Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend

Raegar and Cauis stepped into Dreadshade City as the older man commented. ''I have to go request more reinforcements for the scouting parties, before you leave for the north, come and say goodbye.''

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''I will,'' he answered.

Following that, Cauis vanished into the crowd as Raegar made his way to the guild to collect the twenty gold Lisara owed him. While walking, he pulled out the bottle of Sake and gulped down the delicious sweet drink.

'I need to get more of this stuff,' he thought with a smile while turning around and headed for the General Store.

Ten minutes later, Raegar stepped inside, the people inside instantly went quiet and turned to him as the shopkeeper exclaimed in a cheerful voice while approaching him with his hand held out. ''The boy has returned! Welcome back, I'm Marcus Clayton of the Clayton Trading Company.''

'For fuck sake, is this gonna happen everywhere I go?' he asked himself while getting annoyed.

Raegar shook his head and took the hand. ''Raegar Blackwood.''

Marcus nodded before questioning. ''What brings you here, young Blackwood? Need more ingredients?''

''Oh, right, I need to stock up,'' Raegar said with a grin, pulling the sake bottle from his pack. ''This stuff's too good. Do you sell more of it?''

The old man's eyes widened as he snatched the bottle, holding it up to the light and noting half its contents were already gone. ''This is potent stuff, lad,'' he said, his tone a mix of surprise as he squinted at him. ''Are you drunk already? You don't even look fazed.''

''Well I'm not and it's delicious,'' he answered. ''Do you sell it or not?''

''Unfortunately we do not, but I know where you can get it,'' Marcus responded before gathering up the camping bread ingredients and placing them on the counter. ''This should last you for weeks, that will be twenty silver coins.''

Raegar paid as the older man revealed the location of the shop that sold Sake. ''Head toward the port and look for an eastern styled store, you won't miss it.''

''Thank you,'' he said before leaving the shop.

While walking toward the new shop, Raegar took out the Sake and started drinking it only to feel light-headed not long later. 'Oh here it comes!' he thought with a chuckle.

He put it away and half an hour later he arrived at the shop that looked like it came straight out of ancient Japan, causing him to internally freak out. 'What the fuck is this doing here! So the Hero of the East must be from Earth like me!'

Following that, Raegar calmed down and stepped inside the shop only to see shelves lined with tea, candy, and all kinds of stuff which blew his mind. He approached the shelf and noticed chocolate balls were on sale.

'Chocolate!' his eyes went wide just as a soft woman's voice rang out from behind him. ''Afternoon customer. I'm Aio, how can I help you today?''

Raegar glanced over his shoulder and froze. Before him stood a woman with delicate Asian features, her dark eyes gleaming with warmth and a welcoming smile curving her lips. But what caught his breath were the pair of horns sprouting from her head.

'A demon,' he thought while shaking his head and replying to the stranger. ''I want to buy some Sake.''

Aio tilted her head at his question, her horns catching the light as she flashed another warm smile. ''We sell it for ten silver per bottle,'' she revealed.

Raegar's eyes widened as the price sank in, his mind quickly rifling through this world's currency. 'One hundred copper gets you a silver, one hundred silver makes a gold, and one thousand gold is a platinum coin, the rarest of all,' he recalled.

Following that, he took out four gold because he wanted to stock up. ''Can I get forty bottles please?'' he asked.

The older woman's eyes went wide but she quickly composed herself and nodded with a sweet smile. ''Yes. Come to the counter while I organize your purchase.''

He agreed and made his way over after giving Aoi the coins. He sat down and leaned back but the soft cushions caused his eyes to feel heavy. 'Don't fall asleep here!' he scolded himself.

Raegar shook his head, brushing off the distraction, and pulled out his weathered copy of the Kaldorra History. He flipped to the section on the region he needed to travel through, delving into the southern reaches of the Dawnfire Empire.

He read about sprawling grasslands, dense forests, scattered woods, and sprawling farms. But his gaze snagged on a passage about the warring nobles, their feuds staining the pages with ink and blood.

'Why are they tearing each other apart?' he wondered, brow furrowing. 'And what's the Empress gaining from this chaos?'

Then it clicked, his eyes widening with realization. 'She's keeping them preoccupied, pitting them against one another so they don't stir trouble for the rest of the realm.'

Following that, Raegar continued reading until he came to the Blackwood County, home to the growing Southwood which his family had been building into a trade city with the help of the Royal Government.

Ten minutes later, Aoi returned before waving her hand and all the bottles appeared on the counter. ''Here you go young master, forty of our best,'' she spoke with a smile.

Raegar rose to his feet, stowing the bottles in his pack with care before taking a swig from the half-empty one in hand. He stepped out of the shop, the fiery hues of sunset painting the sky as he trudged toward the guild.

A yawn escaped him, the relentless travel and combat finally wearing him down, his body protesting even as his mind pressed on. Raegar stepped inside the guild only for things to go quiet like the General Store.

'This is getting tiring now,' he internally sighed.

Raegar walked toward the counter where Mary was sitting with wide eyes and a horrified look as she stood up. ''What happened to your face!'' she exclaimed.

Thanks to having a hood up, no one could see, but he replied. ''Take me to Lisara, I need to rest and can't spend too much time here.''

The young woman nodded before leading him to the Guild Masters' office while the other adventurers gossiped. When the duo arrived, Mary turned to him with a concerned expression. ''Wait here and I'll send her a message.''

''Okay,'' he said.

As he entered, Raegar's gaze caught on a mirror hanging on the wall. Curiosity tugged at him, he hadn't properly seen his face in ages. Stepping closer, he froze, a jolt of shock ripping through him.

A hideous, jagged scar clawed its way down the left side of his face, stretching from chin to hairline. Smaller scars, sharp and vicious, speckled his skin with the aftermath of the fight with the Devil Lord.

''Damn,'' he whispered, his voice trembling with pure revulsion. ''I was handsome once… now I'm this monstrous thing.''

He shook his head, forcing a weak, trembling smirk to his lips, a sickening dread that threatened to swallow him whole. ''Doesn't matter,'' he choked out, the words brittle and desperate. ''This is a world of magic… surely I can get this healed when grandmother returns.''

Moments later, the dark elf woman barrelled through the door with wide grey eyes and a shocked expression. ''How are you here so quickly? You were out cold for days!'' she exclaimed.

Raegar started laughing as he answered. ''Used my Aether to burn away the poison then the healers did what they could but I need a stronger mage to repair my face.''

Lisara rushed over to him and pushed his hood down only to gasp when seeing the damage, causing Raegar to back away while hiding his face. ''I told you it's bad, even your reaction proves that it's ugly but I don't blame you, I'll just buy a mask to cover it until I can heal it.''

''No!'' the elf woman protested.

She cupped his face in her gentle hands, pulling him close. ''There's nothing wrong with you, nothing at all. You're still that same handsome young man I met weeks ago, scars and all.''

Raegar chuckled before raising his hood and replying in a confident voice. ''No need to make me feel better, it won't be there forever once I find a Tier Five healer that should be in the Eryndor City.''

Lisara nodded in agreement as her brown cheeks were darker than usual. Following that, she spoke with a smile. ''Do you want some tea? It will give you enough energy to get to the nearby inn?''

''Yes please,'' he agreed while slumping down in the soft chair.

Following that, the older woman sat the cup down five minutes later before putting a pouch alongside a sky blue metal plate. ''Here you go, forty gold coins and a Rank D Adventurer card you can use across Kaldorra as a form of identification if the need arises.''

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