It was a quiet morning. The sun cast long and cold shadows from the buildings. The ground was still wet from the due. Birds chirped loudly from the perfect perches that were roofs.

The air had a pleasant floral scent, not yet washed away by the ocean breeze. But there was another smell, not one carried by nature. It stung the nose even worse than the tingling air of the sea.

There was a sound like that of birds, but it rang in the ear a moment too long and brought flashes of color to the mind. Pearlescent reds shimmering in the sun. Sharp and shiny greys sparkling as they move like blurs. It was the image of battle, Brutal and gruesome. It was the sound that should only ever be heard in the towers.

But it wasn't in the towers this time.

Far along the eastern Perimeter where the city bordered the walls, a battle was taking place. Twenty men in dark clothes that concealed their identities fought with a half dozen Members of the Red Cross Guild.

Several bodies lay lifeless on the ground from both sides. Magic was flung wildly at the faces of the combatants as shields blocked them. As per the plan of the secret attackers, that fight hadn't drawn a crowd.

Far to one side of the fight, Albert Jacks and three other men waited in hiding. Albert had a pleased grin as he watched his efforts finally bear fruit.

Albert Had become an ambitious man in his later years, and so decided to try his hand in crime. He had gotten too deep, however. He kept getting stuck in situations that quickly went from bad to horrible.

He had even been brought in on recent important meetings with the boss of his gang. That was a terrifying man. Tall as a house and strong enough to take one down.

Albert was sure that when the monster-man and his headmen had decided that he was to be one to lead the first attack against the horrifyingly powerful guild, tt was a certain death sentence.

But perhaps he was cut out for a life of crime and villainy. Perhaps he could become someone. If the direction that this mission was going was any indicator, he just might be.

There were only four guild members huddled tightly together against the massive stone city walls now. Three of them wore full armor while one only had light leather padding.

They had been on patrol When Albert ambushed them. The guild often worked alongside the city guard and the Baron as guardsmen for reduced taxes. The boss had given him a map of where the guards—guild associated in particular—would be.

It actually surprised Albert quite a bit. It wasn't unusual for people to know the city's general schedule, but what Albert had been given wasn't just a general overview. It had exact schedules down to their breaks and most often visited businesses.

Albert wasn't going to complain, however. It made his task pleasantly simple.

His men surrounded their few targets. They raised their weapons as magic began to surge from them and spells started to become visible. Suddenly, three of the four men rushed forward.

As they did, they released their own attacks that caught Albert's men off-guard. A few were thrown back, and a few more fell flat on their backs. dust rolled from the destruction being caused to the stone ground. Albert noticed all too late that the leather-padded adventurer had used the cover to escape.

-

“You really shouldn't lower your guard to him, you know, Alexander said as he took a bite from a burpspey, which was a flaky pastry on a stick filled with icing.

“Well, when I put my sword in something, I don't expect it to shoot me in the back later.” Tay retorted. They had just finished the third day of his training, and Tay was feeling more and more frustrated as time went on.

On the first day, Tay had been told that his familiar wasn't as simple as first appearances would have him believe. He had of course been excited to know that one day Orby would become something great, but after losing to his familiar over and over again, he had started to wonder if there was something else.

Could it read his mind? He wondered. If so, that was rather unfair. If not, then Tay was honestly beginning to question his ow capabilities.

“That's exactly your problem. You don't expect the unexpected.” He threw away the now clean stick. “You've got to think ahead. If you think that every battle is going to be over the second you think it is, then your first battle with a level 3 is going to be your last.”

Tay Cursed under his breath. He was annoyed, frustrated And downright angry. It wasn't like he didn't understand what he was saying, because he did. He just felt frustrated. Alexander hadn't let him Even close to the tower during their training, saying that he would probably just get himself killed, which Tay strongly disagreed with.

“Look, Tay. This isn't something that's going to happen overnight. You've already made astounding progress, but you're still a rookie. You're fighting a spirit who is probably older than this city and has probably fought more things than you and I have ever seen” be explained.

“What about you? We're practically the same age.” Tay asked with a dejected sigh. “Tay,” he said sympathetically. “You may be talented, but I've been adventuring since I was thirteen. That was over five years ago.” He flung an arm around his crestfallen student.

“Don't you worry. Once we get you properly trained and into the tower, you'll level up like a wildfire.” He smirked. Tay tried to smile but found that the soreness of the day's beating disagreed with his wants.

They were headed to the Association building, as Alexander wanted to check on some items he had gotten from the tower the last few days, when a man came fumbling out of one of the side streets. He wore red leather armor that was covered in blood—possibly his. His eyes were glossy like a man half-asleep. He wobbled towards them before collapsing.

Alexander rushed to him, stopping his head from cracking on the ground. “He's one of the Red Cross guys.” he said as he checked his wounds. Tay hadn't told him about the guild's offer yet.

The half-oltian lifted the man with a grunt, putting him over his shoulder. He began to run towards the Red Cross’s HQ. It was relatively close.

The building was on the larger side, but still smaller than the Association’s. It had the symbol of the guild; a Red plus with two swords crossing through it. Tay ran in front, rapping his fist on the heavy wooden door. A small man greeted them. He was old and almost bald. He wore Scholarly clothes that did little To hide his large belly.

“What do you want?” He said, his voice was high and sounded like he was holding his nose.

“Move!” Alexander shouted as he pushed the little man out of the way. He fell to the ground and scawled as the large adventurer went.

Tay could see a concerningly dense trail of blood along their path and saw that it was coming from the man in a quick drip, drip, drip.

Tay decided to wait outside. He heard shouts and concerned yells from inside, and he closed his eyes. He heard the little man scramble to his feet and mumbled something unintelligible.

Several minutes had passed when an older woman's voice said: “Mr. Mallor?” It was Tays Mentor, Lithra Rose. She wore a lighter outfit than the combat one from Their first meeting. Her hair was tied up with the edge of perfection that he had started to associate with her.

“Ms. Rose.” He bowed respectfully. “I'm afraid you're going to have To wait at least another day.” She said with a smirk.

“I'm not here for that matter.” Her smirk faded. “Oh.” She said plainly. “Then what might you be here for?” Tay went to answer, but was interrupted. “One of your fellows was hurt in a bad way, Ms. Rose.” Alexander had just turned the corner, and had heard the conversation. “We found him and brought him here.”

Tay could instantly feel an air of tension between the two. “Then I must give you my thanks, Mr. Bouma.” She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Alexander had a cool expression, And simply nodded.

“While I'd love to talk, me and my student need to get back to our training, so if you'll excuse us.” He didn't leave time for Lithra to reply as he led Tay away. But Tay saw the calculating look that the woman had before she entered The building.

They started to go back to the beach, their break over. “When did you get to know Ms. Lithra?” Alexander asked suddenly. The silence that had been gripping them since they left the guild hall made the question sound odd.

“They…” He thought about lying, but couldn't.

“She came to me the day before the festival and offered to mentor me.” He said. Alexander sighed. “I see.”

He stopped just before a crosswalk on 1st street. He turned to look at Tay with a thoughtful expression. With a nod Tay only just caught, he said “I want you to meet my team.”