Rine’s footsteps were light as he walked through the forest. His muscles tensed with a sense of excitement and caution.
‘This is my first adventure.’ He thought in a daze as he watched the backs of the warriors in front of him. The times he went hunting with his grandfather seemed trivial when placed next to this experience.
“What’s up with that expression Rine? You scared?” Eden, The second porter, disrupted his thoughts.
Eden was about the same age as Rine, yet his tall stature and bulging muscles made him look older. Like Rine, he carried a large bag behind his back that was filled with the team’s rations and equipment.
“Scared? No way, what you see coursing through my veins is pure excitement. This is our first adventure, Eden! Imagine it, we’ll be telling our grandkids of this day.” Excitement swept Rine further into his delusions.
“Adventure? Didn’t you hear what the captain said?”
“Yeah, I heard-”
“This is just a simple escort mission, hell we’ll be lucky if we even meet a monster with the route we’re taking.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Rine felt as if a cold bucket of water had doused his flames.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that you two.” Eddy, Eden’s elder brother, said mysteriously.
Rine and Eden looked at the oldest of the three with questioning eyes.
“Fine, fine I’ll tell you two a secret.” He intentionally made himself sound older than he was.
“Notice how captain kept our endpoint a secret and only told us the route?”
Both boys nodded after little contemplation.
“Well let me tell you two…. Do you know what lies deep within the forest along this path?”
“What?” Eden asked.
“A tomb.” Ed said simply.
“A tomb?” Rine repeated with some disappointment. “So what?”
“So what you say….. Well, you can’t be blamed since you don’t know what’s buried there. Ever heard of the silent tomb Rine?”
“No.”
“Woah the silent tomb is here?” Eden asked with widened eyes.
“Yup and it’s along this path.”
“What’s the silent tomb?”
“It’s an old story. According to the people in town, that tomb is a place where no living things could step foot in. No animals even dared to stay in the vicinity of the place, and birds won’t even fly over it. But Do you know what the spookiest thing is?”
““What?”” Both boys asked simultaneously.
“From before anyone could remember, Magicians below the seventh rank were prohibited from entering. As the legend goes, hundreds of years ago a group of about twenty magicians all belonging to the Core Refinement stage, entered the tomb.”
“So what?” Rine asked with some interest.
“None of them returned.” Eddy ended his story while returning his attention to the front. “Stay on guard, you two. Our route may be safe but it can’t hurt to be too careful.”
Rine stood in a daze as he digested all that he had just heard. ‘Twenty Core Refinement magicians, huh…”
Suddenly turning his gaze towards the three magicians, he felt his heart shudder. ‘Wait does this mean that one of them is…. Wait! Are all three of them 7th grade?’ To Rine, a seventh-grade magician was the stuff of legends. Being a 7th-grade magician meant that one had reached the middle stage of core refinement. He had heard many stories regarding Core Refinement magicians, one legend spoke about an earth magician who levitated an entire mountain just to prove a point to his friend.
Rine’s eyes grew hotter as he stared at the three magicians. ‘Someday, I’ll be stronger than you.’
…………………………………………
Silva Led the group with an expression of tense concentration, as he attempted to dispel the sense of impending doom within his heart. ‘What is it, Silva?’ He thought to himself ‘What did you miss? Could it be that you’re afraid of the legends?’ He shook his head. ‘Nonsense, I’ve even been there before, and while it may be eerily silent it is not at all dangerous.’
Subtly he turned his head towards the magicians. His guild master assigned the duty of escorting them to him. While Silva may not trust them, he did trust his guild master.
‘Supposedly two of them belong to the wind palace. And if they were allowed entry into the Silent Tomb then that means that one of them is a 7th rank.’
In truth, Silva found the whole matter suspicious. Regardless of their objectives at the tomb, he wondered why these high leveled magicians required Mid ranked warriors. Yes, granted his team was the best Phentar had to offer but still...
The uneasiness in his heart grew a notch as his face hardened further.
‘Did I make a mistake agreeing to the guild master?’ He turned towards the three porters. ‘Did I make a mistake bringing them along?’ Having grown up poor, Silva understood the true difference a single crystal made to a person’s life. Which is why he thought he could do them a favor with this cakewalk of a mission.
Despite his conflicted emotions, he did not fail to notice a warm sensation envelope his hand.
Turning his head to the side, he noticed Cinder and her concerned expression.
He gave her a wry smile.
“What’s wrong Silvie?” She whispered into his ear.
Towards her, Silva felt it pointless to hide anything. She seemed to have a sixth sense with these matters.
“I’m just feeling a little anxious, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“No idea, guess it’s just a gut feeling.”
“Hmmm...” She voiced as he stared forwards. “Want to stop the mission?”
“We can’t. The deal has been made already, plus we’d be disappointing the Guild master.”
“I’m sure that the old man would understand.”
Silva squeezed his hand around hers. “It’s OK beautiful, I know you’re just trying to comfort me. I also know that you really want the reward money, so you can stop with the reverse psychology crap.”
“I would never!” She exclaimed with an overly exaggerated expression of offense.
And after a moment of looking into each other’s eyes, they burst into laughter.
Silva felt the warmth in his heart. “Thank you, Cindy.”
“It’s my job.” She said before giving him a quick kiss. She then refocused on maintaining her guard and leading the group.
Silva stared at her solemn face as it was being lit by the setting sun. It was then that he realized, for the umpteenth, That he loved her.
