After acquiring the final member for the brave and reluctantly adventurous band, Zeus spearheaded the fellowship to the nearest inn where they spent their last and only night in the comfort of one of the hallmarks of human civilization: beds.

In the morning, the mass of muscles led his four ducklings toward the Adventurer’s Guild, which is more commonly referred to as “The Guild” in recent times.

It took some time to get to the outskirts where the Guild’s massive building differentiated itself from the rest of its city surroundings.

Zeus quickened his pace as they neared their destination, his swift steps turning into a jog, before transitioning into an Olympian’s sprint with a wide grin on his bearded face. The four ducklings had to pull out all the stops to keep up with the excited old man.

When Zeus entered the building, he was greeted by the sight of a gargantuan lobby where a large circular desk formed a ring around a cylindrical wooden bookcase that must have been at least 60 feet tall. There were more than 20 clerks servicing long queues of adventurers looking for work. The lines were long, but their patience endured, as the throngs were desperate for the final fantasy of striking it rich as adventurers.

The crowd of people impeded Zeus long enough for the rest of the ducklings to catch up.

“So CROWDED! So many BRAVE and EAGER adventurers! Hoho! WHAT a blessed SIGHT!” Zeus clamored as he took a full minute to admire what he saw.

Afterward, Zeus immediately headed down one the hallways on the side of the lobby labeled [Averis Hall Consultation Rooms] where he beelined toward the fifth door. The old man appeared to know exactly where he was going.

SLAM!!!

The door swung open with vigor from Zeus’ monstrous strength.

“HELLO!!!” he shouted.

Watching Zeus stride through the door, Astor shielded his eyes from the flash as he saw the old hero lead his companions into a howling sea of flame. It was the night of Dragonfall, when the airship crashed into Vintergard. Astor flinched as his companions stepped toward the doorway.

They passed him on his right and left, toward the heated winds, lightly brushing his shoulders as they passed. It was too late for Zeus but… Astor reached to stop Iván who was first but he couldn’t reach him.

Iván, turning over his shoulder, gave a thumbs up as his eyes twinkled with a daring grin. Then, he fearlessly stepped over the threshold and vanished into the light.

Next, was Sean, mask equipped and cape aflutter from the heated winds, his shoulders wore a fierce tension, as if he had lived his whole life for this moment, to be a hero. Scrambling, Astor reached for his forearm to stop the young man, but his hand passed through him as the hero-in-making merged with the flames and became ash. “Shit!” “Stop!” “What are you guys—”

Haru, who was last, then turned and smiled. The sage seemed to be saying something to Astor but no sound escaped his lips, and in the end, he lightly shook his head, waved, and entered the hellscape after.

Astor saw each of them vanish into the fire as the people of the city screamed for help that would never be coming, that would never be enough…

Now, in the doorway before him were D’vangelline and Cessia. D’vangelline had draped what remained of Cessia over her shoulder, as Cessia faded in and out of consciousness. They were leading the few people that they had managed to pull from the rubble of their collapsed homes.

Astor knew what happened next.

A red light, harsher than the inferno, draped over the two with a sick radiance. Cessia would be first to react and push D’vangelline aside as the fires surrounding them vanished, choked out from the force of the kicked up ash of the blast. And then, Cessia was gone.

D’vangelline, awash in rubble, was shouting something as the red light found the remaining people they were leading next.

The Falderan princess sprinted with all her might to intercept it. The people scattered at her command as the flash gradually overwhelmed her. Then, Astor saw her eyes meet his, and she too vanished. All was quiet..

Astor screamed into the void of his room as he stretched his hand forward, forcing his body to follow the momentum and pull himself through the doorway that became lost in the dream.. His eyes opened to find himself in the inn’s bed drenched in sweat. The blonde immediately pulled his trembling hand toward his chest as he continued to shudder ragged breaths. He could taste the blood in his throat from the harshness of them..

That goddamn nightmare again… fuck… I thought I was over this… Astor cursed in silence.

Seconds later, Sean kicked the door into Astor’s room, his sword brandished. “Goblins?!”

Astor waved him off without a single word, not wanting to elucidate his nightmare.

Astor was quieter than usual as the rest of the morning played out in roughly the same way When Zeus opened the door to the consultation room. Astor at last knew that he wasn’t dreaming.

