Lessons From Hell

Standing over the corpses of the 10,000 soldiers, the mighty Leviticus the Great raised his blade to the sky as the blood of his enemies fell from his body. He proclaimed proudly and fearlessly to those of the city of Starfall, "What is this fear I see in your eyes and in your hearts?! Does the sight of these demons fill you with terror?! Is your will so easily broken.......? We built this city dammit! We poured our blood, sweat, and tears into every stone. Into every piece of wood. Into every screw and nail. No God will have the pleasure of seeing this great city burn while I still breathe! So pick up your weapons! Stand to your feet! And set your heart ablaze! Let your love for each other and this city we built burn brighter than the stars and hotter than the flames of hell!!! And fight for what is yours!!! Fight for our home!!!"

-Ode to Leviticus the Great Chapter 90; Verses 1-10

"Oh Gods!!! Save me," shouted Tim to his brothers as he was getting beaten up really badly. Runa had him try to show her his current hand to hand skills by making him fight her. She wasn't expecting for him and the others to be so pathetic when it came to throwing a punch. The only ones with even basic close quarters combat skills were the married couple, yet even they weren't much better.

Runa placed her foot on his back and Tim couldn't move under her weight. She looked up to the others as they all look beaten and broken. Even Juulla had got it rough with bruises all over.

Runa looked at them and told them, "Each of you may drink 2 of the healing potions I brought. Even you boy." She lifted her foot of Tim and let him stand up to get some healing.

"You are a lot stronger and scarier than you look Ms. Runa. Where did you learn how to get so powerful," asked Tim mostly in awe of her.

Runa sat down nearby and thought back to her time in the ancient ruin. She for a moment remembered how it was do or die, and how she had to fight for her life just to survive while protecting a dying Constantine. She snaps out of it and simply answers, "Through surviving against things that should have killed me. You either learn to fight without fear or hesitation...... Or you die. The things I've fought were merciless and uncaring. So I learned how to fight with the same unforgiving relentlessness."

Willis responded to her words curious for advice, "Is it possible for folk like us to learn how to reach your level Ms. Runa?"

"Certainly...... My power comes from hard work and overcoming adversity. I chose to stand and fight on even when I would have wanted to give up," Runa answered giving a determined look and a smile to encourage him and the others.

Vellmii and Henikk came over to join the conversation curious themselves. Vellmii asked playfully, "Woman to woman, what was it that kept you from giving up and running away? Was it some secret female empowerment spell?"

Runa didn't laugh or find the question funny. She starred out the window towards the blacksmiths shop thinking of Constantine. She grabbed the necklace he gave her as a sign of his promise, "I had something I wanted to protect and fight to keep safe. When you love someone or something strongly enough; that love can push you to keep going..... To keep fighting even when you are afraid you might die. When you find what it is that you love the most in this world think of it when you fight. It will give you the courage to never relent until you breathe your last breath or you overcome the challenge in front of you."

Shawn looked to his younger brothers as he listened to her words. He thought about the farm and their parents. His mind thought of this village that only was starting to be built a couple years ago that they've learned to call home. He wondered if that was what he needed to think about to motivate him to fight on.

Juulla soon stood up ready for another round of sparring with Runa. She was excited to see what all she could learn even if it came with pain and bruises.

Runa seeing Juulla take up a fighting stance gave a smile as this was what she wanted to see. Motivation burning bright in the eyes of those that were here to learn from them. Juulla was a remarkable sort of woman. She desire to get stronger and to learn as much as possible because her kind heart wanted to help others and Runa knew just what that was like.

While the sparring continued in the guards barracks, Constantine was finishing up the armor and weapons meant for Willis. Forging was a lot simpler when you had the ability to manipulate the various types of earth-based materials including metals as you're forging to give it the exact shape and look that you want. He wanted to create a slightly unified look for the guards here, but leave each individual armor piece in weapon with something that made them unique to the individual. For Willis that meant that he implemented a raven feather cloak and raven motifs into the armor in certain areas to give it a bit of uniqueness. With the axes he made engravings along the handle and pummel of them depicting flocks of ravens in flight.

For the minor enchantments, he wanted most of the enchantments for the armor to be the same with one unique enchantment per person. For Willis that was enchanting the cloak to transform into a set of massive wings that will give him the ability to fly at incredible speeds. Other than that it had enchantments that protected against all forms of basic weaponry attacks to some degree as well as minor resistances to common forms of elemental attacks.

Because each person will have a unique weapon for them and only them to use the weapons could have a lot more uniqueness in their enchantment variety. So for these axes he enchanted them with the ability to channel both the power of darkness and the wind to add more power to each swing. As well as the axes granting a few spells of both dark and wind magic. Lastly he gave the axes the ability that once thrown they could be called back to the owner's hands simple and easily.

