A teenage boy moved down the road with a smile on his face. He was no more than 14, and had long since outgrown the small city he was born in. He wanted adventure, and he was going to find it.
He set out at 13 once he reached manhood, longing to be a hero like the myths and legends of old. He was not weak, having a fair bit of magic potential, as all adventurers do. But not enough to be a mage. Instead, he turned to the Adventurer's guild. They saw his potential after he got first place in the recruitment exam, and he got to choose a skill book. He chose 'The Dexterous Hand'... A powerful set of skills that used internal mana to strengthen one's body and give one speed.. the most valuable part were the sections on dagger combat and poisons.
His light leather armor was snug on his body in the cool of the early evening. It was much better than the mid day heat that made it stick to his skin like a wet blanket.
Brandishing a dagger he stopped, looking around. His internal mana skill, 'heightened senses', gave him good hearing, and something was heading his way through the woods.
He smiled. They were exactly what he was looking for... Slime Fiends...
The guild gave him his first mission as a D Rank Adventurer, to go off and kill 5 slime fiends that were terrorizing a small village near Grey Stone. He was all too eager to get started... more importantly they came to him, he didn't even need to look for them.
The rustling in the woods grew louder and a large dark blue creature, oozing with slime, stepped out of the wood and into view. It reeked of death and decay, probably due to the random bits of bone that allowed it to hold a loose form.
A parasitic slime, the slime fiend devoured corpses and used the bones to make a loose skeleton, giving it much greater mobility than an average slime. Much more deadly...
He readied his blade, a small dagger that had a green tinge on the tip of the blade. He feared back and threw it true. It spun in the air and struck the slime with a soft splash, as it sunk into it's transparent body.
A moment later it stopped moving and it's blue body started to darken, the slime jiggling as it convulsed. It would have screamed if it could, the poison coursing quickly through it's body before the dark blue slime turned black and fell to the ground with a splash.
All that remained was a puddle, the bones, and his dagger.
He moved towards the corpse and used a cloth to pick up his blade and wipe it off..
"One down... four to go..." the young man said, sheathing his dagger as he turned to move down the road...
...
Alder stood stunned. Lock eyed with the mage to his front.
The dark robed man had taken a couple steps forward and began to speak, "Give up boy... You have talent but it matters not.. I can take you back in one piece or you can lose another hand right here. All I need is you alive..."
The bleak words sent a chill down Alder's spine but he didn't waver. He wasn't sure how the man was faster than he but he didn't want to find out what would happen if he was going to be caught. He turned and ran...
"Flash!"
A crack of thunder and a spark of lightning and the man was standing in front of him again. Alder was dumbfounded... This was nothing like the Goblin Lords... This was much different... This was a Mage...
"I don't think you want to test me again... I may be an external mage but I can chant rather fast..."
"What do you want?" Alder asked, clenching his fists, ready for anything.
People in the street had escaped quickly. Some standing at a distance to watch while others closed their window shutters tightly, wanting nothing to do with the commotion.
most stood close enough that they weren't in the way, but not far enough away that they wouldn't be able to see the magic. A once in a lifetime spectacle for peasant and nobles alike...
Cheers erupted as the mage appeared in front of him. But alder didn't hear it. The mage didn't seem to care either..
"I don't know... that isn't for me to know.. Just come with me now.." The robed man replied.
"No.." Alder said defiantly. He wasn't going anywhere. He was going with his friends.
Even if he had to get through a real mage for it to happen...
The wind whistled as the usually noisy town stood silent.. The two figures standing across from one another.
Suddenly the air sizzled and began to heat up, as the mage muttered a few words. Alder wasn't going to give him the chance...
From what he could see the man was an external mage, and from the tome he understood what their weakness was: casting time...
He shoved his foot hard into the ground and dashed forward, trying to close the 50 foot gap between the two... 40... 30... 20...
He could see the grey in the man's beard and the white of his eyes from the distance, and hear the words as he spoke. "Vera Lete..."
Alder heard the last two strange words clearly as the mage raised his hand and a flash of light blinded him...
"Boom!" He flew backwards, a sharp pain in his shoulder. It burned as he hit the cobbled road hard.
