Solomon felt rather groggy as he got to work on the farm, cleaning out the coops and feeding the animals. He got the job because the farmer owed his best friend a favor. It wasn't good work, but he got paid and had a roof over his head. And the town he lived in, Florena, wasn't really a hotbed of activity by any stretch of the imagination. And getting a job in the capital? Forget it.

"Oi! Solomon" said the farmer

"Yeah, boss" Solomon said

"Go down to synthesis and get some medicine for the horses would ya?"

"They looked fine yesterday!" shouted Solomon

"Yeah, but this morning they all look like they're about to keel over, so hurry it up!"

"Fine" sighed Solomon, as he walked to town.

The synthesis shop was a boon to many towns, as it seemed to take all the different services such as blacksmithing, medicine and mail delivery and put them in one location. And all of it was capital approved, which only added to the appeal. Of course, this put most of the aforementioned services out of business, but as his boss said, you just had to keep rolling with the punches. But even the synthesis shop wasn't doing particularly well in this town.

As Solomon entered the shop, he noticed how empty it was. When it had first opened up, the owner of the store, Tom, had been swimming in customers, but now he barely had any.

"Hey Tom, how's business?" asked Solomon

"Fine, would be better if we had a summoner in this shithole" grumbled Tom

This was true. Summoners were an integral part of a town's lifestyle. They maintained order in the area and protected the villagers from monsters. But they also had a relationship with the shops as well. Good summoners brought resources to the town you couldn't find anywhere else, which synthesis shops adored. But this town was bereft of any summoners, for the one they had, left to the capital a while back.

"So what do you want?" asked Tom

"Just some horse medicine" said Solomon

"They are sick again?! What is he doing to those horses?"

"Beats me, I just work there"

"Ever going to the capital" asked Tom

"Why? To live in an even worse place then the one I live in now?"

"Some people make due"

"Some people are summoners" said Solomon bitterly

Summoners enjoyed privileges normal people didn't, like free lodging at any town under the empire, as well as being essentially above the law. This was a sticking point with the royal army, because they felt like the Akras Summoning Hall was taking over. And in many ways they had. The royal army was meant to be the protectorates of the people, and that job had basically been hijacked by summoners.

"Maybe you're a late bloomer" said Tom

"Yeah right" said Solomon, sulking. He had failed the summoners test for the fifth this year alone and was in a bad mood about the whole thing. For the life of him he could not summon even a slime monster, and that was as basic as it gets.

"Well here ya go kid, those stupid horses get sick so much, Ive got dozens of cases of medicine" said Tom

"Sure it aint your medicine and not the horses" said Solomon

"Fuck you"

"Love you too Tom"

As Solomon began to pay the shopkeeper, he felt a blade press against his neck.

"Letting your guard down just because you're in a town is rather foolish" said the voice behind him

"Yes, Florena is full of danger, why just this morning a weed leaned dangerously in my general direction. I was petrified" responded Solomon, a smile on his face as he recognized the voice. He turned around to see his best friend, and the town's only summoner, Karl.

Even among summoners he was held as a prodigy. Solomon didn't know all the details, but apparently Karl had risen through the ranks quickly and was in charge of his own unit. This however, meant he rarely spent time in his hometown, which could have used the benefits of a summoner.

"I go away for a few months and my best friend develops a sense of humor? Times have changed" said Karl

"You were always the clown, so I had to pick up the slack since you left" said Solomon, trying very hard to keep the smile off his face. It had been too long.

"What are you doing here anyway, capital kicked you out?" asked Solomon

"No, I'm actually heading up an investigation in the area. Some guy named Graham has been causing trouble in the area, and I have been assigned to bring him in. I'm actually just waiting for my assigned partner. Some girl named Seria, who is still a day away" responded Karl,

"What did this Graham do? Steal the kings underwear?" asked Solomon

"He wiped out the town of Gorash" said Karl, anger in his voice

"The whole town?!"

"Yeah, I went there to check afterward and I got to see the remains. It was just awful." said a very solemn Karl

Solomon began to console his friend, when a girlish shout rang from outside the store. At first the noise was indecipherable, but as it got closer, it was clear the voice was shouting in a very loud voice:

"SOLOMON, I FOUND YOU!"

As if on queue, the doors to the shop burst open and green blur tackled him to the ground. A dumbfounded Karl could only stare as a young woman in ceremonial garb began hugging his best friend.

"What are you doing?" cried Solomon

"I have been looking all over for you" said the girl, loosening her vice grip in his body.

As Solomon rose from the ground, he paused for a bit to catch his breath before turning to the girl before him. What struck him the most was her blue eyes, which brought to the surface the strange dream he had, and the woman named Selena.

"Who are you?" he asked

"My name is Tilith, and we have work to do" responded Tilith, the cheerful smile never leaving her face.