Chapter 4: The Road to Palisade

 The morning dawned on the newly christened mercenaries. With electrifying excitement filling the inn the four rushed down. They skipped breakfast as they ran through the crowded streets of Taliqun. Proudly displaying their new mercenary tags they were the center of attention for passersby. Children would stop and point, tugging on their parents as they watched the four run to headquarters. Qrezn held his head up high, a big smile on his face as he caught glimpses of the dazzled children. Shren did his best to avoid the onlookers while Tangret and Laiyth paid no mind to the flood of attention. After around 5 minutes the four made it to the headquarters and stood outside the building with bated breath. "Are you guys ready?" Laiyth said smiling. "I was born ready!" Qrezn excitedly replied. "We are mercenaries now, I can do this." Shren said trying to reassure himself. "Hmm, let's get this over with so we can take a request." Tangret said, his arms folded. Laiyth threw open the doors before proudly proceeding. They found the headquarters relatively empty during the early hours of the day, even though a quick look outside would remind you of rush hour. Before the four could reach the counter, they were greeted by a staff member looking to direct them. "Hello! Congratulations on your enrollment as Zeta members. Please follow me to the council." He said before heading off towards stairs. They looked at each other before quickly following the staff member. The staff member reached the top of the stairs before pointing at a door at the end of a hallway. The four nodded to each other before heading down to the door. The hallway itself wasn't particularly long or grand but the door at the end of the hallway was. Adorned with intricate patterns and expensive materials it was clear that whoever was on the other side of the door was incredibly important. "Tangret, you know more about things like this. Does the council ring any bells?" Laiyth said as they approached the door. "I've never heard of the council, though I can't say I'm too familiar with the internal structure of MerCo." Tangret replied shaking his head. Laiyth sighed as he reached out for the door. The door had a slight glow, though Laiyth failed to notice, and when his hand reached the door knob he felt a strange energy pulse through him. "What the!" He shouted as he quickly tried to pull his hand back. Despite the force he put into getting away his hand failed to separate from the door. He began to grunt in exasperation as he desperately tried to free himself from the door. "What in the name of the Gods is happening!" He shouted, grabbing his arm with his other hand as he continued to struggle. "Laiyth! What are you doing?" Shren shouted. "The door won't let go! I can't get my hand off." Laiyth replied. "Well if we're going in isn't that fine? I'm sure we can get your hand off once the doors open." Shren calmly replied. Laiyth turned to face Shren with his brow furrowed. "If I'm still stuck when this is open what are you planning on doing?" Laiyth asked. Shren rolled his eyes. "I'll ask the council, this is presumably their door. I'm sure they know." "Okay you two enough! We can't keep the council waiting. Laiyth open the door and we'll figure it out later." Tangret suddenly snapped. Laiyth mumbled to himself twisting the door knob. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a gorgeous room. The large, designed, pane windows symbolized the owner's wealth. A large mahogany colored table sat at the center of the room with four chairs slightly pulled out. The walls were covered with portraits of stern looking people of almost all races, humans were notably absent. The floor was a plush carpet like material. The four entered the room only to discover 4 people sitting on the other side of the table. There were 3 elves, including Rosen, an orc, and a human. Laiyth locked eyes with the orc who was situated in the center of the 5 people. He suddenly felt his hand freed from the door knob and moved to the edge of the table farthest from the people where chairs sat empty. Laiyth opened his mouth when he pulled the chair as he mentioned to sit down. Before he began to speak the orc spoke first. "Hello new recruits!" The orc's booming voice reverberating through the large room. Laiyth, Shren, Qrezn, and Tangret sat down as he continued. "I'm the Delta ranked mercenary, Sakria 'Bloodrain'. I am the lead of today's council session on the strange occurrence during your final exam." Qrezn's eyes opened incredibly wide. "Y-you're THE Bloodrain!?" He shouted as he suddenly jumped up. Laiyth and Shren looked at Qrezn with puzzled looks while Tangret sat silent in shock. "The man who single-handedly wiped out 50 nonels with blood spears?!" Sakria smiled wide as he puffed out his chest. "Haha! To think I'm this famous! For now though I believe that we should get to business. There are other recruits to test after all." He