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The young men inside the carriage were unable to resist the charms of the beautiful rogue. The moment she stepped inside and had a quick glance at the group she knew exactly how to deal with them.

Didn’t take long for them to be completely bewitched by her. Despite her young appearance, she seemed to be very cunning.

“So, Elias…” She said enticingly “Won’t you introduce me to everyone?”

“Of course, how senseless of me”

“This is Mark, first born of the Stoneridge family and his sister Doris. On my other side, Jonatan, the next in line for the head of the Westgate family. Beside Doris is Isabel, daughter of the main house of the famous Calamis Family.” Said Elias proudly of his friends.

Vicki made an overly surprised expression “No wonder you are such famous adventurers” she exclaimed “And to think you have these beautiful ladies on your group, both from such prestigious families, you are very lucky Elias” She said immediately bringing the girls to a better mood. Both unfolded their arms and smiled with satisfaction upon such recognition.

“But I think you missed one Elias… Isn't he also part of your group?” She asked despite already knowing the answer.

Elias promptly shook his head “No! That’s just a greenhorn that Herger allowed to come along”

Viki looked at Riou. The young boy seemed strangely uninterested in the conversation she was having with the group.

And what was more curious to her, mentioning him now evoked no response, no reaction from the boy, which clearly sparked curiosity in the smart woman.

“Does he have a name?” she asked everyone, still hoping that Riou himself would take the bait and address her himself.

The Dracar Hunters looked at each other with doubt, most shrugged, turning to Elias expecting an answer, but he also didn’t know.

Viki looked at Riou, “maybe his silence could be out of shyness…” but at a second glance on his face, she dismissed such thought. His posture was too relaxed. He was laying down with eyes closed. Everything in him said that he was really uninterested in her.

So she leaned in his direction “What’s your name?” She said with a smile addressing the boy directly.

He opened one of his eyes, slightly, glancing her from the corner of his eye.

“Riou,” he said, closing it once again.

Elias leaned in beside her.

“That’s no way to reply to a lady, be more mindful of your words and manners. When someone asks your name, you should tell them your family’s name as well” scolded the group leader.

“Just Riou is fine, no family name” answered the boy casually, paying no mind to his remark.

Until that point, Viki was just curious, but now, she was far more interested in analyzing the strange boy.

She started by looking at his clothes with more care. They were common, not only common, they were literally the cheapest clothes someone could possibly have. She continued, her eyes moving through him, looking at specific spots where she knew she’d might find something interesting.

She noticed the volume of a hidden pouch attached to his belt under his clothes. And judging by the size and shape of it, she knew it was almost filled.

Her eyes suddenly sparkled while her suspicions grew. “What is a boy like him doing with such a large pouch?”

“Are you ashamed of your name? Or are you a bastard?” Continued Elias pushing him, intrigued to why he didn’t want to say his family name.

Riou smiled to the term “I wouldn’t say that, I just don’t have one… not in in these lands at least”

“He may be an orphan Elias” said Jonatan entering the conversation.

Elias pondered and nodded “That explains it, he doesn't have a family name” he concluded assuming the boy was an orphan.

Viki, who was still looking at Riou, now noticed the tip of a dagger scabbard by his back and the handle of a short sword near his bag and pillow. Looking further she finally noticed something by his neck.

Reinforced string and a pendant. Her trained eye searched further and could notice a faint blue glow coming from the copper metal that was slightly hidden beneath his shirt.

She held her surprised “Elven mana runes? A magical necklace!?” She realized as her interest in the boy grew by leaps and bounds.

She squinted her eyes and a devious smile appeared on her face as she leaned back once again.

“So… Dracar Hunters, what a big name! You must tell me how you got it” She asked Elias while her eyes, stubbornly, continued fixed on the boy necklace.

Elias smiled “Well, we chose it ourselves! The Dracars are one of the most powerful beasts in Allard, so we also wanted our name to display our might!”

The rogue already knew it, but kept asking just to massage their egos a bit more.

