“Adventurer is a rather recent profession. It's getting popular with each day passing. I mean, it has a lot of things going for it. For example, adventuring is a good way to meet people. You can forge steady bonds with the comrades that accompany you during explorations. Nothing like an ancient ruin to create an everlasting friendship ! I speak from experience. It's something akin to the army, I guess ? Hardships and stuff like that only make you stronger as a team. Well, that's the main point of adventuring. That, and the treasures. And the demon-slaying. And the glory.

-anonymous adventurer”

* * *

Ralf

Ralf and his companions were riding north. Yes, like many young people in these time of turmoil, they were riding north. Not to enlist in the army, no. They were all for this northern campaign, of course, but Ralf had barely ever swung a sword at someone. He wasn't ready for war. His comrades weren't either. Probably. That was what he told himself to lessen his feelings of cowardice. So they weren't going to take part in the war, they just wanted to do some adventuring. It was fashionable, these days.

Theresa was riding at his side. She was the only girl of the group, but, damn, she was pretty. These brown eyes and this warm smile. No, Ralf had no crush or anything of the sort. It wasn't like that. She was to marry Clint anyway. It was more like he looked up to her. She was brave and skilled with a sword, unlike Ralf.

He looked up to see Clint riding in front of everyone. He was the group's leader. Clint said he had already explored ruins and dungeons and whatnot, so it was obvious to let the most experienced person take the lead. Other than that, he was a hot-headed man, but good-natured. The type that Ralf couldn't stand – energetic and straightforward. Somewhat dumb. Surely, Clint's cheerful demeanour casted a shadow on the already shadowy Ralf and his gloomy attitude...

Maybe that's why Theresa's with him and not with me ?

He tried smiling a bit more but his eyes met those of Harold who, even though he was also riding in front, just happened to turn his head at the right moment. The look of mockery and the snicker he gave made Ralf reconsider his ability to smile. This guy, Harold... You could say he was fun to be with, as long as you weren't with him, somehow ? Whatever that meant.

Ralf would have preferred to go exploring without Clint and Harold – just with Theresa, yes – but he had to face reality. Clint seemed like a true adventurer, and Harold was the only one among them who knew some magic. Just a few utilitarian spells, but it wasn't as if they were going to fight anything. As it happened, when journeying and exploring, light spells and things of the sort would prove much more useful than a botched fireball. So, well, these two were kind of necessary.

And Ralf had to admit he wasn't very reliable on his own. He thought he was good with people, and reading people, but the others regarded that kind of talent as next to useless. He had been boasting that he could expertly bargain with merchants, elegantly get information from fellow travellers, maybe even negotiate with bandits... But they didn't meet anyone as of now, and so far he was proving to be a futile addition to the group.

There was an old abandoned temple not far from the border, three months away from the Capital. They intended to explore it before some other group did. It was the trend these days. All the cool kids were doing it. The north was bursting with activity, it was only a matter of time before all these strange buildings got scouted and mapped. Nobody seemed to find it weird that they hadn't been explored yet, but oh well. Everyone hoped to find some scary demons inside, though Ralf was smart enough not to expect anything. These demons stories were just popular because of the coming war. At best they'd find maybe refugees or wild beasts using the ruins as a shelter. That was the only reason they took swords with them, that and the fact that Clint insisted. He said the group would look better with swords... Whatever.

Ralf was coming for the adventuring itself. The exploring, the mapping, climbing and so on. Maybe find a few jewels or ancient coins ? Not that he'd be pillaging the ruins, that was a bandit thing ! But treasure hunting was very appealing.

For now, they made camp as the sun was setting. They would probably reach the ruins the next day.

* * *

As expected, the ruins came in their sight by the afternoon. It didn't look all that impressive at first. A couple of broken pillars, some half-destroyed walls, a sort of crumbling pyramid of stones and bricks. But Ralf knew the main attraction to be underground. He had no idea what to expect from now on, and that excited him much more than he imagined it would.

The first thing he didn't expect – and that proved true for the others too – waited in front of the temple, in the shape of two figures on horseback. Are we too late ? was Ralf's first thought. Only a moment after, did he wonder if these two people were dangerous.

Ralf's group approached carefully, entering a staring contest with the pair. Well, they were barely staring back. One of the two was actually looking toward the ruins. That figure was smaller and thiner than the other, wearing a hood with blonde hair flowing from under it.