His gaze regained its sharp glean as new found determination welled up inside him. ‘What’s wrong with you Silva you fool! This is nothing but a mere escort mission, we get in then we get out simple as pie.’
With newfound vigor, his steps became firmer.
…………………………………………
“Miss Mend, are you sure that the young miss here is capable of performing the spell?” A rhythmic male voice sounded.
Triste glanced towards the hooded man with an expression of confidence. “Rest assured Sir, the wind palace is teeming with capable youths.” Her tone was polite, yet cold. It was obvious that she did not like the man speaking to her. ‘So annoying.’ She thought. ‘Why bother with these warriors in the first place. Even going so far as to use an underhanded spell to get rid of them.’ Were it not for her superiors’ constant reminders not to offend him, she would have interfered with his actions long ago. ‘Whatever, it’s not like Phentar could say anything even if they knew we killed their finest warriors.’
“Yes, I’ve been told numerous times of the amazing state your green palace is in. Quite remarkable.”
‘Empty words of flattery.’ She thought to herself.
“Thank you for your flattery Sir.”
“Big sister Triste, the spell is ready.”
“Good, Amy. You may begin.”
The shortest of the three magicians nodded her head and chanted. “{Lure}!”
…………………………………………
Silva took several steps back as he shook off the monster’s attack. Before him stood a bear whose height was twice that of Silva as it stood on its hind legs. Its fur was the color of dirt and was so durable that Silva had trouble marring the beast’s skin. But that was fine as it was not his job to do so.
As the bear was readying itself to give the human another blow, it felt a searing pain on its back and immediately turned around. Behind it stood a female human carrying a sword with a length similar to her height, thus it growled angrily at her before charging forward.
Cinder quickly retreated and seemed to be waiting for something. The bear found this behavior suspicious and it began to wonder what her motives were. Suddenly remembering something it turned around to watch the human male, only to find an empty clearing where he once stood.
The bear increased its guard as it continued to charge towards the woman and within seconds it reached striking zone. However before the bear could act, it felt a stabbing pain towards the side of its head. It finally sensed the human male’s location and turned its head towards the side. It struck with its paw. This proved to be a mistake as the human nimbly dodged its paw and slashed towards the bear’s eyes.
Sensing true danger for the first time, the bear retreated in a hurry. But before it could get too far, it suddenly dropped dead after being delivered an impossibly heavy blow to the side of its head. Behind the bear, Cinder stood in a triumphant pose with her head up high.
“Woooh, big sister nice kill!” The group’s archer cheered along with her twin.
The group of warriors were rowdy as they cheered for their comrades’ mighty performance, in contrast to them, the magicians stood silently as they watched the unfolding events.
As for the three porters, they stood stock still with their mouths agape.
“Woah so cool! They killed an Earthen Fur Bear so fast!” Eden exclaimed.
His brother nodded with an expression of respect and said “It normally takes four mid-rankers to subdue that beast, yet they did it so easily with just the two of them.”
Rine’s thinking was simpler in comparison as he was just surprised by Silva’s speed and Cinder’s strength. Added on to that was the perfect coordination they shared.
As for Silva, he just smiled as he watched his group, and gave Cinder a wink. Yet despite his confident expression, he felt conflicted within.
‘Why would an Earthern Fur Bear show up here? Sure we’re deeper into the forest than normal but we are nowhere close to their territories.’
Unfortunately, the group’s celebration was cut short by the urgent voice of one of the archer twins. “More are coming!” She said in a hurry.
“How many? And what are they?” Silva asked as he attempted to calm the group.
The archer’s expression paled as she sensed how many were heading their way. “I don’t know exactly how many, but its a lot.”
“And by the sound of it, they are most likely wolves. Wind Sped Wolves to be exact.” Her sister continued for her.
“Shit.” Silva thought as his expression crumpled. ‘Why? This route was supposed to be completely safe. Dammit.’ He thought with growing frustration as he couldn't think of a way to escape this unharmed. Feeling slightly dejected, he turned towards the group of magicians to ask them for help. While it did not feel good at all, it had to be done.
Silva’s eyes widened as he turned towards the magicians; for where they once stood, now only emptiness remained. ‘They ran away?’ He thought confused. ‘Did they sense it before us? Why didn’t they say anything?’ Silva thought angrily.
Slowly stress and anxiety began to build up within Silva. This situation felt too unreal, this was supposed to be an easy job. ‘So why? Why is it like this.’ Silva thought back to his previous feeling of unease. ‘Was I right all along? Wind Sped Wolves are weaker than the Bears but not by much, plus they hunt in groups…’
As Silva’s thoughts ran wild, he felt a sudden smack to his head.
“Ow. What the hell woman.”
“Don’t you what the hell me, you oaf.” Cinder was livid. “Why did you suddenly turn into a headless chicken the moment some dogs have come to play?”
“But Cinder the magician-”
“I don’t give a damn about those bastards, if they wanna run with their tails between their legs then they are welcome to do so. But as for us, well we’ve got some responsibilities.” She looked towards the three warriors who stood guarding the porters.
Silva looked at where she was indicating, before nodding his head. ‘That’s right, I’m the leader.’
He kissed the woman he loved before smacking his face hard with his hand.
“I could have done it for you.” Cinder said with a sweet smile.
“I love you.”
“Yeah yeah me too.” She said haughtily.
…………………………………………
