Sera

Sera twirled her Urum dagger in her hand and let it slowly drift into the air with each graceful flick of her wrist, and caught them as it descended. She sat alone on the rooftop of Linburn's weapon store and watched the middle ring within the city with a disinterested sigh.

From the top of her seat on her father's shop, she could spot the hundred feet walls that closed the middle ring off from the lower and upper rings. She watched merchants dressed in fine, glyphed clothes amble around street corners, and guards, led by junior knights patrol public spaces.

'Nothing ever happened in the city,' she thought. Growing up in the lower ring, she always looked up to the brave returning knights of war. Their silver and orichalcum armors radiated with dignity and power and their battle-hardened aura, crushed their unknowing admirers and forced them to their knees.

Only the children of the lower rings were allowed to watch them from a distance as their battle beasts, war unicorns, and horses, marched from the city gates, through the rings, and to the Emperor's palace in the upper ring. The city guards held back anyone above the age of thirteen behind a shield wall.

Only she and a few other children were able to withstand the bone-chilling aura of death and stagger close enough to glimpse at the faces of their heroes through the silts of their helmets.

When she awakened at ten, three years before everybody else her age, she noticed that she was able to withstand more pressure and venture further than most. On the eve of her eleventh birthday, two days after the battle at Hordson, she finally trudged close enough to touch the hem of her favorite knight's cloak.

"You belong at the academy, " Atatreya, the late intermediate knight said to her, as she looked down from her saber tooth war lion. "Only a few have ever wandered close enough to touch the hem of my cloak. You and every other child that shows promise will study the academy and serve the Empire."

Just like that, her life changed. She was known as the girl blessed by the gods and favored by Atratreya. Her father lobbied her recognition and used it to expand his weapon's sale business and by her twelfth birthday, she entered the academy. Touched by a god, and favored by a magic knight, she expected to have no equal at the academy. After all, none could match her talent and luck, or so she thought.

She let out an exasperated sigh, "I will never become the knight Atratreya knew I could be if I don't leave this stupid town."

"All this training for what? Just to guard my father's business. This is a waste of my talents. I'm going to die of boredom before I see any real action." Her head slumped into the palms of her hands and she let out a frustrated groan. The heat of the slanting stone edges of the store roof singed her bare thighs, as she flipped her legs back and forth, staring down into the street.

It had been three years since Sera started her training with Germo and his crew in the lower ring of the city. With his help, she expanded her mana conduit and became proficient with dual daggers.

She was fast and silent enough to take down an early junior knight or apprentice mage according to her instructor, and she itched to put that training to use, and earn herself enough merit to qualify for knighthood.

Citizens of the Empire of non-noble blood could only become knights after gathering enough merit points by completing missions. It took fresh mages like her a decade to rack up the points they needed to advance to junior knights. She would have to protect caravans, aid skirmishes, hunt magic beasts, and fight battles, under the title of 'mercenary mage,' only to start out at the bottom and climb up. No wonder people always cashed imperial merits for gold and silver instead.

One in a thousand wide-eyed mages ever lived long enough to make it to junior magic knights and even fewer became senior magic knights. The odds were stacked against her, and though she was confident she was that one mage in a thousand, she knew they had to be a faster way to climb to the top.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a borderlander headed in the direction of her father's shop. He was no threat, most of them weren't. She knew her father had her guarding the shop while she trained on the rooftop because he wanted to give her something to do, but she couldn't help but take her job seriously.

The borderlander had long, wild, unruly hair. A slim frame, and a distinct angular face, and pale skin. He looked out of sorts, tired and sickly.

He strutted into the store, passing right below her and she went back to looking at nothing in particular and playing with her dagger. She only figured out who he was when her father's animated voice called out "Seth."

***

Seth had an unrelenting scowl on his face after he left Baston's office. He carried that rage as he was waved through the golem and guards at the gate of Alpheus and the residential towers. And by the time he made it to the merchant district, only some of that frustration and anger had dissipated. He kept a shallow smile on his face as he navigated streets, shops, and smithies, trying to blend in.

When he reached Linburn's weapon's shop, the only weapon store he had ever visited, his mood had greatly improved and his smile wasn't as forced. His mind shifted from his unwitty defeat at the hands of a man who frustrated him to no end, and he looked forward to seeing an old family friend again.

Old Linburn was a shrewd businessman who provided potions, weapons, and hunting traps for the Ryalls while they were at their peak. He frequented Linburn's shop while he was at the academy, and sometimes tagged along when his father prepared for a hunt. Seth wondered if the old man would still remember his face and thought about his obnoxious daughter, who dubbed herself his rival when he was at the academy.

Linburn's storefront was a lot larger than he remembered. He'd taken over the smithy that was next to his store and switched out the walls that separated both stores with pillars.

He had beautiful leather armors, chain mail, full-body Urum armor, and an assortment of weapons- most of them were enchanted, of course, set up on floating glyphed displays with their prices overhead. He bought his first blade from Linburn and he was glad that the man's business thrived while he was off in the borderlands.

"Seth, so you finally came back." Linburn emerged from the store with a generous smile and hugged him.

