The streets of Thanes bustled with people from all walks of life, a rare occasion that only happens once a decade. Men and women, young and old, clad in armour or merchant's clothing jostle their way through the crowd. The occasional clip-clopping sounds are produced as horses pulling merchant wagons trot on the cobblestone paved roads. The Great Millennium Forest Exploration is to be held for the fourth time. Old and new faces rise to take up the challenge of exploring the depths of the Forest, eager to unravel its mysteries or simply to make a name for themselves. Some see this as an opportunity to prove themselves worthy to join the Zenithian Knights. The merchants too, are taking the opportunity to make a pretty penny for themselves.

Merchant stalls are set up at the roadside, displaying various wares and supplies. The local shop owners stare in disgust at their newly arrived competitors. The only inn in the city however, received no competition. Also doubling as an adventurer's guild, the doors never stay closed as visitors come and go. Loud, raucous laughter fill the inn with a merry atmosphere. The rooms are fully booked and the capacity had been exceeded with every room for two being inhabited by four people. The rest who did not manage to acquire accommodation seek out rooms for rent in local houses or simply camp outside under the starry night skies.

The visiting adventurers are stopping by in Thanes on their way to the capital city, Emond. Some would make a second stop in the nearest town which is approximately two days away by horse, Ceylon. It is in the capital, in one month's time, that the registration for the Great Exploration will open up. Adventurers wishing to participate for the first time, or wishing to give another shot at it would have to be there to register their names at the Glyph of Life. There would also be a sending off ceremony attended by the ruler of Armitage, King Melzar III. Of course, there are other places similar to Thanes and Ceylon as well but for those coming from the western side of the continent, these are the most popular stops. It is in these places where the adventurers search for new equipment, restock their adventuring supplies and also to search for party members.

Of course, with the place cramped up, tensions are high. Occasional fights occur here and there. The inn however, is the most peaceful place in the town.

*Boom* *Crash*

"Yeaaaaaaarrrghhhhh!!!!"

Two burly and bald men wearing chainmails scream in mid-air as they are thrown out into the streets through the door of the inn. The space opened up as passers by distance themselves away from the two men. Some of them stay to spectate the scene, sensing an interesting brawl that is about to occur.

"AND STAY OUT!" A man with black hair and violet eyes barks at them from inside the inn and then turns around to return to his duties.

"You will regret this! Do you know who we are?!" The thrown out duo yells angrily at the man. They are furious for being unceremoniously ejected from the establishment. The man froze in his steps and turns around to face them again.

"We are the Calamity Brothers! We will burn down this trashy inn, hunt you and your family and then we would rape your wife and-"

*Crunch* *Crack*

One of the brothers who had been insolently mouthing off threats is silenced by a flying knee that seems to have appeared out of nowhere. His head is thrown back violently as his nose cracks from the impact, his teeth detaches from his gums and flies off everywhere scattering on the streets. He crumples on the ground unconscious, his face turned into an unrecognisable bloody pulp, his chest moves up and down vigorously as he breathes heavily. A steady trickle of blood flows from his disfigured face.

"Wha-? Why.... you!!!" The other brother gripped his sword and tries to unsheathe it to cut down the black-haired man. How dare the man did a surprise attack on his beloved brother, killing him would not even be enough to compensate for his action.

*Crack*

He never made it. His sword arm is twisted at a strange angle with a portion of the bones visible through the torn skin of his mangled hand. He starts to froth at the mouth, and he faints with his eyes rolled up, displaying the whites of his eyes. He collapsed onto the earth as Aaron releases his hand.

Aaron stares the two miscreants while furrowing his brows and baring his teeth, his bloodied palm tightly clenches into a fist. He is barely keeping himself from killing them in cold blood.

*Clap* *Clap*

"Bravo! Bravo! You there, would you like to be my bodyguard? I am willing to pay you as much as you want!" One of the spectators, a rotund man in expensive bright yellow clothes steps forward and presents an offer to Aaron.

Aaron sent a murderous glare in reply, silencing him. Beads of sweat trickle down the merchant's forehead, goosebumps start to appear on his skin. The eyes beholding him did not belong to a man, but a beast that hungers for blood. He shivers and breaks off the eye contact. If he had given the offer another time, perhaps Aaron would have considered it but he had failed to read the mood. Aaron is currently livid with anger, having threats about his family and deceased wife made before him.

"Move aside! Move aside!" A man wearing wearing the official military steel armour pushes through the crowd, the small figure of two swords diagonally crossed is clearly emblazoned on his breastplate, right over the left chest. It is Armitage's coat of arms, the Swords of Justice. He is followed by four others donned in identical outfits behind him and make their way to the scene.

