Harbinger: The Four Knights

Proving The Claims

“Young master! Thank goodness you are here. The goods that your group left are being sought out by so many merchants from other kingdoms, some even made reservations for other goods. I have all the list of them all, I even have the goods skinned so that you don’t have to worry about it.” Lee said with a gleeful tone as he hands over the papers. Marcus read through the contents of the document and his eyes widen after seeing the last name on the list.

“Mr. Lee, isn’t Harry the name of the guild leader here?” Amon and Abel’s eyes glitter with excitement after hearing what Marcus said that the head merchant immediately confirmed. “Yes young master. I’m surprised you know him even though you have not been to the guild yourself.” Lee said. “Well, his name is well known here for the recent successful expeditions.” Marcus said with a stern tone as he grabs the two by their shoulders. “Just a second Mr. Lee. Hey guys, this man in the last of the list is the guild leader and he took reservations on the great ox, not that only he can give us tags to join the expeditions but we can also request a private expedition by ourselves. That means we can gather as much as we want.” Marcus whispered to the other two who immediately nods their head.   

Then they turn back to Mr. Lee who is quite confused as to what the three are planning to do. “We did a little meeting and we thought about it. We will give the entire great ox to the guild leader, but we are not expecting a payment by money. We want something different. Please tell him this Mr. Lee. I will no- we will pay you extra.”

SCRIBBLE! SCRIBBLE! SCRIBBLE!

Marcus gave the things that they want in exchange for the great ox  from the guild leader to Lee who is quite surprise of what is written. “Are you sure about this young master?” he muttered hesitantly as he reads the contents yet again to make sure he is not seeing things. “Of course we are sure about that Mr. Lee. I am not a person who is fond of lying after all.” Marcus said with a gallant tone as Abel looks at him with disgust.

“Because you are on- mhfff mhhfffffm!” Marcus covered his mouth knowing that he will be the one who is going to disagree with what he said. “That is everything that we want from the guild leader Mr. Lee, please give that to him. And about the rest of the goods, it’s all good. The ones who had reservations can get the things that they want, I will leave the rest to you and you can take 5% per good that was bought and since all of them are meat, I will trust the selling of the hide as well, the commission per hide would be the same as the meat.” Marcus said as the head merchant immediately  flashed a smile.

“Leave it to me young master. I will take care of everything.” He said with a smile. The three of them left the shop and went to the guild immediately to get some clue as to how the expedition works and after that went straight to the nearest library to read some books about the monsters that they might encounter but to their disappointment, the books are mostly torn and are not in good condition. “What the heck? Maybe we should just go home. The books at home are in a whole lot better shape than here.” Marcus said as he returns the books that he grabbed and went straight home.

“Hey son! Why don’t we practic-“ Mark welcomes his son but then was immediately silence when Marcus said that the is busy. “Maybe next time father, we have something important to do.” Amon and Abel bow their heads as they pass by Mark who is curious as to what the three are planning that he followed behind them but before he can see anything, the door shut close on his face.

TUG!

               “What the heck is he planning with those two? I hope its not something dangerous.” Mark mutters to himself as he happily leaves the library but unfortunately for him, the three of them are planning to do something that he is not hoping for. The three of them spent the entire day reading all the books regarding the monsters that they all forgot to eat their meals that are piling on the table inside the library.

A few hours later

“I guess this is the last of it, I can’t believe there are numerous number of monsters during an expedition. We need to be vigilant if we are to go on an expedition with just the three of us. Even with our current strength we might face some difficulties if we were to encounter the most dangerous ones.” Marcus said as he drinks a cup of water. “I agree, I did not think an expedition would be that dangerous. If we are to jump now we would be in trouble sooner or later.” Amon agreed after reading. “Surely that would be the problem, even I am not confident that my healing would be enough.” Abel added.

               The three of them are pondering over about what they should do to of the new problem that they are currently facing but none of them could think of a solution and eventually brush it off their minds of the mean time and ate the food that was seating on the table for a while. “Well, it can’t be helped if we are going to continue like this. Let me heat the food, its better to be eaten hot.” Marcus heats the food and they ate immediately like hungry pigs and decimated the food sitting on the table for a few hours.

