RETURN TO TODOS

All was silent in a boundless mist, and a serene calm had settled into every pond and puddle nearby, resulting in a stillness that would make one doubt whether they had accidentally stepped into a painting.

In this watery world, a young, dark-skinned man stood staring at the path ahead of him. A mixture of sweat and dew dripped down his clean shaven face, which merged into larger beads and rolled down his chiseled jaw to splash onto his armor. He seemed at ease and relaxed to the point that anyone watching would think that he was perfectly accustomed to being thoroughly drenched.

The young man was none other than Thadius, who stood in contemplation as his final day in the Mists of Croaka neared its end. Behind him stood a group of six that waited silently for his word. There was Bannon, the seasoned adventurer that was even taller than Thadius himself, who had provided a wealth of knowledge throughout the entire journey. Although he was usually quiet, Bannon wouldn’t hesitate to give his two cents on a matter concerning the well-being of the squad.

Beside Bannon stood Thomas, who could no longer be called a rookie as he scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes and the jagged scars on his arm on full display. After the encounter with the hydra, Thomas was like a sponge, absorbing any and all things that could help him become stronger. If they happened upon another crisis like before, he wanted to be a crucial part of the fight. He wanted to be strong enough so that he wouldn’t have to feel so helpless ever again.

Next to Thomas stood Elroy and Leon. Elroy had frequently shown signs that he was the son of some wealthy family. He carried the regal air about him with the pride to match, and no matter how he tried to it, one could tell that such mannerisms had already become habit. In the last few days, his attitude towards Thadius wasn’t as hostile as it first was, but a seed of suspicion had already sprouted in his heart, whispering to him that Thadius was a Traveler. Leon, the excommunicated Paladin, did his best to smother Elroy's suspicions, but he had little success.

The last two were Mavas and Desha. Whether intentionally or by coincidence, the two were never far from each other. Mavas, with his jet black hair and narrow features, looked like a stereotypical thief. No matter how you looked at him, he seemed to be a shady and dishonest person. Yet, over the past week, Thadius was reminded of the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. After the clash with the hydra, Mavas was always light-hearted and cheerful, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. Desha seemed to share in his easy-going ways. That being said, an easy-going Desha really meant that ‘he’ was silent more often and hissed less.

As the thoughts of his squad over the past week flashed through his mind, Thadius’ thoughts naturally turned to himself. This excursion did much more for him than simply raise his level, it also served as a period of gathering information and solidifying his plans for the future. The fact that he had leveled a bit and had increased in skill proficiency was simply a bonus. On the information side of things, Bannon revealed a startling fact concerning their injuries. Once someone was injured, they only had three days in which the injury could be completely healed. After those three days, the injury could still be healed, but not entirely. A scar would definitely be left behind. In the case for lost limbs, they would no longer be eligible for regeneration.

Thadius had logged out shortly after that same day to confirm it with Curtis, who shared a bit more information as it applied to Travelers. In Chaos Online, any scars or lost limbs had an opportunity to be recovered after the three day period, but only after the player dies would they get the option of complete restoration.

Another startling piece of information involved the loot drops from the hydra. Although Thadius and his squad had completely ravaged its corpse for raw materials, that was all they received. Thadius couldn’t help but be disappointed, yet he was enlightened by Bannon once again when he came to ask if they were going to raid the hydra’s nest for loot. It was only then that Thadius gained a better understanding of the reward system in Chaos Online. He was told that enemies that wielded weapons could drop those weapons, but he was completely clueless when it came to monstrosities like the Mists Hydra. Bannon explained that the Mists of Croaka shared some similarities to a dungeon, so it wouldn’t be strange for the equipment of other adventurers to end up being collected by the boss monster or scattered around the vicinity of its nest.

It was these bits and pieces of information that Thadius slowly gathered during the past week, and on some level, he felt that he was slowly catching up to the other Travelers in game knowledge. Fortunately, he had a startling advantage in regards to the time he spent in-game. So even though he had spent the majority of it on the mountain of Yune with Corban and Yuna, it wouldn't take long for his knowledge of the game to catch up to the rest of the players.

