I woke up in a very comfortable bed with soft blankets wrapped around me and a very fluffy pillow under my head. My arm felt kinda strange, so I looked at and saw a fingerless glove on my hand with five purple gems on it; four small ones on the knuckles and one medium-sized one on the back. Suddenly, I remembered everything that happened in the judgment hall. I felt dizzy and a bit sick, so I forced myself to take a deep breath and calm down. I looked around and saw Lyra and Silva curled up on the side of my bed. I couldn’t help but think that Lyra looked kinda cute with the moonlight making her dark brown hair look silvery. I reached out and softly stroked her hair. She stirred slightly. “Kova, don’t go….brother….don’t….leave….” she fell back asleep. I guess she was dreaming about her brother. I felt a lump grow in my throat and almost instinctively leaned down and whispered in her ear “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.” and resumed rubbing her hair, which seemed to make her smile a bit in her sleep.

I felt such a strange sense of deja vu then, but it was quickly hushed by my stomach started growling, so I decided to get up and find some food. I swiveled my legs from underneath the blankets, found my clothes plus a jacket that looked like it could fit me on one of the chairs, wrote a small letter to Lyra and Silva to tell them where i’m going and headed out the door. The town looked kinda nice at night and I felt good, great actually. I felt so light that I could fly! And since when was everything so sharp and detailed? It’s like watching HD T.V.! Heavier things seemed a bit lighter to me and I could suddenly read the signs and understand what the Elves (which I had decided on calling them) were saying without translating or guessing. I knew the Awakening and the Lumanis stone had something to do with it, but I tried not thinking about it and just going with it.

Soon I found a small pub where they were holding an eating competition. I wasn’t really interested until I saw the prize. 200 million Taes?! I figured Taes must be the money here, so I went inside to sign myself up. The pub itself was kinda homey and comfortable, with a bar right in the middle of it. I walked up to it when I was greeted by a red-haired barkeeper. “Hi! Welcome to the Wine Crate, how can I help you?” he asked while drying a cup. “Yes, um, could I sign up for the eating contest?” The barkeep eyed me closely. “You sure you want to do that? I’ve seen guys like you come in only to have to be carried out and a wheeler later,” He resumed drying out the cup “Besides, nobody has beaten our champ Gullet.” I felt a jolt of adrenaline course through me as I sensed a challenge. “Nobody eh? Well better prepare that 200 million for me, cause you guys are about to have a new champ!” The barkeeper laughed and slid over a registration form. “Here you go ‘champ’, good luck in there. ” Before I signed the papers, I had a chilling thought: what If Taes wasn’t money? “Uh, quick question?” I asked the barkeep, now washing some dishes. “Go ahead.” “Uh, Taes are the currency here, right?” The barkeep turned his head around and had the most bewildered look on his face. “Uh, yeah. Shouldn’t someone as old as you know that?” the barkeep questioned. “Oh, well, um, you see, I came from a different country where there’s a different type of money, and I am going to be here awhile cause i’m staying with my sister-in-law for a while.”

The barkeeper’s eyebrow lowered back down to it’s usual position as I spun my web of lies. He asked me a few more questions, before sending me into one of the back rooms where the contest was being held. There were a huge amount of people in that room all crowded together and cheering like it was a collage football game. I walked up to the Registration Hand in and turned in my form. The administrator showed me where I was sitting and the barkeep from outside brought me a plate covered with a silver top and winked before mouthing ‘good luck’ then dissappearing into the roaring crowd. “Ladies and gentelmen!” A loud mouthed annoucer yelled into what looked like a a rhino’s horn. “let’s not delay a minute further! First off, let’s hear it for our champion, Gullet!” The crowd went wild as the annoucer pointed to a fat man with green hair. “Now let’s meet our Challengers!” the crowd cheered after introducing the other four players, but I wasen’t paying any attention to what he was saying. “…And now our final contestant, Thorin!” All of a sudden, the crowd was deathly silent as they saw my physique. Then came the laughter. The whole entire room burst into laughter at me, but I paid them no mind. I just closed my eyes and waited. “Now folks,” The annoucer said wiping his eyes “Let’s get started! Reveal the food!” he cried. Suddenly all of our top were lifted off revealing what looked like about a dozen…..mini bagel pizzas? I looked around to see if this was some type of a joke, but everyone treated it as if it was a huge quantity. I grinned, think that they are in for a surprise.

“Contenders, are you ready? On your mark, get set, go!” all of the other started trying to nibble they’re way through while I just sat back and watched. The sight of them all nibbling it like that reminded me of mice and my grin streched wider. “it’s seems that almost all the contestants are almost done with their first pome, well except for thorin, who seems to just be sitting there!” The crow roared with laughter again as they thought that the amount on my plate intimidated me. I knew that it was time to prove them wrong. I picked up the mini-disc and put the whole thong in my mouth before chewing and swallowing. The crowd had paid me no attention for they were watching a contestant drop out halfway through his second one. I quickly finished three more of the pomes before anyone noticed me. “Hey look, the lightweight’s almost done!” someone said in the crowd, and I swear the whole entire place did a double take as I placed my fifth pome into my mouth and swallowed it. “What? I-It seems that Thorin is completly unfazed by the amount of pome he is eating and is beating Gullet by a farfly!” I didn’t know what a farfly was and I didn’t care. I had finished five more of the and was chewing my second to last when I decided to look at the competitors. The other three had dropped out on thier third or fourth one and gullet was trying to finish his seventh one with diffculty. I finished chewing the one in my mouth and picked up the last one before throwing it up in the air. Everybody had their eyes on it as it fell perfectly in to my open maw where it was quickly devoured. “Done.” I called to the dumbstruck annoucer. “A-and the winner is….thorin?”

