Hinata slowly blinked as light from a crack in the wall seeped in. Sheesh, the walls were made of terrible wood, but what did he expect? The pennies they dropped on the counter last night definitely weren't meant to give quality to their sleep. Hinata wondered if there really was much difference between these sleeping conditions and the tree. He sigh, and shifted to get up.
Komaeda was sitting on the floor, already awake, with his attention on something. Hinata peered over, and saw yet another pile of grass he was nibbling on. He sighed. "Are we really that poor again…"
Komaeda shuffled through the pouch in response. "Good morning, Hinata-kun. Well it looks like we have enough for breakfast, but I wouldn't want our money supply wasted on me, of all people. There is definitely a better use for it that feeding me!" He laughed. Hinata breathed a slow sigh. First thing in the morning and this was already starting.
The white haired boy shuffled through a satchel, and pointed a piece of paper towards the other, who promptly took it. "I found one of the posters the smith was talking about. Check it out, that reward is higher than I imagined."
Hinata was impressed, and agreed. Surely he couldn't let this offer down, right? It had to be worth it somehow. He looked over the rest of the sheet for details on the mission.
"Attention sellswords and adventurers everywhere!" The poster's words boomed as Hinata read it, "Are you looking for a thrilling mission? Excitement? Come join an exciting party to venture into the damproot forest, and seek valuable treasure! For this quest, you will receive XX for each hour of exploring! Just come gather down at XX day of XX month! Your riches await!"
"Whoa, why are they offering so much? That's a ridiculous amount of money!" Hinata looked startled, as he made sure he read the paper correctly. Komaeda shrugged. "There apparently isn't a limit to how many people can join, which is also weird considering how so many people are joining. It's a little suspicious, but you can't argue with that offer." Hinata concurred. They couldn't just let this slip away.
"Let's grab some breakfas- *both of us*, and then head out, okay?" Hinata offered. "Oh it's fine, it would be a waste of money if-" Hinata grabbed the other boy's shoulder, and pulled him out of the room. They thanked the innkeep, and grabbed some cheap fruits at a food stall.
"Oh! Hinata-kun! There's a sale at the potion shop, maybe we should stop there!" Komaeda pointed at a rustic shop boasting crudely painted signs offering a sale.
"Potions?" Hinata had never had a potion shop in his hometown. This was entirely new territory for him, as he had never had one before.
"Yeah, it would be a good idea to grab a few health potions in case we get in any danger while fighting." Komaeda spoke casually. Hinata was amazed at the fact that a liquid could stitch up small wounds in a flash. He had heard of potion's effects before, but never experienced one. However, he was curious, so he complied and they both entered the potion shop.
An old alchemist greeted them, who was currently mushing some green slimy stuff into a bowl with some sort of flowers, and a purple viscous fluid. Hinata could only wonder what it could be, but it smelled rancid. Can mixtures of such gross things really have effects like this? Komaeda was immediately drawn to small red vials on a shelf. Hinata frowned with slight disgust. They looked like blood.
"We'd like to take 4 health vials, please." Komaeda knew what he was talking about, even if Hinata didn't. The alchemist gathered up the small handful of gold, and the pair left. Hinata was a little disappointed, he wanted to look around a little still at the bizarre mixtures. But they were low on time, and needed to get to the forest by noon, as that is when the adventurer gathering was scheduled, according to the poster. He shrugged, they could always come back later. There were so many vials of stuff he wanted to try.
They raced across the snake-like bends and corners of the town to the outer area, and across a bridge on the opposite side from where they came from, where the pair approached the forest they were looking for. Blade and bow ready, health vials set, they were fully prepped for this quest.
A strange -looking man in light blue robes stood before a huge crowd. Sheesh, there was a lot more people than Hinata had expected. Was he really going to pay each one of them the offered sum?
Komaeda led them into the bungled blob of people, bearing anything from the most exotic strong armor and arms Hinata had seen, from peasants in rags holding a dull stone hammer. The man in front looked beyond the pair, concluding that no one else was coming, and looked down to address the crowd. Hinata supposed from his light garbs that he was a mage of sorts. Due to their disdain at wearing heavy armor, it's not at all rare for magic-users to hire sellswords.
