Touch of Fate

Sighing, Julia slumped down on the barrel she had been helping to carry. Manual labor had never been her forte, so the last few days had been particularly terrible. With almost all of her worldly possessions destroyed in the event which had become known as the Night of Ruin, she had little choice but to seek what work was available to her.

Since the Grey had disbanded, and security had increased dramatically in the city, it was almost impossible for her to earn a living in her chosen trade of thievery. So, she was forced to seek other employment.

"Hey, you! Get back to work! We have two hours to move these barrels down to the docks!" Yelled the burly armed teamster that was running their particular work detail.

Julia hurried to pick the barrel up again. She couldn't afford to lose any income for failing to keep up at work. This job paid well, but any slacking would come out of her paycheck.

Ever since the Night of Ruin, transport jobs had become nearly as common as construction ones. The severe damage to the City's buildings and roadways meant that any flow of goods had to be transported around the numerous construction sites, often times through narrow or infrequently used passages. This meant relying on brute muscle to carry it through the confusing maze of Wyrport's northern districts.

After an hour of frantic scrambling, lifting, and occasionally dragging, the team finally arrived at the docks and delivered their cargo, dried fish from the smell of it.

Julia collapsed into a panting heap nearby and waited for the feeling to return to her limbs. She didn't think she could keep this up much longer.

"Alright, everyone!" The team leader shouted energetically. "Five minute break, and then we have to deliver these crates to the Sarson Merchant's Company. We'll need to get it there in less than an hour, so be prepared to pick up the pace!"

The crew, with the exception of the beastman currently reevaluating her life choices, responded with a hearty cheer.

[Why???????] Julia shouted internally.

A shadow fell over her face, as a short-haired blonde woman leaned over to look at her. She was barefoot and dressed in a ragged clothes that looked far too big for her, but the woman herself was remarkably clean and healthy looking. Something about her set Julia on edge.

"You've been touched by him, although not as strongly as the one from before." The woman said with a confident smile.

[Oh great, another crazy.]

Standing up painfully, Julia fixed the woman with a suspicious state, "Listen lady, I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't want to know what you are talking about, so you best go elsewhere."

"My apologies! I haven't explained yet." The blonde replied. "You have interacted with the Hero recently. Traces of his destiny are still clinging to you, along with some other….things."

The woman frowned while examining Julia, as if she had seen something troubling. "You haven't done anything to get yourself cursed recently, have you?"

Julia suddenly recalled the horrible idol in the underground cavern. The one that was apparently belong to an evil demon cult, and that she had destroyed, ruining their plans.

Looking away, she feebly responded in a monotone voice, "Noo…..why would you think that?"

The woman shrugged, "Oh well, probably not important then."

[Eh? No, wait…..]

"Anyway, I want to hire you to be my guide." She said while placing her hands on her hips.

Julia blinked, once again looking at the clothes her potential 'customer' was wearing. "What, really?"

"Of course! Unfortunately, I don't have much to pay you with since I was force to take a mortal form without any of my possessions….." The woman began patting her rags as if looking for her money pouch.

"Look as interesting as this is, I need to be getting back to work soon…."

"Aha! Will this do?" She held out a grimy lump. "I made sure to acquire a few of these while traveling here in order to trade for provisions."

"I don't want your dirty ro...Is that gold?" Julia asked, taking the rock in hand. With some closer inspection it became clear that it was an unrefined nugget of gold.

Julia felt her heartbeat racing. With this amount, she wouldn't have to work for months if not years. She could afford to move out of the dingy apartment she was sharing with three other women. Julia didn't know who this crazy woman was, but she evidently had a line to some serious wealth.

Slipping the nugget into a pocket, she turned to face the woman, "So what was it you were needing again?"

"Oh good! So, you accept." The blonde woman dropped a heavy arm onto Julia's shoulder. The grip felt ridiculously strong. So much so, that Julia immediately began to regret her decision.

"I really only need a mortal to help guide me through the pitfalls of civilization, and since you are already acquainted with the Hero, you can aid me in my search, too. Now, we must move quickly." The woman began to drag Julia with her, despite her protestations.

"Hey, wait!"

The woman did not appear to hear her, "I heard from a green haired adventurer that the one we seek has left for the capital. Upon further investigation, this appears to be a completely different city, one that will require long days of travel to reach. We must make haste! My mission is too vital!"