“HELLO!!!” Zeus announced his presence with an uproarious greeting as he entered the room with his signature silver fox’s grin.

“Zeus! You’re here!” D’vangelline exclaimed as she beelined toward Zeus, eyes gleaming with fangirl admiration. Immediately afterward, the blonde peaked out from the elder’s mountainous physique to greet the rest of his company.

“Travelers! It’s been a while since we’ve last spoken, I trust you have been well,” she said.

It was an unusual sight to see D’vangelline in such casual clothing, especially one with such a Traveler design. However, none of the hot-blooded males in the room could deny that it didn’t suit such a dignified beauty.

Astor, Sean, Haru, and Iván each performed their own gesture of greeting, acknowledging the manners that should be afforded to the Queen of Falderen herself.

Zeus casually ignored all of that social nonsense and clasped onto the Queen’s shoulder, instantaneously irking the four in tandem.

“I hope you HAVEN’T been waiting LONG. It has been a very fun JOURNEY with the LADS. OHO? Your majesty… Have you been putting on more MUSCLES lately? What firmness, GLORIOUS!” The old man exclaimed as his eyes lit up.

Considering Zeus’s many inexplicable abilities, somehow being able to read a person’s physical being from a single touch seemed to just come with the territory. Zeus was Zeus.

Of the four, it was Haru who was the most shocked by the Sherlock Holmes of Muscles. “...yo… how the hell…?” he muttered.

Sean was shocked too, but for a different reason. If Zeus hadn’t mentioned anything about his physique when he found him, did that mean that he wasn’t impressed with what Sean was able to achieve thus far? A pang of self-doubt pricked the youth’s heart like a viper’s fangs. D-damn… I need to train more… he thought to himself, trying to discover a 25th hour in the day to devote to it.

D’vangelline, however, immediately went on the defensive, “a-haha… n-no, I’ve just been imitating… what do Travelers call it again? Batball?”

“Your majesty, hell hath no fury like the Head Maid’s scorn if she ever were to hear that. Hasn’t she been nagging you about maintaining your Queenly physique in preparation for the Summer Ball that your suitors will be attending?” Cessia grinned.

The young Queen’s complexion darkened as she squinted and avoided Cessia and Zeus’s gaze, stammering through an excuse. “A-haha. What are you talking about, Zeus? You should not make such salacious claims about a woman’s physique. The throne of Falderen has blessed me with a dainty figure, which has never been spoiled with Batball. I can even profess such truth to the gods. A-haha…”

“NON NON” Zeus retracted his hand and waggled his finger, “the Head Maid has some SILLY ideas about MARRIAGE! You must be YOURSELF and find SOMEONE who is just as into BATBALL as you, so you can RAISE those batball muscles TOGETHER!” he shouted.

Iván slid closer to D’vangelline and whispered, “your majesty, I have inherited from my father, who had received it from his father, a secret kari recipe, 100 percent weight loss guarantee. It will take care of those pesky muscles too.”

Astor annoyedly pulled Iván away, “oy, don’t tarnish her majesty’s lips with your stinky ant juice curry. They’ll draw and quarter you.”

Suddenly, D’vangelline began turning pale when she could feel someone staring daggers at her from a cracked-open door at the corner of the room. She immediately changed the topic, “a-anyways… Travelers! I am not certain how much information Zeus has disclosed to you during the trip, but Miss Cessia and I specifically requested him to gather the four of you to assist us with an utmost difficult and urgent situation that is best handled by Travelers such as yourselves.”

The four looked at one another before directing their gaze to the grinning Zeus, completely at a loss about what the young Queen was referring to. It felt as if Zeus had no idea what she was talking about either.

Cessia sighed softly as she stepped forward as she adjusted her glasses and assumed a serious expression on her face.

Despite her stern expression, Cessia’s voice was soft. It was a tone that carried a lot of memories for the four. “Three weeks ago, an urgent message was delivered to us from the Sun Claw, a nation of wolf-type beastfolk hailing from Hylands. The messenger informed us that their Fox Holy Beast, Sumari Kamuy, who presides over their region had been slain. What followed was a massacre of half a dozen of Sun Claw villages near the territorial border between the Sun Claw and their enemy, the Moon Fang.”