Once it was all done he inspected his craftsmanship and admired how far he had came. When he was a little boy he imagined making weapons and armor and inventions that could rival some of the greatest craftsmen that ever lived. He thought that he had reached the peak of what he could do, but ever since he had learned how to tap into the magic that he always wished he could use he has discovered there is so much more for him to try to learn.

He gives them a nice polish and shine before packing them up and carrying them back with him to the barracks. However before he left the blacksmith shop he heard the sound of a raven not that far behind him trying to get his attention. When he turned around though he did not see a raven.

Standing where he heard the sound of the bird was a figure that he was very familiar with. Yaga, Archmagister of Remomancy and Constantine's biggest stalker. The man was of a slightly darker tan skin color then Constantine himself with long beautiful white hair and purple eyes. His beard was able to reach almost down to his collarbone but it was kept braided and accented with gold and silver. He stood nearly a foot taller than Constantine and was rather well built, but slightly slimmer than Constantine himself. He looked human but his ears were pointed like that of most non-human races. Not to mention he had small horns that look like tiny antlers coming out of his head.

His raven feather cloak was speckled with silver and golden flakes, and he held a gold and silver staff depicting ravens with multiple black feathers hanging from it. Yaga stood there smiling and he greeted Constantine, "Pleasure to see you again my boy. How does my favorite student fair this day?"

"Hello to you too, Yaga. Is there a reason that you have come to pester me, old man," replied a very annoyed Constantine.

Yaga slightly frowned noticing the tone of dissatisfaction coming from Constantine, "Can I simply not check up on you? After all I've invested a lot in your growth. I want to see you become more so that one day we can stand as equals. That was the promise I made you when I started teaching you some of my secrets. Or have you forgotten?"

Constantine gave a snide response, "I have forgotten nothing you old fool. But I also know that you usually don't come unless there's something you want to talk about or unless you just want to pester me until I have a headache. So which is it this time?"

Yaga exhaled a deep sigh rather sad to hear that Constantine felt such a way about his visits, "Well if that's what you think please visits are I guess I can't really change your mind. I did really mean it when I said I just came to check and see how you were doing. You and I haven't seen each other in almost a month and a half, and I just wanted to make sure that you were fairing well on your journey to the capital of the Empire."

"I'm doing fine. There's nothing to worry about. I don't know why you're so worried about me anyway. It's not like you and I are friends or anything. That's very clear that we're just using each other to get what we want. You have magical secrets that I can learn, and I have skills at surviving the impossible to get the things you need. I don't know what's with this trying to be my friend bullshit," spoke Constantine after noticing Yaga seemed to be genuinely worried of his safety.

Yaga looked sad and disappointed to hear that, "I....... I will not deny that our arrangement is one that is mutually beneficial. But I cannot say that you haven't rubbed off on me..... So let me say that I am genuinely worried that if anything were to happen to you it would be my fault. I am your teacher now so I should try to protect you."

"If you're my teacher then why is it that you are letting me go to the capital to learn how to control my powers instead of teaching me yourself? If you know how to help me control the powers I have why won't you show me yourself," questioned Constantine.

Yaga stepped forward and placed his hand on the man's shoulder, "There is nothing I would rather do than to teach you everything that I know. But those of my order would notice my attention being given to you and they would start to pry. I trust my allies with many things but I will never trust them with you my boy. You are worth more to me than you will ever know and I will not let them ruin you."

Yaga stepped away and before Constantine could say or ask more Yaga gave a bow, "I am sorry my boy but my time is up and I must go. But before I go, I will leave you with a suggestion for your new pupils. If you truly want to make sure that they are as prepared as ever you should help them connect to the magical spirits that live nearby this unnamed village. You'll find them about a 10 hours travel slightly north of the village. Good luck.... My boy."

In an instant Yaga turned into a flock of ravens made of darkness that disappeared into the thin air as they took flight. Constantine didn't know what to think of the man most of the times, but he never did lie to Constantine. Knowing now that there might be a Manafalls nearby he thinks that it might actually be helpful to go and see it.

However that was something to deal with later. For now, the only thing he needed to focus on was getting this gear to Willis. And with that he finally left the blacksmith shop finding the owner nearby and paying him for the time he used today.

From there he made his way back to the guard barracks where before he could even open the door he watched it get blown off the hinges and fall to the ground. Shawn had been tossed so hard into it the old bolts and screws keeping it in place simply came apart.

The moment that everyone noticed that Constantine was standing there they all dropped their combat stances. Including Runa who looks to have been pummeling all of the new recruits like there's no tomorrow without even breaking a sweat. Constantine took the time to help Shawn get back up to his feet and then he looked over everyone seeing all of their bumps and bruises and broken arms and legs.

