The spikey dark haired man stood gazing at the faces of the two fellow guild members he had been assigned the mission with. One crossed her arms together barely facing them while the other was obviously day dreaming. He sighed as he closed his strap bag.
" I know that this is your first time you two are meeting but there is no need to be shy. " He said .
His eyes swayed from Sen to the girl trying to see if any of them wanted to start.
" Fine then I'll go first. "
" My name is Rayden Dymstro but most people call me Dim. With a y. " Dym said.
" Mine's Sen. Pleasure to meet you Dim sir . " Sen said finally snapping back from his thoughts .
" Well then Sen , it a pleasure to meet you too. " Dym responded. He then turned to the brown haired as she stepped closer.
" I'm Liora. " She said after a while.
" Ok Liora pleasure to meet you too. " Dym said.
She then moved closer to Dym with a gentle tingling coming from the two colliding short blades strapped onto her waist .
" Liora … " Sen said as his eyes scoped Liora.
" have we met before . " he asked.
Liora shot a glance at Sen before saying.
" No ! Nowhere that I can remember. " she said turning her attention to Dym.
" Shouldn't we be starting the mission already instead of exchanging pleasantries that will be short term anyway. " she said with obvious impatience in her tone.
" Right . " Dym said as he stared pacing towards the brief room door.
"Let's get going then. " he added. Liora followed behind him with Sen at the back still wondering where he had seen Liora before.
A while later Sen and Dym were standing near the guild gates. Dym looked rather irritated as he constantly glanced at the sun's position. Sen had his back against the gate walls as he stared at the guild house door.
" Where is she ? " Dym asked in a low tone .
" Here she comes . " Sen answered.
Alighting the stairs to the guild house was Liora. In her hand was a wooden staff that had a purple swirling or at the top. She clenched it tightly as she made a beeline to the gate, not even sparring the guild members in the guild compound a glance.
As Liora walked across the path , Sen could feel a change in attention concentration. The attention of the guild members in the compound seemed to shift to the passing girl, like matter drawn into a black hole. Some halted their activities to gaze at Liora as she passed through the compound, her eyes facing down. She walked in a static manner as though her steps were only limited to the single tile file she was on.
" Wait isn't that ? yeah , it is . "
" But I thought she wasn't allowed to take missions. "
" Yeah so did I . "
" Did lady Nexa change her mind ? "
Even though they whispered, Sen could still hear the murmurs of nearby guild members. He watched Liora approach the gate barely able to look up with her staff tightly clenched close to her chest. Her eyes seemed glossy and wavering as she wiped the tears that had dammed on her eyelids.
" Is she going to be okay ? "
" Sure she will. She's the child prodigy. " a deep voice said sarcastically ending with a hysterical laugh.
" Child prodigy? " Sen wondered as he perched off the gate wall.
" Let's get going . " Liora said as she passed both Sen and Dym.
Her voice was normal as though the voices didn't deter her whatsoever. Dym paced behind her. He understood the depth of the situation but chose to keep quiet about it. Sen on the other hand was evidently worried. His eyes had narrowed as he watched Liora valiantly walked farther from the guild gates as though not shaken by the stares she had gotten.
" Sen! " he heard a voice call out .
" Keep up. Don't stray behind. " Dym added.
" Yes sir . " Sen responded following them as they headed for the northern gates.
< Northern gates >
The gates were busy as usual. Caravans and envoy carriages were docked at the front of the gates as the merchants engaged in chatter.
" Okay, you both ready to set out ? " Dym asked as he stepped towards the path that stretched away from the northern gates.
Sen and Liora stood behind him. Liora constantly looked around as though she was waiting for something.
" Where is our carriage? " she asked curious her eyes still darting around.
Dym was slightly surprised by her question.
" There is no carriage. " he answered back.
" We'll go by foot . " he added.
" What do you mean by foot !" Liora asked , with her tone obviously annoyed.
Dym sighed as he watched Liora fume as she desperately looked for a carriage.
" Listen you two as guild members we are required to be in top condition, ready to handle any occurrence that may prove harmful to the kingdom. "
" And thus carriage rides are a luxury we cannot have. " he said with finality.
" So what do you expect us to do ? Run all the way there ? " Liora asked , her arms crossed as she faced to the side.
Dym shook his head then moved a few steps away from them.
Suddenly a warm feel filled the air around Dym. The temperature around him seemed to increase causing Sen to move back from Dym. Then the heat settled onto his body and spread across his body fully encapsulating on him. Dym took a slow breathe out as he opened his eyes.
" You'll use flux. " he said as he stepped closer to them.
Flux was a basic method of arcane energy circulation around the body. It enabled arcane user to heighten their physical prowess and endurance. It involved a constant accumulation and circulation of one's arcane energy around the body into a thin layer of arcane. It was a basic and easy skill taught to children as they grew up.
" Oh , that's easy enough. "Sen said as a silverish arcane layer formed on his body.
Liora hesitated for a while. She looked at the shifting arcane layer on both Sen and Dym before reaching for the orbed staff.
She closed her eyes before green wavering arcane swirled around her before settling onto her. She let up a small sigh of relive then turned to Dym.
" There , what now ?" she asked.
" Let's go then. " Dym said before vanishing in blur.
"Hope you can keep up." Liora said before following suite.
Sen gazed at the path as the arcane presence of the two grew fainter and fainter.
" Looks like there's no going back. " he said with a smirk on his face before vanishing after them.