Chapter 03: Letter from a friend

The man did not respond to my greeting and stayed still. My curiosity had temporarily helped me overcome my fear and anxiety. Due to which I could use my training.

Wary of the shadows, I slowly walked forward in an even gait. With a large bow I presented the letter to before the man once again saying "I hope you accept this."

I was trying my best not to lose my patience and waited for the man to accept the letter. Upon getting a closer look, the man looked malnourished and untidy. The moment I started to take a closer look at the man, he opened his eyes revealing glowing pupils. Unlike the shadows around him, his pupils iridescently glowed with seven colours. The peculiar detail was that the colours in his eyes moved and swirled like gases.

The man quietly extended his right arm forward. His arm, like his body was thin and shrivelled. His hand shivered and shook just by extending it forward. He received the letter and placed it on the ground.

With slow movements he opened the envelope's seal and showcased the contents of the envelope. There were three things in it, a letter, a purple crystal and something that looked like a bracelet.

Without hiding the content the man opened the letter in front of me. He read the letter, leaving it on the ground. I guess he wouldn't be able to read the letter holding it with his shaky hands. Because of that, I could also read the contents of the letter.

I know that its impolite and rude to read someone else's correspondence, but the curiosity was killing me and the questions kept piling up. There was another uncomfortable sense of doom lingering over my head when things proceeded a little too smoothly after getting close to the man before me.

The letter read:

Dear friend,

By the time you receive this letter, I would no longer be alive. I am walking into a fray, I cannot return from. Well, not that it matters.

I have set the letter destination to Aether assuming that you are still protecting the dead world. I hope that this has not been in vain.

I wanted to talk to you about the terms of our last agreement. Our home has been lost for a while now. I have fulfilled my end of our agreement with this letter. You will find the relic you have been searching for in this envelope, and with this I have completed my side of the deal.

If you are still a man of your word, as you have always been, you would uphold your end of the deal and fulfil one of my requests. It may be a bit difficult but I think that it is the proper price so the following is my request.

Please join the Harvest Festival and please help my sister. She is the last remaining survivor of our entire clan.

You can choose your methods, and your goals, but please help her and please protect her. That is all I ask of you.

The crystal is something that you might need. My sister will be there at the next Harvest Festival for sure. You will find her when you get here.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I hope you respond well to this letter and May you find what you are searching for.

Regards,

Your Friend.

And just with that, my enthusiasm had dampened. I was still curious about a few things but the letter barely explained anything. And what's worse is that the man before me did not react to the letter at all. All he has been doing is sitting and staring at the parchment listlessly.

He did not react or show any expression. Having read the letter I stood up and stepped back, hinting that I needed to leave. The shadow that had allowed me to enter was not standing with the way blocked. I guess it was too early to leave.

I patiently waited for something to happen so that I could high-tail out of the place and return home. Of course my promotion came first.