"Greetings, all those who took up my grand offer of riches, I'm so glad to see each and every one of you attend my party. A huge pile of gold awaits all of you equally. Your quest is only to follow me, attack what I tell you to attack, and go where I tell you to go. Nothing you can't handle as a bunch of strong-armed warriors, I hope. We'll come back here afterwards, and you'll all receive the gold you worked for. All clear?"
He was responded by a wave of nods, cheers and even battle roars. Hinata felt like he didn't truly belong in this group, as so many people seemed much stronger than he. But he didn't feel alone, as he smiled, knowing his white haired partner was here, and frankly, was just as confused as he was.
"Oh! Hinata-kun, look!" As the group began to form and move, a single person was brought into view who Komaeda was jutting his finger towards. Hinata recognized the mage as the same one from the goblin-filled cave. The approached her, and tapped her on the shoulder.
She was suddenly startled, and spun around sharply. A hand was thrust into his face, and fire weaved and flowed gracefully between the fingers. Hinata cringed in shock, until the mage called off her magic and greeted the two.
"Hrm, sorry… you surprised me… I think." She wondered idly in an airy tone. Did she suddenly get sleepy…? Wasn't she just in full defense mode a second ago. Weird. Hinata relaxed, no longer in seeming danger.
Komaeda appeared to have no regard for Hinata potentially getting roasted a second ago. "Ah, I see you too came for the bounty?" The pyro mage nodded. "...It's really had to turn down a reward like that…" She yawned. "Kind of neat to see you two again though…" She nodded off, and closed her eyes? Hinata looked shocked. Did she just fall asleep? Was she sleep walking.
"Uh… Ms Pyro mage…? He tried. She opened one eye. " I wasn't asleep…"
Sure you weren't…
"Speaking of which, if the three of us are going to work together here, we should get to know each other's names. Hinata tilted his head to the side. Since when did we decide on working as a group…? Oh well, I have no objections. And it looks like she doesn't mind either.
I'm Komaeda, and this is Hinata-kun! He's kind of the leader of the two of us, so if you don't mind…"
"Yeah… it's alright, he can lead us three… maybe…" She gazed lazily at them, in a bit of a daze. How did this girl not fall asleep where she stands, Hinata could never know. "So… you can call me… Nanami, I guess…"
"A nice name, Nanami!" Komaeda smiled politely. "So you're a pyromancer, right?"
"Yeah, that's right… I think… " At first it seemed like she didn't actually know these things for a fact, but Hinata started to think ending a sentence like that was just how she was. It would be nice if she was a little more… concrete with what she said, though.
Nanami summoned a small ring of flame that danced around her fingers and wrist, then waved it out. She had impressive control over fire, Hinata admitted. She would make a powerful ally for the pair.
"What are you two doing out here, anyways…" She inquired, in a sleepy manner as usual. Hinata got used to this fast.
"We're on a quest, to slay a dragon." Hinata grinned, since the quest was pretty impressive.
She had a killer poker face. Hinata could barely tell if she impressed or otherwise. "... that sounds heroic."
Hinata stepped over a big rock he almost tripped over during the walk. She talked so quietly too, it was hard to hear over the noisy chatter all around them, and the clatter of weapons and armor as many warriors walked on through the woods behind the leader. Her pink threads of hair bounced ever so slightly with every step.
"And what about you, Nanami?"
"Oh…" She paused, staring blankly at Hinata with unreadable blank pale fuchsia eyes. "... I don't really know."
Hinata gave a confused look. "You… don't know what you're doing out here?"
"...not really."
Komaeda chimed in. "Oh, so you're sort of a wanderer, huh?"
She tilted her head slowly. "... that sounds about right… maybe…"
At that moment, a huge beast leapt from the bushes directly beside the trio. It roared a powerful, bestial call that shook the damp leaves suspended above the group on their branches. Several warriors backed up in shock, and drew their weapons. "A troll.." Nanami spoke slowly. Between her palms appeared an orb of red energy, and Hinata watched as the ball ignited into a roaring flame, then flew up in the air, coiled back and slammed into the beast from behind. Nanami caught herself from the recoil of the spell. While the beast cried from the surprise of the fiery blow, Hinata closed in while it was distracted, along with several other melee-equipped fighters.