Noticing half of the healing potions that were provided had already been used he could see that they were taking training very seriously. With the remaining 30 potions still there, Constantine used Minor Telekinesis to pull 3 bottles over and helped Shawn drink them. Watching as the man's wounds and injuries instantly healed and he was restored back to perfect health; Constantine showed everyone the sack that he was currently carrying the gear he made for Willis in.

"Everyone take a break and heal up. Willis once you get through taking your potions come over to me so I can help make sure that you know how to put you on a new armor on," instructed Constantine to everyone in the barracks.

Willis was immediately excited but the idea of receiving this armor and weapons that he was told about almost 10 hours ago. Runa however walked over to Constantine with a smile proud of her current accomplishments.

Runa boldly declared, "You should have seen them. At first they sucked ass when it came to being able to fight in basic hand-to-hand combat. But after a couple more rounds of sparring they've all started to come into their own. They were doing so well individually that I started letting them try and work on fighting as a team."

"Did you go over any maneuvers or techniques with them before you started the sparring matches with them," asked Constantine.

Runa immediately realized that she might have messed up just a bit, "Well not really I kind of just had them learn from doing. I guess I could have shown them a thing or two first before having them try and put those skills into practice." She rubbed the back of her head and kind of embarrassed to forget such a small but important detail.

Constantine patted her on the head, "Don't worry. Now that I'm here I can start teaching them more of what they need to know myself. Also I need to check in on something after we finish training for today."

Their conversation was interrupted as Willis walked up now all healed up. Constantine gave the young man a smile before sitting the sack on the nearby table and opening it. He took out the axes first and set them on the table. Willis was very impressed at how amazing the axes looked. However he was soon blown away when Constantine took out all of the pieces of the armor that was now his.

Willis almost asked in disbelief, "Wait is this really mine? This seems too nice to be mine."

Constantine gave him a nod, "You bet it is. Go ahead and try it on. I made it using your measurements that I got from you earlier so it should fit perfectly once everything was on."

Willis at first didn't know how to put it on but once he realized it was a completely connected piece attached to an under armor suit, he took off his shirt in pants only wearing his boxers before kicking off his shoes and putting on the armor. He had his brother Tim zip up the back of the under armor suit and he fastened the back of the chest plate to the front chest plate the armor seemed to fit perfectly.

"It'll take about an hour, but keep that armor and those axes on your person for that long and you'll instantly learn all of the enchantments that I placed on them. I think you'll like what I made sure they could do," Constantine informed him.

Unable to really process his emotions in the moment at the amazing armor and the gorgeous axes that he had been given; he just seemed to act on instinct hugging Constantine. It took Constantine a moment but eventually he patted him on the back returning the man's way of thanking him.

Once he let go Constantine look to everyone, "Now..... I will start giving you instructions on different types of hand to hand combat techniques. After that I'll focus on teaching you all how to use whatever weapon that you each think would be best for you to learn. Finally I'll see if any of you have any magical talent to speak of innately. After that training will conclude for the day and we will pick back up tomorrow. Am I understood?"

They all gave a slight bow and shouted in unison, "Sir yes sir!"

"Good line up next to each other, and give at least an arm's length of space between each of you. That way as I teach you these techniques you don't accidentally hit each other," he ordered them.

Once they did as they were instructed Constantine and Runa stood in front of them. For the next couple hours they showed them several hand-to-hand techniques and had them replicate it. Runa thoroughly corrected any mistakes in their form until they could repeat it over and over and over again without mistake. Then they were made to spar with her again now using what they had learned. She still easily beat each of them all up, but given time eventually it'll all sink in.

After that was done Constantine asked each of them what type of weapon they would prefer to train with. Except for Willis who had already chosen the dual handaxes.

Tim wanted to learn how to use a mace and tower shield. Shawn requested to learn how to use a long spear. Vellmii made it clear that she preferred using her longbow and was already pretty decent with it so if there was anything else they thought she could learn she would gladly accept what they could teach. Henikk was pretty good with short swords and daggers, but he told them he always wanted to learn how to use a khopesh and sickle.

Juulla already had the weapon she was going to learn how to fight with alongside her magic. She clutched the staff that she was given with joy ready to learn how to become just as dangerous with it as she was with her magic. Although she was much more fearsome in her mind than she was in actuality.

The two of them agreed to teach them how to use the weapons that they had requested. For the next 3 hours they started learning the basics of how to use each of the weapons they had requested. But at some point Constantine walked off for a little bit leaving Runa to continue the lessons. However when he returned he called them all outside.

As they all walked outside they saw Constantine had set up a training area with clay training dummies made from his earth magic. On a table he had sat for each of them a pistol. It was similar to the one that he had on his belt. However they didn't know what a pistol was or what it did as the technology was foreign to them.

