Glistening blue waters, and crystal clear skies, this was the magical land of Astria. The economy revolved around merchants, magic, and guilds. A king and queen still had a ruling position with a council however, this was to help in any executive decisions. Magic courts were also put into place so justice could still be given to those that went against the laws of the land. There was also a ranking system for some adventurers and magic users. The top 100 adventurers had a ranking, depending on their rank compared to one another.

Each type of magic was unique to an individual, and it was simply the magic that one wanted to learn and had the magic capabilities to do so. Oftentimes, magic users had artifacts to help channel their power, and these all range in different capacities. Those who used lower-tier magicks often had no need for these artifacts, but those with a higher tier ability sometimes would use them if they went on a strenuous quest. Some people, however, used ancient magicks, which the artifacts that were used to help channel these powers, hardly existed, so many didn’t bother learning these types of abilities. Although, there was a certain elven girl that still settled her mind on learning one of these ancient powers, and her name was Avaeri. 

With long black hair with red tips and glowing amber eyes, this elf was no ordinary one. She neither belonged to the wood, drow, or even blood elves. Her elven heritage was a mystery that would be solved one day. But that day was not today. She had gotten wind of a high ranking quest that had mysteriously appeared on the request board at the guild she was a member of, Aeris. Apparently, the quest called for adventurers to retrieve an artifact from enemy territory, also known as the “death bed” for magicians. Most licensed adventurers that had ventured into that area and never came back. That was most likely the reason this quest was classified for high ranked guild adventurers. Whatever it be, the pale elf opened the doors to Aeris, making her way to the request board almost immediately. 

“Avaeri!” someone shouted, their voice from the other end of the room echoed as they increasingly got closer, “Hey Avaeri!”

With an eye roll, she already knew who it was, “Hah.. good morning to you too, Ciran.” Her face was anything but excited. Although the two were good friends, they often annoyed each other in some way. 

“I knew you’d be interested in that quest!” Ciran shouted, grabbing the attention of almost the entire guild. The room was taken away in an audible interest, “I mean, you are ranked fourth amongst the rankers!”

“Whether I’m a ranker or not, every platinum and diamond badge adventurer can take on this quest.”

His eyes lit up and Avaeri instantly regretted her words, “Platinum or diamond? Can we go on the quest together then? We haven’t gone on a quest together in so long.”

Although she did not want to admit it, she wouldn’t mind having him tag along. In fact, she’d quite prefer it. Ciran was actually quite the adventurer himself, finding himself ranked 46th amongst the rankers. His control over his area of effect abilities, which were abilities that only had an effect in a certain area, was advanced to the point it was able to compliment her own abilities quite well. Without answering him verbally, she snatched the quest paper off of the board and took it towards the guild’s office. Proper procedure would include taking the quest to either the guildmaster or their secretary, but any ranker above 25 had the authority to sign off on quests themselves, which is exactly what Avaeri was doing. Holding the quill, she dipped the end into ink, neatly signing her signature onto the quest paper, leaving it in the box of quest forms for someone to collect later. 

“Alright, Ciran,” she flicked her hair up and turned out of the office, making her way towards the guildhall’s doors, “looks like it’ll be you and me, and whoever else from any other guilds that received this mission.”

“Wait, other guilds are able to take this quest as well?”

“I swear, you never read the fine print, but yes, they are. It was only sent out to a handful of guilds though.”

Ciran scratched the back of his neck, right below where his black locks of hair stopped, giving a small laugh, “I don’t know about that one chief.”

The two of them left the guild’s wide doors, their first destination being the train station. Yes, magic exists, but also yes, trains were still used. This was because trains were widely accepted and didn’t go against any laws or regulations. They were highly inexpensive though, as almost every adventurer used them as their main mode of transportation. Although, almost everyone that was alive, was either an adventurer or a merchant. 

“We meet the other members at Feirina’s town hall after we’re all assembled, the mayor will direct us on where we need to be going when we go into the ‘death bed,’” Her ears twitched, as her and her compatriot boarded the train and found a private place to sit, “For the meantime, I’m taking a nap. The ride will be about four hours, and I really don’t feel like staying awake that long.”

“Avaeri!” A male’s voice splintered her sleep like wood.

“Ciran? Could you not yell to wake me up?” Her voice was groggy and annoyed, but nevertheless, she sat up and noticed the train had stopped. Her head turned to either side, looking for the place they were currently at, almost confused. They seemed to have already arrived at their destination, as the environment around them had changed quite a bit. The trees and flowers grew much more wildly then by Aeris. Before getting too lost in the scenery, she parted her lips, “let’s just go meet the others.”

Avaeri often led the two when they went on missions, it wasn’t because she was a leader or anything, it was simply because she was a higher rank and had more experience. Leadership wasn’t always just decided by rank, it was also a simple mutual agreement, which both elves had agreed on since the day they met. 

