Sunlight pierced through the clouds, shimmering softly onto Nathaniel's sleepy eyes. Gentle winds blow past the tree as leaves start falling like an autumn afternoon. Chirping birds begin to complement this beautiful weather, making the young man fully at peace as he lies with his palms behind his head, lying on the tree.
BEEP.
Unfortunately, this relaxing moment has been interrupted by a high-pitched transmission in his ear, operating through magic, connecting him to his allies.
"Hey…HEY!!! WHERE ARE YOU IDIOT?!"
Nathaniel's irritation from this unexpected call finally wakes him up as he only opens his eyes to respond to the call and is still lying on the try.
"What?" as he groans, still in an irritated mood.
"Nathan, remember the commission we were given?"
"Yeah, what about it? It's been given to our group as extra credit."
"Seems to be a bit more difficult than we thought."
Nathanial widens as he hears small explosions in the background of the transmission.
"Nathan, just get over here, please!"
Guilt begins to take over him after hearing his friend's plea for help.
"I swear, Noah, if this ends up as some dumbass way of screwing with me…"
Noah sighs in relief to hear his request accepted
"Thanks, man, food's on me tonight."
"Alright, don't get hurt in the meantime. I'll be right there."
The transmission ends as Nathaniel gets up from his rest, picks up his sheathed sword, and begins to run after yawning and rubbing his eyes.
The speed of his run starts to accelerate rapidly, with the pressure of the wind forcing his eyes to squint.
Starts to hear those small explosions from afar, and it gets louder with each rapid step that he takes.
A sharp jet of water appears in the corner of his eye, forcing him to stop his run and unsheathe his sword to slice through the attack.
"Damn, no 'hello or how's your day' or the casual 'STOP WHERE YOU ARE!'"
A man in a cloak appears through the drizzle of water droplets.
"We believed that you weren't coming here, considering how you go about situations like this. But I guess even duties such as these call upon dormant creatures such as you."
"I'm going to ignore the creepy fact that a stranger in a cloak knows me almost like my mother and called me a "creature", but anyways, where is your boss because I'm pretty sure that bad guys don't usually stalk underage minors. Or is he that sort of guy?"
He glances at a strange symbol on the man's hand.
"Great looking tattoo. Did he tell you it comes with the job, or is it a cruel reminder that your life went to shit (hope this ends fast, it sounds like Noah wasn't doing so good)."
The man pierces his gaze on Nathaniel, causing him to shiver in shock, and he responds quickly, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Or her, some bosses can be women too, you know. It's a new age that we're coming to (awkwardly laughing).
The man chuckles for a brief moment, helping Nathaniel to calm his nerves in the meantime. The man looks into the sky and says,
"A new age, yes…(softer) but as my lord intended… not for everyone."
He focuses his gaze on Nathaniel again and starts to attack him with even more water attacks. Nathaniel's senses start skyrocketing as he dodges his spells.
The man appears to be impressed by his ability to dodge the attacks and grins from ear to ear, releasing even faster and sharper strikes. Nathaniel has no choice but to block this more ferocious onslaught.
Each block from the attack creates more and more droplets to land on his head, dripping down to his eyes, causing him to be in a state of blurry vision. He wants to end this fight quickly, not just for his own sake, but to go help his friend in need.
Nathaniel times his block to create an opening and charge at the man head-on. The man smiles in surprise and thrusts his body backward into the shade under a tree.
Nathaniel realizes the man's position and casts a shadow bind spell to immobilize him still. Deep breaths come out of the tired Nathaniel's mouth. The last bit of droplets falls to the ground while an exhausted Nathaniel puts his sword to the man's neck to question him.
"How the hell do you know me?"
The man let out a few chuckles and answered.
"Anyone who is in any form of power or authority would see it to be beneficial to know who you are…Nathaniel Valen."
Nathaniel's eyes widen in shock after hearing the man say his full name.
"How do you…?"
The sound of an explosion from the nearby village where Noah and his group were assigned to cuts his question short with screams howling in that direction. He quickly turns his attention back to the man, frustrated with having to choose to help or capture.
The man smirks and says to the conflicted Nathaniel,
"It seems like your friends aren't doing so well. I'll tell you what, I'll stay put here like a good bad guy, and you will be a hero."