Book Two – Prologue – A Month Since The Attack

Dear diary, today is June 3rd. I’m sorry it’s been a while since I last wrote in you, but things have been pretty crazy ever since the attack a month ago. I really wanted to write more often than I have. I really did. I guess I have to make up for it.

A month ago, some group invaded the city and set fire to three slavery markets and Governor Parrel’s mansion. And believe it or not, I slept through the whole thing. Even the 23 lightning strikes, which apparently woke everyone up. Somehow, I slept through it.

Warden also apparently announced the attack the moment it happened over the speakers that they’ve installed. But I slept through that too.  I've always been a heavy sleeper, so I guess that explains why

I, myself, have mixed feelings about the attacks. As someone who was almost sold into slavery, I’m so happy and thankful the places were attacked. And I can only assume that the slaves inside were rescued before they set fire to it.

I should be happy about that. And I think I am. But then I hear about the mansion, and my feelings go a bit sour. The rumor around town says that Parrel was a bad man. One who sold and gave slaves to rich and powerful people all across Gea, and if that’s the truth, I should be happy that he’s dead, but I’m not.  I’m actually kind of sad.  He had a son and a wife.

Since they didn’t find their bodies amongst the ash, I can only assume they died as well. Grandpa, why did his son and wife have to die as well? When they made their statement a few days after the attack, I found out that he was only ten years old. He was innocent. And even if he wasn’t, was it right to murder a little kid like that for crimes he may or may not have understood and committed? I don’t think so, but somebody must have.

And what of the people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time? A place that big must’ve had a lot of maids and butlers. People who weren’t involved in slavery at all. I’m sad for them. I really am. But there’s nothing I can do. I’m weak. But I am trying to get stronger. I really am.

Oh yeah, about the statement. They had guards pulling crates of newspapers and gave them out for free. I still have it so I'll write it down here for safe keeping, just in case I lose the original.

Dear citizens of our beloved city of Canary. Late last night and this morning, our city came under attacked by terrorists who used the cowardice of the moon and night to sneak inside. We regret to inform you that over 250 brave men and women, who defended our beloved markets, as well as our dear Governor Parrel, perished in the fires from last night. In addition, we regret to inform you that his wife Fia, and his darling son Timiothy, only age ten, also passed away.

We are just as sad as you are. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the brave warriors who gave their lives to Canary. If anyone has even the smallest amount of information that can lead to the whereabouts of anyone who was involved, please tell the nearest guard.

There is a monetary reward involved. Together, we will get past this and become stronger as a result. In order to make our city feel safer for our beloved citizens, we are doubling the patrols and stationing extra guards around the city gates. This has been the darkest moment in our city’s life, and we will make sure it will be the last.

Thank you.

When this statement came out, most people wondered what would happen to the city. I did too. I mean, if the guy leading the city dies, then what happens? I would’ve thought there would be an election and that’s what Servi said too, but we were both wrong.

The very next day, Servi and I bought a paper after eating breakfast and apparently two twins named Blasé and Eina Dearton were sent here from Adenaford, the capital city of Lando. It’s where the castle is. I heard it’s so big and beautiful and it was built nearly a thousand years ago. Though I don’t know how true that statement is.

They scheduled a forum for today where the mansion used to be. Apparently it’s open to the public, and not just nobles, so that’s kinda cool. I asked Servi if she wanted to go and she said yes, after we eat and train. We should have enough time go. I mean, it’s only 8:32 AM and the forum doesn’t start until 11:30. Hey, maybe we can buy drinks or something along the way. That’ll be kinda nice.

Oops, I’m getting a little off topic. For a week after the attack, anyone who didn’t have an important reason for leaving Canary couldn’t. That included quests from Warden that were deemed non-essential. Basically, any quests from Rank 10 through 5 that we had to travel outside the city for were impossible to complete. Rank 4 through 1 depended on the description of the quest, but most were able to go.

Since Servi and I were only Rank 10, we had to stay here for that week. We spent the time in the sewers, which unfortunately we had to meet Arty again. He taunted us like always and I always got sad. But Servi would look at me and rub my head, saying for me to ignore him. I always felt good after that. You know grandpa, whenever she did that, it reminded me of when you used to rub my head after I had a scary dream, or whenever I would get frightened by thunder. I can’t help but picture you….

But yeah, when we went to the sewers, we found a lot of people in there. People way stronger than us. In the time it would take for us to kill a single rat, some guy who’s way stronger would have three or four killed. It was obvious to Servi that this would happen, but it wasn’t to me. Gah! You stupid cat, you should’ve know that being in lockdown would result in even advanced and expert adventurers coming to the sewers. They had to eat too.

