AAAAAAAAAA! It’s holydays! I should have free time! BUT NOOOOOO!!!

- CLEAN WINDOWS FOR JESUS! No, young man, you are hardly doing anything for this house! Windows! Jesus is going to look inside our house through those windows! You will not bring me shame in front of whole choir of heaven! … In that case remove dust! So what that windows are clean, if inside the house Sodom and Gomorrah!? And after that, chandeliers! And salad! You will also make salad! Watch your mouth young man! Work is waiting! One two one two!...

…

That’s more or less how last two days looked for me… now, pardon me. Chap!

I woke up early, I could tell that it was still nighttime. I massaged my face exhausted. I could rest no longer, even if my body needed to recover – my mind simply did not allow that. There was something in my guts. Feeling that something somewhere someday may happen. An I am not prepared. I am relaying on my luck and my charming words too much. One day someone will come, someone that I won’t be able to beat not outsmart. I need to get better. Faster. Stronger. Smarter! First step is to get my eyes back… until then…

I got up from bed, then I proceed with my daily rituals. Body stretching, washing face, sacrifice of a virgin, walking down to inn section for fast breakfast.

“M…M…Morning Mr. Za.. I mean Zari!” Who the hell is so cheerful at the morning?! “I was so excited thinking about my first quest that I couldn’t sleep at all! So I decided to wait in front of your door… Hahaha…”

All night? She spend all night in front of my door?! That’s creepy!

“Morning. But you know that you will be just collecting herbs? I have no idea what’s exciting about that.” “It’s not just herb gathering! It’s beginning of my adventure! Longest journeys starts with first steep! And here it is!” “You are right. Everyone started from the bottom. First herb gathering, first dungeon ride, first trap-door, first explosive glyph under your feet, first bathing in blood of your enemies… Never trust Loki. That’s only advise that will ever matter…” “B…B…Bloodbath?!” “Yeah. Loki decided to make fun of me and asked me to open a certain chest. But it was mimic and he knew about that. In the very last moment I managed to cast fire spell… and got decorated with his insides. And because lake was on deeper floor I had to spend whole day covered in dried blood. Ah, the thrill.” “M…m…maybe I will manage to avoid that..” “As adventurer?! No chance. That what we do. We get dirty. We walk into the places that nobody else wish to enter, fight with monstrosities for handful of coins and then we drink. Hm. Yeah. That’s a routine. All days are pretty much the same. Sleeping in the forest with twigs poking your back and ass, eating shitty food rations… The only real food you could get is here. In inn section… same inn section that I want to visit. Right now. Excuse me…” “W…W…Wait! I will come with you!”

Can I have some time for myself! Look girl. I really think that I may like you, it’s just not the right time for me to make any new friends! I have really shitty week and…

“A…actually… I talked with everyone… also about you… and I was told that you really like coffee…” Ho…? “And that you really like one from cafeteria in university section… so I asked the owner of it, if he could sell me some… so if you wouldn’t mind I would really enjoy your company at breakfast…”

…An angel descended. A new goddess has been born. My plea has been heard and I shall suffer no more!

I grabbed her hand with both of mine and raised it on level of my chest.

“Rus. I am sorry for my cold behavior. I have been as ass, and nothing will justify my cruel words. I have rejected you from the very start knowing nothing about you. Now I see how wrong I was. Please, I beg your forgiveness, if you could give me another chance, then I ensure you, that I will treasure our friendship.”

She chuckled covering her mouth with her free hand.

“Haha. Gisele and Marika were right. You really are a cheerful person! You must have your reasons, I will not pry…”

She really bought a coffee! Not just coffee! THAT coffee! Oh, the taste!

Another giggle could be heard from my companion.

“Zari, stop making such expressions! That’s only a coffee…” “BLASPHEMY! It’s not just a drink! It’s liquidated hug! Humans can fail you, your own mind and body can fail you! But coffee! Coffee will always be there for you! You don’t need a question if answer is coffee! The bitterness that spreads from your tongue and follow deeply to your tummy! The warmth that grow stronger and stronger to lit a fire that shall burn for all day long!... We are not worthy it. We can only worship it…” “Your is about to get cold.”

I really enjoyed that meal. Lately I was grumpy, but that one meeting turned me back to my normal self. Thank you, my angel, my love… thank you coffee…

“So, what’s your agenda?”

I asked.

“Herb gathering! Then looking for lost cat… Miss Gisele also told me that someone should show me few shops with equipment…” “Will be done in a jiffy!”

And my babysitting quest begun. Later I heard that always “youngest” adventurer take reasonability of showing around to newest recruit. I simply did very same thing that Marika did for me when I start my own little adventure.

