In the forest that surrounds the Eisensargburg villa, lord Azerback stood, surrounded by his entourage of soldiers and lesser nobles. Their eyes were all pointed at the corpse of the assassin. His face was nothing but pure wrath.

"He..." He gasped "This cannot be, this cannot be!"

His eyes turned to Kilo and he smacked the man so hard that Kilo's golden tooth fell out of his mouth,

"My... My lord!"

"You stupid bastard!"

"Eek" Kilo cowered back unable to fight the fury of his master,

"Grrrr Aaaaaaah!" Caleb, unable to contain his fury proceeded to beat Kilo down with his foot. "You stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"Please master!"

"My lord, let us be calm."

Those sudden words irritated Caleb once more and he turned his eyes, ready to unleash his fury onto whoever tried to speak up to him only to see a large man with dark skin facing him down, his arms crossed leisurely as he smiled widely, "It would be terrible if you were to suddenly die now would you?"

"Are you trying to say something huh!" Caleb's wrath began to slowly ebb, but being in front of him he found himself rather irritated more than angry, probably because of who this man is.

"Nightstalker was one of a kind, a great assassin, though he has his problems... That said, if a mage managed to kill one of our best assassins, then you must have brought yourself a rather powerful opponent, Caleb von Azerback?"

The man grinned as he uttered the duke's name without any titles, this normally meant that the man would be beaten at the least but the duke was powerless to do much against this man. Instead, he kept his anger to himself and turned his attention to another matter.

"And how does your organization intend to take responsibility?"

"It's my, no, the Black Hand's fault now? We weren't informed of an exceedingly powerful combatant that our enemy has." His voice was filled with mock exaggeration, as if he was trying to lead Caleb into attacking him, "We were hired to protect your home, as far as I am aware, the villa still stands?"

"I too wasn't informed that your 'greatest' adventurer assigned for this was that weak... Gold rankers truly are just that, shiny and weak."

"Oi oi oi... Nightstalker wasn't weak, not at all. But the Black Hand wouldn't let this shame go unrepaid, as you have said we intend to correct our mistakes thus if you are willing to pay, say, 1000 gold coins then we shall see to it that this man dies."

"1000!?" Caleb gasped, "You... What idiotic garbage are you spew-"

The man interrupted, "A thousand, indeed. Let me remind you that this man is capable of escaping from a diamond ranker and to top it all of its Titan himself. Unless you want to see the Bismarcks march their army down with him at the helm then I suggest you surrender half of your capital's yearly income if you wish to live that is... We might have to kill the Bismarcks outright so there is added premium."

"And... And how can I be sure that you will not fail?"

"We. Will. Not. Fail." He replied, "The Black Hand is not small or weak that it won't be able to bring down such a weak fool. If we so wish we can even have Jotam killed. We are, after all the most powerful organization within the eastern continent." The man then grinned widely, "So... When do we expect the payment?"

Caleb contemplated the offer before turning his eyes at the corpse of the assassin, his mind was in confusion but he could see that he had no choice, thus, defeatedly he replied, "Monthly..."

"Good..." The bald man nodded as a soldier approached him, he began to whisper into his ears. Once finished he returned his attention to the duke, "So about this mage..." His eyes scanned the surroundings which were littered with the scars of the battle, "Isn't he a slave? How come you didn't use the magic?"

"Well, he was branded..." Caleb replied as he turned to Kilo,

"We... Uh, cough cough, they forgot to apply the magic ink... Sadly,"

"I see..." The bald man nodded,

"But..." Caleb spoke up before he could, "I want him alive and brought back to me... And so is Nicole got that?"

"Of course, of course, that said we hope you don't mind us borrowing this mage from time to time..." The bald man then stretched his hand for a shake, Caleb left it hanging for a while before shaking his hand, "A pleasure doing business with the great Azerback himself."

*

Isaiah soon made his way once he saw Nicole was safe and sound in their company. He decided to march down the path opposite them in hopes of finding those cities she mentioned before, finding a job was the first in the line of business for him, and being registered to an adventurer's guild seemed like the best scenario as of the moment,

'If they exist that is.' He chuckled. 'Well they should be, otherwise, a mercenary company might do the trick... Anything that involved fighting.'

