“Welcome, customer! I’m Khaled, how may I help you?”

A black-skinned man sat behind the stall: He had short dark hair, an unkempt thick beard, a pair of brown eyes, and a sharp-pointed nose. A bright white smile was plastered on his face, showcasing a row of uneven and slightly dirty teeth.

Arthur moved his eyes to the goods on display. There wasn’t much, and most of it was fruits and vegetables. On the side, however, there were yellow-colored stones of different sizes and shapes. It was sulfur.

“What can you tell me about this village?”

“Ah!” Khaled seemed a bit disappointed that Arthur didn’t ask about the merchandise, nevertheless, he responded earnestly.

“It’s just like any other, kind sir. We have a tavern, some tents for visitors to sleep in, and a mine right beneath us. If you are looking for magical artifacts, then that pointy black tent over there is the place to go.”

He raised his hand and pointed to the right, approximately 15 meters away. There was a tent bigger than the rest, shabby-looking, but unique nonetheless. From its small entrance, you could see that its interior was dimly-lit.

“We don’t see as many visitors as before, but there’s nothing we can do about that. It’s like rain, you can never predict when it will come.”

Khaled chuckled and stared at Arthur for a couple of breaths, as if pondering about something.

“Kind sir, pardon me if I say something offensive but are you a noble?”

“I’m not. Why would it be offensive?”

Khaled hesitantly opened his eyes, “W-well… nobles don’t have a very good image, do they? I’ve never met one myself, but I heard they like to buy slaves, spend money on useless stuff, and indulge in questionable acts. I’m no scholar, but I know that nobles have… ahem… hair colors that look different from the norm. Gold, silver, red, you know…”

Khaled appeared a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed, even his voice became audibly lower.

“I’m not a noble, don’t worry.”

Arthur leaned forward and picked a couple of apples.

“How much?”

“It’s 1 Copper for each one, but you can have them for free!”

“I can pay-”

“Please, kind sir. It’s just two apples. If I may be so bold as to ask you to put a good word for our village if you visit the big city. You look like one who has travelled to many places.”

“Thank you.”

“You have a great day, kind sir.”

Arthur, accompanied by Evelyn, left the stall and headed toward the black tent.

“Want one?”

“They look unwashed, Master. They might make you sick…ah! I had almost forgotten you were a parasite.”

“I’m trying to be nice.”

She looked at her from the corner of her eyes before accepting the apple. She took a small bite and comically tried to swallow it.

…

“Greetings!”

Surprisingly, the interior of the tent was big. Illogically big. It was definitely somesort of a spell, which only added Arthur’s interest to the owner.

He wore a wizardly blue robe and wore round and old spectacles. His face was full of wrinkles and a particularly long white beard, one that reached his chest.

“Have you come to take a look at my wares, travelers? Look! I’ve got all sort of interesting stuff.”

Before Arthur could say anything, the elderly man quickly walked one of the shelves and started rambling,

“This spherical glass is imbued with Fire Energy. With a bit of Mana, it can warm its surroundings and help you in the frosty nights here in the desert. It only costs 57 Blakin Silvers! This small branch is made of Ivory Wood! A 2nd-grade Artifact that facilitates Mana control and accelerates the casting of spells. Very useful for a mage! 2 Blakin Golds! Oh oh… and this here…”

[Magick Sense]

Arthur focused on the old man, his eyes seeing beyond the target’s flesh. He saw the flow of Mana, as well as its density and purity.

Contrary to his eye-catching wizardly attire, the old mage had an average quantity of Mana. Above that of a normal person, but not by a lot. Furthermore, the flow of Mana from one body part to the other was strangely irregular, which was a first for Arthur.

After all, even normal people, those who never even harnessed Mana, would still have a regular and consistent flow.

‘Is he sick? That might probably be the case.’

The realm of Magic and what it could do was still studied by the current Era's finest scholars and sages. Arthur’s knowledge of it was limited albeit reading some books about the fundamentals. Just as it could allow a person to cast destructive spells or perform wondrous things unachievable by the not-so-advanced Science of this world, it could also do the opposite and lead to diseases and permanent physiological backlashes.

“I’ll look around for a bit.” Spoke Arthur as he walked to the shelves furthest away from the old man.

“O-of course of course!”

Arthur and Evelyn saw him approach them with rapid steps. He stood right next to the parasite, caressing his long beard and nodding his head as if he was contemplating something.

“Yes yes… that talisman is very good. Water-aspected. It acts like a well… also a helpful item to have in the Desert. Not makes the necessity to have water gourds and whatnot obsolete. It’s as light as a feather too. 1 Blakin Gold.”

Arthur wasn’t that bothered by the overly-enthusiastic old mage, who clearly was desperate to sell something.

“My Master will tell you if he finds something interesting.”

“Master? Ah… yes yes! I will be right here if you need anything.”

He took half a step back and kept sizing up Arthur while muttering under his breath.

Arthur busied himself with the many artifacts on display. Everything looked different from the other, and due to them being arranged in a very disorderly manner, it was difficult to guess their purpose.

There was a broken silver cup, an inner chainmail armor that had a hole at its center, a crystalline 1 meter-long staff, etc…

“Miss, I see that you’re good with swords.”

The mage glanced at the twin double-edged silver blades sheathed on both sides of her waist.

“I’ve got these lovely thing-”

“I’m not interested.”

“I see I see! How about an ever-lasting perfume! It will get rid of any foul smell or-”

“I’m not interested.”

“A magical comb that freshens the hair and-”

“I. Am. Not. Interested.”

When she empathised every word, her tone cold and assertive, his shoulders dropped. He put the comb back and dejectedly backed away.

…

“Please come back again! I’m open all day and night! I’m always here!”

