To my surprise the Old Man delivered on his word rather quickly. Of course, I didn’t bother asking him how much of the information he gathered himself, but I was more than grateful that he managed to include the costs and prognosis of taxes and possible land payments for the next ten years in advance too.

  “Is that to your satisfaction, Beasty?” He asks me, as I look everything over.

  “Almost. I want to see the land before I make any decisions.”

  “Well of course. But tell me, deary. Why settle here?”

  “The Old Land has become too dull with its Peace. Not saying I want the bloodshed to make a comeback, but I do find it difficult to move forward while staying still. I can tell things are done differently here, and as much as I hate certain parts of them, I do see how other businesses might help us, if we could implement them correctly that is. Or at least adapt it for us to some degree. I’m hoping that the knowledge and experience gained here, will;” a few pages slide to the ground and I bend down to pick them up and set them back on the table; “help me and my people once I go back. Even if right now I wish to be away...”

  “Spoken like a True Royal.” A low tone reaches me from my calculations. It hits me.

  “Oh shit.”

  A roar echoes through the Library. “Relax, I’m not the one to pry.” Old Man tells me laughing into his beard. “But I have to say – that makes a lot of sense now.”

  “I guess it goes without saying, but – keep your mouth shut.”

  “Of course, Beasty. Like I said – I'm not the one to pry.”

  “Maybe you’re not, but some – are.”

  “Ah, well, can’t argue there. Well. I can’t do much about that. But. Tell you what – if you ever get any grief because of that – let me know. I may not count for much here, but I have some weight left back home still.” He whispers and winks at me. I lean in closer.

  “I thought your home was here.” I point to the table.

  “Naaah. I moved. As there was less and less for warriors to do...”

  “Couldn’t adapt to the Peace?”

  “Eh. I could have. If I had gotten married at the right time. There was this one lassy that kept asking for it, but I couldn’t see myself as a land lover. If I had gotten kids – I would have worked to support them. But as I was on my own...” He twiddles his thumbs for a moment. “Oh well.”

  “You didn’t love her enough?” I ask after a moment of silence.

  “Guess not. Otherwise, she would have been enough...”

  “You seem more sentimental than you look, Old Man.” I nudge him with my elbow and he cracks a chuckle again.

  “Ay, but you know, Beasty, you’ll need stable income to keep up with these.” He nods to the taxes section.

  “Sadly, I am well aware. Luckily, I have this now.” I show him the two insignias we managed to obtain after a brutal knock down session at our last exam. We fought fair and square and passed. Star struggled, but sadly we weren’t in a position to help her. Apparently even the Healer’s need to be approved of before going on requests.

  “Hoooo, I see you worked hard.” Old Man Bell smiles.

  “That reminds me.” I grab him by the collar. “You knew this would happen.” He roars again.

  “The moment I saw you two fight.”

  “Tch. Could have said something.” I shove him off.

  “And spoil my fun! Never!” He roars again.

  “Your highness, please, this is the Library.” The young attendant rushes over.

  “Sorry sorry.” He clears his throat. Even that sounds like a waking bear.

  “Why the Library of all places?” I ask.

  “I like the calm and silence here.” He answers looking around.

  “For someone who is trying to resurrect the good old Gladiator Days – you sure seem tame.” I tell him and quickly cover his mouth with my hand as he takes in air to roar again.

  “I am old, after all.” He mumbles underneath. I take my hand away and stare in front of me.

  “That’s an interesting gaze you have on you there, Beasty.”

  “Say, there are festivals here and stuff, right?”

  “Of course. Why?” He narrows his eyes at me.

  “What about a Fight Tournament?”

  “Ah. Those. Can’t say there have been any, as of late?” The King leans back, stroking his beard.

  “Would I get in trouble if I put on a quick show?”

  “Depends on the place. There are street performers with their small “magic” tricks that swindle money out of the public, but since they are usually harmless entertainment and because the money lost is simply pocket change – nobody bothers with them. Anything bigger would require a Permit to Perform. You can obtain that through the Guild, as it’s easier to let them handle everything, as the paperwork is dreadful.” He says looking up and then looks back down at me.

  “What?”

  “Spoken like a true official.” I mock him. He tries to kick me. I smile. “That sounds too painful for very little.”

  “Well. If it’s a Training Exercise Display than all you need is to gather the attention of your peers and get approval from the Instructor in Charge...”

  “I like the way you catch on quick, Old Man.” I smile at his old fox routine. “I’ll think about that.”

  “Whatever it is – make sure it’s worth it. You can lose your standing and those little trinkets will be gone.”

  “That’s fine. I’m already working on another angle as I suspected that might be the case. But it doesn’t hurt to try. Either way, I’ll let you know if there will be a show worth watching.” I wink at him this time and gather up my papers.

