Far north of where Freya was dropped was the Havensguard Empire. This place is primarily responsible for the summoning of most Otherworlders. In the highest tower of the imperial castle, there was a meeting being held about a recent event. Seated at the table in the center of the room was the Havensguard cabinet which consisted of the empress, the captain of the knights, and five heads from the noble houses of Havensguard. These houses being Watson, Finn, Wickes, Rowley, and Spencer. On the outskirts of the room were the elite knights who directly served the empress. These knights were painstakingly trained by Osman Mintz, the current knight captain. The empress, Gwendolyn Havensguard, began the discussion.
"I believe you all know why you were summoned here today. A mass summoning took place yesterday." She stated. "Unlike the ones we conduct, this one seems to have been done on a much larger scale, and we are unaware of a territory capable of pulling such a thing off." Nervous chatter and whispers began filling the chamber until the knight captain spoke up.
"Your highness, do you think that priest could have been correct with his warning?" He asked. The warning Osman was referring to was given to them by the church not too long ago. It warned of an age-old prophecy falling into place in the near future. Gwendolyn was not one who believed in superstition, and this bit of information was brushed off.
"Perhaps he wasn't far from the truth after all. However, if we are to believe him, we must collect them as soon as possible." Gwendolyn began again, "If another kingdom got their hands on these people, their power could prove formidable. Perhaps eventually… unstoppable." One of the knights under Osman stepped forward.
"Forgive me, your highness, but I find it hard to believe these people will prove to be much of a challenge in their current state. We will easily be able to dispatch them before anyone even knows their identities." He said, gleaming with pride. "We already know where three of them are. The outlaw city of Rogue's Landing, the Enchanted Forest, and the dwarven city of Maldir. Give us some time and they will be wiped from this world." The empress smiled.
"I'm impressed, I will say however, there are two in the Enchanted Forest. Another resides in the demon territory." The empress stated. As she began to mull it over, she began to like the idea quite a lot. This vanguard consists of some of the strongest people in the empire. Surely they were capable of this. They were trained by Osman, after all. This would be a wonderful task to prove Havensguard's might. "Very well, Savant. I will grant this request. Show me what you've got."
The knight bowed deeply and spoke again. "You have my thanks, your highness. We will begin our hunt immediately." The knights lining the room bowed and filed out. A woman at the table spoke up as soon as the last knight left.
"So. They've finally done it. What are the bastards upstairs attempting to accomplish?" This was Sylvia Watson, leader of one of the five great noble houses of Havensguard. "I mean, it had to be them, right? I knew that priest was telling the truth."
"Precisely." Echoed Lawrence Rowley. "We must stop focusing on new summons. The path ahead is guaranteed with the power lying in these new anomalies!"
"You seek to control them? Preposterous." Lucious Finn added. "If these are truly playthings of the Gods they must be destroyed. They cannot be reasoned with."
"You speak so lightly of them?" Began Lorelai Spencer, "careful with your words. They may just strike you down where you stand!" She clasped her hands together and began whispering.
"It's truly a shame we were not the ones to pull this off. I would've loved to train one or two of them." Osman added. "We have better techniques now than the ones used on the current roster. I can only imagine the potential." The empress raised her hand and the room regained its composure. Although Osman was right, it was very dangerous to try and apprehend the unknown. Especially if that unknown was an Otherworlder. The skills born from these individuals have seemingly endless possibilities due to the environment the person was raised in, and the user's own personal desire. Not that the cabinet knew the true origin of these new powers. Despite her cabinet's ramblings, she would honor the deal she made with the Savant.
"Savant's request stands. If you wish to formulate your own strategies, by all means go ahead, but Savant has two months for his own. Only then may you begin to move." The empress stated.
"Yes, your grace!" The room responded.
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The rays of sun peering through my window woke me up earlier than I'd like to. I was still feeling tired from my day yesterday, and Aera was still at the forefront of my mind. I stumbled out of bed into the main area to see Hannah cooking breakfast while Anna was reading a book in the living room. Hannah noticed me and smiled.
"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" She asked me.
"Actually, I was hoping to sleep for a while longer." I said, attempting small talk.
"Well get some food in you and get ready, because Adam says he wants to throw you right into training with us today." Hannah replied.
