It was past midnight, in the newly-acquired room, as Iseldo opened his eyes, still a bit sleepy, but which soon became fully awake.

He recognized the chilly sensation her pale skin would cause upon touch, but didn't expect to see her right beside him in his bed, looking at him with that impish glint in her dark-jade green eyes, mesmerizing and eerily spectral at the same time.

Iseldo almost screamed, but the slightly shorter girl put two fingers gently on his mouth, closed the distance between their faces and said, with a silky and quiet voice "Don't scream, I was having such a great rest! And don't look at me like that. Your toned, warm muscles, wrapped up in this comfy bedsheets were just too tempting for me"

Iseldo, whose face was now as red as a fresh tomato, deduced that she was right beside him. Her arms were around his sides and gingerly touched his semi-muscular back, her legs were intertwined with his and her medium chest was glued to his own. Fortunately for his decency the girl wasn't completely naked as he felt the silk of her lower underwear. At least he still had his shorts on, or this would have been even more awkward.

Iseldo also thought about the rest of her clothes, those being her undershirt, underpants, that weird robe AND her large spear, which were probably be littering the room if her sense of order was anything to go by.

Ignoring the prickling feeling of his skin and the quiet purring of his throat, Iseldo answered, quite annoyed "Really Nylan? I thought you were past this. Do you really like to tease me by going to these lenghts?" to which the mysterious girl cheerfully replied "Yep! Besides, don't be such a grumpy cat. Tons of boys would dream to be in this situation, so enjoy it for them all!" and snuggled closer to Iseldo, rubbing her semi-naked body against his.

Iseldo frowned as an even deeper blush formed on his face, sure that Nylan was mentally teasing him for that, by how well she could see in the dark.

Sometimes, the elf he called his friend did some of these stunts, but normally she was different. Iseldo first met Nylan one year ago as she was fighting off bandits, so he swooped in and helped her fend them off. From there they became friends, or "partners" as she loved to say, and she would be both friendly and distant at the same time.

Despite being the same age, Nylan was a bit shorter than Iseldo and had pale white hair. Her appearance did put Iseldo off at first, for how Nylan nearly resembled a ghost but still had a fairly toned, athletic body, but he soon put that aside and accepted her for how she looked.

Some time passed as the two teens were aware of each other's heartbeats and secretly (or not so) revelled in their touches, when suddenly Nylan's eyes flashed an eerie, spectral light, flashing strongly in the deep darkness, and her pupils seemed to fade for a few seconds.

The action was fast, but it left an impact. Nylan noticed the sensation it brought and her body began to tremble, fear in her eyes as clear as a full moon. Her cheerfulness and teasing was gone in an instant, and Iseldo instantly knew what he had to do.

He tightly wrapped his arms around Nylan and squeezed her into himself. The elven girl's skin was overflowed with warmth and her eyes were glued to his. Their mouths, at that moment were so close they could feel each other's breaths, Nylan's were quick and frantic while Iseldo's were slow and calm.

Eventually, as her eyes returned to normal, Nylan stopped trembling and calmed down as Iseldo softly told her "Don't worry, I'm here for you. Just calm down and breathe deep breaths"

She started doing so for some moments after saying a "Thank you" that was genuine, with no trace of teasing. In that instant, as Nylan finally got to sleep, Iseldo realized how many sensations he was feeling with this new position of theirs. He fell asleep as well, Nylan's hair tickled his neck and chin while the girl was cuddling on his chest.

X X X

It was morning and both Migoth and Iseldo were fully awake and outside their temporary rooms.

The larger young man looked at the smaller one, who had been overly cheerful since the start of this morning.

Migoth merely chalked it to the importance of the day. After all, he was excited too, maybe even more so.

On Iseldo's part, it was nearly a blessing that Nylan was not still half naked in his bed. The moment he woke up, the elven girl and her possessions were gone without a trace. Yet the violet-eyed boy was worried about his friend, her flashing eyes and other unknown factors causing the elven girl more distress than she was willing to show him.

In these moment, Iseldo wanted to run up to the forest and jump up to the tree he knew she would be in to check on her and!-

Iseldo's train of thoughts was interrupted by Migoth's hand on his shoulder, the smaller boy looking in front of him and making a little jump as Grimdarl himself made his way to them.

To say that Migoth was ecstatic was an understatement, because the young man was so happy that his mentor was going to congratulate him that he had a bright smile on his face and muscles were bustling with excitement, especially his bulging chest.

Grimdarl was a large man, a little over 6 feet, but not as large as Migoth. He had messy dark-red hair and azure blue eyes that could pierce through any soul. Those were the eyes of a seasoned warrior who had seen nearly everything the world had to offer.

But his eyes were now calm and happy as he approached Migoth and Iseldo with a great smile. "Ah, Migoth! Finally taking the first step of your adventure, huh? About time, I thought you were getting cold feet!" Grimdarl said and laughed as he patted Migoth's shoulder, the latter letting out a small laugh himself.

He then turned to Iseldo and said "And you...weren't you in the 'Learning camp' or something?" Grimdarl said as he stroked his black beard with a hand, but then shook his head "No matter, if Groink thinks you have what it takes and let you through, then he surely has a good reason. We have traveled across the world, through good times and bad times, and I would trust that man with my life" Grimdarl then turned around and motioned the two boys to follow him, Iseldo letting out a breath of relief, yet his shoulders did sag a little at the guilt of tricking him. Migoth raised an eyebrow at him, but then shrugged and moved toward Grimdarl.

The two walked away from the houses and towards the side of the arena, where a caravan was waiting them.

"So, I'm not good with speeches, therefore I'll just just tell you to show your strength and valor to the world! And remember, magic is a tool of the coward and the weak, so rely on it as little as you can" Grimdarl stated to an ecstatic Migoth, then the man turned to Iseldo and said "As for you, boy...I won't tell you something like 'Good luck out there!' or 'May the Gods' favor be on your side' because I don't believe in either of those things! So show the world what you're made of!...But don't overstep your limits unless you are truly ready for it"

Iseldo almost looked startled by the hand that slammed on his shoulder, but still managed to keep his balance. Migoth looked at him with a small smile, looking amused.

