Emeri took her stance and aimed her spear at Agard, whose facial expression remained glacial. He pulled a long, thin sword from his scabbard, which I recognized as a rapier, a weapon that wasn’t commonly used. Because of physical stats, there was little use for light, thin weapons, especially when they served a similar purpose as a normal broadsword.

Yet, Agard seemed confident, despite this. He levied his weapon at Emeri and took a courteous stance. A moment later, Everic’s father’s voice resounded throughout the training ground.

“Commence!” he announced. Emeri shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. White light coated her and her spear in a spiraling shape as she charged, coalescing in a single point aimed at Agard. Evidently, she had no intention of holding back. Good thing she hadn’t, too, because Agard’s form shifted minutely and a crystalline wall appeared in front of him, out of nowhere. It looked like a construct made of ice, though its azure colour made it resemble crystal instead.

Emeri didn’t halt her charge, however, and it only took a split-second more before her spear, along with all of her gathered power, slammed into the blue wall.

At first, Emeri’s spear seemed to stop, but as her power washed over the construct, it shattered into a hundred pieces. The wall served its purpose, because Agard was long gone when Emeri broke through his defences.

Instead of searching for her hidden opponent with her eyes, Emeri closed them and calmed her breathing. She was probably using some kind of active mana-sense, I guessed.

Sure enough, her eyes opened moments later, right as she jumped into the air in a white flash, while her previous position was buried under a small avalanche of ice-crystals. Agard’s form appeared out of a cloud of mist, which he used to stand on top of. He then jumped at Emeri while she was airborne, using his rapier along with a sharpened ice spike to attack her.

From the following exchange, I could tell that Emeri would win this. She used a single skill to rebound Agard’s attack, before launching herself at him a second time. He tried the same trick with the wall, but Emeri chased his shimmering form to the other side of the arena like a bloodhound, where she commenced a combination of attacks that I had last seen her use during our fight. She chained skill into skill, thrust into sweep, and attack into attack, which quickly started to overwhelm her opponent.

Even Agard’s stoic attitude was starting to crack under the relentless assault, his neutral expression hardening as he clenched his teeth. Several more times, he used the natural properties of his element to appear and disappear from sight, but Emeri wasn’t having it. I became enraptured by the fight, especially Emeri, as she displayed mastery over her skillset. Who knew how long it had taken for her to become that familiar with her weapon and skills?

Before long, the fight ended. It wasn’t because Agard had gotten overwhelmed, however. No, a strong thrust of Emeri’s spear had snapped his rapier right in the middle. He had moved to continue, a frustrated but determined grimace on his face, but Everic’s father had stopped the fight.

“That’s enough, both of you! Fantastic showing, well done.” He commented. On the other side of the training ground, I noticed Everic’s older brother sigh and put his head in his hands. Agard had a similar expression. One of frustration, even desperation. Was he really so prideful?

I had expected Everic to have the exact opposite reaction, but he only had a slight smirk on his face. His eyes still shone with bitterness, though. The earlier argument with his remaining family was clearly still on his mind. Despite this, he congratulated Emeri once we had stepped down onto the grounds.

“Good job. I’ll maintain my side of the deal, as agreed.”

Emeri, for one, was well pleased with herself. She attempted to maintain a neutral look, but I could tell from that proud little smile on her face that she was happy with her performance. Who could blame her?

Once we’d all gathered, Everic’s father broke the awkward silence.

“Well, that should settle your argument, no? Let’s try to get along as a family again.” He attempted lamely. Everic and his brother groaned.

“Is there any further point to this conversation? I’ll admit you won this time, brother. But don’t think you can count on these two next time. Better just surrender in advance, when the time comes.” the older brother said bitterly, before turning to the exit and marching off.

Agard moved to follow him at the hip, but Everic’s brother glared at him.

“You stay here, peasant. Your services are no longer required.” He growled out. Agard sunk to his knees.

“Young master, I!” Agard tried desperately.

“No need to call me that anymore, fool. Our deal is off.”

While this happened, bother Everic and his father remained apathetic to Agard’s plight, even as the demotivated man sauntered out of the arena.

“What was that all about?” I asked, half to myself. Nonetheless, Everic answered me.

“Agard never was one of our family’s official retainers. Instead, he used to be a guard from the inner city. He made a deal involving some kind of medicine with my brother a few months back, and has remained as his servant since. Now that his work turned out to be for nothing, he must be quite distraught.” He commented, as if he was talking about a bug.

For some reason, Emeri seemed to empathise with Agard a little more than Everic or I.

“Why don’t you take him as your servant instead, then? He seemed quite powerful.” She tried, but Everic shut her down.

“I have no need for my brother’s hand me down’s, let alone losers. Now then, I must be off. I’ll have your map delivered to the city gates in a few hours. Just ask the guards. None dare steal from our family within this city, don’t worry.” He spoke, before marching off himself. His father nodded at us a final time, before joining his two sons, while Emeri and I were escorted back to the gates of the mansion by a pair of guards.

“I feel bad for Agard.” Emeri commented quietly while we walked.