We ate the meal Hannah cooked us and headed off to the Training Hall. After my conversation with Aera last night, I was eager to get a feel for what I'm supposed to be doing here. I couldn't just have any old person be able to sneak up on me or overpower me so easily. I was a trained assassin after all. Not that that seems to mean much here without control of these "powers" Iris gave me, I guess.
Hannah, Anna and I headed outside and walked over to the training hall. As we traveled to our destination the girls were greeted by many which reminded me of their standing in this place. These two are likely responsible for the second chances of many here, so why was someone so new to this place even put with them? We arrived at the training hall and went inside. Adam was ready to greet us in the lobby.
"Good morning, ladies! Are you ready to go, Freya? I'm going to have to borrow you for a minute to check some things out." He looked at the others. "You two can go on ahead."
"Okay, sounds good. See you later, Freya!" Hannah said. Anna just kept on walking down the hall. I followed Adam to a room that looked fairly similar to the one I was first held in here. This one's only difference being a couple tables and a crystal ball in the middle of the room. Adam stood across from me with the ball in between us.
"Alright, if you would, please place your hand on the ball." He said.
I placed my right hand on the ball and watched as it began to glow. It shown white at first and then began to change colors until it settled on a gradient of two. These colors were brown and pink. Not the prettiest combo I've seen…
"Wow, two affinities! You're special even among Otherworlders!" Adam said. "Your affinities are Earth and Flora. You can use spells or skills from either element given you learn or research them. Congrats!"
As much as I haven't really enjoyed all the attention on myself as of late, I'm even special among those like me. Now I wonder what Adam would think about if he knew what brought me here in the first place. Adam lost his normal happy attitude as he began to speak firmly. "Oh, and Freya? Who did you speak to before you came here?"
I stared him back in the face. "Before here? Hannah and Anna, of course." I replied, prodding at him. Is he asking about Iris, right now?
"No, not this morning. I've been looking into an incident and there's a couple things that just don't add up." He said. "Who was it that brought you to Zuter? There's no way it was a country like Havensguard."
I thought about it for a second. I feel like Adam knew more about me than he was letting the others know, so it's probably fine if I come clean to him about this. "Well, I did tell a partial truth to you yesterday. While I was summoned here, it wasn't just by mere chance."
Adam eased up as I started talking. "I figured as much. We mentioned Kaede to you, who did come here by chance, but she arrived much differently than you. She came out of a rift between worlds that we were attempting to seal. It wasn't making sense to me how your method brought you right outside our gates. I was trying to use her as a means of getting information out of you in case you were sent for another purpose." As would I to you, Adam. "But I'm going to need to know about you, before I can continue your development. I couldn't live with myself if I let the enemy in on our techniques." He finished.
I figure he's alright enough, and it seems like many people here could've ended my life already, given the fact Aera entered this place and was watching me sleep.Not to mention even earlier when Oliver forced me to the ground. "Well, I was summoned here by the Goddess of Beastkin. I was told I was to train and avoid capture, which I guess is technically still valid since I have a place to stay here." While I will tell him about who brought me here, I'm not going to mention I might have the power of a God eventually. Although, Aera did bring up some good points regarding not accepting this path. Adam grabbed us some chairs to continue the conversation.
"So, they began after all. I've had a couple run-ins with Iris myself. But I feel like she already chose someone for her plan around five years ago. Do you know anything about that? She goes by the name Aera." He questioned. He seems to already have it worked out that I'm Aera's replacement. Maybe he knows more than I think about this whole thing. The topic of Aera, however, was up for debate. I'm not sure I trust her completely but I'd like to know Adam's thoughts on her before mentioning anything about coming into contact with her.
"Iris said not to trust her, and that she's a liar. That's pretty much all she had time to mention before I was dropped at the ORS's feet." I replied.
"I was wondering more along the lines of how that relationship fell out, but I suppose you wouldn't know as the new girl. No worries, I guess." Adam said. "Well, this is still good news, because now I know why you don't share certain similarities like the other Otherworlders and I. It gives us a place to start with you."
"How am I different from you guys exactly? Don't we share that Title you mentioned? Is there more?" I asked.
"Well, think of it this way. Someone like me was just moved from one place to another. But, if I remember with Aera's case, a new body had to be made for her. I think this is because of the way you get your power." Adam began, "The Title kind of just means you came here like we did, but your body is fundamentally different from mine. You would use magic and skills in the same way as people who were born here do."
"In what way is it different from the way you would use them?" I asked.