The caravan was nothing special and the three horses attached to it didn't look so healthy, but the duo didn't care much. Migoth took one last glance at the arena, the place where he spent so much time and achieved so much.

The two were going on the caravan when suddenly Grimdarl said "But before you two embark to Musia, I want to see you both in action! To the arena we go!"

Migoth flashed a cocky grin of excitement as his muscles bulged in anticipation (nearly causing some tears to appear in his shirt), but Iseldo merely gulped in worry, having heard of stories of that wretched place.

'Fighting waves of whatever monsters the Beast Traders have gotten their hands on all the while administering them all sorts of drugs!? People actually died in there!' the young boy thought in fear, mentally preparing himself for the eventuality of having to use his trump card.

Still he followed Grimdarl and Migoth inside the dome, where many dusty stalls of weapons were around the room. At its center there was a crude, yet sturdy elevator made of steel.

"Before we go, take your weapon of choice" Grimdarl invited the two. So Migoth took his shirt off as his muscled hardened and Iseldo brought his trusty dagger out of his pant pocket.

And so the three boarded in the elevator, but as they began their descent downwards Grimdarl mentally swore that there was a fourth being on it.

Eventually, he stopped thinking about it, but the sensation was still there. Of course, if he asked Iseldo then he'd get a viable explanation for that, but the boy didn't want to get Nylan in trouble with such a ruthless and seasoned fighter of all people.

'Still, how did she get to learn so many cool spells? And how did she even get that enchanted robe?' Iseldo asked to himself 'Man, I'll have to ask Nylan about it later...though I'm not sure I'll get a straight answer, knowing her'

Finally, after a few minutes, the elevator stopped and the three exited it, going through a large corridor before arriving at the arena itself.

It was just as Migoth remembered it. The place was huge and intimidating, with its crude stone floor, while the brick walls were giving it a more "elegant" look, thought it was dampened by all the dust. Around the arena there were large steel doors, where the monsters were supposed to come out of.

Finally, at the top of its walls there were small rooms with crude stone seats, all protected by steel bars. Grimdarl sat on one of the larger seats and said "Since the poachers haven't found any good sport around here, the arena manager and I have thought about importing some monsters from outside Etherington...although I'm not really happy about what we've gotten. Still, you'll have plenty of dangerous monsters to fight in the future, no doubt about that!" Grimdarl said with a somewhat unhappy tone, though he tried to lighten it up at the end.

Having said that, he motioned for Migoth to enter the arena. The latter nodded to his teacher and, to Iseldo's small surprise, jumped out of an open section of the room.

"Give them hell, man!" Grimdarl shouted at him as one of the doors opened with a loud, ominous whine. Out of it exited twelve Worgs, all looking out for blood.

Surprisingly, Migoth looked at the dozen monsters with a smirkless face, before flexing his muscles and charging them, the force of his lower body kicking up dust and cracking the stone bricks.

The worgs bit and scratched at Migoth's body, kicking up even more dust, and the young muscular man replied in kind with loud roars and powerful punches. Eventually a large dust cloud made it next to impossible to properly see how the battle was going. But then the sounds died out and Migoth exited the now dissolving dust cloud.

He climbed the stone wall and gave Grimdarl a single glance. The black-bearded man nodded happily.

Iseldo looked at the now sitting form of Migoth, his body was covered in dust (that he was quickly trying to shrug off) and his hands were blood-stained. The young boy was also very surprised that his muscles bore no kind of injury.

Then he quickly went to look at the corpses of the worgs, which were now gruesomely torn apart by the sheer force of Migoth's hands, to the point where they were unrecognizable as belonging to their original species. The sight of such gore and especially the smell of blood and raw meat caused him to divert his face.

"Alright boy, now let's see what can you do" Grimdarl calmly said to Iseldo and the young boy looked at Migoth with a sliver of worry. The larger one grinned at him and shrugged off all of the dust with one powerful flex of his muscles. Iseldo also felt a chilling caress on his right cheek and knew immediately that it was Nylan's way to give him courage.

Taking them as encouraging gestures, Iseldo put off his shirt (an action Grimdarl and Nylan were happy about), took his dagger and leaped out of the room.

Migoth was calm on the outside, but on the inside he was panicking, knowing both Iseldo's worry and Grimdarl's consistency in overdoing things.

Fortunately, out of the steel door came only a Giamt Wolf, which Migoth had seldom fought in his training years.

It immediately set its sights on Iseldo and charged with a snarl, claws outstretched and teeth ready to tear into flesh.

It charged at staggering speeds, but to Migoth's amazement Iseldo didn't back down at instead ran towards the large monster at and shifted his running body into a slide, just as the giant wolf's jaws were closing in on the boy's neck.

Now in the position he wanted Iseldo began slashing wildly at the beast's underside, hoping to quickly deal a fatal wound, but its hide far too tough for his weapon and Iseldo's attacks only left a few shallow cuts.

The giant wolf wasted no time repositioning itself and found itself facing his smaller adversary again, thus opting to charge in with its mouth outstretched.

But before the giant wolf could get it to its full width, Iseldo jumped on the beast's head and crawled on its back, hacking at the monster with his dagger as he went. The giant wolf then began to thrash around akin to a raging bull, but the young boy managed to hold on and continued his assault, surprising both Migoth and Grimdarl.

But then the giant wolf decided to roll on the ground in an attempt to crush its opponent, which forced Iseldo to quickly crawl on its belly, still continuing his relentless assault which was beginning to take its toll on the large beast.

Now sniffing its own blood the giant wolf went on a frenzy as it lunged once more at the young boy while simultaneously righting itself on its legs. Iseldo slashed at the giant wolf's nose while barely avoiding first its large teeth and then the tumultuous movements of its posterior legs.

Now the two opponents were back to square one, yet certainly more tired than before. But the giant wolf had begun bleeding and it knew that its time was going to end if it didn't to something about its opponent.

