Two wolves were running through the forest, evading obstacles, always looking forward, moving like they were the same wolf. Ahead of them, a deer, trying to escape it’s death, but it’s path was blocked by a river, too large to pass it in one jump. It looked for a pass, but there was none to be found and the wolves were getting closer and closer, sometimes howling knowing that their prey is close. The deer jumped as far as it could and landed in the middle of the river, water up to his neck. It was moving slowly, a bit assured that today it will live, but to its horror the wolves jumped after it. After the jump only tiny waves were moving across the water, in a few seconds the deer started to scream and moving faster and faster before disappearing in the water. Getting out of the water the wolves were dragging the dead body of the deer. Slowly they dragged it to the outside of the forest, for them a knight was waiting them. Dressed in plate armour, dark in colour with two wolves graved on both of his shoulder plates. Close to him, a small camp with a bonfire, a tent and some tools laying around. When he saw the wolves, he started to move ahead to meet them.

“Thank you boys, I was sure to trust you with this hunt” he praised the wolves with a deep voice like it was used to shout orders in battle for a lot of time

The wolves howled and slowly disappeared, the knight grabbed the deer and moved it close to the tent and slowly started skinning it. This task took him a while, but after it, he had meat to eat, antlers and skin to sell. After frying some meat and eating it, he smoked the rest of it for the knight and used a bit of salt on the skin. He slept soundly, happy that his belly was full. During the morning he moved close to a village and started searching for a buyer, he stayed close to the taverns or markets. Eventually a villager bought his deer skin for 5 Belericusian ducats and the antlers for one golden ducat. With the money he entered a tavern and ordered a mug of ale. He could tell that everyone was looking at him, but he didn’t care. The tavernkeeper was a dwarf, black hair and beard, with a belt around his waist with different tools and pieces of cloth.

“So, kind traveller, what brings you to our village?” the tavernkeeper asked a bit hesitantly

“Business, I just travel with no purpose.” the knight answered calmly

“Good, good. Sir, if I may. You look like a person that could handle himself in a fight.”

“You are right to assume that, but please get to the point”

“Ri-right. The village needs your help regarding a matter. You see, a band of gnolls have settled in the forest nearby. And they are harassing the village from time to time, taking our money, food and our people. We have lost fifteen people. If you want to do it, we can reward you ten golden ducats and twenty silver ducats.”

“I take the quest. How do I get there?”

“There is a ranger called Ronald that will guide you to their place. You aren’t obligated to part the rewards with him, since he was already paid.”

“Good.”

The knight stood up from his table and started walking outside.

“Where are you going?”

“To the gnoll layer. Where can I meet this Ronald?”

From one of the tables a man sharply rose up and walked to the knight. He was wearing some leather vest with a green cloak. He looked much younger than the rest of the tavern. Blond hair, tall with blue eyes and he was wielding a bow and a shortsword. He extended his hand like to shake the knight’s hand. He had brown leather gloves with bits of metal on the fist.

“Ronald, nice to meet you Sir..” he said with a smile and happy tone

“Hyperion.”

“Nice to meet you Sir Hyperion. Well, from what I can see we are going right now.”

Ronald remained with his hand in air, but saw that Hyperion did not intend to look at him

“Yes, if we deal with this right now, there will be no more danger to this village.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

The village was close to a river, surrounded to the east with forest and farmland to the west. Ronald and Hyperion went east, inside the forest. No small talk was made, every attempt made by Ronald it was promptly shut down by Hyperion with his silence or cold rejection. Their search continued until they got to a hill that overlooked its surroundings. On top of the hill, there was a camp with the bonfire lit.

“Alright, your job is done, you can go back to the village.”

“What?! Are you nuts?”

“Ronald, honestly, you would just be in the way. Stay here, if you want any loot, just wait for a bit.”

“If you say so, but if something happens, I will intervene.”

Hyperion did not wait for Ronald and rushed ahead, luckily the sun was behind him so he could see the top of the hill with no problem. A gnoll noticed him and started to scream and laugh like a hyena, drawing his bow and realising. The arrow was deflected by the plate armour with no problem and Hyperion taking advantage, carved the gnoll in half with his greatsword. Ahead of him, six other gnolls. Most of them dressed the same, with scrap of metal strapped around vulnerable areas and leather pads covering the legs. They were all laughing and banging the swords on their shields like some sort of a taunt. Hyperion noticed their dirty brown fur and the smell of dead flesh around the camp. Five gnolls charged at once, the first two trying to cut Hyperion’s legs. Hyperion parried the first strike, leading his weapon inside the first gnoll’s head, but that meant he was open to another attack and the second gnoll profited from it. When his sword met Hyperion’s armour only a bang happened, surprised that his sword did not cut through, he tried again but was stopped by Hyperion when he cut the arm of the gnoll and after it pushed him over the edge towards Ronald. Ronald seeing the gnoll, immediately drew  his bow and released two arrows into the gnoll’s skull. The next two gnolls were a bit afraid, seeing that their mates were killed in just a few moments. Hyperion seeing that they are not coming he just muttered a few words and released from his hands three purple magic projectiles, two of them hitting their targets. Only one gnoll remained, filled with rage he threw a javelin and charged ahead. Hyperion moved sideways dodging the javelin and swung his greatsword from his head trying to cut the gnoll in half. The gnoll managed to raise his shield, but the greatsword simply cut through the shield into his head killing him instantly.

