Soon, everyone had made their way back to their place on the carriage.

When Jon sat back down across from Mercy, he handed her tool back to her.

“Thanks,” Mercy said, taking it back and hooking it to her side. “I wanted to know if that would work.”

Jon nodded. Now that he gave it back, he had noticed that it was as if a large burden had been released from his hand, almost as if he was carrying something heavy.

“Oh yeah, one more thing!”

Jon and Mercy turned to Mallory, who waved from his place at the front of the carriage. “It’s possible to drain your mana reserves too much, to the point where you even die. Try not to do that!”

“Okay…” Jon said.

“The more you use mana, the more efficient your body becomes at molding it. So, you’ll be able to do more stuff for longer… but you don’t do much of anything, so you should be fine.”

Jon nodded. Even if he was fine, he would need to look out for the others. They used much more mana than him, and seeing how affected they were after the first night, it seemed that they could easily expire themselves again.

Mallory turned back to the front, and the carriage began to move.

As they did, Jon noticed that Mercy had looked dour. Her normally peaceful inexpressive face now had something that was pulling at her.

Mercy noticed Jon staring.

“You look worried,” she said.

“You look worried,” he responded.

She gave a small smile. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Just thinking about my family.”

Family… Jon had happy thoughts thinking about his family, but maybe Mercy had something different on her mind. Like Hector.

“Do you miss them?” he asked.

“No. I don’t know. I like training. They’re all jerks, but it feels good to punch them in the face. Not all of them are jerks, but…”

She didn’t finish. Jon didn’t know what else to ask.

“Can you tell me about your family?” she asked.

Jon nodded.

Before he knew it, the carriage had made another stop.

Jon looked to the front. He was astonished to see a large grey wall that extended into the forest on both sides.

In the center was a large gate with a knight in the largest grey armor Jon had ever seen. That record had previously belonged to Hector, but now Jon saw that there were easily more chances for him to be surprised.

Jon didn’t know what was being said. All he could see was that the armored man had approached Hector.

Hector pulled out a small roll of paper and handed it to the knight.

When the knight didn’t take it, Hector unrolled the piece of parchment and held it to his face.

The knight used his hand to push up his own visor. Underneath, Jon saw that the man didn’t look anywhere as threatening as he predicted him to be.

“Okay!” The sound was faint, but the meaning was clear.

The man stepped back and waved to the gate.

The metal gate raised slowly until the path was clear.

The wagon moved forward.

Even before they passed through the wall, Jon could hear the massive amounts of shuffling ahead of the wagon. As they emerged on the other side he was amazed by the view.

He had always thought that the Apartha Townsend was crowded, but this was all at an entirely new level. People were almost quite literally smothering each other as they walked through the line of stands that outlined the central path.

Mercy saw Jon’s expression.

“Crowded, isn’t it?” she asked.

He nodded.

The wagon easily turned into the shuffle of the crowd, the people silently moving aside so that the wagon could join the rest of the horse-drawn vehicles traveling through the town.

Eventually, the wagon turned into what Jon assumed was a stable.

The four of them climbed out of their respective spots.

“It’ll be nightfall soon,” Hector said as he reached into a pouch and pulled out several gold coins. “We’ll spend the night here and continue tomorrow.”

“Me and Jon are gonna explore the town,” Mercy said. “Right?”

“Right?” Hector turned away from the man to who he had just given money. “We should stay together. We don’t know who is after you.”

“There’s no proof that anyone is after me,” Mercy said. “And besides, I’m not defenseless.”

“Burt what about Jon?” Hector continued. “You’re only thinking of yourself!”

“Hector!” Mallory interrupted Mercy before she could yell. “Let the kids have fun, man. She’s right. She’s a Highlander you know.”

Mallory turned to Mercy. “And you promise not to run away, right?”

Mercy rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

Mallory turned back to Hector. “Is that fine?”

“...Whatever.”

After they made their way to the inn and Hector paid for their room, Mercy grabbed Jon’s hand and whisked him away, ignoring Hector’s complaints. Jon was pulled by Mercy through the crowds. Having Mercy’s hand in his made Jon feel a little tingly, but overall, he was happy that he wouldn’t get lost in the sea of people.