"The people here are born with what's called a Mana Core. This is where mana is stored and processed inside the body. They have additional veins that carry mana throughout their body like our veins would carry blood as well. Otherworlders, on the other hand, work more or less like a video game. Have you ever played one?" Adam asked.
"Of course, when I was younger." I responded.
"We get that silly Status Window I was trying to get you to pull up yesterday. It seems to work differently from the way the native people of Zuter get stronger. The more we use skills, or the different ways we utilize them to defeat monsters, seems to be how we get stronger. But this also means that healing or other kinds of potions that are made here have no effect on us. Our bodies don't have the means of processing them." Adam said.
"So what happens if someone gets hurt?" I asked.
"We do have healers for that, but not many. Otherworlder healing is the only thing we've found so far to be effective on our bodies. Healing is unfortunately one of the more rare professions to come across." Adam replied. "We also have a few artificers capable of making ailments and recovery potions, but they as well are few in number."
"So how does this correlate to me moving forward?" I asked.
"Well, now that I know what you are, we can actually come up with a training regiment that'll get you up to snuff. You're gonna have to train up your Mana Core, which means Otherworlder training methods won't work on you. We train natives sometimes as well, so you don't have to worry about us being unknowledgeable on the topic." Adam replied. "But I do have one more question before we do this."
"Sure thing, ask away." I replied.
Adam looked at me again without his happy go lucky demeanor. "Will you ever betray us in the name of your God?"
"I don't know enough about my God to side with her on matters regarding this world, so as of right now, I can't say I would." I responded.
Adam seemed to take that as an answer for now, but I had a feeling it was only a temporary truce on the matter. "Okay," he began again, "let's get you going. You must be feeling left out from the others."
The two of us headed out of the appraising room and down the hall to where the ORS' private training area was. As we walked in the door everyone looked over to greet us.
"Welcome to our training room Freya! What did you get for an affinity?" Hannah questioned. "I'm dying to know!"
"We have a bet on it." Added Kenji.
"Kenji!!" Hannah yelled back at him.
"Sorry, I'm honest to a fault." He went back to his reps as Hannah was still eagerly awaiting my response.
"I have an Earth and Flora affinity." I finally replied. Everyone was stunned at the response.
"Wow! Lucky you! Two of them?" Hannah asked. "Well. That means I lost."
"Give it here, guys." Anna said. "Earth was my guess."
"Well, hold on!" Oliver chimed in. "It shouldn't count, she has two affinities!"
"Fork it over or for the next five missions it'll be your job to give Adam the report." Anna commanded.
"Ye- yes captain.." Oliver replied.
Adam took the floor. "Alright, guys! Freya is going to be joining the team here. If you have any questions, please bring them right to me. Anna, can I talk to you real quick?" Anna, already stunned from the sentence she just heard, walked out of the room with Adam. Hannah came right over to me, happy as ever.
"Yay! We get to work together too?!" She began to whisper. "Not that I don't like Anna, she's just kind of rough to talk to sometimes. It'll be nice to have you!"
"Welcome to the team, Freya. If you need anything just ask." Kenji said.
"Welcome Freya! If you need a drinking buddy just call me over!" Oliver exclaimed.
Anna returned to us after a few minutes. "So, Freya. You're like me, huh?" I was drawn to her ears and tail. Sure, in some ways…
"I was told that we'd train in similar ways, yes." I replied.
"Don't fall behind. We have lives on the line. One mistake could cost us dearly." She said. "Let's start with some Core work."
. . . . .
I thought the training I went through on Earth was rough, but try using a part of your body you never had before. I was sitting in a meditative position, as Anna instructed me to do, taking deep breaths. The task at hand was to find my Mana Core. While Earth did not have the presence of mana, some Otherworlders come from places that have some form of magic already. This gives people like them a huge advantage over someone like me. I wish I could skip this step. I feel like I could start napping in this state. I felt like I was drifting in and out of consciousness for what felt like an hour before I started to feel something that felt like a heart, just not in the usual spot. I focused on the feeling and something inside me changed. I started to warm up all over my body, as if something was permeating through it. Anna must've noticed the change, because she looked up at me.
"Finally. You're getting somewhere." She said.
"Is it supposed to feel this warm?" I asked.
