Alexandra Benika, Fenrir Ironblood, Zena Vital, and Coco, have all arrived at the capital city, Ebria.
Coco, being a demon, wouldn't normally be allowed into the capital, however, when she made her way up to the guard station, she opened her backpack and handed the guard an envelope.
This envelope was from her master, or in this case, magic university professor Garrison. It excluded the small detail that Coco was a demon, but it did explain that she was his pupil and she was there to study.
Coco smiled softly at the guard, who was much too tired from his position to press any questioning towards the young pale girl before him so he let her through.
Coco let out a small sigh of relief before walking down the main street. There was no end to the shops. It was more like a marketplace than a city street.
At the end of this strip, was an open circle, with a giant very well crafted water fountain depicting the Goddess of light, the face of the largest religion in the land.
"I am starting to think the dwarfs had more of an impact on me than I thought. This statue is very well made, but even I know that the church would kill me if they knew I was complimenting their Goddess." She said in a whisper to herself.
After complimenting the well made fountain, Coco scanned the area. There was a large number of people standing around, caterers setting up chairs, and merchants closing up their shops early and heading over.
Coco then looked over at the back ends of the public square. The spots where outcasts and those looking for peace and quiet would hide.
Suddenly, she felt her heart skip a beat, like being pulled to a location. She darted her head around to see what it was, then she saw them, three people standing in the shade between a building and the fountain.
Gulp
Coco walked towards the group and thought to herself. A bigger man, light armor, sword at the hip. A relatively tall girl, pointy ears, bow. A small girl, slightly taller than me, mysterious. An intimidating group.
"You are so cute!!!"
"Huh?" Coco looked up, her eyes fully opening, in shock at how expressive the red haired elf is.
"Your eyes are like ruby's, so pretty!" The red haired elf continued.
"Are you the fourth person?" Fenrir asked with his chest puffed out trying to be intimidating.
"I am. I take it the feeling in my chest was a calling of sorts?"
"That's what we have surmised as well." Zena said, eyes closed in uninterest.
"I see. Well formal introductions are in order. My name is Coco, I am a mage."
"My name is Alexandra! Alex for short. I am an archer, if that wasn't obvious. My favorite food is cooked squash. I have a lovely dragon pet named Milo and Fredrick, and I really want to wander around!"
"Just ignore her, my name is Fenrir Ironblood, a fighter, and a blacksmith." He said the first part with an air of familiarity with Alex, and the second half was him being confident in his own abilities.
"Hey, don't ignore me! First introductions are important!" Alex yelled out with that same level of familiarity.
These two are acting like brother and sister. Coco thought.
"Zena Vital, I am a rogue." Zena said, rushing the conversation.
"With introduction out of the way, I want to know our starting point. How much money do we have between us all? To be honest, I am flat broke." Coco said, trying not to be embarrassed by her family's lack of funds.
"I have twenty silver. My father wanted me to experience the world and its hardships, so I was given a small allowance for this long journey of ours." Alex said thinking this was a small amount.
"I only have five silver to my name. I hate to admit this, but I lost most of my stuff after surviving a rockslide." Fenrir said embarrassed by his instant failure after just starting his journey here.
"Right before I left for the capital, I was told that there was a rockslide on the opposite side of the mountain. Are you from the dwarven mountains?" Coco asked.
"Yeah I am! So, you were just on the other side then? I suppose the soul link between us has a range limit." Fenrir added, instantly feeling safer around Coco.
"Yeah, that is good to know." Coco said as though converting the information to memory. "Anyway, Zena, how much do you have?"
"I have ten silver." It was a quick and blunt response. Too quick, that it caught Coco's attention. Is she lying?
This line of thought continued for a moment. We have thirty five silver between us. Assuming a few things like us splitting the money equally, eating three meals a day, getting two rooms at an inn per night. Then we would spend about three silver a day between us. That means that we only have enough to last us eleven days, two weeks at best if we are frugal with spending.
"Umm, Coco, Coco." Alex started to wave her hand in front of her face as Coco was counting with her fingers lost in thought.
"Sorry! Yes?" Coco said, springing back to reality.
"You ok? If not I can let you lay on my lap. Is the spring breeze giving you a cold? We can rest early?"
"I am fine Alex. What do we want to do to make some extra cash?"
"What do you mean?" Zena said finally meeting eye to eye with Coco.
"We were never told 'how' we should defeat the demon king. We could become students at the university, work as adventurers, join the military. There are a lot of options."
