A couple of hours later, the time was rapidly approaching 7 PM. The moon was solidly visible in the night sky, yet the stars were shy. Only a few came out to play. A lovely summer breeze flew through the town, lightly pushing leaves and other light objects down the nearby streets.

Three people were walking in a small group towards a particular place. Said place had a man, employed by the city, that used to bring much anger to a certain young woman. However, by the passing of time and the power of words, she began to lose the hatred she harbored towards him until it was replaced with trust.  

“You don’t think I’m overdressed, do you?” Claire asked. She had on a modest black sundress that attracted the attention of a few men. It was slim and tight, hugging her body very well but being loose enough that it didn’t hinder her movements. Her feet and recently painted toenails were at home in a cute-looking pair of sandals.  Her state of apparel gave the appearance she was heading out for a romantic night on the town with her one and only, not going to the candy store with her friends.

“Not at all. You look super good,” said a certain pink-haired Singi. Momo was dressed in a soft white shirt tucked into a feisty black skirt. Pink socks covered her feet, which themselves were inside a pair of black boots that had a pink cat on the side. “Right, Servi?” 

“That’s right. Claire, you look stunning,” Servi wore the red and white buttoned-down shirt, black pants and boots, and overalls. The outfit she had on was picked out by her best friend on the first day they met. Servi considered it to be a bit weird, allowing a complete stranger to pick out her outfit, but the black-haired girl didn’t mind. Especially when she realized that the stranger she met on that day was now her best friend.

“But we’re just going to a candy store, right? Ooh!! Why did I decide to dress up?!” Claire whined like a teenage girl stressing over what clothes to wear on a date.

Servi thought it was a bit unlike Claire to act like this, but she thought it was cute. Even though she hadn't mentioned it to anyone, she appreciated what Claire did. Being a receptionist at Warden, the Elf was in charge of helping members with what adventurers needed. Be it from answering questions or giving advice, the only thing she wanted was for the members of Warden to come back safe and sound.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dressing up for something like that, right?” said Momo. She still had grandpa's bag around her shoulder. It was something like a staple for Momo, and she always had it with her.  

“That’s right,” added Servi as they turned a corner. Up ahead was the city guard’s headquarters. Up ahead, they saw a large group of people all huddled together, and once Servi saw a large Kobold, she smiled.  

We didn’t run into them earlier, but I'm glad someone told them.  Now, I can finally thank Feral for carrying me back.  

---

Going back in time for a few hours, after Servi and Momo stopped by their favorite chicken stall to get lunch, they took the time to walk around town. As fate would have it, they eventually met up with Srassa.

She wasn’t privy to the whole situation, so when she asked Momo and Servi about it, they had to tell her in a way that wouldn’t make her freak out.  

“Oh my Gods above, are you okay?!” asked Srassa, clearly freaking out. She dropped her small bag, filled with hard candies that were individually wrapped. Red and white and blue streaks covered the little stone bench the three of them were sitting on. She made a cute little embarrassing squeak as she rapidly tried to pick them back up. Of course, Servi and Momo couldn’t let their friend pick them up alone.  

Momo stood up and crouched down as she picked up the fallen candy. “She’s fine.” 

Servi crouched down as well. “Yep. I’m totally okay. It was sleepinwillo, and I only really fell asleep. I woke up feeling sad because I worried everyone,” subtly, Servi used Telekinesis to slow the roll of the candies and even used Absorption to sneakily pick up a few that were in hard-to-reach spots. 

Srassa stood back up, opening her bag as Servi and Momo tossed the cloth-covered candy into it. 

“Well, I’m glad. I really am. But did you really fight a juncea?” asked Srassa, who wore a simple black shirt and brown pants with white socks and red boots. It was an odd outfit for a noble to be wearing, but Srassa had gotten the permission of her father to wear this outfit. The very last thing Srassa wanted to do was something that would harm the reputation of her family. To her surprise, she was actively encouraged by her father to do what made her happy as long as it was safe and legal. And it just so happened that some of her favorite clothes didn’t necessarily match. It was just one of her quirks.  

