Tatami mat floors creaked under the weight of Sage’s shifting body. The eastern style house couldn’t have matched the aesthetic of the Shinto shrine any better than it currently did; the sliding doors and cushion seats were customary of eastern culture—they were customary of Nomad culture too, apparently. 

Felix sat beside Sage with the same stillness; they had followed the robed man who they were sure tried to kill them into his house and he was now nowhere to be seen. 

A slow, rolling noise came from the door as it slid open, signalling the return of the man; standing at his side were two children in the same white robes as he, carrying wooden platters in their hands with a bowl in the center. They were both bald yet Sage could make out the feminine features in one and the lack thereof in the other; to say the boy had masculinity to him would be greatly incorrect. All children seemed feminine to some degree, the actual females just more so than the males. 

As if to display that they were cut from the same cloth, the man removed his hood, revealing the same pale, bald head as the children. His eyes were a brown so dark they could’ve been mistaken for black, and his face looked youthful. His gait as he methodically strode to the table where the two were seated told a contrasting tale to the one his visage did. 

“Do present our guests with their meals, would you?” he said as he took a seat opposite them. 

With the same gait, although a little unpracticed, the children brought the platters over to the table and placed the bowls in front of Sage and Felix before fleeing back to the opened door and shutting it behind them. The bowls were covered with a lid, but neither of the two moved to remove it. If Felix felt the same as Sage, then it was obvious why he didn’t move either; they wanted answers, not food. 

“My gift to you for completing the first stage,” the man said. “My name is Dolark.”

He spread his arms and bowed, earning a nod from the two lost boys. 

[Quest Completed | 1 Silver Coin Obtained | 600 Exp Obtained]

It came following his bow, and the sound startled Sage into a small jump. The silence in the room, aside from Dolark's talking, had pushed him into a trance of sorts and made him focus very clearly. It was like throwing a rock into a stilled pond. 

“What’s wrong?” Felix asked. 

“Nothing, I just got a notification for completing the quest.” Sage looked at Dolark, “Meaning you’re the one who sent the quest.” 

They both cast their eyes onto him and Dolark shook his head. 

“I am not the one who sent it, but I am part of the organization that did.”

“What organization? What did we complete, and why are you congratulating us?” Felix asked. 

Dolark stared at them blankly, “You both seek to join an expedition team, correct?”

Sage nodded slowly, suspicious of how he could’ve possibly known. Felix did the same.

“Well, that’s why I’m congratulating you. You’ve completed the first stage of the trials and taken your first step towards becoming an expeditioner,” Dolark said. 

Tired of this world beating around the bush, Sage sighed and placed his hands on the table, “Dolark, you’re going to need to explain it to us better than that. We’re clearly confused.” 

The bald man chuckled.

“My apologies, Sage Hunter, I will do just that.” 

This man must’ve been from whatever organization ran the guilds. Just like that guide back at the guild, Dolark knew his full name. Did they all know it? 

“As you both know, the Expedition Trials are held in multiple capital cities around the world. They present adventurers with the chance to enter into restricted areas and obtain treasures otherwise unobtainable. It’s a spectacle, an event, for commoners to go and watch as adventurers duke it out for a spot on a nobles’ team. But those trials, those publicly known events, are the final stages of a greater process. There are three secret stages, one of which you have just completed, that are undisclosed to the public, even to those who wish to take on the trials,” he said. 

Felix’s shifting in his seat drew Sage’s attention to his knit brows.

“That’s ridiculous. If we didn’t find this quest, we would’ve shown up in the city and been unable to partake in the trials. Shouldn’t there be some guidance letting us know there are stages we need to complete first?” Felix said. 

Dolark wagged his finger and said, “Observation; it is one of the three essentials an expedition member must have. A quest paper that shouldn’t exist, that was so bizarre that the guild shouldn’t have allowed it to pass, would such a thing not warrant your attention? If you don’t have the observation skills to point it and those facts out, how would you be an adequate choice for a team?”

“What if it’s not because we passed over it, but because it wasn’t on our section of the board? What if we weren’t F-class adventurers or if we hadn’t taken a new quest in a while?” Sage retorted in an attempt to ease Felix’s annoyance. 

