The journey.

The next day Ares awoke early. The meeting point was set for the courtyard they had first entered the Space guild in. When he arrived there he was surprised to see that despite his early arrival he was the last to arrive.

Already present were Victor, Sisaro, Tracy and Lisa. He hadn't seen any of them for over a week and was surprised at the change in their aura.

Victor appeared arrogant as always and stood on his own a little bit away from he others. A feeling of pressure emitted from him; it was clear he had made progress in his magic. Sisaro, Tracy and Lisa looked more comfortable stood in a group chatting. Well Tracy and Lisa were chatting Sisaro was stood with them looking serious as per normal. Whilst they hadn't changed a great deal they all looked more mature and appeared stronger then when he had met them last.

"Hey guys." Ares said as he walked into the courtyard.

As expected, Victor made no attempts to respond only glaring over momentarily before closing his eyes and remaining silent.

Tracy went red a little as he came over.

"Welcome back" She said meekly.

"Hello I'm Lisa!" The other girl said extending her hand and shaking Ares hand enthusiastically. She had her hair blonde hair in a bob cut and was quite bouncy and cheerful.

Ares introduced himself and the four caught up about their training. Even Sisaro spoke a little to talk about what he had been up to. All of them seemed to have come quite far in their magic training. Whilst Ares kept quiet about the Space spells he let everyone know how he could use push now.

It seemed the others had managed to use their mission points and money to buy spells themselves they hadn't bought any of more powerful spells instead purchasing empowerment spells. These were abundant due to their limited nature and ease in learning. Tracey had bought a minor strength empowerment spell which she had mastered; this allowed her the strength of five people when she used it. Ares could imagine that combined with her Axe skills she would be quite formidable.

Sisaro didn't mention much but it seemed that he too had bought an empowerment spell. His appeared to help his speed. Combined with his curved blade he would be deadly.

Lisa kept quiet but she mentioned offhandedly she had actually purchased some water magic which surprised Ares. It wasn't likely to be powerful but it could be quite useful in a pinch.

Ares did glance at Victor considering where his skills may lay but he refused to engage with them at all.

As the meeting time came Spellcaster Nova walked into the courtyard. Her clothing was as always exquisite and she was wearing a blue satin dress with a plunging neckline today.

"I will be your guide for this quest." She informed the others as she walked in.

"We will be meeting the other guilds at a location to the South of the City in the Outlands, the journey should take us a couple of days to arrive and I wont be using portals for us to get there. I hope you have all made proper preparation." She said glancing around the group. Luckily everyone had a well prepared bag next to them saving them any embarrassment.

"Why wont we be using portals?" Lisa asked, it was clear if it was a long journey she may be the one who suffered the most.

"Whilst the portal is a useful way to travel there are limitations on every magic. Firstly the portal has to be between two fixed spots, without sufficient knowledge about the terrain and area I cant tell you where I will send us. What if I sent us directly into a cliff or inside the Den of a large calamity level monster?" She asked looking at the others.

"Also there are numerous areas in our world still feeling the contamination of the Demon war. If we were to try to portal through an area like that it would take us to an unknown location or perhaps just disintegrate us on the spot and scatter us to the cosmos. None of us are powerful enough to open a portal through those areas. Yet." She added having seen that the group were already shaking at the prospect of being disintegrated.

. Before stepping out of the guild Ares used the mask he was still wearing to slightly alter his face changing his hair colour and general face shape. He now looked like a different person; he would have changed it before arriving but the others already knew it would be him going on the exploration with them he would have to just trust they wouldn't spread it around too much. Surprisingly he wasn't the only one who changed his face as Nova also changed to become an average middle aged woman.

The others did want to ask him why he changed his face however with Nova also following suite they thought it rude and left their questions unanswered. They were all secretly thinking that perhaps they too should followed Nova and changed their appearance.

"Whilst we are traveling I do not wish for anyone to bring undue threats to the Space guild or their families, we will therefore not be using our names and instead only numbers. Victor you are 1, Ares 2, Lisa 3, Tracy 4 and Sisaro 5. You will call me 0." Nova glanced briefly at Ares at the end. He couldn't help but think this may be another way to protect him from being identified, he was inwardly quite grateful to Nova.

After clarifying the travel location, the group all left carrying their bags in the direction of the South entrance to the third city. Only Victor looked quietly in contemplation as he stared at the now new face of Ares.

After around an hour the group arrived at the city walls. Huge stone walls encircled the entire city and looming towers were situated at intervals along their length. The soldiers patrolling were vigilant and clad in thick armour. Whoever was managing this city took the boundaries seriously.

At the South entry a huge gatepost was visible. There were two giant wooden gates higher than a four-story house. A smaller doorway one-story high was within the door; guards stood to either side checking the people exiting and entering the city. From the pressure he felt from the distance it was clear they were not less then Adept mages.

The group made their way to the exit line and stood to await their turn. Before long they had passed through the gates and exited into the vacant landscape. The guards had only given them a passing glance before waving them through unfettered.

Infront of the group was a mud road cutting through what looked like a wasteland with an occasional tree.

"Come everyone, we have to make good progress today to ensure we make the meet." Nova said walking into the distance the others in tow.

Ares turned and looked back at the city. This was the first time he had ever left that he remembered; hopefully when he returned he would be stronger and powerful enough to save Jessica he thought. He then ran after the rapidly disappearing group.