Stubby laid in my arms, sleeping without a care in the world as Johnathon cried and begged us to not return Stubby. 

Celie threatened him to go away, but it was no use. He followed us all the way to the lady’s house who’s eyes brimmed with tears, and she handed us a few extra copper coins than what was expected.

Johnathon, nearly on the brink of tears, agreed with the old lady that he could visit Stubby every now and then.

It was like watching a couple going at it in court for custody over their kid, but soon after they became friends and shared their loving child. 

For reasons I knew not, he followed us on our way back to the guild. 

Along with his non-stop flirting with Celie- “My, I must say, you are quite wonderful compared to these other ladies!”- something caught my ear.

“-Alongside Gedo and Preston kingdom to push the undead back into their graves!” A thin, tall man in a well-distinguished, royal blue military jacket with tight leggings and sharp leather shoes held a scroll, reading along the lines to the passerby. 

“Fight for your kingdom! Fight for dignity! Fight for your family! Please head to the nearest recruiting office and sign up now!” 

I pulled on Celie’s hood, nearly choking her as she came to an abrupt stop, giving a “Ugh!” 

“What the hell was that for?”

I pointed at the man who spoke with every inch of his heart. 

“I think this kingdom is about to start a war!” 

“Ha! Who would dare try against us knowing that I’m here?” Johnathon laughed hysterically, and alone as we already made our way into the circle listening to the man’s words. 

“Heroics will not go unnoticed! You can be granted land, nobility, money, and much more! Do this not only for yourself, but for your loved ones and for the sake of Gedo kingdom!” 

I looked at Celie who then looked at me. 

“D’you hear that? They really are going to war!” Celie, who didn’t really seem to care, left the crowd. 

I followed, and we went back to making our merry way to the guild. 

The thought of war clouded my thoughts, making me wonder what could come next, whether bad or good. 

 

“Hm?” Ax slid a cup of ale to a swaying, blushing man who spoke gibberish. “Who’s that?”
I shrugged my shoulders, and Celie sat in front of the violet fire. 

“He just wouldn’t leave us alone.” I said, pulling a stool from under the counter and calling for a drink. 

Ax shook his hand, shooing Johnathan away, but Johnathan kept harassing Celie with compliments and flirts. Ignoring his antics, I turned to Ax who was cleaning an ale-stained glass gauntlet. 

“Ax, do you know anything about this war up North?” 

“Hm?”

“I dunno’, something to do with the undead?”

“Ah…” He placed the glass cup down with caution and leaned on the counter, giving me a bargaining eye.

“See, those damned vampires- getting real smart, I’ll tell ya’- are building up an army and are trying to push into Focus.”

“Focus?”

“Good lord! I thought you’d have some brain in ya’!” He laughed, slamming the counter. 

“Focus is our continent. We share the northern border with the Terror continent.”

Of all the books I had read… I haven’t seen anything about our continent

“The Terror Continent? Why’s it called that?”

“It’s filled with ghastly beasts and monsters there! It’s always been like that too since the early age of the Gods.”

I didn’t feel like digging into the past further, but I did want to know what dangers lurked in there. 

“Ay’” Ax tapped my shoulder “You must be a great mage to take down The Mammoth Bear at such a young age-” I gave an awkward smile to the compliment, knowing full well that it was just a fat bear that ran away from us. “You should try for this city’s school- ah… er…” Ax rubbed his chin hair, looking constipated as he gave odd grunts. “Ah! Whale’s Second Division Magician Academy! You should enroll there! I’m sure they’d accept you. But o’course-” He pointed to the pinboard next to him. “You’re gonna have to take up some missions to pay the tuition.” 

Ah, tuition! 

“Don’t cha’ worry though! It’s a Second Division magician school, the tuition won’t be as high as the more prestigious schools.”

“Ah- right…” I didn’t understand what the divisions meant, but I wanted to move on from the whole idea of spending money. If anything, I wanted to hoard my money and spend it specifically on only necessities. 

Ax let us stay in another unoccupied room free of charge, and it all felt like heaven but I kept on my toes, waiting for another disaster to strike if it would ever dare come. Johnathan ran back home before the sun fell, and I finally had peace. 

Celie seemed worned out from shouting and scratching at Johnathan to leave her alone, and she immediately fell asleep that night. I, however, looked out the window above our nightstand from my bed.

 

9 months had passed, and Celie just turned 12. I was younger than her by a month. She expected a gift from me, in which I gave her nothing. Now I know that on every special occasion that Celie has, I need to give her, otherwise I will receive a punch on my poor nose. 

Less men flooded the streets of Webb City, and probably of others too. It seemed that the recruitment had done well, and so had the soldiers as we’d been hearing new songs from bards (Who tried harassing every passing person for money, including us), about the heroics on the front lines against the undead. 

“Cmon’! Let’s take up a A tier mission already! We’re breezed by all these C+ tier missions!” Celie, who had grown a few inches taller, tugged on my shirt, begging for a more difficult mission.

“A tier? You’re out of your mind, woman. Why don’t we start off with B- tier missions instead?”
She huffed and puffed, but gave in. Johnathan, being the instigator he is, tried backing for Celie, but instead, I backed him down with a disapproving stare as he opened his crusty lips. 

He had been looking much more cut, stronger, and taller now than before. He had told us that he’d been training with the sword to lose weight and start towards his journey of being the greatest swordsman to ever exist. 

In response, Celie laughed. I didn’t, however, and that was the only thing I respected out of Johnathan. 

“This one!” Celie ripped a paper off the pinboard, putting the two pieces together and shoving it in my face. 

“Pshh” I spat, tasting the grating texture of the harsh paper.
“Sorry!” She stepped back, and I wiped my mouth on my sleeve as I read the paper. 

 

[Join our adventuring party to clear out a level C dungeon!]

 

The last thing I’d want to do is meet even more people…

“So? What do you say?”

“I dunno’, we don’t know much about dung-”

“Yeah, but we’ll probably be fighting alongside people who do!” Celie’s red eyes burned with fire, which I found pretty satiric considering that her mana capability is water creation.

“I guess-”

“I’ll come too! I am a great swordsman after all.” said Johnathan, sticking his chest out ever so proudly in the air.

Ax muffled his laugh, and Celie gave me a look telling me “Please get him away from me!” But to my entertainment, I loved getting revenge on Celie.

“Sure. Why not?” I patted him on the back as I left through the front door, grabbing my travel bag I had purchased the month before on my way. 

Celie smacked her forehead but followed behind me.

Johnathan, for some strange reason, always had his sword with him, and pranced beside Celie as we made our way to meet the adventuring party.