Ch 32: Another Hero Appears

The next morning their group left the city of Vlaburg with the sunrise and ate trail rations for breakfast.

Piaras had a bad feeling about that city and didn't want to stay there any longer than he needed to. His aspect of nature, the Coming Storm, helped him avoid danger.

Unknown to them, there was another murder the night they there in Vlabrug. When the drunk Golin heard about it, he ran to the local guard and told them he was positive that Baldeur's group was responsible.

Of course there was no evidence against them but the fear that had been building in the city was starting to turn into anger towards the guards for not solving the situation.

There was a good chance they would have made things difficult for them because they needed to be seen as doing anything to solve the problem.

The next few days on the road were again uneventful other than some bad weather.

On the eleventh day from the capital the group arrived in a major trade town that laid at the meeting of two major rivers and the main road to the mountains.

At the town's gates they interacted with the guards.

"Halt. Are you travelers from that gate in the capital?" One of the guards asked.

While those from the City of Gates tried to wear clothes that matched the local customs, they often still stood out and could be recognized.

"We are." Piaras replied.

"By order of the mayor, travelers can only stay in one of our inns, it's the High Barrel." After the guard gave them directions, the group made their way to the designated inn.

When they arrived there were several groups of people that were from the City of Gates. Piaras and the others recognized a few people and started to catch up with them.

Since Aisling and Baldeur were newer to this life they ended up at a table by themselves.

There was a bit of tension at their table with just the two of them. Well, it was mostly Aisling that was tense. Even though they had been training together for a while now, there was always Jin or one of their trainers with them.

"So, Um.." Aisling was about to start some small talk when they were interrupted by a young man that looked to be in his early 20s.

Aisling scowled at the newcomer.

Even though the young man looked to be around their age, Baldeur could feel from his aura that he was most likely in his 30s.

Those with Sources aged slower than those without. Each Source aged their users at different rates.

The two that aged the slowest were Qi and Anodular. The powerful users of this Source could live a few thousand years.

Next came Divinus and Infernius users. Their powerful users could live a little over a thousand years.

Powerful Mana users lived close to 500 years old.

Users of Psychic Laksulm could live twice as long as a normal human at the upper end of their power levels.

Those in the mid levels of power would live about half as long as those in the upper levels and those in the lower levels would live about ten to twenty percent of those in the upper levels.

"Ahem. Hello there fellow citizens of the great city beyond the gate. My name is Nilo Salaza. I wonder if you have the time to listen to a proposition of mine." Nilo said.

"Sure I guess." Baldeur said.

Aisling now scowled at the both of them.

"I am a member of the Explorers Union that is currently on leave." Nilo began.

"Pass." Baldeur interrupted.

"What? But you haven't even heard what I had to say." Nilo said.

"Yeah, we're not really interested in working for the Explorers Union. We're contracted with the Zeerous Trading Company." Baldeur said.

Baldeur never wanted anything to do with the Explorers Union if he could help it.

"Oh, this isn't for the Explorers Union, this is my own personal mission." Nilo said.

"Still not interested. We're in the middle of something." Baldeur said.

"I wonder if you'll change your mind after you see this." Nilo pulled out a disc made of gold that had a diamond in the middle. The names of the seven spirits of this kingdom's religion curved out from the diamond in the center.

"The day I arrived on this world I met with one of their high priests. He gave this to me and gave me a divine mission. There is a great evil in the Hoernter mountains and according to their prophecies I will lead a group of brave heroes to defeat it. Would you like to be a part of that group?" Nilo said.

Aisling's mouth dropped open.

"No." Baldeur replied.

"But this is really important and a lot of people are depending on this." Nilo said.

"Yeah, Um.. This is a little awkward but I met with high priest Sansone and he told me the same thing. That I was supposed to fulfill some prophecy or something." Baldeur said.

"What, you have two Sources also. Then this is fate. We can venture into the mountains together and complete this holy mission." Nilo said.

"Yeah, again, I'm not interested. If it's meant to be then it will happen. I don't plan on forcing it." Baldeur said.

"I see that your will is set. And your words are correct. If it is fate we will meet again." With that Nilo left.

He walked over to another table and they could hear him giving the same pitch.

"I see the hero Nilo asked you to join him." A blue haired woman walked over on the arm of Sigurd.

"Do you know him?" Sigurd asked.

"Don't worry about him honey. He's been in the area for just under a year. He bought into some mission that one of the local religious leaders gave him. He keeps showing people the high priest's disc and trying to get people to join him. He gets a few people every few months but they come back without fulfilling whatever prophecy he thinks there is." The woman said.

"Hey why didn't you get a disc from that guy if you're supposed to fulfill the prophecy?" Sigurd asked.

"Wait did that guy try to rope you in also?" She said.

Baldeur nodded with a sigh.

"Oh that means you have two Sources." She said.

"I have no intention of trying to fulfill any prophecy." Baldeur said.

"Smart kid." The blue haired woman said.

As they were talking a big group of people led by a man that looked to be in his mid 20's walked in with a woman on each arm.

"Oh and here comes the other guy. Though this one will pay you to help him fulfill the prophecy." The woman said.