A mysterious party had made their way towards the table occupied by Harwin and his new associates. They appeared to be adventurers just like Winston and Eiza, but their attire and equipment made it clear that they were a much more successful group than the latter.

  Their leader was a rather tall and bulky individual. He was bald but had a long beard which reached all the way down his neck. Most notably, he had a scar extending from the chest right down to the navel; he wore only a jacket which made this mark of his to be prominent as if a medal of honour. This man had a great sword scabbard to his back, the size of which was much similar to his own stature.

  "A new face. Where are you from?" The man asked, his voice was corrosive.

  "He is new—" Winston tried to answer but was immediately quietened:

  "I did not ask you, small fry! Now, you speak!" The man pointed towards Harwin.

  "I was abandoned by my caravan in the shadow ruins. These two saved and guided me all the way through the harsh land to this town." Harwin replied. He was not nervous at all; the lad had seen more intimidating foes before.

  "These two!? They could not have saved themselves, much less you. Hard to believe but whatever. Winston, when will you return what you owe to me?" The man demanded.

  "Ser Kaith, give me more time and I will have it ready. It is difficult to navigate through the ruins without more party members." Winston replied. He tried to appear a bit confident in front Harwin.

  "Hmm, more time, you say." Kaith turned around, Harwin believed the confrontation to be over when the burly man punched Winston right on the jaw.

  Obviously, he went flying and crashing to the nearby table. That was not the end, however. The tall fellow made his way to the already near unconscious Winston and pulled his face up by the hair. The latter had blood gushing out of his nose while few of his teeth were left broken.

  "Time, is it!? You do not speak to me as a friend, you little shit!" Kaith was about to punch him again when Eiza interfered:

  "Stop! We will pay your debts soon, so do not hurt him any further!" Her voice was shaking, clearly that was the most courageous thing she had done till day.

  Harwin was an emotional man. He had a tender heart, yes, but he also had a logical mind. The young mage did not intervene at this point, as he understood that the enemy outnumbered them. A single wrong sentence could have resulted in a serious situation which the lad could not afford for now. Besides, it was clear that this man, Kaith, was rather well-known as none of the guild employees or guards interfered, either.

  "You will stop me!? I am the great Kaith, and I will not be ordered by some small girl!" He became even more furious, leaving Winston to head for Eiza.

  She was petrified in place. The poor, beaten up, lad looked towards Harwin as the last resort. His eyes filled with powerlessness and hope.

  'I can not turn away now, can I? Trouble just follows me around like an old friend, I guess.' The young mage thought. This was the moment that his soft heart finally made him step up.

  "Kind sir, how much do they owe you?" Harwin asked.

  "Why does that concern you, eh? Stay away, or I will bash your head in!" Kaith replied, although, he did not mean his threat.

  "Of course, you have the power to do so, but please, let me know the amount." Harwin emphasized.

  "Ten silver tooth! Now shut up and back away!" The burly man replied whilst towering over Eiza.

  "We will pay you back right now. Do forgive Winston for he does not know how to speak to a person of great standing." Harwin said whilst taking out his recently acquired funds. He also signalled to Eiza to take out her share as well.

  Kaith had finally calmed down. He sat on a chair with his arms folded, waiting for Harwin to present the due amount. The latter was not stupid enough to just use up all his hard obtained bronze and silver on people he had just recently met, so he only topped up the amount which Eiza and Winston fell short on.

  They basically had to offer their entire share while Harwin still managed to save quite a sum.

  "Please accept this and forgive the insolence of my friend." Harwin presented the debt as if an offering to a higher up.

  "Very well. Keep away from me and my party from now on, you small fry!" Kaith said while looking towards the already beaten down Winston.

  The burly man soon left them. Eiza rushed towards her companion and casted a healing spells, her eyes filled with tears. In only a few moments, she was able to heal all of the injuries of her friend. Her talent in healing was something Harwin found on par with Arwen, an expert level mage.

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  "I am sorry, Eiza. It is due to me being so pathetic that you have to suffer as well." Winston words were filled with regret and guilt.

  The priestess had no words to comfort her companion, she just remained quiet.

  "You are not pathetic, bad times befall on the best of men. Just make sure to not take debts from such powerful foes again, as a matter of fact, do not take debt at all." Harwin advised.

  "I apologize to you as well. You had to give up a considerable amount of your hard-earned reward for someone like me." Winston replied while looking down.

  "Hey, its only money. Besides, I had no idea of how to even extract these items in the first place. I, however, have a request." The young said, sternly.

  "Please ask, and I will put my life on the line to fulfill it." He replied.