               The three brought the dishes back to the kitchen after a hearty meal but after they entered the living room, Mr. Lee was there waiting for them. “I was wondering what time the three of you are planning to get out my back is aching in all that waiting.” Lee said as he stood up the moment he sees the three. “Good evening Mr. Lee, is everything finished?” Marcus asked and then turn his head around to see if his father is around.   

               “You did not tell anything to father, did you?” Marcus whispered to Mr. Lee suspiciously as Mark stands behind Marcus who is unaware of his presence. Amon turns to Abel who shakes his head disappointingly. “Didn’t tell me what exactly Marcus?” Marcus’ eyes shot up after hearing his father’s voice and instantly turns back and saw his father’s furious expression.

               [Damn, I did not feel him coming at all. Does he know everything?] Marcus thought to himself as he lets out a bitter and nervous laugh. “Hahahaha! What a surprise dad! I told Mr. Lee that I have a surprise for you and I don’t want him to spoil it for me.” Marcus said as he pat Lee’s back who forcedly agreed to Marcus. “Yup- the surprise is so great that you might get a heart attack.” Lee muttered with a bitter smile on his face as Mark stares at him with a suspicious expression.

               But eventually Mark let them off with a warning. “If I hear something bad happens or anything weird, I will give you an earful Marcus.” He said as he gestures Marcus that he has his eye on him. “So much for not being a liar young master.” Lee said with a worried expression. “Are we going to be fine?” he added as Marcus shook his head. “I don’t even know myself.” Marcus answered as he lets out a deep sigh. “Well, now with that out of the way. I also came here to deliver you all the money your group made, here.” Lee said as he handed Marcus the ring. “I have already deducted the my shop’s commission and about the guild leader’s answer is that he can’t tell it to me as a proxy, he said he needs you to come and talk about it there.”

               [Well, that was within my expectations. The guild leader will not allow and give us something like that with only a proxy.] Marcus said as the corner of his lips rose and he turns to the other two who had the same expression that he is making. “Well, we really appreciate your help Mr. Lee. Pleasure doing business with you.” Marcus said as he shook Lee’s hands. “The pleasure is all mine young master.” Lee immediately left the residence after he had finished his business since it was already late while the three went straight to Marcus’ room like he told them to look at their profits.

               ZING!

               “Wow will you look at this. I don’t think we will be able to spend all of this- our entire lives.” Marcus muttered as the silver and gold coins flood his room. “Wow! Look at all this money. Is this a lot? Will we be able to buy a lot of food and some new set of clothes maybe?” Amon asked as he picks one of the coins and inspect it. “I know right. I don’t think I will be able to spend this much my entire life. Well, our life in our land doesn’t really need money to be able to live.” Abel said as he looks at the money on the floor.

               “Well the land here is quite different from here. Money here is the driving force that decides everything, except for a couple of things. But with this much money, we can get a building for our own or a land. For our own training or something and give the rest to the poor. We have so much anyway, everything that’s too much is not good any way.” Marcus said as he puts the coins back inside the ring.

               “Well, that would be a good idea as well. Since we have this much we should at least give some to the poor and leave the funds that we need for ourselves.” Amon agreed immediately. “That might be a good idea, we still have those cores right? Those things will not be enough for the channeling since it should not be cut of even for an instant since it might damage your core.” Abel added as Marcus and Amon remembered that they do still have the cores.              

               “Yeah- I guess we should give some of this to the poor. The cores are even more valuable than the meat nor the hides. We might even get more than this with only those cores alone.” Marcus pointed out as they face a new problem, how to spend the profit they had without getting much attention from everyone, especially Mark and Kassandra. The three decided to give some to the poor through Mr. Lee and make him donate some of the profit in his name to Mark’s feeding center.

               “Yup that is quite a good plan. Now next is the guild, are we going there tomorrow or the next day? We need to face the guild leader personally since it will be crucial. If we are going to get our adventurer tags, we need to at least be worthy of those. Especially when we get the permit to join the expeditions, we should also gather information about the monsters while at it.” Marcus told the other two that immediately nodded their heads.

