Violence begets violence, and Idroa came to be in an explosion of violence. In such a world, it’s hard to find peace but small pockets of it did exist.

Wilfrid Pember - Historian - The Start of the Apocalypse

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“Wait, you don’t praise your sun?” Krisa asked, her hair flowing in the gentle wind. She spoke to an excited Faris, while Raven and Meera dawdled behind. Silas kept between the two groups, and Ish wasn’t even there - when questioned on his absence, Krisa had laughed it off and said the masked ryfin was no doubt trailing them from a distance.

Faris guffawed, patting Krisa on the shoulder like an old friend. “The sun? Dear Allah, no! The sun is just another star. Even now, he has competition - see the red one next to it, the purple one straggling behind, and the blue star beaming beside me.”

Krisa’s moon-like eyes widened, and she giggled mischievously like a schoolchild let privy on an adult’s secret. “The red one is Tyr!” she said with a gasp, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. “ You’re so daring. I can’t believe all humans are like you.”

Silas heard Raven grumbling at the display, but he ignored the Voidcaller - she seemed to take every woman other than Meera as a threat to her character. He wondered what kind of life she had lived before the Apocalypse to enter such a frame of mind. Then again, he was hardly in a position to chastise her given he had been a small-time thief those days, a homeless one at that.

Paying no heed to the noise behind them, Faris winked at Krisa. “Like me? Oh, they wish they were like me! Have I told you how I got my class? It was in the tutorial. You see, my teammates were all on their knees, seconds away from death, and I saw this monstrous horse charging towards them—”

Letting Faris’s boasts fade away to a low drone, Silas looked through his status and finally checked his quests. He had been so caught up by recent events that he had forgotten it, despite it being the main reason he had come all this way in the first place.

Class: Duellist - level 5

Quests: Duel the Armoured Bear (F-1), Duel Laerdya Elrond (F-1), Duel Kore Brightmind (F-2)

Activities: Solo kill E-5s, Solo kill F-1s, Solo kill F-2s

Abilities: Weakness Vision, Harrying Blows (next ability available at level 10)

Wiping his brow, he sighed in relief - at least he had made it to level 5.

Harrying Blows - applies mana on your weapon such that any blows that come into direct contact with an enemy shock the target and drains energy.

Although this ability appeared useful at a glance, he would need to test it during combat to know its true value. As they were currently returning to Riverside, following their innate pull to the hub crystal, he didn’t expect to come upon any suitable targets, but there was always the chance of an ambush.

Suddenly, Raven cleared her throat pointedly, drawing attention to herself. “Sorry, it would appear I have forgotten something back there. You may all go ahead; Meera and I will catch up in due time.” She paced off without waiting for farewells, the Huntress chasing after her.

Silas wondered what it was she had forgotten, then recalled the pendant she had wanted back from the trolls. He hadn’t seen it around her neck, so it was likely still in the swamp. He wished her good luck, before continuing down his original path, sighing as he saw Faris and Krisa giggling on a grumpy Winnie.

It came as a surprise the next day when Raven and Meera cut their connections with Riverside. He had no way of knowing if an accident had befallen them or whether they simply wanted to move on. Either way, he pushed the matter to the back of his mind, not knowing then that his next encounter with Raven would be a gruesome event indeed.

****

It had been nine hours since they had set out north, and dusk was rapidly approaching now. The river they had been following veered west some parts ago, so they had taken to a trail through the woods as opposed to continuing down its bank.

Conversation had dulled to little more than idle remarks, and Josh felt fatigue washing up his mind’s shores. Tessa, the middle-aged Alchemist with strawberry blonde hair, trudged along now, yawning often. Unlike the rest of them, she rarely fought and thus had fewer points distributed to constitution and agility.

On the other hand, Yuri, the muscular Cleric with grey hair, seemed unaffected by the journey, similar to Natalie, the reserved Cryomancer. Even Iris seemed fine, a slight spring still in her steps.

Figuring he had to take charge if they were to rest anytime soon, particularly Tessa who appeared to need it, Josh waited until they reached a suitably located clearing to stop them. “Guys, we should make camp here.”

Yuri shrugged. “We can still go further with what daylight remains.” His gravelly voice fit his roughly hewn features.

“I don’t think it’s worth it, man,” Josh replied, shaking his head. “Sure, we can go on, but something could ambush us from the shadows, and besides, it’ll be easier to search for those medicinal plants in bright daylight .”

“Fair points,” the Cleric admitted, shifting his backpack off. “The dark is the domain of the wicked.”

Tessa stretched her arms high, her mouth gaping wide open. “In any case, I’m absolutely pooped. Let’s get some rest.”

They set up the tents in quick time, when Iris handed a note to Josh. Organise the watches before you knock yourself out.

