We went into the village, but since it was still twilight, it seemed they were still all asleep. The only sounds were just birds chirping, or that’s what I thought until I thought I heard something else. I went towards that sound and I thought it kind of sounded like someone was fighting. I put my hand on my shortsword and rushed over. The sound was coming from behind a certain house and I encountered a shirtless man swinging his shortsword by a torch stuck into the ground for lighting. When he saw me, he jumped back a bit in surprise and immediately went into a stance. I raised my two hands up in the air.

“Oh, it’s just that traveler from the other day,” he said. “Getting ready to leave soon?” he asked while loosening his stance and wiping some of the sweat off his forehead.

“Actually, I- we have decided to stay,” I replied.

“Really? Aren’t you worried about the fog?”

“Not really. Besides, I don’t know if we’ll be leaving anytime too soon.” He looked at me, puzzled.

“Anyways, I see you were practicing…”

“Hmmm, oh, yes. Lately, I’ve felt I’ve been neglecting my swordsmanship a bit so I woke up extra early to train. Is that why you are up so early as well?” He pointed at my shortsword.

“Not exactly.” Tasha started to pull on my arm while pointing at her sword. Are you serious? “But, well, if you don’t mind, would you mind sparring for a bit?”

“A spar? Well, now that’s interesting! Sure, I’d love to test myself a bit against a mercenary.”

“Uh, I’m not actually a mercenary. And also, I was proposing a spar between you and my daughter.”

“What? Surely you must be joking…” Tasha looked at me with disappointment.

“Well, she is quite skilled.” He still looked at me dubiously but Tasha didn’t seem ready to relent either. “Just give her a shot.”

“Hmmm…well, I am a bit curious as to how skilled a mercenary’s daughter can be.” I was going to tell him again that I wasn’t a mercenary but Tasha just jumped right in and drew her sword. “Raring to go?” Tasha nodded and took up her stance. However, just as they were about to fight, a little boy walked onto the scene.

“Father?” the boy said, rather sleepily.

“Remi, what are you doing up so early?”

“I just kind of woke up and saw that you weren’t in your room. What are you doing out here?” he asked, looking at Tasha and then to me.

“Just practicing, son.” The man sighed. “Actually, I think I’ve done enough practice for today,” he said to us before turning back to his son. “Since you’re already up, shall I make us breakfast?” Remi nodded. “Oh, you two can join us if you want.” Tasha turned her head away from them, clearly upset that the spar was cancelled.

“We’d love to,” I replied for the both of us. She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment but I paid it no heed.

We went inside his house and we had a breakfast of berries and nuts. He apologized for running out of meat a couple of days ago. I said it was okay but this kind of breakfast did not please Tasha very much. As we ate, we introduced ourselves to each other.

“The name’s Bradley and this is my son, Remi. I am the guard captain of this village.”

“My name is Braith and this is my daughter, Tasha. We are just a pair of travelers.”

“Just travelers?”

“Yeah, just that. We aren’t mercenaries or anything like that. Anyways, you’re the guard captain?”

“Indeed I am.”

“What about that Farseer Jack Free?”

“Oh, he’s the leader of the entire village!”

“I see. Can you tell me more about him?”

“Oh, there are lots I can say about him, but…” he said, perturbed.

“But what?” I asked, leaning in slightly.

“I don’t think he would want me to tell you too much.”

“Why not?” I brought one hand to my chin while leveraging my elbow against the table.

“Not too sure, really. He just said that we shouldn’t be saying too much to strangers.”

“I assure you, we don’t have any ill intentions.” I looked over at Tasha and she put on a straight face and nodded.

“Well, I don’t really see why I can’t just tell you the same things everybody else in the village knows,” he relented. “Well, Jack Free used to be one of the Reapers for one.”

“Really? I’ve heard a bit about them.”

“Yes, the Reapers were a legendary mercenary group, probably the strongest there ever was. Jack Free was the wind Farseer, Wyvern. Even among the other Reapers, Wyvern was known for being one of the strongest. Well, not surprising since he did single-handedly crush an invading group of Battle-Hardened.”

“Yes, about that. Can you tell me more about that?” Thinking more about it, and thinking about Tasha’s strength, that really was a seemingly amazing feat.

“About how he defeated the Battle-Hardened?”

“Yes, that.”