“The same quest has been repeatedly posted for the past two months, and it’s been pinned on every rank of the board, not just F-rank. If someone were to pass over such an absurd quest and not check it out, they wouldn’t be a proper candidate for the teams,” Dolark replied. 

Despite being unaware of what an expedition team entailed, Sage couldn’t help but resign to what Dolark was saying. Observation was key; he would take that as a fact.

“Did you know?” Felix asked Sage. “Did you know there was something strange about the quest? You couldn’t have.”

Sage shook his head, “Not at all. The quest seemed like it would be easy and it piqued my interest a little; I wanted to see the shrine in the forest. I didn’t expect all of this.” he gestured to the small room.

Dolark hummed to himself and fiddled with a silver bar the size of his pinky that hung from his necklace. 

“Whether it be by ignorance or intent, you were brought to this shrine; everything happens for a reason, as is told by Vorma.”— Dolark held his necklace tight—“Your interest speaks of your fate. You both were destined to make it to this shrine, to take part in the trials.” 

As often as he’d heard that saying in his world, “Everything happens for a reason”, he not once believed it. When the words left Dolark’s mouth, as he quoted who Sage believed was a god to him, they struck as if falsity was an inane notion. At that moment, to Sage, fate existed. 

“Then what comes next? You said there were three stages before the real trials,” Sage asked. 

“Yes, there are two more, each of which will test you on a different essential quality, both of which you must pass. I will inform you later of where you must head next, for now, eat.” Dolark pointed to both their bowls and then got up and left through the same sliding door. 

It took a moment, but both of them removed the lids to reveal a mixture of fragrant rice and meat that resembled chicken covered in a maroon sauce. Sage pushed his spoon into the mixture and shoveled it into his mouth; the spices stung his tongue but the flavors weaved between each bite of spice encouraged him to consume subsequent mouthfuls. 

Felix hadn’t started eating. 

“Thank you,” he said, prompting Sage to halt his consumption. 

Felix rubbed the back of his neck.

“If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to take part in the trials. I just brazenly charged headfirst without watching my surroundings properly. Of course there’d be more to it than just fighting in a grand tournament; expedition teams don’t only fight.”

That last sentence seemed directed at himself, not Sage. 

Sage tried swallowing his food quickly so he could give a response, but Felix stopped him, saying what Sage wanted to. 

“I know, you didn’t grab the quest knowing there was something off about it. But the fact still stands: if you didn’t grab it, I wouldn’t have been able to take on the trials. So thank you, seriously,” he said. 

It was clear to Sage that there was more to Felix’s desire to join the teams than what he showed on the surface. The realization made him feel the expression of gratitude that much more. 

“What the hell are you going on about?” Sage said, finally clearing his mouth. 

Felix looked at him with worried eyes. 

“We’re comrades, aren’t we? Of course my finds count as your finds too. So, technically, you found that quest,” he said. 

Felix stared at him for a little before lowering his head and laughing. 

“Yes, we’re comrades. That’s right. You wouldn’t have been able to accept a quest if it wasn’t for me!”

He laughed some more before saying, “By the way, what’s Hell? You said it like it was something I should know.”

Sage held his spoon in front of his face. So they took some of his world’s religions but not all of them? Way to make things confusing. 

“It’s nothing important, just a saying from my village. Eat up,” he replied.

Sage turned and began spooning serving after serving into his mouth. Felix shrugged and did the same. 

The staircase on the opposite end of the shrine led to a continuation of the path they arrived on. It had the same mossy covering, and looking at it as they departed from the forest, a thought came to Sage’s mind. 

“If this shrine was just here for the trial, why does it look so old and worn down?” he asked. 

Dolark, who walked a few paces in front of Sage and Felix, came to a stop and raised his hand, waving it the same way he did when he cast the ropes to bind Felix.

The air around them morphed and a shimmer floated above. It blinded Sage, his vision clouded by the shining smoke. 

When it cleared, the path was no longer below him, and, turning over his shoulder to look, the Shrine couldn’t be seen on the hilltop. 

“You’re an Illusionist!” Felix shouted. His eyes were wide with excitement. 

