Unfamiliar Feelings

"I believe it's about time..." A tall, muscular giant of a man spoke slowly to nobody in particular. "You didn't lose sight of her, I hope?"

The air behind the man shimmered and a scrawny figure, dressed entirely in black leather, stepped forward and kneeled on one knee with a hand over its chest in front of the large one. "Fear not, Your Excellency, we have kept an eye on her the entire time. She is completely safe!"

"Good! Now that Myrtana is weakened It's time for us to act!" the big man said without even so much as glancing at his subordinate. "Send the word: She had enough fun, bring her home!"

"It will be done!" came an immediate reply.

"Also, make it look good. And get someone to take the fall, preferably dangerous-looking."

"Dangerous-looking? Hehehehe…" the black figure giggled all creepy-like. "I know of a perfect candidate for the job. He is quite strong though, so we might have a bit of trouble getting him to comply."

"Difficult? In that case, I have a few things for you," the man leaned over and a box appeared in his hand out of nowhere. "Take it and go! You have one week."

The cloaked man quickly jumped on his feet, took the box, and bowed like a shrimp, "It shall be done so! I'll send the word right away and bring her back, unharmed!"

"Good, now go!"

"Yes, Your Excellency, my Emperor!"

***

It was a day like any other. Sun was shining, birds were chirping, children were playing, and the workers of Auralba were shoveling shit.

Well, actually, the sun was hidden behind the clouds, and vultures, crows, and other scavengers circled the battlefield around the city, reminding the people of the death that was still fresh in their minds, all while the workers were picking up pieces of rotting corpses buried beneath houses and collapsed walls.

There was so much death and decay at the front line that the entire force of the city had to work for more than a week to clean it up. They buried what they could and burned the rest. The bonfires of corpses were spewing black smoke into the air without stopping for days already. And now that the streets were clear, they could finally start repairing the collapsed buildings across the city. And they were finding more and more decaying remains underneath the stone.

Sera watched it all from the safety of the Black Onyx Mansion. She stared through the window, with her face on the glass, and sighed. The air outside was toxic. The smell was unbearable and she felt sick just taking a small whiff. And yet somehow the people there could keep going for hours, even days. It was crazy!

She locked herself inside since the war ended, and truth be told, she was bored. Her only close friend here, Xilia Evergreen, was starting to spend a lot of time with the new guy, Blum Ogma. She didn't mind it at first as they all enjoyed reading and debating stuff about magic, but they then gradually distanced themselves from her and started spending more and more time with each other.

And now they even left the mansion and went to the city library, leaving her to drown in boredom. She looked at the clock on the wall. They have been gone for nearly five hours already.

Qiona was busy with her alchemy, and Elly was giving her a hand as she seemed to have developed a liking for the craft.

And so, the only one left was Warren, but the guy wasn't much of a talker, and he spent most of his time training. He didn't seem to mind the smell of death though, and as such he trained outside with his sword.

From the time Gerald took him in, he had already gained quite a bit of muscle. Be it potions or the good food he ate that allowed him to advance so quickly, it couldn't be denied that he deserved it. The man was working all day, every day. There was barely a moment where he wasn't training his body and sword.

Truly a fine specimen of a man.

Sera went over to the back of the mansion and looked at him through the window. Warren was in the back garden swinging his sword in just a pair of trousers. His tanned back glistened from sweat in the daylight as his hands rose and fell, and his legs moved with quick steps back and forward as if fighting an invisible enemy. His hand flexed under the weight of the sword, and the strands of muscles beneath his skin expanded and contracted as the grip on the blade changed with each passing second.

She rested her head on her hands and just watched, mesmerized. She could do this all day, and so she did, at least in recent days. Good thing he didn't seem to notice because she would definitely become as red as a tomato if he did.

But then the tranquility of the mansion was disrupted by the violent opening of the front doors, and the echo of those all too familiar heavy steps down the hallway.

***

"Hello! I'm home!" Gerald hollered. Almost immediately the maids and the butler came to greet him and bowed, welcoming him back home. The servants then quickly took his dirty clothes and cloak that was still full of dust, dried blood, and sand, and went to clean them up and repair what was needed.

"Welcome home, master Gerald," Sebas greeted him with a bow.

"Ah, Sebas! I assume everything went well while I was away? The others didn't give you a headache I hope?" Gerald asked as he made his way toward the bathroom. He was feeling filthy after all this time and really needed a good soaking.

"Indeed, everything went splendidly, sir. The other masters were just fine as well, nothing out of the ordinary," the man replied.

"Excellent! Then how about the things…?" The man was under orders to search for various beast cores while he was gone. Now that Gerald came back, he was, of course, curious as to what the guy found in his absence.

"Yes, I have scoured the city markets and even private collections, however after the battle, not many goods were left. Though Earth Crystals and beast blood were easy to get, everything else was exceedingly hard to find."

"How much?" Gerald asked.

"Hundreds of Earth Crystals, they were dirt cheap so I bought many. Fire Crystals were very rare, only 17. Wind and Water were less than 10 each, and I only found one Light Crystal. It was quite expensive too, at least twice the usual price," Sebas Tian reported and then continued, "I have left them in your room as ordered. The parchment and scrolls as well, they are all there."

"Hmm…" It was less than Gerald expected, especially the Fire Crystals, they were really not enough. If he was careful, perhaps he could make about a hundred Fireball spell scrolls. It would have to do for now.

"Alright. Tell the others to gather in the main hall in an hour or two, I'm going to take a bath."

"As you wish," Sebas replied, and with a bow, he walked away.

***

Sometime later the gang gathered all in one place as they sat on comfortable sofas and waited for Gerald's return.

Qiona and Elly were sitting together, debating alchemy, Warren stopped with his training and quickly went to change his clothes and sat with Sera, while Blum and Xilia had just returned as well, so nobody was missing.

Then finally, the main person came.