“Why?” I asked. “He’s a peak tier 3. No classer that powerful would have a hard time looking for well-paying work. If it came down to it, he could just run a few dungeons and sell the spoils.”

Emeri nodded, but remained unconvinced.

“True, but he wouldn’t have started serving such a… pompous… b- brat like Everic’s brother!” she said, stuttering while she forced the insult out.

I chuckled internally, amused by how forced it had sounded, but then mulled over what she had said. It indeed didn’t make any sense that he would serve someone like that for no reason. What had Everic said… a medicine? That could explain it… Some medicines, potions, and pills were incredibly expensive. He hadn’t looked sick, though… A family member, maybe? That would explain his desperation, were that the case.

I shared my thoughts with Emeri, before giving her some advice, though I knew it sounded slightly cruel.

“Caring about strangers and wanting to solve all their problems never ends well, Emeri. When it comes to big issues like this, there isn’t much we can do for Agard. It’s better to just let it go, lest it festers in your mind.”

Emeri’s brow frowned and her face turned red in anger at my words. Immediately, I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut.

“Caring about strangers is a sign of empathy, Arthur! I can’t believe you would dismiss something like this so easily!” she replied angrily, chewing me out. Not having expected such a response and not wanting to fall out with Emeri, I hastily retracted my words.

“Sorry.” I said awkwardly. “I just wanted to comfort you, since I noticed you were looking down.”

Emeri huffed, but noticeably calmed down. Then, a devious smile appeared on her face.

“As an apology, you’re coming with me.” She replied somewhat bashfully, before walking towards one of the mansion’s guards.

“Coming where?” I asked hurriedly, attempting to follow her brisk walking pace.

Instead of answering me, she addressed the guard.

“Hello there. My friend and I would like to know if you know Agard. We were invited to his home, you see, but we’ve gotten lost. It’s the first time that we’re in this city.” She lied.

The guard looked at us, suspicion evident in his eyes. “Agard hasn’t invited anybody in ages. Why should I believe you?”

Emeri turned red in shame, having been caught red-handed, and froze up. Clearly, her earlier boost in confidence had been dealt a severe blow, so I took over.

“Listen, sir. We’re not actually friends of Agard, more like acquaintances. Thing is, my friend here had a bleeding heart and, apparently, think we can somehow help him out. Just do us a favour and send us on our way. Hells, you could just come with us if you wanted. Besides, you and I both know that Agard doesn’t require protection.” I explained.

Slowly, I could tell that the guard was becoming convinced.

“All right, fine. I’m on patrol anyway, I can spare some time. I doubt you’ll be able to provide any help, though.”

Sure enough, the guard led us down a series of streets. After about ten minutes of walking, we arrived at an ordinary-looking townhouse and the guard knocked on the door.

Slowly, the wooden door creaked open, and Agard stared back at us. His eyes looked haunted, and his hair was a mess, too.

“Maven? What are you doing here? And why are you together with these two?” he asked.

“Just let us in for a mo’, Agard. For some reason, these two here managed to convince me that they want to help you.”

Agard’s eyes widened, and a small spark of hope appeared in his eyes, though it quickly died a moment later, grim resignation taking its place.

“It’s futile. But thank you regardless.” He said sincerely, looking at Emeri and me, before slowly closing the door. Before he could shut it, however, Emeri’s spear was stuck between the door, her eyes fiery.

“Open the door and accept any help we can give, before I make you.” She growled, scaring even me.

A shudder went down my back and before I knew it, the four of us were sitting around a humble dinner table. The house seemed oddly quiet and dusty, as if nobody lived there. Furthermore, there was barely any furniture, or even anything in general. Apart from the wooden floor, a table, and a few old chairs, the place was empty.

“So what exactly is the issue? All we know is that you had a deal with Everic’s brother involving some medicine.”

Agard snorted bitterly.

“Yeah, I did. Until it fell through. In exchange for winning ten matches for him, I would receive a special kind of medicine called the ‘Heart searing liana’. Some kind of plant from deep within the dark forest, apparently. In Roa, only a few are grown within greenhouses because of the difficulty growing them, and Everic’s family have a specimen.”

“And you can’t get your hands on this plant by venturing into the dark forest yourself?” I asked, intrigued, but Agard shook his head.

“It grows in a tier 4 monster area, which means that I would require a party to go there. Even then, most would see it as a suicide mission, and I can’t afford any adventurers or mercenaries. Don’t bother looking for a quest here, I have no reward to give you. I already sold all of my equipment long ago.”

“Can I ask why you need this plant? Are you ill?” Emeri asked.

Agard answered her question with silence, at first.

Then, he finally spoke.

“My wife. She’s sick. It’s taken everything we had to keep her alive until now, but if she doesn’t get help soon…”

“We’ll do it.” I decided, interrupting him.

“Do… what?” Agard asked, confused.

“We’ll get you this ‘heart searing liana’. Free of charge. We were heading in that direction anyway.”

From the way Emeri looked at me, I could tell that had been the right move.