Leor and Alden made their way through the streets of Thalesia, making sure their faces were well hidden. The streets were filled with businesses pandering to tourists and citizens. They were surrounded by a hoard who could easily devour them if they managed to pick Alden out.

“Psst. Hey, you fine gentlemen.” whispered a man from the side.

Leor turned his head and saw the man standing at the edge of the canal as he waved them over.

“You two look like you’re in a rush,” said the man. “Why not take the Gondola? It’s faster and you won’t have to walk through the crowd!”

Leor’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, but before he could say anything, Alden grabbed onto his shoulders and looked into his eyes with strong intensity. Did Alden find him suspicious too? Leor was surprised that Alden could be as alert as himself.

“Leor…” whispered Alden with a tone that’d make anyone listen with full intention. “I want to ride the Gondola.”

Nevermind. Leor took back every ounce of respect he gave Alden and stared at him with furrowed brows. But his glare did not deter him. Alden’s eyes remained glimmering with a youthful light.

Leor caved in and paid the Gondola attendant five gold coins, unwillingly of course. “To the clocktower,” Leor said.

The Gondola was a premium mode of transportation throughout the city. Usually, only the wealthy pay for its services. Alden recognized Leor’s hesitance and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to reimburse you for all business expenses.”

With those words, he earned back a bit of Leor’s respect.

The attendant ushered them into a pearl white, banana-shaped boat lined with gold on the rims, hanging over the waterway. The gondola was narrow but had enough room for them to sit side by side. With a pull of a lever, the gondola descended onto the water and cruised forward, at first no faster than walking speed but then ramping up to the speed of a trotting horse. Though his face was mostly covered by his hood, Alden’s lips were visibly frowning, pouting like a child.

“Fear not, my good sir. We’re about to hit the accelerator” the attendant said, noticing his customer’s disappointment as if this weren’t the first time he dealt with a child in his vessel.

On cue, the water’s current propelled them up a steep incline. The wind blew at them with tremendous force, almost knocking off their hoods and welling their eyes with tears. After a few seconds, the wind released its grip on them and they were met with a blinding light. The entirety of Thalesia was in plain view. The clocktower and the church towered over every surrounding building, ships of varying sizes docked at port, people mingled and walked through the streets with little worry on their faces, and a massive wall guarded the four corners of the city.

“It’s beautiful…” Alden whispered with a gaping mouth.

“Isn’t it?” the attendant said. “I thank the High Lords for protecting us within these walls and the gifts they’ve given us to make our lives easier. May the Gods continue protecting us from the Haze.”

Alden turned to Leor, who kept his stoic gaze in the distance. It was clear that he did not share the same enthusiasm. Maybe, he’s seen this too often to be amused by it, Alden thought. Nonetheless, this was Alden’s first time riding the gondola and he planned on absorbing every detail of the view. Then, Leor muttered, “Hold onto your hood.”

“Huh?”

Alden felt his lungs drop into his stomach and the world turned sideways. Blades of wind carved through them, lifting them off their chairs ever so slightly. Finally processing Leor’s warning, Alden clamped down on his hood while saliva began to slither out his mouth. Children, who’ve gathered to watch the astonished faces of unsuspecting patrons, laughed at their stretched skin.

SPLASH. Water projected outward as they crash back onto the ground level of the canal. As the attendant pulled the lever to lift the boat out of the water, Alden looked at Leor with a smile. “We should do that again!”

The boat attendant spoke in a low voice, only for the three of them to hear. “Thanks for your business. I hope you have a good time, Lord Alden.”

They both held their breath and looked at each other, then back to the attendant. How did he know? Leor handed the man another five coins and glared at him. “Speak of this to no one.” Before Alden could thank the man, Leor pulled him along by the wrist.

“Look, if you want a peaceful journey to Lightendale, you need to listen to me and lay low. Got it?” Leor said with a scowl. It was clear he was upset, but he was mostly frustrated with himself for letting his guard down. If that was a trained assassin, he would’ve failed his mission before even stepping a foot outside the city.

“Fine, fine. Lay low. Got it.” Alden said as he led Leor forward. “Clocktower is this way, right? Come, let’s get this adventure started!”

“It’s not an adventure…”

“Miss, is it really okay for me to have this?” asked a homeless boy clutching a palmful of gold coins.

Bent over, the woman smiled back at the boy and brushed her drooping hair back behind her ear. “Of course, you need it more than I do.” Her eyes were as green as emerald and deep like a luscious forest. Her hair looked as though it was kissed by the sun itself and her clothes matched her purifying aura.

A man called out from behind. “Hey there, miss.”

She turned to face the voice with a smile, but it disappeared once she realized it wasn’t who she was expecting. Three men in armor approached her, walking out from the casted shadow of the clocktower into the sunlight.

“A pretty girl like you should know better than to console the refugees of the Haze. You might catch something,” snickered Fredrick as he circled her and the homeless boy.

“Ha, if it’s something you want to catch, I can help you with that,” Gord laughed.

Frederick stopped in his tracks. “Gord… that’s disgusting, man. I didn’t need to hear that.”

“Sorry.”

The woman glared at them. “Judging by your clothes, you should be with the Hydrian Guild, right? How could you speak like that to people who are in need? They did not ask for the Haze to push them from their homes.”

An arrogant laugh drew their attention. “Is it not the very fact that the Haze pushed them out that we should treat them as vermin? The Haze consumes the unfaithful after all,” Afzal said from afar.

“That’s not proven,” lashed the woman. “Even if it were true, we should not turn a blind eye to our kind.”

