‘That is really scary!’ Tus was in a daze until he took to his room at Ray’s hotel in Blemerm. ‘A person who is branded cannot escape unless they have a willpower stronger than the brander or that their mind is unstable…’ Tus recited what the talisman said and came to a realization as he sat down on the worn out blanket on the bed. ‘That so called Gem regime will more than likely try to brand me if they come to know of my existence and I probably can’t keep up this disguise for too long especially in front of those who know how to create it. If I’m found, I also can’t guarantee that my willpower is stronger than those higher-ups. What can I do to evade it?

‘Maybe I don’t need to, because it comes from the devils in Oblivion. Perhaps I can be somehow immune to it?’ Tus immediately threw away that thought, ‘I’m not going to put my head out for the guillotine to chop off and doing so would be stupid of me.’ Thinking up to here, Tus heard someone knocking on the door.

“This Rolon beckons for you to come in.” Tus said.

The door opened and Worill stuck his head out. “Hey… Rolon, would you mind coming for a stroll?”

“Come for a stroll?” Tus cocked his head to the side with the repeated strange expression from before, “What does that mean?”

“It is coded for treasure hunting, of course!” Worill stared directly at Tus, “I’ll give you half of whatever we find.”

‘And maybe I’ll get more servants.’ Worill didn’t voice this out.

“But this Rolon doesn’t have any skills or even have any control of this Rolons’ powers. How can I be of any help?” Tus countered.

Worill looked at Tus pitifully, “With that mindset, how can you help yourself?”

“Fine!” Knowing that Worill wouldn’t leave him alone, Tus couldn’t help but agree. “I’ll go with you, but I do not know why you need me.”

“Splendid!”

…………

3 hours later, sunset.

‘I still don’t understand why we’re bringing the monster with us? How does that make the split 50/50?’ Tus was confused and frightened at the same time.

Gargoyle, who was draped in his black cloth, and walking by his side saw Tus’s gaze. Seeing the expression, it snickered, “My presence brings you no warmth? I wonder on how is that going to affect my bodyguard status.”

‘I know I said I wanted a bodyguard at some point, but why does it have to be a weird dog like marble golem?’

“Don’t worry, I won’t take a bite of your delicious flesh.” Gargoyle creepily stated.

“Why don’t you take a bite out of dirt?! I heard it is even more delicious!” Tus angrily said.

Gargoyle’s serious voice came from underneath the black hood, rarely more humanlike, “I think you fail to understand the significance. If I can eat you, we’ll trade places, and I’ll have another chance at succeeding the trials. Even if not, I can enjoy pure freedom for a few days.”

After saying that, Gargoyle continued in a different direction, “but, once you reach a certain stage in the trials, you will be able to free me as well. So, going along with my captors’ desire, I will help you achieve success in this one.”

‘That would be interesting, but I don’t know how many monsters I would try to free if they keep saying they want to eat me!’ Tus thought.

Worill who was leading the way in exited steps told the two following him, “The marauding base will be up ahead.”

The mining area which took place on flat ground and was reserved for silver, at this time was covered in overgrowth as the last mining operation occurred fifty years ago to allow what the miners call the mineral resubstanctution. Basically, after depleting sixty or seventy percent of the ore that was around, the miners would close the quarry for a few decades to allow for the external energy to regrow the amount they took. Oddly, when concerning this, the ore that would regrow wouldn’t grow over the original boundaries, and would be a perfectly replicated version. It might have resulted in lesser amounts taken at once, but the supply was potentially unlimited as long as it is not over-drafted.

Usually during these times of rest, gangs, bandits, marauders, and other less than reputable characters would settle themselves in. Some of the regimes didn’t mind this kind of situation, as it would allow them to harvest all kinds of different valuable commodities while appearing on the side of justice. Although, they might put up a direct bounty for the ones who don’t have anything at all after a certain period. Can’t have any ‘unproductive’ personnel.

What Worill was doing was stealing the bakers’ cookie before it gets to the customer during its stay in the oven. In this case, taking the valuables and personnel underneath the hostile regime’s nose.

“What did you want this Rolon to do again?” Tus asked.

“Stand back and be pretty, baggage handler.” Worill flashed a smile.

“That is my primary role, is it?” Tus heatedly said as he also thought, ‘I’ll make you into a grocery clerk someday. Just wait!’

“Oh, what is going on there?” Gargoyle disrupted the growing feud between the two and pointed up ahead.

A column of smoke was rising into the clear sky that still had rays of orange sunlight. The smoke was black and foreboding as it relentlessly marched up like an army to conquer the sky. Intermittently, flashes of blue light could be seen escaping from within the cloud, and distant wailings of pain could be heard, fiercely sinking into the surrounding area.

Worill smiled and whispered underneath his breath, “As expected.” He then swiftly sunk into the ground.

“Hey! What is going on?” Tus asked.

“Stay there! I need to talk to someone!” A voice came up from the ground.

After seven minutes.

“How long has he been gone for?”

“About ten minutes.” Gargoyle responded, crouched on the ground.

The smoke was still rising into the air with the continuous wailing that stayed constant.

Gargoyle suddenly stood up, “We should leave at once!”

“Wh…” Before Tus could finish, Gargoyle extended a claw, and pushed Tus aside while unfurling his wings, flying like a sparrow into the air at the same time.

The ground bulged and a humanoid blob made of shadow slowly rose from where they were. It released a heart clenching atmosphere that even the trees seemed to shake from.