Warren woke up in a cold sweat breathing heavily. He looked around his bed to make sure he was in the right place. Realizing that he was in his apartment he breathed a sigh of relief. He just had a dream he was a child again, it was so vivid he could’ve sworn it was real. It lasted far too long to feel like a normal dream. He lived through the entire morning asking to help his father with the farming, getting his horse, the ride to school, meeting….her for the first time. It wasn’t the first time it happened. Ever since the incident in the Teutoburg forest he’d been having the same dream every night and every morning he woke up sweating and panting. It’s been going on for the past 2 and a half weeks. Unable to go back to sleep, he decided it was time to get up. He got up from his bed and looked around his room. It was a mess. There were clothes strewn about randomly across the floor, the stench of takeout was all one could smell, and there was a lot of dust everywhere due to Warren not cleaning. The room had brown walls, a closet perpendicular to the base of his bed, a wooden desk parallel to it, and a white ceiling. He walked over his clothes and headed out the room. He was now in his apartment’s living room which was connected to the kitchen. The living room had a brown wooden floor, a coffee table which was placed over a green circular rug, a grey couch, two grey chairs, and an old radio which was on a stand that was aligned to the wall to Warren’s left, pretty close to the door. To Warren’s right along the other wall was a shelf filled with photographs and paintings. Warren proceeded into the kitchen to get himself something for breakfast. The kitchen was barebones. It had a refrigerator, a sink, shelves filled with food that had expired long ago, and an oven.. He opened the refrigerator and saw that it was mostly empty, the only things inside were beer bottles. There had been food but Warren had to throw most of it out because of the smell. He was about to get himself a bottle of beer when he heard a knock at his door.

He approached the door and looked through the peephole. He saw two men standing there. They were both wearing black overcoats which covered their bodies. Both had black slouch hats. One had a defined muscular build as his chest was slightly puffed out and his biceps were well defined. His eyes were a piercing light green and Warren could see a bit of hair underneath his hat to tell he was blonde. Finally Warren noticed his height, he was the taller of the two standing around 6’2. The smaller one stood around 6’0 and was more lean but Warren could tell he was also quite fit under his overcoat. What stuck out to Warren were his blue eyes and slightly pointy nose, he couldn’t tell what color his hair was, the hat completely covered his head. Both were wearing black gloves and on their chests were gold medallions of a sword piercing through an eyeball. Warren immediately knew who these men were. He opened the door.

“Hello there Mr. Marshall, do you mind if we talk for a bit?” the shorter man greeted with a smile.

Warren knew that when these men asked you a question it was rhetorical but knew he had to answer.

“Sure come in” he answered standing out the way so the men could enter.

“Why thank you this won’t take long I promise.”

The two entered the room and scanned the place. The taller of the men briefly had a face of disgust while the other kept a grin on his face. Not asking for Warren’s permission he sat down in one of the living room’s chairs. The other man walked around the living room, slowly examining each thing he came across. Warren took a seat in the other chair.

“Nice place you got here” the seated man commented.

“Place is a pigsty” the other man countered as he examined Warren’s shelf full of photos in a deep gruff voice.

“Don’t mind him, Mr. Marshall, he's a bit of a clean freak. You don’t mind if he looks around right?”

Warren knew that was another rhetorical question so he shook his head.

“Ok great. So Mr. Marshall you’re probably thinking to yourself ‘Why is the Order of Purification in my apartment ?’ Well I’ll tell you, I had some questions regarding your testimony to the lords concerning the ugh, how you say, unsavory individuals you witnessed. ”

“I didn’t know the Order of Purification was already involved with that,” Warren remarked.

“You’re right. We haven’t been given the go ahead yet but we feel it’s inevitable, the military won’t be able to handle this. In the meantime we thought it’d be good if we got some intelligence. So about your testimony, you said that you entered the rebel base, took out a few of them-impressive I might add- then headed underground where you encountered the arena, somehow went toe to toe with the Man of Stone and lost consciousness, losing some prisoners in the process..”

“That’s right,” Warren affirmed.

“This your sister? Girlfriend?”-the other man butted in.

Warren looked to his right to see the taller man holding a photograph of Warren and Joanna celebrating their first year anniversary as adventurers.

“Friend” Warren deadpanned.

“Don’t you remember her partner? She was the one of the people lost during the incident. Didn’t I tell you to read the file?” the seated man scolded.