"Now that you mention it, yeah." Fenrir said, scratching his cheek. "I am best in combat, so adventuring might be the best route
"I am also only good with tracking and hunting, sitting in a classroom isn't my thing." Alex said, tapping her foot to the ground.
"Joining the church might be the best option. Some members have information not readily available to the public about the demon king and the sins." Zena said, stepping off the wall and joining the group.
"Umm, we can't join the church…" Coco said, drooping her head.
"Why not?" Alex asked curiously.
Coco looked around for peering eyes. The fountain in the middle of the day was too populated for her to remove her hood. She gestured for the three to get closer together. Three pairs of eyes staring at Coco. She lightly lifted up her hood.
"Those are hor-" Fenrir grasped Alex's mouth forcibly stopping her from talking. The four children looked around to see anyone who might have heard. Luckily, there was no one listening.
"Sorry!" Alex said bowing to Coco. "I was just really surprised."
"They are small, but noticeable, I get it." Coco said, whispering to Alex. By this point the group had huddled together to the point that it seemed like they would do a team cheer.
"So, are we all in agreement to become adventurers?" Fenrir said, pulling the group back to the point.
Everyone nods their heads.
"We do have one major problem then."
"What is it this time," Zena said, staring daggers at Coco as though concerned by her level of thinking.
"We don't have a tank or a healer…"
A pause among the group occurred as they all realized their own weaknesses. A front line fighter, a hidden assassin, and two backliners.
"I can use my magic to shield someone, but I can't heal with my magic. However, we would still be lacking someone who can tank an attack." Coco said, hinting at what her magic could be.
"Party no hit it is then. We just won't take damage." Fenrir said, trying to get a laugh out of people.
"No worries, everyone! New adventurers like us will start at the lowest rank in the guild, rank E. Most missions in that rank are small things like plant picking and pet finding. We can worry about the semantics later." Alex said with a big smile cheering up everyone.
"Right, I will think of something as time goes on." Coco said, becoming lost in thought again.
After a moment, a gust of wind came brushing past the group.
Coco felt as though something was off. A pause."My wand!" Coco yelled running towards the gust of wind, carrying the ebony wand with a blue gem at the top.
…
The newly acquainted Coco, Fenrir, Zena, and Alex all ran out of the shade and chased after the wand that was mysteriously fleeing from them.
Exiting the shade near the fountain to the direct sunlight made their eyes dilate causing each member to lose focus for just a second. The wand seemingly disappeared. They each looked around frantically until.
"That way," Zena said, running ahead of the group making a sharp right, running past the fountain, and going down a small alleyway.
People were now watching them, but figured it was some children playing in the city, and didn't pay much mind.
After running out of the alley, the group looked left and right, they saw a shimmer of blue down the left side. They ran after it, pushing past people, jumping over boxes that shop keepers were placing out, and did everything they could to reach the wand.
Another right.
A left.
Another alleyway.
The group was heaving, out of breath, and physically exhausted after running around for ten minutes, literally chasing the wind. They were now in a dark alleyway, in the back corner on the left side of the city.
The wand floating right in front of them. Then a shimmer, wind circling around the wand slowly forming the shape of a human.
A man appeared, holding the wand in his hand. He looked older, bags under his eyes, thin, with a hunched back, and shabby looking clothes. "I saw something interesting, so I wanted to ask you some questions. I mean no harm." The man said with a sickly smile, handing Coco her wand with his long crummy fingers.
Coco took it back, with a hint of disgust.
"What did you see exactly?" Alex said using her noble commanding voice.
"A, D E M O N" the man said in a whisper spelling it out.
Fenrir drew his sword, ready to attack.
"Relax, relax, I mean no harm." Waving his hand down repeatedly as though to signal for Fenrir to put his blade away.
"What questions do you have?" Coco said curiously.
"Why did a demon randomly enter this city on the day of the prince's speech?"
Shock appeared on each of their faces. Fenrir and Zena did not know much about the prince of this nation, so they were more shocked that a public speech was going to be held.
For Coco and Alex, who were more informed of the world's politics, understood the seriousness of this revelation.
The prince of Aspril, son of King Rosella, was at odds with his father. The two never see eye-to-eye on political matters, which caused a rift in the family.
Despite the King being in charge of all humans in the nation, his son has won the hearts of those who reside in the capital. Adventurers, shop keepers, and wives alike.
Ever since this power struggle started, rumors have been about that King Rosella has resorted to underhanded means to try and deal with his problematic son. One of these underhanded means of course, is assassins.
