亚洲综合中美

As predicted, the room was empty. Thus, the night went on without nothing out of the ordinary disturbing the peace – a calm and quiet many envied. A fulfilling night of sleep – though, this could not be said about the messenger. The one who rides by horse; the trip was only half done. A lifeline, a call for help, a quest said messenger was to complete. The fate of the town rested upon those small shoulders. Gritt didn’t manifest, a well-deserved break for the many grieving warriors.

*Clang, clang,* “Begone evildoer, I’ve seen through your lies and deception. Nothing is left to be said, your actions have led to thy defeat. Rest thy weapon or I shall be forced to take thine life.” A speech of a hero from a play awoke Staxius. The crowd laughed; half-awake, he stumbled to the window. Below, a man dressed in a formal black suit held a rapier towards a hoodlum’s neck. A teenager who clearly didn’t have a place to live. Homeless and abandoned, Staxius watched without much thought.

“Boring,” he yawned, a small crowd gathered. The boy looked embarrassed; the man who clearly was of noble birth stood with the head held up high. A lady held on the man’s arm, the victim of a purse snatching. The boy’s cheeks flushed – not only the attempt at stealing said purse failed; the people ridiculed him as well. *Spat,* “Bloody noble, you think too highly of yourself; born with a silver spoon. Life must have been easy up to now. Must be nice standing there and looking down upon a hoodlum, isn’t it? Go on, let that ego inflate, nothing will ever come out of this,” the boy acted smug.

“Whatever do you mean that nothing will ever come out of this, I swear upon my name that I shall make something out of it.” The man took a step forward, the rapier rested a few inches from the neck. “Go on then, slay another reject. Our lives are worth nothing,” he firmly grabbed the blade, “I dare you, slay me. Slay me and look like a hero to that damsel in distress, aren’t I the monster in said story?” the hand-lit faintly, “interesting,” Staxius’s sleep broke.

“How dare you,” the blade was pulled back, it left the boy bleeding. “How dare you threatened me,” the crowd wasn’t pleased by the man’s action. “I care not if you’re a teenager, stealing is plain wrong.” To save face, the noble tried to pass the actions as a rough lesson. “Must hurt now,” the man smugly added, the boy yelped. “Remember those scars as the time I stopped you from falling into the pits of robbery.” He turned around, the ladies beside the man cheered and hugged said man tighter.

“Filth,” the boy mumbled, it caught the noble’s ear. “What did you say?” the latter turned and stared with murderous intent. “I SAID FILTH, YOU SCUMBAG,” the boy spat, it landed directly onto the man’s face. “Ha-ha,” the saliva was casually removed, “you’re dead kid,” without wasting time, the rapier charged forward. “Don’t kill the boy over something so petty,” the crowd yelled, the man saw red, nothing could be done.

.....

‘I’ve done it now, finally; death awaits,’ the would-be robber held a grin. *Click,* it stopped a few inches away from the heart. “Could both of you keep it quiet. There are people still sleeping at this hour, talk about a bad start to my day,” A man landed from out of nowhere. Veiled in sleeping clothes which was only a hoodie and some underpants, the man stopped the blade nonchalantly. “W-who are you?” the noble asked. “Just someone who wants to sleep,” Staxius replied whilst pinching the thin sword. *Humph,* the man rolled his eyes and tucked. The blade snapped, Staxius broke it accidentally. “We still have unfinished business,” the man calmly walked away.

“Who the hell are you?” the boy added in disgust. “Are you sure you want to use that tone with me?” Staxius replied monotonously. “I’ll use whatever tone I want,” he fired back with annoyance in the voice. A single stare sufficed, Staxius turned and faced the cocky boy. At the sight of those eyes, the eyes of a demon – it made him shudder. “Is someone scared now?” Staxius added in jest, though half-naked, the boy could not but chuckle.

“I would ask how you got to become a would-be robber but what’s the point. Those eyes tell everything, you’ve made the ultimate choice. You don’t seek to earn money, what you seek is death, those eyes are of someone whomst given up.” The boy’s face froze. “What if it’s true, said life is mine, why do you care if I die,” he fired back.

“Yeah, why do I care,” Staxius faced away, “-Listen kid; I’m not going to tell you how to live. Go die for all I care, heck, I’ll help you with that if you so desire,” he paused, the wind blew. “Go reflect and think if death is what you truly desire.” Nothing further needed to be said, Staxius vanished.

“Wake u...” Undrar flung the door open, she expected to see a sound asleep Staxius. What she saw was a half-naked man staring into the horizon. “Someone’s up early,” she walked in, “what’s the occasion?”

“Just unsightly people creating chaos underneath the window,” he turned and faced Undrar, “-how are the others, did their quest end in success or failure?” The only response was but a nod. “Why don’t you go check up on them,” the hands pointed at the wall. “Fine,” he sighed.

A quick peek into both rooms revealed the same exact thing. Avon and Achilles were pass out cold. The fox girl slept in Undrar’s room to which she explained why Avon had to bring her to the hotel. Long story short, Avon thought it is best for the King of Arda to handle one of his subjects. A valuable one at that for fox-eared demis were rare and a few roamed around the kingdom.