“Eh those always bore me” he said going back to examining Warren’s belongings.

“Anyway something bothered me. How’d you know where the arena was? I examined the underground network personally, and the place was a maze of hallways. Am I really to believe that you just stumbled upon it?”

Warren recalled his testimony to the lords. He was one the first called in after everyone arrived in Colonus. He didn’t mention encountering Andrew, he knew that if he did he’d be ordered to stay put and let the government handle apprehending him. Warren couldn’t let that happen, he needed to kill Andrew personally.

“Heard noise. Walked down the hallways aimlessly until I heard the noise of a crowd. Followed it and encountered the arena.” Warren lied.

The man’s blue eyes narrowed upon hearing this which made Warren’s body feel a sense of unease. Warren had to ensure his body didn’t give any signs that he was lying. He subtly used his ability to manually slow his heart rate and ensured that his body didn’t move a muscle.

“Is that so? You do know what happens if you lie to a Purifier, correct?”

“Yes. Everyone knows”

“Good. With that out of the way I have another question. This might sound a bit strange but have you encountered anyone with an animal mask during that time you were in the castle?”

“Not this again.” the other man muttered.

“Hey I think I’m onto something ok? I really think it might be them”

“If he saw them he would’ve told the lords. Just accept that group doesn't exist. ”

“Maybe, maybe not I wanted to make sure. I swear once I’m proven right you’re going to owe me.”

“What are we talking about?” Warren asked, feigning ignorance.

“Just keep this between us but word on the street is that the demon cult that works with the Man of Stone has members who wear animal masks that inject themselves with demon blood, making themselves human demon hybrids.”

Warren’s eyes widened in surprise after hearing this. He wondered if that was the case for Andrew. He decided that it wasn’t, Andrew didn’t act differently than how he always did. The magic ability Andrew used against Warren was the one he always used in fights which is something Warren forgot because of his rage at the time. If he remembered, his fight would have gone along more smoothly. But for now Warren had to focus on the present conversation.

“Sounds dangerous but I hadn’t seen anyone like that. Only saw people wearing standard demon masks.” Warren noted.

“Very well. Let’s see, was there anything else? No, I think those two questions were it. Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Marshall. We'll be taking our leave. But before I go, word of advice, don’t do anything rash like going around killing criminals again. I know you’ve been through a lot, but there are better ways to cope with loss.” the blue eyed man said as he got out of his chair.

“How did you-”

“How did I know? Everyone knows about your little escapade Mr. Marshall, it’s in your file. But don’t worry, the Order of Purification has more important things to worry about than vigilantes.” he elaborated as he headed towards the door.

The other man joined him but abruptly stopped before heading out.

“Get this place cleaned up. Also shave that beard.” the taller man ordered.

“I gotta agree with you there partner. Goodbye Mr. Marshall, hopefully we’ll never have to meet again.” the other man added.

With that the two exited the apartment leaving Warren alone. First thing Warren did was take a deep breathe, that was more nerve wracking than he expected. If he was found out they could’ve done anything they wanted to him. The Order of Purification had no code of conduct to abide by. If they thought you were getting in their way of hunting down their prey they had the legal right to kill you.

Now Warren had to decide what to do for the day. For the past few weeks he had to deal with testifying before the lords and had been suffering from minor aura exhaustion. The former was time consuming because they called him in over a period of a few days, they wanted to verify facts or had to ask him additional questions. However they haven’t called him in lately so he believed that they were satisfied with what he gave them and wouldn’t call him in again. The latter issue also appeared to no longer be a problem. He had fought the Man of Stone using all of his strength so it didn’t surprise him that it became hard to move around after returning to Colonus. This told him that he wouldn’t be able to travel until the aura exhaustion went away so he had to stay put even if the lords didn’t ask for his testimony. Today appeared to be the day he was fully healed. He did some simple exercises and found that he wasn’t tired or feeling pain in the slightest so he concluded it had subsided at last. With nothing else stopping him he had to get started on the only thing he thought about for the past few weeks. Hunting down Andrew and killing him. Warren already had a plan. He would have to hunt down Andrew the same way he hunted down slavers after he had been freed from the Murphees which he expanded to hunting down criminals in general. First he would hunt down his associates. Then he would interrogate them which would most likely lead him to another associate and it would go on like that for a while until finally he would find someone who knew Andrew’s location. It would take some time but he didn’t care, it’s not as if he had anything else to live for. He also knew that he would have to encounter the group that Andrew allied himself with and if what the Purifier said was true they’ll be formidable opponents. None of that mattered, he would kill them all in order to find Andrew. If push came to shove Warren would shove as hard as he could. He didn’t need to prepare either. He knew where he was going and what supplies he needed he could pick up when he arrived at his destination. This included a weapon (for his machete broke during the castle raid), better armor, and more knives. He had gotten used to them and they were quite handy, however he forgot to pick any of them back up during the raid so they were lost. Warren got up from his seat and headed towards the door but stopped once he put his hand on the handle. He turned around and looked at the picture the tall Purifier had held earlier. He thought to himself that were Joanna still alive she’d tell him not to go. She would tell him to move on with his life, find a new purpose or something like that. But she’s dead and there’s nothing that could change that. Warren could not live with himself knowing that the man responsible was out there. While he wanted to kill the Man of Stone, it was Andrew who betrayed them all so he was the one Warren blamed. After taking another deep breath he turned back round and exited the apartment.