The second person was maybe gazing in the group's direction, though the close helmet made the whole staring contest pointless. Under a dusty, worn cloak, Ralf could guess a tall body clad in a plate armour. An Imperial knight, judging by the design of the plate and the helm. Glimpses of hilts and handles here and now. Swords or daggers, Ralf proudly figured. Why so many, though ? He also saw a bow and a round shield attached to the saddle. Maybe a noble daughter and her brave knight then ? They looked like they came straight from a romance novel.

Truly, Ralf and his companions must have looked like peasants in front of these mysterious travellers. Even though they weren't peasants. Sure, they didn't come from the capital – it'd be stupid to ride for three months just to explore a mere ruin anyway – but their city was large and their own families were somewhat well-off. Peasants couldn't afford to go exploring things when they had to support the war effort.

Not that Ralf voiced this explanation. He hoped these two people could think on their own, and therefore wouldn't spit on his group because they looked like peasants. Nobles were known to act arrogantly, after all...

He felt like he got smacked on the face when the hooded figure looked toward them. The noble daughter was a man. Then, he felt like he got trampled by a horse when the knight took his helmet off. The manly knight was a woman.

What... the hell... Ralf glanced at the others, and saw that they were more or less in the same confused state as him. As they got closer, he observed the freshly revealed faces with a renewed attention.

So, a woman and a man, around their twenties perhaps, like Ralf's group. He couldn't help comparing the woman to Theresa, because they had in fact very little in common with each other aside from their confident demeanour. The woman didn't look friendly one bit. She had red hair messily tied up behind her, in a way that did nothing to keep bangs and locks of hair from falling on her scarred face. These scars gave her a menacing aura. But what made Ralf even more alert was the pair of enthralling, cunning eyes that screamed danger, as they seem to find and absorb every detail and weakness from Ralf's group.

The man was also conspicuous. Pretty light hair and an arrogant smile on his almost girly face. Piercing cold eyes that somehow seemed to be mocking the world. Ralf realized the man was a bit younger than everyone else, or perhaps it was just his appearance. Some strange feathered attire under his cloak, and a colourful tunic showing beneath it, from a foreign country probably. A single sword dangling from his hip. Not much in terms of weaponry aside from that, the female knight was probably the one they had to be wary of.

If Ralf's hunch was on spot, then they were lucky. It could indeed just be some noble son – not daughter – wanting to go adventuring, with a bodyguard accompanying him. The obvious disparity between the Imperial knight armour of the woman, and the man's exotic foreign clothing, Ralf had no time to think about, since Clint promptly acted on his own and greeted the pair.

“Hello, fellow travellers ! Could it be that you too came here to enjoy the ruins as explorers ?”

The woman sighed, and the grin on the man widened into something eerie.

“My, my, it is indeed what we came here for.”

“I'm Clint,” he said as he dismounted. “This is Theresa, Ralf, and Harold.”

“The overly charming lady by my side is Erin. And I have the immense pleasure to be Azcheron.”

What's wrong with his speech ? He sounds so arrogant ! Ah, maybe he's a foreigner indeed...

The man called Azcheron stayed still on his horse, observing Clint with smiling eyes. He eventually carried on. “Would you like to go on an adventure with us ? Is that the proper way to ask ?”

“Err, I... guess ?” Clint was fazed but quickly got back to his high-spirited leader behaviour. “Sure thing then, the more the merrier ! I see you too are experienced, good !” he added, glancing at the female knight. “You never know what sorts of demons lurk in these ruins, haha !”

Azcheron's reply consisted only of his annoying, creepy grin. The girl, Erin, finally dismounted and as she started to rummage through her belongings, she spoke for the first time. “Are you ready to go in now ? We were about to enter anyway when you arrived.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Let's just make a quick camp and tie the horses somewhere.”

On these words, everyone prepared themselves, making a rudimentary encampment and taking the necessary supplies. Ralf packed his exploration tools, Theresa and Clint sharpened their blades a bit. Harold just stood there and ate an apple like the oaf he was.

Azcheron was speaking with Erin, away from the group. She seemed to be scolding him for whatever reason, and Ralf saw Azcheron groaning and putting something back in his luggage. A stone that looked like a fruit, or an ear ? He wasn't sure, but it probably didn't matter.

Moments later, they entered the ruins.

* * *

They climbed down stairs for some time. Ralf felt like it would never end. It was boring and disappointing for now. Only stairs, nothing to explore. It was dark and the steps were slippery, so they couldn't afford to rush even if they had enough light.

“Ah, ruins are such interesting places,” Azcheron suddenly spoke. “The moss, the humidity, the old stones. Don't you agree ?”

Is he trying to start a conversation or something...?

“Sure, sure. I guess archeologists and the likes would say that too,” Ralf replied, seeing that no one knew what to say.

The smiling eyes again. “Very right indeed.”