Once again the crowd was deathly silent as I was given a check for 200 million taes and was given the ok to come back for free food at anytime. “Just don’t eat us out of everything ok?” The happy barkeep joked before I left. I quickly looked for someone to turn this into the coins and maybe one of those pouchy thingies that Lyra had aground her neck. I found a reliable looking guy who took the check and gave me a whole lot of golden coins and a pouch to keep in. I decided on finding some gear that I might need in the future as Lyra suggested earlier. I found some nice looking robes and coats that had layered protective gear under it as well as enchantments or certain resistance to elemental attacks and finally settled on a black jacket that came with a hoodie and mask, some pockets,and was apparently made for stealth and speed in mind.

I was told by the clerk who sold it to me that there was an enhatment against Lumos and Pyrin Elementals. that cost me about 400 teas and I was on my way to find a weapons I found a small shop where the owner greeted me warmly. “Well you don’t look quite strong enough for heavy weaponry like a axe or a hammer.” When I told her I was looking for a weapon. “Maybe somthing lighter, like a sword.” she tested my strength and asked various questions about my speed, endurance and preferences. Finally, she said a sword wouldn’t be right for me and would only slow me down. So we went into the light weaponry. We browsed for nearly an hour with no luck when something caught my eye from behind the counter “What’s that?” I asked the store clerk pointing at the object. “Oh that? That’s a Requirement object.” Seeing the obvious confusion on my face she began to explain. “A requirement object is an item that’s been enchanted by an old mage from long ago to only work for a certain type of user, so no one could ever steal it or possess it unless it’s by a person with the same requirements as the person before it or the the peson who set them. It’s been sitting in my shop for over a year now and I haven’t been able to sell it, so I decided on throwing it away.”

I felt that same strange feeling come over me as I looked at the figure. “Do you mind if I see it?” The weapons clerk frowned. “I wouldn’t advise it, it usually sends some type of shockwave that blast your hand off of it if you don’t meet the requirements, but If you really want to, go ahead.” I reached out my gloved hand and it seemed to jump into my hand. As soon as I touched the handle, my cresent and the lumanis stone glowed brightly as dark purple mist came off of my hand and seemed to interact with the strangly shaped weapon. It looked a bit like two small shields with sharp edges, connected by a slightly thick pole in between them. I could feel power radiating from the silver weapon. I tested it a few times, swinging it as if it were a staff and I was amazed at how natrually it felt in my hand, almost as if it was a extension of my body. I asked the lady how much would it cost. “Well since it’s a rare object It should be at least 3 million times…. but considering how longs it’s been here and how much it seems to fit you, I’ll give it to you, as a gift.” I was stunned at her offer. “Wait, I just can’t except this! At least make me pay for something else too.” I argued down the saleswoman until she finally agreed and let me buy a holster for it.

“One last thing,” the weaponist said as I prepared to walk out. “It help to give weapons a name to help feel a connection to it.” I thought about that for a while when I left and finally decided on the name Shadow Seeker. I continued to walk around town for a bit, until sunlight started peaking over the horizon. I was on my way back to the inn when I walk past an enchantment salesmen. “You sir!” I looked around to see who he was talking to till he pointed at me “Yes you come here.” I walked over to the dusty looking man and he pulled out a blue amulet. “This is a one of a kind enchantment, it gives the wearer the ability to grow wings and fly. It looks like it would fit a person like yourself for about… one thousand paes. what do you say?” The merchant said with a greedy smile. Now on one hand, I could’ve just walked away at that point and not looked back but on the other hand….wings. “Deal.” I said shaking the dirty merchant’s hand. I took the amulet and clipped it on my neck. My aura seemped from me slightly and turned the stone to a dark blue. “The incantation is ‘Pando’ or you can just tap it once for flight and tap it twice to cancel flight. Thanks for stopping by.” I left the market and walked back to my room quickly trying to make it back before the girls awoke.

I opened my room door quietly peeking inside first. Lyra was still sleep on the side of the bed, but silva was awake and patiently awaiting my return. “Hey silva.” I said as I came in all the way. “Welcome back master Thorin, I see you have acquired some gear, that is good, because I fear that we may have trouble ahead of us.” I stopped in my tracks. “What kind of trouble?” I asked the she-fox “I believe it to be an assassin. I sensed it around the same time you got your Shadow Seeker.” I didn’t ask how she knew when I got Shadow Seeker, I just picked up Lyra in my arms and opened the door. Silva bounded after me. “You have a plan I take it?” Silva asked as we walked up the stairway. “Yup.” Was the only response I gave her during our ascent.

Finally I reached the top of the tall building and walked over to the roof door. I kicked it open and walked over the open area. “This is a bad spot to be master. If the assassin were to be high enough, they could strike us down right here.” I paid her no mind, I just walked to the edge of the roof and stopped. “Silva,” I asked the small wolf. “Do you trust me?” “With my life master.” “Then climb into my hood.” Silva asked no question she jumped on my shoulder and disappeared into my hood which I pulled over my head then pulled up my mask and concentrated. I could hear what sounded like a mechanical clicking sound off to my right. It sounded like a crossbow being pulled back. I waited for the right moment to act. I heard the crossbow pull back all the way then there was silence. I relaxed my body as I prepared myself for what I was about to do. I heard the twang of an arrow shooting towards me and in that moment I stepped of the roof and plummeted to my death.

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