He continued on his path, sticking close to the highways whilst ensuring that he was deep enough in the forest to avoid detection. That said, he found his current situation rather boring. Though they rarely engaged in small talk before, her mere presence alone magically made everything brighter and long quiet adventures more fun, whereas right now, only an ocean of loneliness awaits him.

He hung his head low, ignoring his hungry stomach and parched throat, only moving his legs forward without a care for anything. For hours on end, he continued to walk and walk until he found a road junction that came from the opposite forest, both roads were made of the same material but it seems that further ahead, the composition changed dramatically, from the clay road to a rock and dirt one instead.

He paused momentarily and looked around, there were no signs, no symbols anywhere, he couldn't tell where one led, but he knew they led to something.

'That said, where is the city?'

Nicole had mentioned a city in the east, but it was a two days walk from there, if he didn't find sustenance quick he might not make it. And thus he sat down and rested his foot whilst trying to figure out where to go next, as he was contemplating his situation, a small horse-drawn carriage suddenly appeared from the road in front, it was driven by an old man wearing a leather hat. The thin, old-looking man eyed Isaiah suspiciously but soon they passed by him.

'They must be heading somewhere big,' He thought to himself as he felt his stomach rumble even more. He had officially lost his bearings, the sun has disappeared from the clouds, and Isaiah was too hungry to wait for said clouds to move out of the way, thus, having no knowledge of the localities of this place and the hunger in his stomach he decided to follow after the caravan in hopes that he would find his way inside a city.

'I should've just joined Nicole, at least then I could eat or something... She did say her father will turn me into a knight... Damnit, why do I always make the wrong decisions?'

He walked slowly, so as to avoid suspicion and because his foot was tired of the constant walking. And thus seconds turned to minutes, which in turn turned to hours. And Isaiah followed after the carriage at a considerable distance, deeply regretting his actions of abandoning Nicole and going on his merry way. With his eyes, he could see two faces peek out from the curtains curious to see about this ill-dressed stalker of theirs.

The morning then turned to noon, and as the sun was setting the carriage suddenly stopped. Out came a rough-faced woman carrying a pitchfork whilst behind her, the driver appeared and raised his ax,

Isaiah stopped not too far,

"You there... Get away!"

"There is nothing to worry about," Isaiah replied,

"Worry? You are a thief, here to steal all our goods,"

"No, I am not, I am simply making my way to Koln if you be so kind as to tell me where..."

"Nonsense," The thin man shouted, "What kind of poor beggar would be here in the first place?"

'Poor beggar? Is it because of my clothes?' Isaiah asked himself as he looked down, indeed he was only wearing what could be described as just long rags. He responded, "I was attacked on my way here, they robbed me of my goods and horses and brought me along whereever this is... I simply need to find myself back to Koln."

"Is... Is that the truth?"

"Yes." Technically it was he thought.

"Then show me your hands and turn around!"

Isaiah readily complied,

"That! What is that over there, a weapon!" The thin man pointed to his hips but no matter where Isaiah looked he couldn't really find anything, "You are a thief, you lier!"

"No, I am not... What can I do to make you believe?"

"Then... Lie on the floor with your face to the ground..."

"What?! Why?"

"Just do it!" The thin man shouted and Isaiah sighed before complying, all those fighting from before physically drained his mind. He was not in the mood for any kind of fighting at the moment,

Once Isaiah was on the ground, the thin man quickly bound his hands while his wife searched his person for any kind of weapon. "He's clean,"

"Right..." The thin man unbounded Isaiah, "Forgive me... Yes, we were just attacked by bandits, so..."

"It's alright," Isaiah waved his hand, "It's good to be cautious"

"So, you wish to find your way to Koln then?"

"Yes... So if you could tell me where it is then I can leave."

"If you are heading to Koln, then, are you an adventurer?"

"Ah no, but I do plan to become one why?"

"But you have no weapon with you?"

"I am a mage you see..." Isaiah lifted his arms and it erupted into lightning. The thin man then turned to his wife who nodded her head. He then returned his eyes to Isaiah,

"A mage... I see I see. Well if that's the case then why don't you join us? Koln is two days travel by carriage and we too are heading there."

'Two days for real, by carriage?' Isaiah managed to hide his surprise at being offered a lifeline and nodded. "Ah, that would be great..."