“I did. It was tough, but thanks to Fisher’s training, I was able to win,” Servi lied a little. She didn’t need the training, considering how Soul Essence of Primal Combat and her unique ability of stacking skills worked. But since it was her fault that Fisher had to cover for her, Servi wanted to do all she could to paint him in a good light.  

It’s kinda funny. My most hated person turned out to be a victim. Not to mention that he knows my secret that not even my best friend knows. Damnit, Servi, you gotta tell her, but how and when? 

“He’s strong, isn’t he? He has to if he's Captain of the Guard,” Srassa was right.  A Captain of the Guard had to be tough enough to protect Canary.

“He is, but he’s also generous.” 

Momo added on to what Servi said. “He offered to take all of us to Madam Canary's Sweetie Tweety to congratulate us on passing our final exams. And that includes you, Dineria, and Claire.” 

“That’s very sweet of him. But wait, who’s Claire?” asked Srassa. She hugged the bag tightly against her chest so it wouldn't have a chance to fall again.  The last thing she wanted to do was crawl around on all fours and pick up more candy.

“She’s an employee that works at Warden. She’s nice and wonderful, and very understanding. She’s also the one who signed us up.” 

“I had a woman named Estela sign me up,” Srassa said.

“She’s the one who chose Fisher to be my mentor. Honestly, she seems a bit mean.” 

“Really? She was nice to me,” added Momo.  

“It might just be one of those things,” Srassa spoke more freely and with a bit more strength, courage, and confidence behind her voice. Perhaps the accomplishment of passing Dineria's exam had a profound effect on her psyche? “But going to that place sounds fun! Where are you meeting up at?” 

“7 PM at the headquarters," Servi answered.

“Very well. I can’t wait. Oh, but I have to leave. I was running an errand for Dineria. You know, she said she had the strangest urge to eat candy, and she asked me to get some.” 

“Where’d you run into her?” 

“I was actually in Levadia Woods, looking for a bow. That’s when she came in wearing a white coat. I guess it was just after she left Warden.” Srassa cradled the bag of candy close to her chest as she answered her Singi friend. 

“That’s good then. Can you ask Dineria if she wants to go with us?” Servi said.

“I will.” Srassa nodded. “But I must be going. I don’t want to make her wait. I’ll see you all tonight, okay?” 

The three said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

“So what now?” asked the Singi, who walked side-by-side her best friend.

“I don’t know. What do you wanna do? We have to rest up for the tourney, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to go into the sewers. And if we train, we might get hurt.” 

“Hmm… Want to just walk around town? If not that, when we can hang out at Warden.” 

“Both of those sound good to me.” Servi smiled at her best friend.

---

At 7 PM, a girl with black hair and red eyes said her utmost apologies and thanks to a group of five Demi-Humans who trained with her under Fisher Jin.  

“Feral, I just want to thank you for carrying me back after I got knocked out. And for the rest of you, I’m sorry I did what I did. I had no right to leave camp to chase for a monster whose ability I had no knowledge of. Please, forgive me,” Servi solemnly spoke to her fellow group of former mentees.  

“It was no problem. I am curious and want to know about this red creature that you saw,” growled Feral. He lightly slammed his tail into the ground. Mari and Meri, Fisher's daughters, gleefully laughed at the noise it made.  

“Servi, as he said, it was no problem. You don’t need to apologize. The important thing is that we made it back to the city," Silverado curled his scaley mouth into a gentle smile. Desperado and the two Dwarves nodded.  

Servi smiled at them and then turned towards Marissa. “I’m sorry,” she spoke earnestly to Fisher's wife, “I hope you can forgive me. I did a stupid thing, and I regret it.” 

She smiled sweetly at the girl who seemed to be on the edge of tears and spoke. “Since everyone came back safe and sound, I’m happy. But I hope this becomes a lesson. You never know what is going to happen when you’re out on a quest, and the first thing on your mind should be the safety of you and your party.” 

Mari and Meri walked to Servi, and she crouched down. 