Seemingly aware Sage had no inkling what he meant, Felix turned to him and said, “Remember when you were asking me about classes? Illusionist’s are one of them. They’re Archmages who specialize in trickery; It’s called a specialty-class, I believe. Aren’t those above master-classes?” 

Dolark spun on his heels and began to walk backward, the boys followed. 

“You’re correct. It is a specialty class. If you want to make it far as an expeditioner, you may want to take on a class sooner or later. It will be a long while before you make it anywhere near a specialty class.” 

He then spun back and continued walking forward. 

Contrasting Felix’s elation, Sage stared at his feet, prodding through his mind. 

His class was an Unknown, which no one seemed to know despite checking his card. Sage knew that he was something different from the rest of them, his card’s system even functioned differently, granting him special tasks regularly, but would his class function like theirs? Would he also upgrade to a master’s and then specialty class? The only person that could inform him of that seemed to be that woman; she said he was one of them, she must’ve been referring to the Unknown. 

Sage was shaken from his thoughts, pulled back by Felix’s incessant calling of his name. 

“Sage, you listening? Finally, you looked at me. I was asking how you summoned that sword from nowhere. What was that?”

He was slightly dazed, still pulling himself from his mind, but he responded, “It’s an add-on that allows me to hide my equipment and call it back at will. Though it’s technically always there. I got it from some woman I met on my quest,” while holding his left arm up and materializing his glove. 

He opted against saying Hera’s name in fear that Felix would have an issue with her as well. 

“That will definitely come in handy. You could trick people into thinking you’re unarmed. There’s so much you could do with that!” Felix said. 

Sage smirked and nodded, “I already thought of all that stuff, trust me.” 

It was a short while later that they emerged from the other end of the forest. Back in the moor, they could see Hakburn in the distance to the east, and the lake they had seen from Cerando’s edge was just to the north. They stood on the other side of the Archi river, and what filled their vision were the short mountains that ran all along the horizon beyond the lake. 

“That is where you must go,” Dolark said, pointing to the distant mountain range. “There, you must find a purple stone; you will know which one when you find it. The stone is required for the third stage, so it is mandatory that you locate one each.”

Felix walked out past Dolark and gazed at the mountains. “Where exactly in the mountains should we look for them?” he said. Almost immediately after asking, he waved his hand and said, “Nevermind, I’m sure you can’t tell us that.”

Dolark chuckled. 

“I wish the two of you good luck. It will be a rigorous experience, and you will both be pushed to the limits, but don’t give up. Be on your way then,” he said. 

Sage pulled at the strings of his sack, staring at the distant range. The thrill he felt when he escaped the islands filled him. The thrill of an adventure.

“Sage,” Dolark called as he walked away. “Is Hera well?”

With wide eyes, Sage turned to face him.

“You know who Hera is?” he asked. 

“In a way, I suppose I do. Be sure to cherish what she’s shared with you, equipment and guidance alike. I assure you she won’t lead you astray.” 

Dolark began walking back to the forest but turned to face him again. 

“Oh, and here’s a little tip. You need to better your sense of your surroundings; part of observing is to notice that which you cannot see. Don’t neglect your dexterity, okay?” he said and finally disappeared into the trees. 

Hearing Felix’s hollering voice, Sage turned away from the forest and made his way to him. It would be perceptive skills then, right? Did dexterity help with those? That was the way Dolark made it seem. It was time to start allocating some points into dexterity; the reason he couldn’t react the same way Felix did was sure to be because of how low his stat was. 

Sage smiled faintly as the two marched through the ankle-high grass. There was so much he needed to learn. 

The afternoon sun was long gone, replaced by a setting one, by the time the two reached the road that curved around the wide lake. The road stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions, entering into a forest to the east. 

Gazing at said forest, Sage saw a cart, which he now registered as a merchant’s cart, wheeling its way towards them. 

Noticing the same thing, Felix began waving at the cart. It was a short while before it pulled up, but Sage realized why Felix had made the two of them known prior to the merchant’s arrival. Stationed around the cart were three men and two women protecting it; if they noticed two people who seemed to sneak onto the road, wouldn’t they be hostile? Sage’s respect for Felix increased at that moment. 

“Do you have any provisions? Waterskins, rations, anything of the sort?” Felix asked the merchant. 

