It was evening by the time Furgen’s carriage rolled into the small village. It really was small too. Vanners had seemed small to me, but later I realized that my mind just had a different scale for when it came to settlement sizes.

  Back on Earth, Vanners would have been considered smaller on the town scale. Sadim was best described as a loose collection of buildings all in the same general area. It was still a good amount of building, but still on the smaller side. If I had to guess, about a hundred to two hundred people lived here. Assuming that most of the houses had at least two or three people living in them.

  It had a rather homey air to it. A nice little place to retire to after a life full of work and struggle. The type of place where you could relax for the rest of your years as you watched children play in the streets and neighbors went about their days. The image was rather picturesque, or at least it was while it was in my head.

  Because I saw none of that when we entered the village proper.

  At first, while I was a bit disappointed, I didn't think it was too off when I saw so few people out and about. But the growing looks of confusion and concern I saw on Danny and Furgen’s faces told a different story. Clearly, something was off here.

  “Where is everyone? Even during the evenin’, you should still see more people goin’ about their business. Mr. Furgen, is this normal here?” Danny’s words broke the silence that had descended upon us ever since we had entered the village.

  Frugen was already shaking his head before Danny finished speaking. “No lad, something is definitely wrong right now. Came through here not too long ago while delivering a shipment of Klesh. It was just fine back then. I remember there being some talk about bad luck with the crops, but something like that wouldn't have people hiding in their house.”

  At Furgen's words, my eyes darted to some of the openings in the house. Sure enough, I saw people hiding inside the homes. Some were sneaking glances out at us and I saw fear in their eyes before I lost sight of them. Something was definitely not right.

  The carriage eventually found a place to stop by what appeared to be some kind of inn or tavern. It was a decently large building, bigger than most of the buildings in the village. It was also the most active, as even from the outside I could see a fair few people milling about inside. It looks like the type of place that you imagined in some kind of adventure game. The kind of place where you would go to get some kind of rumor to start a quest or something.

  That thought, along with the state of the village, left a pit forming in my stomach.

  Furgen led the Furnest, pulling the carriage into a stall next to the building. A young boy who was probably fourteen or fifteen years old came out to greet us with a smile. He was rather plain-looking, the kind of person to perfectly blend into a crowd. I couldn’t help but feel he was slightly off though. The smile he had given us felt rather plastic and when Furgen spoke to him about putting up his Furnest, he simply hummed in response rather than speak. Then again, with the looks we had been receiving ever since we got here more than likely he simply didn’t trust us or something along those lines.

  Before long, Danny and I were out of the vehicle as it was parked and the animal that had pulled it led to a nice little stall to relax. Furgen absentmindedly told us to head in and book a room for ourselves and just ask if he would be allowed to stay in the stables with his furnest. He didn’t even look at us as he spoke, instead heading into the stables to presumably keep an eye on his coworker.

  While Danny adopted a look of uncertainty, I simply nodded and turned to walk into the building. I noted that after a second my travel companion followed. Clearly, the novice Mage felt unsure about how to handle things in the new setting he found himself in. I’d seen it before and I didn’t blame him as I took the lead and opened the door to the building.

  The inside had the same type of rustic vibe that the outside did. Old wood held up a creaking building, years of love and care showing all over. The main floor was full of small four-man tables with smaller one or two-man tables against the walls. A bar was placed along one of the walls with a tiny rack of bottles placed against it as well. There were maybe one and a half dozen people in the building, most of whom were sitting at two tables that had been pushed together. A few people sat alone off to the side nursing whatever drinks they had. Finally, an older man sat behind the bar talking to a younger woman who was sitting at said bar.

  Instantly, the second I entered, all eyes turned to me but I didn’t hesitate as I continued to walk into the room. I did my best to pretend I didn’t notice the stares. I noted that many of them had a distrustful look to them. One or two even had a look that would have made me leave the building altogether had I had other options. Still, though it wasn’t the first time I had a stare-down like this.