“Well, you see, our village is made up mostly of Outlanders that used to be nomads. But, there are also a lot of us, like me, who used to be soldiers from Holtzan.” That instantly struck a chord with me but I stopped myself for the moment. “Well, I’ll be honest here, we were deserters. The battlefields just weren’t for us and we couldn’t return to our homes. So, we settled here with the Outlanders. Of course, we knew that one day, someone might be after us, either for deserting or being former Holtzan soldiers. That day came a year ago. A small group of Battle-Hardened soldiers came, seeking revenge for the war. We never even fought against the Battle-Hardened, but they didn’t care. Jack encountered them first in Reapers’ Pass and defeated their leader, but that didn’t stop them. They continued to our village and with us as archers, we defeated them all.” I really wanted to ask more about Holtzan, but there were things about that story that just seemed a bit off.

“So, you actually saw those Battle-Hardened soldiers?”

“Indeed, and they were quite frightening. The kind of rage they had when coming after us is hard to describe.”

“For how long was Jack Free a villager here?”

“We first met him on the day of the attack.”

“…what do you mean?”

“He came to warn us that some Battle-Hardened were coming to attack the village.”

“How did he know they were Battle-Hardened?”

“He defeated their leader earlier and took his branded shortsword.”

“I see…so, what happened after the attack?”

“Well, we celebrated a little bit, but Jack told us that we must be careful about future attacks.”

“Makes sense,” I said, not really meaning it. “So, what did he suggest? Did he train you all or something?”

“No, even better!” he began excitedly. “He told us of a way to keep our village protected forever!”

“And what is that way?” Here, Bradley’s expression suddenly soured.

“I’m sorry…that’s a secret,” he said, fairly emotionlessly.

“Oh, that’s okay!” I said, raising my hands slightly and smiling. “Your story was just so interesting that I really wanted to know more!”

“Jack really is quite amazing, isn’t he?” he asked, his face returning to normal.

“Yeah, he’s quite the guy. I guess that’s why you don’t mind that he’s Farseer.”

“Oh, I guess he’s also the reason why we got over that.”

“Hmmm?”

“We always used to think that Farseers and Battle-Hardened were people that we just simply could never get along with. But, after meeting Jack, I can say that not all Farseers are like that.”

“And Battle-Hardened?”

“Well, the ones who came after us were clearly the worst of the bunch. If Farseers can be good, I don’t see why Battle-Hardened can’t either. I guess this is also one of the reasons I love living here. It’s more refreshing than the towns in Holtzan where people only say awful things about them. Actually, where are you from, exactly?”

“Well, I’m actually from Holtzan too…” I replied, only somewhat lying.

“Really? Where in Holtzan?”

“I came from Befson.”

“Befson? Hmmm, sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever been there.”

“That doesn’t really matter; I haven’t been to anywhere in Holtzan other than Befson.”

“And yet you come all the way out here?” he said skeptically.

“It’s complicated.” Bradley nodded in understanding.

“Father, don’t you have to go soon?” Remi suddenly asked.

“Hmmm? Oh right! Thanks for reminding me, son!” Bradley got up from his seat. “So sorry, I’d love to stay and chat but I have somewhere I need to go.”

“Oh that’s fine,” I said, getting up as well. “Well, we’ll just be off to look around now.”

“Still not leaving for the north yet?”

“There’s no rush.”

“Well…okay then. Take care, anyways.”

The two of us left the house, but I was not done with my investigation just yet. Tasha and I found a place to hide in the bushes just on the outskirts of the village but still in view of Bradley’s house. After about five minutes, Bradley exited the house wearing a full set of leather armour. As he drifted from our view, we tried to follow by circling along the village’s perimeter. At times, our view was blocked by other houses, but eventually, we were able to find out his ultimate destination.

Bradley gathered with several other villagers in leather armour, including Jack Free. Bradley bowed his head, probably apologizing for being late, and then Jack Free started to say something to the rest of them. A couple of villagers grabbed the wagon and then they all left. Keeping a safe distance, we followed. However, I would like to note that sneakily following people while having all of your luggage strapped to your back is difficult. Well, at least for people who don’t have superhuman strength like Tasha.

After an hour-long trek into the forest, we reached the mountainside. Watching from the edge of the forest, we watched the guards bring the wagon to what appeared to be the scene of a major rockslide. Massive boulders and other rocks lay over the sloped mountainside over a distance at least a hundred yards wide. However, there was one large section of the rockslide that had been mostly cleared away. The guards took out pickaxes from the wagon and started breaking the remaining boulders from that section. Judging by the size of the section and just how many mounds of rubble there were, they had to have been working on this for months.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned around and saw another guard.