"It'll feel more normal as your body absorbs the mana. Right now it's finding its way around your system. You're not doing it very efficiently either." She rolled her eyes. She then stopped working out and raised her right hand to her temple. "I have to go for a second. Keep working on that, maybe you'll actually be able to move forward if you can get it regulated." She left the room and Hannah looked over at me, mouthing 'sorry.'
. . . . .
"What's going on, Adam?" Anna asked as she met him out in the hall.
"How's our newest member? Keeping up well?" He asked in return.
"You're really trying to do anything other than work, huh? We saw you an hour ago." Anna joked with him. "Whatever. She's doing okay, I guess. I still don't know why I'm the one who's supposed to teach her. You know how I feel about this whole thing."
"I seem to be remembering a certain feline who was in a very similar situation. We found her lying outside our gates all those years ago." Adam said.
"Hey! Our situations aren't similar in the slightest." Anna rebutted. "She's a complete unknown. At least I'm from here."
"And that makes you different, how? Just because Freya isn't from this world? Does that mean I shouldn't be trusted either? Or most of the people who live here, for that matter?" Adam said.
"You know what I mean. What if she's some sort of spy for Havensguard? You basically just let her walk in here. All because something similar happened to Kaede? Give me a break." Anna sighed. "What do you see in her, anyway? Why give her the shot?" She looked up at Adam with genuine concern.
"Because I trust her. Isn't that enough?" Adam responded, placing his hand on Anna's shoulder.
Anna scoffed at the response and shook his hand off. "Are you hiding something from me? That's such a nonsensical answer. Do you mean to tell me if I brought in a random citizen of another city you'd welcome them with open arms too? Because I don't think you would." She went to turn away and end the conversation before Adam stopped her.
"Okay, fine. But you cannot spread this information. Are we clear?" He asked her.
"As long as it clears things up." Anna responded.
"Here, walk with me to my next meeting, I'll tell you on the way." Adam offered.
"Oh, so you do work!" Anna exclaimed.
"Knock it off." Replied Adam.
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I spent the next two weeks following a regiment that Anna gave me, while also keeping up with the physical training the other members of the ORS were doing. Meditating started out boring, but I honestly don't mind it now. It was a nice break to just be there with my own thoughts. At this point, I'm able to feel the flow of mana throughout my entire body. The problem was still actually being able to get it out. There are some upsides still, like how I can sense mana in the air and when people are using their own. I started sparring with Kenji as well, per his own request. I've only come close to beating him once, although I think he let it happen. His pure skill in hand to hand combat is unmatched. Hell, his whole ass ability is based on that. It feels like he's just fooling around with me. Kenji finished beating my ass, and I noticed Adam at the edge of the room.
"Sorry guys, I didn't want to get in the middle of that. Good work, Freya! You might be able to beat this freak eventually!" Adam exclaimed.
"Freak?!" Kenji replied, "how about you give me an honest fight? None of those silly barriers you make and I'd whoop your ass!"
"Now Kenji," Adam began, "aren't I the one that taught you to use all the tricks you have at your disposal? We both know you're physically stronger than most people in this society."
"You're just scared of losing Mr. I'm In Charge." Kenji said.
"Oho?" Adam replied. "I think I'll take you up on this, then."
"Oh shit!" Oliver ran to the doorway and yelled. "Yo! Adam is sparring Kenji!!" The room was very quickly filled with other members of the society who were training nearby to witness this impromptu fight. Anna walked to the center of the room and took it upon herself to be the referee.
"Alright, boys. I want a clean fight. As per agreed, Adam, you will forgo the use of barrier spells. I will allow elemental magic. Same goes for you, Kenji."
"All I need are these." Kenji held his fists up ready to go.
Anna rolled her eyes. "Okay, ready?" She asked both parties.
"I guess so." Adam slipped off his robes and tossed them over to Hannah. He cast a barrier around the "arena" and took a readied stance. "Alright, let's do this Kenji." The spectators waited in anticipation.
"Begin!" Anna exclaimed as she backed off from the center of the room.
Kenji immediately rushed Adam who seemed to have barely dodged the attack. Adam was forced to evade Kenji's relentless strikes. Adam appeared to be methodically dodging each action. Suddenly, a gust of wind erupted between the two of them, forcing Kenji to back off. Cheers were already erupting throughout the room and more people began to show up wondering what the commotion was. Kenji went back on the offensive after being sent back to the edge of the arena Adam had made.
"Hey, Freya." Anna said. "Do you notice anything about the way Adam is fighting?" I fixed my gaze back on the fight before me and continued to see Adam dodging blow after blow.