  It took a few seconds, but I arrived at the bar where the older man and the younger lady were. Both had stopped talking and looked at me. The older man was about my height with graying brown hair and a messy but trimmed beard. The lady had the same brown hair and even looked similar enough to the older man that I was pretty sure they were related. The man was giving me a smile that didn’t seem as wide as it should have been while the lady was looking at me with the same distrustful eyes as many of the others in the room.

  “Hello Sir and Madam. I’m Alexander and it's a pleasure to meet you in such a fine place of business. I’m here with my dear companion Danny traveling towards the city of Dreshabor. Our carriage driver, a fine man by the name of Furgen, decided to stop here in this lovely little village. I was hoping to find a room or two to stay in with the others in my party. Do you provide such service here?”

  I placed a practiced smile on my face as I looked towards the older man. The room was just as silent as it was before but different now. From the corner of my eye, I could see the looks of distrust fade into confusion. The younger woman was now looking at me with an eyebrow raised up and a look of amusement and the older man’s smile became a bit less forced.

  Confusion was easier to work with than distrust and paranoia.

  However, just as I was about to open my mouth for a follow up Danny’s voice spoke up behind me. “Hey folks, sorry about the intrusion! Great place you got here. Is any of ya the owner of that big manor? The one ya see when ya comin’ from the western side of the village. I wanted to ask about that garden you had out front. I saw it had Frozfren in it and I wanted to ask about that. It’s so hard to grow without buryin’ snow on it every day.”

  Once more a silence came over the tavern as all eyes turned to look at Danny. Said man seemed to have gained some confidence while I spoke but the many eyes on him once more caused him to look nervous. However, just as it seemed like I might have to do something one of the men suddenly downed his drink before waving the novice Mage to the table he was sitting at.

  “Over here sonny! That be my home ya talkin’ about. And you're right it’s downright required to bury the little shits in snow to get them to grow. Lucky I got this new Skill not long ago to help!”

  The large man spoke in a deep voice that had an accent similar to Danny’s. Speaking of the tanned man, he smiled and moved over and excitedly started to ask questions about the Frozfren and other crops he saw by the man’s house. Soon, others at the table were drawn into the conversation. Within a minute or two, the tavern seemed to go back to a more normal atmosphere as speaking and drinking once more resumed.

  I found myself a bit dumbfounded by the situation. I had a little speech and everything somewhat prepared to calm everyone down and Danny just did it by…being himself. I was thankful but that didn’t stop a cold and creeping feeling in the back of my head from making itself known before I forced it back. I was so busy doing so I didn’t notice the lady who had been at the bar get up beside me. Well, I didn’t notice her until she started speaking.

  “Ya friend seems to have beaten ya to the charmin’ contest there Fancyman. Now ya we're talkin’ about renting a room or two from my Pa?” The young lady’s voice had a very southern belle quality to it. The kind I had heard in high school, with some girls trying to use it to talk to boys they liked but her voice seemed to have a natural quality to it, unlike those girls.

  I once more plastered a charming smile on my face as I turned to speak to her. “Yes madam, we were. Furgen, the carriage driver I was speaking about, says he’ll stay in the stables for the night to look after his Furnest. If you have two rooms available for me and Danny over there, I would love to rent them out. It has been a rather long journey and it’s been a good few days since I was allowed to sleep in a nice bed with a roof over my head.”

  She chuckled a little at my words and shook her head in what I presumed was amusement before speaking once more. “We only got one room open right now, some bad stuff has been happening’ around town and some of the locals are staying here for safety. That said, it’s got two beds in it so ya should be fine. Names Bailey by the way, not madam.”

  I widened my smile a little and did a small bow to her as I spoke in turn. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Bailey. As I said before, I’m Alexander and that is Danny over there. We were traveling from the Town of Vanners, where he’s from, to Dreshabor. A single room would be just fine for our purposes. Am I too assuming the fine gentleman behind you is your Pa?”

  Bailey’s expression continued to be amused as I spoke and I noted that her eyes roamed over me a little as well. Considering the pleased smile she had while doing so hinted that she liked what she saw. Hopefully, I can use that to get a lower price.

  By the time I was done speaking, Bailey already had her mouth open. “Yep, that's my Pa Levery over there. That said, I’m the one with the Speaker Class and he’s a man of few words, so he prefers me to talk business. I’m sure a charming man like yourself is perfectly fine talking to a little lady like me.”