Warren got into his car without any fanfare and began his journey. Warren didn’t tell anyone where he planned to go. He already knew that if he told his fellow party members they would cause a fuss, either because they would try to stop him or join him. Besides, he thought that this was something he needed to do on his own. This was between him and Andrew, no need to get anyone else involved. The drive out of Colonus was uneventful but time consuming. There were a lot of carriages on the road and even a few other cars which made Warren deal with traffic. The roads were more cluttered than what Warren was used to and wondered to himself why that was the case. Examining the view outside his car’s side windows he realized that the Grand Skirmish was about to happen soon. Outside there were large posters that covered buildings advertising the event. Warren had totally forgotten about it-which goes to show how occupied his mind was given that it was the most important event of the year. He had essentially lost track of time, he didn’t even know what day it was. Memories of him going to past Grand Skirmishes forced their way into his head. He had gone with his friends every year, everyone in Dragon’s Descent went. He had never participated himself, the idea of fighting in it never appealed to him but he was always in the crowd every year since he came to Colonus all those years ago. To force himself to stop thinking of the past he took the palm of his right hand and knocked it against the side of his head. It somehow worked by forcing him to focus on the road ahead of him. With that he was able to leave Colonus not thinking about anything in particular.

He was now a dozen miles outside of Colonus on a dirt road passing by fields of wheat. Warren realized he was the only one on the road which meant he could go as fast as he pleased without fear of hitting anything. His foot slowly pushed the pedal down more and more. The car started to slowly gain more and more speed. The fields of wheat around him started to become a blur. Warren didn’t enjoy much in life but going fast was quite a thrill. He got excited at the prospect of making his car go at its top speed. He pushed the pedal down even further, adrenaline started to pump through his veins. Then it abruptly stopped. As Warren was about to enjoy himself he heard the sound of metal being pierced occur behind him. He quickly turned around and saw that a blade had been thrusted through the roof of his car. Warren slammed his foot on the brake which made the car stop dead in its tracks. Warren then saw a blur roll down the front of his car. He realized that someone must’ve been on top of his car. Ready to fight his assailant Warren quickly unfastened his seatbelt and got out, his white aura emanating from his body, fists raised. Warren stepped in front of his car only to be disappointed.

“Akane?” Warren asked incredulously.

The view before him was a woman who wore a large black cloak which covered most of her body going down to her ankles. She had long black hair that went to her waist, dark crimson red eyes, a neutral expression on her face, and at that moment, seated on her rump.

“Hello Warren,” she greeted, not getting up.

“Akane, what are you doing here?”

“Traveling with you”

“No you’re not, I didn't ask you to come with me! Also why did you put your sword through my car!?”

“You were going too fast. Had to use the blade to balance myself to remain on top..”

“How long were you on top of my car?”

“Since you left your apartment”

Warren paused in shock. When he got into his car he knew for sure that she wasn’t on top of it nor did he feel anything when she got on. The girl was able to completely hide her presence. Warren had forgotten that the woman before him was a trained assassin.

“Ok but why are you trying to travel with me?” Warren asked seething with anger.

“I had a feeling you were going to do something stupid like head out on your own. You want revenge and that makes people act recklessly. As your friend I could not allow that to happen so I’m coming to help you not die.”

“We’re not friends. This has nothing to do with you. Besides don’t you have to be in Colonus to figure out what the lords are to do with you?”