“Uh-”

“I thought I heard something. Nick, what are you doing here?” I heard from behind me again. I turned once more and saw another guard, followed by others. “And who are these people?”

“Sorry I’m late; I thought I had patrol duty today,” Nick replied.

“You do.”

“What? Ah, darn it,” said Nick. While the two guards talked, everyone else gathered, including Jack.

“You’re those two travelers…I thought you left with the merchant?” Jack asked.

“Well…something came up.”

“In any case, why are you here?” Normally I’d just lie and stick with it, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t work on this guy.

“We followed you here,” I replied. Tasha nodded.

“Why?”

“Because I was curious.”

“I see. Well, has your curiosity been satisfied now?” I’m starting to dislike this guy.

“No, I still don’t know what you are doing here.” Jack leaned his body back slightly while entwining his fingers.

“Well, that’s something you don’t need to know. What we are doing here shall only be known by the village.” I narrowed my eyes and thought about what to do next. Then, my mouth curled into a small smile, which instantly depressed me after recalling how Dennis looked earlier that day. I shook my head, cleared my throat, and continued with my new idea.

“Well, what if I join the village?”

“What?” Jack separated his two hands. “What do you mean?”

“Well, as I already said, I’ve left the merchant. This means I’m not really traveling right now. In fact, I think I’d quite like to settle down. Your village seems like a beautiful place so I was wondering if I could stay here. Of course, I am willing to work; for example, I can help with whatever it is you’re doing here.” The other guards looked at each other and a couple seemed to be somewhat in agreement to the idea. Jack sighed.

“It is not so simple.”

“What do you mean by that? What is it about me that means I can’t just settle down and live in peace?” Now the rest of the guards were in clearer agreement. Jack struggled with his words as he tried to think of something else to counter. To finish it off before he could regain any ground, I pulled Tasha in close to me. “I just want to find a nice place for me and my daughter.”

“Jack, I think we should let him,” Bradley spoke. The others nodded and Jack was forced to give up.

“Well, as long as he only has peaceful intentions, I do not see any reason why we should deny him stay in our village.”

“Thank you so much!” I nudged at Tasha to go along with me.

“Thank you,” she said sweetly. Most of the guards smiled.

“Now, I’d love to get to work right away! I’ve already got my shortsword like the rest of you and as long as there’s a spare tool, I’m sure I can help right away!” Jack turned his head away.

“Bradley, handle this while the rest of the guards get back to work.”

“Yes, Jack.” The rest of them left, as well as Nick who went back to patrol duty.

“So, shall I get started?”

“Not quite yet, Braith. You still need some armour.”

“Armour?”

“Yes. We need to guard this place from wild animals while working at the same time. You will need some armour to help protect you.”

“Where can I get any armour?”

“Go put your luggage in the wagon and then quickly catch up to Nick. He’ll take you back to the village and show you what to do.” I nodded and we hurried after Nick. After explaining things to Nick, we returned to the village and stopped by two houses. They each belonged to former Holtzan soldiers. They still had their leather armour but did not work with the rest of the guards because of permanent injuries. It took some convincing, or a lot of lying as you may call it, but I got Tasha some armour as well, although it was a bit big on her. In case you were wondering, the convincing involved stuff about how Tasha couldn’t bear to separate from me and all that business.

Having never worn armour before, I took a few moments to admire the look. I had on a leather helmet, boots, armlets and gloves. The main piece to the armour covered my chest and shoulders and had a pleated leather skirt. Dubious of its defense, I hit myself and was quite surprised to find how thick it really was and how well it softened the blow. Although, I still doubted how effective it would be against blades. Despite being oversized, Tasha was enjoying herself very much in her new attire. It still fit relatively well on her though, since the former soldier was a pretty small guy.

We then returned to the site and Bradley filled us in.

“I’m sure you are wondering what we are doing here, Braith.”

“I suppose I am a little curious.”

“Well, remember when we were talking about how to keep our village protected?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this is it. Jack has an ancient map that shows something is hidden right here in the mountainside. Beyond that rockslide, we are searching for an entrance to an ancient chamber. Inside that chamber is one of the Spirit Altars.”

“Spirit Altar?”