The fighting from then on continued similarly and eventually, after half an hour, the large monster lay dead among the previous match's carnage, countless slashes adorning its lifeless flesh as blood pooled around its carcass.

Iseldo climbed the wall with some trouble before being pulled from the edge by an invisible force, who then hugged him, showering his dusty and sweaty body in cold and warmth at the same time. Migoth also came to him with a large, proud smile and Grimdarl exclaimed "Now that was a fight worth remembering! Iseldo, I did have my doubts when I first saw you being the one chosen, but now I understand that you'll do mighty fine out there!" while giving him a solid pat on the back.

He turned to both boys and said "That was alright for you both and I expect great things from you all, but for now go get yourselves a shower. We depart in 10 minutes"

Migoth directed Iseldo to the showers and the two boys took a shared one with steaming hot water.

It would have been more enjoyable for Iseldo if not for two cold, yet warm hands caressing his muscles with passion. The young boy answered in kind by moving his hands to her invisible form, but the moment his left hand brushed aganist something kind-of-large, soft and round, he quickly retreated it and flushed a deep red.

Migoth pretended not to notice the entire exchange, nor the disembodied, feminine laughter that followed. He was after all too happy at the beginning of his adventure.

After the shower and some drying, the two boys quickly re-dressed themselves and got out of the arena. With the passangers seated in, the caravan finally started its journey towards Musia, where Migoth and Iseldo could begin their adventures.

X X X

Musia, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Etherington, was founded two thousand years ago on a large hill and still stays strong to this day. This city is divided into two different parts: the higher part is the older one and serves as an historical centre, plus it houses the high nobility and the most important businessmen; the lower part is the "recent" one, it houses the small nobility and has the fame to be one of the worst places to live in all Etherington. And that is no easy feat to accomplish for a single settlement in such a large kingdom.

It is in this part of Musia that an old mansion stood. It was quite large, robust and made primarily of wood and stone. It had three floors in total.

A ground floor where there was an entrance hall, two living rooms and a bathroom; the first floor where there was a large kitchen, another bathroom and a huge library, with ordered bookshelves bustling with books of the most various topics; in the second floor there were four comfortable bedrooms and a balcony that overlooked most of the lower part of Musia.

In this mansion, precisely in the ample study hall in the center of the library, a young woman was frantically sprinting from one bookcase to the other, desperately looking for something.

She wore a purple dress that arrived at her heels, had long red hair and green eyes, partially hidden by a pair of thick glasses. She was a lady in her mannerisms, always polite with others and refraining from using vulgar language. Of course, every person has her quirks and especially this lady is no exception...

"Mrs. Fox! A letter has arrived from the musian guild and I bet you want to look at it!" a small, moderately-high-pitched voice called from outside the library.

"I'm coming! And please, Benito, how many times have I told you to call me by my first name?" the girl, or better yet, young lady asked her butler as she got out of her favourite room. The butler was peculiar, standing a bit shorter than Carlina and having the controversial characteristic of being an imp.

He was summoned nearly two decades ago in this very mansion by her uncle, and from that day he became his most trusted butler. His duties were to take care of the mansion and, a bit later, of his newborn niece when her parents were busy (and of course unaware of the imp's presence).

A choice that almost got him in serious trouble with them, being a family of clerics for generations with a few paladins in between. This however didn't stop Benito from warming up to little Carlina, who was always very eager to play with her red-skinned friend.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Fox, but it has become quite the habit" Benito said, but then grinned "plus, you have to agree that it has a really nice ring to it. It makes you feel more...professional". Carlina giggled at him, implicitly agreeing with her servant's claim, and then said "Ok, but I really want to see that letter. It's my chance to finally become a proper adventurer...even if this wasn't how I wanted it"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Fox, you're quite the fine cleric if I say so myself. Anyone would be lucky to have someone with your knowledge and healing magic, but you should really tap into your Warlock persona far more! Think of all the foes you could fell if you applied yourself in that field!" Benito reassured Carlina and half-tempted her, seeing that bad memories were already being played in her head.

Still, that raised her humor as Carlina rolled her eyes at the last part and said "Oh, don't be like that!" while her cheeks turned pink. Then her serious expression returned and Carlina said "Ok, but now give me the letter"

"Ok, here's the letter" Benito said as he handed her, well, the letter.

X X X

"So, Korrina, how much longer until we arrive at Musia?" a young and gruff voice, muffled by the wooden walls yet loud enough to be heard clearly, called the young girl inside the small caravan, seated in front of a small desk. She was tall, around 168cm, with long well-kept golden hair and had a lean and rather curvaceous body, but it also showed quite a lot of muscle too. As attested by the heavy silver armor she was currently wearing, along with the spiked mace and ornate shield at her right and left side respectively.

Korrina acknowledged her teammate's question and set her light brown eyes upon the cheap yet precise map in front of her, then she turned around and went towards a trapdoor to exit the caravan.

She was now on its front as she overlooked the ruined path upon which the two horses walked at a steady, if not sluggish, pace. The trees around them were tall and imposing, slightly obscuring the sun's rays and giving the area a slightly ominous feeling, but Korrina was calm as she couldn't feel any evil presence from them.

Besides, she had her trusted companion with her.

"So...? Are we there yet or not?...Korrina, are you okay there? Hey, I just asked you a question, you're the one that has the map, you know? You can actually read it, right? I hope there won't be a repeat of last time...Korin, are you spacing out again?" he called her again and again with a gruff tone, but there was no response from his companion. So he resorted to using the nickname he gave her when they were little, which did the trick.

"Wuhe?!" Korrina yelped in surprise as her gear clattered and her long hair fluttered, her bewildered expression betraying her normally stoic appearance. She then heard her companion snickering at her, no doubt having fun at her expense.

"Khea!" Korrina shouted at him as her expression morphed into a pout, which stoked his laughter further.

Kheannoth Morgl was a good friend of Korrina Claymore, although he wasn't from her parts. Or even fully human.