“What happened?” asked Mari. She wore a child-sized blue sundress and a straw hat.  

Servi smiled at the two children. “Are you proud of your father?” she turned to look at Fisher, who quickly coughed before turning to Feral.  

“Yeah! He’s the best daddy in the world!” the two said at the same time.

“Then you wanna know something awesome?” 

The two kids nodded and leaned in closer. From behind, Momo watched with fond eyes. 

“He saved my life last night. Your daddy is a hero!”  

“Daddy! Is that true? You’re my hero, too, right?” Mari said as she ran towards Fisher.  

“You saved her life? And be my hero too, daddy!” Meri squealed. She wore an oversized blue shirt with tan shorts. Like her sister, they both had on cute sandals featuring a cartoon-like fox.  

“Ah…” he glanced at Servi, who nodded so subtly that only he picked up on it.  

Thank you, Servi. His armor didn't squeak at all as he crouched down and embraced his darling children in a big hug. 

Servi stood up and turned away before looking at Momo. Her pink cat ears twitched, and she smiled. “That was sweet of you, Servi, telling them their dad is a big hero.”  

“Yes, he’s a big hero, isn’t he?” Dineria popped into the conversation. Her shirt and shorts were made from leaves sewn together and her sandals from wooden branches.

“I’m sure that every father would like to be called a hero by his children,” said Servi.  

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” spoke Marissa. A moment later, Srassa and Claire joined in after observing from a distance.

“Hello, Claire. Long time no see,” Dineria greeted her fellow Elf.

“It’s good to see you again, Dineria. How’s the business?” Claire pleasantly responded.

“It’s going great. You know, you should come down one day and shoot some arrows with me. It’s been a while, you know?” 

“I haven’t touched a bow in years, and I’m probably rusty, but thank you.” 

Srassa, who had on the same clothes as earlier, chose this moment to make her introduction. “Claire, my name is Srassa Flinn. It’s nice to meet you.” 

The red-headed Elf smiled. “Same here. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the future. I bet you’re excited to take on your first quest, aren’t you?” 

“I am. But I’m nervous.” 

“That’s perfectively fine,” Marissa thought back to her time at Warden. “It’s normal to be nervous or even a little bit scared. I know I was when I was a member. Though, I only lasted a few quests before I realized the Warden life wasn’t for me.” 

“I am scared, but I’m also excited. I put in a lot of work this past month!” 

“I know you have,” said Dineria, “and I know Momo’s been putting in a lot of work too. And Servi, too. I’ll be watching you all very closely at the tournament.” 

“Don’t say that! You’re going to make them nervous!” quipped Claire.  

“Oh, Miss Marissa, I’m Momo. I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier,” Momo smiled and held out her hand. 

Marissa smiled and shook the Singi’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Momo. But please, call me Marissa.” 

“Okay. It’s nice to meet you, too!” replied Momo.  

This talk about the tournament prompted Servi to ask something. Before she did, she glanced over at the other group that was formed. Fisher was crouched down, talking to his daughters.  Silverado and Desperado were in the middle of a conversation.  And the two Koena, Dwarves, and Feral idly chatted amongst themselves. Servi didn’t know what they were talking about, but that was fine. She didn’t need to know.  

“Are you going to be at the tournament?” Servi asked Claire and Marissa.

“I will. I want you to know that I’ll be cheering on each and every one of you,” Marissa had such a motherly aroma around her, and Servi almost wanted to call her mama.

Maybe I miss my mom? I mean, do I even have a mother? What about a father? I wonder where they’re at now?  

“I’ll be there too. Honestly, almost every Warden employee, except a few staying behind, like Estela, is going to be there. But why couldn’t they let it be free for Warden employees?” Claire sighed.  

“Still bad with money, eh?” Dineria teased her friend.  She slyly placed a hand over her mouth and grinned from ear to ear. “Do you need a loan?” 

“Don’t tease me! I’m older than you, you know!”  

“Only by ten years. But that’s practically nothing to an Elf.” 

“How long have you two known each other?” Servi asked.