Being aware of this himself, Constantine took the pistol from his belt and turn to everyone. He informed them, "It is all well and good to learn how to use the weapons that you personally requested and the ones that I will be making enchanted variants of for each of you individually. But I'm also going to teach you how to use this specific weapon that I created in my youth. This is a gun. There are several different types of guns that I've made over the years and this type is known as a pistol. It's made to be small and easy to carry and easy to handle. It is similar to a crossbow in a way.... The only difference is in its effectiveness. Instead of arrows it fires something I call bullets. Small specific chunks of metal in a specific shape packed into a little capsule that is mostly filled with something called black powder. A gun is designed in a way to hit a specific part of the capsule that will cause the black powder to ignite and explode similar to certain fireworks that you may have seen or heard of."

Juulla remarked, "Oh fireworks look so pretty when they go off. This weapon sounds very interesting."

Constantine nodded, "Fireworks are indeed beautiful when they explode, but this kind of explosion is a bit different even though it works off of similar methods. Because of how it's designed that explosion will propel the bullet out of the capsule at a very high speed faster than any arrow can hope to match. Let me show you what happens when a bullet hits its target."

He immediately turned around and fired a single shot into the head of each of the training dummies. The sound of the bullets being fired reminded them of thunder during a storm. It filled them with a slight worry and fear. They watched as the clay dummy's heads now had noticeable holes through them in an instant. They couldn't even really see the bullets themselves; only the after effect.

Constantine turned back around and noticed that several people in town were now coming over to investigate the sound. However before they could get to close he still had a moment to talk to his new recruits, "These weapons are meant to be a mostly last resort type of situation. We will be teaching you how to use the weapons you asked for as your main way of offense but if they start to fail you do not be afraid to use these pistols. I'm going to teach you how to use them over the next couple of days. And this is where you will practice how to shoot them. Am I understood?"

As they all began to give a nod mostly impressed but also quite in shock at this new weapon they've never heard of until now; they saw as villagers started to ask what the sound was. Constantine had to take some moments to explain that he was showing them a new weapon that they'll be learning how to use to protect the town. He informed them that they will probably be hearing it quite a bit over the next week or two. He promised them though that everything would be fine.

The rest of training went relatively well with a few setbacks here and there. Mostly due to people not really being familiar with some of the lessons that they were now learning. On all though it was a good sign of things to come.

However before everyone could leave for the day, Constantine set up a magical circle on the ground that he was going to use to gauge whatever magical power that they might have, if any. Given that all three of the brothers were human he didn't expect any of them to have any magic as humans are not born with such capabilities. But the couple might have some magical talent given Vellmii was an elf and Henikk was an orc.

One by one he had them step on to the circle and he cast a simple spell that would allow him to see the level of strength of their magic as well as what color that magic took which would denote what affinities they have. First up was Henikk, as the spell was cast and the magic circle lit up slowly but surely small magical aura began to emanate from his body. The color of it was brown and orange.

Constantine remarked, "Looks like you have an affinity for Materiamancy. You have a stronger connection to Augmentation than you have for Transmutation though. Not bad."

Henikk was educated enough to understand what he was implying and he took that knowledge for what it was as it made sense. Then he watched as his wife stepped onto the circle next and the spell was cast again. Her aura was much more noticeable and much larger than his. Not to mention it was a solid purplish green color.

"Wasn't expecting her to be really good at Eldermancy. It looks like she's good at all of its branches and not just a specific type. Good on you Vellmii," noted Runa a little impressed.

Vellmii, having been raised in a bigger city where she gained a much better education than the people that have stuck to small villages, knew what Eldermancy was and the types of magic that fell under it. It felt right has she already knew at least 2 basic spells of the Arcane branch of that specific school of magic.

Next up was Tim however when the spell was activated as expected he had no innate magic. Following him was Willis but the result was the same. Lastly was Shawn and he too also had no magic to speak of. It was not like they were expecting to secretly have magic as they are humans after all. The best chance they will ever have at using magic is through enchanted items and the brothers knew that very well.

After everyone had been measured for their potential magical skills Constantine look to them and thank them for their time, "I'm very glad that you all took time out of your day to come as you had promised. I cannot wait to see how well you all do as time goes on. I would like you to show up tomorrow at the same time I had requested you come today so that we may continue your training. So long as none of you give up you will become the new guards of this town and with it a lot of benefits shall be given. With that you're all dismissed for the day. Get some rest everyone."

As everyone left Juulla walked up to Runa and Constantine, "Today was very stressful on my body. You both made sure to push me very hard when it came to everything. But it was fun though even if I now very scared of making Runa angry."

Runa remarked proud of her own skills, "Good you should know to be afraid of me from now on when it comes to sparring matches. A good teacher needs to set the boundaries for how far you need to go in order to catch up to my level of skill."

Juulla asked her playfully, "Can you go easy on me next time? I think you broke my arm like three times."

"Nothing a healing potion couldn't fix.... But I will try and pull my punches a little bit more tomorrow. I wasn't expecting you guys to need as many potions as you ended up using," Runa responded slightly aware that she may have gotten a little bit carried away.