"I can't believe it's been five years, just look at you. You're a head taller than I am" he said, as he compared their heights with the flat of his hand.

"How were the borderlands? I heard about all the great work you and your fellow borderlanders do over there, it's great to have you back."

"it's good to be back," Seth nodded.

So, what brings you to my shop? You haven't decided to part with your father's estoc have you?"

"No. We have been together for the longest time and I can't imagine parting with it," he said with a modest smile, as his eyes studied the sweet-talking merchant. Linburn had a round plush frame, barely any visible facial features, save for his goatee. His chin and jaw blended into a jiggly semicircle that was topped off by his blond slick-back hair. 'The years have been kind to him' he chuckled.

"You've changed a lot, Linburn."

"Oh you mean this," he laughed jiggling his belly. Linburn used to be a sinuous old trader with blond short hair, a square jaw, and a stubbly goatee. Staring at him now, he had blossomed into his inner fat merchant. His features were still the same, it was just buried under a thicker layer of blubber and comfort. He seemed happier.

"Business has been good these past few years. Siriya met a forge master a few years ago. When I found out he was looking to settle down, I practically begged her to marry him. Those men mint money. With his help we expanded the shop to the size it is today," he explained, with his ever bubbly merchant's laugh.

"You have changed as well. You are a lot taller now, and paler too. The borderlands were not too kind I take It." his eyes were filled with concern.

Seth wanted to correct him, but he stopped himself, why correct him when he could use his pity to negotiate a better deal. He forced back the smirk forming at the edge of his lips.

"Yes, the years have been unkind, but I made it through," he said, his voice somber.

"I am here to restock, there is an urgent mission I must prepare for."

Linburn eyes widened, "That means you are on your first mission as a knight."

"I always knew you could do it. Sera doubted you the whole time, but I always believed in you," he brimmed with joy. "Till this day she insists that you lied about being related to Tessa Ryall. Let me get her." He turned around and ran into his shop, yelling as he waddled. Seth reached out to stop him, but it was too late.

"Come see who it is. It's Seth. He's back..."

"Uvu's beard" he muttered. 'This old crone.' Things were bound to heat up if that little twirp found out he was back. He had no desire to start a pissing contest with his biggest rival after seeing her for the first time in five years. Claiming he was a knight when he really had no intention of becoming one, not until he saved his sister, was guaranteed to cause friction between them.

"Sera?" Linburn scratched his head and laughed nervously as he re-emerged. "She must've heard me, I'm sure she will come down from the roof eventually." An uncomfortable silence settled between them. "So what do you need?" he asked, breaking the silence. 'Finally!' Seth almost let out an exasperated sigh. He held himself back and chose to exploit the guilt the old merchant must be feeling

"Um." He coughed, "I just returned from the borderlands, so I am a bit short on silver. I have a short list of items I need for my mission, do you think you can help me?" The old man nodded and was about to respond when Sera emerged from the back of the store.

"We don't do business with freeloaders and fake knights, take your business elsewhere." She said, with a smirk. Sera was Seth's childhood frenemy. They competed over everything, and when it was time for him to go to the borderland and earn his merits to become a knight, he had to leave her behind. She had short blond hair, blue piercing eyes, a thin athletic build that was accentuated by her choice of clothes, and a scowl on her freckled face.

"Sera," he struggled to rein in his frustration. "I see you are still as prickly as ever. How've you been these past five years?"

She walked up to him and studied him with her piercing blue eyes. "You should cut your hair, you look like a woman," She pointed out. "You also look rather pale. What happened, did the borderlands scare the color off you?" She teased.

"We are adults now," he said, with a vein bulging from the side of his head. "I'm not going to trade insults like we are children. Even if we did, the outcome is fairly obvious, I would win." Seth snorted. Though he was tempted to continue their verbal bout, he had to gather weapons for the battle ahead, and hire mercenaries for his rescue mission.

"If you would excuse me, I need to get supplies." He swept her aside with his left hand and proceeded to barter with Linburn.

"I need 15 firebombs, an elfish griffin dagger, and finally 5 health pellets, a good beast hunting recurve bow, with a bowstring fluff and about two hundred piercing head arrows."

The old man frowned, "I can get everything except the firebomb for you."

"Why? You are usually well-stocked with all these ingredients."

"In the past, that was true, now things are different. The army has been buying up all the firebombs from forge masters. It is difficult to stock up on these kinds of potions because most forge masters don't sell to us local merchant anymore," he sighed. "I will need to dip into my personal stash, but I can sell you 5 firebombs."

Why did things have to be so difficult? He needed every single item on his list. His plan to take incapacitate the mage relied heavily on those firebombs. "Damn it. Why does everything have to be so damn hard?" He cursed and smashed the table with brash calloused hands. Cracks spread all over the countertop.

"You can't assault our properties as you please. You might be a knight now, but that doesn't give you the right to do what you please. Don't think you are above the law." Sera unsheathed her daggers and pointed them at Seth. He turned around, calmly stared at the blades, and turn around to Linburn, "I am sorry I was a bit harsh; I would love to buy all the items you can sell me at this time."

Linburn exploded with rage, "what are you doing Sera! Sheath your blade this instant."