  Despite being phrased as a question, I knew that her last sentence was entirely rhetorical. I also noticed the fact that she was a Speaker Class, one of the classes that I had narrowed down my choice for. At this time, it was either Speaker, Mage, or Artisan. All the others I had decided against for various reasons. It sounded like a perfect opportunity to fish for some info.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “A Speaker you say? My, that must make talking to the fine folks around here much easier. I must admit I would have liked to pick the Class on my Coming of Age, but circumstances led to another choice. What is it like being one? I would love to hear you talk a little about it Miss Bailey.”

  A small blush appeared on her face as she turned away to try to hide it from me as a pleased smile settled into place. “I almost don’t believe that ya're not a Speaker there Fancyman. Ya got an interestin’ way with words. I’d hate to see what would have happened if ya had picked it. The Charisma Stat makes it easy to get along with folks and talk to them. The few Skills I got from it ain’t too bad either. One of them helps me calm down some of these boys when they get a bit too much drink in them.”

  I nodded my head in appreciation as I noted the info down mentally. I already knew that the Class affected what Stats you would have but still didn’t know how much of a change they brought. Nor did I know why there was a Personal Lv and a Class Lv rather than just one combined Lv. But that wasn’t really something I would be asking a stranger. It was info I would try to pry from Danny later. Though there was something else that she could explain a bit about.

  “Thank you for the insight Miss Bailey. If you don’t mind me asking about what has been happening around the village? I had a rather gloomy feeling as we came into the village. Many of the people living here were giving me and my little party some distrustful looks. I do hope everything is ok in such a lovely place like this.”

  I knew that I might have said the wrong thing when Bailey froze and a more neutral expression took hold of her face. “It’s nothin’ a traveler like you should be worried about. Just a little problem that we can take care of ourselves. Don’t worry your little head Fancyman. Now, why don’t you show me some coins and I can show you the room that you and Farmerboy over there will be stayin’ in.”

  I grimaced a little on the inside at her reaction. It’s clear that the village or at least Bailey felt rather strongly about outsiders dealing with problems in the village. In hindsight, I should have eased into it a bit. I grew up in a place with a similar atmosphere. Problems in a town or village tend to want to be solved by the people in said town or village.

  In the end, it was my own fault as I fished out my coin sack from within my trench coat. Bailey’s expression had eased up a little but still had a bit of a guarded edge. I suppose that I should take my mistake in stride and at least learn from it. I thought about saying something else to try to get out of the little hole I had dug but figured that it was better to simply move on and not dig further.

  I’d also be a liar if I said I thought I would be getting a discount like I had hoped.

  Luckily, the room didn’t cost too much and covered the fees for Frugen staying in the stable and the food we would be getting in the morning before we left. I took a moment to tell both Danny and Frugen about the situation. The former didn’t acknowledge me too much, he was a bit too busy speaking with the others in the tavern and making fast friends with the farmers of the community. The latter thanked me for doing the talking and handed me some of the rations that would be enough for both me and Danny for the night.

  I didn’t socialize too much afterward and instead decided to allow Danny his fun and stayed in the room that he and I would be sharing for the night. It wasn’t too big but it had enough room for two small beds and a few luxuries. The open window showed a view of the main road that runs through the village. Entering or exiting on the western and eastern edges of the place.

  It was a rather nice view or would be if the people of the village had been out and about. At the moment, it almost looked like a ghost town with how empty it was. Besides the people exiting the tavern or a single individual here or there I didn’t see anyone. Eventually, as the golden sun started to dip below the horizon, I decided to get out the leather journal I had on me and once more start practicing my writing and reading.

  It was about an hour into my work that I heard footsteps coming closer to the door which opened to reveal Danny. I had expected him to be wearing his usual smile on his face but I was met with a small frown instead. I also noted as he walked into the room that he was rubbing his fingers together which was a habit he had when he was unsure about something.

  Something was wrong.

  I kept my face neutral as I bookmarked the page I was currently writing on. As I did so, Danny made his way to his bed and sat down. The tanned man looked out the open window and upon seeing the village seemed to grow more concerned. I cleared my throat to catch his attention and once he turned his head toward me I spoke.

