Harry and Valour headed for their lodging, it wasn't too far from the guild. It was down the street.
The street was populated by stalls set up on the right and left hand side. Children were running around, playing tag and what not.
"It's so different outside of the capital." Valour said, remembering how devoid of life the village was.
"Yeah, folks here are truly living the dream of every outcast." Harry said, again with sting tainting his voice.
"You are not from here, are you?" Valour asked, this question was on his mind ever since he rode with Harry.
Harry's gait came to a sudden halt, before he started moving again.
"No, I am not...I was saved by the guild and started working here as a result." Harry said.
Valour knew this old man was not telling him the entire story.
'Well, I don't care irrespective.' he said in his head.
They arrived at their lodging and it wasn't really something that grandiose or fascinating. It was just a tall building, made up of some type of a wood.
It appeared just like an inn, but with 3 stories.
The Capital was divided into two halfs, the east and west district.
They were currently residing in the east district. Harry and Valour checked in at the counter and made their way to the room.
The room itself was spacious enough to accommodate the both of them. The staff had brought in another bed for Valour.
Harry seeing that Valour had no luggage with him, knew that this boy hadn't brought any.
"How about you work here at the inn for the time you're here?" Harry proposed a solution.
He has already done enough for Valour, got him the permit to stay, gave him a roof and will feed him well.
But he can't pay for Valour's shopping, after all, he himself wasn't balling or swimming in money.
"Alright, I will do that." Valour said, taking off his cloak.
He was wearing a black turtle neck underneath the cloak.
His tattos were still covered. He was also wearing black trousers and a black sandal.
Everything about his attire yelled casual.
"You really need to get some clothes." Harry said as he took out 10 silver coins and handed them to Valour.
"This should be enough to get you some new clothes, spend them wisely." He continued.
"I have some business at the border, while I'm at it, I'll put in a word for you. To enter the training camp that is." He said as he walked towards the door.
"I will be back in 2 days." He said and left.
Valour stood there staring at the door. 'I guess I'll go out for a walk.' he said to himself.
He took out a mask and wore it, the mask attached to his skin, as if it was a part of it. This was something his mother gave to him, in case he needed it.
He thought might aswell use it, he really didn't want people recognising his face. Atleast when possible.
His black hair and scarlet red eyes completely changed colour. His hair turned brown and his eyes turned black.
He tied the pouch of the coins on his waist and left the room.
As he got out of the inn, the hustle bustle of the market assaulted his senses.
'Too loud.' he said to himself as he made is way to no where in particular.
He was loitering around the east district, observing the humans.
'What does it feel to be human?' he thought to himself, seeing these creatures so full of life.
He was brought out of his thoughts as he accidentally bumped into someone.
It was a girl, roughly his age, she was adorned in a luxurious white robe. Which was trailing behind her figure.
She had white hair reaching her waist and purple eyes. Behind her stood two guards, clad in white and blue armour.
"How dare you touch the princess!" One of the guards said as he struck Valour with the blunt end of his blue spear.
The spear wasn't particularly fast, but it was something no unawakened could follow.
Valour twisted his right foot, and fell on the ground. The spear streaked over his falling figure.
"Tsk, lucky bastard." The guard said, as Valour made contact with the floor.
"Pftt.. can't even hit a 'crippled'." The second guard said mockingly.
To redeem himself, the first guard pestered the issue further.
"You filthy peasant, how dare you touch the princess." He made his way to Valour and struck him on his face with the spear's shaft.
Valour lifted his hands to guard his face, he couldn't afford the mask to crack now.
The spear made contact with his arm, sending Valour flying sideways and crashing into a stall.
He spat a mouthful of blood and a tiny crack appeared on his forehead, barely visible due to his hairline.
"Stop!..what the hell are you doing?" The girl finally spoke as she maintained balance.
"M-miss..this filthy human tried harming you" the gaurd spoke as his spear made contact with Valour's stomach.
'Bastard, don't push your luck.' Valour said in his head as he coughed more blood and curled inwards.
These guards were of 'Elite' rank, but Valour was confident he could defeat them if he went all out.
"I order you to stop, it's not his fault. I should have been more aware of my surroundings." She said as she strode past the guards and kneeled down to Valour's figure.
"Are you alright?.." she asked, in a sweet and wary voice.
Valour locked eyes with her and didn't respond.
" Yes, I am fine." He said, trying to sound as in pain as he could.
He couldn't act as if he was unharmed, that would raise suspicions.
"Miss, your father will be angry; we need to hurry back to the castle." The second gaurd finally spoke, growing impatient.
The girl hurriedly took out an emblem and handed it to Valour.
"Here you go, come to the Capital when you're free. It's my treat." She said smiling as she got up and patted her clothes.
She looked at the first guard with anger all over her face. "Let's go, I will tell father to deal with you." She said as she headed towards the castle.
"Dumbass." The second guard said as he walked past the stunned figure of the first guard.
Valour covered his face as the cracks in his mask were intensifying.
'fuck..' he screamed internally. Thankfully the guard finally snapped out of daze and chased after his cohort.
Valour releasing a sigh of relief stood up limply. Even though he was acting, the guard had struck him hard.
'What a bastard.' Valour cursed him internally as he headed back to the inn limping.
The stall owner sure will like the gift once he returns from his break.
Valour somehow managed to make it to the inn before his mask completely fell off.
He entered the room and removed his hands from his face. The mask was half broken already.
He had 4 of these with him, and one was already broken.
These were essential to his mission. 'Mother won't be pleased.' he said as literal shivers ran down his spine.
He sat down on the sofa and took out the emblem he received.
'Well, I found the way in the castle.' he said somewhat relieved.
But, this was something he didn't need to worry about right now. He wasn't going to pull his plan off anytime soon.
Near the end of his year long venture, that's when he was going to use this emblem.
For now, he just had to wait for Harry. He would be leaving for the Border control training camp soon enough.
He just needs to reach 'Intermediate-Veteran' and 'Martial' before the year ends.
He put the emblem into the pouch, he really needed an ability to store his items.
One of these abilities were known as 'Spatial inventory', it was an 'A' rank ability and it stored around 3 tonnes of equipment. This was ignoring the additional buffs it's aspect brought.
Any ability ranked 'C' to 'A' unlocked an aspect. Abilities ranked 'S' to 'SSS+' unlocked 2 aspects
He laid back on the sofa and closed his eyes, he wasn't planning on leaving the room for the day.
Being a Hollow being, he didn't feel hungry that often. He could go days without having the need to eat anything at all.
After sometime, Valour's consciousness slipped away and he went to sleep.
He was woken up by a knock on the door, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the window.
The Sun was up, it appears Valour slept through the entire day.
He got up from the sofa and opened on the door, only to be welcomed by the receptionist.
"Harry said you were looking for a job, is that true?" She asked.
Valour stood there silent for a few seconds.
"Yeah, that's true." He said, breaking the silence.
"Alright, you just have to serve food to the customers. You will be paid 5 silver coins every 3 days." She said.
"Sounds alright." Valour replied.
"I'll be on my way, your shift starts in 2 hours." She said and turned on her heel.
'Harry should be back tomorrow.' valour thought, as he made his way to the shopping district after washing his face.
He really needed some clothes.
....