Streni trudged with the others across the mud. It had been raining for the past couple of days, and had made the ash into a sticky substance. The boy, Rishja, had been quiet. He would often stare at the ruins of his home. She would always stop the others when he did that, and wait for him. He would finish and turn to look at her, emotionless. That was the thing that really disturbed her, he hadn’t cired once. She had tried to hug him the first night, but he had been so stiff that she’d not done it again. Her cheeks burned with the memory, and she kept her head down, focusing on not losing her sabatons. Osia was grumbling behind her. “...stupid woman, losing her Class right when we needed it…”

Streni sighed. “Well, I am so sorry that I started seeing you as an equal! Next time, I’ll make sure to stay the way I was!”

Osia glared at her. “I’m not complaining about that! Why didn’t you keep Class and look at me as an equal?”

She shook her head. “Because the Class literally only cared about humans!”

“Then change the Class! Don’t just lose it!”

She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, and both of the boys watched them with confused expressions, although Rishja’s was just a raised eyebrow; which she was quite pleased about actually, it was the most she had seen from him.

They continued, heading in the direction the Goblin tribes had gone. They walked and walked, until they came across tracks, thousands of them, all coming down the hill and turning to continue the same way they were going. She had an idea of who had made them. She turned to Osia, and saw that she was curious, so she nodded to her, and they turned to walk up the slope.

They moved up the hill, and when they crested, they came across an enormous camp, with wooden walls surrounding it, and tattered tents clearly visible through the doors.

“What is this?” the Assassin asked, with hope in her voice.

“The Goblins camp.” Her and the boys looked at it more closely.

“They’re not here anymore.”

“No.”

They wandered down, passing through the gates and into the deserted place. “We just missed them…” Osia sounded depressed.

“No… They’ve been gone for a long time.” That caused the Assassin to twist to her, but she ignored it. “We should see if there are any supplies, but then move on.” They all nodded reluctantly, and without having to communicate, split into groups of two. Osia with Pebbles, and Streni with Rishja.

They picked through the camp, searching for anything. She found little, a few scraps of food, a needle and thread, and a ragged cloak. She offered the cape to Rishja, but he didn’t take it, so she decided to wear it until he changed his mind.

They started heading back to where they had split, when she saw a flare of light. Her face paled and she turned around to the Cani boy. “Hide, quickly! Find the others if you can and warn them!” The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded before sprinting off. Streni took a deep breath, and marched towards the brightening glare.

Three angels floated in the air, with wings of light that sent pangs of envy through her.

‘Ding’ [Aspirant of the Savior Lv 60]

‘Ding’ [Aspirant of the Savior Lv 56]

Why has my luck run so dry?…

“Well… this was a waste of time then. I wonder which one of us failed?” the man with a chiselled jaw, and brown hair said.

“We might find out in a moment. Someone is approaching,” the one in the middle warned, another man, with golden hair like hers, and strikingly blue eyes that were matched with his silver and blue earrings. Her eyes lingered on his powerful body for a second, before flicking away. Solomon.

She stopped peering at them from behind the flimsy tent, and stepped out towards them. She saw Solomon recoil. “Streni? How!? You are- were the best of us!”

She swallowed. “Hello Solomon. As you can see I have lost my way, and deserve my fate. There is no need for you to investigate.”

He gaped at her uncomprehendingly, before shaking his head. “No! YYour devotion was unshakeable…? What happened?”

The moment was becoming increasingly awkward, especially since the other two Aspirants were glancing between the two of them. She sighed. “I…realised something. It made me question my beliefs. Please, don’t investigate.”

His expression grew frustrated, “Streni talk to me. It’s okay to have doubts in our Saviour. It’s expected even. The fact that you’re having your’s so early is a good thing! Your faith will be twice as strong when you come back with us.”

She took a deep breath. “Identify me, Solomon.”

The man blinked but then grew slack. “No…”

Streni nodded, her throat too constricted to allow her to say anything. The other two Aspirants looked at her with shock.

“Streni…how?” His voice was beginning to sound raw.

