The sound of the galloping horses was muffled by the mud under their feet. The road was filled with holes and in serious need of repairs making the dream of a smooth ride nothing but pipe.
Kael held whatever little valuables and clothes he had taken from Troken tightly to his chest. The day was far from its prime with the light of dawn filtering in from the carriage's windows.
The merchants always moved early, and as much as Kael would have loved to stay in bed and sleep a little longer, that wasn't an option.
This was the only ride to Druti, the city in which he would gain his class and attend the exam, and he had no plans of missing it. Under normal circumstances, one would awaken a class a few months or even a year before they took the hunter's exam.
This was to let them get accustomed to their assigned class before entering the world of demon hunters.
But this didn't bother Kael. Even without a class, he doubted the exam would prove a challenge for him. His years of experience were all he needed.
The carriage was stuffy and uncomfortable; this was the only place the merchants could spare, although they still got charged exorbitantly. The carriage was filled with goods making the place cramped—a nightmare for anyone with claustrophobia.
Surprisingly, Iris, who was seated beside him, had somehow managed to fall asleep along the way. Glenda, on the other hand, couldn't; it was as clear that she wasn't used to traveling like this, but she didn't muster a word of complaint. She kept her eyes on the floor, perhaps thinking of how to get her life together.
Kael, previous or current, had never been a social person. He had no plans of starting up a conversation with her and just continued to pretend he was asleep while gritting his teeth through the ride.
He was familiar with the class assignment process, but then again, he couldn't be sure the process would be the same as that of his old world.
After a while, perhaps halfway into the journey, he could no longer pretend anymore and opened his eyes. Neither he nor Glenda said anything to the other as he played I Spy with himself. It had been one of the few games he had grown fond of in the entire twenty years of his previous life.
Iris soon woke up and distributed some rations among everyone. They ate, and the carriage stopped for a minute, allowing everyone to stretch and dump.
Before heading back into the carriage Kael asked Iris, "Are you sure Lilly is going to be fine?"
She placed her hand on Kael's shoulder and said to him, "Relax, she's with Gilmore. Nothing bad is going to happen."
"Okay," he whispered. Gilmore was one of the few people he could trust, or the old Kael rather. He had been one of the few friends his parents had before disappearing.
The ride continued normally and although it was more than a little bit uncomfortable now that the sun was blazing, they at least didn't get attacked. Until…
"Why did the carriage stop?" Glenda muttered a bit on edge.
"I… don't know." His eyes sharpened as he stared out the window. The column of carriages lined up down the road had come to a halt; there seemed to be a disturbance up front, and a few seconds later, the disturbance came into view.
Unsurprisingly, it was a blood wolf, or rather a group of them. They had managed to get past the barricade up front and were heading directly for their carriage.
"Shit." Kael hissed.
He had known there was a chance that he was marked, but for some goddamn reason, he hadn't taken that into consideration.
Luckily, multiple bulky and armed men jumped out of the carriages putting down the wolves before they could get any closer. The wolves were slaughtered in a matter of seconds, with the men returning to their respective carriages with nothing but minor bruises.
The threat was, but a fluke, and there was nothing to worry about, but Kael was now on high alert for any wolves that might pick up his scent.
The remainder of the journey was tense for Kael, but nothing showed up. He could only sigh in relief as they got to the city gate of Druti. It was massive to say the least and the walls were high. They stopped at the gate and paid their toll; after that, the convoy was let in.
"We are here." Iris and the other got down. With their luggage in hand, they went towards a nearby inn.
The streets of Druti couldn't be any more different from Troken. They were filled to the brim with people. The day had left its prime but the streets were still packed with vendors and stalls. The asphalt roads were unforgiving to bare feet, but the younglings, hawking goods around, were used to it.
Iris navigated the road with ease; Kael and Glenda made sure to stay close behind so as not to get lost in the crowd.
Glenda had promised to see that Kael got admitted, that was the least she could do, which was why she had decided to stick with them for the next three days. They soon made their way to the inn.
"Bones and Shaw." That was the name of the inn and it was engraved on a large signboard in front of the run-down place.
