Astor walked into the shop, after feeling the traces of unease fade away. He eyed the gruff-looking shopkeeper and proceeded to browse the wares on the shelf. Spying a gem with a greenish, milky tint in the middle, Astor picked it up to inspect it closer. The gem had green specks around the dark blue edges and, after nodding to himself, Astor motioned towards the counter while raising it up. This will be useful for any future robbery hold ups. "How much for this one?" "40 coins." Astor looked around the shop before returning the intense gaze of the scraggly man. "A fascinating shop you have here. One doesn't see such high-quality gems in stores nowadays.” The man huffed impatiently. “35 if you spare me the conversation,” groaned the man. He’s caught on to Astor’s true motives quite quickly. Business seemed to have gone poorly for the shop lately. Taking out his pouch, Astor placed 36 coins down onto the table for such a pleasurable business exchange. Leaving after the shopkeeper grunted in acknowledgment, Astor walked towards the city limits. The gem he bought is from a moonlight firefly. He had read about them in a monster encyclopedia. The insect spanned 2 meters and was adorned with a tough, green exoskeleton. A gem was of higher quality if the outer edge of its prism structure was less dark blue. The color in the middle indicated which species it belonged to. Astor squeezed the palm-sized gem slightly, allowing his mana to fill the gem. Astor saw a view of a creek appear transparently in his eyes while noticing the smell of dark pine and wild grass fills his senses. The gem started to glow brightly before dying back down, taking away the sixth sense with it. Astor nodded in affirmation. Every person is born with mana, but the usage of such an enigmatic sense is only limited to animal gems and runic symbols. At least that’s what Astor had read in books. Strangely, Astor never found a source that would explain or even mention his strange sixth sense. It seems like the auras felt by Astor while using the gems are exclusive to himself only. Letting the gem slip down his pocket, he proceeded down the road once again, preparing to use the gem as a source of light if he was attacked in the middle of the night by animals. After a few hours of walking, he approached a caravan with three carriages. The one in the middle was inclined with the wheel stuck in the mud. Astor could see some individuals frantically trying to push out the carriage. “Greetings,” Astor called out to the nearest person armed with a battle ax. The mercenary eyed him cautiously. “Move along,” he retorted. Sighing as he walked past, another voice called out to him. “Wait good sir!” Astor turned back around to see a chubby man hobbling towards him. His clothes looked outlandishly expensive. Astor saw the man wearing a fur coat with a hat that had a feather poking out of one side of the furry edges. He also wore a expensive, yellow-golden scarf as proof of his nobility. “Are you perhaps a mercenary as well?” the wealthy man asked. “I suppose that’s what I am at the moment,” Astor pondered. "I see… If you are willing, could I ask for your services? You’ll be well-paid if you accept.” Astor thought a bit. “Where are you headed might I ask?” “To the village of Marcoff, We've got some raw materials to trade for.” Marcoff was a mining settlement far off the eastern coast of the country that marked the boarders of central Mayland. “If it’s not much of a bother, I will gladly accept your request,” Astor replied, eyeing the immobile carriages curiously. They definitely weren’t supply wagons. “Then it’s settled,” the man said nodding. Astor followed the man towards the group of people. It certainly was uncommon to ask for a stranger’s assistance. He wasn’t foolish enough to trust the man’s words. Astor eyed the eight men around him. None of them had bows so he concluded he could easily evade them if they decided to attack. Observing the well-armored soldiers closely, Astor noticed that they all seemed too disciplined to be regular mercenaries. All of them had stern faces accompanied with eyes that glowed from intense focus and training. The more Astor thought about it, the stranger the situation seemed to him. Astor shrugged off the curiosity. They didn’t seem to harbor any ulterior motives when they looked at him save one that was especially suspicious of his presence. Astor felt that talking to them wouldn’t spark up much of a conversation. After a few more minutes of pushing, they were able to dislodge the carriage from the muck. Astor was positioned inside the front carriage in typical escort fashion. Astor relaxed inside the carriage, feeling the reverberation of the carriage as it bounced on the uneven road. What luck he had to have met this group. Watching the trees pass by, Astor allowed himself to become absorbed in the surroundings as they approached a clearing. As the sun was setting, Astor could see the deep orange hue on the tips of each tree. The color was