Constantine in the meantime fix the door to the barracks back as it was and repaired it using magic. Once he was done he told the ladies, "Both of you should head back to the tavern and take a bath and relax for a little bit. You both worked very hard today. I'll catch up with you in a little bit. I have one more thing that I need to do myself alone before I can rest for the day."

Runa looked at him a little confused as she didn't know what he was talking about. Juulla however didn't really question it as he was the teacher and she was the student. If she was told to take the rest the day to clean up and relax herself, she would.

Runa walked up to him giving a worried expression but before she could voice her concern Constantine just placed his hand on her shoulder, "I will be fine. There's nothing to worry about. There is just some information about the area that I was given earlier that I need to scout and see if it is true. It's nothing dangerous I promise."

"Just.......... Be safe okay," requested Runa. Constantine place a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You know I will. It shouldn't take me more than an hour to scout that area and figure out whether or not the information is genuine. Be expecting me back before sunset."

Runa relaxed a little and she gave a nod of assurance before walking out of the barracks with Juulla to head back to the tavern. As he watched them leave Constantine allowed his special sense to focus in the direction he was given. If it was there it was just out of his field of observation. However that's nothing that a simple mad dash in that direction can't help him try and spot.

With that he cast the spell Electric Slide boosting his speed just enough for him to cover a decent amount of distance in a short amount of time. Racing into the woodlands, he figured that once he got towards where he killed the bandits if the Manafalls truly was in the direction he was given he would probably pick it up.

To his surprise after a couple minutes of running in that direction, once he got near where the bandits had set up for their base before he wiped them out his sense did finally pick up the Manafalls. It was a massive radiating area of magic that his senses was alerting him to. Though the area itself wasn't more than maybe 500ft across from end to end the magic it was giving off was immense. He could tell just from here that the magical affinity that this zone had was for the element of earth. As he started making his way towards it he started watching as the trees were a lot larger and a lot more varied in shape, color, and size. He slowly watched as they shifted from green leafed trees to blue than to purple then to pink then to red.

Once he reached the outer barrier that protected it he looked around for an entrance as such places usually have one. However he did not find an entrance as the barrier was a massive tree that took up the entire area of the falls that were located under its roots but the roots would not let him through. But he did not have to wait for long as he heard from a nearby tree a whistle.

Looking back he saw a woman. She was an elderly goblin woman with silky straight blue hair that was slowly turning gray with age. Her wrinkles were noticeable but she was not so old that they took up the majority of her still beautiful face. Parts of her skin resembled that of the sheen of freshly water plants from a rainstorm she had tiny horns coming from her head that looked like antlers made of tree branches. Her eyes were a bright green and her large floppy pointed ears resembled large leaves drooping down. She wore a dress made out of beautiful large flower petals. She held a staff that looked like a large tree branch that had been intertwined with another with a solid amber orb in the middle.

She greeted him, "Well now this is an interesting sight. I haven't had a visitor to my humble abode in nearly 400 years. I can tell that you seek access to the Manafalls. What is your name young man?"

"I am Constantine and if knowledge serves me correctly from previous experiences you are the guardian of this specific Manafalls," Constantine replied.

She nods respectfully, "You would be correct. I am shepherd to the spirits here and I am the one who determines those that are worthy to enter and seek the aid of the spirits inside. Why is it that you have come here?"

Constantine explained as he didn't really have much to hide, "I was informed of this place and I simply sought to verify that it truly existed. Now that I am certain that it is real and that I have gotten the chance to speak to you, would it be possible if I brought some very talented young people here tomorrow to possibly seek the aid of the spirits inside? I seek no ill will to you or the spirits. I just wish to give those that I have deemed worthy of my aid the chance to potentially grow more than the limitations their lives have placed upon them."

She thought on it for a moment rather impressed with the young human in front of her and she could tell that he had quite a bit of power himself, "You show great respect and have proven to have the etiquette of one who knows how things truly work in this scenario. Should you return here tomorrow with these promising young people I will judge them each. If I deem any of them worthy or all of them worthy I will allow those who have been judged accordingly the right to enter in and seek the aid of the spirits inside. Do you also wish for the aid of the spirits?"

"No I already have spirits that I have made pacts with, but that was not the source of my power. I simply wish to give my new students the chance if they are judged to be worthy of the opportunity. Without wasting anymore of your precious time, I shall leave you to your business. Have a blessed day guardian of this Manafalls," Constantine respectfully said as he gave a bow.

She gave a respectful response allowing him to leave without further need for conversation, "You may call me Delilah the Elderberry. And I await your return tomorrow sir Constantine."

Using the same spell that got him here, he raced back to town covering the distance that it would normally take in only a couple minutes. Once he had made it back to the outside of the tavern he dusted himself off. Then he entered the tavern seeing that everyone was lively and all of them were entranced by the most unusual sight.