Khea was in fact a Half Orc, born from a human mother and an orc father. She was just a humble farmer from the verdant yet hot lands of Darrius, in the center of the continent, while his father was a warrior hailing from the scorching wastes of Usharr, another continent separated by the Southern Ocean.

Kheannoth himself, about 186cm tall, had greenish yellow skin with slightly pointy ears, noticeably sharp teeth and eyes red where they should be white, along with dark blue human-like pupils. True to his orcish heritage, he was also quite muscular and had a lot of bulk but contrary to their normally wild hair (or alternatively a lack thereof), his jet black hair were instead short and ordered.

Kheannoth was currently wearing black pants with a large quiver attached to his a light brown leather jacket, while slung on his back was a massive longbow made of bone with tendons for a string and decorated by large brown blue-tipped feathers.

"So, I'm still waiting for an answer" Khea said in a serious yet good-natured tone, which prompted Korrina to cough in her fist and say in a serious manner "We are about to be nearing the city of Musia thanks to this shortcut we are taking. If we continue within this pace we should arrive there by midnight"

"For real? What a pain in the ass, city guards are always fidgety during night shifts" Kheannoth complained morosely before releasing a deep groan, and Korrina was quick at his side to comfort him "Oh, don't worry about it! The city guards of Musia are known to be the nicest in the entirety of Etherington! Besides, I got a contact inside that managed to get us an apartment already, so we'll move in much more smoothly than the other times!"

The half orc smiled at her bright face and the prospect of immediately getting a place to sleep, but his mood darkened as he said "Nicest guards around, huh? Really hoping that means something, remember that one time in Erundia and the other one in Felleria?"

Korrina grimaced. When they first entered Erundia, the city with the greatest library of the kingdom, to handle various missions regarding the culling of undead around the area, the guards carried out a long checkup and even forbade the two from entering the city due to Kheannoth's...condition as an orcoid.

Even worse was their time in Felleria, already a bad settlement to live in, when the eight guards at the door flat-out drew their swords at them upon learning that Korrina was a paladin, but fortunately the girl put herself between and the guards at a VERY agitated Kheannoth in order to defuse the situation...and stop her companion from mowing down the would-be hostiles.

"Oh come on, Khea. Erundia's like that towards everyone due to its importance as a treasure trove of knowledge...and you know how Felleria is. I promise you that Musia isn't like the other settlements we've visited. Unlike those other cities, the capital has CLASS" Korrina said in a reassuring manner as she placed her hand over the half orc's larger one.

The contact with her soft skin sent a shock throughout his arm, making his blood rushing with increasing heat, and Kheannoth sighed internally as he began yet another battle against his instincts urging him to make greater physical contact with the girl beside him.

Even though he wasn't a pure-blooded orc, he was still affected by their savage nature, pushing them to wild acts of destruction and barbarity. But Kheannoth lived with those instincts for his entire life and, through both his own efforts and Korrina's help, he had a solid hold on them.

Kheannoth however knew that these instincts didn't just come from nothing...and had basis in his own subconscious.

The half orc thus knew where his urges originated, but he didn't have the strength or the time to dwell on them. Korrina was certainly a beautiful girl and Kheannoth really enjoyed her company, but between their economical situation and the missions on the undead their free time was very limited.

Besides he wasn't experienced in the matters of the heart. His father, while being a great teacher when it came to hunting and fighting, certainly wasn't a trustworthy source when it comes to these things, while his mother had always been prudish and skirted around the subject every chance she would get.

"Hm, if you say so" he conceded, deciding to just leave the topic behind, then he asked "What about the undead, what's the situation on that?"

"Undead sightings have been rising at an alarming rate throughout Etherington for the last two decades, often attacking caravans and sometimes even isolated villages. Undead give off feelings of dread to all living creatures, leading to criminals becoming more erratic and other types of monsters to become far more active than normal" Korrina immediately gave a brief summary of their situation "Due to the gravity of the situation and its many connections to other guilds and organizations, the higher-ups of the Silver Order have decreed to station a sizeable amount of militants in Musia in order to better control the situation...and let the younger members gain experience"

Kheannoth grunted in acknowledgement and said "So in other words, the people above don't want to bother with the problem and sent the newbies to take care of it in their stead"

Korrina cringed at her companion's statement, but she could understand where he was coming from. Due to the periodic devastations brought to the continent by the orcish hordes of Usharr, Kheannoth was often seen as a ticking time bomb, a savage only waiting for the right occasion to strike and plunder, just like his people always did when they showed up on the shores.

Fortunately for him, some saw his desire to conform and lead a respectable life, most important of all being Korrina herself who gave him not only a place to call home, but also a chance to work for something greater than himself.

"Look, undead sightings are far more than just disorganized groups of skeletons or zombies and the occasional ghoul. Ghasts, Wraiths and even Liches have been sighted in the more remote parts of Etherington. Those monstrosities make what we fight on a daily basis look like goofy people in costumes!" Korrina said in a resolute manner, but as Kheannoth looked into her eyes he could her understanding of his situation.

So he merely turned back to the road and said "They could've at least sent a senior member or two, cause if the others are as young as I think they are we'll have to hold their hand throughout these six months..."

Korrina replied "Oh come on, it won't be that bad! Besides this will be the chance for us to meet our classmates aga-" but stopped as she looked dead ahead with wide, narrowed eyes. A few seconds later the two horses stopped and screamed in alarm as they stood on their back hooves.

"Oi, calm down!" Kheannoth shouted while gripping the reins, but all of his tries to soothe the beasts of burden failed. And he knew exactly why.

Immediately the ground in front of them exploded and various figures rose up shrouded in dirt, but as the cloud cleaned up their forms revealed themselves.

Skeletons, a total of five in number, armed with surprisingly well-kept iron weapons and red lights burning in their eye-sockets, acting not just as simple means of sight but also as the foul sorcery keeping them in a state of undeath.

Korrina didn't waste any time and jumped down the caravan, with surprising agility for someone covered head-to-toe in metal plate armor. She sped up to the first skeleton and, unlike what was usually believed by commoners, it lunged with its sword with slightly greater speed than a human's.

