“Oh, damn,” Eric replied. “I doubt any of my adventures are as interesting as what you went through.”

“Surely there has to be something,” Velariah said.

“I suppose I could tell you why I decided to become an adventurer. I fear my career as one is too short to really have experienced anything worthy of mention.”

“That will do just fine,” The white-haired elf reassured him with a smile after taking off her helmet. I mimicked her actions, welcoming the sweet relief of fresh air in my hair.

“Well, I’ll be honest here. I am the son of a blacksmith in a small village, and my dad took me out for hunts in the nearby forest. Due to all that, I had some experience with the bow, and some practice with a spear and sword. I decided to settle on the latter, it seemed to be more befitting of my style.”

“Speaking of,” I interrupted his story. “What happened to your shield?”

Back at the guild trials, he used a kite shield, but he didn’t have it with him right now.

“Left it at the inn. Didn’t want to carry the extra weight, and, if possible, I prefer the extra agility that not using it offers. Heard we might run into trolls, and using it against them would be less than pointless.”

“True,” I said with a nod.

“Anyway,” He continued. “One day, there was an unusual increase in wild beasts around, and they had gotten more aggressive than usual too, so the village requested help from a nearby guild to help cull them. Seeing the adventurers in action, their movements, their coordination, their skill, it entranced me. Ever since that day, I wanted to be an adventurer, but my father held me back as long as possible, insisting that if I wanted to be one, I’d need proper training first.”

He took off his helmet, revealing a smile of his own.

“And so I did. I stayed in Zakar during the week and went back home for the weekend to see my father and mother. He also helped me with a few tips and tricks when it came to swords. His knowledge really helped me out.”

He unsheathed his sword and held the blade with his gloved hands.

“He is the one that crafted this, allowing me to save a fair amount of coin, and to be honest, I am proud I am able to carry a piece of him with me.”

“Did he pass away?” Seralyn asked, not entirely subtle about it.

“Heh,” Eric chuckled. “No. I’m sorry. I can imagine why it may have sounded like he did.” He shook his head, a smirk on his lips. “No, he’s alive and well.”

“He must be a good smith,” I commented. “I’m going to assume he’s been in the profession for quite a while, and that sword looks razor sharp.”

“He is quite good,” Eric said with another smile. “The adventurers that I talked about earlier went to him to get their equipment repaired, and when they bought some new items, they were extremely happy with their performance, so much that more people started showing up. We eventually moved to the same village, or well, I guess it’s a city now, where I trained. Made my life much easier, although my mom doesn’t like it much. She preferred the countryside.

He looked down at his sword and let out a small chuckle before his smile slowly disappeared.

“I think she would like Dawnleaf. The village is amazing, The surroundings are breathtaking, and the people are kind. Don’t think Coldanus would like the competition much, though.”

Seralyn was left grinning at the mention of the name, and even more by the fact that Eric managed to say it so casually. He seemed rather confused at the brunette’s reaction, and I then realized that because of the language barrier, he likely didn’t know the other meaning that could be given to the name.

I smiled at his innocence. He was trying so hard to learn the language, and had somehow skipped the more… degenerate parts.

“What’s the matter?” He asked, noticing me smile as well.

“Just keep studying New Elven and you will eventually find out,” Velariah said, before sighing deeply.

“I see. Well,” He said before taking a last look at his sword. “It’s a good sword. Shame it didn’t help me much in the trial. Still, it was a good learning experience.”

“Sorry about that,” I apologized in earnest. “But what brought you here anyway? Why didn’t you complete your guild trial back in Zakar? That’s the name of the city, right?”

“It is, and the reason for it is quite simple. I had a few people that a friend introduced me to. They were party members of his, and they were eager to get in on the action here after they heard that significant money was being paid for goblin extermination quests. So, while I wasn’t officially a guild member yet, I decided to join them as the next trial date was two weeks from then, and just decided to do it here at the first opportunity, just to finalize proper adventurer status.”

“That makes sense,” Draco said. “Sorry you had to run into Elania, but still, welcome to the guild.”

“Thank you,” Eric said with a wide smile.

“What happened to your friend?” Nira suddenly asked. She’d been listening intently to the human’s story.

Eric sighed deeply.

“We’re still friends, but he went back to the kingdom after what happened with Elania. To be honest, the last time I saw him, he wasn’t quite himself.” Eric rubbed his eyes with two fingers and shook his head. “He seemed depressed, and in no state to fight. I think he blames himself for the incident, you know? He should have seen it coming and all that? I’ll admit that I feel the same in a way, but he seemed much, much worse off than me.”

“That sounds horrible,” I said. “If you ever see him, please tell him there was nothing he could do about it. The guy that attacked me was bought off.”

“That’s still something we should have sorted out,” He replied. “We should have made sure our party members would be loyal, and fight for good.”

