Alythia

The three of us sat at one of the tables on the first floor of the Adventurers’ Guild building, quietly eating our meals. We were in the outer city right now, apparently, the branch I always visited in the inner city wasn’t the only one.

“Why would it be?” Finn asked, gobbling down his meat-laden pasta, “It’d be ludicrous to only have one in the inner city and expect people to constantly pay the gate fee.”

“I guess so.” I was led astray by those isekai stories from Earth. It made sense when I think about it, there was nothing stating a city could only have a single Adventurers’ Guild branch.

We had registered our party of three with the Guild. All three of us were Gold-ranked. Elara has qualified for promotion, all she is missing now is a recommendation from another higher-ranked adventurer. Looking through the request postings, nothing caught our eye. After our recent windfall, none of us were interested in any of the available requests.

 Elara spoke up "Want to head to Astralis? The capital."

"Oh! Sure. Let's go" I nodded.

Finn finished his pasta and wiped his mouth, seemingly mulling over Elara's proposition. “Aye, sounds like a plan to me. Though, I’ll need to drop a few things off at my place before we head off.”

I glanced at him, curiously, “You’re from Caeloria?”

“Born and raised, yeah.” He responded, chuckling a bit at my surprised expression.

With the plan of action settled, we paid for our meals and left the Guild's building. The sun was beginning to set as we navigated through the city, moving from the bustling marketplaces and grand buildings of the inner city to a quieter, less opulent neighborhood. As we ventured further, the streets began to narrow, buildings grew closer together, and we found ourselves walking through a labyrinth of back alleys.

Judging by rundown surroundings, this was clearly a less affluent area of the city.  I didn't realize it until now, but the inner city mostly consisted of humans with some elves scattered around. The markets in the outer city had more diversity, but definitely not as much as here where humans were the minority. There were elves, flugels, dwarves, and a myriad of beast people with distinguishing cat, fox, and wolf features.

'Did we enter the slums?'

The three of us stood in front of a worn-down building in the slums of Caeloria, our footfalls muffled by the worn, dusty cobblestones. Compared to the grandeur of the inner city, this place was worlds apart. It couldn’t even compare to the 

"So, you’re a beggar!" I retorted, a teasing smirk tugging at the corner of my lips, recalling his earlier jest about me.

“Used to be” Finn admitted, a nostalgic smile tugging at his lips as he unlocked the creaking front door. “Grew up here with my mum, though she passed away a year ago.” There was a note of sadness in his voice as he added the last part, prompting me to regret my words. 

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I decided to change the subject. As Finn stowed away his belongings, I looked around the humble abode.

Soon enough, we were ready to set off again. The great country of Concordia lay ahead of us, the second largest country, outmatched only by the expansive Alsanar Empire to the south. Our path would first take us northeast to the bustling port city of Portus, and then to Astralis, the capital situated near the country's western border. From there, we could potentially continue east to the artistic country of Alvaria or head north for the island country of Ardenia.

As we planned our journey, I realized something. The labyrinth we'd previously explored lay in the same direction as Portus. ‘Maybe we could get some more gold?’ I thought. We had already explored it once, so it should be easy to go through it once more and top up my purse. I mentioned this to my companions, proposing we pass by the labyrinth and recover some more gold. A mischievous grin spread across Finn's face at my suggestion.

“More gold, you say? How could I refuse such an offer!” He declared enthusiastically.

Elara, ever the calm counterpart to Finn's exuberance, simply nodded her agreement, "Sounds like a sensible plan."

With our course of action planned, we proceeded to gather the necessary supplies for our journey. As I picked out a few more flavours of dried jerky, Finn raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey Alythia, why don't you have a wand?" He asked. 

I looked at him and shrugged, "Don’t need it." 

"You mean you can use magic without a wand?" Elara questioned, sounding surprised.

“Yeah.” After my wand self-destructed during our grand fight in the labyrinth previously, I discovered that my hands worked just as well, if not better. Plus, the flexibility of not relying on a tool was quite appealing. It would probably be better if I got a higher quality wand or staff, but those aren’t something I could afford right now  

“Of course, I’ll take a staff if you’re offering. There’s an emerald staff on sale down the street.” I added teasingly.

The duo stared at me for a moment. Magic without a tool was unheard of. But they had seen what I could do, so after a beat, they just shrugged and moved on.

We finalized our preparations and after the lunch rush, we set off from Caeloria, on foot. The city's bustling streets slowly gave way to the tranquil countryside before turning into lush rolling plains void of civilization. We traced our path from our last journey, the familiar terrain easing our travel. The rolling hills on either side, dotted with patches of colorful wildflowers, made for a picturesque view. 

As dusk settled in, painting the sky with hues of purple and orange, we went about setting up a campsite, gathering wood, and starting a fire. Finn, with his supposed knack for cooking, was left in charge of preparing the meal. The mundane series of tasks gave me a sense of peace I hadn't felt in a while.

With the comforting warmth of the fire and the not-so-appetizing food, we sat by the fire and ate. As we finished up our meal, Finn sighed contentedly, patting his belly. He glanced up at us, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames. 

"I’ll start. As you know, I grew up in the slums of Caeloria, with my mother." he started, a nostalgic smile creeping onto his face. "We didn't have much, but we had each other. She did whatever she could to put food on the table. I became an adventurer as soon as I was old enough, thinking I could change our lives. And to be honest, it did. I was good at it. Life got better. But...a year ago, my mother... she passed away from an old illness. It's just been me since then."

There was a certain sadness in his eyes, but also a resilience that was admirable. He looked at us, his smile returning. "Anyway, enough about me. What about you, Elara?"

Elara looked thoughtfully into the fire before responding. "Both of my parents are retired soldiers. They trained me in the traditional elven combat styles.” Seeing our intrigued faces, she continued, "They couldn't agree on which weapon was better, so they taught me both. Thought it would be good for me to have options. I wanted to practice my skills and see the world, so I decided to become an adventurer. I'm still learning, but I like it."

"The Elven army?" Finn interrupted, leaning in with interest.

Elara shook her head. "No, the Imperial Guard."

The awe was evident in Finn's eyes as they sparkled in the firelight. "Wow! But why did they retire?"

She sighed softly, her gaze returning to the fire. "They were disillusioned with the civil war, thought it was senseless and futile. They didn't want to be part of it anymore."

"Hmm, that's unusual" Finn mused, his brows furrowing slightly.

Despite the gravity of the conversation, the evening carried on in a relaxed atmosphere, a testament to our strengthening bonds. With the sharing of our pasts, it seemed like we had taken a step closer to understanding each other.

She looked at me, "And what about you, Alythia? What's your story?"

I hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. "I... I don't really remember much. One day, I just woke up in a forest. I don’t remember anything before that, but I met a kind man named Elric who took me to his village, Naloria. I stayed there for a while before coming to Caeloria. That's it, really." I could see the curiosity in their eyes, but they didn't press further. We all have our own stories, some we were willing to share, while others would stay secrets buried within our hearts.

“That explains it. I just thought you were dumb.” Finn teased.

"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed, my eyes widened in surprise. The unexpected comment broke the serene atmosphere, causing Elara to chuckle softly.