Huh... Why is he acting so creepy...

Ralf didn't really know what to make of the noble guy. On one hand he made Ralf uneasy, on the other hand he seemed strangely confident and it felt safe to have that woman Erin around. She seemed strong. And she looked cool. No, no, Theresa was cooler, right ?

Eventually, the staircase ended. Now they stood at a crossroads. The three possible directions all looked the same. Dark and slippery, like the stairs.

“I say we go forward !” Clint bellowed.

“We could also separate in three pairs, since we are six,” Harold suggested.

Ralf was quick to agree. “Indeed, indeed. To make balanced groups, we could have Clint and Harold pairing, then Azcheron and Erin together, and finally Theresa and me, I guess.” He tried to act as innocent as he could.

Clint stared at him. “Well... No ? It's bad luck to separate from the others in such places. And even then, Theresa and I would go together, don't you think ?”

Both Harold and Theresa seemed to agree, Azcheron looked like he was mocking Ralf, and Erin, well, he couldn't guess what she thought with this emotionless face. The atmosphere was awkward though, that he clearly understood.

Ralf glared at Harold for suggesting such a thing, but he only got a shrug in response.

Azcheron resumed the conversation. “I'm fine with going forward.”

“Forward it is, then !” Clint concluded.

And so they walked forward. For quite a bit of time, again. It was one big corridor, with nothing to explore. Again. To cure his boredom, Ralf decided to try speaking with Erin.

How do I address her anyway ? Sir ? Lord ? Lady ? She has this armour but I don't even know if she's a real knight.

He went for the most neutral route in the end. “Err, excuse me ?”

She just turned her head, waiting for him to continue.

“Lad-... Lord Azcheron, does he happen to be a foreigner ? His speech sounds somewhat curious...”

A surprised and amused expression. She seemed to find something funny about his question, but he couldn't know what. Perhaps she caught on his almost-blunder ? Great, once again he had embarrassed himself.

Surprisingly, Erin bothered to answer. “It's just the way he talks. Sounds arrogant, right ?”

Ralf had no idea whether it was wiser to agree or not. Succumbing to his indecisiveness, he was unable to answer. Though Erin looked like she didn't pay him any heed anymore. Damn, did he just let this chance pass ? No, what chance was he talking about, by the way ? He was sworn – secretly – to Theresa.

They kept walking in silence.

* * *

The group reached a large circular hall at some point. Still dark, but at least it didn't feel too narrow and oppressive anymore. Although they must have been deep under the surface by now. It was getting somewhat hard to breath, the already stagnant, humid air had began to rarify.

At the light of the torches and Harold's magic, they saw rows of columns with bas-reliefs on it. At the centre of the hall, a sort of altar with a stele in front of it.

Everyone went to do their own thing, trying to find treasure or demons or whatever else there could be. Ralf went to the altar and tried to read the stele, in vain. It was too worn-out and the few areas that were still intact showed unfathomable carvings. An ancient or foreign language, but it was strange. The northern demons used the Common tongue, so what was this ?

Well, it's not like staring at this stele will get me anywhere. If only I knew some other languages...

He glanced around. Theresa and Clint were wandering in the hall. Harold was looking at the carvings on the columns, and so was Azcheron. Erin seemed to be keeping watch. Ralf sat on the steps of the altar, resting a bit. They must have been walking for a couple of hours at least, he realized only now.

Clint approached him, with Theresa following. “What's this thing then ?” he asked, pointing to the altar.

Ralf waved his hand. “No idea.” He barely glanced at the altar, disregarding the stones laying on it.

The group leader seemed disappointed, though he suddenly flashed a smile. “And this funny-shaped stone here ? Looks like a gemstone to me !”

Ralf and Theresa hurriedly looked at the altar. True, there was a weird, slightly translucent stone placed in the middle of some circles and engravings. How could I miss that !

“This is the difference between novices and experienced explorers, see ? You have to know what to look for,” Clint bragged, while Theresa nodded in admiration.

Shut the hell up, I just missed it because I didn't even look at the altar. Experienced adventurer my ass.

“Well, I found it so I keep it, right ?” And he stepped on the altar. As he was about to grab the gem, Azcheron intervened.

“I would appreciate if you refrained from touching this thing.”

Ralf looked back. Azcheron was frowning as he stared fixedly at a column. Something was obviously wrong, yet Clint didn't understand that.

“I bet you'd love to take the gem for you, haha ! But sorry, us adventurers have a rule, first come, first served. Surely you get it, you're an adventurer too, eh ?”

Azcheron sighed and pointed to the column. “If you had eyes instead of shit-holes, you could have taken a glance at these carvings.”

