Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

After the Demon's Stomach finally reopened mysteriously and by itself, business returned to the town that surrounded the entrance. With the return of adventurers, so too did the traveling merchants and wandering warriors who wished to test their mettle.

The dying and slow streets of the last several months disappeared and were once again filled with people. Berk could barely walk through his hometown without almost bumping into a dozen people. Though the large crowds were obnoxious, he could not complain too badly.

With the return of adventurers and warriors venturing into the dungeon, he had been granted the opportunity to retrain his exploration skills. As a former dungeon guide, and one of the most prolific, he would team up with adventurer groups and guide them through the different levels of the dungeon.

The first ten floors of the dungeon were the same layout constantly, but after the tenth floor whatever mysterious magic maintained the structure would change the floor layouts. Though creating maps of any floor from the eleventh onward was useless, dungeon guides like Berk understood the signs and patterns of the floors.

With the help of people like him, adventuring groups would be able to focus on fighting and collecting resources while trusting their guide to lead them through the depths.

Along with Berk's return to the dungeon, his business partners in his bar offered to buy his portion out. They were concerned that in the event of his death that they would lose a partner. If he passed, it would be harder to file to take ownership of his remaining portion as they would be required to try and locate his relatives before being able to take over his claim.

Berk laughed in their faces because he had no remaining relatives. He happily agreed to sign a form that stated they would be able to take over his claim at cost. The proceeds would then be donated to an orphanage in the capital that cared for children left behind by parents who passed in the Alorek War.

Today he was supposed to guide a duo of adventurers into the dungeons. According to the contract delivered to him at the Adventurer's Guild, the pair of fighters were looking for a long-term contract with a guide. The last few contracts he took were single delves and with his bad luck, all of these single-delves were with groups who backed out of future visits.

They were young fighters who thought they could survive the difficult fights that awaited them below the depths.

Though he hoped the young warriors would return to delving one day, they were clearly better suited to standard adventuring. Berk had no clue who these two new people were, but the fact they wanted a long-term contract gave him hope that he would be able to more frequently and reliably venture deeper into the Demon's Stomach once more.

Berk entered the doors of his bar and approached a table in the corner of the main floor that the guild advised his new charges would be waiting at. The two people sitting at the table gave him pause. There were two women, both were average looking, despite the fact that half their ancestry appeared to be elven in nature. It looked like they took more after the human side.

One of the two women was more obvious than the other. She had a massive frame and easily towered over her partner despite them both sitting down at the table. The larger of the two had massive muscular arms and defined neck. Every inch of her massive frame seemed to be covered in ornate tattoos of various colors.

Several images depicted battles with people and monsters. Others appeared to be of ships at sea. Still more depicted strange, flowing designs that wrapped in and around the other art. It was clear that this large half-elf was not from around the kingdom. It was more than likely she was not even from the continent itself.

"Nice to meet you," he said with a smile, "The name is Berk. Are you my contractors?"

The smaller of the two simply stared at him with wide eyes similar to those of a brand-new adventurer. Seeing that one of them was such a fresh-faced newbie made Berk a little nervous about his contract. Thankfully the other half-elf did not give off that impression.

"Aye," the large one answered with a smirk, "The name's Mar'Eeyen. If ya couldn't tell from the ink, I'm from the Far Shores."

"What brings you this way?" Berk said. Though he had made the assumption that she was from that part of the world, it was still surprising to hear it from her mouth directly. Not only that, several other people appeared to have heard the woman's proclamation and an increased number of eyes landed on them.

"Life on the open seas is a fair bit exciting, but I'm not one for sailing. I find myself more of a fighter. I landed in the Keinydd Kingdom and found my friend Helena here." Mar'Eeyen laughed before taking a large drink of her ale. "Been fighting our way this direction ever since I heard of this so called 'Demon's Stomach'. Been itchin' to fight in the place."

Berk could almost hear Mar'Eeyen's breath quicken with excitement. It was clear she was a veteran fighter and a damned powerful one. However, sometimes battle junkies like that were as concerning as a newbie fighter.

A waitress delivered his usual drink. Berk gave her an appreciative nod, but left the cup where she placed it. His customers eyed him warily.

"Got a problem drinking?" Mar'Eeyen said with a dangerous tone. "A business opportunity isn't complete unless we agree over a drink… unless you plan on denyin' me?"

"What rank are you?" Berk asked with a heavy sigh, "I have a newbie and a battle junkie wanting to test their worth in one of the most dangerous dungeons in the world. I need to know you're worth my time."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The small half-elf finally spoke up, her voice scarcely more than a whisper. "Advance Ranker. Bow Arts. Wind Magic."

"Aye," the larger one agreed, "Same rank here, but I use the axe. Got the Axe Arts and Berserker Arts. Neither of us are spring chickens. Helena here is an experienced hunter with… an undisclosed number of years under her belt. Likely more than you've been alive."

Berk sighed and looked between the two women. They were certainly half-elves which meant that the small one easily could have been twice his age without looking a day over twenty. He gently lifted his mug and chugged the entire contents. When he placed it back onto the table with a loud slam, Mar'Eeyen's face grew a wide grin.

"Atta' boy!" She shouted with uproarious laughter, "A full round for the table! To our newfound partnership!"

Berk smiled. The woman reminded him of some of his old friends and his brother. Their memories struck a painful chord in his heart, but he refused to let it show on his face. This was a new job and a new chance. He needed to remove the rust from his blade and once again return to the dungeon with fervor. After all, he had a goal to meet.

Any day could be the day that he would finally be able to enact his revenge.

The three of them drank well into the night. Even Helena's quiet demeanor lightened in the mood of their jubilant party. The two women regaled him with tales of their travels, both separate and together. Helena had apparently served a powerful noble family in their personal guard for a few decades keeping the peace on the outskirts of Keinydd.

Mar'Eeyen on the other hand had many tales of fights at sea against others of the Far Shores who fought over minerals and mining rights of islands. Many of the details on where her adventures led and what they did specifically were left shrouded in mystery.

Though the woman had turned her back on her homeland to achieve a life of adventure away from the sea, she still had the same elusive pattern of story-telling that any of those who came from her homeland possessed. It was as if there was a silent agreement amongst her people to not share what existed outside of the mist that surrounded the continent.

"Aye," She said, "There are many unknowable things in the world that exists outside. Things that I wouldn't repeat were my life dependent on it. I'll tell ya' what, you find your way outside the mist that protects you from the world outside, and I'll share all my stories and every gory detail."

Berk nodded along in mock understanding. He had no intention of leaving Arcadios in his life time, let alone traveling the waters surrounding their continent and figuring out a way beyond the mist that kept their world contained.

"I'll pass." Berk said simply with a sad smile on his face, "This world is all I ever knew and all I care to know. I'll leave the mysteries of it to people more adventurous than me. I live, breathe, and die by the dungeon. It is my calling."