Lord Balgen! Please, just reconsider. Think of all the benefits it would bring to you!”

A lanky person called out as he ran towards an obese man wearing gaudy robes. He panted as he caught up to the other, a sickly white face with gaunt cheeks sweating profusely. He bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily before straightening up and pushing up his glasses.

“Lord Balgen, just imagine, thousands of gold coins could be yours! All you have to do is give the Earthgrove Firm permission,” the pallid skinned man gestured wildly while walking behind the other down a richly decorated hallway. He spoke in a loud, exaggerated tone. Small marble statues dotted several alcoves in the stone walls, shadows dancing as flickering torchlight illuminated the finely crafted figures. Wooden doors with ornate handles appeared here and there, disappearing out of sight as they walked past them.

The skinny man trudged behind, fiddling with his hands anxiously in the following silence. The noble in front showed no sign that he was responding, so he opened his mouth to try to persuade him again, but he had barely uttered ‘Lord Balgen’ before the other person turned around, an aloof sneer on his face.

“Shut up already, won’t you? Do you take me for an idiot? I know all about your firm, you really do act like the parasites they say you are. Pilfering provinces of all their resources before selling it back at unreasonable prices. Scram! And don’t ever come back!” The bulky man bellowed suddenly, the sound startlingly loud as it echoed down the corridor. He snorted, annoyed before flicking his robe and turning around.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I have some… business to attend to,” he stated while grinning lecherously as he continued down the passageway, leaving behind the emaciated looking man whose face was quickly turning into an ugly shade of red and purple.

Tightening his hands in quivering fists, he bit his lower lip hard until it started bleeding a little. “You….you will pay for this!” He shouted into the now empty hallway before coldly harrumphing and turning back the way he came from.

Walking into one of the rooms, Earl Balgen shut the door harshly behind him. Stifling his urge to yell back at the loud words echoing down the hallway, he turned around and gave a wanton smirk at the woman lying on the bed.

Thick curtains hung over the windows, letting just enough light in to reflect off the iron band around her neck, indicating her status as a slave. Clothed in only a black, see-through gown, it was obvious what the man wanted to do with her.

Pulling a pair of white leather gloves over his hands, he pushed a small metal cart filled with sharp objects and walked towards her, humming in his throat. Reaching the foot of the velvet bed, he took his hands off the cart before running his hands over her face as she shuddered in fear.

“Ahh. Such soft skin, just begging for me to ruin it.” Running his hands over her body he said so, entranced by the smoothness of it. “What a gift I managed to pick up this time.”

Taking a thin, razor-sharp needle from the cart, he slowly trailed it over her arm, cutting through the thin fabric, “What a shame it would be if it got...broken,” he muttered suddenly, piercing the needle into the skin and drawing blood.

The girl gritted her teeth, eyes shut closed as tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes. Taking another needle, he started tracing the other arm before stabbing it down as well, scarlet red blood now running down both of her arms.

The man chuckled, obviously entertained at the lady who was squirming with agony. As he punctured her skin with a third needle, this time in the thigh, the girl could not stop a choke from coming out as she gasped in pain.

The man’s left hand shot out into her mouth, grabbing her tongue as she tried to close it. Chuckling, he took another silver needle and peered past her teeth. “Ah, what a beautiful red the insides-” he stopped suddenly, and a crease appeared between his brows as he peered down her throat. Inside, several strange, familiar looking markings were carved into her flesh.

He frowned, a sense of unease growing in his chest.

He looked up towards the woman’s eyes and froze as he saw them staring straight back at him, disdainfully, haughtily, with a hint of insanity. There was no sign of pain or any sort of fear from before in those glowing blue spheres.

‘Magic sigils!’

He instantly realized why he recognized the markings in her throat, unease turning into panic as he shoved her away and dashed madly towards the door, heart rising into his throat. Before he even got halfway, a heavy object slammed into his back and nearly sent him falling forwards onto the granite floor.

“GUARDS!” He shrieked ear-splittingly, “GUARDS!!!”

A pair of bloody arms quickly wrapped around his chest, needles still sticking out of them, as a pair of legs tightly secured themselves around his waist. Heavy, uneven breathing was heard right next to his left ear, tickling it.

Twisting and turning around violently, and trying to break her grip, he screeched loudly at the top of his lungs as he tried to rip off her arms and legs off of him.

“GET OFF! GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!!!”

As the familiar feeling of mana being gathered appeared, he struggled even harder, slamming his back into the wall but to no avail.

A cold, dry voice in his ear hoarsely whispered, cackling.

“Justice. Is. Served.”

Then the world erupted in flames.

In a gloomy, dark forest, a rabbit raised its ears as if listening for something. After twitching them few times, it suddenly scurried off, grass swaying in its path as it disappeared from sight.

A strange silence pervaded the glade, branches overhead creating a canopy that prevented most of the light from coming in. All was still, the branches, the leaves, even the grass now completely frozen, so serene, like a static photo inside a frame.