“So why are you on this journey to the north”

“My father requested us to help Bronach on this trip. But once we are done with it, we will resume our hunting on those mighty beasts, selling their bones and claws will help to increase our fame and spread our name” Replied the pompous Leader.

Riou only smiled at himself while listening to such nonsense. Thought of that group facing a Dracar almost made him laugh.

No interesting conversation went on between the rogue and the group for a long while. Riou was trying to get some sleep in.

After a few hours of travel the caravan finally stopped, it was noon and time to rest the horses and eat.

Everyone left the carriage by the back while Riou went out from the front opening.

The terrain changes began, plains and small hills in the distances until the sight could see. On the verge of the horizon, the golden colored fields merged with the blue sky. There were only a few short trees, scattered, here and there.

Looking back Riou could see the city farmland, crops and fields for the livestock to feed. They traveled for half a day and still were inside Brigantium agricultural production.

“Impressive… this city is truly a strategic food resource.” Thought the boy looking around.

It was still summer, most of the field grass and vegetation were ready for harvest and full of seeds. Wild grain plants and dry grass was covering the majority of the land.

The road was poorly maintained, the few stones that were still left had been taken over by the grass. Without a good notion of the path, one could easily get lost into the wrong direction.

Riou watched some of the mercenaries taking the horses to the grass while others were gathering water from a small, hidden water source within some rocks, if he didn’t see them collecting it, he would never have guessed there was water there.

Few others were putting a fire together with some metallic support to hold a big pot, they intended to cook something for the group.

There were some old tree trunks, rocks and the mercenaries brought plenty of pieces of wood to make the fire.

Riou walked a bit away from the caravan and the others to stretch his legs and take a better look at the surrounding landscape.

There were high clouds on the horizon and no mountains or large hills anywhere near them that could block them.

Suddenly, Riou felt a movement nearby, as if someone was sneakily approaching, a presence creeping from behind. He slightly turned his head in reflex, pointing his ear towards it trying to hear it’s source, then he moved it a bit more, allowing the corner of his eye to glimpse at the direction.

He saw the rogue walking very carefully towards him, a few steps behind.

As she realized she had been spotted at such a distance, she dropped the act and walked normally.

He followed her with the corner of his eyes until she was beside him.

“Impressive, I must say, there aren’t many that I can’t sneak upon” She said slowly, while looking very interested at Riou.

But he kept quiet.

“So, what a man like yourself is doing in a caravan to the north?” She said moving closer to him.

Riou was suspicious of her sudden approach. After all, he knew she was not trustworthy. “Why did you sneak up on me?” he asked casually, changing the topic while trying to understand her motivation to be there.

She relaxed her eyes and licked her bottom lip “Old habit” she replied in the same casual tone that Riou used.

“So?” she insisted.

Riou smirked taking a moment to reply “Just catching a ride to Thanes”

She smiled back devilishly while approaching him even more “Riou… right? What is your story? Why Thanes?” Riou noticed her eyes glancing at his necklace with a strange interest from time to time.

He smiled while trying to read her real intentions “Just visiting a few friends” He answered looking at her.

She moved around him a bit, glancing at his necklace “Hmm, friends you say? Did one of these friends give you this beautiful necklace?”

“In fact, yes.”

Understanding he was on to her, she decided to take a more direct approach.

“I noticed it is Elven in nature… most of their stuff is imbued with different kinds of magic. Does this one have any special effect as well?” asked the rogue very innocently.

“This necklace would have no use for anyone else but me in these lands” He said without much care.

She squinted her eyes, clearly unsure if that was true. She was thinking and trying to read him, to know if he was intentionally being dismissive to hide the powers of the necklace. “You are not very talkative, aren’t you?”

“I just don’t like to entertain phony people,” he said plainly.

Her eyes widened in surprise, she wasn’t expecting such an abrasive response. So far, he did nothing but to fall out of her expectations.

She then looked at him with curiosity.

