- ORIS, PRISON CAMP -
The brilliant sunlight radiated its light behind Darrel's closed eyelids to stir him awake, Darrel squint around and was surprised by his sight.
'How long had it been since I last saw the sun?'
Darrel could barely recollect the last time he saw the light of the sun, it felt like a lifetime ago when he first woke up in this world. A lot of things had happened since he came to Morland, but none of the events have been in his favor.
He opened his eyes to admire the sunlight passing through the leaves and branches of the tree he and his party had slept under, Darrel smiled as he basked in the sun's warmth and noted how Luca and the others did the same as they rested their heads on their crossed arms and let the relaxing radiance abash them.
"Aye, it's been far too long."Greyan mused aloud.
"Maybe it could be permanent?" Orimik yearned with a sigh.
"I thought goblins adored dump and cramped spaces." Greyan bellowed with laughter, and Luca joined in the fun.
Darrel remained still as he cherished the little time he had outside until the clicking of armor interrupted their peace, and Darrel was reminded of how fleeting this freedom truly was, and for a moment, it all felt like it was just a dream.
The party went silent and watched as the Holy Knights made their way towards them, Calestian went ahead of his superior and ordered them to form a straight line in front of the Lieutenant.
"Attention!"
Calestian's voice was firm, but his tone seemed to be void of any malice. Darrel was surprised at this change as he and the others quickly stood up and presented themselves.
Soon the Holy Knights came before the party together with a few other prison guards, Lieutenant Seuvial was adorned in the same golden armor with intricate patterns on the chest piece, as she held her unique helm between her arm and abdomen letting her golden hair flow freely.
Even though he was her captive, Darrel could not help but acknowledge the Lieutenant's beauty, her near-immaculate features seemed like they could allure any mortal, but his gaze seemed to shift freely.
'Where is that unpleasant woman?'
Darrel wondered as his eyes jumped from one mortal to the next, he recalled a hooded figure concealing herself in a deep purple robe when they exited the dungeons yesterday, and before he could muse any further, the figure appeared from within the crowd.
"You..." Darrel muttered under his breath as the figure in the purple robe spoke with the Lieutenant.
The figure had similar facial features to the Lieutenant, and the only difference was the color of her hair as it held a more pale hue than the Lieutenant's golden tone.
When the two had finished conversing between themselves, they turned their attention to Darrel's group and approached them. Darrel recalled how in awe the guards had all been the previous day in her presence.
'If I recall correctly she's supposed to be a renowned mage.'
Darrel pondered on his blurry memories, the guards and everyone else appeared to be in reverence of her, but Darrel did not understand what made her so special.
The mage stood in front of Greyan and with her eyes aglow, she gazed straight at Greyan for a moment, then she turned her attention to Orimik who she peered at with a proud gaze before walking over to Luca.
"You are a peculiar creature." She uttered curiously. Luca smirked and looked away, satisfied the mage walked towards Darrel and smiled as she stood before him. "Now for the main event, the mighty spell-less wizard himself, Dar-rel."
Darrel smirked and took on the challenge, he stared back at the mage's glowing gaze and withstood her cloying beauty.
"Greyan, a former soldier in the Royal Army stationed in Quaria. After his disgraceful discharge, he was sentenced to serve thirty-five dungeon minings in Oris as punishment."
The mage stated as she drew away from Darrel, when Darrel looked at Greyan he could see the bitterness on his face.
"How did you...?"
Greyan stuttered then looked away. The mage smirked, and then she glanced at Orimik who seemed to know what was coming.
"Orimik, an erstwhile brigand of a notorious crew that was obliterated in their attempt to rob a Moriandian noble's caravan." Orimik's face twisted with disgust. "Twenty-six thieves went, but only one remained, to serve forty dungeon minings."
Orimik raised his head as if to respond to what the mage had said and without a word he shrunk back.
Darrel was unsure of what the mage had done to the two, but she seemed to be revealing things that they purposely left unspoken.
"Little is known about the sneaky thief, but having been caught asleep in one of Oris prison's food stores, the former warden found it right to assign twenty-five dungeon minings." The mage stated whilst staring at Luca. "But we all know the truth of what really happened, right Luca?"
Luca smirked and Darrel felt the cold aura from him, it appeared that the mage had unveiled the darkness that hid within Luca.
'Dungeon minings huh.'
Darrel had been versed in the art of it all, but he had yet to understand what it meant when a prisoner was tasked with dungeon mining, nor did he know the origins of such an oddly named activity.
"Excuse me? But what exactly are dungeon minings?" Darrel inquired abruptly.
Everyone seemed taken aback by his question, even the mage appeared stunned by his bold query.
"Dar-rel, sadly there is little background information about you, apart from the fact that you are a renowned spell-less wizard who assisted the Greyhearts in their escape, and later managed to defeat two squires."
Calestian looked away as though to avoid the subject altogether, the mage noticed his demeanor and then queried him.
"Tell me, squire. Was it mana that blasted you away?" The mage asked Calestan.
Seuvial knew of his squire's temper, but as a test to measure his growth, she remained silent and awaited his response.
"Yes, it was mana." Calestian replied without complaint.
The mage smirked.
"Indeed it was, the real question outta be, what sort of spell was that spell-less wizard Dar-rel?"
Darrel remained silent, having confirmed that Calestian was one of the squires he had defeated during his battle with the Holy Knights, now Darrel finally understood the animosity he initially had towards him when they met again in the ninth dungeon.
"Muriel, get to the point."
Lieutenant Seuvial called out to the mage impatiently, she seemed to have been fed up with the witty verbal jabs. Muriel, the mage rolled her eyes at the Lieutenant, then she withdrew from the prisoners and stood in the center of the two groups.
"Every mortal in Morland is ranked under a particular Echelon, from the lowest on in the Demotic rank to the pinnacle of the Echelon in the Divinic rank." Muriel explained with ease.
Darrel's interest was piqued since this was the knowledge he had been seeking.
She then pulled out a wand from her robe and began to wave it around like a cantor in an orchestra, and the tip of the wand glowed a faint white color as she pointed it from one prisoner to the other.
"It's hard to believe that none of you can be counted even into the second rank of the Echelon, no wonder Seuvial had to come down there to save you weaklings." Muriel sounded disgusted. "Woe to you all, for my dear cousin personally invited the greatest Rank-Master in Morland to improve your strength, and by the time I am done, you will all wish you were down there dungeon mining like the rest of the weaklings!"