“Yes. Thousands of years ago, Midgard was first settled by many different clans. These first clans started Midgard’s original noble families. During that time, Midgard was home to far more dangerous beasts in the wild and none of the land was tame. The clans worked together to settle the land. Aside from their skills and strength, each of the clans also had a Guardian Spirit. Using the powers of the Spirits, all of the enemies in the wild fell before the clans and Midgard would later become what it is today.” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“If that’s true, then why should this Spirit Altar matter so much? I mean, wouldn’t the Guardian Spirits only help those original clans?”

“Uh…well, the thing is that some time, a long time ago, many of the original clans grew separate from those clans…” Bradley began his uncertain explanation, “but the Guardian Spirits still exist and will follow those that they deem worthy. Yes…”

“Okay…so…what is the plan?”

“The plan? Um, after we find the Spirit Altar, we will use the Guardian Spirit to protect our village.”

“Who is going to use it? Jack Free?”

“Well, the Spirit should only loan its power to someone worthy, and I don’t know anyone in the village more worthy than him.”

“How is Jack Free worthy?” My implicit insult struck a nerve.

“What do you mean?! Jack saved us! If it weren’t for him, there wouldn’t even be a village to protect!”

“But he is also a mercenary who has killed many people for money,” I countered. I spoke without raising my voice, in the hopes that Bradley would reciprocate. Thankfully, he did.

“What does it matter if he is a mercenary? At least that proves he has courage on the battlefield.”

“Is that a good thing?” I asked not to provoke, but to truly know Bradley’s opinion.

“…It is at least better than a coward who flees at their first chance…” Bradley lowered his head.

“But you fought for your village didn’t you? Doesn’t that prove you’re not a coward? You could have run away again but you stayed and fought.”

“That was only because Jack was supporting us! If it were just us…I’m sure I would have…” Bradley kept his head hung low.

“I don’t think you would have run again.” Bradley raised his eyes but kept his head low. “You have a family right here now. Do you really think you and the others would have taught their children to be cowards?”

“I’m sure I would have just convinced everyone in the village to evacuate…I would have made them give up their homes…”

“If everyone evacuated, then that would not be cowardice. Everyone would have been saved and you could have all lived on.” Bradley raised his head, but his expression may have gotten even worse.

“But what if I did just leave the others behind?” I stared hard into his eyes for a moment.

“You wouldn’t have.” Bradley turned away from him and stayed silent. I don’t know why I tried so hard to encourage him. Maybe he reminded me a bit of myself. Always assuming the worst about everything. Always imagining terrible things about himself. After enough time in Befson, I realized just how cynical I used to be. Right now, Bradley looks like an idiot, but the kind of idiot I want to help. Or maybe, I just don’t like it when people are so negative around me in general? It just unsettles the optimism I’ve gained.

I would have went on to say more, but then Jack came over.

“What is going on over there?”

“Oh sorry, Jack. Nothing, I’ll get back to work now.” I went to follow Bradley, but Jack stopped me.

“Hold on. You wanted to be a guard, right? Well then, you should patrol the forest around here to make sure no wild animals catch us by surprise.”

“Sure thing, boss!” I said enthusiastically. “Come on Tasha! Let’s go on patrol to make sure no nasty animals attack anyone here!”

“Um, okay.” Don’t worry Tasha; my mocking is hard to understand sometimes.

The two of us went into the forest, looking for nothing in particular. Things went by pretty quietly for about an hour, until I thought I heard something coming from the dig site. Would you call it a dig site, actually? Excavation site, maybe? Whatever. I heard something coming from there so I ran back, but a bear suddenly got in the way. Tasha smiled at me. I took a step back and nodded at Tasha. She drew her sword and rushed at the bear fearlessly. The bear attempted to swat at Tasha but she easily evaded the attack and cut right through the side of the bear. He let out a roar in pain and slumped to the ground. Tasha gave the bear some distance and waited for it to make the next move. The bear was smart enough to not try again and it left. Tasha’s momentary excitement instantly evaporated.

We arrived at the excavation site and found nobody there. My running immediately slowed to a walk as I scanned the entire site. I called out but there was no answer. Cautiously, I walked over to where the guards were working earlier. I went to the cleared section and saw that it was actually pretty deep. After looking around the rest of the site one more time, I descended down the path and came across an entrance. It was framed in stone bricks and I saw several rocks littering the ground. I guess they found the chamber.

The inside of the chamber was pitch-black. I called out for anyone inside but received no answer.

“I’ll go check out the inside first, Tasha. Make sure nothing sneaks up from behind me.”