“How old are you?” She ended up asking, out of character and with real interest for once.

Riou smirked, noticing the change, but he couldn't really answer that “Take a guess” He said playfully.

She smiled while looking suspiciously at him once again, he was too odd of a boy and the fact she was unable to read him, bothered her greatly.

He looked like a boy in his tender 15 years, but acted and talked like an experienced older man.

And he had completely seen through her. He even was able to notice her sneak approach. Nothing but surprises were coming out of him.

Deciding to retreat and rethink her approach, she ceased her advances for that moment.

"Before we reach our destination, that necklace will be mine..." Thought the Rogue, looking at him.

She smiled and turned around to return to the camp. The rogue started to walk away slowly, swaying her hips seductively.

After a few steps she quickly glanced back, just to check if Riou was watching her go. She smiled and turned her head forward, continuing to walk away.

He couldn’t help but smile, despite knowing she was a cunning trickster, he couldn’t deny it, she really knew how to be enticing.

But that interaction was not of theirs alone. At a distance, a few more spectators saw them talking.

Elias, observed with envy from afar and then Herger, noticing their interaction quickly approached Riou as the rogue left.

“You unlucky bastard…” He said with a concerned voice once he got near the boy “She seemed to have set her eyes on you" Said the Norse with a concerned expression "A word of advice… be careful with that one, do not underestimate her charms or you will end up regretting it.” Advised Herger.

Riou nodded “Do you know her?” Asked the boy without taking his eyes off the rogue that was still doing her thing towards the camp.

“Just enough to know better and keep my distance, that girl is bad news” answered the Norse, tapping the boy’s shoulder.

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The sun would be setting soon, Eileen, Therese and Leona had finished looking through the city after Riou. All they could find was that a merchant caravan had left for Thanes in the morning with a few young recruits with them, one that seemed to be a young boy in his 15 years.

But deciding to leave no rocks unturned, they went to the castle as well.

The castle followed the capital’s architecture style, but was much smaller and not so well decorated. The rock on the walls and floor was not as shiny and light shaded as at the capitol castle.

The red color was the one predominant in every flag and cloth hanging around the pillars.

The princess didn't want to bring attention to herself so the group went inside using the Lioness influence, they were promptly led towards the war room.

“My lord, The Great Lioness is visiting and requires your attention.” The guard announced.

Bhalrom showed a relieved expression while Copperford allowed the guard to send her in.

Three women entered the war room to everyone’s surprise.

“Eileen!?!?” Lilly’s voice was loud and she even stood up from her chair walking towards the princess. Bhalrom on the other hand frowned confused after noticing the princess there and intervened as well.

“What are you doing here Princess?” he asked.

Without delay and cutting down any explanations Eileen simply asked “Is Riou here?” instantly getting Lilly and Bhalrom even more surprised.

“That damn boy is alive? Ha! Of course he is” Said the surprised knight in a joyous tone.

“Why would he be here? But more importantly, what are you doing here?” Insisted Lilly.

“That’s a long story… we are looking for him” Said the princess indicating Therese and Leona as well.

Copperford, who was not very interested in any information about a boy, directly spoke to Therese.

“Lioness, I don’t know the reasons that brought you here, nor do I really care... but since you have come, we would like to request your help.” Said the knight moving towards the table with the region’s map.

Everyone's attention switched towards Therese and Copperford.

“We have high orcs hiding in our iron mine near the city,” he said pointing at the map. “We were devising a plan to try to flush them out, but the risks are too great, the bastards are smart and we will be at disadvantage fighting in a small and tight space”

Noticing Lilly and Serena were about to speak, Bhalrom stepped in before them “Yes, now that The Lioness is here, we will not risk sending our mages inside a mine... we all remember how that went last time” Said The Knight looking at the mages.

Lilly couldn't agree with that “This time is different, we know what we are facing and...” Said Lilly being interrupted by Bhalrom “It’s a close quarter fight, the enemy may not be as dangerous as the shadow Fiends, but we can't risk it now that Therese is here” Said Bhalrom clearly concerned.

