The caravan arrived at the first stop, Eldorval. It’s a lovely city located on the northeast of Balvich. Eldorval is an old word means Spring of the Lord. As the name suggested, 20km to the east was the ruin of the ancient Spring.

The boys laid their eyes to the west. While the green has overtaken the colour and shape of stone, the rocky landscape is unmistakable. The left-over of a mountain.

The youthful eyes of Ren and Gowen could make out the catastrophic event. Massive forces were at play. Boulders, size of a village, departed their resting place. Some ran down the slope, stirring all the vegetation on its way. Some were casted to the heaven only to crash down many km away.

What remained is Eldorval’s popular landmark known as the Broken Mountain. This mountain which looks like a tree stump is one of the many scars from the Millennium War. Those that visited for the first time could only ponder at what powers marked such change onto mother earth.

The twins were none of those. They have seen many similar sceneries before. The Great War of their previous world has no shortage of these wounds on nature. The horror of destruction ached deep in their psyche. Those that witnessed such sight are prone to mental breakdown and uncontrollable tremble.

 

Not them.

 

They could sense the voice of the shark prince within the fleeting wind.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?

How dreadful, how mighty

the force of death and ruin!

And here at the turning of history

the green tramples the scars of war!

Celebrate life, its grandeur, its brilliance.”

 

Indeed.

The supposed fearsome feat gave them nothing but a sense of awe for the turning wheel of nature.

From their lips, “so beautiful!”

“It is?” Randal tilted his head.

He saw only a mountain covered in green of low shrub and grass. The young human was oblivious to traces of the terrible past 

---

 

Per schedule, the caravan would rest for a few hours. In the meantime, Clarinet decided to show them around. There are a lot of things for them to do here. First, their stomach needed some fillings as well as several samples of local delicacies.

After a small stew bowl, the four gathered at Market street. Multiple food stands could be seen dotting the place.

Randal sighed. “Do you really need to wear those?”

“It’s part of the progress now. If we take them off, we’ll have to redo it once we got home.”

“I saw you wear them only in rest days, but you have been having those on since we left Balvich. Don’t you think that’s overdoing? Shouldn’t you save your strength if thing go bad?”

Back at home, they would only wear these sandbags on days without extensive training. Those days are labelled rest days and sandwiched between two training days.

“You see it like that, but these bags are much lighter than those we wore on rest days. We know not to tire ourselves.”

That’s true. The wrist band normally weighed 100-110g each and the ankle band around 140g. These ones they had on themselves only come at 50g.

Clarinet just returned from the line and handed each of them a thin sheet of… something in dirt colour.

“Truffle?” “It’s truffle.”

“It is truffle.”

“What is truffle?”

“It’s related to mushroom.” A bit weird that the twins knew about this. Truffle isn’t too rare in Balvich, so they could have eaten them before. Randal didn’t know about it. Did that mean they were fed truffle when they were much younger? She decided to leave that alone. “This type is a specialty of Eldorval. Take a small bite.”

They knew truffle, rare finding during a forage. Julia and the two dwarven pals, Sirtocine and Guardnine, were particularly interested. It’s part of their culture, part of their livelihood.

Well, it is part of the twins’ life too. They got a pat on their head by their brothers when they found one for the first time. Ah, their brothers. Long gone brothers. Looking back, it always brought them moist nose and a bit red in the eyes.

The taste pulled them back to reality. They were different now. A different name. A different face. A different identity. Even the truffle is different. This earthly scent and fatty taste were not as sweet, as flowery, and also not as lasting as the ones of old.

“It’s delicious!” The exciting tone of someone first time tried a truffle. “I wish I can eat this every day.”

“You can wish, but you shouldn’t have it every day.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Such strong and rich taste, you will easily get bored. It’s best to have a little every month. You should savour every last bit and treasure the experience.”

“You really know a lot, Ren.”

“Just my opinion.”

“That’s very insightful, Ren.”

“Thank you, teacher.”

“Let’s go over there. Excuse me, four servings-” A tug on her sleeve caught her attention.

“Teach. Just three servings please. He and I share a stomach.”

She just remembered that they got only 2 hands too.

“Sorry. Three servings.”

“Three servings. 20.”

Clarinet passed the plates to the children. Her hand stretched open the coin sack, grabbing the exact amount. She dropped the pieces onto the owner’s palm.

The street food this time is roast veggies. By the attractive smell, they could tell some extra ingredients were added to this dish. 