“Keep telling yourself that, princess,” said Fredrick, grabbing onto her wrist. “Why not hang with us instead? We all believe in the Lords here. I don’t see any insignia on your robes. Which family are you from?”

From behind a nearby shop, Leor and Alden watched the scene unfold. They arrived earlier but Leor jumped behind a bush and a pile of empty crates when he saw his fellow mercenaries. Would they reveal him as a Purblight? The risk of losing his high-paying client and having the Royal Stallions show up was relatively high.

“What are they doing to my apprentice!?” said Alden, squeezing Leor’s shoulder. “Leor, you need to do something!”

Leor responded with silence as he weighed his options. Talking it out was definitely not going to work. Maintaining secrecy was vital. Fighting all three at once would most likely draw the Stallions, but avoiding all conflict did not seem possible. She was already in their grasp. The streets were not too busy, so maybe a quick skirmish would be best. But how? Thinking back to the morning, he started to wish he prepared more thoroughly for his journey. The lack of action seemed to be dulling his foresight; he had to improvise.

“Unhand me, you sorry excuse of a man!”, Alden’s apprentice shouted.

Shit, no time to waste. “Alden, wait here and come out on my signal. We’ll need to make a quick escape.” Before Alden could respond, Leor jumped out from cover with a wooden crate in one hand and a handful of dirt in the other.

Dashing forward, Leor flung the crate as hard as he could but did not aim at any of the three. Instead, his target was the wall opposite of him. The crate exploded on impact, drawing everyone's attention. Leor took the seconds of brief distraction and whipped his fist square onto Fredrick’s chin, knocking the light out of his eyes and weakening his grip on the apprentice. Then, he shoved the dirt into Gord’s face, blinding him. Gord screamed and wailed his fist in multiple directions, trying to land a lucky blow on the unidentified assailant. Dodging the sporadic attacks, Leor rammed his fist into Gord’s gut, hunching him over, then followed it with a clean strike across the jaw. Both Gord and Fredrick collapsed to the ground with a thud, unable to catch a glimpse of their attacker.

Leor turned to Afzal, whom he saved for last since he was too far to takeout with the rest. Besides, he knew Fredrick would most likely be the one who brought the dispute to the Stallions. Gord just happened to be the unlucky fellow standing by him. Afzal, on the other hand, was too prideful for that. Leor knew he’d keep his mouth shut. Especially if he lost.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the damned heretic?” Afzal said, clapping.

Leor still had his face covered, but Afzal recognized those swords anywhere. Leor dropped his center of mass with fists raised. “Your turn, Afzal. Come.”

Afzal reached behind him and pulled out a shortstaff. “Even now you refuse to draw your blades? You do realize challenging me is a battle to the death, right?”

“Do you always talk before a brawl?”, grinned Leor with the intent of serving him a long-overdue beating.

“Tch. Such insolence. Praise the High Lords that you will not be bestowed a Saving Grace.” Afzal launched into the air with his hands overhead. Leor kept his eyes on him and stood still, waiting for the moment to counter. But Afzal dropped to the ground before reaching him, just shy of Leor’s arm length. It caught Leor off guard. Afzal looked up and jabbed his staff at his face. A yellow beam nicked his cheek as Leor barely managed to curve his head out the way, dashing backward to gain distance. Blood trickled down the open wound.

Leor shook his head in disappointment and grunted, “A Soul Arm…”.

Reluctance to use his blades was second nature. Not because he was afraid to dull them, that was part of it, but it was what his mentor hammered into his skull. His mentor’s voice prodded his ears every time he clutched on the handles of a weapon, “Look, I don’t care what you do. Only use your blades when you need to. Don’t kill if death is not required.”

“Yeah... I know, I know.” Leor muttered as he hover his hand over Inazuma, declaring that facing Soul Arms permitted use of his tool.

Afzal chuckled, twirling his spear. Light extended from the original base, forming a spear tip and making it much longer than before. About the same height as its wielder. “What? Saying prayers before you meet your end? It’s a little late to ask for redemption.”

His mockery did not reach Leor. Hunched over, one leg back, Leor’s eyes gleamed red with piercing concentration. After all, Soul Arms are tricky tools that should not be taken lightly.

Growing impatient, Afzal rushed at Leor, spear first, penetrating the air as he jousted his weapon forward. Light extended towards Leor’s chest. Locked onto the thrusting light, Leor pivoted his body. A black crescent flew from his scabbard, cleaving through the solid light into equal parts. Caught off guard, Afzal was unable to stop his momentum. Leor stomped forward, pulling his arm back, then drove the blunt edge of his weapon into Afzal’s side with enough force to send him into the pile of wooden crates.

Flicking any potential residue off the blade then sheathing it, Leor rushed over to the cart and waved Alden over. He reached out his hand to Alden’s apprentice.

“W-who are you?” the apprentice asked with a single brow raised.

Leor peeked through his hood. “Leor, your hired help. Now, come on. We need to get out of here before the guards show up!”

“Hold on,” said the apprentice while scavenging through her shoulder bag. She scurried over to Gord and Fredrick’s body and placed a bottle of green liquid next to them, then made her way back, taking Leor’s hand. She curled slender fingers into his. Her hand was small and gentle, smooth like a well-refined jewel. The way it fits in his hand so perfectly caught Leor off guard. She smiled at him with her teeth on full display. “Nice to meet you, Sir Leor. I’m Ceri Ainsworth.”

Alden slapped the end of the carriage and reached his hand out to Leor. “Ahem, what about me!?”

Hot air expelled from Leor’s nostrils as he pulled him up. This is going to be a really long journey.