Alfheim’s sun was rising on a particular group of travelers. Its members could hardly have more seemed like they didn’t belong together, from their varied races to their clothing style. However, that wasn’t at all strange for a band of mercenaries, whose people often came from all the works of life.

Though they all looked tired and lacking in sleep, made obvious with the frequency at which one of them would yawn, three of them in particular were in worrying condition.

One of them was Mein, who had crashed from her earlier excitement and was sitting next to Domor at the front of their carriage. The only reason she wasn’t already sleeping was that Arbam, one of the mercenaries escorting them to the border city of Mildbloom, was fairly motivated to talk to her. Despite her bruises, the dry blood on her clothes and her one syllable answers.

“... And I’m just glad you’re ok, really,” he was saying, “I mean, the Kirish tribe warriors and Gallamun? I wouldn’t even want to meet them in my nightmares, and that says a lot. Because I’m kind of a big deal, as you must know, always ready to jump into the battle and save damsels in distress. How did you say you did it again? All thanks to that aurosei kid, uh?”

“Yeah,” said the cat girl, her eyes empty of any energy.

“Not sure how such a little guy could have done anything, but I guess it means I would have been able to fight them, right?” the man continued, putting a hand through his hair, “then again, I would have made defending you my priority, of course. Wouldn’t be good if I died, I’m pretty sure our guild wouldn’t be able to function without me, and...”

“Goddammit, Arbam please shut up!” Domor snapped.

He was the second one in the worst state. Though his wounded arm had been bandaged, the piece of cloth used in the process had now taken a crimson color. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were ripped in many places.

Chuckles answered his outburst and not far from them, a middle aged dogkin with gray fur gave a tingling purse to a very similar female one besides him.

“What,” she said to Domor who shot her an annoyed glance, “I bet you wouldn’t stand it more than twenty minutes and won. I never pass on easy money, Dom.”

“Yeah,” said Arbam, eyes squinted, “I should have known that ‘Dom’ here wouldn’t let me discuss with his dear ‘friend’ Mein, right Domor?”

“Listen man, it’s nothing that personal” Domor sighed, “can’t you see we’re exhausted? Just look at her.”

Oblivious to what was happening around her, Mein had fallen asleep, head bobbing to the carriages movements.

“He has point, knock it off Arbam!” someone said.

With a loud “hmmph!” and his nose held high, Arbam guided his horse to the back of the group, letting the carriage go past him.

At the front of the group was Enok. He didn’t pay much attention to the road, Naope having proved to be a very intelligent horse. He was focused on guiding the aura he had left toward managing his injuries, and while they weren’t life-threatening and now bandaged, their number made the task complex enough for him to not notice the approaching man.

“So, how is our hero doing?”

Taken by surprise, Enok looked to the side to identify the newcomer.

He was a demi-human with bearkin blood, though he had only kept the big physique, nose and curved ears of the beastkin side of his family. He had short black hair, was probably in his thirties and wore a strangely fitting light armor.

Except for his left arm and right leg that were blue, his armor was a shining silver, and had strange metal rods sheathed to his belt. The words floated over his head, and while Enok felt like he had it at the tip of his tongue, he was clueless of their meaning.

His blue arm was extended, offering Enok a pouch of water.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the water, “I’m fine. I’ll be doing better once I get to rest though.”

“We’re almost there,” the armored man said while Enok drank. He had a warm voice, the kind that easily gained people’s trust, “you will get to see the city as soon as we get on top of this hill, actually,” he added, waving hist fingers to a point in the distance.

Something in their motion felt unnatural.

“My name is Oliver, everyone calls me ‘the captain’ though. I am this bunch of loud city rats’ leader.”

“And I am Enok,” he said, giving the pouch back,“are the scouts that went to check on the kirishans back yet?”

“Not yet, don’t worry about them though, those two are among the best I know.”

“I see...” then it clicked in his mind. “Your arm and leg, they are not natural limbs, are they? They are mechanical?”

The man’s brows went up in surprise, he then laughed, “well, Dom told me you were peculiar, but I would have never guessed it was at this point! Not many people are shocked by prosthetic limbs anymore.” he then knocked twice on his metal leg, adding on a conspiring tone, “I got these babies when I was still an upstanding soldier of the Neopanth, fighting for peace, freedom and whatever other pretext the politicians of that time had chosen. It’s far from being the best technomancy out there, but at least it doesn’t need that much care.”

Enok looked at his first example of technomancy with mixed feelings. People with artificial parts were called , meaning that in a way they were seen as better.

On one hand the limbs allowed the soldier to live a normal life and earn a living, but on the other, Enok couldn’t help but feel like if the mortals had done this, then they had done more, and somewhere out there was something going much more blatantly against the natural order.

