"Burn the bodies and fan out for any lingering hideaways," Stiggs commanded his squad of imperial soldiers. Then, he wiped his bloody claymore on the disfigured body of the corpse he just created. Bodies litter the grasslands leaving a stain of visceral red on the natural green background.

"Yes sir!" Captain Wendy saluted arm over chest, then barked repeated orders to the rest of the squad.

While moving west, they have ran into three bandit groups in the past few days all deep within The Empire's borders, grouping in sizes large enough to raid a small village. Stiggs' party encountered no mages which meant that he was being slowed down by mere peasants with toothpicks, a serious hindrance to his duty. If he had more time, he would conduct a proper investigation, but his mission was one from the Emperor himself.

Returning from the search, Captain Wendy pulled forward a rope tied to a beaten and bruised red shirt bandit, diseased scum of the earth that besmirched The Empire in Stigg's opinion.

"Kneel." She pressed her standard issue imperial sword against the skin of the bandit’s throat, just enough for it to slightly break and bleed. The man compiled without any hint of resistance as he seemed resigned to his fate.

"Whose bidding do you follow?" Stiggs looked down on the man as if he were a fly, insignificant and worthless.

"..."

"If you tell me who you serve, I will not only let you live, but I will give you a horse and this here coin."

Stiggs threw a small leather pouch in front of the bandit which jingled as it hit the ground.

"... Lord Barlormor my Lord."

Without concern, Stiggs casually swung his sword severing head from shoulders in one swift movement, splattering fresh blood all over Captain Wendy.

"Sir?" Captain Wendy asked with a raised brow, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe off her newly recolored armor.

"Lord Barlormor is dead. Our spies sent messages saying he was poisoned last week. Somebody is playing games and we've been killing pawns."

A man who stood against violence, Lord Barlormor was a baron in the Tellfuir Kingdom which bordered the Sparrow Kingdom to the west. Tellfuir Kingdom belonged to the Sovereign Queen, a title very much earned.

"We continue west. The longer this takes the harder it will be to find the boy."

Remounting his war horse, Stiggs steered for the Sparrow Kingdom's capital, a place with the resources to speed things along.

0---0

When I really think about it, The Beauty isn't so bad, mostly because she hasn't killed me yet. Correction, a few days ago I changed her nickname to The Beast, calling her a powerful mage was underselling it. With both eyes barely registering her movement, I've seen her in action and it's like brenda doll meets super soldier. Whenever she moves, she flies around the treetops without disturbing her surroundings, clearing all stray animals in our path.

Because of her pointy ears, I have deduced that Elf clearly ran through her veins which means she's from the northern forest. I've never been there myself, but stories say they are super racist. Unlike The Empire which welcomes every race, the northern forest only allows natives to come and go as they please, an informal rule enforced by penalty of death. To counter wandering people, the elves propped up trading and war outposts right outside their forests, a smart way in my opinion to keep in contact without allowing others to step into their home. It has been like that for as long as anybody can remember so nobody seems to question it.

"Sooooooo, what's for dinner?"

My stomach grumbled loud enough to back my claim, a growing hunger everyday. Clicking her tongue, The Beast rolled her small eyes and darted off to find something, usually berries or nuts.

I have no idea what im doing with this woman, but she brings me food on demand. Only an idiot wouldn't use it and abuse it to the fullest. Sitting down on a rotten log to rest, a dead rabbit was tossed in front of me, furry coat and all.

"Skin it," she voiced directly overhead, crouching on a high branch.

With little noise, The Beast landed gently and sat cross legged on a similar log across from me, expecting work to be done.

"Uhhh... how?"

With another audible click of her tongue, she muttered several what I believe are elven curse words. Without knowing my purpose here, I don't know what she expects from me, maybe to become her pet. Not such a bad thing if food keeps getting thrown toward me.

Previously, I lived on the small scraps of richer men, those who never knew hunger. On many occasions, other children and orphans like me banded together to steal from such merchants. Traveling from village to village I would meet with total strangers and group snatch what was within reach, a skill easily learned. Hunger bonded us and words were rarely exchanged. Fortunately, the best part was that the rich didn't care enough to retaliate. They made so much profit that what we took was considered meager losses in their eyes, since most were contracted to the Emperor himself.

"Do you have any worthwhile skills?" Her face read that it was a rhetorical question.

"I know how to steal stuff..."

Immediately, The Beast frowned and I have a terrible feeling wash over me. I realize that for some reason she found value in me and that value was plummeting at a rapid rate, one I cannot afford to lose.

"I'm also a mage!" I blurted out before she decided to ditch me in this forsaken forest, death would surely follow quickly if that option were pursued.

Oh how fast her frown turned upside down, almost disturbingly quick. Was she there when I left the caravan? Did she see me kill those men?

"Show me."

Rubbing my palms, sweat starts to form and drop down my forehead as I think of an excuse to get me out of this one.

"I don't know how...."

Better tell the truth now I guess. It'll only get worse later. Except, contrary to what I thought would be her reaction, her smile grows wider.

"Does this mean you have no master?"

"Nope, just good ol me."

This seems to re-raise my value because The Beast was absolutely beaming. Does this mean she thinks I'm a mage? How come I don't know if I'm a mage or not. This is way to confusing, being a mage should come with a manual.

"Close your eyes and feel the mana within your body." The Beast isn't blinking so this means serious business.

I do as I'm told and look inward toward my soul. Holy shit, why is there so much mana in here? This wasn't here before, at least I don't remember it that way.

The Beast’s voice drifted through, "Follow the flow until it all intersects."

My mental projection glided down the dark blue stream like pathways until several streams converged. This kind of felt just like my mushroom trip. Tehehehe....

"Focus!" the beast shouted.

Mystical powers at play, how she found out I'm not focusing is beyond me, a seventh sense only she possessed.

"I'm here, at the center of the flows."

"Do you see a core? It's almost impossible to miss and can also be seen in many different shapes and sizes."

"...No?"

"Interesting... Now what do you want."

"What?"

"Answer it."

What kind of question is that? I want lots of things. I want delicious food. I want a big house. I want a girlfriend. I want a Dad. I want a Mom. I want a hug. I want you to stri...

It takes me a moment to leave lala land and really think about things.

No... I know exactly what I want.

A large flame ignited where the mana streams collided, and my entire soul went dark. The flame reappeared alone with a flawless black glass bead directly in the middle. Burning strong, it kept folding and molding into a solid blue sphere; this was no ordinary sphere. If I looked close enough, I could see white glowing engravings. While entranced by their mysterious glimmer, the secrets of the soul were engraved within dancing before me. Unfortunately, it was all out of reach. It was as if I would never be able to read those secrets for as long as I lived.

"Congratulations Esried. You have been reborn."

If that were the case, then why do I feel like this wasn't the first time?