Ark Free

After a little more banter they started to make there way out of town. After a few minutes of walking Double began talking. " To start off we should make our way to a small town to the north. It seems to be the smallest town that is accepted by the kingdom, which is strange because usually a town so small would have been destroyed by beasts or Wretch's. Either way it should be a place to get some minor information. From what the Map says.... The towns name is Ark Free." he said while looking through various papers.

"Either way it should be a decent place to stop at. Also there is another town pretty close to Ark Free but it is in the possession of a divine beast. I'm not sure which one exactly but it is under it's protection. And from the little information I have found about them I can see they are clearly territorial. And from what the map says there is no name for this town. Or it's not labeled at least." he says while squinting at a small pad filled with minor notes. "Which now that I think of it is pretty strange. How does a minor town which doesn't even have a divine beast have a labeled name while a sizable town which has one doesn't? I guess we will find out when we get there."

I nod after his talk. We discussed minor things such as how we were going about with getting food on the road as well as things such as stopping along the way at land marks to look for Wretch activities. After discussing we made small talk as we traveled. Along the way I had Skip hunting and eating. Nothing too large of coarse but enough to hopefully help him level up. After around a week I finally realized how long this trip was going to be.

Apparently the first town was a ways north and we were not even half way from what Double said. That means that this will be at least a 4 month journey and that is being generous. 'this really needs to be worth while... I need to find him... for Maxin'

After around two weeks Skip had leveled up twice but the strange thing was that he didn't have quests so he was forced to only fight to gain level ups and evolution points. I didn't bother with him all that much. I didn't want to influence how he leveled up so I left it too his own imagination.

After the end of the two weeks we finally came to our first town. Ark Free.

The town was relatively small but seemed really well built. It was enclosed in walls made out of stone, and every building inside was made out of clean stone. We approached a small gate that seemed to be the entry way to the town. After approaching I heard a voice in my head.

"Hello Divine Beast. Why are you visiting Ark Free today?" Said a calm old voice.

After some confusion I replied "I'm in search for Wretches. Not only that but I am looking for information about the north."

"..." The voice went silent for a moment before slowly beginning to speak. "I suppose that will be okay. What do you offer in tribute for this transaction?" he said seriously.

"Transaction?" I ask confused.

"... You must be... new. Fine. All divine beasts and human settlements make deals for what each other wants. No matter how small or big. That's the very short description of it." The voice said in a slightly annoyed manner.

"Well in that case I don't know if I have anything that would be for trade. I haven't anything that could be thought of as valuable that I would be willing to give away." I said in a thoughtful tone.

"It need not be a material thing. It can be something else, such as a task. Or something as the sort." The man said slowly calming down after hearing me taking this seriously.

"I suppose I could try and help you with something if it is within my power and worth the trade." I said after awhile.

It took a few minutes but afterwards the voice began speaking with interest "Hmm... well since you are a new divine beast from your description we could also trade it for information. For instance your Divine Mark. At least a copy of it. And basic information about your race. Just to collect it as information for the future. What do you think?"

'Quite a strange idea. Information for Information... I suppose that should work. But about my race? and Diving Mark? Why would they want a copy of my Divine Mark?' I thought. But after awhile I decided it would be worth it. I mean what could I lose?

"I accept" I say calmly. After wards I felt a strange disturbance around me. Like a slight squeezing feeling. I looked around with the Eyes of the Veil skill and found that the energy around us was condensing. I felt... strange. Before I knew it the energy seemed to spark up around all of us and the energy that was compacting around us began to crush us with lightning speed.

It was not pleasant at all. But before I could even understand what had happened I had appeared in a new place. I was in the center of a large library. All of the bookshelves where made out of a pristine white stone. The shelves where filled with books upon books all with exquisite covers and threads. After a few moments of readjusting my self I realized that there was an old man wearing common clothes nearby slowly flipping through the pages of a book that seemed to be barely holding together.

The man spoke to me in a familiar tone as he said "Oooh. A Diving Snake. How rare. This should add nicely to my collection... well worth the trade off."

He seemed crazy the way he was talking to himself. After flipping through the book he finally found a clear paper and stared at me for a moment as if waiting for something. I looked back at him for a moment in confusion before he said in an annoyed tone "Well come on over here and show me that mark of yours in greater detail. I don't have all day you know."

I quickly walked over slightly confused and embarrassed. I felt like a young boy getting shamed by his elders, and it wasn't pleasant.

He looked at my forehead for a moment before gently carving into the page of the book with a strange type of magic. A light blue energy filled through his finger tip as he slowly etched into the pages. It took him 23 minutes to finish. By the time he was done there was an exquisite image on the paper. One that shocked me to my core. It was a face of a woman and a man intertwined. Almost as if done over each other in perfect sync. The woman seemed familiar but the man had barely any real details other than the fact that he was made out of stars.

The man looked at me for a few moments and then turned back to the page. He seemed.... confused. " You came from.... a human?!" he said alarmed. "This can't be possible...." he said in a confused tone.

I looked at him for a moment in confusion. He noticed the look on my face and almost subconsciously elaborated. "The mark is... your ancestor. Someone strong enough to touch the stars. All are beasts but yours.... It's human. It shouldn't be possible. No human should even be powerful enough to touch the stars. Let alone bless a beast. Even then it should be impossible. No Beast has ever been able to bless a human so why should a human be able to bless a beast?"