“Z..Zari, I am not sure what herb it is… is it worth anything?” She handed me a herb. “It’s weed. Useless. I know that it can be mistaken for Arthoa flower, but leafs of this weed are bit fraved, while arthoa has its leafs completely round and soft. You can also tell them apart by color… that weed is far more brighter. Better don’t mix weed with herbs, or you may have problems while giving them back in the guild. Mike could probably divide them manually without anything… But others can take a fee for verification…” “Hm? I think that nice kitty lady could be understanding too…” “Nice… Lady… Well, the part with kitty is right though. Trust me sunshine, she was the one that wanted to scam me. Oh, that reminded me that I have to buy gift for her… Hehehe…” “A gift? For someone that wanted to scam you?! You really are a nice person!”

… My sweet, innocent summer child…

“If you won’t mind, I will show you a place with bit rarer herbs. I will need them to make potions for next quest.” “What’s this place?!” “Hm? Ah, it’s not far from here. I just hope it still exist. In the end environment isn’t very friendly for those plants…” “Then why would they grow there in first place?” “Because I plant them. We are magicians with nature affinity. Not using our gifts would be offending for goddess that give them to us…” “I… Isn’t that cheating?!” “What!? People wants herbs. Do you really think, that they care where those came from? If somebody paid the guild to get rid of the monster, they doesn’t care if you would bring party of three of whole raid. They won’t care if you would sword or axe or mace of your bare fists. They want shit to get done…” Rus gasped “… what now?” “…M…M…Mister Zari! Please refrain from using such words!” “Which o.. ah. Noble lady. Vulgarism… it’s not going to be as easy as I thought.”

And day could be so nice.

“We are not savages! Why would you express in such manner?!” “Rus, sunshine… The world is dirty. It fights dirty. You can’t expect honorable behaviors from monsters. And sometimes, actually very often, people that are nice to everyone are monsters far more dangerous than those in dungeons. And how I start using vulgarisms? Maybe, just maybe, my first one was when wolf almost bite my arm off, or maybe when I was freezing to death in rain. Or when I was pierced in my side by spear. Or when my first fire spell exploded in my hands. Vulgarism helps to ease pain.” “It’s not truth!” “Actually, it is. By directing your attention and anger somewhere else it will actually make hurt far less. Remember it, kid….” “I am not a kid! And I am probably around your age!” “You are probably older…” “Pardon me?” “Nothing. Speaking about danger…” I said as I heard something not far away “… Have you ever fought till death?” “No, of course not.” “Here is your chance. Some stray wolf is coming your way. Give me a show.” “Wolf?! Here?” “A-ha. They usually are not coming this far to such settlements… it means that this one is either very hungry, very injured and it is running from some threat, or rabid. Have your fun.” “B… But I never killed anything before!” “So here you will lose your virginity to Khaili. Make goddess of war proud. Hey, better to do it here, where someone can help you and when you have control over situation, than taken by surprise. You wanted to start your own adventure. You really thought that you will make it without killing? You think that you could simply persuade monster to stop eating people? To politely ask werewolf to stop going into frenzy? No. I will tell you more. That, is mere wolf. Werewolf are cursed people that usually don’t know what they are doing in the night. Fighting with them is dangerous… so you are trying to find out which one of villager is a werewolf and kill him in his human form. Do you understand? You may need to kill a man that has no idea about beast living within him. To look him in the eyes and quickly stab in the heart. Get used to it. Being adventurer sounds nicely only in stories. He is coming this way. You have less than a minute to get prepared.” “W…Why won’t we leave!?” “Rus, sunshine, look around. Can you see how beautiful is this place? Lots of couples comes here for a date. If we… I am sorry… if YOU won’t kill it, it will probably attack somebody else. Oh. I am not going to move my finger, in case you would wonder.”

I heard her sobbing a little. Wolf really came from opposite direction. It was both wounded badly, and extremely hungry.

“It’s dying. From starvation. It will attack. It has to. Or it will die. Survival of the fittest kid. Step one – cast fireball on it. Step two – check if it’s alive. In case it is, repeat step one.”

Rus raised her hands targeting wolf. It waited without moving looking at little girl.

“M…may the s…spirits… head my might… m…may the goddess.. a….aid my rite… I am sorry! I can’t do this!”

Wolf start moving in her direction.

“Fireball is pretty fast death, you know? Impact will kill it. You have a possibility to show act of mercy. If you won’t, I will kill him. And I will make its death long. Rus. I know that you probably hate me now. But I am doing it for you. So?” “I CAN’T! I FORGOT CHANT!” “That’s bad. You can’t forget spell in front of enemy. I will give you some time to remind it. Until then… I will have you watch.

Creature of Night, Hear my call,

For night is full of pain, and so very cold,

The sun has died, and Darkness has bloomed,

And fate on my enemy, is to be doomed.

To me, Kaito!”

Huge black Warg, easily three times bigger than Rus enemy appeared by my side.