The man and his crew surveys the two heavily injured men lying on the floor and the unscathed Aaron who is still glaring at the fainted duo. To those who did not witness the whole scene, they might misinterpret the situation and label Aaron as a criminal. Fortunately, this man had witnessed Aaron doing similar acts a few times and secretly holds some respect for him.

"Cook, what did they do to deserve this much?" The man grimaces as he addresses Aaron.

Aaron did not face him, but he squeezes the words through his tightly clenched teeth.

"They were forcing people to join their party, sexually harassed the women and also threatened me and MY FAMILY" Aaron's body trembled at the last part, the flames of fury are still raging within him. He could have lightly knocked out the duo, but crossing the line by threatening his family made Aaron snap.

"Even so..." The man hesitates as he look at the degree of injury inflicted upon the two fallen thugs.

"Wait! These are the Calamity Brothers, they are on the wanted list for theft, rape, arson and murder!" One of the man's subordinates calls out while looking back and forth at the two criminals and a wanted poster he had just procured in his hands.

"Very well, take them away and treat their injuries. They will be brought to justice in accordance with the law"

The subordinates follow his order and begins to carry off the Calamity Brothers, leaving behind their leader alone. The man's name is John, he is one of the five squad leaders which have been assigned to guarding the village. The village of Thanes had always have 50 soldiers stationed in it for the purpose of keeping peace or warding off the rare monster raids but in light of recent events they have their hands full with the increase in crime brought about by unruly adventurers.

"Did you know of their crimes when you punished them?" John inquires, while eyeing Aaron.

"...." Aaron did not reply.

"Control yourself, next time you might actually do something that warrants an arrest" John understood Aaron's silence and gives him an advice. His face is grim, he does not want things to come to that if possible. Arresting a man like Aaron would most likely cost the lives of dozens of soldiers should he resists violently.

"Good day to you, then" John nods to Aaron as he bids him farewell. He turns away and starts to shoo off the onlookers.

"Move along! Move along! There is nothing to see here!" he waves his hands around, forcing the crowd to disperse. The spectators had been blocking the street, and they only grew in numbers as curious passers by joined them to witness the commotion.

Aaron turns towards the inn and walks inside. The sounds of cluttering chairs resound throughout the whole inn. The customers had obviously been observing the scene and hastily retreated to their seats. The atmosphere is silent, Aaron had started to cool down thanks to the offending thugs no longer being in his sight. He storms off into the kitchen with a little bit of anger still remaining in his heart while muttering something about adventurers these days being rude under his breath. It took half a minute for the inn to retain its noisy atmosphere, the customers busy themselves by gossiping about the scene they had just witnessed over food and drinks.

'The Demon Cook' is the title given to Aaron by the customers who had seen his actions these past several days. In the space of four days, Aaron had kicked out eleven troublemakers out of the inn including the pair from a moment ago. Aaron had been promoted as the cook a couple of months back due to the previous one quitting, something about missing his family. Since the influx of visitors four days ago, Aaron had to double as the bouncer as well. Some of the troublemakers had tried to take revenge by aiming at Chase; only to be beaten up thrice, once by Chase and twice from Aaron himself.

The men admires Aaron's prowess; few among the visiting adventurers could match him, if any. Most of them had tried to recruit Aaron into their party, but they were promptly refused. The women are enamored by Aaron. Something about being a tall, muscular man with manly scars, single and rearing a child by himself is very attractive in their eyes. Perhaps it is the sense of reliability that Aaron exudes which had enticed them.

A couple of children are sitting at one of the tables in the inn, right beside a window. One of them is a boy with medium length black hair and violet eyes wearing a set of regular shirt and trousers. The other one is a girl with brown hair, slightly below shoulder length. She has eyes of the same colour as her hair, she is clad in leather armour and leggings. The two of them are happily chatting among themselves.

"Hey, your dad is pretty cool, huh?" Alice mentions excitedly to Chase, her eyes had been following Aaron from the door all the way to the kitchen.

"Yeah, he is..." replies the eleven-year old boy as he eyes the silhouette of his father who is currently set on roasting some ducks.

"Do you think he likes young girls?" Alice asked with a serious expression, eyebrows knitted together.

"WHAT?!" Chase exclaimed loudly as he stands up in shock, causing his chair to fall backwards and alarming the other customers. He had never thought Alice would be attracted to his father.

"Hahahahahaha! I'm just kidding! !" Alice laughs uncontrollably, her eyes tearing up.

"Oh, your reaction is just priceless!! Hahaha!" her joke had brought up a better reaction than what she had expected.

Chase relaxed and starts to blush red. He mutters apologies to the surrounding customers and sits down again, staring at Alice with a hint of annoyance on his expression.

"Oh come on! It was just a joke!" Alice tries to calm the pouting Chase down.

