**

-8 kilometers South of Pea Town-

Six bandits armed with various weapons lunged towards Makani after being ordered by the female elf. Makani raised his loaded crossbow and aimed it steadily at one of the bandits rushing towards him. As all six continued to come in closer to him, Makani pressed the trigger and released the bolt from his crossbow.

*Pak!*

One of the bandits that was charging towards Makani fell to the ground lifeless as he's hit by a crossbow bolt to the forehead. Seeing one of their comrades fall on the barren frozen ground, all five remaining bandit that we're charging paused.

"Kenny!"

The female elf screamed out the name of the man who Makani shot on the head with his crossbow. After staring at their comrade's lifeless body, they turned their attention again to Makani who was reloading his crossbow again.

"You killed Kenny! You bastard!" One of the armed bandits screamed out as he continued to get near Makani.

"Tirk! No!" The female elf screamed out to warn the bandit not to go head on blindly, but before she could stop him it was too late.

*Pak*

Tirk the bandit was shot mid center on his body. The force of the crossbow bolt going inside him pushed his body back, Tirk who was shot by the crossbow bolt, grabbed the bolt that's embedded on his chest and attempted to pull it out. But as he tried to pull it out, blood began to pour out of his mouth.

*GAAAAAAH!!*

Tirk screamed from the pain that he felt. Then seconds later, the life from his eyes dissipated as he stood there holding on to the bolt lodged on his chest. As the frozen barren ground is slowly covered by Tirk's blood the confident face of the female elf leading the group of bandits changed.

What use to be a calm and smug look is now an enraged one. The remaining four bandits turned to look at their leader, they couldn't believe that the boy who they thought was an easy target turned out to be a fearsome one.

Makani reloaded his crossbow and attempted to warn the group of bandits.

"Remember that all of you attacked me, I'm just merely defending myself." Makani smiled and readied his crossbow as he aimed for one of the bandits. Makani tried to play it cool but in reality he's scared of what going on. He's thankful to his mother for the memories of years practicing various weapons. It also helped with the fact that he practiced using the crossbow everyday when ever he had time.

"Everyone! retreat!" The female elf commanded. As they heard her command, all four grabbed the bodies of their fallen comrades and ran to the direction of Pea town.

The female elf fiercely stared at Makani.

"This is not the end, I will avenge my brothers."

"Like I said earlier, I was just defending my self." Maknai smiled at the female elf nd felt relieved that he had gotten out of that situation.

The female elf turned around then began running to catch up with her comrades. Makani took a big breath and sighed.

*Sigh*

"That was scary, who would have thought I would be attacked right away after I left town."

Makani looked at Pohaku and patted him on his head. Pohaku's angry eyes changed and looked as if its smiling after Makani placed his hand on top of the Onion Golem's hard smooth head.

"It's okay now Po, the bad people are gone."

Makani looked around the area that he's currently located, all he could see all around him are the barren frozen lands. As he turned around he looked behind him and there in front of him is a enormous wall made of solid stone that stretched out really far from his left and right.

The stone wall in front of him is around four thousand feet high making it almost impossible for anyone to climb over it without the high risk of falling to their death.

Makani looked around to see if anyone else was in sight so that no one would be able to see what he'll do next. Using his [Earth Manipulation ability], Makani made stairways for him to walk all the way up to the top. But before he moved further each time, Makani retracted the stairs so that no one behind him could follow.

**

-7.9 kilometers South of Pea Town-

Tristan and his clan mate Harry had been following a small group of adventurers who he thought was on their way to the Grand City of Hau, but suddenly an unexpected turn had happened. The small group in front of them began to corner and surround the lone adventurer that they had been following.

"This doesn't look good Harry, lets hide behind those boulders." Tristan suggested. Both

Fearing that he himself will be robbed of all his possession, Tristan hid behind a boulder next to his partner Harry. The two hid and watched as the lone adventurer is surrounded by the small group that he had been following. Since there are seven of them in the group and only two of them, Tristan didn't have confident to help the adventurer who was being robbed.

