"Alright, I'm going to brew potions." Elora stood up after hearing his explanation.

Zelie also stretched and followed behind her before speaking. "If I sit here a little bit more, I'll bore myself to death."

Kadyn was alone in the shop when the duo left. He slouched in his chair in boredom and closed his eyes. In just a few minutes he dozed off.

A voice of footsteps came from in front of him after an unknown amount of time later. He opened his eyes and wiped the crust out of them and blinked a few times to adjust his eye-sight. A man. No, not man. A boy around the age of eighteen stood in front of the counter, looking all about in the shop curiously. Left and right. Back and forth. His eyes were filled with eagerness.

"Can I help you, sir?" Kadyn voiced, attracting the boy's gaze towards himself. He had a handsome but innocent looking face, without a single whisker, plain and smooth like a child. His pristine brown eyes were beautiful and wide in interest, his nose was small and his lips red. He was tall though, and had black hair.

"Oh, oh, I just wanted to check out." The boy flushed. "I-I don't have any-any money. You-you don't need to ask your guards. I would get lost myself." The boy said and scrambled. Before Kadyn could speak, he had already dashed out of the shop.

Kadyn opened his mouth wide to speak but then swallowed. The boy had already vanished from his sight. Then he curled his lips. "What an interesting guy. I wonder what's his name."

"Very interesting indeed." A voice sounded in his head out of nowhere, frightening Kadyn out of his wits as he jumped from his chair. Then, he realised whom that voice belonged to.

"Hey, don't speak like that?"

Silence.

"What do you mean by your previous words?" Kadyn asked curiously.

"I would suggest you recruit that guy."

"Why?"

Silence.

Kadyn sighed and looked towards the gate languidly as he stood from his comfortable chair and walked out of the shop. The system never interferes with his decisions, no matter how stupid they are. Now he asked him to recruit that guy, it can't be for nothing. He found Khrom outside and asked. "Did you see a boy running out?"

"Yes. Did he steal something?" Khrom asked.

"Do you think that boy is capable of stealing something from my shop?" Kadyn rolled his eyes at him. "I need you to find that boy." As he said the quest window appeared. 

[Quest Name: ?]

[Reward: 100 Energy Points]

[Do you want to accept the missions? Y/N]

Khrom looked at Kadyn pleasantly. He had never received a mission that could give him even thirty energy points but this mission was worth 1oo. Kadyn was also surprised. That boy must be special if the system has offered such a huge reward. Kadyn himself didn't have many energy points; a hundred was a big sum even for him. From the last deal, he earned just 200 energy points.

"Why there is a question mark at the place of quest name?" He asked in bewilderment. It had never happened before.

"You'll know when you recruit the boy."

"Alright, you can go now." Kadyn waved his hand towards Khrom. "The sooner you find the boy the better."

At this moment a figure walked out from the other side. Kadyn eyed the newcomer and said. "You came at the right time. Accompany Khrom and help him in his search."

Dion didn't know what it was all about, but he still nodded.

Khrom didn't waste his time and dashed out of the shop with Dion. Hundred Energy Points would let him learn some weaker Rank 1 spells. He might even be able to find a way to advance inside the library. Though he wasn't Rank 1 himself, he had the confidence to become in the future. The more time he spent in the shop the more shocked he became. There were so many mysteries surrounding Kadyn.

——

At the centre of the Orddono City stood a castle. Large and beautiful. The dome that was far bigger than Kadyn's shop could be seen from miles away, though half of it was obscured — or it appeared to be as if it was from a distance — in the mist and clouds. At the four corners of the castle, stood four towering snow-white pillars, poking a hole into the clouds.

The guards stood alertly at the gate of the castle with javelins and swords and staffs in their hands. Some of them were standing in attention like statues while some were roaming back and forth, and some had a lazy and bored look on their faces. Though there was one thing that was common in all of them: Pride. They all looked prideful and somewhat arrogant.

