"So after you three had left the dungeon, you came across the bodies of dark mages, correct?" King Robard asked.
Ace nodded.
"Yes. And Bayaz claimed that he could smell the scent of Severus nearby when we came across the corpses. Other than that, there was nothing worth mentioning."
It was a mystery why the dark mages were lurking so close the Legendary-rank dungeon. It was also unknown as to what killed all of them. One thing was obvious, the dark mages were up to no good.
Ace went on to speak.
"I wish I could stay and help with the issue of the dark mages. But as you know, the threat overseas is a big deal. It was one I should've never taken my eyes off of. I must begin my trip overseas immediately."
"No worries. This kingdom is well over-equipped with forces to deal with the dark mages. As for the ship you requested, it should be arriving in the town of Feildor by tomorrow morning." The king stated.
Normally, getting a ship for travel was an easy task and would only take a couple hours, but for awhile now, there has been a shortage of supplies, items and ways of traveling.
"I'll be sure to head on over," said Ace.
"I ask that you wait on leaving. I have someone else who is in need of a ship headed to Ashetira. Since we already have one arriving, I thought sending them with you would be easier. I hope you don't mind."
Ace shook his head as he wouldn't mind having company during the trip overseas.
"But if I may ask, who will this person be?"
"Her name is Amaya. She's a legendary-ranker."
Hearing her rank brought many problems when traveling to a distant kingdom such as Ashetira. Ace began to speak on what those issues may be.
"But sir, you know that's not a good idea. The ruler is always on guard, what if he sees her as a threat. They already don't like me, but her appearance is sure to start trouble."
The king shook his head, and started to reassure him it was fine.
"I've already taken care of that. I had a passport made for her, but I had her name changed. I'll also be having her change up her appearance."
Sending Amaya overseas as a legendary-ranker may have a negative effect between the two kingdoms. But, if they weren't aware of her presence, it wouldn't be a big deal.
"Why go through so much trouble? What is it she needs to do?" Ace asked.
"Well, there's no proof but, Amaya claims to have information on a hideout of the dark mages. She even offered to go investigate and even take care of it. The location happens to be in Ashetira. She has helped our kingdom a lot, I trust that she is telling the truth."
After hearing the explanation from the king, Ace understood, but there was still something that didn't make sense. Sending in one person alone to investigate the dark mages was a sloppy decision.
"Why just her? That's not smart considering the dark mages have many tricks. Even a legendary-ranker like her isn't safe alone."
"And that's where you come in. Being in the same kingdom, you could both assist each other."
"Hm. I suppose that does seem to be a good idea. Being nearby will allow me to lend my help to her if needed."
Still, Ace couldn't make any guarantees that he'll be able to help her at any given time. But he would at least make an effort.
King Robard then reminded Ace of the time.
"That's fine. As long as you try. You should get going now. Amaya will meet you in Feildor at the docks at sunrise. Take care of yourselves and stay safe."
Ace took a respectful bow in the presence of the king, before telling him "No need to worry. Though, as a protector I can't say I'll be safe, but I'll most likely survive any dangerous encounters. Well then, I'll be heading off now."
That was when Ace Skyman turned away and walked out of the room.
___________________
Meanwhile….
A boost in confidence struck Amaya's chest as she looked in the mirror. In preparations for the trip overseas, she had changed her looks a bit. Her hair was now dyed black, and with special contact lenses, her eyes were shown to be as blue as the sky. Too herself, Amaya found her new look to be satisfying.
'Wow. I didn't expect this new style to look so great on me. Or maybe I'm just being too confident about it.'
Amaya grabbed a paper off the counter and read it.
{Name: Sapphire Slater
Age: 24
Occupation: Magic Instructor
Birthplace: kingdom of Therngo
Height: 5'6
Overall Stats: 1,689}
This was her new identity for the time being. Amaya was instructed to not show her strength and power in front of others as it held a risk to exposing her. Secondly, she was to introduce herself to anyone as 'Sapphire Slater' a magic instructor at a university in the kingdom of Therngo. Last but not least, Sapphire A.K.A Amaya was to not discuss her real reason for visiting the kingdom of Ashetira. She would have to come up with her own cover-up story.
"My passport looks fine. I guess I could live as a different person for a while. I should probably change my pattern of speech and start talking all polite and smart, huh?"
Amaya let out a cough, clearing her throat and putting on a serious face, looking at the mirror. She was about to practice her acting skills.
"Hello, my name is Sapphire Slater. May I have your name as well? Hm, what a nice name. It's a pleasure to meet you. Oh? My Job? I'm a magic Instructor for a university in the kingdom of Therngo. What Is my reason for visiting? With the semester at the university I teach at being over, I thought it was about time for a vacation."
Amaya smiled and lifted her fist into the air above.
"Aha! Nailed it!"
From her own self-observation, Amaya felt that she had already had her new identity near mastered. However, she hadn't talked to anyone else as 'Sapphire' so she still had doubts about her acting.
'I guess we'll just wait and see.'
Amaya gave one last glance at her reflection in the mirror, before grabbing her bag of luggage and heading out the door of the Inn.
'I even went all out to prepare for this trip to look normal. I bought some new clothes to match my new self. Hopefully I look professional and all.'
For now, Amaya was trying to keep her emotions in high spirits, but it still didn't change her anger towards the dark mages.
She took a slow, deep breath, calming her nerves.
'I'll get Emi back. I won't kill unless there's no other choice.'
But that was something Amaya didn't have to worry about until later. For now, she only needed to focus on walking over to the town of Feildor.
Sunrise…..
(Town: Feildor)
Amaya approached the docs where a large ship was waiting. The drifting waves and the morning ocean breeze was beautiful. The most delightful thing Amaya had encountered in a long while. As she walked closer, she met with a man who had spiky light-blue hair and ruby red eyes. His name was Ace Skyman.
"So, you've made it. Shall we get going?" he asked.
Amaya nodded.
"I'm ready when you are."
"Great. Let's head on board."
The two of them set foot onto the ship and found a place to sit as they started to move away from land, drifting across the blue water of the ocean.
Amaya scratched the back of her head, nervously, while she spoke.
"Hey, uhmm.. about attacking you at the dungeon..I'm sorry."
Ace watched over the rail, at the view of the shining sunrise, along with the ocean waves.
"Don't worry about it. In your situation at the time, you believed your allies were dead. It's hard to expect someone to act sane in such a situation."
He completely understood what she was thinking at the time. It was fortunate that she attacked him instead of someone else. If it were Bayaz or Anguis, they most likely would've fought back with intent to kill.
"Thanks for understanding. " said Amaya.
"Just some advice for the future, don't let your emotions get out of hand."
With Amaya's emotions jumping from sad, to mad, to joyfull, there were no promises that she would be able to control her emotions in the future.
"I'll try." Amaya replied.
"Heh. I suppose that's good enough. Well, I'm going to head to my room and go through some things."
Ace then placed a key into Amaya's hands. On the tag was the number '4' written.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"That's the key to your room. The number is the room number. My room is number six, visit me if you need anything." Ace answered.
Amaya gave him a sure nod before he moved on.
The heaviness of being tired weighed down on her shoulders. Letting out one long yawn, her eyes watered up.
'It's been a good day since I got some sleep. I should probably rest since there won't be much else to do.'
It was going to be at least a week or 2 until they finally reached their destination. Until then, this was Amaya's opportunity to sit back and enjoy a break from trouble.