“Like I said, I had an experience.”

He took several deep breaths, before saying, “We will have to report this, Streni. I want you to come with us.”

She didn’t meet his eyes. “I…don’t want to.”

She heard him exhale. “I see…can you…give the details of how you lost your way?”

Still looking at the ground, she spoke quietly, but just loud enough to be heard. “I met a Swordsman…in Seaholm. He was against our views…your views…we fought and I…lost.”

That made them sympathetic. The two other Aspirants nodded along. “Strong level then? Understandable. Was it…traumatic? That is often what shakes our faith.”

She sighed painfully. “No… he was almost half of mine…” She paused as she suddenly saw a way out of the situation. “He was a Death magic user too. My beams couldn’t hurt him…”

The attention fell on her like stone. The heat billowed off them, becoming more intense. “...Death magic?”

“He had a Class that could have been related to normal ghosts… but I could sense the death energy. ” she said.

“Grasping Hand?”

She shook her head. “I do not believe so. He actually seemed…” She trailed off. She needed them away from her and the others. She couldn’t afford to make him not seem like a threat. Besides, I am owed this, at least. She regarded them seriously again. “He was strangely powerful. If his Class was shared with the Grasping Hand…”

That had done it. Their faces became set, and they glanced at each other, before turning back to her. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge.” The chiselled man spoke up.

She nodded.

“We must go. I am sorry you have lost your way, child.”

“Hold on a moment. I wish to speak with her alone. I will reconvene with you if you wish.” Solomon stepped forward, and her heart skipped a beat.

They nodded amiably, while she and Solomon walked back to the flimsy tent she had hidden behind. The moment they were behind it, the man gently pulled her into a loving kiss. Her breath left her, and her mind started to focus solely on the fact that she was making his robes dirty. She felt the wonderful warmth of him, enveloping her soothingly. When he pulled away, she held on. He chuckled. “I missed you too.”

She shook her head. “It’s been so hectic Solomon. I haven’t had anything but tragedy on my mind.”

He smiled compassionately, sending sparks through her heart. “I’m here to listen.”

Her eye twitched, a mistake their teacher would have picked upon. The man began to slowly rub her back. She switched subjects. “I thought we wouldn’t do…this, until we were of the appropriate rank?”

The man’s face became sad. “And look where has that left us?” She had only one reply for that, and she reached up to give him another kiss. They lingered like that, enjoying the press of each other, before finally splitting away. Her eyes immediately went down to his robe. She groaned at the huge dirty smudge she had left. Solomon’s eyes went down as well, before snorting and looking back at her with a smile on his face.

She tilted her head. “I am sorry about that…what will the other one think?”

“He will most likely congratulate me.”

She huffed in amusement, and her gaze went up to his. “I am glad it was you that came, Solomon. I would have missed this.”

His face became pained. “You speak as if you’re never coming back.”

She closed her eyes. “I don’t think I could ever join again.” He had no response to that.

She felt his lips press onto her mouth once more, and he whispered into her ear. “Even if you do not follow the Saviour anymore, we could still do this.”

She felt goosebumps rise, and a grin cracked across her face. She kissed his cheek, “Maybe,” and then stepped back.

Solomon straightened, looked down at his robes, considering for a moment, before marching round the tent towards his companion. Sure enough, as he got close the other man thumped him on the back, and shot a smirk at her. Then they promptly spread their wings and flew.

Streni breathed a sigh, before turning around to three incredulous faces.

“What the fuck, was that!”

It had taken many hours for Osia to calm down, and that was only after she had pressed her for an explanation, one that she reluctantly gave. The Assassin had been shocked to find out that she had seen the Goblins leave.

“So… we’ve been going this way for no reason?” Osia asked, her voice strained.

Streni grimaced. “Well, I wanted to understand you, and I figured you wouldn’t let me with you otherwise.”

The Assassin visibly gritted her teeth, while her arms twitched as if she wanted to attack her. She stood up, and stomped on the floor before screaming into the air. When she was done, she turned to look at her again. “Pebbles, we’re leaving.”