Korrina was however prepared as she parried the lunge with her shield and struck back with her mace nearly at the same time. The silver weapon, the undead's primary weakness, easily tore through the skeleton and its fractured remains quickly turned into dust. The clang of its gear as it fell on the ground was drowned by the clash of Korrina's mace and the second skeleton's sword.

Her weapon was thrown back, but Korrina let out a fierce growl and used the momentum to smash the third skeleton's head behind her. As the red light dispersed and the rest of skeleton's body poofed into a cloud of dust, Korrina found enough strength to immediately use her shield to punch in the face another skeleton, who had come to her right dressed in stronger iron armor and bearing at her two short swords.

However the helmet it was wearing protected the skeleton from most of the damage, in particular the silver's holy touch, and due to the dust clouds still lingering around ('probably due to magical means' she thought) Korrina had to take a few steps back.

Immediately two skeletons ran out of the cloud to meet her head on, one armed with a sword and the other with a large axe. The remaining third one decided to remain hidden in the cloud.

'That one has to be their leader, his gear and greater intelligence compared to an average skeleton give it away' Korrina thought as she readied herself 'I can easily dispatch those two, but the third one will be more challenging'

The fighter ran up to meet the two skeletons, using a similar parry/strike strategy to take out the first one and then ducked to avoid the horizontal axe swing of the second skeleton, which gave Korrina the opportunity to swipe her mace at its knees.

As the girl crushed its skull with her boot to make sure it was dead, she turned ahead only to find the dust cloud dispersing and the skeleton leader gone. Before Korrina had any time to think, she detected movement on her right out of her peripheral vision and instinctively raised her shield.

Sure enough a series of clashes were heard as the skeleton leader bore down the young girl, its unnatural strength forcing Korrina to adjust her legs as to better resist her opponent's strength. 'What strength, if I wasn't careful those strikes would have seriously injured me!' Korrina thought in surprise as the blades of this skeleton seemed to be far sharper and more durable than normal.

Korrina further adjusted her legs to jump away from the onslaught of slashes and prepared her arms for a lengthy fight against an opponent that required all of her skills.

But Korrina was confident in her victory nonetheless.

But then she was stunned as a very loud booming sound, akin to thunder, rang across the street. Powering through the throbbing in her head, she could see the skeleton's body quickly disintegrating and its armor bearing a large hole through its sides. The rush of air pressure created by the attack sucked the cloud of dust right out of the armor and made Korrina's hair flutter around wildly.

Despite the swimming of her vision Korrina immediately whirled to face Kheannoth, giant bow in hand and walking up to her with a calm, if not slightly worried, expression.

"Seriously Khea, you could have at least waited for me to jump out of the way before firing Thunderbolt! You know how loud that thing can be!" Korrina complained in a not-so-serious tone as she stomped the ground with one foot, both to express her anger and to keep herself from falling.

"Better having a dizzy head than no head at all" Kheannoth said with a chuckle, then turned serious as he said "Still, those skeletons were very well armed, as well as enhanced with magic. Undead like this are rare...not to mention how the briefing didn't talk about them" and extended a hand to the girl.

Korrina took it as she smiled with gratitude, but her dizziness caused the girl to trip and to avoid falling she used his friend's muscular arm as support. Unaware of his strange chuckles Korrina said "Thanks, if you weren't there the encounter could've turned ugly. I could have still defeated their leader, but the battle would drain me of much of my stamina and leave me vulnerable to other ambushes"

Kheannoth sighed as he said "Not even the time to get comfortable and we already have reports to file. Let's continue so we don't have to work in the dead of night"

"Khea, even if no one attacked us we would still have to file reports on our journey to Musia" Korrina reminded him as the half-orc helped her to get on the caravan, then her tone became more comforting "How about this, I'll file the reports while you handle the sorting of our inventory"

Kheannoth smiled as he said "You know me so well" and went back to grip the reins an urge the horses onward.

Korrina just chuckled at his companion's antics.

X X X

The caravan was going at a moderately fast pace along the beaten path in the middle of a forest, and its passengers spent the travel rather quietly.

Iseldo was soundly sleeping, occupying two seats while doing so and having his legs on Migoth's lap, who was looking at the window as he marveled at the sight of towns and wandering monsters (some even unknown to him), and Grimdarl was patiently waiting for the caravan to arrive at Musia so he could return to the wilderness, which he referred to as his true home.

But among them there was also an unknown passenger.

Nylan, now curled up, was silently standing on the caravan's roof as she peeked at the window, watched the three passagers either sleep or observe the scenery. After a while she decided to stop spying on them and deactivated her robe's invisibility, as she could only use it for four hours each day. If she wanted to continue travelling with them without getting herself (and Iseldo) in trouble, then she had to use this function sparingly.

So she just laid on the ceiling, taking the warm and gentle rays of the sun above.

That is until Nylan silently whimpered in embarrassment, as she put both of her hands on her reddening face.

'Seriously, what was I thinking before!?' Nylan shouted in her mind as she recalled the events of yesterday night and this morning too.

Sure, Nylan loved to tease Iseldo, either verbally, such as with innuendos, or even with something more physical, such as showing him her naked thighs at random times. But hugging him while half-naked in a bed or sensually touching him in the shower were just too much!

Thought, at the same time, Nylan couldn't exactly help it. Iseldo was just too handsome for her!

His skin was soft, yet tough and almost unnaturally warm. His face was a mix of child-like and mature features, making him both cute and cool at the same time. Plus, he had such toned muscles which were just the right size for them to look powerful yet nothing excessive. His hair were also fluffier and warmer than any wool! Finally there were his deep purple eyes in which she could just stare at her forever, if he wasn't such a shy guy...