Akane’s face went blank. She had no idea what Warren was talking about.

“Were they expecting me?” Akane asked him.

“H-how did you not know? Why did you come back with us if you didn’t assume that?”

“My parents are safe. There’s nothing left for me in Ayana. I wanted to start a new life in Colonus because Colonus is where my friends are.”

“Well I’m leaving Colonus so you better go back. You’re fast, you can get there by nightfall given it’s only noon.”

“But I’m not going back.”

“Why not?”

“I’m going with you.”

“I already told you you’re not.”

“Yes I am”

“Pretty sure you’re not”

“But I am”

“Akane no!”

“Warren yes.”

This back and forth was giving Warren a headache.

“There’s nothing that will make you go back, is there?”

“Negative.”

Warren thought if he should use force to make her go back. He then reminded himself of the fact that in a one on one fight, he would lose. He sighed knowing what he had to do.

“Ok fine. Just get in the car and no more damage to my car!” he ordered.

“Very well,” Akane said.

She stood up and before getting into the car, yanked her blade out from the top and sheathed it. After that she sat with Warren in the front.

As the two continued their journey the view around them slowly began to change from that of wheat fields to that of a temperate grassland. As far as the eye could see they saw rows upon rows of short grass with an occasional tree every now and then. The land was flat as well as they were heading away from the mountainous ranges of Dresden. They rode on in silence for an hour before Akane realized something.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Right, I didn't actually tell you. We’re heading to Atrad.”

“Why?”

“Because there I’ll find who I need to hunt down Andrew. We’re heading to his hometown which is on the border with the Elven empire. Have you heard of Redrock?”

“I haven’t.”

“It’s a town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desert on all sides. It used to be a small town but after the war it was converted into an immigrant hub so it’s been expanding the past few years. With that came the rise of crime so the place is now the home to criminal scumbags. It’s also a stronghold for the Humanity Defense Front on top of that so it’s not a nice place.”

“Those human supremacists? The ones who attack non-human species?”

“Yeah you know them?”

“Only heard of them in passing. They don’t have a strong presence in Ayana.”

“Not surprised, they’re mostly active along the border states given that’s where the immigrant hubs are located. We shouldn’t have to be worried about them though, we are human after all. Anyway Andrew has friends out in Redrock so I’m going to find and interrogate them to find out where he is. That’s the plan.”

“What happens after you find Andrew? I encountered him when you were asleep in the hospital, he’s strong. His evil presence was overwhelming, reminding me of Archer. If Quincy allowed me to fight him it would’ve been a tough battle. You’re a lot weaker than he is especially since you weren’t planning on using the power of friendship.”

“...I’ll think of something. He’ll die by my hands. I can guarantee that.”

“Warren just because you say cool lines doesn’t guarantee victory.”

“I wasn’t trying to sound cool, I'm just telling you what’ll happen.”

“You just did it again, you have a knack for that. What happens after Andrew is defeated?”

“I’m done.”

“Done with what?”

“...Done with everything.”

“Warren, that's a depressing answer. You’re supposed to say ‘I’ll continue my journey to become stronger’. That’s what the protagonist of the comic says.”

“What?”

“You were so close Warren. You had all the characteristics of the protagonist of a comic I read once, but you messed it up just now.”

“...Ok whatever.”

“It’s too late to quote comics now Warren you already ruined the scene. Anyway have you ever used the radio? I need music to forget my disappointment in you.”

Warren glanced at the radio between them, he hadn’t used it before. Whenever Warren drove he preferred to keep it off, wanting to focus all of his attention on driving since he still wasn’t a driving expert. Despite his love for going fast he knew that he needed to remain vigilant when driving. There was also the fact he didn’t have a license.

“Never used it before. You can try it if you want” Warren stated.

Akane pressed a button and nothing happened. She pressed another button with the same result. She started pressing all the buttons at random hoping something would happen. Akane had never dealt with a car radio before and it showed. After pressing a button and twisting a random dial the radio started to function.

“In other news the Grand Skirmish is scheduled to begin next month and we know it’s going to be good. People are so excited that guild members from all over the empire are already appearing in Colonus to register. Will Dragon’s Descent defend their title as the empire’s mightiest guild or will the title be snatched from them? Which guild are you betting your money on this year Bill?” the male radio announcer asked.