Lilly seemed unconvinced, Serena touched her shoulder to calm her down.

“So you want me to deal with them?” Said Therese calmly as if that was a very common request.

The knight nodded turning and walking towards a desk in the back. He grabbed a small pouch of money, full of coins and showed it to Therese.

“If I recall correctly, this should suffice.” Therese pointed to Leona with her eyes and the knight threw the pouch to her apprentice. She quickly grabbed it midair and attached to her belt.

“It will be done” Therese turned around and left the room.

Leona quickly followed Therese. Eileen was doing the same when she was called out.

“Eileen? Where do you think you are going? You didn’t explain anything yet” Said Bhalrom walking towards her.

Eileen without stopping her steps, quickly glanced at the knight by turning her upper body “I’m sorry Bhalrom, but I don’t have time to explain anything now”

Bhalrom looked at Lilly that was just as confused as him.

Eileen rushed out and reached Therese and Leona. “What about Riou? Weren’t we looking for him?”

Without stopping and going for the exit of the castle, Therese answered “Yes. We are, but we can also take this job. Can you reason with me, why?” Asked the Lioness to Eileen.

The princess couldn’t make a clear idea to why, she kept pondering while they walked outside.

Noticing Eileen's struggle she added “We know where he is headed, so if he is not in this city, he must be on the move to Thanes. So, why do you think I accept the proposition?”

Eileen thought but couldn’t reach a conclusion. She looked at Leona for help and she noticed that the wolf girl seemed to have the answer by her calm and prideful expression.

“Why? It makes no sense… we should go right now” the princess thought looking at them.

Therese went directly back to the Laughing Boar tavern since it was the first tavern that could be found when entering the city from the southwest. This time it had less people in it and they could easily find the owner. A man in an apron welcomed them.

“Welcome to the Laughing Boar, how can I be of service?” said the man behind a counter.

“We came here earlier asking about a boy, 15 years old, blue eyes, messy brown hair, probably alone or with an old man accompanying him” Therese asked the owner.

The man shook his head “So many people passed by these past few days… I don’t recall any boy with an old man.”

“Do you have any good rooms with a bathtub?” She continued glancing at Eileen.

“Yes madam, our best room has a private bathtub!” Promptly answered the man.

“Is it vacant?” She added.

“You are very lucky, it just have been cleaned out from our last guest”

“Can we see it before deciding?” Continued the Lioness.

“Very well, please follow me!”

The man showed them the best room in the house.

Therese looked seriously at Leona and entered the big room, the wolf quickly followed. Eileen was still trying to understand their actions.

As they entered, Therese went for the bed while Leona went for the chairs and table. Eileen follows them inside, watching their movements with curiosity.

Both moved like hunters after their prey’s track.

“He was definitely here,” Said Leona near the chairs.

Therese looked at the man “When the person using this room left?”

“This morning” said the owner.

Eileen was surprised.

“Are you sure it was him?” The princess asked.

“Aside from all the clues here… I told you, Leona is from the wolf clan”

Knowing that he was recently there, Eileen grew restless “If we know he was recently here, will we be going after him now? What about the request?”

“You had time to think it over… what was your conclusion?” Asked Therese looking at Eileen.

Eileen tried to come up with an answer but nothing came to mind “I don’t know…” she answered

“Think back, when we were in the capital… How much of a head start did he have on us?” Asked Therese.

“A couple hours maybe more…” Said the princess.

“Could we have arrived in this city any faster?” Asked Therese.

“No… we couldn't,” said the princess, beginning to realize where she was going with it.

“We looked everywhere and could not find him here.” Therese turned to the owner. “How many nights did the previous guest stay?”

“About two nights…” said the owner a bit lost on what they were talking about.

Eileen was astonished.

“Do you realize now what that means? He arrived far before we did.” She said showing the room they were in. “Do you understand now?” Asked the Lioness.

