"It's been two days already, and we're still here."
— Oberon was on the training grounds, practicing his knife throws an hour after waking up. Two days had already passed during which the group had been going about their daily activities: Kaelen was sleeping, Elena was reading one of her books, and Krax was training alongside Obi, who couldn't land a single hit on him —
"Don't be impatient."
"I'm not. Why would I be impatient to jump into danger? It's just that I'm surprised by the silence after the massacre you caused."
— Krax quickly closed in on Obi, deflecting every throwing weapon Obi hurled at him. Sensing the danger, Obi grabbed his axe and managed to block Krax's descending blow, but the action caused him pain in his injured lung, forcing him to drop to one knee. —
"We've trained hard; it'll be best for your sake if we stop here for today."
"No, a simple break will suffice."
"You mustn't overexert yourself."
— Krax said as he sheathed his sword, then reached out his hand to Obi, who took it with a smile —
"Does this count as a victory for me?"
"Are you really happy to beat a wounded man? Where's your honor?"
"I swear, as soon as your lung heals, I'm going to beat you into shape."
— They returned to the tavern, both sweating like pigs, which displeased the waitress —
"Please, dear customers, you smell a bit strong; I'd invite you to take a bath,"
— The waitress said, somewhat distressed. Krax sniffed his raincoat, turning his nose away at the same moment —
"Sure, sorry about the smell."
— Oberon said, climbing the stairs alongside Krax, before each went to their own room. —
"That's strange, Kaelen isn't here. Well, better that than him sleeping all day; the smell from outside won't do him any harm."
— Obi undressed, revealing a body that had become slightly more toned, though additional scars were also visible —
"At least there aren't only negatives to my physical condition."
— He entered the bathroom and began taking a soapy shower —
"Phew!!! That was a tough workout for my body."
— He paused for a moment, placing his hand on his chest —
"It's awful being in this condition. I can't even train for an hour straight; I have to take a break every five minutes and rest for seven."
— He let out a sigh, pouring water over himself again —
"The Weaver of Wounds—the cost is too high for us. Does Elena really have that much money? Ten thousand large Quists—it's an enormous sum. Maybe she plans to kill and steal it."
— His thoughts stopped the moment he poured water over himself for the last time.
After finishing his bath, he stepped out of the bathroom, pulled on a pair of pants, and lay down on his bed bare-chested and face-up. His gaze was as if he were trying to find answers in the ceiling, and he sighed again—
"At least I've improved at throwing throwing knives and blades, and I've also managed to digest three Quistes over the last two days."
— In that moment of personal reflection, Krax entered the room, interrupting him —
"Didn't anyone teach you to knock before entering?"
"We have work to do."
— Obi said no more, preparing for a possible fight.
On the way, Obi was walking behind Krax, who was guiding him to where they needed to go —
"Do you know what to do?"
"No, can you remind me? It's just that I have Alzheimer's."
"Haha, how funny,"
— Krax said sarcastically —
"I just have to make sure no one gets out."
"They're dangerous people; they might have more than one trick up their sleeves, so be careful—you're not in the best shape."
'A low blow, but I won't say anything'
— After nearly half an hour, they finally reached their target —
"Well, I'll take up my position. It's not like I want to watch you get covered in blood."
"I'm not doing this for fun."
— Krax said, somewhat tired of Obi's constant comments. In the end, he went inside, leaving Obi to keep watch in front of the door.
Inside the building were four armed people of different builds who looked at Krax in surprise. Next to him was another locked box; seeing it served as confirmation of his objective. He drew his sword as his humanity faded from his eyes, his empathy extinguished—
"I'm here for the box. If you hand it over without a fight, I'll let you live. If, on the other hand, you resist, there won't be a single limb left of you for your funerals."
— The people in the building looked at each other for a few seconds, then burst out laughing the next —
"Hahahaha!!! Hey buddy, I think you're in the wrong place. Too bad for you—your arrogance will be your downfall."
— said the biggest man in the room. He was burly and as tall as a doorframe, holding a massive, heavy hammer. He lunged at Krax, who easily dodged his first attack, positioning himself over the hammer and running his hand along the handle with the aim of landing a blow, but another man quickly climbed onto his companion's shoulder, deflecting Krax's attack with two knives. Krax had to step back for his safety. In the brief moment their weapons clashed, he could feel it: the guy with the two blades, who kept sticking his tongue out, was a far more dangerous opponent than any he'd faced so far—and on top of that, there were three others behind him who were surely in the same league.
"It seems you don't know who you're up against. Let us introduce ourselves: we are the quadruplets. I'm number two. The one who lunged at you is the youngest of my brothers, number four. The one who always seems reserved and shy is number three, and the one who always seems serious is number one. If I can tell you a secret, he doesn't really like the scenery of Caelum-Vena—he has bad memories involving a woman."
"What are you telling the enemy? Why are you talking about my private life?"
— Number One shouted, angry and flushed —
"Calm down, brother. It's not what you think. I'm only telling him your secrets because he'll take them to the grave anyway."