Those that got paid by the taverns owner to provide this establishment with some relaxing music were now playing a rather upbeat and jazzy funky tune. The people in the tavern were singing and dancing along to the song and in the center of all those dancing was someone that he was overjoyed to see had finally made it.

It was a woman that was all too familiar to him. Beautiful, smooth silky, and slightly glistening milk chocolate brown skin. Long curly but also extremely well groomed black hair that flowed and swayed freely as she danced. Two large floppy rabbit ears of the same color fur as her hair was. A cute fluffy brown bunny tail that was clearly visible just above her belt that kept the rather short but free flowing skirt that she wore covering up most of her thighs. Her legs were large rabbit-like feet covered in a similar dark brown fur to that of her rabbit tail. She had two small antlers coming out of her head. Her eyes were a bright yellowish brown. She had thick bumped lips and a very voluptuous curvy body with a muscular build of a warrior. She was very unique being a half faun and half rabbit beastfolk woman.

As his eyes caught the sight of Chocolate you smiled deeply. Dancing with her was Runa who looks to have already taken her bath and changed into a very lovely sundress.

Constantine walked over to the bar and caught the bartenders attention, "Can I get my usual tea? Also if you don't mind having someone prepare a steak with a side of fried sliced potatoes I would be grateful."

"Certainly," the barkeep replied.

Constantine asked curiously, "How long ago did my other companion show up? The rabbit woman currently dancing with my partner."

The barkeep looked at her with a fond smile, "Oh her she showed up about half an hour ago and decided that this place was too relaxed for her taste. She immediately bought everyone 3 rounds on the house, and tossed some coin in the way of our musicians to get them playing something a little bit more upbeat. A few minutes ago she started going around and trying to get people to dance with her, and now half of my customers are celebrating like there's no tomorrow. I will say that she has gotten the people in here to be a little bit more carefree than they usually are, and it's not a bad thing."

"Yep that sounds like my Chocolate alright. Whenever she's in the mood to celebrate, she's really in the mood to celebrate and wants it to be everybody's business. Thank you for not kicking her out," Constantine said with a joyful smile happy that she made it back safe and sound.

The barkeeper jokingly responded, "Why would I kick out somebody who's only helped get people to spend more coin? That partner of yours is definitely a lot more lively and sociable then you and Ms. Runa. That's probably because she's not trying to pretend to be closed off to everybody. For someone who wants to pretend that he doesn't want to make connections with the people here; you're not really doing much of it good job at it."

"Am I really that easy to read? And here I thought that people were just ignoring me out of fear and not politeness," he responded giving a short laugh.

The barkeep handed him his drink, "After all you've done for us and as much coin as you put in our pockets, I doubt anyone here would go against whatever wish you had. You asked for most of us not to bother you and your lady friend. It's only right that we respect that wish. It's the best way we can show our appreciation for the good strangers who came through and saved us from our sad predicament."

Constantine thought about what he said and look down into his drink and saw his own reflection for him, "I don't think you ever told me that this town had a name. What's this place called? Who's in charge around here? The people who sent us here called it the village in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't assume that was his name."

The barkeep answered, "Town ain't got a name. And the closest thing we've got to a leader around here is the old Guard Captain Duke who you relieved of duty. Him and the other old guards got the fuck out of town after you kick them out of the guard barracks and made them return everything. Most hope think that they really were possibly connected to those bandits, but they've done so much for us in the past that we really couldn't see ourselves punishing them even if it was the truth."

"In that case I know what I'll do when I reach the capital before enrolling into the university. This place needs a proper leader and someone who can help make sure that it is protected and that it grows. I got some connections with some decently well-known people in the capital that can inform your emperor that this town is without guidance. I am certain that once the emperor is made aware of it he can find someone to send to lead this town," Constantine replied.

"If it happens, it happens. But us here don't really give a damn. So long as we're alive and we can support ourselves and our ways of life; that's all that's matters to us," the barkeep says.

Before the conversation can continue much longer the music stops and the people begin to go back to their seats. Almost immediately Constantine hears the sound of someone running towards him and already is expecting Chocolate.

Sure enough he hears her cute voice call out to him as he turns around to see her jumping arms outstretch to pounce on to him, "Conny! You finally made it to the tavern!" He catches her and she wraps both her arms and legs around him and begins kissing all over his face. Making sure to kiss him on the lips several dozen times in front of everyone.

As Chocolate greeted him Juulla walked over and asked, "So who might she be?"

Runa responded explaining who Chocolate was, "This is Chocolate. She was a slave from a town close to the border of the Empire and the Republic. We bought her instead of free and she chose to stick with us to explore the world. She's been with us for about 6 months now. She is my student whereas you are Conny student. I've been teaching her the same post-quarters combat that I was showing you all in the barracks earlier. She's a good example of how you guys might end up if you actually learn from my training really well."