“As soon as Avon wakes, tell him to teleport the girl back to Arda. Let Shanna take care of this. From what I learned yesterday, she’s from noble birth though I have no clue how she got here,” Undrar tried to reply but Staxius left without saying a word. “We’ll join up with you later,” the yells reached the end of the hall.

‘Another day begins, the quest towards the opening that guild slowly advances. I do hope that researching how a relic class scroll works will be fairly simple. I can’t wait to start working, just the thought makes me blissful. A quiet little shop, friendly customers, and awesome co-workers. That would have been a nice life,” the door to Void opened. “I better check on the adventuring guild before leaving.’ The engine roared out into the distance.

“Undrar,” Avon awoke, “what did the master say?” he asked with the tone sleepy. “Nothing much, he told you to take her to Arda, he wants Shanna to deal with her.” The face relaxed, “Is that so,” a sigh of relief was heard. “Better do as he asks,” promptly, after breakfast, the lady was taken back to Arda. Amidst the goodbyes, Undrar also vanished.

Achilles was left alone to wonder Rosespire – the gut guided the path towards Jimmy’s Stuff. Back at the guild, talk about Kniq grew popular. Everyone spoke in wonder to who those guys were, Diane looked the least impressed.

[Masked Murderer – Tier 2]

[Potential Dragon spotting – Tier X]

[Escort for Trading Routes – Tier 8]

[Missing Person – Tier 10]

[Dark Guilds – Tier 4]

[Kill Quest: Goblins – Tier 10]

[Kill Quest: Hob Goblins – Tier 9]

Nothing new came onto the board, a waste of time and effort. After a quick chat with Melisa, Staxius headed out to the shop. News about the royal family remained scares. No one knew what had happened to the king. An eerie silence, it made many anxious. More and more visitors came from the main continent. Rumors that Hidros had become infested by monsters – people who sought adventure and thrill made way. This boosted trade and commerce; more visitors meant more money for the kingdom. Despite this, the rate at which Qaisars were exchanged also phenomenally increased how life was lived. No longer was a gold piece as valuable as before, it was now the same as having two gold pieces, its value dropped by half. Fluctuation like these became frequent, many who were smart knew how to predict said fall. As time went on, the value settled – a slight decrease was noted.

After winning the tournament, Eira became more popular than ever before. Mainly, people were curious about the man who fought beside her. This didn’t affect her in the least, the qualifiers were still underway in other provinces. The main tournament was to be organized in five to six-month time, preparation was the main reason for such a long time.

Castle Garsley’s construction went at a faster pace than usual. It now looked more imposing than before, sloped roof, stone brick walls, a gigantic wall, and the ever-casual atmosphere. A new name for the new town was to be decided. However, most chose to wait until Staxius returned. Autumn and some of her friends built a school. The kids who once roamed the streets in search of a fight with the other now had a purpose. Many enjoyed the prospect of studying. Swordsmanship got taught on and off by Adelana. Physical conditioning was made mandatory. Boys and girls alike had to train hard, a good body meant a good mind. The villagers were happy to have trusted Millicent. Her condition worsened without anyone’s knowledge.

“Achilles?” the car pulled over; she walked the road that led towards Jimmy’s Stuff. “Master?” she jumped. “Get in,” Staxius smiled.

Ready and waiting, the furniture was delivered an hour after Staxius arrived. “Achilles, please get that for me?” he currently stood on the roof, hammer in one hand and wood in another, the broken sign was taken off. “On it,” she rushed out detached in sweat. Her head wrapped around in a shirt; the cleaning process went faster thanks to her.

A table, four chairs, a small bed, a cupboard, a glass display, and a counter. Those were the items delivered, *Crash,* the sign fell. “WATCH OUT,” she yelled, “Sorry about that,” he fired back. The once dusty interior was cleaned to perfection. The fruit of both their hard work. Like two arms on the same body, Staxius and Achilles worked in tandem. Nothing needed to be said, each read the other’s action. One by one, the furniture was taken inside. The front housed the glass display placed atop the counter while the back housed the rest.

“Master, is it just me or does the back look more like a bedroom than a workshop?” she voiced a solid point. “It’s not a wrong assumption, maybe it is to be a bedroom,” the eyes winked. “Achilles, go take a break, I’ll finish up the outside,” to which she obeyed. It wasn’t ready yet, a few remodeling needed to be done. The stone wall had cracks here and there, it added to the esthetics.

“Can’t believe I’m back here just to get a book.” Undrar sighed, she stood in a bright room. “Here, these are the books you sought after,” a friendly voice called out. “Thank you,” with a smile, Undrar gladly accepted the help. “Tell Staxius to be more careful out there,” the same voice requested. “Don’t worry, I’ll pass the message,” a portal manifested. ‘Lord Death wasn’t present to greet me. A bit weird but that’s normal. I do doubt as to why he had to give Staxius the symbol of power so early into the journey.’