“A few years. You know, I got a funny story to tell you. This one time, Claire and I went out on the town to drink up a storm. She—” 

“Noooo…” Claire exaggeratedly whined, prompting a chorus of laughs from the group of girls.  

“Hehe…” Dineria giggled. Servi and Momo witnessed a side of Dineria and Claire they never knew they had.  

“But just like her, I’ll be there cheering for all of you," Claire truly cared about her friends. That was why she was going to cheer her Elven heart out.

It was about this time that Fisher walked over with his daughters in tow.  

“I wanna cheer!” 

“Me too!”  

His daughters said at the same time. They happened to overhear the talk about cheering.

“We’ll be counting on you two to cheer really loudly, right? Oh, that’s Srassa, and that’s Momo,” Servi crouched down to speak to them at eye level, then she pointed at her friends.

“It’s nice to meet you both!” said the Singi.  

“Yes, it is. I hope we can be excellent friends!” replied Srassa.  

“Yeah! We do too! We’ll do our best to cheer super loudly!” Mari said, doing the talking for Meri, who happily nodded. 

“Well then, shall we get going?” asked Fisher. He turned to look at the second group, which consisted of Feral, Silverado, Desperado, Riki, and Rakkire. They all nodded and walked over.  

Somehow, we all just naturally separated into two groups. It’s funny how that works, I guess. Thought Servi.  

Now, as a single group, they all headed towards Madam Canary's Sweetie Tweety, a shop that was near and dear to the hearts of two best friends.  

Along the way, they all made pleasant small talk about the upcoming tournament, with Feral mentioning that he is ready for the Kobold tournament, which prompted him to ask something.  

“Servi,” Feral's low voice growled out. 

“Yeah?” she turned to look at him and kept walking backwards.  

“After the tournament, I would like to request another duel.”  

She smiled at him. “I accept, but it might have to wait, if that’s okay.” 

“I do not mind at all, but what is the occasion?” 

“Claire said that Momo and I have been approved to take the promotion quest. And we planned on doing that a day or two after the tourney.” 

“I see. In that case, congratulations,” Feral unintentionally slammed his tail into the ground as they walked, frightening some people walking by. The group stopped moving for the few seconds it took for him to apologize.

“But seriously, getting a promotion quest in what, two months, is pretty fast,” Riki said. “I’m sure the average is around 80 days if I remember right.” 

“85 days, cousin. Regardless, congratulations,” Rakkire corrected his cousin. If he was still upset about winning by ring out, he wasn’t showing it. 

“We’ll be there soon, right, Silver?” asked Desperado. It didn’t go unnoticed by either Servi or Momo that he called his friend by a nickname.  

"That's right," Desperado replied.

Maybe I can come up with a cute nickname for Servi. What about Servy? Maybe Vi? Hmm... What about Vivi? Note to Momo: work on coming up with cool and cute nicknames for best friend.  

Unbeknownst to her, Servi was also thinking up a nickname.   

Maybe Momy? Or Mo? Moey? I'll work on the nickname stuff later.

“Speaking of that, Srassa, are you still interested in coming on a quest with us?” Silverado asked.

She nodded. “If you two would still have me, I’d like to join.” 

“We most definitely would. What about two days after the tournament? Say around 8 or 9 in the morning?” 

“That sounds good to me!” Srassa smiled at Desperado, who asked the question.  

"That's when Momo and I are doing our promotion quest," Servi quipped.

As the mentees were talking, Dineria and Fisher Jin smiled at their pupils. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”  

“It is. Almost brings me back to my days at Warden,” Fisher had a sentimental look in his eyes as he gazed at his wife, who walked in front of him. Meri was to her left and Mari to the right, and she held both of their hands.  

“I wish the best for Srassa and those two Koena. I’m sure with your training, they’ll grow up to be excellent tanks.” 

“And I’m sure you taught her and Momo how to wield a bow and fight most effectively.”  