Honestly Nylan only desires to hug him tightly and shower him with her love as she rubbed her face on every inch of his toned body-

Nylan stopped her train of thoughts and whimpered harder, her face reddening even more as she thought 'Just why can't I be less thirsty for him!? If Eleina heard my thoughts, she would say I sound like a human who-'

Nylan's train of thought was interrupted once more, but this time by something much sinister. The ghostly light that she was so familiar with flashed in her own eyes, briefly reflecting on the wood, and an unbearably cold chill reverberated through her body.

Nylan began trembling in fear as her eyes began to water. Why did this had to happen so randomly? Why couldn't she stop this curse no matter what she did?

Nylan felt hopeless, her soul ensnared in the coldness of the light, and now she so desperately wanted Iseldo to just climb out of the caravan and hug her. His warmth would partly counter the coldness in her body and at least give Nylan a sense of safety.

Sometimes she wondered why would Iseldo hold her so tightly and for longer than actually needed. Now, Nylan sure as hell wasn't complaining about that, but she wondered if he somehow knew about her secrets.

'No, that's highly unlikely. Iseldo is a very observant kid, but he doesn't have senses THAT kind of special' Nylan thought, but then her mind hovered on another possibility. Did he have feelings for her? If yes (and Nylan silently hoped so) then was he attracted by her physical appearance or by her personality?

Nylan pondered on this, briefly forgetting about the accursed chills currently plaguing her body.

In terms of looks, Nylan's skin was smooth but chilling, her boobs were bigger than average, giving her body a more sensual look, her butt was round and small, her body was slim and athletic, making it easy on the eyes, plus her ear-lenght luscious white hair were soft and silky to the touch. Finally there were her dark-jade green eyes. All of this was also enhanced by Nylan being an elf, a race regarded as possessing great, exotic beauty.

Nylan sometimes found Iseldo staring at her body, especially when she removed her robe, only leaving her with a white shirt and shorts. So it could be that.

On the personality side Nylan was outspoken and blunt, preferring to tell others what she thought they needed to hear, although she's trying to add a sweeter tone and more tact when doing that, since there have been situations where her bluntness got her into trouble. She could also be a lazy bum at times, letting Iseldo (or a summoned animal) do the work around their hideout.

Iseldo liked being with her and Nylan could see that he liked talking to her. So it could be either one of the two or both.

Nylan's thoughts were however interrupted by the caravan stopping. She could see Migoth, Iseldo and that Grimdarl guy exiting it and setting camp.

While none of them were looking, she got off the caravan and hid in the forest.

No one noticed her save for Iseldo, who just woke up to realize the position he was in. Migoth didn't seem to care, but the young boy certainly did.

X X X

The caravan stopped and the three passagers exited it in order to better see the place they would set camp. Iseldo, now awoken, stretched like a cat and went to take the supplies needed to set up tents, while Grimdarl inhaled the fresh and clean air of the meadow. He remembered that in the old days his team would often camp out in beautiful places like this one, either going hunting or simply discussing the route they would have to take.

Migoth instead looked up to the sky, where he could see that it was late in the afternoon.

When all four were ready, Grimdarl decided that the group would split in two. One had to hunt for food while the other had to set up camp. Tomorrow morning the two groups would swap roles.

He returned his attention to the center of the meadow, where Grimdarl was instructing Iseldo about the tents. Since his henchman was near the boy, Migoth knew exactly what his mentor had in mind.

"Come here boy" Grimdarl said to Migoth "We're going hunting for food and the best part is that you're gonna fight some new monsters"

The muscular boy perked up at this and, after taking his shirt off and giving it to Iseldo, followed Grimdarl into the forest; the latter was, surprisingly, adopting a more stealthy approach while the former didn't even bother trying to hide the sound of his large feet crushing dead branches and fallen, crusty leaves.

"When you go adventuring, always try to make as little sound as you can. To take on missions, peerless might is always useful, but your targets can still escape your grasp with a variety of tricks. Therefore you need to mask your presence from them if you want to succeed" Grimdarl told Migoth and the young man nodded silently, trying to follow his teacher's advice. Unfortunately Migoth had no idea how to be stealthy, and so the only result was him becoming slower.

As the two kept making their way, Migoth was mildly excited at having the chance to fight new monsters and improving his body further, thus being closer at reaching his goal of becoming an invincible simbol of safety.

But deep inside his soul, he was also slightly worried. In his time in the arena Grimdarl made it clear that this training would prepare Migoth for any kind of fight. But he also learned that different monsters use different tactics.

Despite having his moments, Migoth knew that, even with his powerful muscles, monsters weren't to be taken lightly, and all of this meant that there were even more diverse monsters than what he already fought!-

Migoth furiously shook his head to chase these thoughts away. Just what was he thinking? He toughened through everything the camp (and Grimdarl) had to offer. He even killed a dragon last year with his bare hands, for God's sake!

Migoth took a long, deep breath to calm himself. A mental conflict was always a bad thing to bring along in a battle. Speaking of battles...

"Ah! Here they are! Migoth, we got our prey for the day" Grimdarl whispered to Migoth as they hid in a bush, overlooking a large clearing.

Migoth could see a fight going on. On one side there were two giant boars, but on the other...

...Migoth could only describe the two large, flying creatures as a mix between a mosquito and a flying rat, their skin pinkish and long, sharp proboscises on their snouts. Their appearance made Migoth shiver unconsciously for a moment, before shaking his head and becoming calm again.

"Well, what do you think? I take the boars and you take those odd stirges" Grimdarl said as he leaped out of their hiding spot, brandishing his double-faced ax with a roaring battle cry.

Migoth followed him soon after, eyeing the two monsters with suspicion as he slowly walked to them in a crouched position. The muscular boy's experiences with large insects weren't good in the slightest. He could still remember their alien look, all of their clicking limbs, their sharp mouths...and especially their burning poisons.

Nevertheless, Migoth wouldn't let these two weird oversized mosquitos make him look like a cowardly fool, so he finally charged as well, the rumbling of his steps being a good enough substitute for war cries.

He came near the first stirge and punched it in the middle of its body. The powerful fist effortlessly tore through the first stirge, but then Migoth felt small stinging sensations on his back. It seems that the second stirge used the momentary distraction to latch itself onto Migoth.