especially striking against the rich dark-brown tree trunks. Off in the distance was an array of green valleys which initially held a sharp green glow. They slowly turned into a darker indigo shade with each crest that extended away from the orange fireball. Below where the sun didn’t shine directly on, Astor could see a lush patch of vegetation glistening with verdant green. As they approached a pond, Astor stared at the patches of salmon pink and burgundy flowers growing on its edges. Reflected in its frame was the inverted world of the majestic view, like a dull, blurry painting desperately trying to capture the true beauty surrounding it. The occasional ripples that formed from the falling leaves seemed to be able to pierce through the still illusion. Astor felt his breathing slow as he stared at the view. It will be the very few moments that he would have the time to relax in this chaotic world. Night eventually overtook the scenery and Astor was forced back into tension, waiting and watching for an ambush to spring from the darkness. Before the darkness settled, Astor thought they would have stopped to settled down for the night. Quite the opposite happened as the group continued straight through the night with the help of various light gems. The gems they utilized were of a different color than his. Astor wondered why the caravan was in such a hurry. They continued all throughout the night. Just as Astor though that sleep would inevitably swallow him, he saw the sun’s rays pierce through the darkness. Astor had only slept for 5 hours in intervals of 30 minutes. Starring groggily at the path in front of him, he fought off the bouts of fatigue and kept an eye out for any ambushes. When his shift of steering the carriage was over, Astor was given the time to relax and rest his eyes. This continued until they reach the town of Natchville. The town was a lumbering/trading town, and the group quickly resupplied and rested at the inns for a short time. After half a days of rest, they motioned up the roads again. Astor, now mostly awake, decided to try and strike up a conversation with one of the soldiers. “So, where you from?” “Around.” “How long have you fought with that ax?” “Long enough.” “You don’t seem like the typical mercenary. Do you work for some sort of guild?" “That does not concern you.” It was as hopeless as Astor had expected. The soldier was completely disinterested in talking. The next few days comprised of the high-speed, silent travel. Occasionally, they’d stop by a river to fill their supplies of water, but other than that, the road was strangely peaceful. Astor would have assumed they get ambushed by now. Moments later just as Astor was thinking that, out from the fold, a cluster of movements could be seen. “They’re here!” a soldier shouted. An arrow crashed against the wooden planks of his wagon. Astor pulled out his sword and readied himself outside. Peering through the waning sun, Astor stepped forward towards the five men running towards him. His envoy’s defense had been split, with 2 people in the front, 2 people in the back, and 5 people guarding the middle main carriage. Five men were coming from both flanks of their wagon. Not wasting any time, Astor dashed forward from the carriages, leading away some of the ambushers. After closer inspection, Astor noticed that they weren’t the regular run-of-the-mill bandits. They seemed too well-armed and coordinated. “Protect Lady Nailah!” The situation quickly started to make sense in Astor’s head. Now, turning his full attention to the five men chasing him and his teammate, he knew they was going to be in trouble if he didn’t think of something fast. Dancing around the five to buy time, Astor attempted to release that surge of energy he had felt during his last battle by adding mana into the gem on his sword’s pommel. It didn’t work; like the last time he had tried, Astor felt his mana disperse around the gem. Cursing in despair, Astor was forced to guard against a flurry of attacks before backing off to focus on the enemies approaching from his sides. Two in front and three to the sides. Astor was in a dreadful situation. Because of his agility, he was able to keep the enemy away from his flanks, but that wouldn't last long. His mind raced. Time was working against their favor. Their forces were too scattered to hold any meaningful ground, and as the stragglers are picked off, it won't be long before the enemy numbers completely reunify to eradicate the rest of them. Astor quickly scanned their defense around the main wagon. They were outnumbered roughly 9 to 20. He soon spotted an area in their defenses that seemed to be wavering. There, three armored guards with spears were struggling against 6 of the enemy members who were trying to break through the formation. Astor spun his head to see his struggling companion being herded back and away towards their wagon. Three enemy soldiers had the armored figure surrounded and there was no time for Astor to call out to