“Sir?” A voice returned Thadius from his contemplation, and he turned to find Mavas giving him a curious look.

“What is it?” he replied flatly.

“We’ve been standing here for a while, you know?” Mavas said helplessly, sending a quick glance to the rest of the squad.

Thadius followed his line of sight, meeting the eyes of every member in turn before turning back to the scene in front of him, where a naturally worn path stretched out into a forest of towering lily pads. The huge circular leaves treated the surrounding mists like water, gently swaying overhead as if they were floating in a pond. The calm silence only added another layer of mystery to the path that slowly disappeared into the distance.

Had they stumbled on this road the first day, Thadius wouldn’t have hesitated to go deeper. What gave him pause now was that they hadn’t seen a single croaka in almost three hours, and no matter how much he strained his hearing, he didn’t hear a sound. So the scene that could easily be taken as calm and peaceful, gave him a deep sense of dread that he couldn’t shake.

“Are we goin’ in?” Thomas asked while standing on the tip of his toes, as if doing so could help him see a little bit further.

Thadius tore his eyes away from the ominous route and smiled. “I have no intention of dying today.”

Thomas and the rest of the squad frowned at his words. Only Bannon, who was nodding his head with a grim look, seemed to understand.

“Think about it. We’ve killed hundreds of croaka for days on end, and the deeper we go, the stronger they get. But all of sudden, we don’t see any for hours and we come to a calm, deserted path that goes even deeper?” Thadius gave the seemingly safe path an incredulous look, then continued. “I, for one, refuse to believe that there is some safe haven in the heart of the Mists of Croaka. If anything, this road leads to a hidden village or city where the leader of the croaka is waiting to bathe in our blood for killing hordes of his kin. Knowing that, would you leisurely stroll down this road? Would you Mavas?”

“It does seem a bit suspicious now that I think about...” Mavas said as the hidden danger of the road filled him with wariness, causing him to step back.

“As soon as we go in there, we’re likely to be surrounded by swarms of croaka.” Bannon agreed solemnly.

“Then we can just come back with more people, right? No reason to let the enemy sit comfortably.” Thomas protested.

Thadius just shook his head. “Thomas, didn’t you tell me about how First Todos was forced to build their capital higher because of the croaka? The amount of forces it would take to topple the croaka pales in comparison to the long term benefits of strengthening our military with these excursions.”

“The same goes for the croaka. We’ve killed hundreds, I'm sure. But remember the big one from yesterday? There could be thousands of them in there.” Elroy added. It reminded the entire group of the croaka that had been five times larger than normal. It charged with its hulking physique and nearly collapsed the formation. Bannon could barely fight it head on, which clearly spoke to its strength. If they were truly surrounded by those hulking croaka on all sides, then even if Thadius were to go all out, he would be the last one standing. The fate of the rest of the squad need not be mentioned.

As the scenario Elroy painted sank into their minds, a subtle tension could be felt between them. Thomas’ face paled as he thought about how he narrowly escaped his last disaster. He truly didn’t think he could survive a second one so soon.

“Now that we’ve all agreed that this is obviously a setup, let’s move on to the hydra’s nest. It should be somewhere around here right?” Thadius said while giving Bannon a knowing look. The seasoned adventurer then took the lead as they tracked down the resting place of their fallen foe.

Before following behind, Thadius took one more look at the path. ‘I won’t jeopardize my squad by going in there, but if it’s just me…’ Thadius marked this place in his heart. One of his many future plans involved coming back to this place to see exactly what lay at the end.

In little more than an hour, without running into any enemies, the squad entered a clearing with huge puddles spread out. There were a few corpses lying about, and bits and pieces of crumpled armor led up to a nest made of various weapons and lily pad trees. It could only be the nest of the hydra.