The first bite confirmed their suspicion. There was something. Something coated the outside of the vegetable. It was probably applied while being roasted.

The salty and sweet coat acted as the anchor for the dish. Meanwhile, the texture and taste from different kinds of vegetables added variety. The deceptive simplicity of its appearance masked the meticulous care hidden within.

“Ok. You three take these allowances and have fun. I will meet you near the caravan in about one hour. There is something I want to show you guys.”

 

“We are free!”

“What now?”

The three looked at each other like frozen statues. Two of them were not good with suggestion. The last one didn’t know how to voice his opinion to his masters.

Ren broke the silence. “Maybe just stroll along the street.”

“Good idea.”

“Let’s go.”

---

 

“That last candy is so good.”

“Yeah!” “…yeah.”

“You don’t sound very excited, Ren.”

“For some reasons, I don’t find sugary stuff appetising.”

“Then. Let’s find something else you can enjoy.”

Walking without looking ahead, Randal crashed into another pedestrian. By the time his sense got back, his butt was already on the ground. Whoever he face-first into was quite the pillar.

“Sorry. Are you ok?” The other pedestrian offered a helping hand.

“No no. It’s my fault for not looking.”

Their hand touched the moment his eyes caught the frame of the talking person.

His body, solid.

His mind, froze.

His very soul, drained.

When the neurons in his brain finally reconnected, the human boy jumped back up. He bowed solemnly while hiding his shyness. “Please, excuse my conduct.”

Ren and Gowen got an idea of what was happening in Ran’s head, but that just made thing more confused for them. The cause of Ran’s weird behaviours was a centaur youth.

Red be the theme of their hair. It was long, almost wavy. That youthful face shouldn’t be much older than their own. That person was even taller than the twins. It was racial feature anyway. The loose shirt in the colour of ash covered most of their human torso. Only the hands and above neck were exposed. Their horse part was covered in a long grey caparison. This cape stretched down to their knees, mirrored what would be skirt to a human.

Centaur isn’t native to this continent. From the books, there is only one place centaur are from, the continent to the east. The sword on the waist of the centaur’s human torso boosted Ren’s confidence that this centaur is a traveller. Gowen’s instinct drew the same conclusion from the subtle air and scent from this young one.

“You’re so funny.” The centaur tilted their head.

Randal blushed at the comment.

Before they could exchange another word, two adult centaurs called the young one. The red-hair youth politely bowed them farewell. That captivating goodbye smile stole whatever remained of Randal.

“Ran. You’re ok?”

“What a lovely lady!”

“Lady? That’s a boy, right? Ren?” “Think so.”

“Wait what? That person clearly is a lady.”

“How do you know that?”

“Elm said a lady is a lady because of their beauty.”

“That perverted teenager!” “You are led astray, Randal.”

“Then what about you guys? How do you know that person is not a lady?”

Still reject the idea by not using the word “boy”. I see. Ren thought.

“We just know it.”

“Then it means you don’t know.”

“Ok. Fine. We don’t know.”

“I found it hard to believe that you would mistake such a beauty for a… a not-lady.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

---

 

“Do you guys have fun?”

“Yes, teach.” “Yes, teacher.”

“Yes!”

“You look like you just saw something good, Randal.”

“Yes, teach!”

“Let’s go inside.” Clarinet led them into a big establishment. “This place is the largest centre for beast hunters in Eldorval. I got a friend here. He promised to teach you boys a thing or two about adventurers.”

“Miss Clarinet.” A female attendant greeted her. “Hello, children.” She sounded a bit awkward at the boys. Could it be she wasn’t good with children? “Please come in. Mr Kai is waiting.”

They passed through large double doors made from metal. It seems from this part onward is the workshop. They could make out the smell of filth, rust, and sweat, the distinct features for such place.

Around 30 steps, they saw a hulk of an elf, standing in contemplation. His green hair tied neatly into a tall ponytail. They wondered if this guy has any relation with the farmers. The twins had more than their fair share of farmers with such humongous build.

“Kai!”

The man turned to Clarinet. His lips broke a smile. His expression was undoubtedly friendly. His stained apron though was not very approachable.

“Clarin. You’re back. These must be the children you have spoken of.”

“This one is Randal.”

“Hello.” The little voice was like small animal’s chirping. A trait of Randal, he turned into sheep whenever he met someone massively more muscular than him.