The trip from Feirina’s train station to their town hall wasn’t too long, taking a short eight minute walk. The path was clearly shown, besides cracks beginning to form and weeds worming their way through the crevices. The trees along the pathway were large and beautiful, except for a strange decay forming on parts of the roots and trunks which was slowly spreading across the woody plant. This same type of decay could be found in the flower bushes that were occasionally lining the way towards the town hall. It was definitely unusual for the town that always boasted about how their landscape was always healthy and gorgeous. Perhaps they found a new interest, such as expanding their territory or even advancing in the magical or mechanical aspects, although this was quite unlikely. 

As their footsteps approached the entrance to the town hall, they spotted a handful of other adventurers, most of which were mid-conversation with one another. Ciran announced their arrival with a simple greeting, “Hello, we are from Aeris, we apologize for the wait.”

“It’s no problem!” A chipper girl with pastel pink hair smiled, jumping with excitement, “there wasn’t a set time to meet anyways.”

“Veronica, you should introduce yourself first before showing such glee,” A man wearing black armor told the girl. The armor covered his entire body and he stood at least a foot taller than anyone else in the room, but his presence was more calm and collected than frightening. 

Fear and regret was instantly plastered onto Veronica’s face, “I’m so sorry! Was that too rude of me? I didn’t mean to be rude.” She apologized profusely, but was friendly the entire time. “My name is Veronica, I am from Healing Ward, and I am actually the number two ranker. I specialize in all sorts of healing and buffing magic and enchants.”

‘Another high ranker…’ Avaeri hadn’t thought of so many rankers attending this one quest, let alone the second ranked adventurer. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Veronica, my name is Avaeri, ranked fourth.”

After exchanging greetings with one another, the group consisted of the three rankers, a diamond badge, and two platinum badges. The three rankers were Veronica, a support, and then Ciran and Avaeri as the classic damage dealers. The rest of the group included the man in black armor, Bernard, a diamond badge tank, Elliza, platinum badge tank, and then Tyrian, a platinum badge support. It was a nice balanced team. Soon enough, the mayor walked into the room, explaining to the group of adventures that their town was under a threat from a being that has haunted his dreams. Although he was skeptical at first, he realized it was more than just a threat after the artifact that breathes life into all of the flora in the town went missing, and it was taken into no other than enemy territory, which belonged to every creature of the dark imaginable. 

“Veronica, you’re the highest ranker here, would you like to lead?” Avaeri asked, letting the one who is ranked higher than her have the first choice. Everyone there respected each other enough for anyone to take charge in this setting. 

With a joyful, sparkling smile, the girl with hair like cherry blossoms turned towards the group and announced her answer, “Thank you for the consideration, but I believe it should be you, Avaeri. I’m a simple healer, I don’t like taking charge.”

Her face covered with shock, it felt like her soul left her body for a short moment. “WHAT?” Avaeri’s voice echoed comically, her sheer surprise immobilizing her. Ciran walked up behind her and lay his hand on her shoulder, laughing at the petrified state his partner was in, while Veronica giggled softly at her reaction.

“Does anyone object to this?” The second place ranker questioned the rest of the party, to which she had no opposition to, “Alright, let’s make our way to the enemy’s territory while Avaeri recovers.” 

“Alright everyone. Let’s make this quick. The artifact is in the fortress, probably on display somewhere. I have no idea honestly,” The elf began, speaking to the party in a hushed voice, as to not alert any enemies, “but we are already right outside of said fortress, meaning as long as we stay hidden and take the stealth approach, physical combat will not be needed today. I’d also like to avoid that as there are so much more of them, then there are us.”

Avaeri took the lead, crouching down low as they entered through a small hole in the side of the dark structure, the rest of the group following her in. Once inside, they split off into pairs. Veronica and the platinum badge tank, the diamond badge tank and the platinum badge support, and then Ciran and herself. Although they were unbalanced pairings, they all agreed this would be what is best. The two elves had the most synergy together and if something were to happen, they could come to the aid of any other pairing the fastest. Veronica had the capability to sustain her partner with ease, and that left the other two together. 

The elven partners went to the right side once they made it to a branched hallway that split in different directions. The walls were made of a deep red colored brick. There weren’t many windows in the structure, and what windows there were, had bars in them, preventing anything from getting in or out. Keeping that in mind, they both nodded to each other, knowing they’d most likely have to exit the way they came in, which can be quite a difficult task. They made their way towards a staircase that led down and another that led up.

“It’s your decision,” Ciran whispered, his voice extremely quiet. They both had sensitive ears, being elves and all, so they were able to pick up smaller sounds than the average being. 