So for that week, Servi and I had to wake up real early and skip breakfast in order to be one of the first ones in the sewers. I don’t know how, but we always managed to find a few rats and roaches so we always broke even at the end of the day. We were just lucky with the spawns, I guess. That, along with the money you gave me was enough for me to keep my room and eat dinner each night. I even had some extra, so I bought a cute outfit. But going so early meant that we had to skip training, which was the one thing I was looking forward too.

Speaking of training, Servi is really, really good with a bow. And throwing knives. And throwing axes. And the mace and the shield and the spear and the staff and really everything. Here I am trying to find the pointy end of a mace and she’s shooting bull’s-eye after bull’s-eye after bull’s-eye. I gotta admit, it made me feel inadequate and worthless, but I tried my best to never let it show.

She’s like the perfect girl and someone who I really want to be. But I know I can’t do that.  I’m me and she’s her. She’s way prettier, especially with her soft black hair and intense red eyes, and stronger than I could ever be. But I can still try, right grandpa? That’s what you always said when you used to teach me.

She taught me how to shoot a bow. After around ten minutes, I managed to hit the target, but missed the bull’s-eye. In the ten minutes it took me to hit it, I thought Servi had given up hope of ever teaching me, but she even more excited that I was. It was nice seeing someone happy for me. There hasn’t been anyone since you, Grandpa, who smiled when ever I accomplished something. Though I guess Servi was happy when we first killed a rat.

You know, over the past month, we’ve only ever had the single fight out at Luqa village. And yes, even I have gotten over it. I know I have a tendency to keep things locked up and beat myself over my mistakes when everyone else has forgiven me, but I truly have gotten over it. You can’t believe it either, grandpa? Maybe that means I have grown in the six months I’ve been gone.

But after the first week of lockdown, everyone from Rank 10 through 5 was able to take quests again. Servi said we should stick to areas close to Canary and I agreed with her. That was, if we could even find any.

I don’t know if it was because people were scared that quests would be locked away again if there was another attack, but almost every quest was taken by the time we got to the board. Servi told me that people who stocked up on quests were fools and I didn’t know what she meant until the next week. That is, the third week since the attack.

We came down in the morning like always and saw a few groups being yelled at by Claire, the Elf with red hair who’s super cute. I don’t remember her exact words, but she berated the five groups who took on too many and thus couldn’t finish them. Servi shook her head and then I realized what she meant. They took on too much and thus couldn’t finish them, and that meant they were punished by Warden for how many quests they accepted that they couldn’t turn it. Boy, that was a bit confusing to write.

Note: maybe I should ask Servi to tutor me in writing and language? She seems really smart about some stuff but also brainless about other things. Like, she didn’t know what the church was at first. I thought it was a bit odd since the Church of the Heavens is basically the official religion of Gea. In fact, I wonder if she knows the continent we’re on is called Gea.

Speaking of Servi, she hasn’t ever said anything to me about her home town or village, or even her family. For that matter, I don’t know if she even has a last name. All I know is that her name is Servi, and she’s dang good with a bunch of different weapons. She’s super nice to me, but also doesn’t back down if someone makes her mad. Like Arty, if I didn’t wake up at that time and say something, I’m pretty sure she would’ve killed him. That part of her scares me and I’m afraid to bring it up. She’s my first friend I ever made outside of the village, and I don’t want to lose her.

But I don’t want it to sound like she’s threatening me. That’s the farthest thing from the truth, and I know that if it somehow came to a big argument between us, she would never hit me. She doesn’t strike me as that kind of girl. I mean, she pushed me that one time, but it was to move me out of harms way. But that doesn’t count. She was looking out for me.

Whoops, I’m getting off topic again. Anyway, the five parties that got in trouble were left with a warning and another 100 dupla added on to their debt. The 100 dupla was the price it would cost to send a more powerful to complete the quest. And this was something I didn’t know. And neither did Servi until Claire explained it to us when we went to pick up another rat kill quest.

If a Rank 10 party takes on a quest and fails, then Warden upgrades it to a Rank 9 quest and gives back the client their application fee along with their reward money. Warden then takes the full financial brunt of the quest. That’s why there’s such a steep warning and penalty. Because every failed quest is a black mark on Warden’s reputation.

So for the rest of the third week and the entire fourth week, Servi and I took on some quests that didn’t take us too far away from Canary for two reasons. In fact, we were never more than two hours away. The first being the attack. We never know if another one might happen. The second being that we couldn’t afford two tents and the supplies to camp out. Well, we might have been able to buy them if the attack never happened in the first place and caused the sewers to be overrun with adventurers. I mean, I know I’m angry but I can’t blame them for trying to earn some money. That’s what Servi and I were doing.