“Oh snap, good catch,” he said, patting her head to her annoyance. “Anyone particularly eager for first watch?” They turned to him and blinked blankly.

Just as he was about to offer himself, Yuri spoke up. “I shall take it if you all wish to rest.”

“Cheers, man. Let’s say we rotate every two hours or so.” He scratched his brow. “I’ll go after you, then Natalie, and Tessa. We all cool with that?” He left Iris out as he figured she would struggle to wake them in the event of an emergency, being mute and all.

They shortly split ways to their tents, and Josh blanked out the second he hit his covers. It wasn’t but a moment later he woke up with a start, clutching his bedroll with Yuri looming over him.

“It is your shift now,” the Cleric informed him.

“Shit, really?” Oh Jesus,” Josh said, feeling not the least rested. He pulled himself to his feet.

Yuri frowned severely as he left the tent. “Do not use the Lord’s name in vain.”

Josh groaned, rolling his eyes, and blearily went outside to keep watch. Sitting by the small, spluttering campfire, a blanket around his shoulders, he fought off his sleep. Despite this, he was almost dozing off again when the sounds of a zip shocked him alert.

Hastily glancing about, he spotted Natalie crawling out of her tent. Was his shift already over? Raising a curious eyebrow at her, she answered, “Bathroom.” Her voice was soft like snow yet as clear as ice.

Some minutes later, she came back, and in a surprise move, joined him by the fire. The flames leaned away from her like a child wary of their creepy uncle, and she watched it happen with bleak blue eyes.

Hoping that conversation would keep him awake, he thought of something to ask her. “What made you volunteer for this trip?” Seeing her bemused expression, he clarified. “I just thought someone of your level would be hunting down titans or the sort, you know, not collecting plants.”

She shook her head, ghostly white hair tumbling over her pale face. “I wanted to be a doctor before, but my circumstances didn’t allow it. When Iris told me about the plants’ rumoured abilities, I wondered if I could finally realise my dream of healing others in my own kind of way.”

“Huh, that’s actually quite deep” he replied, feeling somewhat shallow over his own reasons now.

“How about yourself? Iris told me you volunteered as well.”

Josh cringed slightly. “Me? Well, ugh, I just had the feeling Iris would get into a spot of trouble, and I thought that would be more interesting than being stuck in Riverside.”

He was surprised to see the usually detached Natalie smiling with him. “Iris does seem a troublesome sort, doesn’t she? When I first came to look around the apothecary, she caught me and stared at me like a fox counting her chickens. I thought maybe I wasn’t meant to be there or something when she then suddenly took her cap off and bowed.” The Cryomancer wiped a tear from her eyes, her features twisting with glee. “I was so confused, so I asked her if she was okay, and she just walked away!”

“Really?” Josh said, leaning over the fire. “What happened then? Did you chase her down?”

“Well, I didn’t know what to do. I stood there frozen for a few moments before I saw her running back with a notepad.”

“Ah, notepad, makes sense now.” He clicked his tongue. “I wonder why she bows though? I heard she bowed when she first met Silas as well. It’s weird because she didn’t bow the first time she met me. Like what’s up with that? Am I not enough of a big man to earn one?”

Tapped on his shoulders, he turned and jumped in surprise. Behind him stood a ghastly little Healer, watching him like an owl watching its prey.

“Oh, hey, Iris,” he said, forcing out a chuckle. “Me and Natalie were talking about, you know, like the weather and that.”

Glancing around at the cold darkness, she turned back to him and her gaze became piercing. He squirmed under her glare. Some seconds later, she sighed and sat down beside them.

Seeing as Natalie seemed eager to take on her shift earlier than required, he wondered if he should excuse himself when suddenly he was thrown off-balance by rustling some parts off. Heartbeat quickening, he reached for his sword and shield and rose.

From the shadows padded out a lynx, its narrowed eyes glinting with the promise of violence. Worryingly, Josh could sense deep-rooted magic in the beast…

____

Katerina Ivanova, the Hidden Blade, was originally a street rat from Bulgaria. There are no records of her tutorial run, although it can be assumed she either completed the hard or extreme variants. Described as having dark hair, a hollow face, and a slim figure, her appearance belies her strength as she is widely regarded as an assassin of similar calibre to Dimas, one of the Order’s leaders.

She is rarely seen in civilised society as she is usually hunting monsters. However, there are notable exceptions to this rule, one being when a pencil-thin woman with sallow skin was spotted snooping about Dresden. The following day, Dresden’s mayor, Wolfram Baumann, the Mad Dog, was found dead in his room. There had been no struggle as he had been killed in his sleep, his heart punctured four times. While most of my associates agree on Katerina’s link to this event, they disagree on her reasoning for the murder: was it due to a personal grudge between them, or did this assassination have anything to do with Emmanuel Baasch’s following rise to power?

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age