"Let me guess she's also your girlfriend," asked Juulla playfully.

Runa gave a flirtatious smile and wink, "You know it. Gave her the same offer we gave you. Probably the only one that I've ever made that offer too who did not even hesitate to say yes."

"Well she is rather cute and beautiful. I'm kind of jealous now that I know there are two lovely ladies in your group. I thought you were already more than enough to handle. Trying to see if I can keep up with her might be more of a struggle," Juulla blurted out without even really giving it a thought first which caused Runa to stop and look at her. As the two women locked eyes Juulla immediately realized what she said and started to blush intensely.

Runa giggled as she saw her blush, "Well the offer still stands and will always be there for you. I think we've talked about it enough for the day though. Right now I want to get drunk off of some nice margaritas, so I can have fun burying my face between a fluffy bunny's butt later. Hit me."

Juulla rolled her eyes playfully but she did make Runa that margarita. By the time she had finished pouring the margarita, Chocolate had stopped smothering Constantine in kisses, and he could get her off of him long enough to actually talk to her.

"Well I missed you too Chocolate. How did the scouting run go," he asked her.

She gladly gave a quick but slightly informative report on her scouting mission, "It went great. I killed several dozen bandits, three wolf packs of various sizes, an entire cave full of bears, 3 large entagores, 8 giant spiders, and what seemed to be a full camp of deserters from the Empire's Army that were talking about meeting up with a bandit group nearby here actually. So all in all it was a good 3 days of scouting. Have things been going good on your end?"

Constantine gave a reply of the more important details of what's happened since they arrived into town, "They have actually gone relatively wonderful. Learned about the bandit camp that you mentioned and already dealt with them shortly after arriving into town. Since then we've just been helping out the town so by putting more coin in their pockets and returning what was stolen to them. We are fulfilling the request to help train up new guards for this place. Which we started the training today. Got some rather promising recruits and I got a lead on how to help get them even stronger. Could be a way to help get you to push past your limits as well if you feel like joining us tomorrow for a little trip into the woods."

"Of course! I'd be glad to go," Chocolate enthusiastically declared.

Constantine then placed his hand across the bar and onto Juulla's shoulder, "I would like you to meet my new apprentice. This is Juulla and I spent the last two days teaching her magic and basic combat. She's got a lot of natural talent just like you."

Juulla is a little bit surprised and still slightly blushing but this time from being complimented by her teacher. Soon though she's a little bit unnerved as Chocolate gets right up into her face. Sitting on the counter of the bar and leaning over putting her nose damn near up against Juulla's.

Juulla is about to back away in concern when Chocolate looks her up and down and remarks about her appearance, "Well aren't you the cutest elf I've seen all day. And here I thought everyone was so old and boring looking. You are a rather breathtaking....."

Juulla recognizes the look in the woman's eyes as it is similar to the look that Runa gives her. Chocolate clearly likes what she sees and Juulla can tell. However surprisingly it brings comfort hearing that someone she thinks is attractive also finds her attractive.

Though the words come out very awkwardly and nervously she does seem too genuinely be delighted to meet this new woman, "Nice to meet you Ms. Chocolate. And I think you look rather lovely yourself. I like how you do your hair and your eyes look really pretty."

Chocolate asks her plainly, "You like the dance?"

"Well yes..... Sometimes," Juulla responds looking away but noticeably blushing more as she has an idea where this was headed.

"Want to dance with me right now," Chocolate boldly asked her.

The young adult elf look to her parents for approval in whether or not she could take a moment to dance instead of work, and they didn't seem to mind. Given that her parents seem to be okay with the idea, she gladly nodded her head with a smile. Tossing her apron to the side for a moment and walking around the bar counter so she could go and dance with Chocolate for a little bit.

As Constantine and Runa watched the 2 girls dancing as the band started playing another upbeat tune, they couldn't help but laugh at the both of them. It seems like Chocolate was using something simple to try and help Juulla break out of her shell a bit more.

Soon enough though the two of them locked eyes with each other and wordlessly Runa asked a question through sheer expression of her eyes and the way she stood. Constantine seem to answer back by offering out his hand. To everyone surprised they watched as Constantine was dragged over to join in the dancing. Funnily enough though he was really bad at it, but Runa was really good at it and able to play off of him in a way that made his dancing look nowhere near as terrible as it actually was.

In Constantine's mind it was the moments like this that meant everything to him. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the people that meant something to him and looking around at all the people he's helped clapping, singing, and dancing along set a fire in his heart that burned bright. It was moments like this that he was happy he didn't give up on life and that he is proud to still be breathing. In the past there have been some close calls where he had given up and almost let it all end. But he's thankful for people like Runa, who pulled him back from the brink of death and reminded him that these are the moments that make it all matter.