Gazing into his cart, the finely dressed young man nodded his head, “I should have some. Not in my wares, though I should have some personal ones to spare,” he said. 

As the merchant hopped off his seat and searched through his supplies, Felix turned to Sage and said, “We’re going to need food and drink if we plan on taking on these trials. Who knows how long it will take us to find those stones. I’d rather not starve to death,” he scratched the back of his head and with a nervous chuckle, said, “I spent all my coin on my gear. You’re gonna have to spot us both here.”

With a sigh, Sage fished his coins out of his inventory screen. 

The merchant returned to them with a burlap sack in one hand and two waterskins in another. “There are some bread and apples in there,” he said, passing them both over to Felix. “I won’t charge you for those. The waterskins I’ll take 50 bronze apiece, so one silver.”

With ten silver in hand, one seemed negligent for what they were receiving. Sage slid one from his pouch and placed it in the merchant’s hands before tucking his pouch back into his bag. 

“Pleasure,” the man said, tipping his costly hat to them. 

Felix placed the rations in his sack and tossed a waterskin to Sage who watched the merchant, and his guards, trundle along. 

“We should be fine for a week or so. Let’s complete these two stages in under that, yeah?” Felix said. 

“Agreed. I don’t want to be caught in there for too long,” Sage replied, gazing at the slight, rocky incline leading to a split in the mountains. “Whatever lives there is definitely a leg up from boars and goblins.”

Felix nodded. 

The incline leading to the mountain’s entrance was uneven and littered with boulders and rocks. Now and then, as they trudged upward, Sage felt his legs tense up. When Dolark slammed his cudgel against Mura, Sage felt the blow with his entire body. Surmounting the incline was proving more difficult than initially expected. 

With the sun’s descent continuing, Sage grew more uneasy about entering the passage now. Not only did his legs desire rest, which he cursed that bald monk for, but he wasn’t confident they’d be able to make it through the mountains without a source of light. 

“Feli—” Sage went to speak but was cut off by the slamming of a rock into the boulder to his left. The explosive sound made him jump to the right, diving onto the ground behind Felix.

“What was that?” Felix shouted. 

Another blast landed a few feet in front of him, and Sage yanked him to the ground, pulling him behind the coverage of a truck-sized boulder. The sound of arrows pattering against the boulder and the shrapnel of launched rocks filled their ears and vision. 

“Did you see what they were?” Sage asked. 

Felix shook his head, “I didn’t see anything but a few figures further up the incline. They’re intelligent though, so it can’t be goblins of any sort. They’re probably humans.” 

“But why the heck are they firing at us?” 

His question was rhetorical, and he never expected an answer, but he received one nonetheless. 

“That would be my fault. I thought I could steal from them discreetly, but they found out,” a female voice said from behind them. 

They both spun their heads to see a young girl with a bow in her hands. She wore a green, hooded tunic, and similar leather armoring as Felix, only smaller and thinner. 

“Who the hell are you?” Sage asked. 

The girl smiled, her tanned skin dimpling at her cheeks, and said, “I’m Raana, it’s nice to meet you. You guys are trial takers?” 

Caught up in her pace, they both nodded. The battering against the rock continued.

“So am I, those guys are too,” she said, gesturing over the boulder. “They probably think you’re my accomplices now, my bad.” 

She chuckled. 

At a loss for words, Sage simply looked at her with confused eyes. 

Removing her hand off the boulder as if she realized she was touching a corpse, Raana backed away from them and said, “We probably shouldn’t be standing near any large boulders, I’m pretty sure one of them is a golem-mage. Come, follow me,” she said, giving them no time to retort to her comments or demands and fleeing further down the incline. 

Sage looked at Felix who looked at the boulder. He didn’t notice it at first, but Sage eventually saw the large rock trembling; he felt the large rock trembling. 

It shook, and rocked, and soon began to morph its shape. The grinding of rock on rock emanated from its twisting body. The screeching, as if the fear wasn’t enough, caused the boys to back away from it. 

Taking on a humanoid shape, the rock stood up from the ground and slammed its fist into the rock beneath, shattering it. 

“Ah, damn. They do have a golem-mage.” 

Those words Felix said were the last thing Sage had heard before he turned tail and ran, trying to find wherever that girl had gone.