"What am I looking for, exactly?" I asked Anna. All I could see was that Adam seemed to be moving quite quick.
"I thought you could sense mana use now, or am I wrong? Focus." She responded. I sighed and looked back at Adam, trying to focus my mana into my eyes. Finally, I began to see something. It appeared to be that there was a thin green veil of mana wrapped around Adam's body.
"Oh, I see. There seems to be a green hue coming from Adam. I couldn't tell you what exactly he's doing, though." I told Anna.
"I guess that's a good enough answer. Adam is using magic to assist his movements. In his case, the green indicates wind magic, which is Adam's affinity." Anna replied.
"A little wind is all he needs to move like that?" I asked.
"A full-body aura like that is actually quite impressive. It takes immense knowledge of your own body and an adept use of your mana. Without those two skills it's quite inefficient." Anna replied. "Even I can only hold one up for about a minute." I began to brainstorm about how many applications of mana there could be and started getting dizzy. I have quite a bit to learn…
I fixed my gaze back onto the fight in front of me. Adam, still holding strong, started mixing in gusts of wind to try and knock Kenji off his feet. Kenji planted down and took the strikes head on. The room started to shake off the impact and the gathered crowd started cheering louder. "Are we going to be okay in here?" I asked Anna.
"These training rooms are much more durable than they look, we'll be fine." Anna said, eyes still fixed on the battle. Adam began to look frustrated and it looked like he was whispering something.
"Oh no you don't!" Kenji exclaimed as he broke his stance and tried to rush Adam again. It was however too late, as Kenji stopped moving abruptly.
"Checkmate." Adam said as he sent another gust of wind at Kenji, blowing him out of the arena.
"What just happened there?" I asked Anna. "Why'd he stop moving like that?"
"Well, Kenji did only say Adam wasn't allowed to use his barriers, but Adam is also capable of using sealing magic. It's the other part of his Unique skill. I was just wondering if Adam really felt the need to use it. Maybe he just wanted to show off. Alright! The winner is Adam!" The room erupted with a last set of cheers and began to clear out. I saw money being exchanged by Oliver and Hannah, who seemed to be running bets on the encounter. Hm, I gotta get in on the next one. I'm broke… Adam grabbed his robes, put them back on, and walked over to Anna and I. He bowed and smiled.
"Did you like the performance?" He asked us. Anna started fanning her hands at Adam.
"All hail the rightful ruler of the society!" She said sarcastically with a laugh.
"Booooo. Whatever. How are things going for you, Freya?" Adam asked.
"I'm still struggling with the control aspect of mana use. Do you have any tips?" I responded.
"Hmm. I can get you a tutor if you'd like, we have several volunteers that might be up for it." He said.
"Sure, it couldn't hurt I guess. Was there another reason you came by today?" I was kind of bummed I wasn't grasping this myself, but using a part of my body I never had before is quite tricky.
"Alright, I'll put the word out. Oh, right, I did actually come here for a reason. Not just to beat Kenji's ass." Adam said.
"Hey! You basically cheated! We aren't counting this as a win!" Kenji said from across the room.
"You never said I couldn't use sealing. This is basically your fault. I didn't even want to use it. You were just too bulky to knock over with wind alone." Adam replied.
"I've got you for sure next time." Kenji said as he went back to his weight training.
"Sure thing, pal. Anyway, before I forget, Anna. We're gonna get Freya some equipment. Can I borrow her and head to Kaede's workshop?" Adam asked.
"I don't see why not." Anna said. "Your little tiff with Kenji kind of knocked my training plan off anyway."
"Great! Let's get going then!" Adam exclaimed. Anna rolled her eyes as he just brushed off screwing with her schedule.
Kaede's workshop was across the street from the training hall in a cul de sac for the few facilities that were present in the Otherworld Society. I could feel the heat coming off the building before we even stepped inside. The whole thing looked like a big oven. Adam and I stepped inside and were met with a small storefront. There were all kinds of weapons from close range blades to ranged stuff like bows and crossbows.
"Kaede! You in here?" Adam shouted as if he owned the place. Well, I guess he does kind of own the place, doesn't he?
"One second!" I heard a woman shout from the back. The shout was followed by some slamming. We waited around for about a minute before a girl covered in soot came out from a doorway leading further into the shop. She was wearing a black tank top and shorts, as well as a protective mask you'd see someone wear while welding. She had jet black hair and black eyes.
