Two kids, around the same age as Harvard. One with nothing more than orange garbs and a red cape that drooped down to the ground, with enough width to wrap around the boy's body. He was holding a book of some sorts, flipping its pages to learn what it was up against, his grey, long hair sometimes being in the way, having him move it away a bit to get a better look at his story. The other was wearing a count's clothing, black and gold with a dark blue cape and a white undershirt amidst it. Bandages were seen wrapped around. . .their feathers? Harvard would look closer, and realize the second wasn't really a human at all! It was a bird, or rather, a Bird humanoid. Dark Blue feathers to compliment his cape, a black beak to compliment his clothes, and golden eyes which would quickly notice the child. Harvard backed away a bit, as he realized he was spotted. "Uh....hi there!" Harvard waved his hand in order to be friendly.
"Oh! Hiyah to you too! You don't look like you're around here huh?" The bird, which seemed to be called Stolas, quickly swooped down, investigating the card magician and his friend, circling around the two, seeing their clothes, lifting their arms, looking at their eyes, and, being a tricky bird he was, giving Harvard a noogie upon his head, with the two laughing and Harvard trying to pull away from Stolas' grip. The Bird halted himself prematurely and let go, much to the other's annoyance.
"Alright, Alright, We get it. They're newbies in this city. You guys have names or somethin'?" The one wielding a book would ask.
"Harvard! Harvard Helsing! My friend here is Zazel!" Zazel would assist in Harvard's introduction with a simple salute to act as a wave.
"Stolas! Stolas is my name! Grumpy McGrumperson here is Solomon. Don't mind him that much." Stolas would joke, with Solomon raising an eyebrow as he closed his book.
"So what exactly are you doing here anyway? Gonna assume it has something to do with the quests, right?" Solomon's question would be answered by Harvard nodding quickly, casting a spell to cut through between the space of him and the board itself, letting him reach there near instantly. The quests presented towards Harvard seemed to look simple enough: A Robbery in a nearby Museum, a Part of a kingdom where it needs Surveillance, A Local Disturbance made in one of the coastal regions, most likely from the Docks they saw when flying past it, and a supposed gang who wishes to usurp the very kingdom they were in. There seemed to be one more mission involving a Circus, but it doesn't look all that intrinsic, so he'd figure it would be a good place to relax and wind down once the previous four were taken care of. All four has themselves different motives, and all four of them are missions he took extra interest in, at least in Harvard's perspective. He'd take the paper and folds it a bit, inserting it upon his pockets, as he hears the two continue to talk.
"We're just gathering our stuff from Pop's place before we set out! Maybe it could be a little base for us! You wanna come with?" Stolas would be already heading out of the Tavern, pulling out what looked to be a map regarding the entire kingdom itself, barren as it was. Such length of the map allowed Harvard and Zazel to realize that Salvandi was a lot bigger than they imagined. Zazel would at first try to answer with a nod, confused as to where exactly they would end up, before Harvard would interject with a proposal.
"Hold it! Let's make this interesting, eh? How about we do a race? First one to get there gets first come, first serve at whatever mission is there! We could even take turns in doing the missions!" Such a challenge posed would provoke two reactions. One from Solomon whom he was a bit shocked he'd propose it, sighing as he would realized what would come up from it next, while Stolas would have a smile start to show. A Confident smile. A Smile of pure adrenaline, as he laughs to himself and accepts such a challenge wholeheartedly, showcasing his more active role compared to Solomon's passive-esque treatment.
"A Race you say, eh? Alright! I can work with that! Best make sure you don't get lost against us, got it?" Such confidence brimming would also instigate Harvard to smile widely, being just as competitive as Stolas, as they made their way outside. Zazel chuckled to himself nervously as he realized what is going to happen, most likely assuming it was a bad idea since they were more experienced at where they are. Nevertheless, he follows them out, with Solomon being the last to leave. Zazel would notice that Harvard got himself an extra copy of the Map in question, most likely duplicating said map through magic to use for their own knowledge.
"Ok! So the main finishing line is over...HERE!" Stolas stated, pointing directly towards what looked to be a house, which seemingly holds the six-pointed star with circles at its end. The landmark that symbolizes what the kingdom is known for. "...Aaaaaand Anything Magic-related is fair game, Deal?" Stolas would add further, Harvard nodding aggressively as he took his spot in running, Solomon and Zazel being behind their friends to act as a guard, a figure to keep an eye out and to dismiss the spells that may come to them.
"On your marks..." Both Stolas and Harvard dug their feet into the sand, their hands almost clawing at the debris.
"Get Set..." The two smiled strongly, with Zazel and Solomon being shortly behind.
"GO..!!!" With Stolas' cry, both blasted off from their location directly through the lands, Solomon and Zazel following in pursuit, having their makeshift ways of blocking out the sand. For Zazel, it was his Sigils. For Solomon, It was his book.
The Race was on.