Scrolls

I watch as Bandro and Cilia ride away into the distance, somewhat already missing their company.

I eventually put on the leather padded cape Bandro bought me, it should keep my face hidden for now.

I walk up to a middle aged woman selling fresh oranges, she looks up at me with worry in her eyes as if fearing I'm about to rob her.

"Sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but do you know if the Rising Blade Guild left the village?"

"Oh, no I'm sorry but the last I saw of them was yesterday during the day coming in and out of the citadels feast hall, a kind bunch of youngsters"

"It's alright, thanks for the help"

"No problem sir" she says with a kind smile

I walk the path that leads to the citadel where I find a man leaning against the outside wall wearing a chefs suit.

I get closer to him, he smells of a mixture of vegetables and meats.

"Could you tell me anything about the whereabouts of the guild that was feasting here yesterday?"

"Last I heard they apparently rushed to leave the village last night, Left the citadels hall a mess; must've been an emergency guild gatherin or somethin"

I sit on a bench, lost in thoughts.

Why did they leave in a rush, did Cain send a message telling them of my wounds? they're probably out looking for me right now that I think about it - so why do I feel such uneasiness, I thought I had trust in my guild so why am I sat here questioning myself.

My head feels heavy, I rest my face in the palm of my hand.

I should focus on getting stronger, learning more - It's too early to seek revenge.

The person who killed me was fast enough to the point I couldn't react or sense it coming, or is it because it was Cain? I wasn't expecting it to be him is that why I couldn't sense it? Did I let my guard down? I mean of course I did, he is my friend.

"Mister" a low voice says

I look up from my hand to see Sol with her face filled with a bread bun; I completely forgot about her if I'm honest, how irresponsible of me.

"Where did you go" I say with a sluggish tone

"Well, during Cecilias battle I decided to go get myself some food, I must say the food here is delicious" she says while licking her top lip

"Did you steal the bun?"

"Huh? Steal? Who? Me? Nuh uh" She looks around acting confused

"You shouldn't be stealing things Sol, you can get us into trouble and - I'm currently trying to not get into any conflict for the time being - don't forget our contract"

"I know but It's not my fault, you don't feed me so I had no choice, you're a terrible parent mister" She says while pouting

I sigh and rest my head back into my palm.

Lost in thought, older memories start flowing into my mind, I don't know where to go from here - I'm lost without my guild.

but what if the answer to who my killer was more simple? what if I was just betrayed by Cain; but I don't understand why he would, we were best-friends we fought plenty of battles together, shared feasts, memories, a guild together.

I cant think of a single reason for his betrayal, were the rest of my guild in on the betrayal? did they know? were they jealous of my ruling in the guild? why am I speaking as if my question of betrayal has already been answered.

a flicker of hope shoots through my head, as if fate itself is trying to set me onto the right path.

"Sol, I give you permission to go steal as much coin as you can."

She looks at me with a devilish smirk.

"RIGHT AWAY MISTER" she says enthusuastically before running off.

I wonder if her mother also a thief.

I make my way towards a rugged old store stored away in between two larger stores squashing it from either side with a sign of a scroll hanging from a pole.

I enter the store, door creaking shut behind me, It's dark - each breath taking in dust and thick air.

I look around to see unravelled scrolls hanging from walls and rolled up scrolls lay in glass casings, Either props or some rare scrolls - doubt someone would make it so obvious that they're rare though.

It's what id imagine a witch to sell, scrolls of the devils magic.

Scrolls when aren't being used to preserve martial teachings, they're instead used to teach special techniques/ways of using specific elemental magic, there are of course sub-categories to magic that don't fit into the elemental abilities, like invisibility, motion magics, spacial awareness etc.

 A scraggy elderly woman appears out from the back storage room. She stares at me, measuring every step I take whilst closing the gap between us.

"Good afternoon"

"Afternoon" The old woman replies with a croaky voice

Her eyes seem to never leave me.

"You lookin for anythin specific?" 

"Hm... you wouldn't happen to have any A or S tier sub ability scrolls would you?"

The old woman lets out a crooked laugh.

She thinks I'm kidding her. I don't fault her for it, It's a bit strange for people to be asking for such high level magic on the second floor. But she does sells scrolls, she must have at least have some A tiers laying around.

"And what would a man with a great affinity for water magic - such as yourself, be looking for such high tier magics on the second floor of all places?"

"How did you know of my affinity?"

"I have sharp eyes boy." She says with a smirk after winking to me.

She was somehow able to see my magic circuits, is this some sort of advanced vision prowess magic?

"More than just sharp" I say plainly

"I like to stay humble boy" she says with the same smirk

I let out a snort.

"You wouldn't happen to have any scrolls teaching the ways of that vision of yours do you?"

She lets out a cartoonish crooked laugh.

"You wont be finding a scroll for that level of magic in an ordinary place like this boy, This ability isn't something you can just magically learn, it takes years, It's an S tier ability after all."

"Well, that's a shame, something like that would've been useful." I let out a sigh.

Her eyes linger on me for a while before speaking.

"There may not be a scroll of the sort, but I can lead you on a path towards a potential teacher."

She says with a devious grin.

 what does she expect from me in return?

"Although he is an old geezer and hasn't taught in many years, so I cant promise you he'd accept you"

"I'm sure I could convince him."

"Ohhh? and how would you do that?" she says with an eyebrow raised, curiosity riddles her face.

"I'm good at negotiating" I reply

Her brows fall flat as her lips slowly curl up into a smile.

She tells of a small settlement behind the Meldovan mountain range, It's not even close to the size of Eskar mountains, but it still has its size."

The mountain range is located behind the Messa village, distance between the two is probably a mile or two, give or take. 

I thank her.

before I can fully turn my body towards the door she calls to me and tosses a scroll at me; I catch it curious as to what it holds.

"It's free, boy" she says with a grin while resting her arms on her hips.

"Thank you" I reply with a smile before closing the door behind me.

"Finally, things are starting to pick up" I say, letting out a deep breath

I have a bowl of beef stew I bought from a vendor before getting ready to set off on my journey.