Strife Of The Eclipse

Village

Ten Minutes Later, After Rena and Aiden settle the minor issues...

Rena and Aiden then get out of the underground dungeon to the surface and check the surroundings.

“All Clear, Dad!” Rena said.

Let’s Go, asked Aiden while sheathing his dagger back.

They started to walk towards the forest and keep walking, avoiding every danger along the way.

…

5 days later…

"Damn, this is the village?" Aiden thought it was because of his eyes. But the village's condition is so bad like a heavy war just struck them flat, many buildings are broken here and there, some are light, and many are heavily broken. 

"Yes, dad. It's a village, but it doesn't seem to be very friendly to us..." Rena looked at the closed wooden gate and the militiamen who were on guard on the walls.

With her sharp eyes, Rena could even see their hands had buckled the bowstring of the hunting bow.

"Oh! God! Guys, please put away your weapons, and take it easy! we come in peace" Aiden shouted.

After everyone heard the words, they put away the weapons in their hands but remained vigilant...

Aiden walked slowly to the gate of the village and looked at the villagers above the sentry.

"Well, excuse me, we are just travelers, we hope we can find a place to stay overnight, and we can pay," Aiden said sincerely.

"Really? Where did you guys come from?" said an older villager above.

"Uh, I'm from the Sylvari village, and this is my daughter” Aiden walks forward to the gate.

Sure enough, looking at the light blonde-haired and brown-eyed Aiden, the villagers above began to discuss. After a while, the people above should have finished the discussion, and three men jumped down and talked.

"Yes, you can come in to rest, but we hope you don't use weapons to fight in the village and don't disturb the villagers."

“Any violation against the rules inside the village will result in immediate action such as fines,  jail time, service time, or even banned from entering the village.”

“We already got our hands full of problems, one more problem is not an issue for us.” Said one of the militias that jumped outside the doors and welcomed Aiden and Rena inside the gate…

"As you wish, we are willing to comply." Aiden hurriedly agreed.

Very well, we will now conduct a minor search for your weapon and make a data about it, just about the shape and type, we won’t take it, but if there is murder inside the village, we will not blame you if the weapon of murder is not yours.

After the inspection, one of the men signaled the sentries on the tower.

"Crackling..." The wooden door was slowly pushed open, and Aiden slowly went in. As a result, as soon as he entered, Aiden guessed in his heart.

"I'm afraid it's not in the Erze Village..." Aiden said to himself because he found a row of "dwarves" standing in front of him. To be precise, it should be the Mecharies.

"Hello, may I ask, where is this? We lost our way in the wasteland." Aiden hurriedly grabbed someone and asked politely...

After some inquiries, it can be confirmed that Aiden is now in the southernmost part of the Seras continent, and it is not the Varya continent.

"This is easy to handle, I am familiar with the map of Seras continent" Aiden rubbed his chin and said. If I am not mistaken, all I have to do is go upwards on three weeks on foot journey to find the sylvari village by following the road on the other side of the village.

"By the way, what era is it now, Rena, go and find out."

"Okay, dad."

…

"What! The year 2998 of the abandonment era?!" Aiden was surprised. What is the abandonment era? 

"How many years have I lost when I was in Titanoire, What has happened to my race?" Aiden gets a headache thinking about how he was blind in his own realm.

"What's the matter, dad?" Rena asked with concern. “Wait, let me ask around for more.”

Later, Rena came and told him. “Abandonment Era is the era where the gods abandon us, the era where everyone is struggling from the lack of protection from the gods, simply put, all the creations of the gods are striving to survive on their own, and some are hostile towards other and many humanoids started to develop and gain intelligence on their own and started to occupy the land.

People said that there is a wandering old bard that will tell stories of his journey tonight in the central area, shall we join them? I felt that we can gain more knowledge about the era from him.” 

Ok, nice idea Rena. Now let’s find a place to stay and rest. Tonight, we will go to the central area.

Aiden and Rena then go to the only tavern in the village. From the outside, it looks uncomfortable, disturbing, and broken. Small stones and intricate stone carvings make up most of the building's outer structure. It's tough to see through the windows, but the depressing vibes from within can be felt outside.

As you enter the tavern through the heavy, wooden door, you're welcomed by the sound of the wind outside and the aromas of what's probably food, hopefully.

The bartender is staring at nothing and makes no effort to acknowledge your presence.

It's as dreary inside as it is on the outside. Squared, stone beams support the upper floor and the large, molten candles attached to them. The walls are covered in a layer of dust, making it near impossible to see what the few paintings on the walls are about.

The tavern itself is almost completely abandoned. The few people inside make Aiden likely to stay away from them, but whoever they are, he hopes they'll leave him alone, just like he did, leaving them alone.

Aiden walks to the bartender and asks. “Do you have rooms for us?”

The Bartender then looks at Aiden and says “ We only have 4 rooms left and only one with two beds, the rest is already broken because of the prolonged invasion by the lizardmen,  5 copper a night for a single bed, including breakfast and bath. take it or leave it.

Aiden takes out 10 copper and pays the bartender.  The bartender then calls the waiter and the waiter escorted Aiden and Rena to their room. 

Aiden and Rena then take a rest and wait for the sun to go down. In Sylgarth, the time for Day is 16 hours and the night is 8 hours.

In the night, Aiden and Rena then get some dinner at the tavern. Surprisingly, the food is good enough for Aiden to eat, while Rena can eat everything as a golem.

After the dinner, Aiden took Rena to the central area where several people and kids were already sitting in a bonfire. An old man is sitting a bit far from the crowds, sipping some drinks.

Some militia that was guarding when Aiden entered the village is also present. Aiden then takes a seat and watches the old man as the guard tells him that he is the one that calls himself a bard.

The bard moved to the center of the bonfire and took a seat there. He drew a deep breath, inhaled the smoke from his pipe, and let it out slowly. Most of his face was hidden under a thick, old hood, and behind him, there was only pitch darkness as he was facing the forest. In the dim glow of the pipe, it was impossible to see his features.

He introduced himself as a bard - yet no one believed him, as his voice was thick and ragged - and everyone was suspicious that he traveled the dangerous forest alone.

However, he offered to tell us a story if we shared our meal and the warmth of our fire.  The guard speaks to Aiden.

We agreed if only because we couldn't leave this traveler in the cold forest, he added.

Everyone then made themselves comfortable by the fire, the adults holding their weapons at the ready in case of danger came uninvited., and waited for the bard’s story to begin. 

The night was ice-cold, and his low, thick voice carried quietly across the mountain as, setting aside his pipe, he opened his mouth and began to speak.