him. Clenching his jaw, Astor turned from the his two opponents and ran towards the wagon, using the man as a decoy to assist the main forces. As he ran, he felt himself completely exposed to the volley of archers hiding within the woods. With panicked steps, he was able to quickly approached the back of the enemy forces unscathed. Without a second though, Astor leaped forward and yanked a man off-balance before piercing his neck from behind with his blade. He quickly threw the stiff body against the floor and was about to finish another before a yell from behind alerted them of his ambush. In the panic, three of the 5 men turned to face him while the others continued thier weakened attack on the main forces. Astor bounded off to his right in order to obtain a field of vision that allowed him to see the two that were aproaching from the back and the three in front. While swatting away blows, Astor was able to herd three men behind the two who currently faced him. After a few seconds, a bat from the shaft of a incoming spear caused him to lose a pace in his leading. The rest were to be upon him shortly. Desperately, Astor grabbed the Moonlight Crystal from his armor's flap and briefly stood his ground against the approaching blades. "Burn!" Astor bellowed. In a fraction of a second, he made the crystal glow with a reddish tint and flung it towards a nearby pursuer. The man it fell on winced from stinging cold that the crystal produced before quickly realizing its harmlessness. The others, in the meanwhile, hesitated slightly before continuing their pursuit. The single second it had bought Astor was enough to allow him to increase the distance between him and the nearest enemy by two paces. As Astor began to think of what next to do, he saw the three figures in the back begin to slow their chase, perhaps in response to his newly aquired leeway. Behind the barrage of thrusts and shoves of the two enemies who still gave chase, Astor watched as the three perplexed figures returned to fighting the main force. Astor would have like to try and distract them longer, but at that moment, he spotted two figures rushing towards him from the direction of the carriage that his partner had been. Just as he began to calculate new tactics for the approaching reinforcements, one of his two opponents overswung an hatchet slice that was directed at his hips. Astor met the slice by thrusting his blade against it and running it up the shaft of the axe, displace the edge alignment. With the momentum neutralized and the edge safely resting beside his padded abdomen, Astor lifted his arms and sword above his opponent's hands. The man's legs froze with fear, and as he tried retracting his arms away from the blade's sharp edge, Astor took advantage of his linear motion and lightly thrusted the tip of his sword through the wrist of the man before quickly peeling the whole of the man's hand from his arm. With one man now writhing in pain, Astor watched as the other one became reluctant with engaging him any further. He also noticed that the two approaching enemy soldiers had their eyes locked on the main wagon. Astor couldn't help but also take a glance at the outcome of the main forces and was relieved to see his allies slowly driving off a half dozen of enemy bandits that remained. A lone horn sounded from the depths of the woods and Astor watched as the already fleeing enimies hastened their rush into the woods. Astor used his remaining strength to help the injured make their way towards the center wagon. Thankfully, with the sound of that horn, the arrows had stopped their relentless barrage. It was odd how he was never hit by an enemy bowsman during the whole of the fight. While lying next to the main wagon, Astor heard a middle-aged, female's voice call out from within. “Is everyone okay?” A person who seemed like the commander spoke up. “We suffered heavy casualties, my lady. Two lie dead with two seriously injured. There’s only four left that’s fit for combat it seems.” “I see… We must attend to the injured before moving out.” “But my Lady…” “I won’t be having those that had served me die a dog’s death.” “…..very well my lady.” Astor attempts to stand left him disorientated and dizzy. "Damned," he cursed. His body was a bit weary, but what affected him the most was the side-effect channeling his mana so abrubtly. He could feel his thoughts dull to a crawl as he stumbled over to a nearby tree and puked. As he was gathering his nerves, the company began to stir. The fat wealthy man walked towards him with one of the soldiers that had managed not to get wounded. “Are you quite alright?” “For now, it seems,” Astor replied letting his arm wrap around the solder's shoulders for support. “I would like to apologize for getting you caught up in this.” “What’s done is done. I accepted knowing full-well what I was getting myself into.” The soldier laid him inside the middle carriage where the other two were getting treated. Relaxing his stiff grip on his sword, Astor watched in a daze as the caravan started down the road again. The throbbing on his cheek seemed to worsen with every passing sunbeam that shone through the trees above. