"Aaah, it feels good to walk in the open air again!"
Kirin stretched himself while saying these words. The others all nodded in agreement. Even though they only spent 8 hours traveling to this place, he air still felt somewhat stifled. The place they arrived was a town, with a certain calmth to it. The sky was bright blue, the sun was in the sky sending gentle rays of sunlight down, and the foliage of the trees was a clear green color. It was as if this town was made for the sole reason of calming people and letting them have a good rest.
Rho spoke casually to the 4 people. "I have to pick up someone. We don't have to take the carriage so just wait a bit for me. Just go to the "Sleeping Dragon Inn" and ask the bartender to give Piro the message "Ymir will be born into Yggdrasil." You'll be given hospitality and information we need. Also, they will probably ask you who gave you that message, say "Atlas has given us this burden." They might attack you if you don't say that."
The 4 people were astounded by this cryptic and somewhat unsettling message but before they could ask anything, Rho had already turned and walked away.
The other four did not have a place to go so they went on their way to this inn.
"You think he is up to something?" Mira asked. Hide shook his head and answered with a serious voice. "In all the years I have known him, I have never seen him do anything without a reason, even more so after some unfortunate incidents. I know he has been surviving for 8 years now, and he has gotten through everything just fine." Lana blinked twice and asked in surprise "What happened? Hes 18 like you isn't he? Doesn't he have a family?" Hide laughed with a pained smile. "He and I grew up together. I saw him getting kicked out of his family when he was 12. I know him better than anyone, except for his crazy sister and my sister, those two have been around him even more." He sighed and softly continued. "He suffered a lot, and so did the ones he cared for. He disappeared for 3 years and came back almost 14 months ago. By then, he changed a lot, it was as if he had his drive again. In the years he was gone, he seemed to have learned so many things. Even though he's a peak rank 3 star mage, and he has been for all those years, I cannot beat him in any way anymore. And above that, he is the one who can help me with my greatest wish right now."
Kirin and Amia were listening intently to this explanation. Kirin asked something while absentmindedly playing with a little stone in his hands. "Does he have a way of solving people's problem or something? So far, he is supposedly able to help three of us, and I already gained my eyesight back for now. Is he, like, reincarnated or something?" Amia shook her head. "No, reincarnated people are different from people who are born without their previous life. My family has a reincarnated person in it, and she is the strongest person within her rank. That's because she has insane control, tremendous amounts of mana and powerful spells, even though they're low ranked. It's like she is supercharged from birth, including training speed. There is no way Rho is one because he is still this low rank, so there must be something else which is causing his issues."
While talking, the four of them arrived at the place mentioned. It looked like a normal, quaint inn on the outside, and it definitely did not stand out, at all. It was a place you'd walk past if you did not know where to go, or if you were looking for it.
The four of them entered the inn, with Hide in the lead. When they walked in, they saw a few groups of mages sitting at their tables, relaxing and chatting with each other. A few of them looked at the four who entered but they also went back to their conversations. The inn was a quite standard one, with a mercenary mission board, a few sturdy wooden tables and chairs, a large bar with planks on which alcohol stood ready for serving, and a beer tap with a large cask in the corner. Surprisingly enough, there was also a piano on a small step to the right of the inn. The barkeeper was a girl, quite young, with long, white hair and bewitching green eyes. She had a fair skin, with a gloss on her face, which blended perfectly with her eyes for a mystifying charm. Her figure was slender and feminine, almost frail, as if she would break if you were to hit her. However, her entire demeanor shone with energy and vigor. When she saw the four enter, an unseen glint passed through her eyes, sparkling with excitement. The four saw her and walked up to her, before being greeted. "Good afternoon sirs and ladies, how may I assist you? A meal is 80 copper, and a pint of beer is 20 copper, if you buy both it's 90 copper, and per room it costs 2 silver per night~." Her voice was strangely musical, it was as if one was listening to a pleasant song, calming and relaxing. Hide somehow felt an enormous threat coming from this girl, even though he couldn't sense any mana at all.
He gathered his courage and spoke "I have a message for Piro, which..." Before he could finish his sentence, the words choked in his throat, because all the people in the inn pulled out their weapons and readied their spells. And that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that these people all had a rank of 5 or higher! The highest one was an 8 star mage, which would be an elite member of any clan in this immense world. Aside from the mage that radiated such intense mana that it felt almost solidified, there were also 3 peak 7 star mages, and 12 mages with the level of 6 stars. The other 5 mages were of the 5th rank, but all in all, this was an extremely terrifying match up. To clarify, the four of them were 4 star mages, and Hide and Kirin were at the doorstep to the 5th star. Only after reaching 5 stars were you considered a true mage, because then you can change mana according to your own body, instead of just holding it. That means that when you reach 5 stars, you are able to change your own body according to the mana you need for your training system, affinity and spells. When one reaches the 5th star, you immediately begin to make mana according to your own standards, which causes the efficiency to increase by an enormous amount. So, by these standards, a 5 star mage casting a 3 star spell is enough to wipe a 3 star mage off the face of the face of the world, simply by having an overwhelming amount of mana.
To put it shortly: everyone here would be able to completely demolish them. And everyone was currently gathering their weapons and mana for unknown reasons.
When the four turned to face the mages inside the inn, Piro, who stood behind them, had a look of extacy on her face. She mumbled inaudibly to herself "So he has come back after all..." She shook her head and asked the four terrified people in front of her. "Since that is a very interesting statement, I would love to hear it, but bear in mind that a wrong answer will have severe consequences. Right now, if you swear a lifeblood oath not to talk about this, you can still walk away with your lives.~" The threat in her voice was completely obvious to all those present. Hide swallowed his saliva, the sound being audible in the entire inn. He then spoke in a trembling voice. "Ymir will be born into Yggdrasil. Atlas has given us this burden."
The instant he finished his words all of the spells were dispelled and the weapons were put away. All the mages in the inn had a great smile on their face and just waited patiently. Piro spoke to them "I figure a certain person sent you here. Just so you know, we are all utterly devoted to him, so of course we will treat you well. I should tell you, the fact he sent you here means that the gears are in motion. I can't tell you how much I waited for this day~." Her voice was soft and had a faint feeling of melancholy to it. She then looked at them curiously. She walked up to Kirin and observed his face from really close.
Kirin was not used to having anyone this close to his face, especially because he couldn't see anyone for almost half of his childhood. Also, the facts that this girl was a beauty of high standards and looked like his age too, didn't help the fact that he was getting quite flustered. "Uhm, what are you doing?" Kirin asked with a slightly red face. He leaned backwards to avoid her coming in contact with his nose.
Piro smiled mischievously and poked his nose. "I am just curious to meet new people. Plus, you're the people my master has chosen so you got to be very interesting~!" One of the other mages in the inn grinned and spoke. "Miss Piro, you shouldn't tease this young boy so much. He is clearly already infatuated so just let him be." All of the mages laughed, including Amia, Hide and Mira. Kirin however, turned beet-red and stuttered: "I-I'm not in love! I'm, just very uncomfortable with her being this close..."
The atmosphere was very calm and gentle, when suddenly, the door opened and Rho's voice came through. "I hope you didn't kill each other guys?"
Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this long chapter. Im trying to make longer chapters with better quality writing, but since I am low on time, it takes forever to make a chapter. I am planning on being much faster with chapters, so just bear with it. Next chapter will be within a month. Promised.