At this moment two ladies headed towards the gates of the castles. They turned to look in their direction. Then all of them stood in a file, chests out and eyes peering straight ahead of them. A man — who looked like the commander — walked towards the two ladies and greeted the lady with tan skin. "Welcome back princess."

Nefia nodded at the man. "Has my father returned yet?"

"Ummm… Not yet princess." The commander replied with an awkward expression. But then he said. "Don't worry, he will be here tomorrow for sure."

A tinge of disappointment flashed inside her eyes, but then she lifted her head and smiled. "It's alright. Father is busy after all."

The commander eyed Nefia and wanted to speak something, but then he sighed and kept his mouth shut. Nefia vanished into the castle with Cecilia. Only then he murmured. "If you knew how much pressure His Majesty is carrying over his shoulders…" He shook his head and sighed.

The day passed and night arrived. Nefia laid on her soft bed, staring at the ceiling absentmindedly. She still remembered how everyone used to care for her and celebrate her birthday. However, ever since her mother died, no, killed, everything changed. Her father was busy dealing with the kingdom's problems. He had no time for her anymore. Though she would get her pocket money consistently from her big brother, was it enough? She wanted to spend time with her family and celebrate her birthday, but none of them even remembered that tomorrow is her birthday.

Dong!

The watch sounded and she looked towards it. No, not tomorrow, her birthday is today. She curled her arms around herself…

Smash! 

Something fell on the ground and smashed.

"Who's there...umhh?" she sprang from her bed and shouted, but before she could understand anything, a hand pressed over her mouth. She was horrified and tried to struggle free.

"Shhh, it's me." A voice spoke in a hushed manner. She looked at the handsome face in front of her with wide and surprised eyes. As the pleasant expression appeared on her face — a voice came from outside her room and her face turned pale. 

"Is there something wrong, princess?" a guard asked from outside.

Nefia sighed in relief when the man didn't barge into her room without permission. "Oh, it was just a cat." She replied, her chest heaving up and down with anxiety.

"Just give me a call if you need anything, princess. Good night." The guard said from outside and then… then silence.

Nefia turned towards the boy who was staring at her with a smiling face. "Slyff, you bastard. What would have happened if someone had found out about you?" she punched on his shoulder gently, but then placed her head over his chest, hugging him tightly. "Why are you here? You should go back as soon as possible. It won't do us any good if someone finds out about you."

The boy patted over her shoulder and said in a soft voice. "Happy Birthday, princess."

Nefia's body stiffened. She lifted her gaze and looked up into his brown eyes and asked. "You-you remember…"

"Of course, I remember." The boy said, caressing her cheeks gently with one hand and with the other holding her slim waist. "Did you think I would forget about it?"

"Oh," Nefia smiled and then said. "So where is my gift?" but as soon as she spoke, she regretted it. Who could know Slyff's condition better than her? He was poor and lived in a slum. From time to time, he would go hungry for an entire day. Alas, the boy was too prideful, he would rather starve than take Nefia's money.

When Nefia looked into his eyes apologetically in shame, he brought a beautiful red rose from his back. He said. "I, uh, I can give you only this at the moment, princess. Though it's just a stupid flower…"

"No, it's not," Nefia said. "I love it. Thank you!" She said and her eyes became wet. Then she hugged him again, tightly, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Actually, I wanted to buy an artefact for you," Slyff said with an awkward expression. "But when I went into the shop I was frightened as I looked into those shelves. They were filled with hundreds of potions and similarly with all kinds of artefacts. I had only a hundred dollars. Many shopkeepers had thrown me out of their shops many times. So I didn't want that to happen again, so I left hurriedly."

Nefia looked at Slyff with a pained expression but then something came to her mind and she asked in surprise. "Were there two large pillars at the gate of the shop, embedded with all kinds of carvings?"

"Wait, how do you know?" Slyff eyed her in surprise.

"Oh, I also went to that shop today." Nefia replied. Then she leaned towards him and gave a peck on his cheek and said shyly. "Alright, you need to go now."

"Princess," came a voice from out and the duo stiffened in their hugging position.