Hey what is up everybody? With Choral Castle, I mean the Emerald Hold behind us we move onto Euto!
Chapter Nine
The Proud Workers' Dale, Euto
Following the eventful night, the troop came to a short stop atop the Old Soldier Hill. This paved road crossed over several inclines before leading down to the Emerald Hold. Back in the day, countless soldiers would walk back and forth along the trail, fortifying Euto and the Emerald Hold, now it has also been forgotten, the road is now cracked as plants force their way through.
At the highest point the group stares at Euto, finally making it after the setback at the Rotric Trail.
Soren turned to the rest of the group "Thanks to all of us working together…we made it…while the attack on the Cross Kingdom Path was in the view of quite a few travelers…I don't believe the Korgans or the Dune Guard will be ordered into the city after us…so until three hours past moon rise we are all free to roam and wander. Recollect ourselves and then we'll all meet up at the Euto Research Center…this will also give Fistivus and Lune their time to do their things since we lost a good portion of our supplies on the Rotric Trail."
Wayu sighed, almost falling over, Wyre laughed at that "Life on the road too hard?"
She grinned "It's not easy…that's for sure…"
Mikel crashed his fists together and let out a hearty laugh "All right…well while the rest of you do whatever it is, I'm going to find a tavern and join the highest order!" taking off Soren sighed muttering to himself that Mikel would in no way be battle ready in the five hours until they need to reunite.
Lyle sighed and rolled his eyes "More like the lowest order…"
"We may be late to the Research Center, but do go on without us! We'll catch up!" Fistivus called as he and Lune headed for the marketplace.
Mia waved after them and turned to Soren "So…where are we heading?"
Soren looked over to her with a smile "As much as I'd like to get something to eat…in all our time here I haven't made too much of an effort to better understand this country's uniqueness from Tellius."
Putting her hands on her thighs, Mia took a step back and sighed "You are going to the library?"
Nodding Soren shielded himself from Mia's playful punch to his left arm. "Alright…I understand…when you finish, if we have the time. Come find me."
Mia planted a quick kiss on his cheek "Love you." After his response she turned and strolled off. Soren took a few steps and turned back to the last member of the troop.
"Lyle…I understand you used to travel? Ever been to Euto before?"
The swordmaster seemed to snap out of his thoughts and met Soren's glance but remained silent.
Soren may be much more open than before but no amount of staring would make him uncomfortable or raise his ire. He waved his hand in front of Lyle again and the man rubbed his eyes.
"I think I still feel a creak in my shoulder from the fight against Murawk…I'm going to go get that checked out and maybe take a nap afterwards."
Soren nodded to him and began walking away. He glanced back slightly at Lyle who walked off in another direction, he didn't really notice that the man carried around three blades and his triple edged combat was fairly impressive. Why was he settling for the instructor position? Mia has often talked about becoming headmaster after Kino but what does Lyle want? Soren decided to ask Mia about it when he finished his research.
Wyre and Wayu strolled through a somewhat busy street. The people walking by were engaged in conversation or hauling things around, no doubt all at work as the city gains its namesake from the populace.
Wayu glanced over at Wyre "So…you're from the islands of Hitenticul…"
Wyre nodded "Born on the northern island which was engaged in a crazy war against the vampires…while the main island held most of the conflict, my island fought guerilla forces we couldn't root out."
"Did you help in that conflict?" Wayu asked.
Shaking his head Wyre continued "I became an imperial mage in service to the Warrior King Brothers, Yuuten and Lyger Heitnaro. I was specifically second in command to field commander Klein Kruse. I spent most of my time on the main island…"
"Must've been terrible not knowing if the people of your island were okay."
"It's a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone…I'm glad the wars in this country ended by your time…you get to live a real life."
Wayu smiled and nodded "Yeah…though sometimes…especially at midnight I lie awake thinking about the service of my past generations…ultimately they did great things for their country…I suppose that time has come and gone…warriors aren't needed anymore…people are."
Wyre smiled at her statement and glanced down at his gloved hand, staring closely at the finger on which he wore a ring.
Finishing yet another tall brew Mikel howled with laughter as many other bar mates cheered. Throwing his glass it shattered near another man, ticked off he charged Mikel, the two exchanged blows but Mikel quickly grabbed and hurled the man across a table. The bar cheered for him as he slammed his fist on the counter and ordered another drink.
Near the fallen man a woman grinned and flipped her teal hair before setting her feet on top of the drunkard's back. As she took a sip she glanced over to the other men cheering on the muscle-bound moron.