From a far, Tristan watched as he stayed hidden behind the boulder with Harry.

"Hand everything you have over!" Demanded a female elf in a loud voice.

Harry got his sword ready and made a suggestion to Tristan.

"We should help that person."

Tristan who was still not so confident about fighting when outnumbered made excuses.

"We can't fight now lets think about ourselves, lets save our strength for the Holos that we'll encounter."

Harry put his sword back into his sheath and nodded in agreement with what Tristan had suggested. After their small conversation Tristan and Harry went back to watching the scene between the lone adventurers and the bandits. Then suddenly as they both continued to watch the female elf ordered the six to attack the lone adventurer.

"Attack!"

The six who are surrounding the lone adventurer that's cornered against the wall of solid stone, rushed towards their prey. Tristan cringed when he thought that the lone adventurer was about to get slaughter.

*PAK!*

The mysterious sound made Tristan curious so he went to see what had happened. As Tristan continued to watch, one of the bandits who was surrounding the lone adventurer was on the ground laying face up. From where he was standing Tristan could see something protruding from the bandit's head.

"What happened?" Tristan asked Harry.

"Weren't you watching? The lone adventurer used his crossbow and shot one of the bandits on the head."

Harry didn't take his eyes off of what was happening as he told Tristan what had happened when he was cowering in fear.

"That's impossible! That adventurer looks like he's the same age as me and he's able to take down a fearsome looking bandit?"

Tristan was in doubt that the lone adventurer was able to do that. But all he could see are the lone adventurer and the bandits who surrounded him. There were no one else besides them.

Harry stared at Tristan with annoyance.

"Then why don't you keep watching instead of cringing like a little child?"

Tristan became annoyed with what Harry had said to him, though they were both the same age Harry called him a child because of his actions earlier. In truth Tristan was scared of seeing someone die in front of him but when its against Holos, he had no problems. Even though he wanted to help, the factors of the numbers of bandits versus them still didn't change.

Tristan stared intently so that he would not miss what would happen next. Suddenly one of the bandits rushed in and instantly the bandit closing nearer to the lone adventurer was shot by a crossbow bolt. Tristan was in shock of how accurate and precise the lone adventurer's shots were. After a moment, the bandits surrounding the lone adventurer ran off with the bodies of their dead comrades.

"Hahaha! That was intense!" Harry laughing from what had happened. Tristan's jaw was slacked open, he couldn't believe what had happened.

'There were seven of the bandits versus a lone adventurer, how could it have ended in the lone adventurer's favor?' Tristan asked himself.

Then suddenly while they were both trying comprehend what was happening, the ground began to shake and Tristan who was still staring at the lone adventurer was in a state of shock. Harry who was frightened at the shaking of the ground jumped away from the boulder.

"He's a wizard Harry!"

Tristan saw that stairs made from stone suddenly appeared in front of the lone adventurer. The lone adventurer began climbing them and at the same time the stairs behind the lone adventurer disappeared like a mirage. Harry who was still frightened of the shaking of the ground didn't see what was going on and Tristan just kept repeating the same thing over and over like a broken record.

"Harry! He's a wizard!"

When Tristan was a little his mother had told her stories of people who can use real magik. These people who could control the elemental in the stories are called wizards. But everyone knows through out the lands that the ancient magik from centuries ago are long gone and forgotten. No one knows how to control the elements anymore until now that Tristan has seen someone in front of him do it.

"Harry! He's wizard! He's a wizard Harry!"

**

-Somewhere on top of the stone wall.-

Atop the wall of stone where Makani climbed using his [Earth Manipulation ability], he looked around and what he saw amazed him. Various fruit bearing trees stood everywhere and Holos of various sizes and species that Makani has never heard or read before roamed everywhere. It was odd that up above the stone wall was much warmer in climate. Grass and various plants grew everywhere. Its as if its paradise.

Makani continued to walk and for some odd reason the Holos didn't attack him. Its as if they didn't care that he was there. All Holos through out the lands would usually attack any beings in sight but the once he has encountered just continued to graze while some slept and played with each other.