I see dance to the music for a moment everything seemed so familiar. In an instant he was someone else but the same. Runa was no longer Runa. Instead she was some beautiful yet strange looking Seafolk woman. She wasn't wearing a sundress and instead was wearing a beautiful dress that look like it was made for royalty. They weren't at a tavern, instead it looked like they were in a beautifully well decorated and designed ballroom. They were different. The place was different. But the feeling of it all was the same.

In that same instance everything snapped back to reality. He was dancing with Runa in the tablet next to Chocolate and Juulla.

He played it off and continued to dance as if nothing had happened. This wasn't the first time he had memories like that. But it was okay because no matter what those memories were on it didn't change how he felt now. Because in this moment with her... and them... and everyone here he felt happiness. Even if it was just for a little bit.

In this moment, the flame in his heart burned right with the fires of love and joy. In this moment he did not feel as if he was as broken as he is. Because just for a moment felt like he did before his world came crashing down.

Soon though when the song started to die down and he started to feel a little bit tired from the events of the day, he made his way back over to the counter and saw that his meal had already been finished and waiting for him. It smells delicious and he couldn't wait to taste it. But before he could take the first bite, Chocolate snagged a piece of it. Playfully taking a small but noticeable chunk out of his steak.

Chocolate teased and requested, "Now that tastes yummy. How about you order one for me?"

He let out a sigh and looked to the barkeep, "Well you heard the lady. Could you have them fix her the same thing that you made for me? Please and thank you sir."

The barkeep responded, "Coming right up."

Chocolate sat in Constantine's lap and nuzzled in closely. He didn't seem to mind as this seemed to be very normal for her to do. Runa sat next to him and leaned against him while wrapping her arms around his waist.

Constantine despite it all was able to have a nice dinner. Juulla spend a couple hours teasing him before he was ready to retire to their room for the evening. By the time that happened he had a mostly sleeping Chocolate and Runa over each shoulder.

"Juulla get some rest. Tomorrow we're making a trip into the woods. It'll take us awhile to get there, and by the time we get back we'll only have maybe a few hours for actually training. Understand me," Constantine informed her.

Juulla was curious what could be in the woods but she gave a nod, "Sure thing. We heading out at the same time as this morning?"

"No. The guard recruits will be going with us. So we'll be meeting up with them first at the time that they are supposed to train and then we will go together," Constantine answered.

She told him good night after nodding your head one final time, "Okay. Good to know. See you tomorrow."

Juulla seeing that it look like everybody was it making their way home or into their rooms at the tavern for the night; begin to clean the main area. As she did she wondered how many other people might be in Constantine's crew, and if this is truly the only other person traveling with him. Her mind starts to wander of him maybe having his own personal harem of a dozen beautiful women. However before she can indulge that fantasy, she focuses back on cleaning before her mom can yell at her to do so.

Constantine opens the door to their room and carries in the two ladies who are now falling asleep as he holds them over his shoulders. He slowly places both of them on the bed and tucks them in while taking time to remove his arm and gear. Once all of his armor and clothing is off and his weapons are set to the side he goes to run a bath for himself. His mind races as he thinks of all of the events of the day.

Watching as the water fills the tub he thinks back to life back in his homeland before he set out on his journey. He thinks back to his thriving business and his status back in his homeland due to all of his inventions. Acclimating to how things work and are here was not that hard since it was very similar to how they were in his homeland when he was still a child. All of his great inventions as well as his foresight to work with other inventors who had good ideas is what allowed his homeland to rapidly expand and develop technologically and economically.

He watches the tub reach as high as he wants the water to get he can't help but think of how his inventions would make life better for everyone. As he got into the tub all he could think about was what he was going to do about it. He thought about Zephyria and her small island kingdom and how his inventions revolutionized it. He starts to wonder if he could make connections with people high up in the capital of the Empire, if he could change things for the better for people even out here as a result.

"Maybe...." he thought to himself as the warm water helped relieve much of the pain from overexerting himself today. But that was a thought to focus on more once they made it to the capital. For now, all he could think about was the need to sleep. After finishing a relaxing bath, he dried off and made his way to bed. He laid down next to Runa who was snuggling with Chocolate as both women were fast asleep. 

He watched them for a moment as a soft smile crossed his face. But it did not last as he realized Runa looked just how She did when She slept next to him. He remembered Her and in an instant all he felt was pain. With that pain came anger and misery and above all else, emptiness. He clutched the locket around his neck for a moment letting the memory pass and the pain fade. 

But as the pain lingered, he knew that it also brought with it the power he needed to push forward. This pain was a reminder of his goal. This journey was for Her. Everything he needed to do and to learn was for Her. He needed more power. He needed power greater than any mortal should possess. All just for Her. No matter who has to die and how much evil he may have to commit; he will do it if it can lead to him being by Her side once more.