               The next day

               The three immediately went out for the guild first thing in the morning and look for the guild leader who is a little surprised of their sudden appearance. “What they are here already!?” he exclaimed as his assistant nods her head as confirmation. [I though the head merchant is kidding about that absurd request. There is no way I will be giving something important like that to a proxy, I would be a fool to do that. But to think that I would get to meet the people who manage to take down that monstrous animal, the head merchant did not tell me anything about them so I guess they must be new to the place.] the guild leader told himself as he tidy his clothes expecting to see some people of high caliber.

               “Where are they?” he asked his assistant. “They are in the lobby, please-“ his assistant wants to warn him of what he is about to meet but the guild leader hastily left his office and went to the lobby after he wore his coat. “Thanks!” the assistant started breaking sweat knowing her boss’ attitude. “Please- don’t be surprised.” She muttered to herself as she scratches her head and headed to the lobby as well. The guild leader is excited to meet the people inside the lobby that he tidy his clothes before entering and takes a deep breathe before opening the door.

               KACHAK!

               The moment the guild leader opened the door, his eyes stumbled on Marcus and two other people that he is not familiar with. At first he thought that it was a joke and asks Marcus if he had seen some people that is looking for him. “We are those persons.” Marcus responded immediately with a straight face. “Hahaha! Nice one young master, stop with the games. I know they are hiding here somewhere.” The guild leader flashed a smile but the seriousness on their faces slowly erased the smile on his face. [What is the meaning of this.] just as he was asking that to himself, his assistant arrived at the door beside him and ask her himself for the truth. “What is the meaning of this? I was looking for the people but the young master of the Saber family is insisting that they were the ones that was looking for me. That can’t be right?” he asked with a strained expression on his face but to his disappointment, his assistant shook her head. “They really are the ones looking for you boss.”

               KSSSHK!

               A few minutes later

               Marcus hands over the note that the guild leader written himself that confirms their identities but the guild leader still can’t believe that the people he was excited to meet are a bunch of kids and what is worse is that they are demanding adventurer tags as payment for the great ox that the guild wanted.

               “Does that confirm everything guild leader?” Marcus ask and then introduced  the other two with him. “This is Amon, my little brother and this one is Abel, my other younger brother.” The guild leader looks at them and then shifts his eyes to Marcus who he thinks doesn’t resemble a single thing from the Saber family. The guild leader massage his face and buries his face under his palms for a few seconds and then asks Marcus if this is a joke.

               “Nope, I’m not kidding at all.” Marcus replied abruptly. “Surely you jest, young master. I would be the one that immediately knows if you have any younger brothers young master. And I did not hear anything nor a gossip like that at all. The lord is not that kind of man that would leave his seed everywhere you know.” The guild leader said, utterly disagreeing to Marcus’ claim.

               “There are some circumstances guild master, but I’m sure that doesn’t really matter in the thing that we came here for.” Marcus said with a calm tone for a kid his age that the guild leader threw the thought out of his head. “Then I guess there is no need to argue any further, I understand that you want adventurer tags in order to participate in expeditions. I can grant you that, given that I know of your skills but I cannot say the same thing for these two. I do not have the slightest idea who they are nor their skills. Which takes me to the question, are you really the ones who took down the great ox? Or did you just steal that thing from other hunters?”

               The question is a little insulting on the side of the three and Amon wants to speak up but Marcus holds him down, telling them that he is going to handle it as their big brother with his eye gesture. Amon settled down and let his bog brother do his own thing. “That really hurts guild leader, I am no the type of person who steals from others nor do my younger brothers here. We did encounter some groups that wanted steal our stuff but we let them off without even stealing their goods, so what made you think like that guild leader? Do you not trust our skills?” Marcus said with a cold tone as he intertwined his fingers and place his elbows at the table while looking at the guild leader with confidence.

               [What the heck? Where did the young master took that courage and confidence from? He doesn’t feel like a kid at all. Is it really possible to take down a great ox with only a group of three kids? If he really is that confident, he would not mind if I were to test their skills right?] the guild leader thought as he glance at his assistant who nods her head. “To be honest, I do not believe what you just said young master but if you are still insisting about it then would you let me test their skills? That is the only way I can think of that can prove your claims.” The guild leader proposed that the three of them immediately agreed. “It’s on.” “Okay.” “Fine.”

