A cheeky demand
"I want you to teach me Ryo, Master!" Dan demanded, his voice filled with determination.
"What—what do you mean?" Valeria asked, taken aback by Dan's serious expression. "Are you serious? Why do you want to learn it? I thought your home was destroyed by Ryo users. Why would you seek such power of destruction?" She stared at him, not expecting an answer.
"I want to kill them, those bastards. I want to kill all of them with my bare hands," Dan spat, fury radiating from him.
Valeria shook her head. "And there it is. I can't teach you Ryo if you want to use it for that." She turned away, wrapping herself in her blanket. "When you followed me, you said you could do chores. That was the only reason I let you tag along."
Filled with pain and rage, Dan bit his lips until blood dripped from them. Ever since that night, all he cared about was avenging Ana by killing those two Guardians.
After a few minutes of emotional turmoil, Dan collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep, tears streaming down his face.
Valeria, pretending to sleep, maintained a stoic expression. "It's for your own good," she muttered before drifting off.
The next morning, Valeria woke up feeling exhausted, despite having slept all night.
"Master! Good morning!" Dan's loud voice jolted her fully awake.
"I've packed everything and am ready to depart—clothes, food, water, everything," he announced proudly.
"What's with you this morning, and why the 'Master'?" Valeria asked, squinting at him.
"Master Valeria, we need to hurry or we won't reach our destination," Dan urged.
"Destination?" Valeria tilted her head in confusion.
"Yes, our destination," Dan confirmed with a nod.
"You had a destination in mind?" Valeria inquired.
"Wait a minute, Master…" Dan set down the luggage he was carrying. "...you didn't have a destination in mind?"
"Nope, none at all," Valeria replied.
Hearing her words, Dan fell into despair. Not only was he lost, but Valeria, his last hope, seemed directionless.
"But don't be sad, Dan. If we continue heading east, we'll come out of the forest," Valeria said with a confident smile.
Dan didn't trust her sense of direction at all.
He feared they might just be wandering in circles. However, as they continued east, Valeria proved him wrong.
Emerging from the forest, a new plain came into view, filled with green slopes and beautiful terrain, with a village at the center.
"Welcome to Eldoris," Valeria gestured toward the village.
"Amazing!" Dan exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder.
"Right?!" Valeria smirked.
"Here!" Valeria covered Dan's eyes with a piece of cloth. "We don't want to attract unnecessary attention."
After enjoying the view of the city from a distance, they set their pace into the city.
"Among the seven great countries on the human continent is Castoria, where we currently reside," Valeria explained as they approached the city.
"And within Castoria, there are four cities plus one capital, making it five in total: Tiberia, Solaria, Zeloria, Heloria, and finally, Draconia, the capital."
"Ohh," Dan nodded, absorbing the information.
"But I'm still surprised you didn't learn this stuff. Don't they teach these things in schools anymore?" Valeria asked.
"I didn't attend school," Dan replied.
"Oh, that's true. During that time, the war was still ongoing. Well, talking about wars, Heloria was the capital before the war.
Among the four cities, Heloria fell first, which is why the capital was shifted to Draconia. So, we are currently in Heloria," Valeria concluded with a sigh.
The village was more developed and lively compared to Tufesti, likely due to the drought and lack of resources in the latter.
Unlike the huts in Tufesti, Eldoris had solid brick buildings. People wore fine clothes and beautiful ornaments, and the market buzzed with activity as buyers and sellers traded energetically. Children played and ran around the wide streets.
Dan remained quiet, walking behind Valeria. It had been a long time since he experienced such an environment, and he needed time to adjust. He noticed the Ryo flow in the city.
"First, we need to sell that fur at the flea market," Valeria said.
At the market, Valeria pulled out the dried fur skin from her bag and placed it on the table. An old man with a wrinkled face and a mustache, wearing a monocle, examined it. Unsatisfied with his glasses, he pulled out another scope and continued his inspection. After a few excruciating minutes, he finally spoke.
"This will be for a gold coin," the man said.
"What?! Just a gold coin? This is a Duskprowler we're talking about," Valeria grunted.
"Fine, fine, then three gold coins," the man relented, making Valeria smirk.
Duskprowlers were a dangerous race of bears that existed in special forests. They could slaughter a whole band of adventurers without taking a single blow. Even if they were taken down, casualties were inevitable, which is why mercenaries often hired top adventurers for protection.
"Here is your money," the old man said, dropping three shiny gold coins on the counter. Valeria quickly snatched them up, kissing each one.
"First thing we need is accommodation and a bar filled with hot men," Valeria said with a mischievous smile.
"Master, we don't have time for that. We need serious rest," Dan interjected.
"Alright, alright, let's go rest," Valeria conceded. As they were about to leave, a boy bumped into Dan, knocking off his blindfold. The child looked into Dan's milky eyes and started crying.
Dan tried to calm the boy, but the mother intervened, carrying the child away. Dan sensed the change in the crowd's demeanor. The hostility was palpable. "Is it because of my eyes?" he wondered.
"I told you not to remove this," Valeria said, fixing the blindfold back on Dan's eyes.
Without wasting more time, they headed straight to an inn for accommodation.
Valeria approached an attendant who directed her to the cashier. Surprisingly, the staff were composed and efficient.
"Five hundred silver coins per night, ma'am," the cashier said.
"Five hundred gold for a night?! Are you kidding me?" Valeria shouted, drawing attention.
"I'm afraid that's the price, ma'am, and it's not negotiable," the cashier replied.
"Damn, this is costly," Valeria cursed.
"Pardon me, I forgot to mention that your meal is also included," the cashier added. Valeria didn't wait for him to finish. She opened a small bag, took out a gold coin, and placed it on the table.
The cashier opened a drawer filled with gold coins and dropped it in. He then opened another drawer with keys and handed her one labeled "12."
"Your room number is twelve, ma'am," the cashier said. "What would you like for dinner?"
Valeria thought for a moment but couldn't decide. She pulled out a packaged piece of meat wrapped in cloth. "Cook this in the best way possible," she said.
"That goes against our meal service," the cashier hesitated. Ingredients were supposed to come from the inn, but they couldn't oppose a customer's request. After all, the customer is always right.
After some contemplation, the cashier accepted the meat and signaled a waitress to take it to the kitchen.
"Your meal and change will be brought up to your room in the next thirty minutes. Please be patient," the cashier said.
"Sure," Valeria replied. She and Dan headed to their room.
The room was spacious and tidy, with two windows for ventilation. Two big cotton beds were placed opposite each other, a table and chair at the side, and a clean cloth serving as a blanket for the chilly night breeze.
Valeria dived onto the bed, enjoying its warmth. "Ahh, when was the last time I laid on a bed like this?" she exclaimed.
Dan sat on the other bed. It wasn't his first time sleeping on one like this, but it had been a long time.
"Master, I have a question," Dan interrupted Valeria's reverie. "Why were those people staring at me like that? Were they afraid of me? I can't see myself—do I look like a monster?"
"You don't look like a monster to me, but to them, it's different," Valeria said, sitting upright and looking at Dan. "You really don't know anything, do you?" she murmured.
Knock, knock
A knock came from the door. Valeria wondered who it could be. According to the cashier, their meal would take thirty minutes, and they weren't expecting any visitors.
Opening the door, she found a waitress with their meal on a tray. "That was fast," Valeria said, taking the meal and placing it on the table.
"Here's your change, ma'am," the waitress handed her a small pouch of silver coins. Valeria accepted it gracefully and closed the door.
"Eat up, Dan. Get some rest. We have things to do tomorrow."