On an earthy trail leaving The Free City of Kander is an interesting group of four people, their gait both confident and relaxed as they make their long trip towards Gargantuan, the largest and most powerful city on the continent.

These four individuals are none other than Valen and his mixed group of followers, with three dressed in clothing that easily attracts unwanted attention…..especially the humans’ backpack.

Gang stares at the monstrosity strapped to Valen back, its size almost as tall as him. The fact that Valen walks so casually with such a large weight can only mean one thing.

“Valen, you're not going to fool me with that massive thing strapped to your back,” Gang exclaims beside him, a devious smile on his face.

“I have a lot of stuff, so I need to store it all,” he answers pointing towards his back,” I also have Lin’s stuff, too,” pointing at the little tigress girl walking beside him. She is wearing pants and a shirt, instead of a dress, with a Pokeball backpack strapped squarely on her back.

Gang just chuckles at Valen’s blatant lie. “That backpack as you call it is completely empty,” he answers for his side, amused at Valen surprised expression,” If it was full, your gait would be more backward, and your steps would be deeper into the ground,” he exclaims confidently.

“Errr…..” Valen starts, trying to think up an explanation, Gang merely just waves the conversation along.

“Anyone who knows what the Xerafin look like can clearly see that you’re one of those Forsaken,” he exclaims knowingly.

“You clearly have all your supplies in that interspatial ring on your finger,” Gang points to Valen's hand, ”though I am surprised that you even have any supplies. I was under the impression that when Xerafin exile their kind, they strip you of all your possessions.”

A blank look crosses Valen’s face,” Um……..they uh don’t check everywhere,” he starts, mind whirring quickly for an excuse,” they did not check internally,” he forces out. A slight blush donnes Gang’s face as he realizes the hiding place a ring could be hidden.

“Also,” Valen starts,” you shouldn’t talk, what with you having an interspatial item hidden in your robe.

Gang immediately stops, the rest of their group walking forward, ignoring his surprised expression.

“You gonna stand there looking pretty or are you going to walk with us?” Valen announces loudly as he walks, the large backpack quickly disappearing.

Sighing loudly, Gang increases his pace, catching up with the three, his own secrets quickly becoming unwound to this group.

“Lin, Diva?” Valen asks aloud, turning to the female members of his group.”Want me to get rid of your backpacks too?" He asks, pointing behind him.

“Naoooooo,” Lin says, taking a step away from Valen, tightly holding the giant Pokeball on her back.

Diva merely shakes her head, mimicking Lin, refusing to give up the Spongebob backpack on her back, even if it did only contain cleaning and sharpening supplies for her Katana.

Gang just smiles at his companion’s as they bicker, thinking that maybe having his secrets known might not be that bad of a thing.

*************************************

The sun slowly passes the halfway point, the group still trudging on, expecting to make camp in the Dark Elf Forest.

“Hey, Gang,” Valen interrupts the silence.

“You went to the mercenary guild right?” Valen asks, looking at Gang, ”How do they rate mercenaries anyway?”

Smiling respectfully at Valen’s ignorance, Gang answers his question, “Well, mercenaries are tested by the strongest person at the guild, which is usually the guild master. Ratings are then given by the tester based on both strength and skill.”

“Huh…..what are the ranks?” Valen asks the smiling Radonian, his robe swishing peacefully to the light breeze.

“The ranks go from tier triple S; which is the strongest, down to F rank, which is the equivalent to your average person. D rank, only one above F is where your regular soldiers come in. These are usually people who have fought or have skill with a weapon. Now the C rank is where mercenaries actually start to make a decent living. These people are your mages and warriors who are able to utilize mana in some way or form. They can enhance their physical capabilities or cast simple but deadly spells. In an army, these people would be captain’s.” Gang explains.

“What about B ranks then?” Valen asks, the subject interesting him greatly.

Gang just smiles at Valen, enjoying his curious expression, Lin listening to the conversation as well from his side. ”B ranks are usually people who have had a thorough amount of education in the form of mana manipulation. These individuals are usually the leaders of houses or clans, able to cast devastating spells or significantly increase their physical ability. The best way to identify these individuals is through their eyes. Untrained mana enhancement will cause mana to smoke from the body, but with training, no mana will be wasted, and the eyes will start to glow.”

“So……...how long does it take to learn to control your mana like that?” Valen asks, very interested in a way to increase his strength.

Gang merely lifts his eyebrow, trying to understand why a Xerafin wouldn't know about advanced mana manipulation.”It usually takes years, but people have learned it as low as half a year.”

“It took me two weeks,” Diva interrupts from Valen’s side, her back straight, eyes forward, trying her best not to show emotion.

“Well….” Gang starts “Amazonians have an extremely large pool of mana, allowing them to train far longer than other species. So I guess it would be expected for them to learn quickly,” Gang exclaims, his mind thinking that two weeks is still abysmally fast.

“What about triple S,” Lin squeaks from behind, wanting to know about the strongest people.

Gang just chuckles at her enthusiasm, ”First let's continue on to the next rank, which is A. At this rank, you get the leaders of armies, usually generals or kings, at least with Radonians. I and Diva are actually of the A rank,” Gang smiles towards Valen, only to get a confused look returned.

“So…., are they just stronger magic users at each increasing tier?” Valen asks.

“No,” Gang quickly exclaims,” A rank are B ranks who have a lot of experience and a great many magical items at their disposal for a variety of situations. Only when you get to the S rank do things get very complicated.”