               The guild leader and his assistant turned to each other after their unison then stood up to lead them to the testing room where they test the skills of the aspiring adventurers and give them the appropriate tags for their skills. “This is the testing room, this is where we test the people that applies to be an adventurer. I will be asking a few adventurers that are free at the moment to be your opponents and they are heading here right now. But as the young master claimed, I will be asking a few strong adventurers to be your opponents.” The guild leader told them as the door opened and revealed their opponents.

               The two adventurers tilts their heads the moment they saw the guild leader along with three kids standing inside the testing room. “What is this all about boss? I thought we are going to fight some people but why are there only kids here?” one of them immediately voice his disbelief. “Relax, they are the ones you will be fighting since the young master claims that they are the ones responsible for taking down that great ox that we took from the head merchant.” The guild leader explained as their eyes immediately widened.

               “Now way! They are the ones responsible for the mess at the market the other day?!” the other one exclaimed as his eyes glitter in excitement. “I can’t believe it- I would be able to meet and fight the ones responsible for that great ox thought I have not fought one myself!”  he said with an enthusiastic tone as the other one stops him from behaving like a fan. “Calm down will you? Do you honestly believe that claim? Are you an i***t? No matter how you look at it, there is no way a couple of kids would be able to take down a behemoth like that. It is most likely to be stolen or found dead.” The other one said with a suspicious tone as he steps up. “I will be the first one, lets see If your claims are the truth.” He volunteered as Abel steps in. “Leave this to me young master, you take the other one after me.”

               “Nero, go easy on him, he is a kid after all.” The guild leader told the one who stepped in to face the first kid. “That is to be expected boss, I don’t bully kids decades younger than me.” Nero said as he takes a sword from the table full of weapons, Abel also took a sword but the adventurer looks at Abel like it was going to be a piece of cake. “You can start whenever you are ready kid.” The guild leader told Abel but the latter did not mind him.

               “Be ready kid, I may be an adult but it is my first time fighting a kid so adjusting my strength would be a little hard.” Nero, immediately disappeared and swings his sword at Abel who defended his attack immediately. “Not bad kid, at least you know how to block my attack but I wonder how long can you last like that.” Nero said as he applaud Abel’s ability to block his attacks.

               CHING! CHING! CHING!

               “Pierce.” Abel tilt his head to dodge the adventurer’s attack by a hair’s length which surprised the adventurer. Abel then swings his sword towards the adventurer but he blocks it with his gauntlet before it is swung at full strength. “Nero! Look out!”  his fellow adventurer yelled and in that instant, he realized that no one is holding the sword that he blocked, his eyes then moved around and saw no one around him. He looks up only to see Abel already releasing an arrow made of wind.

               TRINGGGG!

               “What the heck was that movement? Flash step?”  he mutters to himself not aware that his head is grazed and only realize that he is injured when he felt something warm running down his face. “Now this is interesting. I did not think that I will be able to fight without any restraint against a kid.” He said to himself just as Abel landed on the ground. “Looks like you will be eating your own words Mr. Adventurer.” Abel said as he multiple arrows floating in the air appeared behind him.

               TRINGGG! TRINGGG! TRINGGG!

               The guild leader and his assistant were surprised that a kid is able to stand on equal footing against Nero who is not a weak adventurer by any means. “How is that kid holding off against Nero?” the guild leader muttered as he turns to Marcus who just bore a smile on his face.

               Multiple arrows flew towards Nero as he jump from places to places while dodging Abel’s attacks. “You think you are the only one that can use wind magic? Then you’re wrong. Wind piercer!” a sudden surge of whistling wind struck Abel’s stomach and blood started flowing out of the wound. The guild leader and his assistant were alerted of the severity of the wound but then a green glow surrounded the wound and immediately heals it.

               “That hurts like hell but I guess it’s gone now.” Abel said with a smile as he glance at the frozen adventurer’s expression. [That’s impossible, he is not only adept in using a bow but he is also able to heal injuries?!] Nero’s senses screamed danger the moment he laid his eyes on Abel that is about to release a barrage of magical arrows. “I hope you do survive this Mr. Adventurer, you were the one who wanted to know how we took down that thing but then again, I can just heal you to perfect shape even if you are gravely injured.” Abel said with a huge grin on his face as he overwhelms the adventurer with his mind breaking attack.

               TRINGGGGGGG! BOOOOOM!