  “Is everything ok Danny? You seem rather upset over something at the moment.”

  He didn’t take long to reply, “It’s what some of those folks downstairs said. I wanted to see about getting a better look at some of their farms but they said no. Not because they didn’t want to but because of the disappearances that had been happening around the village.”

  I hummed in response as I realized that he probably had succeeded where I had failed and learned about what was causing the gloom around the village. Once more, a cold feeling made itself known in my head before I once more shoved it into the corners of my mind. Jealousy was never a good look.

  Danny seemed to take my hum and silence as an opportunity to speak again. “So over the course of this year’s Time of Air and Time of Fire, people have been goin’ missin’. Not too many at first but it started happening more and more as the year passed. A few days ago, during their Harvest Festival, half a dozen people just disappeared overnight. Everyone’s spooked and can’t agree on what to do.”

  We sat in silence after Danny finished speaking. The novice Mage was clearly upset over the whole situation. I was saddened by it too but it wasn’t mine or his problem. It was clear from Bailey's response that she and probably most of the community didn’t want outsiders to interfere with the problem. If Sadim wanted to take care of it then I was more than willing to leave them to it while Danny and I moved on towards Dreshabor. With that thought, I moved to open my journal once more while thinking of something to say to comfort Danny.

  The next words out of his mouth stopped that.

  “The Mayor put in a request to the Guild for some help. But no Adventurers have come so far. Not enough of a reward from what they said. I think I'm going to stay and take the quest.”

  I froze as if his words were the howl of a Winter Wolf. Only there was no unnatural chill that stole away my movement like they did. Only a feeling of foreboding as Danny gave me a determined look after speaking those words. Ideas and scenarios flashed through my head as I imagined an inexperienced Mage trying and failing to find the monster behind this.

  I see Danny’s corpse rotting away.

  My mind calms as I refine my thoughts while once more putting away my journal and turning back to Danny with a neutral expression. I should have known that he would have done something like this. He was always talking about helping people as an Adventurer. This type of situation was something my companion had dreamt of.

  Danny’s family flashed in my mind for a few seconds. His mother’s words. Asking me to look after a boy who was in over his head. A father looking on proudly, even with fear in his eyes. A brother and sister ignorant of the dangers their sibling was soon to face.

  I had hoped to help Danny when he got to Dreshabor. Find some older Adventurers to put him with or something else along those lines. In hindsight, I was a fool to think that I could have solved the problem like that. But that didn’t matter right now. What did was finding a solution to the current events before me.

  “Danny,” I spoke softly but confidently, “I would suggest delaying this course of action for now. I do not believe that you're properly prepared for this quest.”

  Danny frowned at my words before speaking, “I can’t just ignore them Alex. They need help. That's what an Adventurer does. Help people.”

  His words bring out my own frown as I think about them. I need clarification at this point, “Forgive me Danny but why do you think that is what Adventurers do? To my understanding, they do help people but more or less for money or fame than just because it’s right. Even the word adventurer implies that they seek adventure and the riches it brings more than anything. Where does this definition of yours come from?”

  Danny almost froze as I finished my words, clearly unsure of himself. But a confidence I had never seen in him before started to leak out. His words while small feel like they have a weight behind them.

  “I know that most Adventurers aren't like what I want to be. But the ones that saved me when I was a youngin were. The Blades of the Fallen helped Vanners when a Tremorjack came around. It had made its home near the town and started attackin people. But Lord Hous was away and no one was able to get a message out for help. But then the Blades just happen to come into town one day.”

  He paused as a shining look entered his eyes as he spoke the next part. “I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was too young and stupid to know why my Pa and Ma didn't want to head back to the farm. We had been in the town for days and I just wanted to go home. I got so tired of it that while Pa’s back was turned, I sneaked away and made my way home. I got about halfway when the Tremorjack started to burrow through the ground towards me. I was a dumb kid but I knew that I was going to die when I saw that monster jump up from the ground and try to take a bite out of me.”