Eileen nodded “That means that if he has already left to Thanes we will not be able to catch up to him” Said Eileen finally putting the puzzle together.

“If he is moving at the same speed… no we won’t. So, now, why did we accept the request from the Knight General?” added Therese to stimulate her reasoning.

“Because…” Eileen was thinking very hard. “Because if we can’t reach him on the move, we can do it when he arrives at Thanes.” Said Eileen looking at Therese eagerly waiting for her confirmation.

The lioness nodded “If he is traveling the same speed as before, we have no chance to catch him on the road and we will take some time to get to Thanes as well. But there are also 2 other reasons to take this job, first is the money for the travel and secondly, this will be a good opportunity to test your skills," said Therese.

Eileen was surprised by the remark.

But one thing was still a mystery, she still didn’t know how Therese knew he was at that specific tavern nor how she was so certain Riou had picked that room. So the princess once again began to think.

“So, you came back here because it’s the first tavern we found traveling from Longart. Then you asked for a room with a bathtub because of what I said earlier about him wanting a bath house in the castle?” Said Eileen trying to make sense on how Therese had gotten there.

Therese smiled faintly “Very good Eileen, remember to pay attention to the details, use all the information you have available and follow the direction of the tracks.” She said to the princess then turning to Leona who was also smiling to the princess “now let’s eat and rest… tomorrow you will have a busy day.”

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The next morning came fast to the group. Before the first sunlight shined in the horizon Therese and Leona were already waking Eileen up.

“Wake up, on your feet Eileen.” Said Therese to the sleepy princess.

Eileen then promptly stood up. Leona walked towards the wall and leaned on it to observe, knowing exactly what Therese’s intentions were that morning.

“Well, for us to fulfill our request you will have to learn a bit of physical enhancement magic. Luckily you are already a magic user, right? So it shouldn’t be too hard for you. For now, forget everything Riou told you about it and focus only on what you already know and what I will tell you right now.”

Spoke Therese approaching Eileen who nodded in agreement.

“What is the source of magic?” Asked Therese.

Eileen answered promptly as she studied it at the academy “The element's blessings evoked through the emotion of the being.”

Therese shook her head in front of Eileen “That’s not entirely correct, do you know why?”

Eileen thought for a moment, Therese wanted a more complex answer.

Therese just nodded “Emotion is the catalyst, knowledge is the true source, that’s what you need to understand to achieve this” She added.

The princess seemed confused.

“Take yourself for instance, you are a capable mage… are you not? So why are you not able to use magic to enhance your physical strength?”

Eileen quietly listened and answered after a moment of ponder “I don’t know how to start… it's a different kind of magic, one you manipulate, control and expel the mana in the form of the elements… the other. I don’t know. lack the knowledge on how to do it.”

“Now pay attention, I want you to focus mana into your arm, just your arm, use the element you feel more comfortable with for now. All I want is for you to focus it and keep it there for a moment. When you manage to hold it still, it will hurt, so don’t be afraid, endure it as long as you can. Adapt the mana to your arm, mold it to ease the pain… just be careful and try not to burst your arm in the process” Said Therese very seriously watching the princess.

Eileen didn’t understand very well, but got very concerned with the exploding part. She extended her right arm. Since she was well rounded with all primary elements she chose fire as it was the most simple to conjure.

She evoked it through anger and began to feel the heat increasing inside of her arm and even a slight pain of the heat could be felt on her skin as it began to take form.

Therese immediately grabbed her, ceasing Eileen’s mana immediately “Take a step back not…try to not conjure the element, just the mana” Said the lioness calmly releasing the princess arm.

Eileen tried again… “A step back… inside the arm” she thought, focusing once again… using anger to call forth the mana, but the same sensation began to erupt now from beneath her skin.

Therese once again grabbed her arm “Further back… keep it deep inside of the arm, don’t let it flow loose.” She added.