"Good, I don't want you to be my mother" Chase declares with his arms crossed.

"Hmmmm...? Are you jealous?" Alice continues to tease Chase while bringing her face closer to him, eyes narrowed down.

"W-why would I be jealous?" Chase looks away in embarrassment, heart thumping loudly. Alice had encroached too much on his personal space, making it very uncomfortable for him.

"By the way, some of the adventurers are really rowdy, huh?" Chase hastily changes the topic in hopes that Alice would drop the subject.

Alice backs off, reverting to her previous position.

"Yeah, they are.... " she frowns, recalling something. Her expressions turn blank as she falls into a daze, replaying her memory.

'Phew, glad that worked!' Chase thought triumphantly.

-------

The incident which Alice is recalling happened a couple of days ago. Some of the adventurers who could not find lodgings to stay in had come by Gillian's house. They knocked on the door with the lion-shaped knockers and Gillian opened it as usual. At first Gillian invited them inside and served them tea, showing his hospitality. But then, the adventurers tries to ask Gillian about renting them rooms. Gillian would not have minded to spare a few rooms, but they pretended to be angry after hearing the price they had to pay. They shouted things such as extortion and overcharging, trying to lower the price. Gillian of course, saw right through their ploy. He played along and turned the tables by accurately comparing the prices he offered with that of the inn and also the difference in furnishings and level of comfort his house offers.

The adventurers realised they were fighting a losing battle and opted to change tactics. They withdrew their weapons and threatened Gillian, thinking he was a regular old man. After all, how dangerous can a short, old man who is about to kick the bucket be?

"Hohohohohoho" The ex-veteran spellsword chortled with his signature laughter while stroking his beard.

Five minutes later, the adventurers ran out of the house with their tails between their legs. Some of them fled with smoking hair and sooty faces, some with fire burning on their butts. Gillian's house was later on dubbed as the 'Lair of the White Devil'.

-------

"But only some though, some of them did help out with keeping the order around here" Alice states.

"True..." Chase agreed.

Chase understands, judging the entire community of adventurers by basing it on the recalcitrant ones is unfair. An individual's actions is his or her own and should not be associated with others, just like how the child of a murderer cannot be punished for its parent's crime.

"Don't you want to join it? The Exploration?" Alice inquires. Joining The Exploration is a rare opportunity, one which promises bountiful rewards from the kingdom should one succeed in bringing new information.

"No, at least not now..." Chase mutters slowly. He had promised his father that he would not go adventuring until he reaches Intermediate level in a Close Combat skill, which he had not.

He turns his head to the window, eyes focusing on the streets outside. However, it is not the streets he is focusing on, but rather his inner thoughts.

'I'm already 11 this year, I'll have to go to the Academy next year'

'I don't think Alice would want to go along with me, so I probably won't see her again for some time...or dad, or Gillian...' the more people he thinks of, the lonelier he felt. Chase had come to like Thanes very much, the village had provided him with far better memories than his solitary old house.

"Hey, why the long face? Relax, there's always the next Exploration which you can join in!" Alice tries to cheer Chase up, believing that he was sulking because of not being able to join the Exploration.

"Oh! If you're going to join the next one, count me in!" Alice says, thrilled at the thought.

'That's right, even though I'll be going away... Alice would still be here!' Chase's face brightened up.

'No, wait.. she'll probably find someone she likes by the time I get back and get married and..'

'Sigh... why am I thinking so far ahead?' Chase shakes his head to dispel the disturbing thoughts.

Alice frowns after seeing the weird display of reactions, she could not make heads nor tails out of it.

"Chase...? Are you fine?"

"H-huh? Yeah, I'm fine! Just a little bit sleepy, heh"

"Hmm... me too, actually. Yesterday's Close Combat Class was pretty intense" Alice nods vigorously with her eyes closed and brows furrowed.

Chase had been taking day offs for Magic Class lately, considering Gillian had nothing left to teach him. He had been experimenting with magic compounding but he had been running out of ideas recently, prompting the need to rest and relax. Magic compounding is harder than it seemed at first, the type of elements being fused, the order they are being fused, as well as the properties applied to them, there are too many factors that affects the process and the resulting spell. Among the spells he had successfully created, only a small number of them had practical uses that Chase had thought of.

Suddenly, a dreadful sensation assaulted Chase. A disgusting, dark feeling crawls up on him causing his hair to stand on end. It did not last for more than a few moments, but Chase almost hurled due to it.

"Hey, are you okay..?" Alice frowns.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine.. just felt nauseous for a second there" Chase replies weakly while palming his forehead. He has no idea about what he just felt or the cause behind it.

"Maybe we should go and take a walk for some fresh air, your dad won't be off his work anytime soon" Alice suggests while looking at Chase in a concerned manner.

"Umm" Chase nods.