Kai took off his dirty gloves and gently patted on Randal’s head. “Hello, little guy. I am Kai.”

“My name is Randal.” This muscle is the size of my body. It’s the size of my body.

“And these guys are…”

The abrupt silence of Clarinet caught Kai’s attention. Randal followed Kai’s gaze. Something got the twin's curiosity, and it was lying on the operation table.

The twins saw the… whatever… leftover (?)... something on the table. With their knowledge of two lifetimes, Ren and Gowen could identify the jawline and the partial torso. The gore was eye-catching for Randal, since he hasn’t got the chance. Not so much for the twins. They were enthralled by a different detail.

“What did you see, little ones?”

“Spirit.”

Spirit or the lifeforce belongs to a living body. A corpse would rapidly lose the spirit. By the flesh, it was not fresh enough to retain spirit. Moreover, this much spirit on the carcass would likely mean a strong spirit animal. This led to the third problem. They couldn’t recognise what was that part from. Dog, bear, bird, crocodile, snake, bovine, rodent… none fit the details of that thing.

“That’s very good. Let’s come closer.”

When everyone got a place around the table, Kai explained. “Yesterday, a group of travellers and soldiers brought back these demon beasts. You wouldn’t recognise because of my process, but these are the torso of a humanoid creature. The soldiers said they stood upright and walked on two feet. The pack of five used primitive weapons to assault the travellers. Wait here. I will get you one that is untouched.”

Kai made a fast trip and returned with a frozen torso. He carefully laid down the specimen. Its face resembled some sort of man-ape hybrid. Even as the twins thought so, they weren’t sure. This creature got features that isn’t found on ape or man. Ape or man are omnivore or herbivore. These teeth were for eating meat only. Unlike big cats, bear, or wolf, these teeth were big in comparison to their jaw size. Their lips could only cover half the length of those pointy hooks. The teeth were arranged tightly next to each other. The upper fangs were twice the length of normal teeth. The bottom fangs though were more than three times the length. A unique trait they could spot was the lower jaw being bigger than the upper. Moving up beyond the forehead, the creature has distinct hairline in similar fashion to elves, centaurs, and humans.

“I noticed thick skin, a suitably thick layer of fat, big muscles, and strong bones. They are around 2m or above. Stature alone they are dangerous. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to know magic.”

“Mr Kai. You said they are demon beasts. Why did you think so?”

“I found these in their body.” Kai put couples of small spheres onto the table.

“(Mana) Cores.” “They are opaque and white.”

“You are fast learners.” Clarinet commended.

As if electricity jolted their body, the twins came to realisation. “Mr Kai. You said they had weapons.”

“Very attentive!”

Wooden spears with stone tips, bone daggers, stone axes, stone hammers, one by one being brought to display. The cross section of the shaft was around 11cm in diameter. That was too thick for elven or human hands. These creatures must have a big grip. The crafting hands were sloppy, yet the weapons felt sturdy.

If they know the crafting, there is a possibility. With that thought, Ren turned to Kai. “Mr Kai, do they have anything else on their body?”

The instinctual question piqued his interest. “Where did you find these boys?”

“My luck.”

“Here you go!”

Raptor’s feet. A crow mummified head. Wolf claws and fangs. There were even ones from bear.

“They also have clothes from animal pelts. One of those-”

“…came from a spirit wolf.” Ren completed his sentence much to the beast hunter’s amusement.

Among the fang necklaces, one tooth held a decent amount of spirit.

“Excellent!”

The muscular man gladly spent the next hour satisfied the kids’ inquiring nature.

---

 

“Actually. I intended to show you guys something else since you want to be adventurers.” Kai carried over a crate full of little bottles. “These!”

“These are antidotes in use for adventurers.”

Clarinet whispered to his ears.

“Eh? You have already shown them these? (Chapter 8) How should I know? You only told me to show them something adventurers use. Let’s just look at them anyway. There is a new one. We started with the history first. Did Clarin teach you how antidote is made or the types of antidote? How about you first, Randal?”

“…”

“Just go with whatever you remember, Ran."

“Antidote is used to treat poison… Normal antidote only treats one or a couple of poisons… but the antidote used by adventurers can treat all kind of poisons?”

“You got most of it. Just let me make this clear. It is not that the type adventurers use can treat every poison. It is because that antidote can treat every poison that adventurers decided to use it. That type of antidote is relatively new. Found around 900 years ago. We call it cure-all or cura for short. What you can see here are traditional antidotes. Normally, one antidote can only neutralise one type of poison or venom. Also called mono-antidote. Most in this crate are poly-antidotes. They can deal with a wide range of poisons.”