The muscular boy felt the clawing and the stinging of his opponent, but his skin proved to be too tough for the powered stirge to penetrate. So Migoth grabbed his opponent and ripped it off his back, then slammed it on the ground in front of him.

The stirge squealed in pain and the sound made Migoth close his eyes as he brought his foot down on the pained creature.

The squealing stopped and Migoth stepped away from the corpse, his eyes still closed. When he reopened them, he saw Grimdarl kill the last giant boar and then call him.

"Good work with those stirges, by the way" the black-bearded man told him jovially, then turned serious "I already know that you're tough enough to handle anything thrown at you, but the reason I wanted to bring you to hunt with me was to show you that the monsters are becoming stronger...and at an abnormal rate to boot!"

Grimdarl motioned his hand towards the stirges' corpses "Take those guys for example. Giant boars are supposed to be quite rare around these parts, and yet here are two males who haven't entered mating season yet! Back in my day, when you found two giant boars together one was male and the other female! Giant boars are supposed to be solitary monsters who don't form packs unless during mating season! And these stirges? These monsters aren't supposed to be of medium size, they're supposed to be so tiny they can more than comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. Even larger regional variants are small in comparison!".

Grimdarl said and then calmed down as he told Migoth "The reason your training was so harsh was not only because I felt massive potential within you" he punched Migoth's pectorals to emphasize "But also because I was one of the first to know that something weird was going on with the monsters within Etherington, and I wanted you to be ready for anything"

Migoth took the entire speech and decided that it was plausible. It still didn't soothe his experiences with less-than-safe natural chemicals.

Migoth shuddered massively at the memories that line of thought brought, but Grimdarl merely ignored it as he turned to the bodies of the slain boars.

"Now, help me out in taking these back to the camp. These big guys are not gonna lift themselves, you know?"

X X X

Back at the camp, the group was seated around a bonfire as they voraciously ate the cooked boar meat under the dark, yet starry skies of the evening.

In that moment everyone silently and simultaneously agreed that Iseldo was one of the best chefs they ever met as they savored the spices used to further enhance the flavor of the perfectly cooked meat.

Eventually, after finishing their dinner, all men returned to their respective tent. Iseldo opened up his only to find Nylan half-sleeping, her nubile body wrapped in his warm bedsheets and her head placed on his favourite pillow. He also noted that her swamp-green robe was present as well, only this time it was neatly folded.

Thought that wasn't his biggest concern.

"Nylan, why are you here? You know that if they find you in my tent they're going to ask a lot of questions...and they're not going to be nice about it" Iseldo said with an annoyed tone, taking on a more fearful tinge near the end. Nylan huffed as she slowly sat up-tight, revealing her white thin shorts and shirt. Iseldo silently thanked all of the elven and nature gods (whoever the former were) that she wasn't in her undergarments.

"Oh, come on, did you really want me to sleep outside with the cold and the scary monsters that roam these forest? You shouldn't worry about me so much, I am a High Elf! With my innate skills and magic, nobody will know that I've ever been here!" Nylan said with a proud and slightly cheeky tone as she made her way to Iseldo, slowly crawling towards him with some effort. She then put her hands on his shoulders and, with strain, pulled herself up to Iseldo's eye-level. Nylan then, slowly, hugged Iseldo's neck to keep her balance.

The boy was confused by this. Usually Nylan was agile and very strong in her own right, but whenever she puts down her robe Nylan loses nearly all of her strength, usually having him or a summoned animal carry her around. Iseldo really ought to ask her about all of that.

Back to the present, the elven girl was smirking at Iseldo, their faces so close they could feel each other's breaths. Slowly, his arms hugged Nylan's slim waist, but their moment was abruptly interrupted by none other than Migoth himself.

"Hey Iseldo, thanks for safe-keeping my shirt, now can you give it back?" the muscular boy asked, but then half-froze as he saw Nylan hugging his friend tightly.

Iseldo, meanwhile, yelped and spun around to face the older, hulking young man. Nylan whimpered because of this sudden motion, but she soon recollected herself and slowly turned her head, meeting his gaze.

"Well now, big guy, didn't anyone teach you how to knock?" Nylan huffed to Migoth in a slight mocking tone and he was taken by surprise upon seeing the strange girl inside his friend's tent, her being unlike anything he had ever seen. Pointy ears aside, Migoth was taken aback by the shape of her limbs, face and eyes, too detailed and sharp to belong to humans. But especially strange was her smell, a complex and otherworldly aroma that reminded the young man of forests, rain, burnt plant matter...and death.

Iseldo was getting more worried by the second, especially because Migoth's size caused him to occupy almost more than half of the tent, plus his massive looming pectorals always unsettled him. Still, Nylan remained calm in the face of this humanoid behemoth.

Eventually Migoth sighed heavily and asked to Iseldo "So...mind explaining who is she?".

The boy had no choice but to explain who she was and their relationship. Nylan also pitched to explain her part as well, mainly how she got the henchman to evaluate Iseldo. Migoth listened carefully to all of it, but then remained silent.

This could be attributed both to his underlying suspicion toward Nylan, whatever this "hypnosis spell" was and the fact his knowledge of the other sex was nearly non-existent, aside from the facts that the other sex existed, looked differently and acted differently (?).

Still, after a while, Migoth said "Don't worry guys, I'll keep your secret well...a secret. Oh, and thanks for the shirt" Migoth said as he started to get out of the tent. In doing so he exposed his back muscles in all of their might.

Nylan, who had already appraised nearly Migoth's every muscle, teasingly told Iseldo "Well, you might want to up your training, cause you got some tough competition!". The latter yelped in embarrassment, but before he could reply Migoth re-entered the tent and pitched into the conversation "She's right, you know? From this outing alone, Grimdarl told me that the monsters around here are getting stronger. So, if I were you, I would considerably up my training regimen. Another advice, the more fatigue and pain you feel, the stronger you'll eventually get"

After dropping his 'wisdom', Migoth left the now stunned couple, who didn't know which was stranger. The fact that they avoided trouble so easily, or the fact Migoth misinterpreted Nylan's innuendos so easily.