"Son of a whore!" He yelled at the mage, immediately standing up.
He dashed again, quicker this time, shoving back the pain.
The mage seemed surprised but immediately began chanting... it was too late... Alder readied a swift blow to his jaw with a closed fist, feeling the crunch of bone as the robed man fell.
He didn't stop to check if he was going to get back up as he turned to run.
People all around either yelled in anger at him or cheered him on...
He didn't care...
He was pushing his legs as fast as they would go, and fought back the fierce pain in his shoulder.
He knew he had won only through catching the powerful mage off guard, a smile crossing his face though... "fucking pricks..." he thought to himself as he dashed for the gate...
...
"When do you think he's coming?"
"I'm not sure... let's get him to sunset..."
The wind swept through the oak and birch all around. Two figure stood off the road, looking intently down the winding path towards Grey Stone, with it's magnificent walls and green fields all around.
They both wondered if they would ever return.
There were no people on the road at that time of day, most if not all having either having set up camp or reached their destination. There were a lot of superstitious people that believed the night brought terror. Demons and monsters... Not that they were wrong.
Laelia and Fenian were quiet as they looked on expectantly. They expected to see Alder come trodding down the path. But he didn't...
"What are you two doing out this late at night?" A voice said gingerly.
The pair jumped in surprise and turned to see an older boy in full leather armor, with adventurer gear on his back and side. He had a wry smile on his face and piercing green eyes that seemed all too playful. All too dangerous.
"Haha, don't be spooked! I'm no slime fiend!"
"Slime fiend?" Laelia asked, she was wary of the strange boy, and Fenian moreso.
"What else would you be doing out here standing around unless you were hunting the slime fiends. But ah, not to worry, I took care of them all." He assumed a smug grin, and stood in a half pose, as if he was waiting for some reaction.
"Umm what's a slime fiend?" Laelia asked. The boy nearly fell over, realizing he lost his chance to brag and show off. He tried to recover his pride though and said, "dangerous slimes that Devour corpses and can gobble you up and eat you whole!"
He tried to strike fear in their hearts, but neither seemed unfazed. His eyebrow twitched.
"Hum-humph" the boy coughed, "right... Nothing to worry about with a brave adventurer like myself around.. you two may go on your way then. Best not to hang around there might be more slime fiends..."
Laelia rubbed her eyes, not wanting to deal with the buffoon who popped up out of nowhere. The glance she and Fenian shared showed her he felt the same..
"Well.. we are waiting for someone."
"Aah waiting? Well, I was going to set up camp for the night anyway... the city is.. what?... two hours walk or more from here? Come now! Join me! I haven't had company for quite a few days."
Fenian and Laelia talked it over for a moment and decided to rest and sit with the fellow.
"Great! I can tell you all about my adventures!"
The two sighed and rolled their eyes...
..
The fire crackled as three people lay sleeping in the dirt. Fenian was grateful for the quiet. Especially that the young adventurer had shut up... he was very self obsessed. Laelia didn't seem to mind though after a while, relishing in the stories of foreign cities and the adventurer's guild at large. It was a mystical fantasy story to her, the street rat of Grey Stone who had seen the same 4 large walls for most of her life.
Fenian watched the fire burn, listening as the locusts sang in the night.. a comforting sound. He always felt most at peace in the woods.. Much due to his ancestry of course.
A hereditary calling to the wild...
He breathed in deep, and watched Laelia across the fire sleeping soundly. The silly girl... But she had saved his life. For he had been all too willing to end it all... She gave him life, a reason to live... He was grateful...
The sky was dark and cloudless, the moon far from full, so that the stars were the brightest lights around. White and yellow dots that pulled him in, and made even his stoic mind wander... to wonder...
"Step... step..."
Fenian turned, and saw a bruised and battered Alder trudge into the camp.
"I made it... like I promised..." he said, before he fell down on the ground. Fenian jumped up and dashed over, worried for his friend. He felt for his pulse and let out a sigh of relief, "idiot." He said. He positioned Alder's body to make him more comfortable and let him sleep...
He didn't bother to wake Laelia or the nameless adventurer boy, instead returning to his own spot by the fire so he could finally get some sleep himself...