12 The Collector (Part 2)

"Okay, so now that I understand what exactly do you do... Isn't it time for you to tell me why exactly are we going to this Beast Forest?" asked Mia full of curiosity. Since she now knew that Rasz was some kind of a treasure hunter, she was actually quite excited about this trip — not that she wasn't already since the beginning.

"Hold your horses, Mia. I was going to tell you why we're going to do the Beast Forest soon." Seeing Mia getting excited, Rasz warned her to cool her head a bit. He might have explained to her properly about his job entails, but he has yet managed to convey how dangerous this job really was in reality. If he didn't properly tell her about it tonight, going into that Beast Forest with Mia tomorrow might end up being one of the worst decision he had ever made in his entire life.

"Okay, so my employer this time had requested me to retrieve these four precious gemstones called QuadriTraum. These gemstones are said to stand among the top 5 within the chart of the [Worlds] most beautiful item. If sold, the number of golds they could fetch could last for three lifetimes. However, its beauty wasn't its true worth. The true worth of this item lies with its magical ability which is to foresee a person's Life through scrying."

"So, they are some kind of... crystal balls? Only that these are using really expensive gemstones?"

"Hahaha..." Rasz laughed loudly when he heard Mia's very simple way of describing the QuadriTraum. "Yes, I guess they are some sort of crystal balls and used priceless gemstones."

"The QuadriTraum consists of two large gemstones and two smaller gemstones. The large gemstones are used for the Past and the Future. The smaller ones are for the Present and the Change," Rasz continued his explanations.

"Change?" asked Mia. The Past and the Future were something normal when it came to scrying. Hearing that the QuadriTraum are used for scrying the Present, sounded a little weird to Mia, but the Change? This was definitely the first time she had heard this word coming from scrying.

"The Change stone is connected to the Future stone, just as the Past is connected to the Present. Now, the difference between the QuadriTraum and the usual crystal ball scrying method is that the later is used to a certain extend to show a person's Life, but the former is mainly used to advise."

"As far as I'm concerned, during scrying using the QuadriTraum, you will use the Future stone to scry for what [Fate] has been bestowed upon you. The Change stone is later used to know how to 'overcome' that [Fate]. It is similar to the Past and the Present stone. Scry upon the Past stone, then the Present stone will advise on what to do to 'fix' what had happened in the past."

"Hmm... Well, the QuadriTraum sure sounds fascinating. However, I'm not too fond of fortune-telling stuff," said Mia.

"Afraid of bad luck?" asked Rasz jestingly.

"They just sound ominous," Mia said somewhat nonchalantly, but Rasz could hear something else from her sentence.

"One more thing Rasz, I've been meaning to ask this..." Just then, Mia once again pulled Rasz's attention.

When Rasz turned towards her, Mia asked while pointing a finger at the backpack that Rasz has been hauling in their every need, "That isn't just any normal backpack, is it?" Mia was curious because though Rasz had been putting in so much stuff inside that backpack already, but its shape had remained the same — not bulking up like any bags should when you started filling them up with things.

"This backpack is one of those magical bags that you can fill up endlessly. Everyone just called them Packers. They are everywhere in the [Worlds], well at least the magical ones I suppose," explained Rasz.

"Everywhere?"

"Yep. The Packers are produced by the Worlx Company. Oh, Worlx Company is one of the sorcery company that produces and sell magical products [Worlds]wide."

"There are sorcery companies that sell magical products in all the [Worlds]?" asked Mia surprised to hear such things.

"Again, yes," Rasz answered simply.

"That's rather interesting to hear," said Mia quite flabbergasted.

"Mia, about the QuadriTraum..." Rasz began to say, as he turned to face Mia behind him once again but was taken by surprise by what he saw.

Mia was still lounging on the armchair near the door as she did since the beginning, however, this time she had planted her chin on her hand that she had placed on the chair's arm in a lax manner. By the way, she was grinning at him as if she finally caught him in the act, she must have been expecting him to turn around to face her sooner or later. Who knew how long she had been sitting like that simply staring at his back.

While giving him a knowing look, she said "Rasz, you do realize that you have been showing obvious reluctance in bringing me along with you in your travels even since before we left the Salem's Pub. With you keep acting like this, I'm sure going to pick up on how dangerous the journey to the Beast Forest tomorrow, you know." At her words, Rasz looked rather guilty.

"That is why I'm going to trust in your expertise as a Collector when it comes to tomorrow planning. So if you do have one, please don't delay telling me any longer and just say it. You're making me become more nervous with every second you simply hold your tongue like that," said Mia exasperatingly.

"Mia, you sure are the adventurous type, huh?"

At that question, Mia flashed him a devilish smile that made Rasz blood heated up in response.

******

The rest of the night was spent with Rasz telling Mia about the Beast Forest.