Glenda grimaced at the sight of it, and Kael didn't find that uncalled for. The walls seemed to have been painted a thousand years ago as most of it had either peeled off or faded. Numerous cracks graced the wall's surfaces and one would not be wrong to guess it had seen multiple eras.
"Do we have to stay here?" Kael was not in the least bit pleased by the place.
Iris just chuckled and beckoned for them to follow her.
The large wooden doors of the place were closed, and Kael was a bit afraid that they might not survive a push. Luckily, it survived and nothing could prepare them for what they saw.
It was a completely different world on the inside; the floorboards were polished and glistening, with numerous candles on intricately designed posts illuminating them.
The first thing they saw was the bar: it was filled with people, and although it had an insufficient number of windows, it wasn't the least bit suffocating.
Iris, familiar with the place, waved at a few people, and then they headed for the reception counter.
"Iris, good to see you here again," The receptionist said, leaving whatever she was doing and walking towards them.
"Good to see you too, Sasha."
"And who might these lovely fellas be?" Her gaze wafted over Kael and Glenda.
"Just a few relatives."
"Okay, nice to meet y'all then." She turned to Iris and said, "And what might you be looking for, hard to come by your face these days."
"I want to get us a place to stay for a few days."
"Well, we still have a few free rooms, so that won't be a problem." She flipped through the record books and looked at the group. "I presume you're gonna need more than one."
"Two, please."
"Got it." Sasha went into the back, fetched two keys, and gave them to Iris.
"You know the bills," she said.
"I know the bills."
…
The room Kael got wasn't too big but it was definitely better than what he had back home. The bed could conveniently contain two; the walls were covered in grey and white flower-printed wallpaper. And there were a few lamps powered by mana stones shimmering with an orange light.
Dusk had come and his bones ached. The class acquisition would be done tomorrow, but for now, all he wanted to do was to lie on that bed and forget he even existed.
He would have to wake up early, as the hunter's association was only open for class acquisition for the first few hours of the day.
In his previous life, he had gotten the Body Mage class, which was a rare class and had been one of the reasons he had been able to rise so quickly in his previous life.
There wasn't a known method of ranking classes, but it was general knowledge that classes with two words were better than classes with one word—a Body mage would always be better than a mage.
He doubted he could hit a double word class twice, but in the end, it would depend on the original Kael's talent.
Not wanting to bother his tired brain anymore, he closed his eyes and stretched atop the bed. It didn't take long for him to drift into oblivion.
…
He was woken by a knock on the door and lazily stretched his fatigued limbs. He looked through the window and saw the dark night sky.
Who could be bothering me by this time?
The knock came again, twice this time.
"I'm coming," he muttered with not enough volume for whoever was knocking to hear him. After getting up, he walked to the door with lazy steps, rubbed his eyes, and then opened it.
"Hi, I'm Lucky."
Kael stared blankly at the lady carting a food tray. He hadn't asked for her name, but okay.
"So?"
"I brought your food." She spoke with a strange glee as if she were so happy doing her job. Kael couldn't care less.
She had managed to remind him of the hunger he had pushed to the back of his mind.
"Okay, thanks," he replied, then grabbed the tray, ready to take it back into his room. But unexpectedly the girl, with her odd smile still plastered on her face, held the tray and stopped him from pulling it away.
Kael gave her a puzzled look; he didn't have the strength to deal with shit like this by this time of the day.
"You were shining so bright, I couldn't help but stop and take a look."
"What?"
The hell was she talking about?
"Nothing, have a nice meal," she said, letting go of the tray.
Kael could have sworn he had heard her say something, but he was too hungry and tired to deal with that. He took the tray into his room and closed the door behind him.
He placed the food on his table and he realized something: he had no idea what the girl had looked like. That was weird because he had clearly stared at her for quite a while.
All he could remember was her maid costume, name, and…that weird smile that had been plastered on her face. It had not been exaggerated; it was just…unique, as if she had put a lot of effort into it.
Maybe I'm just tired.
Anyway, he had no intentions of dwelling his thoughts on a stranger. He said a little prayer, and then dived into the meal.
And it was one of the best meals he had ever had…
[Author's note: Ten power stones and I'll post an extra chapter today.]