The prince's party
Far from Sanryu Village, a group of adventurers is heading towards an unknown destination by wagon.
"I don't understand why we can't travel on griffins, wouldn't it be more comfortable and faster?" A girl complains about how her group decided to travel in such a slow vehicle compared to a griffin.
"Jusy, we can't take the griffons, because they would be too conspicuous, this could make our movements more observed by any enemies who want to stop our mission." Another girl responds to the previous one.
"They just have to try! I want to see if they dare, this is the prince's party, not just a group of adventurers. Our party is made up of talented elements and is like no other." Jusy doesn't seem to fear any enemy attacks, in fact she is curious to see if anyone dares to even think of hindering the prince's mission.
"It's true that we have many talents, but you should never underestimate your opponent, especially one you don't know, Jusy." A different woman than before, warns the young Jusy. Compared to the two girls, this one seems to be a little older than them, she seems to have much more experience regarding missions and adventures.
"If you say so, Miss Sindra, but they still remain of the opinion that there are few threats that can stand in our way." Jusy crosses her arms behind her head, still firm in the idea that no one would have the courage to challenge her.
"I'm happy to know that you're always so full of energy, Jusy." A male voice is gentle, she comes from the front of the carriage, where she is being pulled by a young man.
This man is none other than the prince of Oberon, of the royal family of Ryleigh, he is also the next heir to the throne of the kingdom of Alterac, his name is Elix. Elix is a very handsome boy, almost divine, he is perhaps the most handsome man in Ethia among humans, many women would even just like to lie with him for a night, and would do anything for this. If we add that she is also the heir to the throne of his kingdom, not to mention his great talent with the sword mixed with the magic of light, typical of his family, a beautiful combination emerges.
"The prince is right, you are always so full of energy, Jusy, that I almost envy you." A girl is sitting next to the prince, she turns to look at Jusy. This girl is called Crystal, and she is the young scion of one of the most important noble families in the kingdom of Alterac, very loyal to the royal family. Crystal is also a talented sorceress capable of creating pure silver, a very rare magic in this world, and she is also the betrothed of Prince Elix, which is why she is greatly envied by many women in the kingdom.
"Thank you Prince and Miss. Crystal, it is a pleasure for me to be praised by two figures like you." Jusy rejoices at the compliments given to him by the two very good boys. 'Ahhhh the prince paid me a compliment, how happy I am.' It's easy to understand that Jusy is also very attracted to Prince Elix.
Jusy, unlike these two boys, is not from a noble family, but she comes from a very modest merchant family, not born in this land, but from one overseas, far from Alterac. From an early age, Jusy proved to be very talented in the art of daggers, and her parents hired a famous instructor to train their daughter. In a short time Jusy learned the art of daggers and her instructor understood that he had nothing left to teach the girl, so he warned the girl's parents that her work had come to an end, and she left. Jusy, wanting to hone her skills, joined the guild to become an adventurer, quickly became a famous assassin, rose very quickly in the ranks of the guild. The royal family has discovered this girl, it is seen that they are forming the prince's party, they will hire her immediately, much to the girl's joy.
"You can also simply call me Crystal, Jusy, we are now adventure companions, it is important that a beautiful friendship is established between us." Crystal doesn't want the members of this party to call her "she", after all they are all adventurers at the moment and therefore they are all the same.
"Crystal is right, as long as we are alone we should travel together, call each other for the first time, then we can get along much better, right, Sindra?" Elix calls out to the oldest girl in the group, wanting to know if she agrees with them too.
"For me it's not a problem, but for you, Santa Luisa?" Sindra, the older girl, turns to the girl next to her.
"It's not a problem for me either, and you can even remove the Santa Claus, after all it's just a question of religion, that they gave me that name." Luisa waves her hands, not wanting her friends to call her by the nickname Santa Luisa.