Cessia shook her head and continued, “Do you remember fighting the Lunatic-tribe when… the late king’s army besieged Vintergard? They were originally of the Moon Fang and were kidnapped and used as the King’s secret weapon. From what little we know about the Caenis, fighting and killing between Sun Claw and Moon Fang is nothing out of the ordinary. However, the message alerted us to the fact that the Moon Fang would never consider killing a Kamuy, since it is as sacred to them as it is to the Sun Claw.”

Cessia paused briefly to reorganize the information in her head before speaking again, “We of the Adventurers Guild suspect a third party may be involved, and the rumored sightings of a masked person taking down the Sun Claws’s capable warriors from a distance seems to confirm it. We have no idea how this third element is accomplishing it, or what their goals might be, but what few accounts we’ve gathered don’t match any of the spells in our records. The only clues we have to go on are the hole-filled Sun Claw corpses and supposed sighting of a red light during the killing.”

Haru grimaced as he turned toward Astor, “...do you think?”

Astor nodded, “Yeah, that sounds like the laser from the goddamn airship.”

Sean joined in, “Huh? Does that mean that one of the other two airships crash landed in Moon Fang territory? Wolf people with long ranged weaponry? Talk about an uphill battle… er… aside from the climb to get there, but that too.”

Iván cupped his chin, half listening and half contemplating about how to help D’vangelline with his kari. He ruminated as though the universe itself was speaking to him through the map on Cessia’s desk.

Astor nodded, “There’s a high probability of that considering that those ships headed in that direction. There may be a connection there, Sean.”

A gruff voice immediately interrupted the clamor as its owner rose from the chair in the corner of the room. Next to him were spires of documents, they were a new little colony away from the main host still stacked on the desk where Cessia had been working. “No, they’re no Moon Fang. Moon Fang may be scum but they’re not cowards. They live to fight and feel the blood of Sun Claw on their fangs, or, as I would have it, for Sun Claw to run their hearts through first.”

The four were greeted with a man rivaling Zeus’s physique, he was just as broad shouldered but where Zeus seemed almost endlessly expansive in his bugling mass, this stranger seemed more concentrated, taut, agile. His most distinguishing features were his wolf-like ears and bushy tail.

Cessia gestured toward the Caenis and introduced him, “This is Sakkarin, the messenger sent as the representative of the Sun Claw.”

“As the pretty little lady said, I’m Sakkarin of Nebewak-kotan, but you nispa can call me Sakka. Pleasure to meet you. Before we begin, I must apologize for not accompanying the old man when he went on a journey to pick up the honorable representatives of the Travelers tribe such as yourself,” Sakka said, gesturing in what must equate to a sign of apology in Sun Claw culture.

Astor turned to Cessia, with concern in his voice. “Begin what?”

Cessia averted the former king’s sharp gaze, “the mission…”

D’vangelline approached Haru, Sean, and Iván, clasping onto their hands with her own, her eyes pleading. “Please head to the land of the Sun Claw with Sakkarin to assist the Sun Claw in their investigation of the slain Holy Beast and the village massacre. Considering the unknown origin of the weapon used in the killing, it is beyond the expertise of the Knights of the Four Winds.”

Cessia chimed in, “the Adventurers Guild can’t exactly send their members either. There isn’t a team of adventurers who can handle the level of danger here that is open for work. So please, for what might take a full squad of Falderen Knights and a seven-man adventuring party could easily be handled by a team of four Travelers. It has to be you four.”

Iván turned to Zeus, “Will you be joining us, Zeus?”

Zeus pointed to himself with a confuddled expression on his aged face, “WHO? ME? OH NON, I am but an OLD MAN. My back hurts TOO MUCH to mount such a TITAN as HYLANDS! OHO!”

Both Sean and Astor looked at Zeus dubiously. The man was full of horse dung, considering that he clearly looked like he would be the poster boy for a real life magazine headline that reads: “retiree conquers Mt. Everest”

Cessia turned to Sean. “Sean, you must accept this mission, otherwise your unnamed patron will retract the reward you have yet to withdraw from the Guild.”

Cessia’s unabashed blackmailing shook the young swordsman to the core. “W-what?!” he shouted.

