3 months later…
"Are we there yet?" Bjorn asked for the twentieth time since our journey began. Magnus was so fed up with his brother that he punched him on the arm. Jurgen was completely unbothered, enjoying the gentle rays of sunlight as we walked along the dirt road.
"I swear, if you ask one more time. I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you'll taste shit." I growled at the bored young man. His insistent complaining began to get on my nerves.
Over the past three months, we have moved through about 4 different villages and one city. By my estimations, Wunderberg was only two weeks' travel away. So we had plenty of time to spare. We left shortly after the inquisitor arrived, not wanting to spend more time there than necessary. After the first month of travel, we exited the frontier domain riddled with never-ending storms. The change in scenery had been so abrupt that it caught us off guard. When we looked back then, we could see a literal line separating the clear sky and the cloud-ridden storm. It was known as one of the four wonders of the world. The others were scattered across the continent. In the capital of the holy land, the sun was almost always visible. Even at night, gentle rays of sunlight would peek through behind the moon.
As the main temple of Sollaris stood on that hollowed ground, it to some degree made sense. Then you had the floating islands to the south. In the territory of the Kahalla kingdom, there they worshiped the moon goddess. And the final world wonder was in the far eastern stretches of the continent. There they had the Red Sea. An entire stretch of ocean made of uncoagulated blood. Filled to the brim with monsters and other aberrations.
To most in this world, they were symbols of the greatness of their four deities. But as a prince, I was privy to more information than most. Each of the world's wonders was a remnant of the age of dragons and gods. That war lasted centuries. These were the sites where the so-called gods attained divinity.
I pushed these thoughts to the side as I saw the village drawing near in the distance. But the closer we came, the more travelers we saw on the road. Now that would have been nothing strange if almost all the travelers were not adventurers. Decked out in full battle regalia with their weapons strapped to their side. My hand moved down, resting on the hilt of my nodachi as a feeling of foreboding consumed me.
Moving a bit quicker, I grabbed the shoulder of a young-looking adventurer. "Hey, what's all this about?" I said while motioning to the large gathering in front of us.
"You don't know?" he looked at me with utter confusion. "They recently excavated a tomb from the Dark Ages. Rumor has it the place is filled to the brim with the undead. So they made it into an open trial of sorts. Everybody wants to be the one to get the treasure."
His explanation was enlightening. I shared a look with my squad members. A silent conversation proceeded. "I don't know what the big deal is. Let's just go in there and bash some skulls." Bjorn yawned and stretched his arms above his head.
"All you can think about is bashing things," Magnus rolled his eyes. "By the gods, what did I do to deserve a brother like this?" He feigned offense before getting serious again. "As much as I am loath to admit. I do think he is right. This would be a good way to strengthen our teamwork before the trial in Wunderberg." He said with a shrug.
"Jurgen, what say you?" I turned to the quiet giant with an expectant look.
"I think a tomb from the age of magic would be extremely dangerous. But if even the flower had to grow thorns to survive. I see no reason why we should not sharpen our blades." Ever the poet Jurgen still agreed.
"Then it's settled, we'll challenge the tomb. But first, I'm fucking starving, let's head to the tavern." As if to iterate my point, my stomach rumbled in reply. What was it that Jurgen called it? The age of Magic. The words rolled on my tongue; it was not just the words he spoke. But the weight he spoke them with. There was definitely more to the story than I knew. The question was what?
The tavern itself was exactly what one would expect from a small village. It was a two-story building with the first floor serving as a bar and the second floor filled with accommodations. Walking inside, I was immediately hit by the raucous laughter and the stench of hard drink. The place was completely packed with adventurers drinking themselves into oblivion. We had to muscle our way through to the bar. Bumping into various adventurers along the way. Some wanted to react, but quickly quelled their desires once they saw the giant with us. Even without Jurgen it was unlikely that they would have done much. Bjorn and I towered over most of the people here.
There was a particularly loud group in the left corner of the bar. "Did you hear, Manter and his group got wiped this morning?" One of the men said with a gleam in his eyes. His words caused his group to erupt in laughter.
"Serves those bastards right for being so fucking arrogant. Now if the tomb could just take the barons' party than it would truly be a divine gift." A short and stocky man replied.
I listened to all of this intently while approaching the barkeep. "What do'ya want?" His voice was almost as rough as his face. By the gods, the man looked hideous. He had a hooked nose with a face covered in acne scars. His eyes were almost permanently squinted, making him look comical. If not for his hight I would have assumed he was a goblin.
"We'll, take whatever pieces of meat you got, and five ales." I said with my most charming smile.
The barkeep just looked at me like I was an idiot. "That'd be five copper." I dropped the coin in his open palm and left to find an open table for my party and me.
"Did you see that guys face, ugh, I'd curse the gods every day if I looked like that. Hahahahah." Bjorn laughed at his own statement.
"You calling me ugly shit for brains?" An adventurer had overheard his statement and assumed we were talking about him. The guy was as skinny as a reed and had an unnaturally long face. With an expression like he just ate something sour. His breath reeked of alcohol.
"Ha, no, my good man. We weren't talking about you." Bjorn turned away from him contiuneuing to the table. Only for the reedy man to grab his arm.
"I ain't done, hic, talking to you." This time, Bjorn did not even respond; he just turned around and knocked the guy unconscious with a single swing.
"Oops, did not think he was that weak," He had a guilty smile on his face, the idiot.
"Tommy, what did you do to Tommy, you bastard?" His friend swung a bottle at Bjorn. It never reached him. I grabbed his arm and brought it behind his back in a death grip.
I put so much pressure on his joint that he howled in pain. "Now, I think we can move on from this, don't you?" I whispered in his ear threateningly. The man gave a nervous gulp before nodding.
Letting him go, I went to take a seat. Magnus smacked his brother over the head for causing needless trouble. I heard some of the patrons whisper behind me. "Did you see that? They just knocked out Baron Slavolvsky."
"Aahh shit," I whispered under my breath. All this would bring was more trouble. Damn, you, Bjorn. I glared daggers at my foolish friend.