  “Ha! Looking forward to it!” He says getting up too. We shake hands and I leave.

  “Wait, run that by me again?” Crile stares at Zarri.

  “Yeah, I don’t think I heard that right either...” I give her a blank stare too...

  She sighs. “I want to buy a piece of land and build a cabin.” She points to the map again.

  “Uh-huh. Right. And that is because...?” Crile rolls his hands over each other midair.

  “Because I wanna take my time exploring Existara and having a base near the Capital sounds like a good idea instead of just lugging everything together with us all the time. Plus – resupplying ourselves here is for the best. I want to know just how the New Continent is different from home. Plus, I don’t like leaving Emerald so far behind. Having some land and a house with a stable seems a better option in the long run. Even if we choose the cheapest Inn there is – we'd still have tenants and guests to deal with.” Zarri pauses and Crile catches on.

  “And that of course does not work for your highness.” He teases her and she throws a few scrolls at him.

  “Well. I mean I don’t really mind. I can visit you in the woods too?” I kinda mutter that more to myself...

  “Huh?” Crile turns to me, picking the papers up.

  “What are you talking about?” Zarri looks at me confused.

  “What? I mean surely the two of you will be living there alone, no?” I look them over.

  “Oh and suddenly there’s not enough room for you somehow?” Zarri speaks rather annoyed.

  “Wait, I’m lost. How does that make you angry? You just said you didn’t want to deal with roommates!”

  “Strangers! NOT YOU!” Zarri says to me and shuts up.

  “Starlight, I can’t believe that after all this time you still don’t get it.” Crile sits down next to me on the bed and wraps his arm around my shoulders, leaning me to him.

  “When she speaks about us she means all of us. You are one of us. You are family. Forever. No takebacks.” He kisses me on the top of my head.

  “Oh get off me, you!” I shove him off. He laughs.

  “Honestly, Star, I can’t believe you still exclude yourself like that.” Zarri smiles at me.

  “Yeah, well, when you talk about living together it’s only natural...” I try to defend myself.

  “Oh come one, who do you think will be watching the kids!” Crile says, grinning.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Oh, you, I swear!” I try to kick him, but it looks more like I’m just wiggling my legs in the air. He fakes a few ows, catches my feet and sets me down. Ever so gently...

  “Anyways. Here’s what I have in mind.” Zarri continues to describe her plans for our foreseeable future. Doesn’t sound too bad. Except for the part where we hunt down criminals...

  I stop her and sigh. “I knew there was going to be some danger involved. Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?” I give Zarri my disapproving look.

  “We’ll be fine, Star. We have you.” She tells me.

  “That’s not the point! Criminals like that do not operate alone! Some belong to groups and organizations whose numbers are unknown! What happens if we get overpowered!”

  “Simple. We bail and comeback with reinforcements.” Crile answers, leaning back on the bed and hitting his head on the wall. “OW! Shhhhh. That hurt.” He says rubbing the back of his nogging.

  “And then all of our hard work goes for naught because we’ll have to share the reward. I’ve seen the fliers. There are differences between “Total” and “Each.” Even then most “Each” do not deliver and that’s why less and less people are taking these jobs.” I give them a lecture.

  “Less competition for us.” Crile says.

  “Yes, but she does have a point. Our numbers can be a disadvantage.” Zarri agrees with me.

  “Thank you!” I gesture to her while looking at Crile. He just winks me, forcing me to turn away again.

  “But that only means we’ll need to work our way up. Besides, we can always gather up allies along the way.” Zarri eases in the problem, as she always does.

  “Oh yeah, like who?” I cross my arms.

  “Urdock, for one.”

  “Why not? He’s helped us before.” Crile agrees.

  “Fine. Let’s say that works. Eventually. I’m still against it.” I cross my arms.

  “Noted. And if you ever decide not to participate – you are free to do so.” Crile nods.

  “Tch. As if!” I click my tongue at him.

  “Anyhow. I think that should cover everything for now. I’ll try to make arrangements to go see the land as soon as possible. I wanna see the layout of the woods before I decide on the cabin’s design.”

  “I wanna go too!” I raise my hand.

  “Me too!” Crile mirrors me.

  “Yes, of course. Now. Here’s the next issue.”

  “There’s more!” Crile and I both roll our eyes and Zarri laughs. We continue to plan and strategize for the rest of the night on how to appease Zarri’s curiosity. For someone who does not enjoy trouble she sure seems to know how to be part of it.