From beginning to end, the old man didn’t stop pestering and showcasing his artifacts.

Arthur didn’t find anything that interested him, and when he asked the old mage about the village, he got an uninteresting and unsatisfactory response. It was apparent that the elderly only wanted to talk about artifacts and their prices.

“I don’t know what’s worse, Master. The fact that he tried to sell us broken and useless artifacts or the fact that he was pretending to be a mage.”

“Pretending?”

“No sane mage would dress in such an outfit, nor would they stay in a village in the middle of nowhere. A proper, real mage would be sought-after by nobles and other wealthy people. Assuming he’s really a mage, he would have been able to kill some of the monsters in the desert and sell their body parts to profit. It makes sense for him to try and sell defective goods like that… and in such a place.”

“That’s reasonable, but he could have a reason stopping him from leaving.”

“I’m glad that you didn’t buy anything from him, Master. Rich as you might be, It’ll still be a waste of money. The apples would have been worth more than that junk. Also, the prices were exorbitant.”

“If you say so…”

Arthur chuckled and looked around, but the village had little inhabitants and nothing that was remotely interesting. It really was a place to rest and sleep before continuing on their journey.

‘I’ll go check the mine later. Maybe I’ll find a useful host.’

Arthur hoped that something exciting or worthwhile would be found here, but it wasn’t the case, alas. He understood that not every place he visited was going to be filled with intrigue and adventure, but he still felt slightly disappointed.

Jader and the rest kept circling around the boundaries of their territory and when they found no monsters or travelers, they decided to stop for the night.

However, as they were going back, they spotted a camel running on its own.

Jader’s steed neighed as it started galloping at full speed, quickly catching up to the camel.

He got down from his horse and inspected the camel, noticing some blood on its back. It wasn’t its blood, but it was recent and had yet to dry.

“Isn’t this one of the Amris’ camels?”

“...”

Jader’s face turned serious as he looked around but spotted nothing suspicious.

“Gehrab and Lira, you two go back to the village. The rest are with me.”

The Amris is the name of a tribe adjacent to Jader’s village. It was bigger than theirs and saw more visitors and travelers as it was closer to the ‘main road’ leading Eastward, toward the city.

It only took Jader and the other three a little over 10 minutes to reach the Amris Tribe. However, even from afar, the village, which was situated outside and not a cave, lacked any type of illumination.

In fact, it was deadly quiet. Jader glanced at the night sky, focusing on the shining full moon. He muttered a prayer before he pulled the reins of the horse, making it march slowly.

“On your guard.”

The men held the reins with one hand and their weapons with the other. They were ready to fight if something were to attack.

As they got closer, they smelled the nauseating stench of blood. It got stronger and stronger, and when they were at the entrance, they saw blood trails on the ground.

At the center of the circularly-shaped village, there was a literal heap of bodies.

All of them were lifeless and most seemed to have been brutally murdered.

“By Ghammon! T…they’re dead! All dead!”

One of Jader’s men yelled as he got off his horse and ran to the heap of bodies.

“Look around and be careful!”

They all split up and checked the tents and the two buildings in the village. Sadly, there was no one inside.

“The children are missing.”

After covering his nose and inspecting the corpses, Jader noticed that only adults and elderly were killed. The children, which didn’t number that many, were amongst the dead.

“The Sultan must be informed of this!”

After searching for ten minutes, the four gathered at the entrance. They all had pale faces and looked pretty terrified of what they had seen.

“Khar and Barry, you two return to the village and guard it. Jalo, you go to Virant Village and see if something happened there. Let’s go!”

Jader got on his horse, which started galloping at full speed. The distance to Raml Asfr City was considerable, but Jader had to inform the Sultan of this atrocity.

An entire village was massacred and the children went missing. This was no common attack from raiders, nor was it an attack from a simple beast.

Somewhere in the Desert

A creature of ungodly appearance, its red eyes shining under the full moon. The gargoyle-like creature stared at a small cage, which housed 7 unconscious children.

“Such bright and fresh souls!”

When a creaking wooden door behind the creature opened, it immediately dropped to one knee and lowered its head.

An old man who wore a long robe entered. He had a long face with dirty wrinkled skin riddled with green and disgusting rashes. His eyes, dark and ghoul-ish, focused on the children before switching to the gargoyle.

His hands were so thin, protected by a deathly-pale skin akin to a corpse’s. He pulled down the hood and revealed his bald head, which was dented in the middle and had black spots all over it.

“What is this?”

He spoke with a chilling and rotund, carrying it with displeasure.

“Did I not tell you to stop consuming souls? Your body will not handle it anymore.”

“Master.” Responded the gargoyle, though it didn’t offer an excuse.

“And at such a crucial time too.”

The old man, known as the Devil Doctor, raised his long index and pointed it at the gargoyle.

After a couple of breaths of eerie stillness, the large creature let out a shout of agony. It fell on the ground and writhed in pain, but it didn’t dare to beg for forgiveness.

“I did not create you to add to my problems. I have made a deal with the Sultan, so you’ll return them.”

The pain had passed and the gargoyle gasped for breath as its scales cracked and shattered. Its bat-like wings were trembling as it didn’t dare to raise its head.

As he didn’t hear a response, the Devil Doctor creased his brow, his eyes turning even colder.

“You killed humans?”

“M-master…”

The Devil Doctor used his magic again, but this time, one of the gargoyle’s wings was ripped off by an invisible force. Black and sticky blood gushed out, splattering on the ground as the gargoyle convulsed and writhed for a good one to two minutes.

“Return the children and don’t come back here. I don’t want to see your face right now.”

The gargoyle stood up with difficulty and grabbed the small cage. Although it was still experiencing excruciating agony, it still obeyed its Master’s orders.