She stopped suddenly, and let Julia go, dropping her to the ground. "Ah! I almost forgot."

Springing to her feet, Julia tried to escape, but felt the iron grip close on her arm.

"I forgot to introduce myself. I am known as Cariel, an angel in service to the Sun Goddess. Now let us hurry! I have heard that there is something called a 'boat' that can take us to where we need to go."

The so-called angel began dragging her once more, not even aware of the teeth the cat beasman had sunk into the flesh of her forearm.

After a few more minutes of pointless struggling, Julia finally resigned herself to her fate, tears once again streaming down her face, as she was forced to listen to Cariel speaking happily about her recent experience with a delightful creature called a 'dog.' Apparently it had been the friendliest mortal she had so far encountered in her travels.

[I really am cursed! Damn that newbie adventurer! This is all his fault, somehow!]

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Mike sneezed as he disembarked from the ship.

[Someone must be talking bad about me. That or I'm catching a cold.] He thought to himself, before wondering if it was even possible for him to get sick anymore.

The rest of the journey to the capital had been uneventful. Ever since the encounter with the raiders Captain Bont and his 'sailors' had treated the group with the utmost delicacy, so much so, the tension had evidently gotten to the crew.

By the time they had reached the capital's docks, they were jumping at every sound, whispering about him when they thought he wasn't listening. From the sounds of it, the rumors they started were getting more and more outlandish.

Pretty much, as soon as the group had set foot on the docks, the plank went up and the ship once again departed, not even bothering to try and sell the cargo they had brought to sell in the capital.

[I guess the good Captain no longer wants me to keep him in mind for future shipping needs.] Mike thought to himself while examining the city.

It was a true marvel of engineering, or perhaps magic, now that he thought about it.

According to Sera, the city of Almirn was once located on an island right off the coast. As the city grew in importance over the years, it spread out to the mainland. Soon, this caused a major problem, as the few bridges and ferries in operation quickly became overwhelmed. This all changed when the legendary mage Ryan Stonehewer was put in charge of a team tasked with solving the problem for good.

Originally, the king at the time merely wanted wide, stable bridges to link the two sections of the city. Since, maritime trade was a large part of the city's economy, the bridges couldn't block off the Almirn Channel that ran between the island and the mainland. However, he had underestimated the audacity of Ryan.

Utilizing a complicated ritual that spanned three days and took nearly 30 mages specializing in Earth Magic to complete, the Tier 4 mage permanently linked the two landmasses. He summoned a massive span of hardened stone reinforced with unusual spiral structures made of crystal that Ryan himself put into place, and whose exact composition remains a mystery.

Sections of the sea floor were actually raised and fused with the nearby bedrock to give the bridge symmetrical anchoring points, allowing for its nearly 8km width. Massive support columns, themselves close to 30m in diameter, supported the titanic bulk of the structure, which soared hundreds of meters above the channel.

It was quite frankly a wonder of the age. Essentially, an artificial island produced through magic. Over time it evolved into its own district of the city, complete with shops, homes, and government buildings built on the gently curving surface. In typical human fashion, its original name was eventually forgotten, and now was known simply as The Span.

They had disembarked on the mainland side of The Span, where extensive docks had sprung up over the intervening centuries leading up to the present day.

"Alright, does anyone know where we need to go from here? I'm assuming that I need to check in with the University." Mike asked, still marveling at the structure of the bridge.

It wasn't particularly pretty from a distance, but up close, the clear crystal spirals that were visible on the underside were breathtaking. Supposedly, they were an even greater spectacle at night, when pulsing specks of light could be seen traversing the complex, crystalline structures. It was something he was looking forward to seeing.

"I think the University is supposed to be in the Old City, on the other side of the Span. Wait a moment." Sera replied while glancing around. She spotted something that resembled a tourism kiosk, and after haggling for a minute with the owner, she returned, triumphantly, with a simple map of the city.

"Here we are," She said while pointing to a section just south of The Span, which was unimaginatively called the Southern Docks. "And here is where we need to go," Tracing her finger across the bridge, she finally pointed to a walled compound which dominated the northern section of the Old City. It was labeled 'The University of Almirn.'

"Seems simple enough." Brenden commented while wiping the sweat from his brow. It was still a little before noon, but the day was already reaching uncomfortably high temperatures.

With unanimous, unspoken consent, the group set off though the dusty streets.