The wooden chairs scrape the floorboards as they both rise from their seats. Alice walks in-between the tables with Chase trailing behind him, and exits the establishment. The pleasant warmth of the morning sun embraces them as they walk underneath it, weaving their way through the bustling streets.

Alice drags Chase off all around the village, occasionally stopping by at merchant stalls by the roadside. Chase would occasionally be forced to wait at the side as Alice looks over selections of trinkets. After surveying hundreds of stalls, something finally caught Alice's eyes.

"Hey, Chase, look!" Alice picks up two fluffy miniature penguins with a loop of string poking out of their heads, they are about two inches in size.

Chase tiredly looks at the items Alice is showing him. They had spent almost half the day looking at stalls without buying anything.

'All these time, and this is what caught your eye?' He narrows his eyes at the miniature penguins.

"That would be 25 coppers for a penguin sword strap, missy" the stall owner said to Alice.

"Oh! Chase, I don't have enough money... can you lend me some" Alice looks at Chase with puppy-dog eyes.

"Sigh.... never mind, just take it.." Chase hands over a silver coin to Alice, people rarely brings along copper coins due to the large amounts needed to be carried around and their low monetary value.

"Thanks!" Alice beams and pays for the merchandise.

The owner hands back some change and smiles, happy that he finally sold something for the day. His products did not attract anyone's eyes and he had thought of giving up, but Alice had renewed his hope.

Alice turns around to Chase and hands him the coins which clinks as they fall atop each other on his palm.

'Hmm?'

"Wait, I thought it was 25 coppers each?" Chase stares at the stall owner accusingly.

"Yes, it is. The young missy bought two of em" He points at Alice's hand. Indeed, two fluffy penguin sword straps are dangling from her fingers.

"What? Why'd you need two sword straps for?" Chase is not angry, but he is curious. As far as he knows, Alice only has one sword, unless she is planning to give the other one to his father.

"One for you, and one for me!" Alice explains while she unceremoniously ties one of the straps onto Chase's sword hilt.

"But I don't need one!" Chase raises his eyebrows although he is secretly happy to receive a gift from her. Alice just pouts angrily with her hands on her hips.

"Just take it!"

"Fine...." Chase feigns defeat, he would not have given the gift back anyway.

Chase absent mindedly twirls the penguin strap on his sword between his fingers as Alice drags him along and start to walk back on their way towards the inn. He had to try really hard not to smile. After all, being so excited over a little gift is not cool or manly and he would not want to show any childishness in front of Alice.

The sun had begun to set in the horizon, the streetlamps had been lighted to illuminate the darkened streets. Orange glows could be seen from the windows of houses, radiating from the oil lamps burning inside. Most of the stalls had been closed, and few people remain on the streets including Alice and Chase.

The inn comes into view, it is the only building which still retains its liveliness in the calming darkness of the night. The sound of chairs moving about mixed with drunken laughter escapes the inn and spreads onto the streets, attracting the few travellers who wish to have a good time. However, one person looks different from the rest. Every step he took seems to be torturing him, his face is pale and his eyes were wide with fear. His breath is ragged but he continues to run towards the inn as if his life depended on it. He takes a sharp turn and darted into the inn.

Alice and Chase turns towards each other, each wearing a perplexed expression. The man's actions had been nothing short of weird, they had expected the man to be chased by some pursuers and were getting prepared to assist him. However, there was no one trailing behind him. What truly confounds them though, is the sudden change of the inn's atmosphere. The inn is completely silent, something that would not happen unless Aaron goes on a righteous rampage.

They hastened their pace and entered the inn to assess the situation. In the middle of the inn, the man is kneeling on the floor while gasping for breath. A waiter comes over and hands him a glass of water, the man gratefully drinks it. His face still displays his abject terror. Everyone present on the ground floor of the inn are staring at the man.

The man inhales and exhales a few times, trying to compose himself.

"I said..."

"The monsters are attacking" He finishes the sentence as he looks around at all the customers, a grimace forming on his face.

All hell breaks loose.

-------------------------------------------------

So that's it for this batch of release. I reckon there's going to be around.... 3-5 more chapters to end the arc? Or maybe I'll divide a chapter into parts as I always do... it's the holidays for me now as I already finished my exams so I'll be able to spend more time writing. Expect a bunch of chapters to be released within short interval of each other once a week or so. Reading my earlier chapters, I realised I had been too prone on describing situations instead of telling a story. I've been taking it slower now to try and add more depth to my writing... not sure if there had been any improvements for chapter 9 and 10 though.. I spent some time reediting them again and again. Let's hope I'll be able to improve my skills and deliver you the story more interestingly in the future.

Stay tuned! :bye:

The StenchArmusBefore the Battle

For The Curious Mind