“Kaito. Dinner is served… Take your time. Make it slow. If this girl would want to finish him. You will allow her…” I turned my head back to Rus “… You can stop him whenever you want to. Till then… I will wait in front of city gates.”

I said walking away. When I wasn’t looking Kaito jumped at wounded animal. Crack of bones and whimper could be heard.

“Stop it! Please! Stop it!” I kept walking away. Dull sound and another crack. Kaito grabbed the wolf with his mouth, easily raised in the air and throw on the nearest tree.

World in cruel. Nature is cruel. Monster is cruel…. And I am cruel too.

“Rus. Mercy will kill you. And will make those around you suffer. You can either walk away, and do nothing, or you can put his misery to the end… do you remember chant now? No? It’s not needed. Magic dwells in your heart. Incantation is nothing more than FOCUS of the spell. You can unleash it with your desires. So?” “S… Spirits… S… Spirits…” “Spirits of Wrath…” I gave up and reminded part of the chant “SPIRITS OF WRATH!” “Answer my plea…” “ANSWER MY PLEA!” “I am full of anger…” “I… I AM FULL ON ANGER!” “And so very lost…”

We continued to chant spell together. All this time Kaito kept militating poor creature.

“So is my will…” I ended “SO IS MY WILL” Almost cried Rus.

She completely screw the spell. Lost balance of mana, and used as backup wrong emotions. Fire is passionate. Fire is love. Fire is hate. Fire in desire to protect. Power right here, power right now. Because she was lost in panic, her spell has almost no power. Yet she didn’t saw that. As soon as orb of fire left her hands she fell on her knees and began to cry in her palms.

As last act of mercy I boosted power of spell that flew in direction of wolf, just enough to kill it with one blow.

I came back to crying girl, hugged her and patted in her head.

Great. Another girl that thought that life of adventurer is fairy tale full of action, passion, love and romance, but not even a drop of blood. That enough for her. For today.

“I hate you…” She whispered. “I know.” “And… I know that you did it… that your purpose was…” “It’s ok…” “I am grateful.” “I know that too, pet.”

She kept crying for little longer. As she calmed herself I began my teaching.

“You are mage of nature. Aira is source of our powers. She is both predator and prey. She made a circle of hunt to allow every creature to get better. Predator will become even better in hunting, as it tries to feast. Prey will hide even better as it would feel predator approaching. There is nothing wrong in killing. There is nothing wrong in desire to NOT kill at all. The only sin is killing for pleasure. For very act of killing. Killing for sport. As long as very act of slaughter brings you no joy, you are innocent. It is ok to love, it is right to hate. For first cannot exist without the second. That’s what she taught me.” “Aira is crazy.” “Oh yes.” “And it makes no sense.” “Not everything has to make a sense.” “Mis… Zari…” “Yes?” “I want to go back… I have enough for today.” “Ok pet. Ok.”

I let her rest most of her body weight on me and brought her back to the guild. Every time in a while a weak weep could be heard… and of course, as soon as we got into the guild…

“YOU BASTARD! WHY IS SHE CREYING?!”

… chaos started.

“Calm down. She needs some peace…” “JUST TELL ME RIGHT NOW YOU LIL BASTARD!” “I educated her. Now piss off. Make some space. Give her some cocoa… with drop of vodka into it.” “Will be done in a second!” I heard from behind a counter. “SO? What could go wrong on HERB GATHERING?!” Gisele pried again and again. “A wolf happened. I made her kill it. Now, happy?”

Mrogul, that up until now was sitting peacefully, get on his feet, start clapping his hands and yelled.

“ATTA GIRL! FIRST HUNT! Great! We will feast and dance for glory of Khaili! Did you take fur?! In our clan there is a tradition, that first coat of hunter is made of the first monster he killed by his own! And…!” He must have noticed Gisele’s gaze “…I mean… I join you in your pain. Hope his death was fast and painless…”

I shivered a little. It wasn’t.

“W…well… it had to happen one day or the other…” Gisele finally gave up “… It was still good that you had Zari that made it bit easier for you…”

… Hehe… please don’t tell her, please don’t tell her, please don’t tell her, please…

“Yes… thank you Zari…” she cried a little more

OH MERCIFUL GODDESS! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! But, as I had no idea how much longer my luck could last…

“Ok, girls, I think you are better than me in…comforting… Gisele, I will be making potions in my room, do you know how many member the team will have?” “Five of six…” “Great. Now I know everything. Mrogul, come with me, you will be my eyes.” “Ok, have fun, Zari… Now, Rus, you may want to tell us, how it was. It could be bit easier if you would tell about it to someone, so…”

Crap.

“Mrogul… Come…” “I am coming…” “Come faster, damn it!”

We were by my door when a powerful yell of dragoness shook the whole guild.

“ZAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIII! YOU BASTARD!”

Haha! Shame on you! I am already inside of my room!

“Mrogul, lock the door!”

Afternoon was fun.