Makani went up to one of the fruit bearing trees that he had seen and grabbed one that looked almost reddish and pink at the same time. He took a bite of the fruit and the sweet taste of the fruit just burst all over inside his mouth.

After trying the fruit he decided to harvest as much as he can and then stored it inside his DS ring. Makani tasted and harvested the other fruits that he had tasted. Some of them were tangy, sweet, sour and some just had a pleasant refreshing taste when you take a bite of it. After harvesting so much fruit, Makani decided to start camp due to it starting to get dark.

The next morning Makani continued to move forward. He didn't want to leave this amazing place that he discovered, but at the same time he want to go to the capital so that he could buy his very own wagon.

Makani's plan is to become a traveling merchant. Since he is after all a merchant class adventurer, It would be of benefit for him to have some type of wagon to use. Even though he has the DS ring to carry most of his belongings, he'll be using the wagon as his home. Traveling all over the lands is one of his dreams but he's also set at becoming a well known adventurer.

After two days of walking Makani reached the other side of the mesa, from afar he could see a towering structure.

'That must be the grand city, Its so big that you can see it from afar.' Makani thought to himself.

Pohaku squinted its eyes and began pointing at a settlement or at least what looks like a settlement south of them. Makani looked at where Pohaku is pointing at and sees a small group of huts huddles together. The tiny settlement didn't interest Makani, he's more determined to reach his destination so that he could but himself a wagon.

**

-Outside the Tiny Settlement-

North from the capital there is a settlement located on the foot of the mesa. The settlement called Wapine are full of farmers. The settlers in Wapine are barely surviving because of bandits and the large Holos that would often bring terror and suffering to their lives. Every year bandits would come back to take what ever harvest they have and at times they would also steal the women from the settlement.

Near the foot of the mesa, Moa a young man from the settlement of Wapine was gathering herbs from the surrounding area when suddenly the ground beneath him began to shake. Struck with fear, Moa instantly jump into a large bush to hide from who ever or what ever caused the ground beneath him to tremble.

A group of rough looking men stopped at a spot over looking the settlement. Each men in the group were riding huge frightful looking rams whose body are made from stones with long thick curved horns. These rams are tamed Holos called Ram-Rocks.

"Let's take everything in this settlement!" exclaimed one of the bandits.

"Yeah! Take it!" the rest of the bandits cried out.

"Wait! Wait! We raided this settlement not so long ago. If we raid them now we'll come out empty handed!" said the old bearded bandit in the group.

"Very well! We'll come back again in nine months time! By that time this village will be riped for the picking!" said the bandit with an eye patch over his right eyes.

After their short conversation, the group of bandits decided to leave the settlement unharmed and started riding off on their Ram-Rocks.

Moa who was hiding in the bushes over heard the whole conversation among the bandits. After picking up all his belongings he decided to hurry back to the settlement to inform the settlers of what he heard.

**

-Wapine-

The settlers gathered and sat down in a circle in the middle of the settlement. They were used to cold so the frozen barren ground didn't matter to them. At first after hearing Moa's report about what he heard, the settlers became silent. Then suddenly the women began to weep.

"Are there no gods who will save us?!" cried out one of the women.

"Frostbite, diseases, murderous Holos and now these bandits!"

The woman continued to cry and the rest of the women and children joined her.

"Up to now the gods have forsaken us!" cried one of them women.

The men in the settlement were silent and had their head down.

"That's right were better off dead!" burst out one of the men crying.

"Crying won't make a difference!" replied one of the men named Iole.

As the women continued to cry and the other men kept their silence. Moa clutched his fist and became angry. Suddenly one of the women stood up.

"Let's just give everything that we have to the bandits and then right after hand ourselves! What's the use if they take all our harvest we'll be dead when a great blizzard hits!"

The settlement of Wapine have been farming small domesticated Holos called Ruby eyed hares for their meat and fur. These Holos are very docile and can survive the harshest cold.

