"Afrien, Flame Wheel!" the majestic black scaled dragon immediately complied and the demon in front them was surrounded and burnt to a crisp. The human who controlled the demon was standing there in shock and muttering indiscernible words.
"Well? Are you going to hand over the objects you stole or do I have to do it by force?" the auburn haired mage stood intimidating the cowering human, his piercing sea blue eyes were angered and the other could not do much besides standing still in shock. He soon reluctantly complied and handed the mage the sack of jewelry and money stolen from his recent venture to town, the mage took to bag and tied the opposition up before he escaped while the mage's partner was glaring at him causing the villain to be unnerved, frozen in place.
"H-how d-did y-you…." finally recovering from his shock the villain raised the question in weighing his mind "m-manage t-to f-find u-us a-and d-defeat A-ALL m-my d-demons? T-there s-should h-have a-at l-least b-been t-ten o-of t-them."
"The clue you left behind was very easy to tell, and weak guys like that wouldn't amount to much in combat. You brought too little, and I'm stronger." the partner answered in place of the human.
"H-heh, they were weaklings after all, couldn't even talk to me those mindless things. Say, dragon." the partner turned to meet the man's gaze. "Why don't you break away from your pact and come with me? I'm sure I can provide you more then what that weak mage that has not even cast a single spell during battle could." The dragon's eyes opened wide and next he was growling, this caused the tied up man to turn pale.
"You, insolent little!"
"That's enough Afrien." the mage had to step in and stop his friend before things got too out of control, the last time something like this happened the culprit was turned to ashes before they brought him in. And just before he could protest a cheery voice could be heard from afar.
"Master Freud! Afrien! I caught the other guy! You were right, he was hiding in town!" a younger version of the mage soon came into view, he had brownish hair and cheerful sky blue eyes. In his hand, clutched a staff with a jewel at the tip and dragon wings on each side a matching one with his teacher. And in the other hand held a rope which caught a beat up staggering human, he wore red robes with an insignia on it. The dragon beside him was a slightly smaller version of Afrien while his claw held an identical sack as the one the mage had.
"I hope you are not hurt in your encounter with them."
"I'm fine! They were a piece of cake to handle!"
"What Master says! When are we going to do something more exciting and adventurous?"
"Now now child, don't be overconfident." the mage chuckled and observed the two sacks "That should be all, I suggest we return to the mayor with these." the group nodded and head off.
The town of Henesys is a quiet place, people are friendly compared to other areas though 'their' kind was often treated with disrespect and abuse. When they entered town, wary glances turned to look at them, more specifically at Afrien and Mir.
"Hey isn't that…" a stranger whispered.
"Yeah its them, the two mercenaries not in the army…" another said.
"What? Why aren't they the same as the others?…"
"Can't you tell? Its because of the two lizards over there, the captain is afraid of approaching them after they declined him once…"
"Hmph, that just means that the military has cowards in their ranks…."
"Why don't you ask them then?…"
"Are you kidding me they would….." the whispering and commotion each time they entered made the young duo very nervous and their insults were no better. Evan look flustered while Mir just wanted to rip apart those that insulted his friend for dinner.
"Ignore them, what they say are mostly lies."
"Yeah but, what they say are hardly even true. Why must so many rumors spread like that, some of them wasn't even done by us, can't they see Mir is an ally?"
"...Humans tend to fear what they cannot compete with and that results in discrimination which is not fair but as I said when they engage in primitive thinking, their views are limited as well." the group soon arrived in front of a house which looked no different from the rest. Freud gave it a few knocks and the door slowly opened.
"Why Freud! Have you completed your task that fast already? Come, come in and sit down, I insist."
"I thank you for your hospitality I apologize if we are intruding though." the two mages came in while Afrien and Mir stood beside the house keeping watch on the robbers should they escape. Freud placed the two sacks of stolen jewelry and money on the table while Evan sat on the couch.
"You made quick work of them! Excellent job. But still, do you have no intention of joining the army? They could use strong, young ones like you especially since you two have a pact."
"I would like to thank them for their kind offer, however I have no intention of doing so. I'm just a traveling mage who stopped by sometime ago with a temporary pact I'm sure they don't want little old me." the mayor just laughed as their conversation continued while the young apprentice mage just stood there fiddling with his fingers on the couch. Stuff like talking and negotiations are better left with his teacher, the only thing he's better at is blowing something up with fire which is often not a good thing.
"You're being much too honest! You can also work with them as a part time or something, I'm sure they pay well."
"It is not money I want mayor, I just like to do things peacefully. I can already see the…'unpleasant' rumors being spread around."
"Ah…..as mayor I apologize on their behalf. We are currently in need of defense you see, and the people who has some experience in combat or have pacts are usually sent off to the army, most of the times its peaceful just a few occasional theft cases here and there. So I really see no emphasis on setting up an impenetrable defense."