Rolling her eyes she muttered "Animals…"
Soren flipped through the pages of another book, the librarian, Yeta walked over to him "You are new here correct?"
Soren turned to her and nodded "Yes…I've never actually studied much of this country's culture or history…well…not as much as I would've liked."
Yeta nodded and took a book out from her bag and placed it on the table "This is a very concentrated book, hitting on key aspects of the five nations…I recommend looking it over if knowledge is your goal."
Nodding Soren thanked the librarian as she turned to aid another person.
Flipping through it he saw the vast deserts of Sarhara, the impressive cave systems of Pozem, the frosted peaks of Regalshin and the vast forests of Anondye. He turned to the Numengate section and saw that the nation blamed for most of the wars was vastly different. The cultures of the other nations have progressed but Numengate looks to be entirely made of slums with a small pristine section kept clean for the peace conferences held there.
Deciding to read more of the book Soren returned to the first page and began.
The woman at the bar cursed silently as the muscle-bound man walked over to her. Sitting across from her she could tell he had drunk quite a lot. "You should take it easy…um…"
"Mikel…I'm a carpenter from Corelis…and you-"
"Call me beautiful or compliment me in anyway and you'll regret it." She answered quickly.
Laughing Mikel pointed at her "You are very feisty…no need, we're all friends here, partaking in life's pleasures."
"Oh you will get no pleasure from me…move along, Mikel."
"Can I at least get your name?"
She smiled and held out her hand "Arm wrestle for it?"
Once again roaring with laughter Mikel stood and gestured to the rest of the bar before turning back to the woman "You're on!"
Exiting a store Mia had gotten a new nightgown and several more articles of clothing for her and Wayu. Assuming more fights would come along the way, they'd need it.
She stopped abruptly and turned, believing someone was following her. Several civilians passed by with a few acknowledging her politely.
Shaking her head she turned and continued down the road.
As the darkness of night fell over Euto the bar in which Mikel was became increasingly louder as the brash Warrior and the woman tried to best each other in an arm wrestle.
Maintaining the center the woman looked over to Mikel and winked "You are lasting a lot longer than I thought you would."
"Just so you know…this isn't my only field of expertise!"
Rolling her eyes she began to push his arm, moving it closer to the table "Must everything with you go back to that?"
"No. Just when it involves you."
As off putting as he should be she couldn't help but smile and let out a laugh, she noticed he took that chance to push her back. She recomposed herself and stopped him from winning at the last second.
"I see what you're up too…"
Shaking his head Mikel laughed "No plan here…I meant every word!"
As Wyre listened to Wayu tell him stories of her fishing days he turned to her with a small cake. She smiled and took it as he got another. The pair continued walking through the streets enjoying their cakes.
Wyre was momentarily distracted, seeing what he thought was Lyle in some dark alley, on further inspection there was nothing there. He wanted to walk over but hearing Wayu's concerned voice he turned to her and shook his head.
THUMP. The crowd roared as Mikel's hand hit the table, the warrior jumped to his feet "No fucking way!"
Laughing the woman stood and placed a hand on his cheek turning his face to her "Better believe it." She whispered extremely close to him, she stepped aside and walked out of the bar as Mikel felt the heat in his face vanish.
"What…a…WOMAN!" he yelled before laughing and turning to the crowd.
Soren exited the library and noticed Fistivus and Lune getting a carriage and Mia speaking with them as she gave them some supplies. He walked over and noticed a fourth figure shaking Fistivus hand.
"I thank you for your business!" the red haired merchant said with a large smile.
Fistivus shook his head "Not at all! I never imagined I would run into the 'Secret Seller' in such a normal town as Euto. I imagined you would stick to the most extravagant places."
Laughing the merchant waved him off "Not at all…and while I have earned the Secret Seller title, I wouldn't mind if you just referred to me as Anna."
Lune finished with the carriage and turned back to Anna "Thank you for your help…didn't think we'd find this gear so affordable."
Pointing at herself the merchant winked "Only with me!"
She bid them farewell and walked away before coming across Soren. The archsage stared at her intently "I feel I've seen you somewhere before…"
Anna smiled mysteriously "I don't think so…" she placed a finger on her chin and winked at Soren "But I know I've seen you before!" blowing a quick kiss she skipped away.
Soren looked after her, slightly confused before turning back to see Mia walk up to him. "We still have some time…wanna look around for something?"