And who better to kill a prince, than a demon, which most of the world already hates. If they fail, the people will simply call it another failed attempt from the demons. If they succeed, the humans will lose a key figure, but it will all be a part of the king's plans.
In short, a demon making an appearance on the day of Prince Rosella's speech is problematic.
Coco swallowed harshly at this revelation. "I did not know that a speech was going to be held today. I was simply told to come here on my fifteenth birthday."
"By who?" the man said in distrust.
"Professor Garrison." Coco said, not even hesitating to answer the man's questions.
"For what purpose?" He said with a smirk.
"To study magic." Coco said unwavering.
"And why are you meeting with these three?"
"These are my upper classmen, they are showing me around." Coco gestured to the fact that each of them were taller and looked more intimidating than a small girl who has a hard time making eye contact.
The man pondered for a second. Then clapped his hands, with a creepy smile. "I see. I see. Well that is kind of disappointing. But I should say, welcome to the wonderful sinister city of Ebria. To celebrate, I have a gift for each of you." The man reached into his worn down pockets struggling to find his presents.
Disappointing? Was he hoping we would try to kill the prince? Coco thought, piecing together his meaning.
"Gift?" Zena said, looking cautiously. She readied to grab her knife.
After a moment, he pulled out four rings, showing the group the rings that now lay flat in his palm gestured out to the group.
These rings were bulky, silver in color, and at the top of the ring, was a blood red ball, with a small spiral design to it.
"What are these rings?" Alex asked perplexed.
"Ooo, those are magic impure magic gems. I have never seen one with such an odd design. I wonder what kind of spell it can cast." Coco said in the voice of a scholar forgetting the threatening demeanor from the strange man just moments ago.
"Good eye, these are sin seer rings. A rare item indeed. It allows one to see demons, ghosts, souls, and sins. All things evil."
"Not all demons are evil!" Alex said with a booming, almost insulted voice. "Coco here is an angel." Alex then grabbed Coco and pulled her into her side.
"I am sure the little lady is a wonderful person, but the world itself deems them as evil. I don't make the rules." The man said, waving Alex's frustrations off like a fly buzzing around.
"And if we decline these gifts?" Fenrir asked, afraid of what would happen if he declined the offer.
"Nothing. Well, you would be missing out on something interesting, but I won't hurt you." The man said with a shrug.
"Can they be taken off?" Zena asked, losing her patience at this creepy encounter.
"Nope! Hahaha."
A wave of shock overshadowed the group.
"I jest, of course. It does attach itself to you, but a simple counter spell or placing your hand in holy water is enough to get it off of you. And do not worry, it doesn't harm you or your soul in any way."
How can we trust this man? Why is he offering this to us? Who is this guy? He seems strong.
That was the general thoughts of the group. An odd pressure was placed on each of them to decide if they should take the rings or not.
Fenrir was the first to take a ring from the man's hand. He equipped the ring. At first it felt like a normal ring. Then the ring's orb began to glow. Fenrir looked around, then stopped at Coco.
Coco looked a little different. Her small black horns, hidden by her hood, seemed to Fenrir like small red horns appearing over her hood. Coco's finger nails appeared longer by this same strange red aura. It was like a red, fuzzy projection of Coco's demonic features. There was also a small, red circle, almost pink in color, surrounding Coco's body.
"What? What is it?" Coco asked, feeling like her soul was being looked at, bared open for all the world to see.
"You look different."
"She hasn't changed at all!" Alex said getting mad that Fenrir was treating Coco differently after putting on the ring.
Alex walked over and grabbed a ring, put it on, and looked at Coco. Seeing the same thing that Fenrir is seeing. The same reddish pink aura surrounding her body and seeing her small horns appearing over her hood.
"Stop looking at me." Coco said, trying to cover her body with her hands. After the two got used to this new vision. Coco walked over and put the ring on.
Obviously, she can't see herself at this moment, so her vision was normal. No one else, not Fenrir, Zena, Alex, or the stranger before them appeared any differently.
"Will you take the last one, Missy?" The man said with a smirk looking at Zena.
Zena looked at the old man, "I will pass."
"I see. Well you don't have to wear it if you don't want to." He said tossing the ring to Zena despite her protest against having it. "Also, if you want to see something interesting, go to the town square." The man said before turning into mist getting carried away by the wind.
"What the hell was that? I mean who does that guy think he is. We even forgot to ask for his name. GHHA, unbelievable."
"I agree with you, Alex, It was odd, but I say we go to the town square. We aren't in a hurry to do anything, are we?" Fenrir said, turning and marching back to the town square.
The group followed his lead, this time walking instead of running.