“S ranks are beings that can fight small armies on their own. Xerafin are all considered S ranks, while Amazonians become S ranks as they grow older and finish their pilgrimage. Very very few other species will become S ranks, as such, strength of that caliber is thoroughly respected in the mercenary community.”

“Wow…….destroying armies…...huh….,” Valen whispers aloud, turning to look towards Diva, a future army slayer in the making.

“Continuing on, double S ranks are few and far between. Currently, we only know that the Amazonians have Nine elders of such a rank, while the Xerafin also have a decent amount, but are unfortunately not registered, so their exact number is unknown. This is also the big reason why when the Xerafin makes demands, countries will always follow through, or risk getting destroyed.”

“Huh…...my kind are assholes,” Valen says, his thoughts turning back to Garren’s warning to not mess with the Xerafin.

“Wait!” Valen yells, eyes widening,” Are there actually people of triple S rank then?”

Gang smiles, even gaining Diva’s attention as well, Lin perking up to the word triple S.

“Currently there is only one triple S being known, and that being is none other than the High Elf headmistress of Gargantuan Academy,” he exclaims confidently.

“Awwww fuck,” Valen curses, annoyed that the academy he wants to join is run by a species that he was also told not to mess with.

Gang merely nods at Valen, misinterpreting the situation,” Yes, the same one who slew three Xerafin Elders in combat. It was that devastating battle that earned her the triple S rank. But don’t worry Valen, she has no grudges against the Forsaken, on the contrary, she has them as teachers at her academy.

Valen continues to rub his face, annoyed at the complicated situation before him, only now noticing the dark woods around him and the setting sun.

_______________________________________________________________________

Valentin smiles confidently as he stands upon his ship, the Corsair. The Corsair speeds forward, two mana engines giving his extremely heavy metal ship the speed to outrun any other ship. His massive red beard flows gracefully in the speeding wind, enjoying the view in front of him.

An orc blockade sits at the exit of northern Jeriha, blocking ship trade and travel with over 40 orc galleys. Their large hulls and cannons slowly swiveling towards the Corsair, waiting for the ship to come in range.

“Hehehehehehe…...ahahahahaahah,” Valentin starts to laugh uncontrollably, the pathetic orcs think a shitty blockade would be able to stop him.

Turning around, he walks inside of his ship, finding his Dwarven crew, smiling knowingly back at him.” Alright, when we get back to base, the Corsair is going to need a new paint job,” he says, the crowd of sailors in front of him cheer loudly, enjoying what is about to come next.

Valentine turns towards his first mate and lover. “Raise the hull, increase the engines, and set a course through as many of those ships as possible!” the dwarven pirate yells, smiling at the quick reaction of his crew.

***********************************

Within a moment, a rumbling can be felt by the residents of the Corsair, as the metal hull of the ship moves upwards, covering the deck. The first engine quickly starts to burn mana, feeding the ship. The hull quickly glows with an ominous red light, strengthening the metal several times over. The mana engines quickly increases their mana flow, the rotors at the stern of the ship start to spin faster, propelling the heavy ship over the water, reaching speeds of over 80 knots.

As the armored behemoth gets into range of the orc ships, cannons start to fire, slamming into the protective spiked hull of the Corsair, ripping paint off with every impact. Valentin grabs a handhold within his ship, waiting for the impact, smiling gleefully in anticipation.

The Corsair quickly reaches the orc ships, its hull impacting the blockade……..ripping and destroying the wooden hulls with ease, barely even slowing Valentin’s ship down.

Valentin smiles wider and wider with every impact, knowing that an immense number of orc shits are dying from the impacts.

Finally, the destruction stops as the corsair passes through the blockade, a line of seven destroyed orc galley’s left in its wake.

Quickly the ship transforms back into its cruising pace, easily outrunning any orc ships that may feel they would want revenge.

___________________________________________________________________________

“What will we do,” an orc sailor asks, his eyes staring at the new captain of the ship.

The captain finally looks up at the sailor…...or is it the first mate now? He places the enchanted artifact back on the desk, the same artifact used by Gudrun to incapacitate the enraged beast-kin that was ripping through the orcs with ease the day before.

“Gudrum used this artifact to send a powerful bolt of lighting at that beast-kin….mostly encompassing her, unfortunately, he did not expect for the tigress to throw her sword in response, striking him in the chest,” the captain explains his thoughts; his finger rubbing the powerful and expensive electric wand.

“Without any leaders of Clan Garzand present, returning would more than likely result in either our deaths…..or worse.” the captain explains.

“So what do we do now?” his first mate asks.

“Simple, we will go to another clan and sell our services and loyalty. We have a ship, a powerful magic item, and information on a way to travel to Geralyn for beast-kin slaves.”

A silence descends the two, the ship creaking from the orcs and slaves as they row hard, hoping to outrun any pursuers.

“What is it?” the captain finally exclaims, noticing that his first mate wants to ask a question.

“Well…...the boys have been wondering if they can have fun with that tigress girl chained down in the hold. Many of them want revenge and whatnot.”

“No,” the captain answers quickly, glaring at the stupid orc he designated as his first mate. ”She will be left alone and will be sold to the Coliseum for coin. I cannot allow her to be harmed if I am to get a good price.”

Finding that the sailor is still standing before him, he picks up the enchanted wand. ”Either you are going to leave here and tell those idiots to keep their hands off the girl, or you can send them here and I will make an example of them.” the captain warns, watching as the first mate quickly runs out of the captains quarters.

Once the door closes, the Captain sighs, turning back towards the wand in his hand, trying to figure out how to even use the blasted thing.