Streni jumped up. “Now hang on a moment, you’re safer with us.”

She scoffed. “Someone Classless? Yeah right.”

She hesitated, before saying. “I’ll at least be useful as bait.”

She swore she could have heard a pin drop in the resulting silence, but then Osia snickered, before scowling again, however, her mouth kept twitching. “Dammit! Fine. We’re leaving you first thing though, and we’re are we going to go anyway?”

Streni sighed in relief, and sat down again. “Why don’t we head north for now? There are a lot of scattered factions up there. We’re bound to find some place that’ll help.”

Osia sat down and grumbled, but didn’t speak up. So they continued their journey towards the north, and after about three days of this, with nothing else happening, not even a beast attack, they were all about to die from boredom. Streni did her best to keep Rishja entertained, but failed miserably. It turned out studying history and tactics was not what children thought of as fun. Osia mostly ignored Pebbles, checking on him every so often before saying something in her language. It was perhaps unsurprising that the two children began to spend their time with each other, by mostly annoying her.

The back of her head was thwacked with a stone, and she turned, ready to commit crimes onto the brat, but was pulled up short when she saw Rishja’s twitchy smile. So, it was with a seething heart that she endured their playing.

A stop smacked her head again. “F- STOP THAT!” The two boys cackled evilly; Rishja’s happiness soothing her pain. With an exasperated puff, she glanced at the falling sun, and began to set up camp. She was interrupted by a sharp poke in her side, and she glared at the culprit. Osia looked unashamedly back, and pointed towards the distance. She squinted, trying to spot what she was seeing, and blinked when she spotted flickers of light. “People?”

Osia grunted, and they both shared a look.

“One of us should look after the boys.”

The assassin shook her head. “Boys can look after themselves. If it's dangerous out here, they run to light. If dangerous inside, we run to them”

Streni felt hesitant, but eventually nodded. They shared the plan with them. Rishja had looked incredibly nervous, but Pebbles smacked him on the back and pushed his chest out. It did not look impressive, but Rishja did seem more at ease.

They travelled towards the place, keeping a watch for traps on the way. As they neared, she noticed random stone carvings; they depicted snarling beasts, or abstract shapes. She paused to peer at one that was particularly interesting, a bat-like monster that had fangs as long as swords. She reluctantly moved on at Osia’s insistence.

Eventually they drew close to the source of the lights; It was a cave, with two scaled humanoids

standing guard. She and the Assassin glanced at each other, but were interrupted by, “We know

there is someone watching. Do not be afraid.” The hissing way that the muscular guardsman

spoke, left her feeling somewhat doubtful. But, Osia just shrugged and walked out.

“Ah… another straggler?” Osia froze.

“There are other Goblins?”

The Guardsmen shrugged. “Many Goblins like you tried to catch up, only to realise that they

have already left, and decide to stay here instead.”

“And where is here?”

“A place for outcasts.” The guardsman turned and looked directly at Streni. “Please come on out

Miss. There are humans here too.”

Startled, she hesitated, before moving over. The reptilian’s scaly eyebrows rose when she

came close. “While there are other humans, there has never been one from the Saviour’s

faction.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I am no longer a part of it.”

They nodded. “That will probably be for the best.”

There was a rustling behind them, and the guard spoke up again. “It seems your pursuers have

arrived.” Streni whirled. Is it Solomon? I thought- Pebbles and Rishja stumbled out of the

hedges, to her disappointment. The Cani boy wouldn’t meet her glare, but the Goblin brat did,

proudly.

“Come inside. It’s getting dark.”

The group glanced at each other, hesitating, before Pebbles sprinted in. Osia cursed, and raced after him. Rishja sidled close to her, glancing. She sighed, her eyes flicking to the scaled guard. “I swear on my [Class], that as long as you are uninvolved with the people inside, you will be unharmed.”

She blinked at the resonance his voice had, before staring at him incredulously. The man gave her a wry grin. “I always love seeing that expression. Go on, you know it’s safe.”

She shook her head, and followed the Goblins.