Luisa is a girl who grew up in church, her origins are unknown, as she was abandoned by her parents in front of the doors of a church, when she was still a newborn. After a couple of years, the church noticed that Luisa exuded an almost divine aura and at the same time, a relic of the church, kept inside it for many centuries, began to react towards the girl. The relic in question is a legendary spear, the Diatrekhon, this spear is said to have been blessed by the patron goddess of the kingdom of Alterac, Nikea the Goddess of victory and soldiers. Nikea blessed this spear and then gave it to the first king of this kingdom, who used it to kill a dangerous beast that threatened these lands, but unfortunately, after the death of that king, no other descendant was ever able to use the power of the weapon again, thus becoming a simple spear. The royal family decided to donate it to the church, since it was given by the goddess herself, and the believing priests of the goddess kept it to this day, until the spear reacted to Louise's presence. But even she the latter cannot fully utilize the power of the spear, it seems as if she the latter chose Luisa as her bearer only so she could find a worthy heir to the power of the gods. In fact, every time Luisa finds herself in serious difficulty, she is unable to get out of it on her own, she launches her as if she comes to life, she releases part of her power to save the saint from certain death.
"I'm happy that you say that, even though I am of noble birth, I am not very good at these things." Sindra is happy to know that she doesn't have to say her name at the same time, no one has to give her so much respect.
Sindra, like Elix and Crystal, is a woman of noble origins, her noble family is famous for the production of weapons and armor that equip the entire army of the royal family. This is why her family produces excellent blacksmiths and engineers on this war field, but Sindra does not seem to have inherited this talent, in fact she is not able to make such fine or sophisticated weapons or armor, but unlike the other members of his family, he is very skilled in the use of rifles. Sindra always carries with her her trusty rifle, Aetos, a very satisfying rifle which however was not built by her family or in the lands of Alterac, but was designed in a city far away from these lands, where ingenuity is metallurgical, reigns supreme. The bullets of this rifle are very particular, as there are different types for different situations, which is why Sindra must always make sure that this ammunition is imported into the Alterac region very carefully, and it is also the reason why they are very expensive.
"Prince Elix, if this mission is so important and secret, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to reveal the formation of this party to the people, is this our departure?" Jusy wants to know if it was a good idea to tell everyone about this mission.
"It wouldn't have been a good idea for us to go right where the threat turned out to be, but we'll go somewhere else." Elix reveals the truth about their mission.
"What? Aren't we going south to the kingdom of Alterac? Isn't there a tabaxi invasion there?" Jusy is stunned to know the real destination of their trip.
"The royal army is already there for this, not to mention the commander who leads it... I feel a little pity for those beasts. We will go to the south-east of the kingdom, the royal informants have reported that something dark is happening. getting closer to our borders over there. Our job is to find out what's happening there and eradicate this threat." Elix explains to the group the real mission they will have to accomplish.
"This also explains Luisa's presence in our party. If something dark or evil stirs, there is nothing better than a saint to counter it." Sindra has clearer ideas right now, after Elix's revelation.
"I hope to live up to your expectations." Luisa does not deny that she feels a bit of pressure due to this matter, apparently she is the ace in the hole to deal with this threat.
"You certainly will be, Luisa, otherwise the King would not have chosen you for this task." Crystal tries to reassure the saint.
"Where exactly are these unpleasant events happening?" Sindra would like to know in which area these upheavals are taking place.
"In a city, Drolbane, you already know we can't risk losing it." Elix names the name of a city.
"Drolbane, if I'm not mistaken, is the city where the largest quantity of wheat is produced in the entire region, who knows what these individuals intend to do." Jusy remembers well what Drolbane is famous for, after all her merchant family has already granted her many trading trips to that city.
"If anything were to happen to that city, we would lose much of the nourishment of our people, and we can't have that these days…not with the threats coming from outside our region." Elix puts on a serious expression.
Alterac, unlike many other regions, is rather isolated from other kingdoms or empires, and this can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. This kingdom, in fact, borders on one side the vast ocean and on the other with a no-man's land, or the Wild Lands. These lands are mostly inhabited by primitive and savage races, dedicated only to violence and massacre, the most famous being the orcs.
Because of these lands, it is also difficult for the kingdom of Alterac to trade with other regions, as the inhabitants of the Wildlands attack any type of caravan that passes through their territories. This resulted in the kingdom of Alterac having to provide itself with most of the population's needs, such as food, weapons, materials, and other matters.
"We must solve this problem, otherwise the kingdom of Alterac will face terrible consequences." Crystal murmurs these words, making the whole party hear them. Apparently, the King has entrusted an important burden to his son and his adventure companions, who knows how the fate of this group will end.
-------------------------------------------------- -------------------
At the same time, in a small village, a boy wakes up from his bed flanked by a wild and beautiful sky goddess. "It happened again."