And then to Astor, Cessia collapsed onto her knees, her hands forming a ball as she looked up at the former king with puppy eyes. “Your highness, could you possibly abandon people who are in need of your heroism?”

Astor clicked his tongue as he snarled at Cessia to get off the floor.

Haru and Iván both put their arms around Astor, snickering to themselves.

“Yo, of course he wouldn’t abandon people in need. That sour expression is just his gameface, right, your majesty?” Haru teased the blonde.

Iván grinned at Cessia “Wowee, you sure have gotten really good at tugging at a man’s heartstrings, haven’t you Cessia? Is it the adventure or the flower at home that has all these guildies scrambling to make a name for themselves?”

Cessia covered a quiet giggle with her hand while Sean looked absolutely devastated by the prospect of a pay withdrawal.

As the commotion settled, Sakkarin turned to Cessia and whispered, “So, the journey to the Hylands has begun. But, before I get back to my people, you must tell me the secrets of the cow in bun dish I have been eating this entire time. I must bring a piece of knowledge back to my people as a souvenir.”

With a single snap, Cessia summoned an army of maids, each with a cart overflowing with food and beverages. One cart in particular contained a single item, stored beneath a glass dome. Upon closer inspection, Sakka’s eyes lit up as he noticed the familiar shape of the hamburger on the cover.

To a Traveler, however, they might notice that the pristine hamburger shown on the cover illustration was held by none other than Jamie Oliver. It must have been some kind of Traveler-replication of a magazine from the real world. In a sense, a Traveler cookbook. Either way, Cessia kept her end of the deal and released the treasure to Sakka who took every precaution to wrap the book as though it was an heirloom of immense value.

Thanking Cessia with a traditional gesture from his homeland, the Sun Claw nodded at the four maybe reluctant, maybe unreluctant heroes as he made a loud proclamation, “Then you are all agreed! Great! Prepare yourselves, nispa. The Ascent has claimed the lives of many untrained climbers. Dress well and pack yourselves a good meal, because it might be your last. HAHAHA!”

Cessia smiled, turning back to the rest of the group as she put her hand up in the air, signaling the maids to lift the metal domes from the food platters.

“Let us have a feast before the four heroes depart on their journey!” Cessia did her best to channel her loudest voice, to match Sakka’s spurring momentum. This commenced what could be the four’s last supper.

The maid army made quick work of the stuffy consultation room, replacing the consultation room’s furniture with a round table that was big enough to seat eight people. D’vangelline and Cessia were seated next to each other, Sakkarin sat next to Cessia, then continuing leftward was Astor, Sean, Haru, and Iván, with Zeus completing the circle by sitting to the Queen’s right.

Lunch began with the first course, fancy hors d'oeuvre, most of which went right into Zeus’ stomach, which might as well be a black hole.

Everyone else took their time tasting the fine dining as the conversation continued from earlier.

Astor reached into his tunic where he pulled out a square journal that could easily fit into his palm and a writing utensil from a holder on the journal’s spine. He turned toward Sakkarin and questioned him as he flipped through the filled-in pages to find the next blank page. “Sakkarin, you mentioned that Moon Fangs wouldn’t never use an outsider's weapon, right? You said that is how they operate, but do you have any way to confirm that?”

Peeved by Astor’s insinuation, the Caenis’ squinted his eyes and furrowed his brows in annoyance, “Nispa, I grew up watching Moon Fangs tear out the throats of outsiders who encroach on their territory. There’s no way those sons of bitches would ever consider drawing the blood of a Sun Claw with anything but their bare hands.”

Haru tried to diffuse the tension between the Caenis and Astor by sharing some of his food with Sakkarin before asking, “Sakka, is it possible that the Moon Fangs are working with the masked guy?”

The Caenis shook his head, eyeing Astor before continuing. “To be honest, that, I cannot be sure of. It’s not impossible… but remember what I said, the Moon Fang detest outsiders. Victory isn’t victory for them unless it’s in The Moon Fang style. To a Moon Fang, victory by cowardice; by running and hiding, using cheap tricks to deny the glory of battle—as this mask bastard does—is not a victory at all.”

Iván who had been in kari meditation up until this moment snapped himself out of his trance as he directed his attention toward Astor, “I think the masked killer is a player who somehow managed to obtain the airship technology as a weapon.”