When the thought that he probably was that thing dawned on him, the captain spoke:

“Actually, it’s a good thing that you’re bringing the subject. I couldn’t help but notice the marks on your arms, and they reminded me of ones I have seen a very long time ago...”

Enok looked at him, thinking that long sleeves would now probably be a necessity.

“... A master of aura defeating a group of kirishans isn’t that unbelievable in itself. But for one your age to defeat them, while protecting his friends and have the luxury to spare their lives?” he shook his head, ”those who would believe it actually happened, would all come to the conclusion that you’re a drifter.”

He paused and stared at Enok, who simply stared back, his expression neutral.

“Now the question they would all like to have an answer for is, who are you and what is your goal?”

“Does it really matter?” Enok asked.

“It does,” the man said, “don’t get me wrong, the fact that Mein and Dom are your friends is enough for me to know that you can’t be a bad lad. But drifters are like forces of nature, wherever they go, things tend to get dangerous for those who are in their way... Especially in the way of young ones with those tattoos.”

“I’m a traveler. And I’ll be in and out of your city in a day, at most. For the rest... I guess people will just have to not get in my way, which I assure you is pretty easy,” he said with the same neutral tone.”

The man scratched his head and nodded, “Well, that sounds fine by me. In any cases, I’ll tell my boys to keep it shut about the whole thing with the kirishans, and come with a story for those who could be curious about your wounds or the red light that appeared yesterday night. I’d rather not have someone dumb enough to have views on you try his chance.”

“That’s well appreciated.”

“Don’t mention it! Mildbloom may be famous for the shady individuals living in its shadows, but it has some honest people that I’d rather not see stuck between crossfire.”

Enok answered with silence, frowning. The Mildbloom of his memories was famous for a lot of things, but not for harboring ‘shady individuals’.

Alfheim used to be a world mainly filled with elves, and the Flower Kingdom, with its large forests and flora that couldn’t be found anywhere else, was the world’s heart.

The elves preferred to live among the tall trees, closer in that sense to most mystic races, but unlike the forests that they sometime had to leave because of dangerous creatures or wars, Mildbloom had been a constant exception for ages. That was because instead of living between the trees, there, they could inside the tree.

The tree in question had grown out of a blessed seed, planted there by a dwarf scholar trying to prove that the gigantic plants of Babel didn’t owe their sizes to a superior soil, and that they would grow the same no matter which world they were planted in.

He was proven right, but unfortunately not during his lifetime. A hundred years later, the plant’s roots had grown big enough to pierce the lowest parts of the earth’s mantel, intaking any nutrient available and even absorbing magma.

Needless to say, people were very surprised when a tree spanning around fifty kilometers in width suddenly pushed out of the landscape, causing earthquakes and the firsts volcanic activity seen on the Path.

People never got to know how tall it would have gotten though, since it was sliced by Kaja herself. Left alone, it would have sucked Alfheim dry of life, as it was unable to support such organism.

The elves hollowed out the base of the tree and a new city named Mildbloom was born, with blessed bark for walls; and in Babel, ashamed scholars installed the statue of a dwarf who had been ridiculed until his death for an attempt to prove that all worlds were equals.

The city had grown prosperous, famous for being a place where everybody could freely interact with the arrogant elves and seek their services without worrying about arrows coming from a nearby tree.

“Boooss! Needing you here!” someone called from the back, breaking Enok’s daydream.

“Ah, that’s my cue to leave, the scouts must be back,” said the captain with a smile, “when was your last time in Mildbloom, lord Enok? The sight from here is pretty great.”

“It was an eternity ago. And just call me Enok.”

“Ah, yes, that would be better if we want people to not think too much about who you are,” the soldier said, guiding his horse to the rear.

Now on his own, Enok noticed they had almost reached the top of the hill from which the city should be visible. For some reason, he wasn’t sure he wanted to see it just yet.

Clinging to the past? Kaja’s voice chuckled in his head.

Not really. Just that we got enough proof that the people were able to surprise even us. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen again and I’m not looking forward to it.

This is just the beginning of our journey. From here to the end of the worlds, the surprises are just starting. Man, you’re so moody these days.

Says the one who angrily cut down a giant tree out of spite only because she had lost a bet, when she was supposed to just stop its growth.

That was ages ago! Ugh, fine, I’ll let you sulk all you want.

A moment after that mental grunt, an orb of blue light flew out of Enok’s pocket in direction of Mein and Domor’s carriage.

Just when he let out a sigh of exhaustion, the city finally revealed itself to him, inside a valley nested between hills. Fortunately, Enok had been steeling himself and only wondered if it was really the same place he had once known.

Only a small section of the north wall was still made of wood. The blessed bark was mostly gone and had been replaced by high walls of dark metal, only shorter than chimneys springing up two very eye-catching cylindrical buildings and several unmoving cranes that seemed to be made of the same material. It seemed that at some point the city had lacked space for the number of inhabitants, as there was multiple buildings outside the walls, forming a trail of houses that got thinner the further it went from the steel. The streets in and outside the walls were bustling with enough activity for it to be visible even with the distance, meaning that, at least, Mildbloom had kept its activity.