Dineria was a little bit appalled at Fisher. From the rumors she had heard going around town, he was a most violent man who tore his soldiers down at their core and built them back up, never showing a hint of kindness. His training regimen was rumored to be so incredibly intense that there were rumors some of his men died during the final test, which so happened to be the same one he gave to his class.  

It was a horrible and brutal month, but his men would always come out stronger and fiercer, if not at least a little traumatized. But the Fisher standing in front of her at this moment didn’t give off that vibe.  

Perhaps I was too harsh with my words? She thought. Maybe. Maybe not. It is odd and strange to see him acting like this since it goes against what I know of him. 

At that moment, Srassa walked back to stand near Momo, eventually matching her stride.

“Momo, can I ask you and Servi for advice?” Srassa said as they rounded another corner. 

 During this chat between the three of them, at least four other conversations were going on at once. It was something to behold, but there were even some who became irritated at seeing this. But the group didn’t even notice. As far as they were concerned, this little gathering was a celebration for passing their exams, except for one Koena who failed, but he didn’t seem to mind.   

“Sure,” replied the Singi.  

“It’s kind of awkward, but I know I want to ask for advice, but I don’t know what questions to ask,” Srassa placed a hand against her chin.

“Here’s one thing Servi taught me. Monsters like to play dead. And it might seem cruel, but it’s a good idea to make sure the monster you’re fighting is dead. Servi said it was us versus them, and she’d rather it’d be us who survived.” 

“You remember that?” 

She nodded to her best friend. “Yep! I said I would never forget it. And I honestly would’ve been really hurt, if not dead, if I went down there solo. Srassa, here’s one more thing. If it gets too dangerous, there’s no shame in retreating. One time, me and Servi encountered Black Croc--” 

Claire overheard and instantly turned her head, looking mortified in the process. “Black Croc?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” 

“I guess it slipped my mind. I’m sorry. But we survived. It kinda ran off, which was good.” 

Servi, should we kill it? Itarr spoke, breaking her silent streak. Servi knew her beloved Goddess in her mind was still watching, with close intent, at the variety of emotions that swirled around since Servi woke up. She shrugged at Itarr’s question.  

Right, I’m sorry. It’s hard to talk surrounded by people.  

“Should I take care of it? Shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” Fisher said.  

If he used that green staff Itarr said he knocked me out with, then it shouldn’t be a problem whatsoever.  

“Daddy? Are you going somewhere?” Meri asked. She tapped on his black leg armor to get his attention. Glancing at his wife, who only smiled, he answered them. “I’m not going anywhere for right now, but I might need to go later.” 

“Are you going to be a hero again, daddy?” Mari asked.

“I am. I’m both a Warden member and Captain of the Guard. It’s my job to protect this city and everyone in it,” Fisher gently spoke to his daughters, who only smiled. No doubt they were beaming inside at how cool and awesome their dear father was. They weren’t privy to his past and probably wouldn’t be for quite some time.  Would it be months? Years? Fisher didn't know. If anything, he might realize it'd be better if he never told them at all.

“When you do take care of it, be sure to tell me. Since it almost attacked someone, I believe I can have Warden offer up an extermination quest.” 

“I will. Thank you, Claire.” 

“You’re welcome!”  

Even during my time off, I can’t think of anything but work. Claire, you’re still young. Well, youngish, there’s still time to find the right man. But…. 

Servi, should we join in? You did say before that you were going to kill it so it wouldn’t be able to harm—Itarr got cut off when Mari and Meri lightly cheered when they saw the very colorful and distinct sign of their destination. It was just after they went around another corner.  

Inside the glass windows were glass cases, and each one was filled with sweets of all different colors, shapes, and sizes that were waiting to fulfill their purpose of being eaten.

I hope you enjoy this, Servi. Itarr said, and that worried Servi a little bit.  Her friend's words were ominous, but she felt pain in her and happily blinked. Servi's mood had once again changed with the pain in her head, but she paid it no attention.  

If I’m happy, then I’m feeling good. I shouldn’t let a little bit of a headache bother me.  Tonight is gonna be fun, so I need to enjoy it the best I can!