“Well, let’s see what we can find.” Thadius said, disappointed. He didn’t have any expectations after seeing the quality and condition of the equipment, not to mention the fact that most of the hydra’s prey seemed to be croaka or rookie guards from Todos. Basically, any spoils that could be found would most likely be poor quality.

Everyone looked around for something they could use, or anything that would at least make the trip worthwhile. Thadius walked up to the nest himself and took a look inside. Most of it was as he expected, but there was a deep blue armor set and a necklace that was hidden underneath it.

Hydra’s Bane Type: Armor Durability: 234/1222 Quality: Mid Defense: 1200 Iron armor infused with the water element after sitting in a hydra's nest for years.

+90% Water resistance

Requisites:

Level 50

Strength 400 Whispers of the Aqua Spirit Type: Necklace Durability: 500/500 Quality: Rare Defense: 500 A necklace said to contain an elemental spirit of water. It grants the wearer a greater affinity that would only be found in a being born from the essence of water itself.

+30% Water resistance

+Grants the wearer with the ability to cast Aqua Shield

+10% Water damage

-20% Cost of Water spells

Although the armor had an extremely high resistance, the defense was worse than the steel armor he had purchased, and he didn't feel the need to exchange it with the leather armor he had on now since he was about to head back to the city anyway. Thadius still stealthily put Hydra's Bane in his inventory. It may not be useful now, but he hoped the infused iron could be used to 'feed' his shield.

Thadius then picked up Whispers of the Aqua Spirit. The iron chain was a little rusty, but the sapphire stone was unblemished in any way. There was even a cooling sensation as it pressed against his skin under the armor.

The accessory was an obvious treasure for any water focused class, but Thadius still decided to keep it for himself without hesitation. The added water damage and water spell efficiency may be useless to him, but he appreciated the water resistance. He also had very high hopes for the Aqua Shield ability.

Serenity allowed him to use Wind Cutter at the expense of a greater drain on his fighting aura, so he was expecting Whispers of the Aqua Spirit to allow him to use Aqua Shield in the same manner. Seeing that Aqua Shield had neither an activation movement like Wind Cutter had on Serenity or a spell incantation, Thadius just called out the skill name as is.

His hopes were dashed in moments as nothing appeared. He had a feeling that was because he was a Sword Scholar, anything that dealt with mana or magic would be unusable. He knew that he at least had a chance at having elemental sword skills after converting Serene's Wind Cutter into Extended Slash, but he had yet to tap into what was required to learn them. Regardless, Thadius wanted to confirm his suspicions before he completely gave up on magic.

"Hey, Thomas. Come have a look at this." he called out.

The scrawny squadmate hustled over. "Found somethin'?" he asked excitedly.

Thadius handed the necklace over and said, "Put this on and say 'Aqua Shield'."

As soon as Thomas put the necklace on and called out the skill name, a transparent wall of water appeared. "Wow!" Thomas gaped at the necklace dangling from his neck. The magical display drew the rest of the squad as well.

"You find something good, Thomas?" Mavas smiled, as he walked over. His harmless question made him look like some sort of thiefextortionist.

"A-actually, Thadius found it." Thomas quickly handed the trinket back.

With a sigh, Thadius equipped the trinket. The fact that he was incapable of using magic was made perfectly clear. As if the fact that he couldn't use mana wasn't enough, it seemed like he couldn't even use spells from equipment.

'I'll run some more tests. I refuse to believe I can never use magic.' he thought, then he turned to his squad. "Did anybody else find anything useful?"

"Some poor soul died with a nice pair of boots." Mavas said as he held up a pair of leather boots with turquoise metal plating.

"There was a helmet as well, though it's against regulations..." Elroy held up a silver helm. After him, no one else had anything to show for profit, so Thadius declared that it was finally time to go.

"Let's head back quickly. I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of having soggy feet." Thadius said as he walked ahead to lead the way back. The others all voiced their agreement as they followed closely behind.

By the time the squad made it back to their camp on the plains, it was still early. Getting up before dawn gave them plenty of time to get back, especially when they could travel faster than when they first came.