But now I’m getting to the good part. Skills! Ever since Servi and I bought that shield, we haven’t had that much trouble and that meant taking on the more dangerous Rank 10 quests. Which in turn meant more Potential.

Oh yeah!!! I actually managed to learn pre-casting. Well, not learn it as much as figured it out for myself and let me say, it’s been very useful!!!

I, myself, have learned the following: True Aim, Feather Fall and Dirt Skin. True Aim is a passive skill that increases my accuracy with a bow and it was the third skill I learned. I gotta say, it hasn’t really helped that much. But Claire says that’s because I haven’t upgraded it at all. Apparently it’s one of those skills that gets better as it is upgraded. All of the top archers have it at maxed or near-maxed level. I guess I got a good ways to go.

Feather Fall was a good one I was excited about. When I’m falling, I activate this skill and I gently fall down like a feather would. It hasn’t been especially useful so far, but I’m sure the chance will come soon enough. And the last skill I learned is called Dirt Skin. It hardens my skin like I’m in a layer of dirt, but without the dirty feeling. It’s a lesser version of protection, but it combines with it, giving me just a little bit more defense than I would otherwise.

Servi learned some skills too. Mainly ones that would help with her tanking. Thunder Snap is good because it produces an incredibly loud sound whenever she snaps her fingers. For monsters sensitive to sounds, it’s very useful. The other skill was called Lucem. It produces a ball of really bright white light that’s useful for monsters with sensitive eyes.

They’re good, but they have some drawbacks…. Or they would for literally every one else. For most people, it’s really hard to concentrate on attacking, or blocking in Servi’s case, and chant at the same time. Most people don’t try that and just focus on one or the other, at least until they get the speed casting skill at a lower rank. That’s what you did, grandpa.

But Servi doesn’t need that. Just yesterday, in the sewers, we were fighting a rat that a sword stuck in its head. Servi chanted while blocking, even taking multiple swipes and body smashes that would’ve knocked back a regular joe, but she withstood it and let off a Thunder Snap that really hurt my ears.

I managed to kill the rat while it was disoriented before Servi noticed I was in pain. Before I had the chance to say anything, she said sorry and explained that she wouldn’t use Thunder Snap in such a close location. I went to say something but couldn’t. Would I have been a bad person if I said for her to stop before she figured it out? Probably not, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.

I know I’m repeating this over and over again, but I do consider Servi to be my very best friend. Especially after what happened in the village, grandpa. I didn’t have any friends except you. But I’m getting off topic again.

The next roach we killed; I was waiting for the Thunder Snap but it never came. Instead, Servi told me to shut my eyes for two seconds and I did. Even through my closed eye lids, I saw and felt a vast white light. She yelled out for me to attack and I did, using the moves she taught me when we trained together.

It was by far the easiest time I had killing a giant roach.

So after yesterday, we both had around 18 Potential left. Servi asked me what I wanted to spend them on and I said I wanted to save them. She asked why and I told her I wanted to learn Summon Spirit Familiar: Minor. I know that required Rank 9, but Clair told us that we were pretty close to getting our promotion quest. Servi asked what that was and I explained it to her. I told her that a promotion quest is what Warden gives to parties or individuals who they acknowledge as someone or a group worthy of being promoted to the next Rank. The quest to go from 10 to 9 depended on whether or not you were in a party. But the quest was the same for all parties. For example, if Servi and I did it, our task would be the same for every other party that came before us and it would be the same for every party to come after us. But it would be different for those who went solo.

She then asked about the Summon Spirit Familiar and again, I was surprised. Almost everyone knew what these skills did but she didn’t. It made me wonder if she came from a place where skills weren’t used.

Did places like that even exist?

Regardless, I told her it allowed the summoner to ask a Spirit of the world for help. I also told her there are three levels to the skill. Minor, Average, and Superior. Although I really wanted to hit Rank 1 and learn the Superior version, I’ll settle for Minor. For now, at least. Hehe! I better not get to ahead of myself.

Servi said she’ll also save them. She said that it might be a good idea to have some Potential to fall back on in case we get into a hairy situation. I guess that makes sense. If we find ourselves in need of fire, and we spent our Potential on a bunch of ice skills, then... Yeah, I don't want to think like that. Servi, you're a smart girl!

Whoops, someone's knocking at the door, and it’s probably Servi. Usually, it’s me going to wake her up, but I guess she wanted to surprise me.

Well, I got to go.  I’ll be sure to hopefully remember to write in here tonight.

Sincerely, Momo.