After the battle Arunna and Kaleena cannot believe their eyes that the same monster that killed Brocton, the strongest swordsman in their estate was easily defeated by an old man.

Old man Ed turned his head and looked at the two ladies and smiled

“Well it seems that we’re done here we should go back to the city.”

The old man is walking towards his horse; he went past by Arunna and Kaleena

“Why did you kill him? We can still get more information from him.” Arunna told the old man with her face looking at the corpse of Midnight, disappointed in the decision old man Ed did.

Old man Ed stopped for a moment and he looked at Arunna and replied

“You don’t know the true nature of bandits my lady, they are strong willed so they will never talk even if we question them, we would only be wasting our time here. “

“Then, what do you suggest we do to find our father?” Arunna asked

“I know someone who can help us to track down the person who has your father. Let’s head back to the city for now.” Old man Ed replied

“Shouldn’t we search the cave first old man?” Kaleena asked

“That cave has nothing in it, just different faces of Midnight’s victims.”

“Now ladies if don’t have any more questions, we should head back to the city for now.”

Arunna and Kaleena followed what Old man Ed said

The group mounted their horses and started to travel back to the city

“How did you know his name old man Ed?” Arunna asked

“Please just call me Ed, Don’t use my Merc name casually”

The old man smiled

“I knew it when you shouted at the tavern that your caravan is attacked by an unknown figure. I already had an idea that it must be Midnight. I have been tracking him down to know who the person he worked for is. “

“He is a type of bandit who roams the forest alone when it is dark because his powers are at its peak. He usually hunts caravans who are camping in the forest during the night, he attacks them alone because he is confident in his skills and he always trusts the dark. That’s why I suggested that we hunt him down during daytime.”

“Isn’t he strong enough to be a normal bandit? Kaleena asked

“Well that’s because he is not just a normal bandit, even in a bandit group there are ranks from the weakest to strongest on the bottom of the ranks is normal bandits, regular people who just wield weapons.”

“Midnight is a thug rank; he is higher than a normal bandit by two ranks. Thugs are bandits with special abilities and skills. They are usually roaming alone because they believe that they are strong enough to not be in a group.”

“But I heard that The Worst Ten was in one group back then.” Said by Kaleena

“Yes they formed that group because they want to bring down the most powerful city in this country, the city that is in the heart of the country, in the very middle of it. It is the city that is the source of everything from food, clothes, materials, and many more. That’s why they created the great famine by blocking the trade routes around the most powerful city. “

“May I ask what city is that?” Kaleena asked

Old man Ed burst into laughter

“I cannot believe you ladies are asking me that question, you’ve already been to the city yet you do not know its name and its history. It is the city that we are currently traveling to, the city of Veros.”

The two ladies felt embarrassed

“It’s okay now; I don’t judge you ladies since the two of you looked like you grew up far away from Veros. But still try learning the geography of the current country you are living in.”

“You said you are a Merc, and then do you know anything about Laughing Edward?” Arunna asked

The old man slightly bowed his head and smiled

“Ah yes, Laughing Edward the Almighty One, he is the strongest person I have met. Tall, proud, prideful, and his presence always lift up the city’s mood.”

“Do you know where he is now?” Kaleena asked

“We mercs don’t know where he is now; he disappeared after he founded the strongest mercs guild in Veros. Some people are spreading rumors that after Edward took down two of The Worst Ten at the same time. Zek appeared before him the leader of the worst ten at that time, the strongest of them all.”

“But I don’t know if that was true since no has ever seen Zek. But there is only one thing I am sure of, that after Edward defeated two of the worst ten their power was reduced greatly.”

“I heard that there are other mercs that fought alongside Edward during that time.” Kaleena added

“Of course, even if Edward is known to be the strongest man in the country he still needs help from other mercs, they are mercs that are in the same group as Edward and also they are almost at the same level as Edward that group is the greatest of them all called The Novas.”

“The nova’s consists of Averitt the Beast, Emery the Heroic, Aunsellus the Titan, Christiana of the Ice and finally Laughing Edward.”

The group finally left the forest and the sun is still up like it’s the midafternoon

After some time

They arrived at the gates of Veros, they went straight to Ed’s house to rest and talk about the future plans. The old man sits at the only wooden chair in the room that is missing a leg, but he sits there like the chair is perfectly fine, he is able to balance the chair on his own. While Kaleena lay down on the bed and Arunna sits on the table.

“How are we going to find our father? Ed.” Arunna asked

“I have people who can do the job for us.” Ed replied

“And who are those people?” Kaleena replied

“Did I forget to tell you ladies that I own a small merc guild?” Ed replied with a big smile and a laugh

“If I’m not mistaken they should be here around this time already.”

The two ladies are shocked that this poor old man who has a run-down house owns a merc guild.

“You own a Merc Guild?!” Arunna was surprised

“Yes, and I the leader of it, it is called Gold Light.”

Arunna and Kaleena were surprised to hear this and they can’t believe a single word that came out from Ed’s mouth.

“Then where are your mercs Ed?” Arunna asked

“Oh, they are currently scattered in the country doing missions.”

Old man Ed stood up, and started walking towards the door.

“Well I will be going out for a while to take care of some business.”

‘W-wait… I’m not yet done asking questions Ed.”

“Why don’t you ladies go out and explore the city first, there are a lot of things that you can do and see here.” The old man suggested

Arunna and Kaleena looked at each other and thought that it is not a bad idea to go out and see different parts of the city.

The two ladies are taking a stroll in the town they are amazed on how big this city is there are lots of people walking around and talking to each other it is very different in the lifestyle they grew up in.

Veros city is a huge city it has a huge wall that protects it there are 4 entrances and exits to the city, the north, east, west, and south gates. The city has huge buildings there are taverns, inns, infirmaries, marketplaces, and at the very famous tourist spot in the center of the city a huge statue of a man with huge gauntlets and full plate armor.

“This statue is huge and that man looks so strong his face has so much pride and courage, he also looks like his smiling.” Arunna said

Kaleena read the description below that statue, the statue that they are looking at is a statue of Laughing Edward

They were surprised to see that this statue is the face of Laughing Edward

After a stroll in the market they found themselves in the Mercs District it is where mostly small mercs guild are and the prison for the bandits who are captured by the Mercs to exchange them for money also known as bounty. The Mercs District is an alleyway that has huge houses on both sides, there are Mercs everywhere some are wearing fancy armors and some are wearing cloaks.

After a small walk in the Mercs District a commotion occurred at the center, Mercs are gathering and it seems like they are looking at someone, Arunna and Kaleena ran to the crowd to know at what it’s all about. They saw a tall man with a huge body wearing a full plated black and white armor and a helm that covers his entire head with a visor covering his face, beside him is a medium sized man with a mask that covers his mouth only showing both of his eyes, he has a black hair that falls down to his eyes he is wearing black cloak, it looks like a cloak Midnight was wearing.

Out of curiosity Arunna asked a Merc beside her

“Excuse me sir! Do you know who those people are?”

The Merc look at her with a surprised expression he eventually knew that Arunna is not from Veros

“Of course I know them! They are the most famous Merc duo in the city, The False Knight and Shade”