“Alright. You can come” Hyperion shouted

“Well, good job I might say.”

Both of them looted the camp, Hyperion only took the money that was found and a waterskin, while Ronald took the jewels and what he could find that were from the village. After that, both of them started moving back to the village.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Ronald asked

“In battles mostly.”

“Wow. You are good you know.”

“One gnoll managed to hit me in the knee. I am a bit rusty.”

“Rusty you say? Hah, if I was rusty like you, I would’ve been a great ranger, maybe part of a scouting company. Did I ever tell you about my brother?”

“No, and I do not think I need to know about him.”

Ronald did not listen to Hyperion

“Well you see, my brother…”

Hyperion rushed ahead with Ronald talking about his brother in the background. Eventually they arrived at the tavern inside the village. Hyperion got the reward and decided to move to another village, maybe finding something to work there. He later learned about a great festival inside Nothoria’s capital Zalmoxia and, of course, about the rumour that there will be a great quest for adventurers. On his way towards Zalmoxia he often encountered villages where there was some work to do. Bandits, foreigners, monsters, Hyperion always took it, no questions asked, just how much and where. He always traveled by night, avoiding the most urban areas to not attract too much attention, but he liked it as well, the night sky, mostly the moon.Close to Zalmoxia, on a paved road, with trees and their yellow and orange leaves, he couldn’t avoid anymore.

“Knight!” a voice shouted from his back

Hyperion turned and saw three men, two armoured and armed. The third one was behind them, not wielding any weapons, but to him it looked like that man does have some tricks up his sleeve.

“Sir?” Hyperion asked calm

“You are not welcomed here, surrender your weapon, your armour and you shall be granted a merciful death.”

“Oh. How come am I not welcomed here?” he said it while drawing his greatsword and in response the other two men took their stance, one wielding a warhammer and the other one a longsword with a shield.

“You know why. You reek of dark magic, you are cursing the very earth you stand on.”

“The earth is fine, sirs, but still. I am in a no mood to fight you here, just leave me alone and-“

A sudden flash followed by a thunder stopped his words. The third man launched a lightning bolt at him, setting the grass near Hyperion on fire, but doing no harm to him. Hyperion was covered in a dark shadow and then purple light started to come from his eyes. He rushed ahead targeting the longsword wielder. His charge was interrupted when the other one tried to hit him in the head with his warhammer, but Hyperion parried it. Soon he was on the defensive, dodging any strike and parring what he could. His enemies were working flawlessly, never leaving an opening, always protecting each other. Again the third one launched another lightning bolt at Hyperion, this time he could not defend himself and felt the force of it, burning his chest plate and throwing him a few meters back. Profiting from this, the other two started hitting him with all they had. Longsword hits were not that of a problem, but from the warhammer he felt everything. Crushed ribs, incredible pain in his arms and legs, he could feel the blood on his lips. As a last ditch effort he launched three magic projectiles, but they all missed their targets.

“Fucking paladins, and what are you? Cleric? Always bothering me.”

Hyperion dodged the last two hits from the warhammer and got up on his feet.

“You are all so pure and righteous, believing you are protecting everyone, but now you shall see, you shall see.”

With those last few words he gripped his greatsword and a purple light started coming from a gem that was placed on the guard. He swung three times in the air, sending waves of magic, one paladin tried to shield his comrade but he didn’t arrive in time and saw him cut in half. Hyperion then rushed ahead like a beast and slashed at the paladin. Time after time after time, the paladin did not surrender, blocking the hits, then counterattacking by slashing at the neck or joints. The cleric was calling blessings on the paladin, giving him strength or healing his wounds. Hyperion having enough of that, threw his greatsword at the cleric, impaling him in his stomach, after that grabbed the shield of the paladin and managed to disarm him, threw him on the ground and started punching him.