  A faraway look crossed Danny’s face for a moment before he shook it away and spoke the next part with utter devotion. “Then a pillar of earth seemed to shot out of the ground and ram the damn thing. The fight that followed is somethin I will never forget. The same for the look on Palor’s face when he offered me his hand. They stayed in the town for a few days and even helped us with a few other problems. All for free too! Refused every bit of coin we tried to give them. I might as well have been a third leg for Palor. I refused to leave his side and I cried a river when they were leaving. But then he took me to the side and told me somethin.”

  For a final time, Danny paused as he looked right into my unblinking eyes and spoke. “Don’t cry for those who leave. Smile for the times you’ve had with them. Smile for the bright days to come. Smile for those who frown, so that they can find hope in the darkest of times.”

  We sat in silence as Danny finished. The room was barely lit by a fading sun that was seen above the distant horizon. Shadows were crawling up and down the wall as I pondered the novice Mage’s words, while said man was nervously rubbing his fingers together while waiting for whatever response I would give.

  In truth…I didn’t know what to say.

  It was clear that speaking about this was a big deal to Danny. It had taken a lot for him to say all this. The fact that he seemed to trust me enough to say it despite the relatively short time we had bonded was…gratifying.

  And also terrifying.

  In the end, my mind drew a blank on what to say. As the expansive vocabulary I had grown throughout the years left me. While my tongue twisted itself into knots within the confines of my mouth. I spoke without thinking.

  “It sounds more like you want to be a Hero than an Adventurer.”

  Danny paused his movements as he once more looked me in the eyes. Confusion was etched across his face as he spoke the next words.

  “What’s a Hero?”

  (POV-Furgen)

  “There there girl. Some nice fresh wheat for ya.” I spoke in a calming tone as Celsa, my old Furnest, slowly chewed on some of the wheat that the stablehand had brought her.

  The stable itself was a fair one by my own standards. Big enough to have a few decently large animals stay inside comfortably. It had an open loft above where they kept supplies, tools, and other things you would need for handling the animals that stayed below. I was told that there was a bedroll for me up there if I needed it.

  I would use my own but probably sleep up there anyway. Didn’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night to a hoof to the face. Last time I had to pay a hefty chunk of silver coins to get my good looks back. For a moment, I regret not getting a room but just the thought of it set off one of my Skills.

  Herder’s Warning.

  It was a Passive Skill. It was also a sensing skill that gave me a gut feeling on how to keep any animal I owned and took care of safe and sound. Most Classes had some kind of sensing skill that helped them with something related to that class. Cultivators might have seemed odd to outsiders for use as a carriage driver but they often forget that taking care of the animals that pulled the carriage was very important.

  And if you somehow got your Class Lv high enough for a Class Up, then it was well worth it.

  It was that Skill that told me it was better for Celsa to stay with her for the night. Didn’t know what exactly the problem was but as long as I was with her then my Skill told me everything would be fine. For her at least.

  Just wished it wasn’t as cold as an Icekin’s smile.

  Something was goin on in the village. It would take an idiot not to be able to tell. But that wasn’t my problem, nor even a problem I could fix. All I could really do was tell everyone else in the Carrier Guild about it and hope that someone with actual power or Skills and Lvs could do something about it. I was a higher Lv than most, Personal and Class both, but that didn’t matter too much here.

  I took a moment to stop petting the rugged fur of my partner and relax. So far, it has been a rather nice trip. Both Alexander and Danny seemed like fine young men, even if the former was rather odd to me. The way he talked to Danny made it seem like he didn’t know how Classes and Lvs worked. But that was a silly thing to think about so I didn’t.

  I wished them luck with their future endeavors. Especially Danny considering the boy wanted to be an Adventurer of all things. Don’t get me wrong, I understood. Every young boy dreamed of going out and seeing the world, fighting monsters, and saving people. But most learn over time that being an Adventurer wasn’t really like that.

  Being an Adventurer was rough and unforgiving at times. I had seen all kinds of new Adventurers starting out with wide smiles and eager expressions. Only for those expressions to be a lot more somber and scar-filled not even a year later. It was a tough life but rewarding for those who had the grit and will to do it.

  I just hoped that Jeaneta’s boy had what it took.