"Can you be a little more positive?" asked Reeve, as he nudged her head.
"Oww! What was that for?" she pouted.
"Try to be sensitive, will you? Anyway, which way are we taking?" asked Reeve.
"It would be wiser if we could go with this road. The two roads eventually reach the capital, but this one takes the longer approach", the driver explained, while pointing at the roads. He went ahead to point out the pros and cons of using each road, something Reeve didn't think was necessary, but still listened.
"Umm… so we're taking the longer route?" asked Wynn.
"Yes, Miss. We have no other option. If we're to get there alive, then it's better to err on the side of caution", advised the middle-aged man, as he began to climb the caravan again.
"So, how much money did you manage to get?" asked Reeve.
"Well, seven gold coins, five gold watches, three diamond necklaces, ten silver watches and forty silver coins", recounted Riza, as her mouth curled up.
"Woow! In such a small time? How many people did you rob?"
"It's not robbing if they aren't going to need it. I mean what are they going to do? Return from the dead to demand their things?" Riza smirked.
"Is that enough to get us into Artemine?"
"I'm sure it is."
"What a lucky coincidence then."
"What do you mean lucky? People died!"
"So? Are we the ones who killed them?"
"Eh? Seems you're actually worse than me! You're very odd!" as she said this, she began moving towards the caravan.
Reeve was left standing, as he scanned his surroundings. He noticed that most of the corpses had their heads cut off, which was unsettling. However, what was even more peculiar was that some of them had been charred, left only with a strange symbol branded on their unburnt flesh. There were also the small light particles floating around. Just like the time with Soren, they were all orange in color.
"Are you coming, or should we leave without you?" Riza yelled.
"I'm coming!" he hurriedly left.
So, just like that, they ended up taking the longer way. This delayed their journey by an entire day, and when they saw the rising walls in the distance, everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The entire journey had been very tense, as everyone was afraid of being suddenly attacked by whoever had killed those people.
"Wow, these walls are very high. Whoever constructed these walls must have had an entire treasury as his budget. I mean, look at the moat! What purpose does it serve for a city of this magnitude?" Reeve complained.
"Eh? What are you complaining about?" asked Riza.
Withing a few minutes, they arrived at the city gates. The gates were made of wood, and massive seemed to be the wrong word to describe them. They were gigantic!
"HALT! State your business!" said the captain of the guards, who was standing by the gates.
The driver coughed slightly, before he began to converse with the captain. A few minutes later, he handed over a purse with silver coins. It was only then, that they were allowed to pass through.
After they went in, Soren, Eskaria, Reeve and Riza disembarked from the caravan, and bid farewells with Wynn, who continued.
"So, what do we do now? It's already late!" asked Reeve.
************************
Meanwhile, inside the palace, there was an ongoing battle. This battle was taking place in the basement, which others might call the dungeons. However, the reason why it had been described as the basement, was because it was a large, empty room. And this room was located at the lowest floor of the castle. Thanks to this room being so large, it became the perfect place for battles, or training, depending on who was using it.
Currently, the room was in a very sorry state. There were craters in the floor, or rather, what was left of it. There were cracks in the walls, and the roof was cracking, causing some sand to drop from it. Besides the cracks and craters, there was smoke coming out from the cracks.
"Congratulations, you have managed to force me to use magic, even though it was very little of it. You have potential to achieve more. Therefore, you four have passed my test!" announced a middle-aged man, who was wearing a purple robe with golden designs.
Besides this man, there were four other people in the room. There were three males and one female. All of them had one characteristic, and that was their haggard appearance. Their clothes were tattered, and their hair was disheveled. They had bruises all over their faces. One of the three males propped himself up using what had once been a spear, but was now a small stick.
"Th-thank … y-you …y-your m-majesty", he stammered, as he panted. "Y-you're too kind."
"From now onwards, you four shall be known as the Shadow Guard. As long as you manage to pass my training, you shall become very powerful. What I simply want from you, is to help me to find the foundation stones!" replied the middle-aged man.
The four looked at each other in total confusion.
"Don't worry too much about the details. For now, you should rest and nurse your wounds. We'll talk afterwards!" as the man in the purple robe said this, he began leaving the basement.
After making sure that the king had left, the man who had propped himself with a stick earlier suddenly plopped down.
"You know, I never thought I'd live to witness the day the mage-hunter was beaten to a pulp by a mage", said one of the men, with a chuckle.
"It took four of us to force him to use magic. And we didn't even manage to scratch him! Mage hunter or not … no one can beat this monster!" the man who had the stick said, as he threw it away.
"Oh? You sound sure …" the only female person in the group spoke. She had blonde hair, tied neatly at the back by a ribbon. Actually, the correct description would be, her blonde hair was somewhat tied at the back, with what seemed to be the remainder of a ribbon. And this remainder was actually smoking.