Madoka luckily made it to the tavern before the rain started pouring, ordering a bowl of soup to drink for dinner she eavesdropped on the conversation of the table next to her .
Judging from their attire they were a group of mercenaries and bounty warriors . The two belonged to the same fraction but different fields , bounty warriors mainly dealt with tracking down and killing people or ex convicts with rewards placed on their heads while mercenaries dealt in completing missions issued by the guild the guild station,and this missions do not include killing another person, so seeing these two groups of people together was rather rare.
"I'm telling you this job will set us up for life " said one of them with small beady eyes.
"But think about the danger, this is not just a leisure walk through the fairy garden" one man with a large beard said to the beady eyed man,the conversation piqued her interest , taking a sip of the bland soup she continued to eavesdrop , looking around the bearded man continued in a low tone "this crystal is no ordinary crystal it belongs to the zavian insect queen and managing to get it out of her clutches and getting out of there alive is a low possibility" he said to the people sitting around the table.
"I agree this is too risky"said a skinny man with a bald head .
"I know but the queen is weak around this time of the year due to incubating new eggs" the beady eyed man said trying to persuade the group.
"The queen might be weak but the colony is not , just like you said she is incubating new eggs so the colony will have their guards up to take down any threats to protect the queen at all costs" one female with short hair and sharp eyes among them said to the beady eyed man.
Hearing this madoka tried to remember where she heard of the zavian insect , remembering she recollected every information she knew about them ,she read about them in the library of the mercenary academy while doing research on various dangerous insects, the zavian insects are large arachnid like insects with a hard outer shell and long sharp legs which can easily be used to stab prey in addition to that they spit acidic saliva and wrap up their prey in silk webs to preserve them. due to living in dark caves they adapted to this by having sensitive hearing and smell ,the adult zavian insect could roughly reach the waist of an adult man the queen on the other hand are larger in size and roughly reaching the shoulder of an adult and lays eggs all year round,and the gem in question is the life source or energy point of the insect queen, this crystal is very precious to the awakened because they need them to recharge and upgrade to a higher level, but not all awakened can purchase these crystals not even nobles and aristocrats,these crystals are soley allowed to be in the possession of the prophets and incarnates so normal people like herself purchasing there crystals are out of the question.
Taking the last gulp of soup she got up and went back to her room , taking off the clothes she went into the other room used as a bathroom to shower ,the method of showering was just scooping water from a small bucket and washing the body , after freshing up she sat in front of the simple bronze mirror to comb out the knots from her long hair, due to the heat from the warm water her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red rimmed and moist making her grey eyes look more glassy adding a coucettesh allure to her ethreal beauty. After combing through her hair she threw on lose pants and a shirt and went to bed.
The next day she got dressed and headed straight to the guild station,the weather was chilly due to the on pour of rain throughout the night. stepping into the guild station she went straight to greet the old man from the other day who she learned was named Qui jun.
"Good morning"she greeted him politely.
"Here for another mission"he asked her looking up from the book he was reading , nodding she looked at the small replica of the mission board behind him
"Well there are some new ones" he's said moving to the side to expose the mission board, scrolling through the missions she finally settled on a fairly simple mission of picking Belladonna fruits,the belladonna fruit is a heart shaped dark purple fruit which grew in low bushes the fruits are juicy and delicious with a sweet aftertaste, this mission awarded three silver coins and two task points after exchanging a few words with him she left for the town, she bought two simple sack bags and started heading for the Tamraq forest .
Suddenly hearing commotion she skillfully hid out of instinct in a narrow alley way and saw a calvary of knights in gold and silver armor riding on pure white horses leading the war for a luxurious carriage this was like a scene out of a painting. The town people quickly bowed peering at the scene unfold from the darkness the carriage halted and the coach dutifully opened the door and bowed in reverence to the character in the carriage.
Expensive looking silk boots stepped out of the carriage, trailing the experience looking shoes she saw a luxurious silk robe with golden intricate designs inlaid in it , this piece of clothing was enough to buy a moderate Villa in the third division of the Ural empire,the figure finally stepping out of the carriage , an elegant appearance ,long white hair meticulously combed and held by a golden hair piece, pale white skin and an aura of being above everything this person does not fit in this place. Seeing the person the town's folk shouted in unison "high prophet,the eye of god heavens favoured child" hearing the praises the prophet signalled the head knight to silence them .
Over in the dark alley madoka was surprised ' why is a prophet here in this place of all places' she thought, prophets are highly valued by the empire though not as much as the incarnates they are still favoured so seeing a prophet in the twelfth division of the empire meant something was about to happen, blending into the darkness she continued to pry.
"The people of Ural I have received a command from the god of light to gather a group of twenty capable civilians to embark on a quest to bring back the sacred eye of Maz from the land of the abyss,it might be dangerous but the lives lost in this quest would be granted eternal peace by the god of light" the prophet said in a gentle voice as if all he said did not involve the possibility of lives being lost , the people began to mummer after a few seconds of silence
"Quiet!!" said the head of the knights in a loud authoritative voice.
The sacred eye of Maz was a historical artifact which was said to be the third eye of the great ruler Maz who asked the gods for great power to capture the enemy country Persida , it was said that the gods gave him a sacred amulet that made it possible for him to see the heart of a person and the future, using this he captured and concurred the Persida empire and ruled over both empires till his death after which the gods relocated the sacred eye into the land of abyss to be lost forever.
The land of the abyss is a desolate no man's land with mountainous regions which when one ventures into has no chance return,even powerful prophets dared not enter.
"This is just sending us to die" said a middle aged man amidst the silence,in the blink of an eye his head was rolling on the ground eyes and mouth still twitching due to the swift and fast movement of the beheader's blade , screams erupted in the vicinity almost instantly.
"Quiet!" the prophet coldly said as an imposing momentum weighed on everyone's shoulders in an instant, seeing this madoka clenched her fist in anger instances like this made her feel powerless, although she wanted to help them she couldn't.
"This was not me asking it was an order which needs to be fulfilled to help the empire become great" tearing off the holier than thou facade he said before heading back to the carriage ,after sitting down he threw one last threat "if no one heads to the guild station to sign up before the next three days this whole town will be burned to the ground" shutting the door the carriage and the calvary left the distraught town's folks to eat dust.