  We spend the next couple of weeks scouting the area. Only the fifth lot available fits my needs for our Base. Thanks to the Old Man Bell, yet again, we are introduced to a Balli Architect that the Old Man plays cards with. Of course, we manage to keep Bell’s identity a secret. I imagine his stakes would double if the geezers at the table knew his status. It took some arm twisting, figuratively speaking, of course, to convince the Seasoned Architect to go with our unconventional design of the Cabin. However. That’s why I respect the Balli. They enjoy a challenge. Especially when you promise to take care most of the grunt work yourself. Since that’s always the issue. Anything different requires thinking and attention. The Balli are not known for that.

  The Primerian Brigades don’t shy away from different and challenges, but they prefer to be designing that challenge themselves. That’s why they are a different kind of a pain to deal with. They will change everything several times along the way. The creativity and curiosity that runs through their veins is impossible to deal with. Sometimes. All the times.

  So, we went with the cheaper, yet sturdier option – the Balli. For the time being the foundations can’t be laid out till we locate our water source. Unfortunately, for us – there's only one Well Expert in the City and he’s always busy. Why such a City only has one Expert of any kind is beyond me. Anyways.

  Last time we visited – he threw a bottle of ink at us. Star’s quick thinking saved us a load of laundry. She caught the ink splatter with her water.

  That’s why we had to drag one Expert all the way from the Docks. Starlight had quite an interesting experience learning how to detect water she can’t see. It took the Cornutese Duo three days to locate a decent water source. That is till we dug into it.

  A torrent of water burst out from the depths of the earth and almost flooded our entire, future construction site. Luckily, we had the Balli workers with us. They quickly set up the well and other contraptions made of stone that they will be using later on.

  Based on the Well we had to adjust our positioning of the Cabin and a few other things, but according to our Well Expert – we might just be sitting on a Mountain Stream. Meaning that the water gathers from the Mountains as well as the Lakes and will never run out. Probably.

  When I asked him how can he be sure, he answered with: No salt. That was enough to shut me up. He also requested, no, demanded to have the rights to survey our well and any changes that may or may not occur. I agreed to it, under the conditions that he, or anyone else that might be coming here in his place – be supervised, so our well doesn’t get poisoned or anything. He seemed insulted, but did not argue.

  The whole thing gave us the perfect excuse to take a break from the infuriating rigid system of the Barracks and the Training Regimen. We made ourselves known enough thanks to our examinations. However. For some reason the purposely limiting training pisses me off. I feel like it dumbs people down instead of building them up and that – I cannot overlook.

  Nobody should be told how to think and feel. Freedom inspires creativity and possibilities. That in turn challenges one's limits. Without these things a person cannot even begin to understand what they are capable of. Fundamentals and basics are important but they are rusted and carved in stone. It’s the combinations and variations of how they are used that matter. It's the same as learning the Alphabet. Words are strings of individual letters only and yet somehow – we have poetry.

  It’s not about the fighting as it is about challenging your brain. Thinking about how to improve upon the basics that everyone around you knows is how you give your brain a workout. It helps it stay sharp and focused. Copying does not do that. Copying numbs and dulls not only the mind, but the body as well. A dull and numb existence is a nightmare and a prison...

  Someone has to wake them up...

  Zarri managed to find a loop hole for her Grand Master Plan how to put on a quick display for the troops at the Army, so it would not require permission from any of the Masters or Instructors. A Street Performance at the Training Grounds. Apparently, a “Street Performance” is defined as: anything of an amusing and entertaining nature that does not threaten the safety of any of the spectators. That really got Zarri riled up. She and Crile decided to be the main attraction. She wanted to make a clear impression, so she was going to use her Beast Forms, which, I admit, I have difficult of handling. Crile seems to be better at dealing with that, so – I stay out of it. With the help of Urdock, we spread the word about an amusing performance that will take place behind the Barracks, by the west wall. We did not expect many to show up, but the yard is big enough just in case. When I asked Zarri why she didn’t choose the Main Square for this, she said:

  “Regular People will take it as just that – a trained performance. The fighters here will have a better chance of realizing and understanding their limits and potential. Even if it will be just one or two more – it will be a start.”

  As such, we are gathered at the yard on a sunny afternoon. To my surprise there's a bigger crowd than we anticipated. The troops surround Breeze and Crile, giving them enough space to work with still. Crile steps forward and begins.

  “Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for attending our charity performance this lovely afternoon. We promise this won’t take up much of your precious time! That said!” He pauses.

  “Enjoy!” He spins in place and launches a few daggers at Breeze, she catches all of them in her Half Cat form, stabs the ground around her and balances her Full Form on the tips of the handles. She finishes her trained monkey act with a roar and takes off in her Hawk Skin. She spins around a few times, crosses her wings on her back and goes for Crile like an arrow, released from a bow. Crile runs at her as well and slides under her. Meanwhile Zarri changes back into her Cat and pounces Crile. He kicks her off and she drops on all fours to the side. She shifts back to her Half Form and the sparring begins.