"It is better that you do so, you may not know what might happen." just then Mir and Evan's stomach growled and the young apprentices blushed a deep red. "Oh my, that's my signal to leave. I'll leave the robbers tied up outside, now if you'll excuse me I best leave." the mayor just laughed and nodded in acknowledgment but before and ushered them out just before Freud stepped out a thought came to mind and he turned to face the mayor.
"Oh yes, one more thing. I'll be leaving Henesys soon, so I can't assist you in theft cases anymore I have something urgent to get to and I don't think I coming back." the mayor was stunned but recovered soon and had this unacceptable look.
"Oh surely you can inquire someone to do so, Henesys are in need of people like you, could you reconsider?" the reply was immediate.
"I'm afraid not." and the mage stepped out like that, leaving a dumbfounded mayor behind.
"Hey Master Freud?" the apprentice asks after a lunch in the outskirts of town. "Why did you lie about the pact?" now this made Afrien and Mir listen closely to their conversation.
"Lie? Did something happen Freud?" Afrien asked in an inquiring tone.
"Yes I had to say that we were in temporary pact because if not, the people and the mayor would continue pester us and that would be most inconvenient. I apologize if I had offended you Afrien." the dragon nodded in understanding.
"Hey Master? What's a temporary pact?" the smaller dragon of the two asked while nudging Evan's shoulder.
"Oh right, you weren't with me when Freud drilled all that facts into my head." and the explanation begins.
In this world there are currently three known types of pact. The first is a permanent pact which would bind a demon and a human together thus enabling them to do more and utilize each other to a greater extent.
The second, temporary pact is often used as it binds them together for a limited amount of time, usually it only occurs when the two have something in common and they work together in this manner in order to achieve it, the effects are the same just that there is a time limit.
The last which is least used, is called a spirit pact it is when a duo who completely trust each other, entrust the other with their lives and upon forming a pact their souls are merged into one giving them more power then the other two pacts however the effects are large as should one take damage the other would as well it is however known that this pact has no method of removal even lasting past death and in this world of distrust only a fool does this pact. Which goes to show, that most people would see the group as fools.
"Do you get it now Mir?" the poor younger dragon's eyes were spinning he had been lost half way throughout the conversation and collapsed, Freud and Afrien were chuckling at the sight.
"Y-yes…..I t-think."
"O-oh that's good then, also another thing Freud," the said mage stopped laughing a moment and beckoned his apprentice to continue "why did you say you were a traveling mage? I thought you were a scholar." Freud wanted to sigh at this boy's naivety, he should know better then to let all the truth leak out.
"What they don't know won't hurt them." the boy wanted to voice another question until a pure white dove appeared and landed on Freud's shoulder, in its small talons firmly held a scroll of paper. The scholar took it and the bird took off.
"Wow, pretty…."Mir regained his thoughts and continued to stare at the bird until it disappeared out of sight. The scholar eyes scanned through the paper and he sighed.
"So what is it Freud?" Afrien inquired.
"Looks like the Empress managed to pinpoint me yet again, her information network is truly astounding. I was sure I left without a trace behind." he turned and saw the curious look on the boy's face and chuckled, tossing the rolled up parchment towards him, and gestured him to read it out loud.
To Freud and company,
Greetings, I am Empress Aria of Ereve. It has been around a year since the great scholar Freud disappeared without a sign left behind, I am glad that I have managed to find out your location as I have a important request to make, should you accept please arrive in Ereve in the next few days or so and I shall explain the details there. The choice is yours to make, I do not demand in the name of the empress I merely ask as normal being. Whether you accept or not please burn this letter as no one should find out what I am to ask of you.
Sincerely,
Aria
"Great scholar? What does that mean?" Afrien and Freud looked at each other as they conversed telepathically and agreed on something.
"Well dear Evan, I was the sole person to develop the pact and as such many are out there coming after me."
"O-oh…wait YOU developed the pact? How come I didn't here about it when you elaborate on stuff like that."
"I merely left out parts I found unnecessary." Evan shot him a glance and was about to toss back the paper until he saw more of the elegant handwriting at the bottom of the parchment.
"There seems to be more of the message." and the boy read it out loud.
P.S. If you were thinking about the fact I found you too easily, you should think twice about entering town with a huge large dragon(s) that could easily spread rumors.
The scholar's eyes twitched a moment while the rest of the group fell into pieces.
"S-she g-got y-you t-this t-time, M-master F-freud." Evan managed to choke out.
"Well, what shall we do now? Freud?" the scholar pondered about it for a moment before deciding.
"I guess we'll see what the Empress's request is, it must be urgent. Pack up your things we're leaving in thirty minutes time and as for punishment for laughing into pieces like that," there was this glint Evan really could not get used to even after seeing it a few times "I'll leave you behind~" the apprentice immediately tidy up the area, and tossing various items into their inventory.
"That was a bit mean, no?" Freud smiled at patted the dragon's familiar scales while setting the parchment ablaze, letting it scatter in the wind.
"I don't think so, rather I think I'm getting soft."
"Such high expectations."
"Well in the least, the request seems interesting. I look forward with much anticipation to it."