“If I was a betting man-which I am fellow Bill-I’m placing my money on the Nagual guild. I heard this year they have some new members that are absolute powerhouses. If I had to choose another guild I’d go with the Unicorn guild, they’re a strange bunch but very strong. They almost won last year so they’re definitely a group to watch out for.” the other radio announcer answered.

“Really? But you know this year Dragon’s Descent is having the hero of prophecy participate. Remember when he fought against the emperor? The kid is quite something so he might win the whole thing.”

“Eh the Emperor went easy on him, besides he’s not the first alleged hero of prophecy to fight in the Grand Skirmish. Remember that last guy they summoned? What was his name? Bane or something?”

“Was it Bane?”

“I thought it was. It doesn’t matter, he disappeared and I wouldn’t be surprised if this hero does too at some point.”

“You sure? He helped put down that peasant rebellion in Ayana, I think the kid might be the real deal.”

“He beat up angry farmers Bill. I wouldn't exactly call that a feat of strength.”

“Well I’m happy that the whole ordeal is over. Now we can focus on more important things, like having adventurers fight for our amusement.. No matter what it’s going to be a good tournament this year. Now it’s time for commercial break. The Bill and Bill show will be right back.”

After the commercial started playing Akane remarked “I didn’t know everyone thought of me as an angry farmer. It makes the whole adventure seem a lot less intense and exciting. I’m offended, that was my debut.”

“That’s how the government does things. They downplay what happened in order to prevent panic. No one knows what really happened.”

“Does that mean people won’t know what your friends did?”

“Yep.” Warren deadpanly affirmed.

However his body movement didn’t match his emotionless voice. He hands squeezed the wheel tightly and his body slightly stiffened up. Akane noticed this but knew saying anything about it would only upset him so she decided to change the subject.

“How long will it take us to get to Redrock?”

“A few days. We have to drive all the way across Atrad so get ready to see sand, a lot of it.”

The journey from then on became quite boring, for Warren at least. He had to either listen to the radio which never played any music he liked or listen to Akane ramble about anything that popped into her head. This usually meant her talking about a comic she read and giving an entire retrospective on it, her talking about what cool quotes they could use, or her talking about her past adventures. The entire thing became so grating to Warren’s ears he subtly activated his power to temporarily turn himself deaf. After 4 days of travelling their environment had changed from grassland to pure desert. All they could see for miles in all directions was red sand. It was flat land as well, giving Warren and Akane the impression that they weren’t making any progress in their journey as the environment had looked the same for the past 2 hours. On top of that the car was sweltering even with the air conditioner on. The temperature was in the triple digits making both want to die however their faces tried to hide that fact. Right when they felt like they were going to spend the rest of their lives driving endlessly, they saw signs of civilization. The dirt road they were on became a paved road (that was covered with red sand but a paved road nonetheless). They also saw the outlines of buildings in the distance which confirmed that they were finally near their destination. Warren breathed a sigh of relief.

“Looks like we’re almost there. I’m glad, I feel like I could die any minute” Warren commented.

“Warren if you die do not worry I will complete your quest for you.” Akane assured not realizing that Warren wasn't serious-for the most part.

“..Thanks Akane”

“Don’t worry it’s what friends do. Friends help friends kill people”

“We’re still not friends and that’s not how friendship works.”

“Of course it is. It’s friendship 101. Right up there with using the power of friendship to increase one’s power.”

“Right,” Warren said, hoping that by agreeing Akane would stop talking.

It didn’t work, Akane continued to talk about the power of friendship for the next ten minutes. Akane’s talking only stopped when they abruptly changed elevation going downwards. Now that they were going down they could see the entire town of Redrock. The most striking thing they noticed was that the entire town was located within a large crater. The town was circular in shape, filling up almost the entire crater with buildings and roads except the rims which were smooth and were what Warren and Akane were descending. The tallest buildings- were in the center while the residential areas appeared to be on the fringes. Most of the houses on the fringes appeared to be rundown shacks whereas those closer to the center were larger and much cleaner. Besides from the buildings and the poorly paved roads the only thing that stuck out was that all the trees in the city appeared to be in one area. Close to the center of town many tall trees were planted and they could see green on the ground indicating grass. It was as if there was an oasis because no other area in the town had trees or grass. While interesting, Warren's mind didn’t pay too much attention to it. He was there to do one thing and one thing only. Once he got what he needed he would leave town as quickly as he came.