Komaeda loaded his bow swiftly, and aimed with skill at a massive claw aimed to crash down at his teammate, currently swiping the new blade at the beast's legs. Hinata glanced up to see the claw tumbling towards him, only to be struck with a white arrow, and blood dripped down on him while the beast flailed its arm in pain. Nanami fired another spell, this one resembling a flaming whip, which lashed the beast and set it aflame. It roared in agony. Surely attacking this massive mob of fighters wasn't one of it's better ideas. Blades surrounded it, and arrows, spears and throwing knives pierced it left and right. The beast was overtaken, and crumbled to the forest floor, defeated. Hinata cheered, they did it!
"Good thing it was only a pigmy…" Nanami peered at the beast's body as adventurers drew in and looted it.
"Wha…? These things are supposed to be bigger normally?" Hinata shivered. He wouldn't want to face one of these alone.
With the threat gone, the leader once again made his way down the road, and everyone else followed. Hinata was kind of confused as of why the leader didn't want a hand in the spoils, but he supposed he was just being extra generous, handing it to the sellswords. They pressed on, however. The sky seemed to darken, but Hinata realized it was because the foliage was getting thicker as they traversed on. Where was their goal, anyways? If he wasn't looking to have them hunt beasts and reap the spoils, or help him travel somewhere as they weren't coming back, what was the point of coming out here?
Just then, the leader turned in direction, directly away from the path. The fighters looked around in confusion as of why he was just going off into the woods. He stopped and turned around. "Well? Come on now, all of you, I told you to follow did I not?" Well, he did. So everyone shrugged and followed. Maybe he was going to some sort of abandoned ruin or something.
The rest of the walk wasn't much. Just a lot of downhill tumbling, and talking to Nanami and Komaeda. They came across only a few small boars and a scorp, but nothing they couldn't handle. What could they possibly be facing up ahead that required all of them?
It's well known the best way to make money as a mercenary is to do as told and don't ask questions, but Hinata couldn't help but wonder.
"Forest sure is getting thick around here, huh, Hinata-kun?" Komaeda was right, it was only getting darker as they went on. the lush amount of leaves overhead worked overtime in blocking out sunlight. Nanami snapped a flame from her magic, and lit up the way for the three. Hinata was grateful, for if she didn't do that he'd probably have tripped over several logs and rocks by now.
That was another thing, the ground was getting more lush too as they went on. It was unlikely many people, if anyone, had gone through this area. Were they lost?
"Look…" Nanami pointed out ahead, a clearing in the leaves, where sunlight broke through again. The clearing seemed to be where they were headed for. As they approached it appeared the clearing was a large pond, circled by a rocky ring, and this path was the only entrance to the ring.
"This is our destination, everyone." The crowd looked confused, eager to hear an explanation as of why they were there.
"Alright, everyone. If you look in this pond area surrounded by tall rocks, you may notice the water isn't very deep you can walk in it, and it won't go higher than your boots. Now you may notice something shiny in the center of the pool, but I suspect there might be danger. I want everyone to go in there, and retrieve the item in the center. Then we'll head back!"
Wow, it must of been a hell of a treasure for all this effort, and all these mercenaries. As prompted, the group all crowded into the rock ring, and did in fact notice the leader was right, they could easily walk in this water, save for a darker, deeper area in the back.
Everyone crowded around the shining object embedded in the water, and watched as Nanami picked it up. it just seemed to be a glowing rock. "Is it a rare gem?" Hinata offered.
Nanami went pale. "No… this isn't rare at all." Hinata looked puzzled. Nanami looked towards the entrance, the only entrance, where the leader was standing poised.
"This is just a beacon rock. It's meant to get someone's attention. Our attention."
Hinata slowly put the pieces together. "So that means…"
"It's a trap."