finished his face turning serious. The four nodded, Rosen and the other council members remained silent observers as the meeting began. Laiyth gave the floor to Tangret who explained what he experienced. "Hmm, that does seem troubling indeed." Sakria said while stroking his chin. He turned to the human on his left who nods, though he remains silent. Tangret finished explaining before giving the floor to Shren, who was able to identify that an eerie feeling of mana was emanating from the three nonels. Shren recounted the feeling he had as he focused on the nonels eyes. Sakria listened thoughtfully as Shren explained how the nonels combined from the moments he could remember. He explained in as much detail as he could while Laiyth and Qrezn chimed in to help when Shren couldn't explain. "How could that be?! And you say that they have runes in their eyes?" Sakria replied in a hurried manner. "Yes, we actually gathered its mantin however, it wasn't any different from a normal nonel." Shren replied. Sakria grimaced as he stared at his hands sitting on his lap. "I see… Thank you all for your information. As a thank you MerCo will provide a reward. Is there anything that your little group desires?" Sakria replied returning to his previous cheery disposition. Qrezn's eyes began to sparkle, he turned to Laiyth "Hey, hey, maybe we should get armor? I got a far amount of cuts and bruises from the exam." Laiyth smiled as he nodded in agreement. "I'm surprised that a fool like you could think of such a good idea." Tangret jeered. Shren silently nodded. "Haha! A practical bunch are you? I believe we'd have spare armor for you that would be suitable. A receptionist will show you the way. Once again I thank you for this valuable information. May you do great things in your time as mercenaries." Sakria said standing up. He saluted the group as the door to the room opened, revealing a receptionist patiently waiting for them. They all thanked Sakria for his kindness, Qrezn even trying to get a autograph before being dragged away by Tangret and Laiyth, and followed the receptionist to an armory.

 When they made it to the armory they stopped at a heavy-looking door. The receptionist sat in the front of the door for a few seconds as he began to unlock the door. After an audible click the receptionist moved out the way. "Please take a look inside and take whatever armor you choose." He said before bowing. "Thanks!" Laiyth said cheerily, his hands holding the back of his head as he walked in the armory. Shren nodded quickly following Laiyth. "What are we going to find?" Qrezn excited asked as he tried his best to not happily skip into the armory. "Thank you." Tangret said walking in last. They entered the dimly lit room only to find multiple armor stands. Most of the armor was leather with a few pieces of plate armors. However 4 sets of armor caught the groups attention. As if they were drawn to it Qrezn found a yellow scalemail chestplate. Though he couldn't feel it a energy that was radiating off of the chestplate. Shren found a full set of light leather armor, he found strange runes carved into the inside of the chestplate. Tangret found a cloak with padded cloth armor. While the cloth armor was normal but the cloak, like Shren's had runes sewn on the inside. Lastly Laiyth found heavy leather armor, and like Qrezn, though he couldn't feel it an strange energy. The four smile as they excited equip their brand new armor. They proudly exited the armory as they held their heads high showing off their new armors. "Alright now that we are readily equipped lets choose our first request!" Laiyth excitedly said before heading to the reception desk. Shren quickly followed behind while Qrezn hung back his mind wondering off in excitement for their first request. "Tangret what do you think we'll do? Maybe we'll save some noble or something and get really famous!" Qrezn said as his head flew off to the clouds. Tangret forcibly brought him back to reality reminding him that they were still at headquarters. "Well we'll find out when we pick a request, fool. Now lets go." Tangret said shaking his head. Qrezn quickly snapped out of his daydream. "Yeah! Lets go!" He said his energy unaffected by Tangret. The four made it to the desk and immediately asked about the current requests. "So what request would you recommend for 4 newcomers? Its fine if we have to travel, if that matters." Laiyth said leaning on the counter. The receptionist looked down at her desk for a moment before taking out a paper. She placed the paper on the desk and rotated it so the group could read it. "I have a request to help the nearby town of Palisade with a bandit problem. It is placed at Zeta rank as the bandit group is unknown and the reward would be 3 Tenebris coins. This request just came in, so make your decision fast if any other mercenaries take it can complete before you all rewards will go to them." The receptionist sternly warned. Laiyth turned