"But, I don't plan on taking on squatters... You did say you plan on becoming an adventurer right? Most of them do escort duties for merchants and lords, I guess you could start your first quest with us. I plan on paying you once we arrive."

"Fine by me."

"Right then, your name?" The thin man asked.

"Isaiah" He gave his first name, having realized that this man might be someone beneficial to his adventuring career in the future.

"Isaiah, right... Ephillus," He introduced himself by lowering his hat, "This is my wife Aria," the lady nodded as they slowly made their way back to the caravan, "As I said we are heading for Koln but as there are many bandits around I'd rather you be with us for safety. As for pay, hmm, 1 silver coin... That should help you out,"

"Indeed," Isaiah nodded his head. He wasn't too sure if he was being cheated here or was the man generous as he had no idea how much a single silver coin really was worth, but considering it wasn't bronze he believed it should be alright,

Ephillus looked at Isaiah and nodded to himself before quietly returning to his post at the front, his wife motioning for Isaiah to join them in the back. As Isaiah stepped inside, the first thing he saw was the rows of boxes placed on the floor, he couldn't tell what was inside as the boxes never made a sound whilst the carriage was moving. Sleeping on top of the boxes were two boys and their children.

Aria placed her finger on her nose, telling him to remain silent, as she pulled out a pillow and a more decent set of clothes for him to wear. Isaiah bowed respectfully as he began changing, though having to strip in front of a woman was quite embarrassing he nevertheless changed quickly. The clothes felt quite comfortable and not the rough itchy kind of clothing Isaiah was expecting, though it was just a simple shirt and rough trousers.

Aria then threw away his old clothes which stank of swamp water before making her way towards her son's, lying herself near them, her eyes still watching Isaiah as the latter leaned over to the edge and closed his eyes. For nearly ten hours straight, he walked and walked without proper rest. Back on Earth, Isaiah rarely did physical activity so all those running and fighting made him very tired, and thus he was happy to finally end his journey of a thousand steps.

He turned to Aria and saw her still looking at him, even if she had heard his hungry cries she made no effort to produce some kind of food. And thus he decided to just ignore his hunger, surely these people would feel guilty and give him some food later on, even if they are just scraps he would be happy.

Stretching himself in the small empty space he then closed his eyes, in less than three seconds his body succumbed to his drowsiness and went back to sleep.

*

"Brother..." Isaiah was shaken awake as a voice whispered to his ear "Brother..."

He opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar place, that said it was the face of his friend at school that surprised him the most, "Josh..." Isaiah quickly got up and yawned grandly, "You're here?"

Josh did not reply as he leaned his body to the left,

"Ah, Josh? Is there a problem?" Isaiah asked as Josh turned back to him,

"You know you lied to me... Brother... Brother..."

"Wha... Josh?" Isaiah found himself looking at the green eyes of another man as he opened his eyes,

The boy tilted his head, as Isaiah slowly got up and wiped his hair, "Aah... Your, your one of Ephillus and Aria's sons..."

He nodded as he took a plate from his side, "Mother told me to wake you up and give you this, also my name is not Josh, I am Quincillus."

"Quincillus... Yes, good evening... I am Isaiah,"

"Mother told me already." The boy spoke coldly, "Anyway, you should eat before going back to bed, mother said you can have nightmares if you are hungry."

"Sleeping paralysis," Isaiah murmured as Quincillus nodded slowly despite not understanding, before heading outside. Isaiah peeked at the flaps and saw that the night had already fallen, Quincillus joining his brother in washing the dishes while their parents sat beside the campfire. Aria was busy pondering over her book with a quill in her hand while Ephillus was operating an abacus, his head looking at the scroll to his side.

'They are merchants then?' He turned to the boxes to his side and found one of them somewhat open, he decided to take a peek. He was greeted with the strong scent of spices through the darkness, but his unfamiliarity with spices didn't tell him what it was. He dipped his hand and tasted a bit, 'Mmm... Is this Indian Curry Spice or something, it's kinda spicy and sour...' He quietly closed the box, the sudden intake of flavor in his tongue reminded him of the food he was prepared.

A bowl of porridge and some disfigured bread. He quickly partook in his meal as the night dragged on.