Marketwires and Nova

Micheal was very interested in seeing the other descendants of his grandfather. He had come from a small village and didn't even know that he was a hero descendant until recently. Since the others had likely come from more affluent families, and had known they came from the human hero, surely they must be extremely strong, brave, and imposing! 'Just the type of people it would be great to get to know! One must have strong connections to advance in life!'

Micheal followed Natalie Marketwire to a table with six other young adults sitting around. "Take a seat."

Micheal sat down, and Natalie introduced him, "Everyone! This is Micheal Marketwire. Another one of Matt's children. So Micheal, want to tell us a bit about yourself?"

Micheal was uncomfortable with being introduced as 'Another one of Matt's children', but he still said, "I come from a remote village faraway, called Tika Village. Growing up, I was never taught about pathways. I had found a scroll with the instructions to become a step 1 fortune teller, so that's what I am now. I really thought that I was the only one or at least one of the only people with this kind of power, so I thought I would go to the capital to become filthy rich. Imagine my shock when I found out that nearly everyone here is at step 1 or 2!"

The table was silent for a moment, and then a muscular girl with red hair, flat chest and tight clothing started, "My name is Julia Marketwire. Most of our stories here are similar to yours. Actually, apart from Sunny and Luna, everyone here came from low upbringings." She then pointed at a man in loose white and red clothing, "That's Sunny." She then pointed at a smaller girl with black hair, and blue clothes. At first glance, one may even mistake her for a child. "She's Luna."

Juliua went on, "Personally, I actually came from faraway, near the border. I had dreams of going to the Capital, but there was simply no route for me to go through! Fortunately, I had my own fortuitous encounter, and I became a Step 2 survivor before I left for my months long journey. That being said, you might be wondering why we get such privileged treatment here at the Capital. Since our recent ancestors were so strong, our bloodline lets us better resist the immense dangers of going up the steps, where as most people can only get to step 2 without taking major risks."

Seeing that Julia had finished, Natalie began speaking, "Well, Micheal. As we come from the human hero, we are very privileged in the capital. Until the event starts, you can come here anytime and get luxurious foods and socialize. We happened to be in a meeting, which is why you found so many of us. I'm sure you've heard about the rewards and housing. Once we finish this, the kingdom will surely be generous and provide us with plenty. If you need housing, if you talk to any of the servants, they will surely tell you where to go. Unfortunately, our meeting was about to come to an end, so a few members might leave soon."

"Indeed." Sunny said, as he stood up and reached over to Micheal for a handshake. With a firm handshake, he went on, "I'd love to continue this conversation, but I have an appointment I must attend soon. These meetings happen every two days, at the second morning bell, until the event starts and this space is no longer provided. If you have spare time, I hope to see you there next time!."

Most of the people stood up, and gave their own last words as they left, including Natalie. The last ones remaining were Julia and Micheal. "So…." Micheal was about to attempt to start a conversation with this really cute girl Julia, but saw that she had shut her eyes. 'Is she trying to sleep? Even if that was really sudden, I don't want to interrupt her.' With that, Micheal stood up, and went to one of the palace servants to inquire about the housing.

The room was suddenly empty, apart from Dante, who was still stuffing his face, Julia, who somehow managed to fall asleep, and the elf who was looking anxious.

This caught the notice of Dante, who saw that he was the only other non-human there. He walked up to him, with plates of food in each hand.

"So, I'm guessing you're the grandson of the elf hero?"

"No, I am Nova Polaris, son of the great elf hero, Highwind Polaris." the elf said in a calm and monotone voice.

Dante nodded while consuming the food he had brought with him. Dante remembered learning in orc school that elves have longer lifespans than most other races like orcs or humans.

"So… Have you chosen a pathway yet?" the curious orc said as he continued to stuff his face with delicacies. Nova looked at Dante with a confused look.

"Oh, where are my manners," he said as he passed the elf one of his plates, "I am Dante Aduxtire, grandson of the original orc hero." He said with food barely staying in his mouth.

Nova took the plate and looked at it. He placed it back onto the table and continued eating his own food.

"Anyways, I'm very intrigued about the original orc hero, tell me about him and how he lived?

Filled with pride, Dante cleared his throat. 'Finally, someone that is cultured, and wants to know about the mighty deeds of the orc hero!' Dante thought as he began to explain his heritage. While Dante was talking, the elf seemed to have great interest in Julia. Dante was going on about how his grandfather had stopped the Great Execution, when he passed him one of the giant ass chicken wings that was on his plate. Of course Dante would not refuse to take his generous charity, and took the wing. As he ate he noticed Nova acting strange. He looked around the room and noticed his vision was getting a bit blurry, as he couldn't seem to see anything at all. He slowly started leaning over and smashed into the table.

"Fuck!" Nova said, "I'll have to hurry since that made a lot of noise!" Julia slowly got up. She seemed different, like if she wasn't all there. Nova hurried out the room and she followed him. They both bumped into Micheal, who was back trying to find the source to the loud crash. He dropped the croissant that he had in his hand.

"It's people like you!" he yelled as he flipped them off. He walked into the empty room and saw the collapsed Dante. 'That's a weird place to sleep.' Micheal thought as he slowly approached him. Dante was completely knocked out cold. 'He looks just as dumb now as he did when he was knocked out the cart.' Micheal thought as he snickered. He poked him with the chicken wing that was once Dante's hand. Micheal sniffed it.

"That's strange, this is the same smell that's usually used in hypnotic potions….DANTE!"

Micheal had helped his mother create potions before. They often sold them for a pretty penny to the merchants who passed by when traveling. He shook Dante violently. He grabbed the chicken wing and bonked Dante over the head. Dante yelped in pain and looked around. He woke up surrounded by food. 'Is this heaven?' he thought for 5 split seconds, before he looked up and saw Micheal.

"What happened?" Micheal asked in confusion

"I was talking with the elf hero's son, Nova, and then my vision got blurry and I crashed into this table." Dante said as he slowly rose back on his feet.

"I think you got hypnotized, the chicken wing had traces of a hypnotic potion-"

"The elf passed me that chicken wing! He must have done something to it while I was talking!" Dante said as he was fueled with anger. He stomped out the room yelling out in the main hall. All the guards looked in confusion. They approached him and tried calming him down. Micheal saw the orc causing a scene.

'The hypnotic potion, it must be causing him to act out like this! I have to find Nova! He must be up to something along with Julia!'