and faced the group. "I like the idea of helping townsfolk, I'm in." Shren, with a determined look on his face followed up. "I-I agree. Bandits are unforgivable for hurting innocents." Qrezn smiled. "Well I'm of course down! I need all the reputation I can get so helping those in need will certainly help!" Tangret rolled his eyes. "If you're all in agreement I can't decline. Not that I would say no to helping those in need." Laiyth smiled widely at Tangret before turning back to the receptionist. "We'll take it! So this is it, huh? Diverging Road's first request!" Laiyth shouted. Everyone in headquarters shot him strange looks as he made his declaration. His face became flush as he quietly finished signing up for the request and quickly leaving the headquarters. "I've never seen you get so embarrassed Brother, what happened?" Shren asked, a puzzled look on his face. Tangret and Qrezn quickly followed them outside. "Shren you should know, I've never had that many people staring at me. When we were younger and went into the headquarters back home we only saw 10 people." Laiyth bashfully replied. Shren shook his head as he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. The group shared a hearty laugh before heading off to gather supplies and say their goodbyes at the inn. "Let's meet up at the gate in 2 hours, there's no time like the present to head out. Palisade isn't far from here anyway, only about a day or two journey." Laiyth said. "You got it boss!" Qrezn excitedly replied. Shren silently nodded. Tangret smirked before heading off, waving his hand in agreement.

 "Alright. Let's make sure that we have everything we need." Laiyth said to Shren as they stood by the gate. "I have food, a water canteen, and a tent. Anything else you can think of?" Shren replied patting himself down. "Nope I think that's everything, after all we aren't going too far." Laiyth replied with a smile. "Hey! Are we ready to leave?" Qrezn shouted as he ran towards the two. Laiyth threw up a thumbs up. "Got all that we'll need over here, what about you?" Laiyth said. "I got everything I need, I even got a meal from the inn." Qrezn said proudly showing off a bag of food he got. "What no fair!" Laiyth shouted. "So noisy. I assume we're all ready?" Tangret said showing up out of nowhere. Laiyth and Qrezn jumped at the sound of his voice. "Jeez, where did you come from?" Laiyth said holding his chest. Shren, who managed to not visibly react quietly thought to himself, "My Gods, where did he come from? I don't think anyone noticed he got me." "I was just gathering the last of my items from that stall over there, but are we ready to go?" Tangret replied. Laiyth nodded with a smile. "Yup! We'll probably have to camp out tonight but we'll be in town before you know it. Now that we're all here lets go!" Laiyth shouted before heading off. Shren, Tangret, and Qrezn followed him out the gate as they hit the road. It was a little before midday when they left Taliqun and the path was rather devoid of danger. That said they did happen upon a group of three nonels which they quickly dispatched. "Come on, you guys should've let me take at least one hit." Qrezn said pouting. "Why would we do that? We just got these armor sets, we can't destroy them already." Laiyth said. "And why are you desperate to try out the new armor? You'll have it for a long time if you take good care of it." Shren followed up. Qrezn frowned as he continued walking. "But I'm sure I'd get stronger if I take some hits occasionally." He replied. "Yeah but then you'll be spending a lot of money you don't have on new armor and potions." Laiyth shot back. Qrezn sighed as he admitted defeat. As they traveled for a few hours night began to fall and the group prepared to camp out. Laiyth was off gathering food, Qrezn gathering wood for a fire, while Tangret and Shren remained behind to set up the camp. While Tangret and Shren began to set up the tents the awkward silence grew loud. Shren worked silently while trying to think of something to say while Tangret worked, his face seeming disinterested in the world. An idea popped into Shren's head and before he had a chance to think it through he found himself speaking. "So Tangret, why did you want to become a mercenary?" Shren suddenly blurted out. Tangret was clearly caught off guard and sat stunned. "I-if you don't want to tell me that's fine." Shren sheepishly followed up. After blinking a couple of times Tangret's gaze roared to life, he was clearly interested in the world once more. "Sorry, I was just caught off guard. I feel as though I've been pretty clear about my goal though. I want to prove that the western demons are superior." Tangret replied, his eyebrow was raised in confusion. Shren shook his head. "No, no. I know that, I want to know why. Why do you want to prove their superior?" He explained. "Ah I see." Tangret fell silent. "We Demons, greatly value strength. Though it shouldn't be used for wrong