Thadius looked once more at the mist before he call out to his squad. "You guys know the drill. Keep a good pace and we won't need to stop." he said, then they all started to jog. Before Thadius followed behind, he searched the campsite for anything they could have forgotten. As he caught up to the rest, he was holding two thick ropes, and at the end of the ropes were two massive skulls.

---

The morning on the walls of First Todos was uneventful for the city guard for most of the morning. They woke up, they ate, then they got to work. As usual, there was nothing but empty plains. Being on the wall of First Todos was the easiest and most boring detail that you could ever get in the city guard because nothing interesting ever happened. Until today.

A guard that was leisurely walking the wall, contemplated what his wife was cooking for dinner tonight. It was simply out of habit that he happened to look off into the distance. It was also out of habit that he simply looked away without a care in the world.

But today, he did a double take, and when he did, his brow naturally furrowed in confusion.

"Hey, Horson!" he called out to another guard further down.

The other guard came over. "What?"

"Didn't the excursion team come back last week?"

"Yeah..."

"Then who the hell is that?"

Both guards watched the figures in the distance, equipped with standard guard armor, draw closer at a moderate pace. They were all in a line, being lead by a beauty with jet-black hair. Their breaths were measured, as if breathing any other way was wrong.

Normally, this wouldn't be too exciting, and the guards were just about to lose interest when they suddenly saw the figure in the back. It was a young man that seemed to have it easier than the rest. His movements were smoother and if he wasn't currently jogging, anyone would think he was simply taking a walk in the park. What made the guards gawk at this man, was the fact that he was dragging two massive skulls.

"What!?" the guard named John cried out, but the air seemed to be caught in his throat at the thought of the beasts the skulls could have come from.

"Y-you think they killed it? Just them?" the first guard asked, no less shaken than his friend.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out!" John said as he hurried to the city gate.

---

It was only a few hours past noon by the time Thadius' squad finally arrived at the gate to First Todos. Desha had kept the pace the entire way, while he brought up the rear, motivating his squad until they were gasping for air just outside the gate.

"Finally! I can rest! I thought my lungs would burst into flames before we made it back!" Mavas complained while doubled over, fighting for every breath.

"It's been two long since I've done that much exercise...I'm getting old." Bannon lamented, then reached for his canteen to take a draught.

Thadius could only chuckle after hearing the two. Despite their complaints, they were the only two that could even manage to talk after the jog from the mists. Elroy, Thomas, and Leon were all gasping like dying men. Even Desha was taking rapid breaths. Though the journey was hard, Thadius was anxious to get back to Todos.

Just as he was about to call out to his squad to move into the city, two guards came running out to them.

"Who's in charge of this squad!?" the first one shouted as he ran over.

Thadius stepped forward. "I am. Is there some sort of problem?" he asked. As far as he knew, there was no reason for him to be shouted at.

"Did you kills those beasts yourselves!?" the guard questioned feverishly with spittle flying. Now that he was closer, he could roughly tell the size the creatures had to have been. For this small group to kill two of them must have cost them half their men at least, but he hadn't heard anything about a subjugation unit, so he was truly curious.

Realization dawned on Thadius, and he nodded. "We did make the kill, though it was only one beast. My squad was unfortunate enough to be attacked by a hydra shortly after we were dispatched by Captain Dain to explore deeper into the mists."

"Hydra? You mean the Mists Hydra!? Isn't that thing only an urban legend!?" the first guard exclaimed.

"You were with the excursion unit!?" the other guard said. He had finally come over before Thadius had finished explaining himself. "Why didn't you come back a week ago!?"

"We were given an order to survey for a week, so I didn't want to come back unless we finished the mission we had originally set out on." Thadius sighed heavily.

"Then...you guys need to report in. We won't take up any more of your time." the first guard replied. He was truly shocked that this squad fought against the Mists Hydra from the legends and won, however, he could tell that mentioning it had dampened the mood for some reason.