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived in Marcoff. Too exhausted to look around, Astor attempted to get off the carriage as they arrived. “Where are you going?” the lady asked him. “This is where I stop,” Astor replied. “I meant, where are you going in that state.” “I’m a soldier, walking around is the fastest way I’ll recover, ....my lady” Astor replied. The woman eyed him doubtfully before finally relenting. “What is your name so I can fully thank you for this great service,” she said. “Astor,” he replied being too tired to lie. “Sir Astor, if you are ever in need of help, come to the house with the sigil of a bracken tree and two birds. There, I will repay you fully for your valor.” Astor nodded silently and made his way further down the path. He was only an afternoon’s walk away from his family now. Hoping that there were no more bandits down the path, Astor gathered his breath and trudged forward. Astor felt a familiar surge of energy as his heart quickened. His blood flared and his head cleared, but the energy was considerably weaker than the first time he had felt it. Where were you when I needed you days ago, he thought to the sudden burst of energy. Astor continued down the road. He felt his fatigue die down rapidly and the pain in his cheek disappear. He eyed his sword wearily. The red gem wasn’t showing any signs of the usual glow that accompanied the power. Where did these powers really come from? Astor saw in the distance a familiar scenery and quickly walked into view of the white-stoned mansion surrounded by an intricate stone fence. He stared at the vegetation that grew in front of the house. Its arrangement had changed dramatically over the years. The house had looked much bigger in his memories as well. He felt an indescribable sense of homesickness as he approached. Astor walked towards the entrance of the stone enclosure and, there, he was stopped by two armed infantrymen. “State your business.” “Tell the lady of the manor that her son has returned from war. He is tired from traveling and would like a reprieve from his fatigue,” Astor said while resting on a ledge in the stone fencing. “And, give this to her. She’ll know as soon as she sees it,” Astor added, handing his sword to the more trustworthy-looking soldier. As the soldier nodded and left to deliver his message, Astor unloaded his belonging onto the ledge. Astor visibly placed down his dagger and undressed his armor. After a few minutes, the soldier came back and gestured towards Astor. “Lady Jacobs will see you now.” Astor walked with one soldier in front and one behind him. Suddenly, he felt a chill run up his spine. He walked into the house, down a overly elongated corridor, up the stairs, and into his mother’s room. Astor walked through the nostalgic door and gazed at the woman he hadn’t seen in 10 years. While looking at her, the fuzzy memories of her shrouded face were quickly replaced with a crystal clear, younger version of the one before him. Her eyes shared stunning similarities with his, albeit hers were slightly smaller. Her lips were larger and above her eyes, two sharp, black eyebrows hovered over her eyes. She looked especially scarier with older age. Nostalgia filled his lungs as he attempted to initiate a conversation. “It’s been a while mother.” Unfazed by Astor’s greeting, his mother quickly brushed off his greeting with a stern face. It looks as if you’ve changed quite a bit,” her incisive voiced called out, chilling Astor’s soul. “It has been 10 years,” Astor replied. She eyed Astor closely. “I thought you’d be dead by now. I’m impressed you survived this long without proper martial training or equipment.” “I received some… I'm too surprised that I have survived.” “What happened to your eyes?” her voice snapped. “What do you mean?” Astor questioned. “They're blue now. I'm sure they were brown before.,” she said with impatience. Huh? Blue? His eyes had always been brown. Suddenly, he remembered William’s comments about the unique transformation he had over gone temporarily. “One moment. Let me try something.” Astor focused on the steady stream of energy he was using for his fatigue. Snuffing it out made him feel the strain of his tired, injured body again. “How is it now?” Astor looked back. His mother’s eyebrows twitched with shock. He could still determine the slightest changes in her demeanor. Trying not to let her curiosity show, she continued, “Go rest. We’ll talk more about your little adventure later.” Astor smirked. He had abandoned his post and gone off to war without the approval from his mother. He had wondered, before returning, if he was going to be drawn and quartered for such treachery. Walking out of the door, he heard his mother mutter one last phrase to a nearby servant. “It’s a good thing that fool didn’t die out there."