  "Accept these." Harwin handed over a pouch full of bronze — at least half of his remaining funds.

  "No no, I can not accept that." Winston rejected with Eiza nodding at his statment as well.

  "This is not a gift or pity, I am simply giving you the compensation for giving me a ride to Yogsalvia. I could not have made it on my own." Harwin twisted his words.

  This argument contined back and forth with Harwin eventually coming on top. Winston and Eiza could not even meet the eyes of the former which pained him as well.

  "Let us enjoy a meal. You can pay for it, if you feel indebted to me." The young mage tried to break the ice. The two immediately assented to the offer.

  An average meal costed around two bronze. It meant Harwin had enough to get food for more than a month. Residence was still an issue, but he was invited by his new friends to stay at their place for as long as he would like. This was an offer he immediately agreed to, after all, he was completely alone in the new lands.

  After the meal, Winston and Eiza decided to guide the young mage through the town. The latter found the place similar to any part of the southern continent. There were armouries, inns, taverns, houses, street vendors — all of these run by humans and visited by such as well.

  Around the late evening, they made their way to the party's 'headquarters', although, it was just a room in a shabby looking buildings in the backalleys.

  "Welcome to our palace." Winston joked, his mood had improved after going through the town.

  "I apologize for being a burden." Harwin bowed, ever so slightly.

  "Nonesense, you have a right to everything we own, as much as you would like to say otherwise." Winston replied.

  Eiza did not correct her companion this time, she knew he was right. However, this guilty atmosphere only made the young mage more uncomfortable.

  The room itself was clean. There was a curtain in between, giving one side to the men and the other to the lady. It was furnished simply, there were two beds on the men's side. One of them belonged to the dead comrade of the pair, so Harwin was told to use it freely. There was sadness in their eyes when they allowed it, though.

  Now, even if the room and the residence itself was not anything grand, Harwin did not mind it at all. He had lived in poverty all his life so this was hardly any different.

  Stein was there as well, he had been left by Winston as such a creature could have only caused problems in the guild.

  The trio decided to rest for a while. It was a bit strange to take a nap around strangers, but the young mage was so tired that he immediately dozed off as soon as he laid on the bed. Of course, the two hosts found themselves in a similar situation as well.

  It was not until the morrow of the next day that they woke up. Winston brought something to eat while Harwin helped Eiza clean around. It was a habit of his to keep his belongings and place clean, so he found it rather relaxing and homely.

  During breakfast, Winston, after a bit of idle chatter, came to business:

  "Harwin. I have one more request, even though, I am in no position to ask."

  "Of course, please ask away. There is no harm in asking, at least." Harwin replied.

  "I—no, We would like you to join our party. We are short on new members, I am sure you are already aware of that. If you join us, we can certainly traverse through some parts of the shadow lands with ease. Together, we can earn enough to live comfortably." Winston requested, he bowed his head on the table.

  "Uh, Hmm, I am not sure." The young mage did not want to take part in such a risky and dangerous endeavor, at least, without proper information.

  "You do not have to respond immediately. I know, I am selfish, but we have no other choice." Winston stated in desperation.

  "Harwin understands that but do not try to force him, either. He has no obligation to help us." Eiza scolded her companion.

  "I am not going to mince my words. I have no intention of risking my life in such a perilous profession..." The pair looked at him with the same hopeful eyes, "Ahm, but it is also true that I have no other means of earning, either. For now, I would like to visit a library, if there exists one in this town. If, infact, I am to take up your offer, then I would like to know the risks involved." Harwin replied.

  It was a win-win situation for the lad, he could learn about the foreign lands while also making up his mind about the proposition of his friends. Of course, the pair agreed.

  Eiza took on the responsibility to guide him up to the town's library. Lo and behold, it was also a part of the adventurer's guild, further adding to its tremendous importance.

  However, there was a requirement to access it — you would need to be a part of the guild. Further, to become part of the guild, one needed to be part of a party or have enough renown to his name, so it all came back to the acceptance of the proposal or so Harwin thought. Eiza pleaded with the librarian to grant an exception, she was a regular so her request was approved after some argument.

  The young mage made his way through the great halls surronded by bookshelves that knew no end. There were multiple floors to the library which meant Harwin had to be very picky in what to read. Thankfully, he had excellent help. Eiza picked out few books for him which she thought would help the lad understand his surroundings better. She left him alone after that, as she understood that a reader needed much isolation to focus — especially a mage.

  As Harwin sat, he did not open a book immediately. He first grasped his situation, the day just yesterday had been quite a long, and it was also his first day in this new land. He pondered for a while at what his next step should be as this marked the start of his mission. His success depended on reaching the target — a person from his older world....