The quiet was soon interrupted by the muffled sound of footsteps on the soft dirt. A leather sheath appeared and pushed aside a tall clump of grass, followed by a brown-haired youth, a somewhat rusty iron sword in his other hand. On his back was a crude bow and a quiver of about a dozen stonehead arrows. Wearing a worn leather chestplate over a thick cloth tunic, one could see that he was used to hard labor from his athletic build and rough hands. Aside from that and his weapons, the only other article on him that had value were a pair of beaten cowhide boots.

After checking the clearing cautiously and finding no immediate dangers, the youth sighed in relief and sheathed his sword back into the leather scabbard. Practically falling down against one of the trees surrounding the area, he sat down and opened up a small bag at his waist. Taking out a few pieces of jerky, he put them in his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. Then, bringing a hide canteen to his lips, took several large gulps before closing it and storing it back at his belt. Shoulders sagging from overexertion, legs sore from constant hiking, bringing his knees up to his chest and leaning back against the tree, his eyelids slowly drooped closed as he fell asleep from exhaustion. Arms wrapped around his knees, head tucked in between, a brown-haired youth slept quietly within a hidden glade.

Waking up, the youth pushed his arms up towards the sky and arched his back forwards. Calvin yawned noiselessly as he stretched his stiff body. Jumping up from the ground, he gave his limbs a few more shakes and cracked his neck before he set out once more into the forest. Looking at the position of the shadows, he estimated that about four or so hours had passed since noon.

That was how he'd been doing things ever since he arrived in the forest. In here, there were many more dangers at night than during the day, so it was much safer to rest when it was still light outside. Well, at least what stood for light in this dark, gloomy place.

Today he was lucky, there were quite a few times he had to spend a resting in trees because of dangers hidden in the tall grass. Reaching the edge of the copse, he unsheathed his sword and took a breath before once more heading out towards his goal.

Lake Erador.

Named after the goddess of fate and destiny.

That was where he was headed.

Recently, several people in his village were coming down with fevers, and no one could explain why. They had tried all the herbal remedies they had in store but none of them worked. Even the village’s old, low ranked cleric, Darrel Palmer, could not find a solution. In the end, they had to send a request to an Apothecary guild hall.

The closest one was half a month’s travel away by horseback. When the messenger finally returned, they were furious. As a small village of not more than five hundred people, the guild didn't bother sending an alchemist to help as it was just a few fevers. Instead, they simply told them to solve it themselves. It wasn’t as if they were too lazy, just that there was too much work to be done and too few professionals to handle hundreds of requests. Their application for help simply wasn’t much of a priority.

The reception clerk, as a sort of apology for the long trip that the messenger took, informed him about a medicine that could at least alleviate the fevers. Said remedy, however, used Waterbloom Grass as the main ingredient. As its name suggested, the plant grew only in large bodies of water.

Their village, Belas, was located within walking distance of a river, but not a lake or lagoon. The nearest one wasn't too far, only a few dozen miles north of their location. The only problem was that the Oakheart forest separated them. The fringe of the forest was actually quite harmless, but as one went deeper, beasts like bears and wolves appeared. There were even rumors that monsters lived inside the deepest parts. After the messenger returned and brought the news back, that was the reason why no one had attempted to travel there and gather Waterbloom grass.

However, more and more people kept falling ill, and still, no one recovered. As a result, the villagers finally decided to send someone to try and bring back some Waterbloom. The women had their hands' completely full taking care of the sick, as there were over a hundred fifty already incapable of getting out of bed. Because there was a lack of manpower, the men had to go out and work longer hours in the fields, no one could be spared. And obviously, the children weren’t going to be sent into such a dangerous place.

That left the adolescents to be picked from. From out of all them, the most suitable was Calvin. Besides having experienced surviving in the woods from numerous hunting trips, he was the only one who knew how to wield a sword properly. At least, compared to a common farmer. If he had to fight even the most inexperienced soldier, there was no doubt he’d lose. His only sort of ‘training’ consisted of practicing basic sword swings.

Thus, he was selected to be the person to take the trip. He didn’t complain though, or even feel a tiny bit of anger. At home, his younger sister was pale, shivering and sweating at the same time. She was one of the first ones to fall ill and become bed-ridden, and nothing was worse than the feeling of coming home to see his mother crestfallen and his father grim as they worried about her health.

Since then, his journey had been rather uneventful, with the exception of meeting a rather large snake about the size of his forearm. It was scaled with slitted eyes, about as long as a grown man was tall.

Tasted a bit like chicken too.

After a few more days of cautious hiking, sleeping in trees, gathering berries, and hunting small game, Calvin finally broke out of the endless trees and arrived at Erador lake. The gleaming surface of the water shimmered as waves gently lapped against the shore, the whole scenery like a picture out of a fairy-tale. Brightly colored flowers dotted the edges of the lake, swaying softly in the wind. Calvin took a few more seconds to admire the view before continuing down closer to the lake. Taking a single glance at the flowers up close, he confirmed reluctantly that none of them were what he was looking for.