Ralf's group was shocked. Where was the smiling noble from before ?

Azcheron walked up to Clint. “They beautifully depict some sort of large abomination killing a vast number of soldiers before being sealed in a stone that looks exactly like this one. Do you get what I'm saying, or are your ears shit-holes too ?”

Theresa's sudden rudeness surprised Ralf even more than Azcheron's. “You... Crap-eating brat, I'll shut your damn mouth !”

“Wait, wait,” Ralf quickly stepped in as Theresa angrily approached Azcheron. “What's this seal thing you're talking about ?”

Clint scoffed. “Just a trick he made up to take the gem for himself.” He was trying to appear calm and cool-headed, although it was obvious he wasn't.

“I'm not joking, you immense oaf. There's really something bad inside that stone. I can feel the nefarious magic it's emitting.”

“And since when are you a mage, huh ?” Theresa said in an overly inquisitive tone.

Harold came to his rescue. “He's right, I can feel magic too.” But immediately worsened the situation. “Though maybe it's just an artefact, or maybe he's using his own mana to fake the nature of the gem.”

“What about the carvings he speaks of ?”

“I saw them too. But they also show many other things.” Harold sighed. “Could be they're just depictions of old legends decorating the hall, and he's using that to scare us.”

Ralf didn't fail to notice Clint and Theresa gripping their swords' handle. Erin was also ready to reach for her weapons, glaring at Ralf's group. Great, great. Thank you for your contribution, Harold. This situation doesn't look tense at all.

Azcheron closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “Okay, I'll explain it differently. You guys should be able to get it that way.” He turned to Clint. “Tell me, what would be the worst thing you could imagine happening to you ?”

Clint snorted but answered nonetheless in a defiant tone. “Having my limbs chopped off or something. And seeing Theresa dying in front of me.” He probably felt it was a cool line.

Azcheron's merry grin came back. “Good. Then understand that if you touch this stone, I will do that to you.”

There was a short silence during which everyone had the time to take in what he said. Azcheron kept on.

“I will tear all your limbs apart, and I will keep you alive, forcing you to watch as I proceed to also dismember your lovely Theresa. Then I will kill the both of you.” He then turned toward Harold and Ralf. “Is this fine with you too ? Who wants to play Theresa's role ? Or do you have a different preference regarding your own demise ?”

Ralf wanted to laugh. He really hoped deep down that Azcheron was joking. But he knew he wasn't, and Erin likely knew he wasn't, and everyone else too seemed to know he wasn't. Fair enough then, he isn't joking. We... just have to refrain from touching this stone. Please don't act like an idiot, Clint ?

“And what can you do when we have twice your number ?” Clint arrogantly babbled, perhaps not realizing that this wasn't a face off between armies where numbers mattered. Ralf was pretty certain that Erin could kill everyone here in a matter of seconds. She surely looked like she was about to do it, anyway.

He had to calm everyone down. Ralf had no choice. He would save everyone if he managed to find a solution. He would save Theresa, at least. Think, think. How can I convince Clint to step down !? Theresa is too biased, she won't help me, and Harold probably doubts Azcheron too...

Alas, before Ralf could find a proper solution, Clint doomed everyone. “I'll take my gem and you'll stop pissing me off, or I'll beat you up.”

Ralf witnessed things slowing down around him, as Clint reached for the stone. But suddenly Clint had no arm, only a fountain of blood remained in place of the limb.

Everything became messy and blurry then. Ralf could hear screams and groans and see Clint rolling on the ground, Theresa raising her sword, Harold running away. There were sounds, noises that Ralf had never heard in his entire life. Sounds of ripped flesh, cracked bones and splashed blood, he eventually realized.

Ralf just stood here, having somewhat lost his sense of time. Clint was now laying still, in multiple pieces. Ralf turned his head slightly, and saw the sticky blood dripping from Erin's sword. Something rolled on the ground and reached his feet. Looking down, he was met with Theresa's frozen expression of horror. Before he knew it, he was gripping tightly the handle of his sword and breathing loudly. Why was he doing that, he wondered, confused, as he noticed Harold's figure collapsing in the distance.

Ralf found himself running toward Erin. There was an annoying noise. What was that ? A scream. Who was screaming ? Couldn't they shut up ? He felt something cold in his throat, and the scream stopped. Oh, he was the one screaming, he realized, as Erin removed her blade from his neck. Now everything was moving, turning upside down. The floor became the wall, and the wall became covered in warm blood.

As the red life escaped from his throat, everything got silent and blurry. Then, darkness engulfed him.