Kai handed out some red bottles each has a seal on cap with description. “Those are snake antivenoms. The first one treats poison of four venomous snakes found in the forest to the west. The second bottle treats five other common snakes. The third one can treat two other snakebites along with the western cobra and the green grass that the first bottle can treat; and the long rock, the spiky rock, and the blue vomit that the second bottle can treat. Total 7 species for the third bottle. We do have a mono-antivenom. This blue cap is the only known anti-dote for a rare species of snake to the far north.”

Kai pushed the crate forward. “Red bottle for snakes. Blue, spiders. Yellow for a family of vine plants. White for fishes. Black, shrooms. Other colours for other thing. Everything in this crate are traditional antidotes…” He reached out to 2 green bottles “…except for these. These two are the cura.”

“This one is the one that have been used for a while. Nine centuries ago, people of the Holy Sisters of Unity developed this antidote. An universal antidote. An expensive item. One 15ml bottle like this costs 1 cash. It’s substantially more expensive than some of the traditional antidotes. Now for some questions. Have Clarin told you why this is expensive?”

“Because it can cure every poison.”

“That’s one but not a full answer."

“It’s better to carry an antidote that can cure everything than carrying dozens of antidotes that would take space in the luggage.” “The cura’s also monopolised. Only the Holy Sisters know how to make them.”

“Good explanation, Ren, and thanks for the other answer, Gowen. Exactly, only the Holy Sisters have the know-how, but that ended just a week ago. How to make cura has already been public knowledge. In the future, it may get cheaper.”

“With its secret revealed, shouldn’t that be a guarantee that the price will fall?”

“That’s the problem. According to the Unity, the ingredient came from a rare plant only found in a series of caves lied deep in the center of the continent. Getting it is dangerous, since a lot of demon beasts lived around the middle of the continent too. How abundant that plant is will also contribute to the cost. Thanks to that, commission has been booming for adventurers. People want to know if that is the only place to find that plant. To be exact, we don’t even know if the plants are there in the center either. We just heard it from the Holy Sisters. That’s the story of this bottle.” Kai let the cura to the left. “Now it’s this thing turn.” He lifted the other bottle up high. Similar in design to the cura, but the bottle neck wore 2 silvery bands.

“The story of this one is only two days after the recipe of cura is published. From the same religion, it’s called cura+. They advertised it as only needs 1/5 the dose of cura. It is more resistant to heat and only priced at 2 cashes 4 nickels. My colleagues have already put down the order. Parties going to the north are particularly interested in it. Here. Have a good look at it. That’s everything for today. Feel free to ask me anything you want.”

---

 

“Say. You are travelling with the O’lotto, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then wait for me a minute. I got something to do at your caravan.”

“Did you want to make some purchase or anything?”

“No. Remember the travellers that took down the creatures I showed you guys? I just finished assigning the cost for the part they sold. They will be at the O’lotto caravan.”

 

After 10 minutes of walking, the caravan was in sight. Batch along with three centaurs and some soldiers were chatting in front of the wagons.

“It’s the centaur lady and the adults!” Randal whispered.

At close distance, the group could make out part of their conversation.

“…just be careful on your way, Mr Batch.”

“You got my thank for the warning. Oh. You’ve returned. We are just on time for departure.”

“Batch!”

“Kai! How are you? What bring you here?”

“This.” Kai raised a small sack to chest level. He handed it to the bald centaur. “It’s 13 cashes.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, you know them?”

“Yeah. Are they travelling with you?”

“Yes.”

“As I expected.”

To the children side.

“It seems we will accompany each other. My name is Randal. May I know your name, my lady?”

“Lady?” The centaur chuckled. “Sorry. But I am a boy.”

Yup! Knew it!

The elves weren’t fooled, since they got their share of androgyny among their people. It’s one of the traits their gods favoured anyway. The same can’t be said for a human.

Randal turned so red, people could mistake him for a roasting human. Everyone held their laugh. To his rescue, the centaur boy broke the awkward atmosphere.

“Nice to meet you, Randal.” He placed a fist on his heart. “I am Altan.”

“Nice to meet you too, Altan.”

“We are Gowen…” “…and Ren.” “Good to know you, Altan.”

“Good to know you, Gowen and Ren.”