" he greeted him.
"Hmm" the man looked a bit anxious unlike his usual demeanor. He looked distracted and fidgeted a bit but still paid attention when Rastel said he was looking for Myra.
"Oh the little girlie? Well, ha…. She must be around the stream with the rest of the children. Don't worry, someone is looking after them. We just wanted them to relax a bit as we would be moving soon.
Rastel was curious. "Moving? Where would you be going?"
The old man looked at him for a moment as if he had asked a stupid question before realization suddenly dawned on his face.
"Oh, right. Yer a summoned. It is that time of the year yer see, the blood moon." The old man's face was still a bit tense as he answered him.
Rastel was about to repeat what the man said but quickly realized how stupid he would sound. He didn't take long to recall what the man was talking about either.
In the world of Age of Magic, there were 14 months to constitute a year with 26 days for each. There was no concept of names for days. A day would be known by its number in a given month like say, the tenth day of the eleventh month and so on.
The sun appeared in the day and the moon came out at night, it wasn't that much different from the real world in those regards but there was one great disparity that happened in AOM that took players by surprise the first time they experienced it.
'The blood moon' Rastel mulled over it in his mind.
The blood moon, the red moon, the demonic moon. Many people had coined different names for this phenomenon but it still signified the same thing.
On the first day of the eight month, at exactly the half point of a year. The moon in the world of AOM would turn blood red!
If that was all there was to it then the impact wouldn't match its reputation but the effects it had were far too significant in the world.
The first was the drastic increase in demonic activity. Demons were universal enemies of every race in AOM. Unlike the other races, this group of powerful chaotic beings filled with pure madness seemed to get excited with the appearance of the blood moon.
There were countless theories and such as to why this was but no conclusion could be reached. It wasn't hard to see why some called it the demonic moon.
The second was the increase in the appearance of magic beasts. Whatever caused the blood moon seemed to have an influence on mana.
The amount of mana in the environment would increase drastically and create an environment where more magic beasts would evolve. This wasn't always a good thing for them though as the chances of beasts going berserk from absorbing too much mana increased also.
This effect didn't extend to the different races though. The given explanation according to the lore was from the beastmen priests of the different temples of the gods. The said it was the 'benevolence of the gods.'
There was also something about primordial beasts around the world getting restless but as no player was strong enough to even approach one, nobody really knew if that was true.
Considering all these problems was already a headache before adding on the fact that the effect would last the remaining half of the year!
Looking at the settlers hurrying around, Rastel couldn't help but ask. "Old man, what is today's date then?"
The old man smiled bitterly at the question. "The 26th day of the 7th month."
'So, they only have a day left?' Rastel was perplexed as to why they waited this long.
"Don't look at me like that, normally a small squad of soldiers would have come by now to escort us to one of the towns surrounding Kurn but it seems something happened. We have no choice but to move ourselves now unless we want to die" the old man looked annoyed but also helpless at the situation.
"Don't interrupt me now, I already told you where the girl was so be on your way." The old man walked away before he could say anything.
Rastel stopped to think for a bit before moving towards the direction of the stream. It didn't take long and soon heard the sound of children splashing happily in the water
There were about 15 of them and they seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves as they splashed happily in the shallows. Rastel couldn't help but show a small smile at the scene.
The spot was a bit far from the miller's house but it could still be seen. Looking towards the direction, he felt as if his insides twisted for a bit before sighing. There was nothing to be done now.
He turned to look for Myra and found her on the bank with two other people. The first was a man with a tough countenance. Looking at his build and the numerous scars on his body, Rastel could easily see that he was a fighter.
'The one sent to protect them hmm?'
The other person was a small girl with short black hair and brown eyes. She was sitting down by the bank and was sadly looking at the direction of the abandoned house in the distance while Myra and the man could be seen trying to comfort her.
Rastel recognized her as the girl he had saved that night and sighed once again before walking in their direction.
It was only when he got close that they noticed his presence and Myra was obviously the first to call out.
"Hero!" she looked genuinely happy to see him.
He just smiled and waved his hands to tell her not to bother with him for the moment and then nodded at the man who promptly nodded back.
The small girl whose name was Lana didn't even look up and was still staring in the direction of the house. Rastel saw Amba sitting in her arms probably given to her by Myra to comfort her.
He felt awkward because he was here to pull Myra away so they could leave but he also felt it would be insensitive for him to leave just like that.
"Lana, look, it is hero. He was the one that saved you" Myra called out to the little girl.
Rastel wanted to say 'When did I save her? You were the one wiping out an army of undead!' but kept his mouth shut.
The girl finally looked up at him with a forced smile before standing up to greet him.
"Thank you for saving me." She said simply.
Rastel just hummed a bit under his breath but didn't reply. He looked at her hands still tightly clutching Amba before pointing out.
"Do you like him?" he asked her.
She looked down at Amba's still form before nodding her head vigorously. Rastel nodded a bit while smiling as he could hear Amba's violent protests to save him.
It seemed that the golem was sleeping before and only woke up when he sensed Rastel's presence. Whatever it was that made him tired of accompanying the two girls, he had no idea.
Rastel turned around to look at the surrounding forest filled with trees and shook his head. His gaze then turned to the miller's house across the stream and in particular, the dried out logs of wood arranged just outside the house before moving towards it.
Myra was curious but waited quietly for Rastel to come back. He easily crossed the stream filled with laughing children and went down to the destroyed house.
Taking out the immortal's blade, he cut out a huge chunk from one of the logs before crossing back and meeting them.
The girls curiously followed him as he sat down under a nearby tree and concentrated on working on the piece of wood. Using the first strike of the carving series, he proceeded to quickly carve out the rough shape of a miniature golem.
Myra and Lana watched in awe as he quickly worked through the dry hard wood and before long, the features of a golem similar to Amba was depicted on the sculpture.
Lana still had her mouth wide open as he handed over the sculpture to her. He had received a notification for creating the sculpture but he ignored it.
Lana gave Amba back to Myra as she took this new sculpture in her hands. She looked at it lovingly before hugging it in her arms and looking up to Rastel.
"Thank you! Thank you very much!" this time, her thanks seemed much more sincere than before.
At this point, the other children playing in the stream had been drawn by their curiosity and crowded over. Seeing one of their own getting a new 'toy', they were instantly eager to get their own.
One boy was particularly quick to request for one which got all the children cheering in support.
Rastel was honestly shocked and a bit happy that they had liked his sculpture that much even though he felt it wasn't really up to par but looking at the number of children.
'We won't be able to leave now if I had to satisfy all of them.' He covered his face with his palm as he saw the children's burning enthusiasm.
He turned to look at Myra, she was smiling happily with Lana as they compared the two golems. Amba of course felt indignant for being compared with what he considered a half-baked sculpture but didn't show it.
Rastel chuckled at the golem's thoughts before coming to a decision. 'I hope I don't regret this, it should hopefully play out well.'
When he agreed to make them more dolls, the children cheered happily and the buff man who was in charge of looking after them volunteered to bring back a few pieces of wood from the miller's house.
Rastel proceeded to take his time and make a sculpture for all the children from the settlement. He had already decided, he would wait for them to finish packing and escort them to the area surrounding Kurn where they would be protected by the lord's soldiers from the effects of the blood moon.
The scene actually looked tranquil, children running happily through the shallows with their new toys, the girls sitting just in front of him giggling at one thing or the other and Rastel working away like a slave as he tried to make dolls for the ever demanding and ever restless group of children.
Very tranquil indeed.