doing, else you are simply corrupting the beauty of it. As a result, we often adapt our lifestyle to what we believe to be the strongest. But without strength it can be hard to help push demons further. I believe the western demons focus on magic grants them a strength the eastern demons lack. We don't use magic in the same way or nearly as often. We've clearly been molded by our surroundings. I want to change that, and to do it I must prove I'm strong." Tangret explained, a stoic look on his face. Shren was stunned into silence. "That makes me feel a little silly for leaving home with Laiyth. Our family isn't the richest around but we've always lived happy lives. Our parents own a farm that we all use to work together," Shren began to think back as pictures of his family flashed before his eyes. "but one day the nobleman who had been lording over us passed. He was succeeded by his son, and many thought a new era of prosperity would come to the land. But he grew greedy in place of his father and greatly raised the taxes. Our family couldn't pay to support us and pay the taxes and so Laiyth and I began to hunt, with my talent for magic and his excellent skill with a bow, we vowed to become mercenaries and send our earnings home so they could live the lives they deserve. Freed from worry and doubt." Shren explained a somber look on his face as he began to look towards the sky. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure your parents are proud of the quick progress you've already made." Tangret said in a quiet tone. Shren meekly smiled at Tangret before the two returned to silence for a while. After 10 or so minutes Qrezn returned. "Alright! This should be more than enough wood. What do you think?" He asked Shren dumping several chopped logs on the ground. "Qrezn, we're only staying for the night. And the fire is really only for cooking." Shren said shaking his head. "Oh. Well I guess we got a gift for the town!" Qrezn said, a smile seemingly sewn into his face. Shren slapped his forehead as Laiyth returned soon after. "Alright, I've got deer and ferretberries. Who's hungry?" He said a large smile on his face. Qrezn quickly worked to start a roaring fire while Shren and Laiyth prepared the deer for dinner. After an hour and a half the four finished their meal and prepared to sleep. "Tomorrow we make it to Palisade and begin our first request. Let's do this!" Laiyth excitedly shouted as he laid down. He raised his fist in the air, and was followed by Shren, Qrezn, and a reluctant Tangret. The four quickly fell asleep as thoughts of the request ahead of them filled their thoughts and dreams. They woke up early the next morning and rushed to get back on the road. They skipped breakfast as they excitedly rushed to Palisade. After 2 hours the made it to the outskirts of Palisade. Palisade was a considerable size, not large enough to warrant a protective wall but enough to have a few archer towers around the perimeter of the town. Though the group couldn't have known from just see the town it was clear that the population wasn't too high. The street were deserted in comparison to Taliqun, the noise the group had gotten accustomed to was clearly nonexistent here. The group wandered around for a while looking for the town's mayor, who would give them any information he had. They asked the rare townsperson passing by however they were rather few with words and often just pointed in a direction before running off. "That's pretty weird isn't it?" Qrezn asked. "Well their town is being ransacked by bandits." Shren reminded him. "Oh yeah, that would explain things." Qrezn replied. As the group continued to look for the mayor they were stopped by a peculiar elf. "Hey, you four. Are you all mercenaries?" The strange elf said. Laiyth looked back at his companions before they nodded in agreement. "Yes, why do you ask?" He replied. "Ah, well I just so happened to put in a request and I was wondering if you all were here to resolve it." The elf spoke once more, his voice was smooth, and proved to be weirdly soothing. It disarmed the mercenaries who did not question his actions. "I doubt it. We are here for a request but we only accepted one from the mayor, it was to help with the bandit problem you're facing. Speaking of, would you happen to know where the mayor is?" Laiyth explained. The elf let out a hardy laugh. He smiled as he locked eyes with Laiyth. "Perfect then! I'm shocked someone took the request so quickly. Now, this is no place to talk, lets head to my home. We can discuss the request in greater detail there. After all you can never know who may be listening." The elf spoke. Laiyth's face became puzzled as he stared at the elf. "Sir did you not hear me? We're looking for the mayor. It's his request we accepted." Laiyth tried to explain. "Oh, did I not say it? I'm the mayor of Palisade. The name is Resin. Pleasure doing business with ya." Resin said smile once more as he began to walk off.