Tracing the directions with her eyes, she made her decision quick, “We should go down. Lower floors tend to have more protection, and they wouldn’t leave an artifact unguarded.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Right as they found themselves at the bottom of the staircase, they spotted two tall guards. They were clad in dark armor, with an even darker colored pair of horns, that resembled a ram’s, adorned on their helmets. They carried long spears that were newly sharpened, the tips of them glinting from the reflection of the fire-lit lanterns that hung on the walls. Their faces were hidden under the shadow of their helms, and the dim lighting barely helped. 

“I’d rather not harm anything or anyone today, so it is best to simply immobilize anyone in our way,” Avaeri started, “but sneaking past has always been an option.” Holding her breath, she waited for the guards to be looking the other way before going around them on the other side, her comrade close behind. Past the guards, there was a long narrow hallway, with nowhere to hide, making it difficult to stay hidden. On their way through the corridor, voices could be heard approaching from the other end, getting closer. Right as the voices were to turn the corner, the footsteps left as quickly as they arrived.

“That was scary,” Ciran whined quietly, his shoulders relaxing from the tense position they were just in. 

“Sadly so,” she muttered, sighing, “whatever, the artifact must be close by. The number of guards we’re encountering is increasing.”

Before they could continue, there was a ringing in their ears. It was a signal from one of the other pairs, to be more precise, it was the pair that didn’t have any rankers. The two elves exchanged a glance at each other before running back in the direction they came from, but when they ran past the room that had the first two guards, the guards were no longer there. If it was a good or bad sign, they didn’t want to find out just yet. Leaping up the stairs, they found their way to the first area that had split, following the corridor that the pair that had called for backup had taken. 

“Avaeri! Ciran!” Their names were called above the commotion. It seemed as if most of the party members were there already. Veronica was providing support to as many as she could as the enemy forces pressured the lower ranked tank and healer. There was something shining in the arms of the healer, a red crystal with golden highlights peeking out of their grasp.

“The artifact,” Ciran said before the other could, both of them noticing what had been found. If that part of the mission was completed, they only had to return intact now. The rest of the party members were in a struggle, trying to put up enough resistance against the enemies. He looked to his side, looking at Avaeri. 

“Alright, guess it’s time to spice this up a bit. What do ya say, Ciran?” She flicked her wrist with flair, excited to show off her magic. 

“Do I really have a say in this?”

“No, not really.”

Veronica swung her head towards them, “You know, it would be helpful if you could show us all why you’re the number four ranker.”

Avaeri rolled her eyes, her confidence levels much higher than anyone reading a short story would be. “Get the guards and knights off of them, Ciran,” she gave directions to her friend, “I’ll then grab the artifact from them before we run out of borrowed time. You make sure they can run away after.” Digging into her own palm with her nails, her hand clenched tightly, threatening to draw her own blood. Soon that threat became a promise when a drop trickled off of her palm, and everyone and everything around her froze. This included the air current and the flames from the lanterns. Taking a step away from where she just was, she watched as the droplet moved ever so slowly towards the cold, stone floor. Her time would be up eventually, meaning she had to get done her task. Lightly tapping Ciran in the forehead, the lack of time melted away from him, allowing him to move along with the time-wielding adventurer.  

“How much time do we have left?” The companion asked her, quickly beginning his tasks.

“I’d say about two minutes max.”

With two simple nods, the two set off towards the time-frozen party members and enemies. Ciran started by moving the guards slightly by the shoulders, pulling them away from the adventures that were fear-stricken, freeing them from the enemies. Avaeri carefully pried the healer’s pale fingers from the artifact, taking it into her own hands. Now that she had it, they could return to Feirina without too much more hassle. Holding the magical item in her left arm, she flicked her fingers on her right hand, time shattering like shards of glass when they hit a stone floor. The flames continued to like the walls with light, and the air danced between one’s hair. The adventures and the enemies alike began to continue what they were just doing last, except it was in utter confusion, as they were moved from where they just were.

“We need to get going now,” Ciran helped the two lower-skilled adventurers get out of there with ease. He took them to the entrance and began to safely guide them back out of the area and towards the town. 

“What happened?” Veronica questioned, running out of the room alongside Avaeri and whoever else was left, “and where’s the artifact?”

“You simply asked me to do something, as the fourth placed ranker. Any other questions?” She replied, giving a smile as they made their escape. 

Avaeri placed the artifact upon the pedestal, a blinding light emitting from where it was, encompassing everyone in the room. The light was a warm golden hue and it even felt a little warm as it touched the adventurers’ skin. As they looked out of any window, the greyish decay that had once been found on any of the flora in Feirina, could now be seen disappearing in a golden light. They had retrieved exactly what they had needed to complete the mission, and they did it in the best way possible. 

“I believe that to be the end of the quest, Avaeri.”

“Must it be? Although it was fun, we should probably head home. Let’s go, Ciran”