"Then if you'll excuse us, we'll go report right now." Thadius motioned for the squad to proceed into the city and followed behind, dragging the hydra's skulls.

Once they were within the city walls, they tried as best as they could to take the wider streets. Going back the way they came when they left the city wouldn't work with the hydra's skulls dragging behind side by side. First Todos didn't have straight and organized streets like New Todos, so they were often finding themselves going down winding streets. Thankfully, the giant lift was visible in the distance, so they were able to keep a somewhat straight path.

It wasn't until they were relatively close to the lift that they could hear a ruckus coming from up ahead. The lift was part of a large town square area. There were many stalls that sold food and various items to the masses that used the lift. It was very popular spot in First Todos since many streets would eventually lead there.

The ruckus was coming from a platform off to the side. On the platform stood many individuals that were chained together and dressed in rags. From the looks of it, it couldn't be anything other than a slave auction.

The cause of the ruckus was coming from the crowd as they jeered at a man on the stage. The man, who appeared to be an adventurer, was waltzing across the stage and groping the various females, completely ignoring the man in fine robes that appeared to be the slave trader.

'Slave auction? They still have shit like this?' Thadius' face couldn't help but twist into a sneer, but when he thought about the time setting of the game, the disdain in his heart slowly morphed into resolve. There was no way he could just walk away from this.

"A Traveler!" Elroy growled, glaring at the armored man on stage with a look that could kill.

"You don't know he's a Traveler." Thadius said calmly. When he turned to look at Elroy, he could see the smoldering rage in the eyes of the others as well. Especially Bannon, who looked like he would blow a gasket at any moment.

"Who else would be so brazen at a mere slave auction!? Look with your eyes! They have no shame and fear nothing! I wouldn't be surprised if he killed the merchant just for the fun of it!" Elroy roared as his glare turned on Thadius.

Thadius looked at the man once more, trying to determine if he was indeed a Traveler. Most citizens had a status card for identification, but the fact that he could get one for himself confirmed that there was no definite way to tell a Traveler from a normal citizen. The only way would be through observation or perhaps a skill. He had no clue as to how a Traveler should act, but the people in the capital seemed to think that Travelers were nothing but absolute villains that indulged in their desires because they are 'immortal'.

Seeing the scene in front of him, Thadius was beginning to understand how Travelers could have obtained such a bad reputation in the capital. After all, most Travelers would choose to act as a law abiding citizen like him.

"Stay here." he commanded, and tossed the ropes to Bannon. The seasoned adventurer snapped out of his enraged state and his brow furrowed as he looked down at the rope.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"We are members of the city guard. It would make us look bad if this turned into a riot, right?" Thadius smiled. Then, he walked into the crowd.

The people didn't block his way as he made his way to the platform. No one seemed to want to get too close to him and made way without having to be told. When he was about halfway to the platform, he could finally make out the words of the man over the crowd.

"Damn, there's just too many to choose from. Can't I just buy them all?" the man asked. He didn't seem to be asking anyone in particular, but a reply suddenly came from somewhere below the platform.

"The last one didn't last long at all. Make sure you get one that can actually swing a sword this time, okay? Looks aren't everything."

The man just laughed loudly. "Says the guy with the bustiest slave out of all of us!"

'So he has friends...' Thadius thought as he continued to make his way through. In moments, he was able to make out what appeared to be a mage and an archer in the crowd below.

The one who replied must have been the archer since there was a woman standing beside him with collar around her neck.

"Sir! Get down from the platform!" Thadius roared as he emerged behind the mage and archer.

The archer was the first to turn around. Being so close to Thadius, he was startled when he turned to find a city guard. The mage didn't fair any better, and almost tripped over his rod trying to back away.

"Such high pressure!" the archer cursed under his breath. He couldn't even fathom the thought that what he was feeling was simply Thadius' fighting spirit. He had only ever felt such an oppressive feeling when Pressure was used.

The armored man turned around after sensing what could only be the pressure of a high level NPC. Yet, when he turned around, all he saw was an ordinary guard. He quickly calmed down and laughed, “What the hell did you say to me? Get down? When did garbage like the city guard start ordering Travelers?”