“Money can corrupt many, even those of otherwise pure intentions. Again, there’s no way to know,” I added. “He made his choice, though, and he paid the price.”

“That he did. The law about attacking other adventurers is quite clear,” Eric replied, nodding. “Did you find out who bribed him?”

Velariah shook her head and answered for me.

“We may have, but we don’t know for certain. Besides, it's an ongoing investigation so I cannot give any information about it.”

“That's reasonable,” Eric concluded the topic. “Now, I believe it’s your turn for a story, isn’t it?”

“Why don’t you tell her about the time we went to see Ember?” Velariah asked, poking Seralyn’s shoulders.

“About how we saw a dragon, and after we were done talking to her, we had to run for our lives as the volcano erupted beneath our feet? Great time. Makes for good stories to tell.” The ranger replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“It does, right? You also summarized that way quicker than I would have. I’d have talked about those giant scorpions and how she blessed our metal, which we used for our weapons. You know, that kind of stuff.”

“Dragon-blessed iron?” Eric inquired. “You acquired it yourself?”

“Yep,” Velariah said proudly. “A crate full of it. Managed to create quite a bit of stuff made from it.”

“I feel like I am obliged to add that we were never in any serious danger from the volcano erupting, as epic and dangerous Seralyn made it sound,” I said. “Ember warned us well in advance. The only real danger we ran into was on the way back, when we had a pack of lynxes attack us. If I recall correctly, you were the one receiving a nasty wound, Seralyn. Made me rush from the mountains to Dawnleaf to get you to a proper healer. Damn, I can still feel the soreness of my muscles after that when I think about it.”

“You wanna go that way?” She replied, smirking as she saw an opportunity. I realized I may have made a mistake and was afraid of what she’d cooked up in that brain of hers. “Fine. Then tell him about the time you got your leg chopped off.”

“What?” The human let out, looking at me with shock in his eyes.

“We had to deal with a troll warlord not too long ago. Gave us one hell of a fight,” I explained. “Draco got in a precarious situation and I managed to save him, but the troll leader smashed one of my legs to bits with a giant mace. Not the best feeling, let me tell you.”

“But how?” He let out, staring at my arachnid legs. More specifically, at the fact that there wasn’t a single one missing.

“It grew back when I molted. Pretty handy, I’ll admit.”

“Wait, what?” He seemed even more confused than before, which sent Seralyn into a fit of giggles.

Now she’d done it. She got what she wanted.

“It’s a spider thing. They can grow back legs when they molt. Pretty sure you can ask Master Endomir and he’ll tell you more things about spiders than I know.”

“That’s… wow. Lucky you I guess.”

“Quite,” I said with a grin. “But yeah, the pain I went through is something I’d rather avoid. I was lucky to have my friends and Nira there as I blacked out, and apparently, I was bleeding heavily.” I looked at the sky before I uttered the last few words. “Oh well. Happy it all worked out in the end.”

“I think it’s safe to say I’ve never been in any such danger or pain,” Eric said.

“Good,” Velariah replied almost immediately. “Try to keep it that way.”

“I will.”

“So, how long is this going to take?” Seralyn commented, staring at the soldier to the left who’d gotten comfortable sitting down on the ground to eat something.

“With an operation of this scale?” Velariah started an answer. “Wouldn’t surprise me if it took hours.”

“Boring,” The ranger said in frustration, kicking the dirt before sitting down with a sigh, her arms crossed.

“Things need to be done right,” Draco tried talking sense into her. “Better not to rush this.”

Seralyn didn’t reply, but she did acknowledge his words with a nod, showing she at least understood.

“If that’s the case,” Eric continued the conversation. “Elania, how did you get the idea for weapons like those?” He pointed at my unconventional armament. “I’ve been wondering about that for a good while.”

“You don’t think they look awesome?” I asked with a smirk. “It’s hard to say where I got the idea from. I wanted to have something that I could use to both defend and attack with.”

“And the other weapon?” He asked curiously, pointing at my polearm.

“That, I can use without getting close. I ran it through trolls with extreme ease.”

“Remind me not to pick a fight with you,” He said with a chuckle.

“You already did,” I said, grinning, causing him to laugh out loud in response.

“What will you do after we finish our quest?” Nira asked. “Will you stick around in Dawnleaf?”

“Not sure,” Eric replied, his smile disappearing as he looked down at the ground in thought. “I feel like I should at least return home for a bit. You know, talk to my parents and stuff, tell them what happened. But before that, I think it would be good to do as you suggested and see if there are any people around here looking for party members. I’m not exactly sure what the best order of things is going to be but I’ll figure something out.”

“Hope you can get a new party soon,” I said. “I can’t imagine doing this profession alone anymore.”

“Thank you, and so do I, but I’m willing to wait if it means finding the right people.”