Eventually, they stopped at a booth with a ton of silver weapons.

“Take your pick!” The overly dressed man standing next to it said.

“Definitely!” Mercy began to shift through the weapons on the stands.

“We get them from overseas,” the man began to brag.

Jon was happy to see Mercy excited. It was nice to see her without the constant worry on her face.

He decided to turn and watch the people pass him by. There were all sorts of people of different ages, body types, and skin tones. Jon quite enjoyed the change of pace. He would maybe see a few people every day, if not just his parents. All of the faces that passed him by made him feel less important, which was good.

While he scanned the crowd, he noticed a figure dressed in white garbs. They wore a cape and a large headdress that revealed only their eyes, which seemed to be staring at Jon.

Jon stared back, wondering if that really was the case.

He wondered if the figure would come by and ask a question. Instead, the person began to sway side to side before setting off into the crowd.

Jon frowned. Did he stare too long? Maybe he should have walked up and said something.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m ready.” Mercy said. She was holding another sword. It was flat and almost seemed to resemble a plank of wood due to its square shape. It wasn’t like any sword Jon had seen, but he probably should have been used to seeing new swords by now.

Jon nodded. “Okay.”

Mercy took Jon by hand back to the inn, which Jon was grateful for, seeing that he would have never been able to find his way back.

Hector and Mallory were sitting at a table with food in front of them. When Jon and Mercy approached, Hector suddenly stood up.

“There you are!” Hector cried. “What took so long?”

“Relax,” Mercy said as she and Jon took a seat at the table. “We’re back.”

Hector growled but took his seat again.

He began to cut into his meat. Jon noticed that his food had been untouched before then.

“We were waiting for you to eat,” Mallory said. “He’s just hungry.”

“I don’t care, I just don’t want to do any more princess hunting.” Hector began to stuff his face with food. Jon figured Hector must have been waiting a long time.

Suddenly, Mercy stood up and drew her jagged metal sword, raising it as she faced towards the entrance of the inn.

Hector jumped in his seat in surprise before fumbling to stand up as well.

At the door were two figures in white. Jon recognized the smaller figure. It was the person who was watching them from earlier.

Next to them was a taller figure in the same white garb with their hands held out in surrender.

“Please, we wish no harm,” he said. His voice was soft, and yet, there was a scratchiness under it that Jon had usually connected to an older man’s voice. This man didn’t seem old.

In fact, his height reminded Jon of his brother Jason. Jason was the oldest and tallest of the siblings, but he had a smaller figure than Ben. And yet, because of his work on the farm, he had muscles that filled out the rest of his body. Even underneath the heavy clothes, Jon could tell that this man was just as toned, in not more.

“Who are these people?” Hector asked angrily, struggling to step out of the table and draw his sword.

“They’ve been following us since we’ve gotten here!” Mercy said, not taking her eyes off of them.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hector yelled.

“Because I didn’t want to worry anyone!” she responded. “Not until it was serious. People watch me all the time!”

“It is serious if someone is watching you!”

“You guys aren’t here to fight?” Mallory asked two masked figures. Mercy and Hector stopped arguing, intent on hearing their answer.

“No. I’m not. I’m here as an ally.” The man answered. “My name is-”

There was a loud buzz. Hector reached into his pouch his free hand and pulled out the red gem, which was flashing with light.

“Shit..” Hector said quietly.

“You should answer that,” Sabez said. “I’m sure it will answer your questions.”

“...Shit!” Hector’s curse was louder this time. He wandered off into the back of the inn.

Jon noticed that the other patrons in the rest of the inn had gone more or less back to their business.

“Do you want to sit?” Jon asked.

The shorter figure looked up to the man.

The man nodded. “Sure. We would be honored.”

Even underneath the robes, Jon saw what was unmistakably an eye roll from the short figure before they both took a seat at Jon’s table.

“I am-”

“Food first,” Mallory interrupted. "You should order your food. And then introductions.”

The man nodded. “That's a sound idea indeed.”