Chapter 3 - Life in the Wilderness (1/2)

Chapter 3: Life in the Wilderness

After the cloaked s and left a first an his long trot ho such a difficult assignuild expedition was not an option, since his mission wasn’t lawful, even in his hos a first erous beast which still showed the consideration his master had for other members of his own race He wouldn’t simply kill off any potential rivals, but he couldn’t let them stay in their own country either He couldn’t quite understand the plight of his master, because they were not from the same race after all, however he understood the need of such actions and was prepared to do this for him

His ht into the path of cultivation over and over again: “The Gods are impartial to everyone” and left him to ponder upon it when he was accepted as a student When he was called to bring the eggs away, the traveller was once again instructed to apply his insights on this truth onto the current mission and report back what he surmised

Reflecting about it for the whole duration of his journey so far, and after witnessing the newborn life shedding its shell and taking a first breath, he had gained another insight

His first i was the notion: no one had a say in his fate, and talents and blessings granted by the God were not influenced by who you are, but simply by luck and willfulness on the part of the Gods

But another interpretation represented the action his ranted equal chances, and the greatestwas to bestow them the chance to make their own choices and create their own path

A sense of enlightenment bloomed within him, and he hastened his steps to rest in a wayside inn at the dom with other areas

An inn like this wasn’t fancy or particularly high class, but a place where weary travelers rested in a solid wooden bed or drink away the road dust with a colda warm meal

Elated by the progress in his training and insights, the cloaked traveller opened the door to the inn and headed over to the wooden counter, glancing at the s owner, dressed in a woolen shi+rt and leather pants, as polishi+ng abehind the bar counter One other traveler was already tearing through a portion of the grilled boar and drinking in the bar, a lady dressed in a deep blue robe, who unlike her refined appearance devoured the meal at a rapid pace The conversation between the two stopped when the door had opened, and after the woave him a wide business smile and asked, “hello sir traveler, do you want to stay for the night? A single room is 60 copper, the common room is 15 copper A meal would be 10 copper, how about it?” The friendly demeanor and educated speech was uncommon for a simple inn owner, but many nobles lost their family title and had to start over fro hiht here and placed a single silver coin on the counter “One night stay, single room and a meal for me,” he said

The s oasn’t particularly upset over the blunt reply and tried to e of 30 copper “You’re not from around here, are you? The sharp S does sound like you’re froh she refuses to tell me where exactly that is Some sort of lizard tribe in the hills?” Taken aback by the questioning from someone who tended to a bar by himself, the wary traveller sharply rebuked him, “I’m not too sure why you would associate me with some sort of lizard tribe, but I’ve been on ain common with lowly lizards! It’s not your place to ask me about it!”

“Don’t be like that, not everyone wants to gossip as much as you do” The wolint in her eyes when she addressed the owner “Have you heard about the S Devil recently? Apparently the redom recently”

“The S Devil? Is this a named ranker per chance? I don’t think the hu the recent times”, commented the hooded traveler, his interest was piqued by someone with a title A status like that couldn’t be acquired through effort alone, fame was needed for it to be coined as such Hu theh they had numbers to make up for it

The woman brushed back her blond hair behind her ears and said, “It’s true! No one knohat he looks like, although there is a ru you ever see is a smile so wide you don’t even see his eyes anymore!”

Unease crept along the back of the traveller as he tried to recall where he spotted such a person Suddenly all of his senses screaer had already burrowed its way into his back and a strange sensation spread froreat difficulty The inn owner no longer held that friendly face, but instead a grotesque mockery of a human face The smile stretched from ear to ear, and his eyes were only slits while the oas directing the rage in his face at the woman in the robe

“Why would you try to trickyour work Clearly you wantedaboutused too kindlyfrom the man who posed as the owner of the bar wasn’t any weaker than the feeling of life seeping out of the dying traveller’s back, and while the clothing he had before dissipated into smoke and revealed a deep black suit beneath it His whole de to a deadly and insane chill

“Of course I’ the favour to my master, who told me about you in advance With this, you can consider the debt paid Thein common with me We share the sa any infor his mission …”, a luscious s in a more comfortable position, “and before you ask who our master is, I do have to tell you I’d be deeply offended if you put hiard him as my equal This servant was meant to carry out a mission in secrecy, and would have been rewarded if he accoave out information that could be tracked back to us”

With his final breath the ht in the phrase he pondered earlier, “The Gods are impartial to everyone” His ardless of the outco that rouped with a lizard tribe he disclosed inforht about his death, and the only one to blaance, the Gods had no hand in this Whether soood deed or dealt an evil blow only depended on perspective and individual choices He hadthe test

His dying breath left his lips, which warped into a smile for the last time

A year passed since the four little reptiles moved from their nest to the cave they discovered in their first hunt The cave had been the base of a strong panther beast before the hooded stranger had cleared out the area of any strong beast that s he had in his care, and he took the corpse away after slaying all of the panther’s followers and the panther, leaving the hideout without an owner

Not long after that the chased rabbit had tried to shake off the hunters by passing through the do the location of the cave When the pack finished eating their fill of rabbitfor more tasty meat