The Waterbloom grew not near water, but actually in it, as he was told so from the messenger’s relayed information. From what the clerk told him, Waterbloom flowers grew on top of the water, dropping their seeds down into the nutrient-rich soil from rotting plants and animals. Under the water, it was just a stem with roots and no leaves, looking like a stalk of grass. They were ready to grow into adulthood after a small bulb finished forming atop of the stalk. The bulb, filled with nitrogen gas would pull the roots free as it headed upwards. Then, when it reached the surface, the roots would wither, the bulb would open, and the flower would bloom, floating on top of the rippling waves before dropping down new seeds.

Looking across the water, Calvin could barely make out several blue flowers afloat atop the water’s surface, about a hundred feet away. What he was aiming for, however, was not the flower, but the roots of the plant itself. ‘The stalks with roots should be below.’ He would have to dive down to get to them.

Although Lake Erador wasn’t big nor deep and held no creatures other than fish and the occasional turtle, it was definitely quite cold. Debating whether or not to leave his clothes on, he eventually decided on taking them off as they would only drag him down after being soaked with water. Taking off his armor and outer clothes, he left them with his weapons as he walked into the lake.

The cold water slowly rose up his body, chilling, but not icy as he walked farther towards the center. When the water level reached his shoulders, he pushed off the ground and started swimming towards the middle, a skill he had learned during his childhood from playing in the river. Soon after, he reached the closest group of flowers as he bobbed up and down with the waves. Looking into the clear water below, he could easily see the bottom of the lagoon and the tiny stalks waving below…. as well as something else.

Peering a bit closer, he could barely make out...fabric? It was mostly buried by the mud so he couldn’t make out its exact shape. Well, whatever the case, he still had to dive down to dig up the roots.

Taking a deep breath, he dove straight down into the water with long strokes as he swam towards the bottom. Several fish fled away as he passed them, glimmering scales quickly disappearing as he continued on. When he got to the bottom, he ignored the small patch of fabric sticking out and instead started gently pulling out blades of grass, letting them float to the top as their roots came loose. When he pulled out about five dozen blades, he pushed off the muddy floor and quickly ascended to the top, taking in deep breaths before once again going back down. This time, he managed to get quite a few more, about nine dozen this time. With enough gathered and floating atop the water, he gathered them into his arms and started paddling back to the shore. Once he got back, he confirmed that there was enough for everyone in his village and put them into a large cloth bag provided by the elder chief.

He was about to pack up and set out into the forest, but an urge of curiosity hit him. That piece of fabric was still sticking up there. It couldn’t hurt to look, could it? Maybe it might be something valuable.

Making such an excuse to himself, he swam until he was once again in the water surrounded by floating flowers. Filling his lungs with another deep breath, he dove down. Reaching the spot where he was before, he found the piece of cloth sitting in the same spot. Looking a bit closer, he saw that it was brightly colored, a brilliant orange color that he had only seen a few times in an expensive dress that the chief’s wife wore on special occasions. Feeling a bit excited, he swam closer and tugged on it, but it stayed buried in the ground. Frowning a bit, he set his feet on the floor before pulling on it harder. It still didn’t budge.

He scowled and yanked on it with his entire body. Instantly, he panicked and pushed off the bottom as hard as he could and started swimming upwards terror-stricken. Dirt clouded the water behind him and only encouraged him to swim faster and he didn’t stop until he broke through the surface, taking in large gasps of air.

He had felt something squirming under his feet!

Something very large!

Looking down, he saw dust billowing out and clouding his view, only intensifying his fear of the unknown. After a few minutes, the dust settled, and only then did he realized what it was. The fabric, originally only about the size of his head, had shaken off some of the dirt covering it with his pull. Several other patches of orange were also revealed here and there, and Calvin was startled to see that it was likely all one piece, even bigger than his house it seemed! He instantly grew excited again, forgetting about his embarrassing actions a minute ago and went back down again. This time, standing at what looked like the edge, he grabbed it and tried pulling it up with him, feeling very little resistance.

Once he was halfway up, he looked back and was once again shocked at the fact that most of it still looked to be buried. Although there were some holes in it, it would still be worth a fortune. Swimming much more eagerly now, he reached the surface and after looking down started dragging the bottom of it along the floor as he swam to the shore.

About twenty-five feet away from shore, however, the cloth suddenly went taut and became hard to pull. ‘Must be stuck on a rock.’ He paddled even harder, and after half a minute of pulling vigorously, it finally came loose as he jerked a few feet backwards. Panting for a bit, he continued his impatient journey to the shore.

Once he came onto solid ground, he turned around and feverishly started hauling the cloth up. About ten seconds later though, it suddenly became really hard to pull. Clicking his tongue as he realized it must’ve gathered a few rocks onto it, he pulled even harder, slowly dragging it up foot by foot. After a minute though, the cloth abruptly ended and…….turned into strings?

He wondered briefly what to do before deciding to continue pulling, though it was much more difficult as the strings were damp and hard to grab properly. Eventually, a metallic object slowly rose from the lake until it became visible to the naked eye. Taking a break and wiping the sweat off from his brow, Calvin looked up and once more became frozen.

Just a few in front of him a shining statue laid, half in the water, half on the damp earth. Dropping the cables he was holding, he shot towards it faster than an arrow from its bow.