Sean raised his hand, “Can’t it be someone who comes from the ship?”

“No, I don’t think so, since we haven’t seen a soul leaving the airship that crash landed in Vintergard,” Astor answered. “And that mask’s tactics, it reeks of someone like us.”

D’vangelline interjected, “My apologies for being less informed of recent events, but what exactly is the red light that was used in the mass killing?”

“We have formed several rescue parties and a research camp at Vintergard to investigate the wreckage of the airship, but every single time they got too close, they were attacked by automated defenses—something like a magical defense spell that isn’t magic—that uses the red light you’re talking about. There isn’t really any way for us to be sure that it’s the same technology until we confirm it ourselves, but we’re talking about two never before seen rare occurrences that sound way too similar to not be related,” Astor replied.

Sean chimed in, “well, I mean, if it involves a player going on a rampage and killing potential allies, we gotta stop him.”

Iván nodded in agreement.

Haru, who was nodding contemplatively this entire time joined in, “well, let’s climb up the Ascent first before we build a strong case for anything.”

Sakkarin let out a subtle growl. “I don’t know who this masked bastard is, but I’m going to grind him to dust when I catch him. Your help will be greatly appreciated by the Sun Claw, nispa.”

After the conversation, Zeus raised his glass and initiated a toast to the first four Travelers to be officially invited to the home of the Sun Claw. After clinking their glass in unison, the tension eased as the group broke into smaller conversations.

D’vangelline beckoned Sean, “Traveler, I have heard about a masked swordsman who has been reducing the number of goblins in Eastern Brisshals, his descriptions seem strikingly similar to you,” she said.

Sean became a bit flustered as he answered, “N-no, I think you’ve got the wrong swordsman, your majesty. I’ve just been honing my swordsmanship in the area …”

Cessia, who noticed that Astor’s glass was empty, filled his glass straight from the bottle. She looked at him with a gentleness that hadn’t been seen since the events of the Dragonfall. “I’m sorry that I asked Zeus to pull you from your retirement, your highness.”

Astor smirked as he took a sip of the drink he had been poured, “Hmph. It was a fine vacation from everything too, if a bit boring. Also, you should stop calling me your highness, since I’m just a placeholder for the next candidate.”

Cessia took her glasses off as she took a sip of her drink too. It wasn’t in her character to drink, but just for today, she felt like being someone else.

Cessia let her cheeks rosen from the wine as she continued to reminisce, “...those days were like a dream, fun and fleeting. I hope we can gather like this and have another peaceful meal together when everything has settled.”

Haru meanwhile was conversing with Zeus. “So where will you go instead, if not with us? It seems like you have some kind of plan.”

Zeus, who was stuffing his mouth with five chicken legs simultaneously turned to Haru and replied with a muffled voice, “HO HO, YOU HAVE A SHARP EYE, ANOTHER ADVENTURE AWAITS ME, SEIGI!”

Iván perked up at the familiar name, “Hey Zeus! If you see her, send her my regards!”

Zeus swallowed his mouthful and gave Iván a thumbs up.

Sakkarin meanwhile slowly sprawled his arm across the back of Cessia’s chair, “Hey, Cessia, was it? How would you like to become my woman? I’ll have you know I’m a bit of a bigshot back home. You can live a life of luxury in Hylands. How ‘bout it? Any fine lady would be crazy to say no.”

When Cessia directed her attention to the Caenis, there was a deep hollow in her eyes as her voice responded in a chilly tone. “And I would have you know that I’m somewhat of a bigshot myself, lest you forget the person who had made this entire journey possible. What, pray tell, can you offer me?”

Sakkarin blinked twice as he slowly retracted his arm after being pricked by the thorns of the bespectacled woman. “Those eyes could send a Moon Fang running, my lady, whoever they look on softly is a lucky man indeed…”

And to that, Cessia immediately choked on her drink, as the Caenis raised both hands to shield himself.

The lunch continued for a long while after, far longer than any one of them had planned, as the group spent time catching up with one another after being separated by work and circumstance for the past several years.

It was simultaneously a reunion and a goodbye, a harken back to a more peaceful time, and an interlude to the challenges ahead.

To be continued...