Draco and I both nodded as silence followed. Everyone sat down and seemed to simply wait until the signal was given to move forward. During the wait, the messengers passed a few times, back and forth, both human and elf, and every time it happened, I hoped it would mean we could move, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

As Velariah had hypothesized, it took a good while, potentially close to two hours, before horns sounded. The soldiers were quick to stand up and raised a hand. At last, the sign was there.

“Finally,” Seralyn said in utmost frustration and with one of the deepest sighs yet. “It’s about time.”

“Keep your wits about you,” Draco said. “This is where resistance is far more likely to occur.”

“You’re right,” She replied as she reached for her bow and an arrow. “And we shouldn't run into any more allies.”

“You should still be careful who or what you shoot,” The lizardman suggested calmly.

“I know, I know.”

She calmed down after that as we continued the trek through the woods. It was getting late into the afternoon, but the red glow evening hadn’t quite set in. We entered a more densely vegetated area covered by vines and brush. Shortly after, Seralyn nocked an arrow and let it fly, causing us to ready our weapons and assume a combat stance.

“Goblin,” She called, loud enough for the soldiers on either side to hear.

She readied another arrow as we continued our advance. When we were a few meters out of where the arrow had struck, a group of five goblins appeared from the bushes and rushed at us.

We held our ground and didn’t counter-charge. We had no vision of where they had come from, and for all we knew, there were more lying in wait. We followed Valtheril’s words to the letter, and it wouldn’t be an issue here. Five goblins wouldn’t stand a chance against well-equipped adventurers, and their number was swiftly reduced by one within a second after Seralyn let loose another arrow.

I sliced my long-range weapon through two of them and the remainder of their small group was killed off by Draco, who cleaved one of their spears before chopping off his head, and Velariah, who stabbed the last one, her sword reaching further than the daggers he was holding.

After that, we moved forward, keeping a close eye on possible hiding spots as we caught up with the main battle line. No more green-skinned creatures were found, and we made sure to meticulously search through the dense undergrowth.

When we ultimately reached a clearing filled with grass where nothing could possibly hide, Velariah was the first to speak about the recent incident.

“What do you think? Desperation?”

“That was exactly what I was about to suggest,” Draco said with a nod.

“It sure looked like it,” Seralyn added.

“It’s sad, in a way,” I said softly. “It feels so pointless for them to throw their lives away like this.”

“Desperation makes you do strange things,” Velariah said. “Don’t think about it too much.”

“I won’t. I’ve already prepared myself for this.”

Our heightened state of alertness didn’t seem to be necessary for the rest of the day, as soon evening fell, and our small army came to a halt for the night. We quickly built a campfire with some wood that was being carried around by the couriers, before having a quick dinner. Nira and Draco were granted the full night’s rest for the day, and Velariah and I would take the second watch.

We wished Eric and Seralyn good luck and said our good nights before going to sleep.

Seralyn woke me up by shaking my arm and went on to wake up the other elf as I regained my bearings after the short amount of sleep I’d gotten.

“Anything happen?” I managed to ask.

“Nothing. It’s been quiet so far. Good luck to you two, I’m gonna go to sleep.”

“Good night,” I told her as I forced myself awake to keep watch for the rest of the night.

Velariah stood up briefly to add some more wood to the fire before she took her position between my pedipalps again. I had to admit, I was mildly jealous that she had a somewhat comfortable position to sleep in.

A few minutes later, both Eric and the ranger were fast asleep, leaving us to watch over the surroundings, and their safety. I was slightly more nervous than the previous nights as we’d seen actual combat in the past day, however short and insignificant it may have been. Still, it did prove that there were still goblins around, and if they suddenly ambushed us with the assistance of trolls, we were in for quite some trouble.

Fortunately, the area before us was fairly open and illuminated by the two full moons in the night sky, blessing us with the ability to see reasonably far.

I chuckled at it. I just knew that Valtheril had chosen these days for that exact reason.

“What’s so funny?” Velariah asked in all seriousness.

“Was just thinking how the moonlight is perfect for vision, and how I’m quite sure your dad decided to move out because of it.”

“Huh, you’re right. Hadn’t even thought about that. Makes perfect sense.”

“He’s pretty smart. Always a step ahead.”

“There’s a reason he got the rank he has,” Velariah said with a chuckle of her own.

“Yeah. No doubt. It’s amazing how easy it is now to talk to him, considering his status and all.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I first met him, I never imagined I could talk to him the way we did the other day. Damn,” I said, smiling as I shook my head. Velariah couldn’t see it, but I couldn’t help myself. “That was quite the first experience.”

“That most certainly was rough,” Velariah said. “Happy everything worked out as well as it has.”

“Yeah,” I concluded.

My weapon rested at my side, so I used my free arms to hug her frame while waiting for morning to arrive. That time came a few hours later when the sun rose and bathed the world in light. Not much later, the horns sounded, indicating the start of day three of the operation.