Eileen nodded and sighed deeply while concentrating. She extended her arm again and began to focus her anger when she heard from Therese “Go deeper, tap into the source of it, refine the mana before using it. Remember, you don’t need the catalyst for this, get rid of it.”

Eileen then relaxed once more to begin from the start..

“Before fire there is anger, before anger… what is there before it?” questioned herself as she tried once again to call forth mana, but this time without using the catalyst as instructed.

The retry and error process repeated for a while without results. But eventually Eileen began to notice that surges of pain gradually began on her arm at a few new attempts. Eventually the burning sensation vanished as she managed to move away from the catalyst.

As she now tried to put forth a purer form of mana... a sharp pain began to be felt on the center of her arm, it quickly spreaded all the way out to the skin and vanished.

Therese grabbed her arm once again. “Remember this feeling! Remember, mold it, adapt it to be part of your arm, not just in it.”

The sun was already half way through the sky while she kept on trying, again and again. After many failed attempts she took a moment to breathe and recover some of her stamina. Eileen was very tired of all that effort.

She used the time to think, the task was proving more difficult than anticipated, but Therese nor Leona seemed bothered by it.

Eileen calmed herself with a deep breath.

"Before fire there is anger, before anger there is mana. Refining it to its purest form it becomes stronger and harder to manipulate" She thought, quickly putting herself in position again.

She remained calm and tried to bring forth just a tiny bit of pure mana. She took her time to manipulate it, mold it and slowly send it into her arm.

After all that training, she now had a better understanding on how the emotion catalyst vastly helped in casting spells and why direct mana manipulation like that was such an advanced topic in the academy.

The small amount she brought forth was directed into her arm. She quickly tried to maintain it inside her arm by constantly controlling it.

It took but a moment, like a spark in her mind she was able to accomplish it, the mana took form and seemed to spread inside the arm as if it belonged to it.

She lost concentration for a moment and suddenly, an horrendous sharp pain afflicted her immediately, much stronger than what she felt before.

As if a pressure from within her arm was about to burst out of it.

Therese quickly exclaimed “Regain control! Never lose focus! This mana is part of you now, it is not in your arm, it is your arm! Do not restrict it but bend it to your will! Let it move on it’s own now, but always within the boundaries you set!”

With her arm twitching in pain, it was way too difficult to maintain it.

Therese quickly grabbed her arm again.

Her arm collapsed, held by the Lioness, the mana flow within it ceased completely… Eileen was exhausted and breathing heavily.

“Almost there... you are grasping the essence of how it works. Mana and control are equally important here. Learn to balance them and you will see quick results.” Therese released her arm and stepped back, “Again! You will not stop until you get it right”

Eileen breathed deeply and once again extended her arm… despite her exhaustion, her resolve was not shaken.

Therese and Leona said no praise words towards her, they expected nothing less from Eileen.

"This is far too different from what Riou explained... he made it sound much more easier than this. He never mentioned any pain involved" Said Eileen smiling, remembering his words and preparing to try again.

Therese smirked "That's why I told you to forget what he said... I'm not telling you that he is wrong, but this is how we teach it on our land. It’s not an easy skill to learn and requires a different understanding and manipulation of mana than what you mages do. As you can see, this requires a lot of resilience. Otherwise everyone would be able to do it"

“How come Askjell managed to learn this? He used it during the duel right?”

Therese nodded “He did, but it was badly performed. So I don’t know who taught him or from which clan that technique was supposed to belong to. But don’t be mistaken to confuse the two. You are learning right now is the way of the Lioness, you will soon realize that there will be no comparison to that thing.

Eileen nodded, impressed, she didn’t know there were different teachings on the Clans about that skill. And she knew that she would need it if she ever intended to win against Riou in a duel.

“How long does it usually take to learn this?” asked Eileen, preparing once again.

“Depends… to master it? Years, but for us is not that hard as we start the training at a very young age. But I believe the start will be harder for you because your human body is not naturally as strong as ours and the different teachings you already had over your life for magic casting are clearly getting in the way now”

Eileen nodded “So, how do you think Riou learned it?”