Besides the dark steel that the biggest and oldest buildings seemed to be made out of, what would caught one’s attention was the old railroad that went through the city, and four stone needles placed around it, far enough from the walls that it wouldn’t bother the stream of people and carriages.

It was as much a different city as it could have been.

As he was taking the scenery in, a blue window suddenly popped up.

Quest

Find the wretched soul suffering a fate worse than death in Mildbloom and grant it your help in exchange for knowledge.

Reward : Exp, ?.

Well, at least there was something he could look forward to.

For now, all that should matter was that that he managed to go through the gate in Aurora, and if it required strength, then all the Exp he could get was welcome.

Noting some floating islands in the horizon as he followed the path going down the hill, Enok couldn’t help but wonder what had been done to them and if there was some abomination of steel on each one.

***

Mildbloom was a dirty city. Streets filled trash, scraps of metal and many people who didn’t care about much.

Their group attracted some attention when they entered the city, but it was due to the fact that Oliver “the captain” was apparently some kind of celebrity, especially with the ladies. They left the mercenaries after reaching an inn Mein was familiar with.

In the end, the scouts that had been sent to where the battle with the Kirish tribe had taken place didn’t find anyone there, though they confirmed that a violent fight had clearly recently happened there. They seemed to have only been worried about finding corpses left unattended, and didn’t press the matter any further.

“I travel a lot,” Mein said while they were getting Naope and the bull, along with the carriage, settled in the stables, “a bit for the clan and bit for myself. I always come here when I have to do business in Mildbloom. The people that will take care of the sale will meet us here.”

“Trustworthy people?” Enok asked, stroking Naope’s mane, “from what I’ve seen this place isn’t the safest one.”

“Which is why it’s the best place for those who do not want things traced back to them,” she winked at him, her ears perking up, “no worries, I’ve known them for a while. They are friends.”

“More like Mein has set up a real information network to satisfy her endless curiosity,” said Domor, bringing water and food to the animals, ”you would never guess the people she knows at the Velvet Kingdom North-East from here. We never had a journey like this one though, and I hope it’s not gonna happen anytime soon again.”

“Do yo really mean that, though?” she asked lowering her tone.

He made a sound between a snort and a laugh, “Oh, I do.”

There was a silence that they used to discharge the carriage of some of the smaller commodities that Foxglade clan members had sent to sell, when Mein suddenly said:

“I personally think it was the best thing to happen in my life.”

Domor sprung up, looking at her, “Mein...”

“Have you ever thought something like this could happen? Fighting the kirishans and winning? Discovering we had the power to stand up to them? Us, two members of the weakest, most mocked clan of the Broken tribe region?”

“It wasn’t just us, Mein. There was Kaja and Enok, a drifter, and without them we would have died. You know it.”

“But still!” she almost screamed.

Domor put a hand on her shoulder. She paused, breathed.

“Still,” she said, “we did something, for once. For once we didn’t stare down and move along. For once I felt alive. And maybe we can do more than fighting for our survival.”

“What do you mean?” the warrior asked, doubt already present on his face.

“The Iron Queen,” she started, “we-”

“No,” he interrupted her.

“You said it yourself! We’re all prisoners trapped in here with her! Things are bound to go worse at some point, but even though the Neopanth isn’t doing anything right now, if we take her down they everything will be good again!”

“And how exactly do you propose we do that, Mein? Enok, am I right?”

She looked at Enok who was sitting on a crate next and hadn’t spoken until now, her eyes filled with determination.

“We would help,” she said, “and I know many others would.”

He didn’t know what to say, and her shining stare was somehow hard to meet.

“I know you are not happy with it. I remember how you reacted when you heard the world’s gate was closed to most.”

Enok closed his eyes, and discarded the weight in his stomach.

“I am sorry Mein,” he said on an even tone, “but I have to go. I have goals of my own, and little time to realize them. I can’t be part of a civil war.”

They stood in a silence perturbed only by the snorting animals. Her hands were shaking and her fists closed so hard her knuckles were white.

“Sorry,” he said again.

“Don’t... Don’t be,” she said, “you’ve given me a lot already. Not just the magic. I’m not sure you even know, but I owe you my life since you destroyed the primer. So I know I’m the unfair one here.”

With that said, she wheeled around and walked out the stables.

Domor gave him an empathizing look, “Don’t worry, she will be fine. She’s just been through a lot in a short amount of time.”

He then left on her trail.

Sitting and thinking to himself, Enok heard his sister’s voice, “You said the right thing.”

He thought about how full of expectation her gaze had been.

“I know,” he said.