  Crile gets Zarri in a headlock, but it doesn’t even faze her. She shifts full bird and shoots herself straight up and the combat continues. Crile hangs off her back, trying his best not to fall. Though I doubt she’d let it. Zarri shakes him off herself and catches him with her talons instead. Crile wraps his own legs around hers and pulls himself up, parallel to her, jabbing his knives right at her face, I mean - beak. She dodges each strike.

  “Watch it, you...” I whisper to myself. I guess the wind from her wings is also getting in the way of Crile’s aim as one knife drops to the ground. A clang rings for a quick second and a shriek silences it. A gasp waves amongst the crowd. Two figures clash and fall. Zarri has shifted back.

  WHY! I bite my the corner of my lip and taste blood. A few moves are exchanged midair and wings cover the sun again. Only this time Zarri has her body intact, allowing Crile for a tighter grip around her body. Not that it does him any good. They are still too high up for him to make the jump. Or so I thought! HE JUMPED! ANOTHER GASP rolls over and I cover my eyes. Yet I cannot resist. I peek through my fingers just in time to witness Crile disappear. HUH! I blink again and watch a dark figure slither out of the Birds Shadow back onto the surface and Zarri lands right next to it in her half form. With her wings spread high and wide, making her look almost ethereal...

  “And that’s how you do it folks!” Crile calls out and bows. So does Zarri. She’s in no hurry to change her wings back. She’s making a statement out of it. The two of them take a few minutes to bow a few times, scanning the crowd around them. A noise of random words is all I hear. I don’t pay too much attention to them and simply wait for them to walk over to me.

  “Flying Circus Freak!” A voice calls out to Zarri. The nerve! I turn to bark something back, but a hand on my shoulder stops me. I look up. Crile.

  “Ho? Is that so?” Crile closes his eyes, grins and walks toward the Balli male who just insulted Zarri. It finally dawns on me and I call out.

  “Stop him!” I point to Crile, but Zarri is too slow to react. Crile grabs the Balli by his face, picks him up off the ground to his eye level, turns around on a single heel and bashes the man’s skull into the stone wall. A loud crackling freezes everyone in place.

  “Nobody. Talks. To. Her. Like. That. Ever.” Crile speaks the words quiet yet loud enough for the first row to hear. He lets go. The Balli slides down the wall to the ground and slumps up like a bag of meat. Another excruciating moment passes and a scream rings across.

  “He killed him!” Someone yells.

  “Have I now?” Crile walks away calmly from his personal crime scene. My eyes watch him as he walks back to us. Only now I remember to breathe and point.

  “Look again! There’s no blood! He’s not dead!” I yell. A few people have already approached the Balli.

  “She’s right. He’s breathing fine. There’s not a bruise on him.” Someone explains.

  “But! That!” A person next to me points. “The the the stone! Look! How!” Yes. The stone is visibly cracked with a hole of perfect fit for the Balli’s head. The impact was so powerful that it sent shock waves across the stone, leaving a lighting-like trailer in every direction where the skull made contact with the stone. However.

  “How did you do that!” Urdock tears his way to us from the crowd. “Was that Mana Control!”

  “Bingo.” Crile says and a chatter rolls down the crowd.

  “What is going on here! Let me pass! MOVE! What is... What happened!” The Instructor roars staring at the Balli rag doll.

  “He did it.” Someone points to Crile.

  “I’ll have your head for this!” The Instructor grabs Crile by the collar.

  “What for? He ain’t dead.” Crile’s unimpressed gaze holds the Master’s raging glare with ease.

  “Don’t be absurd! It’s clear that!”

  “Take another look.” Zarri points to the Balli, who was somehow regaining his motor control, but not his consciousness.

  “He’s right, Master. This one ain’t dead. Just in shock. As the rest of us.” The Primerian Cleanser explains.

  “That does not excuse his actions!” The Master does make a point.

  “Perhaps. But it does not justify the Capital Punishment either.” Zarri says calmly.

  “Dungeon! 3 Days! No food! Only water! Once a day!” The Master studders every few words, clearly having difficulty coming up with a suitable punishment.

  “This will be a breeze.” Crile responds with a psychotic grin. “Will you wait for me?” He asks Zarri.

  “Always.” She winks at him as the Master drags our idiot away.

  “I’ve never seen him like this...” I whisper as the crowd around us finally begins to thin out.

  “He never had the luxury.” Zarri answers, clearly concerned underneath it all.

  Three days later Crile emerged from the Dungeon well rested and refreshed. Star and I went to pick him up. I guess a little bit of confinement does not really work against someone who had to endure the Pitch Black Darkness of the Underground Maze and the Lowest Level for 10 days straight... He acts like a moron half of the time, so sometimes even I forget just what he is...