The meat that they harvest from the Holos are smoked and stored for the settlement's daily consumption. The fur of the Holos are used by the settlers for insulation to keep their homes warm. They also use the fur for their clothes. Whenever they have an excess of harvests, they usually sell what they can spare in the capital so that they can buy the things they need to improve their life.

Moa stood up with a raged look in his eyes.

"Let's fight! Let's kill all those bandits!"

"That's crazy talk! We're farmers. What do we know about fighting?" said Iole

Moa stared at Iole with the intent of harming him.

"So we can kill injured adventurers but not bandits!?"

Moa grabbed Iole by his collar and pushed him down. One of the men jumped up to break up the two.

"Stop it! This is no time to fight amongst ourselves!"

Moa continued to try to assault Iole. When the settlers noticed that Moa would not stop they all got up to restrain the young man. Iola was relieved that Moa was stopped by the others sat down.

"We don't have a chance against bandits. And if we lose? They'll slaughter us down to the last unborn child." said Iole sitting down as he looked at snow on the ground.

Moa became enraged and tried to free himself from being restrained by the other men so that he can go after Iole.

"I've had enough! Better to risk all than to be treat like this! Kill or be killed!" screamed Moa.

"Us farmer's only choice is to endure. We can't defy the powerful. That's all we can ever do." said Iole.

Tears began to roll down Moa's face and the harsh snowy wind that passed by slowly hardened it until it froze. The words coming out Iole's mouth pierced him like a knife. Its true that farmers have been the lowest in the hierarchy of the lands. In the past all the farmers could ever do is endure and hope for the best. But for quite some time, the people in the Wapine are being drained of their will to continue with their lives. The men unrestrained Moa as he continued to cry.

"When the bandits arrive we'll greet them meekly and quietly hand them all we have. We'll plead them to leave us just enough for us to survive. We'll beg on our hands and knees!" cried out Iole.

The entire settlement began to cry in their hopelessness. Moa became enraged and instantly got up and tried to assault Iola but before he could get near him the men of the settlement held him back.

"What bandit will agree to that?!" He screamed.

"Have you forgotten how we had to stoop so low that we were eating the insulation of our huts throughout the blizzards?!"

The entire settlement stopped crying when Moa reminded everyone about the situation that they had during a long blizzard. Many of the settlements almost didn't survive due to the lack of nutrition consumed.

One of the older men among the villagers stood up.

"We should see the old man! Let him decide what to do."

The settlemets looked at each other and began to whisper.

"The old man will have answers for us." said one settler.

All of the settlers got up and started walking at the out skirt of the settlement. There in the edge of the settlement, lives an old man. The old man is the oldest amongst the settlers and the wisest. He has survived everything that has ever happened in Wapine.

**

Everyone from the settlement arrived at the old man's hut in the edge of the settlement. The adults of the settlement including Mao sat down to ask what they should do with the situation that they are about to face. The old man sat in middle of the circle of the adults listening to their reasons and arguments about what actions they should take. Then everyone stopped talking the old man began to speak.

"We fight."

A smile appeared in Moa's face.

"Old man, that's madness. We're farmers. What do we know of battle?" argued Iole.

"We'll hire adventurers" said the old man.

"Who ever heard of farmers hiring adventurers?" said Iole.

"I saw it with my own eyes, when the settlement I came from was demolished to the ground by Holos. I saw when I came into a settlement a long time ago. They had adventurers there and that settlement was the only settlement that wasn't burned to ashes." said the old man.

"But old man, there are different kinds of settlements and settlers. We are but a villagers of farmers. How will we feed and pay these adventurers that we'll hire when we're on the verge of starvation our selves?"

"We'll give them all the food that we have! We can make it through by eating other things!" yelled Moa

"Show me an adventurer who'll fight for farmers in return for food! They are all greedy and will only do anything for copper, silver and gold!" yelled Iola

"Look. Find hungry adventurers. Even Dire Bears come down from the mountains when they're hungry." said the old man.

**