Mia smiled and nodded before looking in the direction Anna left "Did she look familiar to you?"
Soren sighed "For some reason, thinking about it is giving me a headache…I think we should just mark it up as a coincidence."
Mia accepted that and the two walked off, arm in arm.
With a loud crash, several men rolled out of a tavern, followed by a third who crashed into a building, frightening several people. He fell to the ground unconscious.
In the bar, Lyle stood in the center breathing heavily, two more drunkards knocked out cold on the floor.
"What is wrong with this guy?"
"Get him! Get him out of here!" The bartender cried as more large men moved towards him.
As some of his hair fell in front of his face, Lyle's expression changed.
"It's not fair…this shouldn't be happening…" in a flash he knocked out two more of the men with swift kicks to the head before punching the third in the gut.
"Why!" he screamed before bringing his knee into the man's head.
As another man charged him a voice rang out "Lyle!"
Everyone froze as a cloaked man entered the bar and slapped the swordmaster across the face roughly "What are you doing?"
Shaking his head, Lyle stood and came face to face with the man "Blowing off some steam…wait…Ushnae, what are you doing here?"
Ignoring him the man continued "You are the last person who should be overreacting to his situation…listen to yourself! Whatever you imagine happening in your head won't happen! Keep focused!" the cloaked man left and Lyle realized it was time to meet outside the research center.
Laughing with each other after they finished their meal, Mia held onto Soren as they walked through the nighttime streets towards the Research Center.
They fell silent as they looked to the rising moon "Soren…all these things that have happened to us…through it all, I'm glad we got together…"
He turned to her "So am I…I've said it far too many times before but I never imagined being so hopelessly in love…"
They remained silent for a bit until Soren remembered his question "By the way...has Lyle always been capable of fighting with three swords?"
Mia looked at him with a raised eyebrow before thinking for a bit "Yeah...since I met him...it was one of the first things I learned about him."
The sage thought this over "That is strange...as skilled as he is, he remains an instructor..."
Mia shrugged "I've thought it pretty odd, he seems content with living his life out in Corelis, if he is planning anything else, I don't know anything about it..."
The couple continued their walk, Soren thinking this over a bit more until they crossed paths with Wyre and Wayu who were also having a friendly conversation and laughing.
Mia raised an eyebrow and when Wyre caught her glanced he coughed, moving away from Wayu a little and approaching the pair "Finally time to see about those organisms?"
Nodding Soren led the group as they moved out of the city and down a path that led to the building in question.
Mikel slumped through the streets eventually being helped along by Lyle who passed by his fallen body. "Seriously…" rolling his eyes the swordmaster helped the big oaf along.
At the front of the Research Center were two knights armed with lances, one took a step forth "Who are you people?"
Mia stood in front and waved "Hi! We're here to meet with Eminse."
One of the knights stepped forward "Eminse…why?"
The other knight kept his lance on them, glancing between the strangers and his partner.
"We believe that Ulmeihn sent a message ahead of us, he and Eminse were research comrades of some sort." Soren added.
The knight that stepped forward kept eyeing each of them before sighing; his partner shook his head "No! Orgoth, don't let them in!"
Orgoth took off his helmet, revealing his slicked back hair; the middle portion was white while the surrounding was a lighter brown color.
"I'll lead you guys in and follow along…I'm not entirely sure about this…especially considering Eminse but in case anything untoward happens, I'll be there."
"Nothing of that sort will happen, you have my word."
Orgoth nodded slightly at Soren before moving aside and allowing the four past him, his partner moved ahead and opened the gate.
"Hey!" Soren turned as Lyle and Mikel approached "Right on time." The Archsage commented.
Together the group followed Orgoth into the Research Center.
Out yet not out of Euto, they finally arrived at the Research Center to meet with this Eminse that Ulmeihn told them about.
Little fact: Every Saturday I re-read and re-write portions of the chapter that I am submitting, ultimately I think it comes out even better. My memory is really bad since I forget a lot of little elements, Lyle's meeting with the cloaked man "Ushnae" completely slipped my mind as well as Soren's thoughts on Lyle
Anyway, I've recently decided to alter a pair of chapters into Paralogue chapters, these will be submitted on Wednesday and followed up by an actual chapter on Saturday, they cover some not-really-key side things as well as building character relationships
Just an advance so no worries about me skipping a Saturday for a side-story, it'll be two chapters in one week! (This is really advance considering how far away the first Paralogue is)
Anyway, till next Saturday!