Therese shook her head “I didn’t notice him using it during the fight, even when the other male used it. So it came as a surprise to me when you said he could. How do you think he learned it?”

“To be honest with you… I think he just knows how to do it”

Therese twitched her head “It's... possible. Some of us are born with an innate ability, but I never heard of a human case before. But now continue… the longer you take to learn this, the longer will take for us to continue”

The princess nodded and once again continued on her attempt to master the skill.

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Riou was sitting down near the fire watching them preparing the stew.

He observed the men while they were peeling some roots and a few vegetables in a big pot filled with boiling water.

“The first army used to do the same thing, but they never peeled the roots… or anything to be honest, they just tossed everything inside the pot.” Said Riou watching them.

“This is a common recipe when you are on the move, you can find these things everywhere in Allard” Said the man continuing to peel the roots.

The other mercenarie poked the one cleaning the roots “See, I told you we didn’t need to peel anything…” Said the other one complaining about having to work on it too.

“Shut it, it tastes way better when you peel it.” Concluded the first one.

Another man came in and sat down opposed to Riou.

“Ho, did you just mention Allard’s first army? The First Army?” he asked intrigued.

Riou nodded.

Suddenly Riou felt a figure quickly approaching his side. It sat down beside him very closely. It was Viki who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Riou looked at her and moved a bit to the side to leave some room between them. She smiled innocently, clearly wanting to listen to the conversation.

“So, how do you know the first army?” Asked the other man.

Riou changed focus from Viki to him while keeping some awareness towards her movements.

“I’ve trained and marched under them for a while,” Said the boy.

“What? You are too young to be part of the First, they’d never allow such a young recruit” the man replied with a doubtful smile while pouring everything he peeled inside the cooking pot.

“I never said I was part of it, just trained with them for a while,” corrected Riou.

The other men started to gather around as they overheard the conversation.

The bodyguards were all Norsemen, light skin, blond, red and brown hairs. They seemed to know very well about Allard armies and famous people.

They were all dressed in leather armor and heavy cloth, few had pieces of chainmail in their chest. Most of them carried swords and ring shields and a few others swords and bows.

“What? Are you telling me you know Bhalrom? Only he marches with the First, so you want me to believe that you personally know the Cruel Knight Captain of Allard?”

Riou smiled “In a matter of fact, I do know him. And believe it or not, he is a nice guy”

Laughter erupted from the group “Hahaha! The strict knight captain? The same one that created the “vomit your breakfast” test to join the first? That demon is a nice guy?!” said one of the men sarcastically.

“If you are inside his army, then he is”

“So you are almost a son of the first!?” Said Herger sitting down on a rock near Riou. “Was that the reason you were in Brigantium? The City was full of soldiers, many of them had the first’s emblem”

“Yeah, I followed them here for the battle, but since I’m too young for it, they told me to take some time off and come back once I’m of age.” Said Riou with a clever story to explain why he is not with the army now.

“I see… luckily I heard nobody had to fight, a mage appeared and wiped out the enemy” said Herger impressed.

“Boy? You were with the soldiers right? Were you on the walls? You must have seen what happened! Tell us what you saw there” asked one of the more excited men gathering the attention of the others that also wanted to know.

“Well, I was not on the top… all I remember was the sound and the tremors.”

The men nodded in a single motion, as if every one of them remembered feeling the tremors and hearing the sounds that echoed that day.

The conversation was abruptly interrupted by one of Herger’s men who came quickly towards him. Everyone went silent, the mercenary leaned down and whispered a few words in his leader's ear.

Herger nodded and got up from his seat. “Lunch will have to wait, we are expecting guests”

All the men stood up gathering their weapons. Herger waved to the Dracar Hunters calling them to join the main force.

On the back from where the caravan had come, a group of riders were approaching quickly.

Riou noticed that Viki seemed restless near him. Her usual easy going expression changed and she looked extremely concerned towards the approaching party.