"Oh, hi Adam! What can I do for you? Who's the lady friend?" She said with a wink.
"Very funny Kaede, you know I'm married." Adam responded. "This is Freya. She arrived here a couple weeks ago. I'd finally like to get her fitted with some gear."
"Hello, Freya! I'll introduce myself since Adam doesn't care about formalities. I'm Kaede! I do all the smithing work here." Is everyone here so energetic? I feel like I'm going to get a headache from all of the yelling.
"Nice to meet you, Kaede." I responded.
"So, what can I get started for you? What's your favored fighting style?" Kaede asked.
"Well, I used firearms quite a lot on Earth, is that something I could use here as well? I noticed that was Anna's weapon of choice." I asked.
Kaede sighed, "Unfortunately, I'm still trying to work out firearms. Anna's is more of a prototype. I don't really have the proper facilities nor the materials for it right now."
"That's a shame. Well, I guess I could go for a bow. That's probably the next best thing." It sucks that I couldn't just keep using ol' reliable, but I guess it is what it is. Time to brush up on my archery skills. I haven't shot a bow since I was in high school.
"I can do a bow for sure. What about a close range option?" Kaede asked.
Hm, I'd never really thought about it. I've used knives in the past, but I never really liked them. "How about a spear?" Typically, a spear was probably the easiest to pick up over something like a sword or an axe.
"An excellent combo. I'll get working on those for you right away! I'll take your measurements for armor while you're here as well. Please don't go anywhere!" Kaede rushed into the back and I heard her rummaging around. Adam raised his hand to his temple and rolled his eyes.
"Ah, shit. Sorry Freya, I have to attend a meeting I forgot about. You can head back to the training hall when you're done. I've taken enough of Anna's time with you today." He said. Adam promptly left the building just as Kaede returned from the back.
"He didn't even say bye to me? Rude. Alrighty, this will only take a few minutes!" Kaede said as she started grabbing various measurements of my body.
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My gear was ready in only a few days, which was a faster turnaround than I was expecting. Kaede called me over after Anna's daily training regiment to come and pick it up.
"Ta da!!!" Kaede exclaimed, showing off what she made for me. It seemed to be a nice mix of light armor and some smaller plates, optimized for mobility over protection. It seemed a little on the plainer end, although I definitely don't want to wear something super flashy.
"Wow, looks great! Thanks a bunch Kaede!" I said.
"I don't have any crazy materials on hand at the moment, but this should do just fine for your first set. If you ever find any rad materials, bring them to me and I'll see what I can do!" Kaede said. "Are you capable of making magical arrows?"
"Yes, I learned it after I relayed my weapon choices to Anna." I responded. "It was actually pretty easy."
"Great! I can't really use magic myself, so I'm always pretty jealous of that sort of thing." Kaede said. "Is there anything else you want me to make for you?"
"No, but I'll let you know if anything comes to mind, thanks!" I said. I grabbed my stuff and headed back to the training hall. When I got back, Anna gave me a locker to put my stuff in when I wasn't using it. "Okay, now that we got you some gear, I think it's about time you start going on outings with us. You should be capable of putting up a fight now." Anna said. Finally, I thought, I was starting to feel cooped up in this place. "Adam got something for us from one of our informants while you were out grabbing your gear. I'll brief you on the way. Get suited up."
After figuring out how to put on my armor properly, with begrudging help from Anna, we headed to the edge of the society. There were a few folks stationed here to guard the entrance, and they smiled when they noticed us approaching.
"Afternoon, ORS! Where are you guys headed?" One of them asked.
"Hey Griffin, we got word there's been a large creature harassing the nearby village of Fara, so we're going to go check it out." Anna replied. "We should be back in a few days."
"Sounds like a doozy, well, best of luck to you guys! I see you have a new member as well?" Griffin asked.
"Yes, this is Freya. This'll be her first mission with us. We've been training her up over the last month." Anna said. I gave Griffin a wave.
"Nice to meet you, Griffin. Hopefully I can be of use at this point." I said.
Griffin laughed. "Well, you've got a few of the society's strongest members with you. Just look to them for help if you need it! You'll be fine!" He motioned towards a small room near the edge of the barrier and a small portion of the wall became translucent. Anna nodded at Griffin and we set out into the forest.