The two decided to sleep on it for the time being, Nylan putting back her robe and suddenly disappearing before Iseldo's eyes.

X X X

It was night in the Fox mansion and Carlina sat on her arm-chair in the spacious living room, thinking about the letter's contents.

On one hand, she was excited that she was finally admitted to a musian guild, despite past misgivings. Finally she could put her knowledge and spells to the test once more!

But on the other hand, there was who was supposed to be her partner. She reviewed the picture, which showed a young man so muscular she couldn't believe her own eyes. He was even younger than her, since Carlina was 19 years old.

Apparently he was trained by Grimdarl himself, which meant that he was a muscle-head who only knew to fight...

...or so she thought. By reading his profile, Carlina read that this he had a calm and fairly disciplined personality, but he was still very reckless and (put in gentle terms) "wasn't the sharpest tool of the shed".

She still didn't meet this "Migoth" in person, but based on what she knew about him at the moment, Carlina could say he wasn't too bad (she could have and certainly had worse in the past), but the characteristic of his that put her off was his overall distrust towards monsters. Carlina perfectly understood where he was coming from, his village being destroyed by an horde of undead monsters, possibly guided by a far more sinister one, but Carlina also had Benito and she was sure that they would enter in conflict, given that Migoth Bresuma's (that apparently was his full name) parents were clerics before their demise.

"So now your teammate is a monster-hating muscle-head?" Benito asked Carlina as he brought some tea. She sighed and said "Yes and no. Honestly, I'll just have to explain him. If Grimdarl's really his mentor and Migoth's never left the camp, then I doubt he knows much about the outside world"

The lady then took a sip of the tea, her body calming down and a smile appearing on her face. 'Benito can do a really good tea when he wants to' Carlina thought, remembering those years ago when he would sometimes make a bitter tea to play a prank on her.

"Well, I'll think about all of this tomorrow" Carlina said as she stood up, ready to go to her bedroom, then said softly to Benito "Goodnight Benito!"

"Goodnight to you too, Mrs. Fox" Benito said to her back as he made his way to his own bedroom.

"Do you really like that room in the basement? I can give you another one on the second floor" Carlina called him from the stairs to the aforementioned floor, but the imp waved her master off as he said "Don't worry Mrs. Fox, it's comfortable enough for me! The darkness is very nice for me, and the humid atmosphere becomes really pleasing to the nostrils once you are accustomed to it!" and went downstairs.

X X X

Meanwhile, outside of the well-lit city gates, Korrina and Kheannoth finally arrived in Musia, its massive walls further defended by a majestic row of towers soaring upwards and arrays of cannons poking out of small openings.

The guards stationed at this particular post, whose gate was adorned by the emblem of the noble alliance, briefly tensed up at the caravan before calming down at the sight of the emblem on the vehicle's left flank.

Just as Korrina exited the caravan to talk to the guards, a particular young one beat her to it and said "Good evening cadets! I trust the journey wasn't too exhausting"

"I just want a bed to lay on for the next eight hours" Kheannoth grumbled under his breath while Korrina walked forward and shook her hand as she said "Yes, the journey was rather long and our caravan encountered nearly no obstacles, however on the latter end we were ambushed by a group of undead"

As soon as Korrina said that the young guard paled and the older nearby guards tensed up expecting the worst. The captain of the guards stationed at this gate, a beaded men in his fifties, walked up to the paladin and began questioning her in a respectful yet strong tone "A few weeks ago a large group of undead hid themselves in a merchant caravan and took us by surprise. As you can imagine it was a bloodbath and the citizens are getting restless, therefore I must ask you a series of questions to determine the gravity of the situation. Where did those undead ambush you? What time was when the ambush took place? What type of undead monster were they? How were the undead armed, if at all?"

Korrina was slightly intimidated by the old guard and years of training in doing what the elders say almost made her spill out all of the details regarding the ambush, but her resolve as a proud member of the Silver Order was able to overpower such conditioning.

"I'm sorry sir, but the laws of the Silver Order do not allow me to disclose such information for fear of untrained combatants causing further incidents using possibly incomplete information. I will write a report about the ambush to my seniors as soon as I get to my lodges, and I'm sure your superiors will get you and your subordinates up to speed after a more accurate examination has been carried out" Korrina said with her usual tone, gentle yet firm, expressing both the domineering authority of an agent belonging to a blessed organizations and the understanding compassion of a fellow victim. Unfortunately the old guard wasn't moved.

"Then I'm sorry, but due to recent worrying circumstances I can't allow you to pass until you told me all the information you can about this ambush. Understand that this is for the protection of the capital and its citizenry" the old guard said in an understanding tone, but he still stood firmly by his decision.

Although she was still calm and understood the man's worry about such an occurrence, Korrina was about to retort that he had no authority in such a matter. However she started panicking when she heard a loud snort and heavy footsteps closing in behind her.

A very disgruntled Kheannoth strode forward and gently set Korrina aside as he said with palpable impatience "Spare me the inconvenience and let us pass. We have everything in rule and without a physical mandate you can't detain us outside for any reason"

The guards around were stunned that someone dared to talk back to the captain and he himself was certainly unhappy with being talked back in such a manner. Korrina was instead relieved his friend's outburst was very minor.

The girl was however worried at the captain's reaction, but the older man decided to deescalate the situation and promptly apologized for his behavior.

The two cadets thus finished the checkup and finally entered Musia.

So, with the entire main cast finally here, I can explain the various dynamics around the characters. Romance is going to come into play much later into the story and be present early on at the same time, but it won't be the focus of the story (as you could have guessed).

My idea was to have two couple of characters already know each other and have some romantic feelings for each other, while the other two couples have yet to meet and develop a relationship. Each chapter is going to feature at least two of these couples.

With that, see you next time with Caretaker of the 3rd Unit (and perhaps the first chapter Adventurers of Caves and Cliffs)!