Seeing the mocking smile on the armored man, on top of how he blatantly declared that he was a Traveler to elicit fear from him, Thadius was thoroughly convinced that Travelers had earned their terrible reputation by public displays like this. It did nothing but affirm his decision to keep his identity as a Traveler hidden.

“You’re a Traveler?” he asked, feigning a serious expression.

“That’s right! Now what are you gonna do about it?” the man smiled. He was absolutely confident in his ability to avoid trouble. All he had to do was mention that he was a Traveler, and all the NPCs would just turn a blind eye. To him, Todos was a playground where he could do as he pleased.

To his surprise, however, Thadius smiled and laughed, “That’s great! Dealing with Travelers is a lot easier than dealing with natives since situations like this can be handled quickly.”

It wasn’t until now that the armored man felt that something was off. Even after he declared that he was a Traveler for all to hear, this guard didn’t even flinch. He shot a knowing glance at his party below. “And how exactly do you plan on dealing with me?”

“Travelers don’t truly die, right? So every crime, even simple disturbances like this, can warrant the simple and just punishment that befits exalted beings such as yourselves: Death.” The smile on Thadius’ face disappeared and with flick of his arm, a throwing knife flashed through the air.

“Guh!” The armored man coughed a mouthful of blood and stared wide-eyed at the knife that suddenly found itself buried in his jugular.

The sudden attack on their comrade caused the hearts of the party members below to seize with fear. The mage was the closest the culprit, and he turned with his rod at the ready. Yet, before he could utter a single word, a glittering orihalcum sword was pressed against his neck and a terrifying pressure, multitudes stronger than before, came crashing down on his shoulders.

All the party members besides the slaves felt their knees start to wobble, even standing was proving a challenge. Not daring to move another muscle, the mage and archer looked at Thadius as if they had come face to face with a Boss NPC.

The crowd fell silent. They had all come here for a simple auction, but a Traveler had come and started causing trouble. Then just when they had become fed up with his actions, a member of the guard came and dealt swift and deadly justice. Never before had they seen a Traveler punished with such a heavy hand, so it was obvious how such a guard would seem to them: Strong, Courageous, and Dependable.

Thadius paid no attention to the hushed crowd. After applying enough pressure so that they could barely stand, he sheathed his sword and said, “I don’t know if you realized it, but the citizens of Todos don’t take too kindly to Travelers because of disturbances like this. Since you all seem to think that the laws and common etiquette of natives don’t apply to you, you can’t blame me for taking a different approach. Any and all offenses committed by Travelers in front of me are punishable by death. Now, should your friend have any complaints when he revives, you tell him to go to the guard compound and ask for Thadius.”

Without even a glance at the corpse on the stage, Thadius turned to walk back to his squad. This time, the crowd made way for him.

It’s not very often that a Traveler is brought to justice, so to see one sentenced and put to death in one breath before the masses isn’t an event that is easily forgotten. The guard named Thadius has been firmly imprinted into the minds of the people who witnessed such an event. They may even come looking for you specifically to help them settle their grievances.

+300 Fame

“‘Any and all offenses committed by Travelers in front of me are punishable by death.’” Elroy repeated the words in a daze. The simple sentence had given him an epiphany. He had been struggling with how he could fight back against Travelers, but he now realized that his thoughts had been too complex. There was no need for some elaborate plan, no scheme was needed. All he had to do was demand justice one corpse at a time.

The others were just as stunned. The way Thadius had acted was too fast. Before any of them could even think about assisting to calm the situation, the judgement had already been given without an ounce of hesitation.

Thadius walked up and smiled wryly at their various expressions. He could only imagine what they would think if they knew that his deadly throw had actually curved off target after he aimed at the man’s forehead.

“Come on, we still need to report in.” he said, taking the ropes back and leading the way to the lift. The squad recovered from their shock and followed behind, but the excitement in their hearts would take a while to fade.