“I had a great night, but you always come and ruin everything!” he shouted in rage

Punch after punch, the face of the paladin started to not exist anymore, just bits of bones and flesh in a form that in the most horrendous caricature resembled the face of a man. Hyperion did not see at first, but after his rage subsidized, he saw that there were witnesses, peasants and merchants looked in horror at what was happening. After that he knew that the city will not welcome him at all. With a piece of cloth he cleaned his greatsword and walked into a nearby forest, where he took care for some of his wounds and looked at the great view: Zalmoxia,  a city with two sets of walls and there was a stark contrast between the districts, the inner city being clean and rich, buildings made out of brick and marble while the outer city was looking more like a large slum, tents, houses made out of wood and earth, he could not understand how these people lived here, for Hyperion there was always a job, something to do and for himself he thought that the country was big enough to have that many farmers. He could not understand why Nothoria was so powerful, well granted he did arrive only three days ago falling from the sky. He waited for a bit, deciding if it is worth it or not. But then he sensed something entering the city, it felt like death itself was in the city. He then disguised himself with a spell and looked more like your normal adventurer, poor but eager for work. He only left his face unchanged, he never showed anyone what was behind that helm, so he did not bother. Dark short hair with red eyes, multiple scars around his face. Arriving in the city, he found a nearby tavern where he slept for the rest of the night. The next day he went to the Emperor’s Plaza, in the inner city where the festival was unfolding. Food, drinks, games, everything was to offer thanks and gratitude to the Sun for a bountiful summer. He always felt that presence, always on the back of his mind, he tried to find it, but to no success. After a while a nobleman demanded the attention of every adventurer interested in making a fortune.

“Honored adventurers, I have come to offer you a quest, the biggest quest in all of Titanicus.”

For Hyperion this sort of talk, dragging it out with pompous gesticulation, always annoyed him. He was baffled how quickly people were dropping their businesses and just started listening. Sometimes he chuckled at how the man was dressed: high boots going up to his knees, small trousers that were a bit big, a shirt that looked like it was chocking the man’s body and a white silk collar covering his neck.

“Something has happened at the center of our continent, we do not know what, but it can only mean ill things. We all know that the undead are a menace to our existence and that we must wipe them out.”

Again Hyperion couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. The undead usually want peace and quiet, from what he learned with the Great Fog around them, they do no come out of it so why bother them.

“Your task is to gather information from all around the world and if you find that terrible things are happening, you must stop them. The reward will be land in Nothoria and money to spend for your whole life.”

A man approached Hyperion dressed in leather armour with a blue cloak covering most of his back and arms and with a cat on his shoulder.

“Hey, name’s Westbrook, this is Pissed. What do you say about us making a team eh? You look like you need a team, so if you want to, you can join mine. I will gather other members as well and do not worry about the price, we will split the reward in half like brothers”

“Fuck off.”

The cat hissed at Hyperion.

“Alright, alright. Sheesh.”

After a few seconds Hyperion saw that many adventurers were taking the quest, after a bit of pondering he decided to go as well. He enlisted then went to the closest tavern. He learned that some teams were specifically sent in some places, strange for him, but nonetheless, he at least got something to do. His thoughts were interrupted by a woman, dark hair just like his, beautiful green eyes, perfect in her physique, and her way to talk, like she knew your whole story somehow charmed Hyperion a bit, enough that he did not sent her away as soon as possible.

“Hello, loner. How come you are not drinking with the rest of the tavern?”

“Not wanting to and not used to. What do you want?”

“Oh come on, do not be like that. I, too, do not like to drink with them. A few mugs and they go to shit. Two things may happen: bar fight or they fall asleep inside.”

“How come no one goes to some whores and have their way with them?”

She laughed, Hyperion looked confused.

“What a joker you are.”

“I did not joked.”

She looked surprised.

“So you say, well maybe you forgot that whores are banned. If anyone is found with them, both are killed publicly as to wipe out the corruption they have brought.”

“If they are so pure, then why do we have these fools here drinking like tomorrow the world will end.”

She chuckled and then leaned ahead closed enough that he could hear her whisper.

“They are not from here.” she said then backed away “Then, stranger. How should I call you?”

“Hyperion.”

“Ohoo, big name. I would guess that you are from some village from south of Belericus, most of the south has these big names.”

“Maybe, but how should I call you?”

“Servilia.”

“Interesting name, I would guess you are from around here, seeing how most people have this kind of names.”

“Oh I see what you did there. We shall both find out from where do we come, in time.”

“What makes you so sure that I will not forget you by tomorrow?”

“Because, you and I will make a great team. You will be the brawn, while I will the brain. No offence, but it looks like your sword is talking not your mouth.”

“And how come you are so wise.” Hyperion said with sarcasm

“I usually like to make my way unnoticed and that takes a bit of thinking.”

Hyperion laughed. Slowly he started to ease himself, slowly trusting the Servilia. They talked all night and then decided to part at the same time towards Honoria, to do as the quest demands it. For the first time, he felt safe and glad since he fell from the sky and started hoping that this feeling will never go away.