That night, after tireless thoughts about what the future held, Xerxes eventually found his body needing rest, which he heeded. Despite the lack of injuries on his body, he was magically and mentally exhausted.
For some strange reason, he had hoped today he would dream of the man within his soul core, but there had been nothing. Almost as if there was punishment for not heeding his advice for the first time, but he didn't try to dwell on it too much.
After a few hours, rays of sunlight cracked through the paned windows. The early morning held loud and boisterous conversations with adventurers that awoke Xerxes.
His eyes slowly opened, and beside him in the same bed, he saw Leiya resting. Whilst she still held her animosity and melancholy, there were tinges of 'relaxation' on her face, which Xerxes didn't want to disturb.
He slowly crept out of bed, pulling the blanket over Leiya, and stretched whilst looking down at Airi, who was sleeping on the wooden cabinet. Luckily, it wasn't burning, because she was most likely utilising her healing flames naturally, as opposed to the destructive flames.
Xerxes smiled, looking down at Airi—someone who had saved him numerous times. First, her voice had beckoned to him whilst he was trapped within the fallen kingdom, and the next was more strange and unique.
"So you can merge with my body, can you, Airi?" Xerxes spoke gently, whilst stroking her feathers.
Xerxes wandered back to that moment. In the spur of the moment, Airi had come soaring, merging with his body and making the cleave that was going to decapitate him useless. His body had turned into flames—it had become intangible for a moment, rendering even someone like Yves's attack painless.
Xerxes held onto his neck, reminiscing about that moment. He hadn't thought too deeply back then, but now he began to realise the extent of the power.
Throughout the battle, despite mana encompassing the nature of fire, Airi's fire burned more singularly. Her flames possessed multiple natural properties, and even Aemon had said, 'Airi's power isn't like your own.'
Airi's power was most likely like Aemon's Eye of Truth, right? Aemon had inherited that power from a 'god,' as he'd said... that might link to Airi's past. Perhaps she, too, had inherited her power from a god, but the idea of Airi being what they called an 'apostle' seemed unlikely.
Yet I can wield her flames. When she merged with my body, I was able to withstand it. Now that I think on it, I was able to recover quickly and endure heavy attacks, to a degree, albeit against Yves, something I know I couldn't have done without Airi.
Could my overall mana potency be enhanced when I merge with Airi? I ought to ask her later. For now, though, I need to meet the tavern owners and, if possible, learn more about Baratheon. I'm sure there will be something here that can assist me and Leiya in getting back to Layne.
Xerxes walked to the wardrobe and, luckily enough, found some simple clothing: a white cotton shirt and plain yet regal black trousers, which he could wear. He quickly got changed, and when shutting the door, the mirror showed how truly damaged he was.
His right arm and parts of his torso were adorned in bandages. A nasty scar wrapped around his shoulder blade, almost reaching his chest, and his eyes were sunken and tired from exhaustion, which he had been doing his best to ignore.
He noticed in the mirror that Leiya was waking up too, so he quickly put his shirt on and looked back. "Good morning, Leiya."
Leiya's eyes fluttered open, acknowledging Xerxes's gesture, but she didn't reply. Xerxes had slightly expected her to be more standoffish, so he didn't press her. He only said what was necessary.
"There should be a change of clothes in here for you, Leiya. The tavern owners also wanted us to meet with them in the morning. I hope you can come."
Leiya rubbed her eyes and nodded slowly. "Sure."
Soon after, Leiya freshened up—not nearly to the standard she used to, but it was enough to be somewhat presentable. They both began walking down the stairs, with Leiya's eyes practically glued to the floor while Xerxes looked ahead.
He quickly noticed Gundrik and Bertha playing cards. Whatever game they were playing, Gundrik was losing, judging by his tense expression.
Noticing the creaking of the floorboards on the stairs, Gundrik smiled. "Call it perfect timing, chap! I was gonna lose, but Bertha ain't getting the best of me today!"
Bertha crossed her arms. "We can continue this later, ya' old fart."
Gundrik slumped his shoulders, accepting the defeat his wife had handed him, but he quickly stood up and pulled back two chairs.
Xerxes and Leiya took a seat in each of them as Gundrik looked at both of them. Bertha then spoke. "Me' husband was tellin' tales about the both of ya'. You're lost, you don't have anywhere, no money... yer practically street rats! So tell me, what exactly d'ya wanna do?"
Xerxes decided to speak. "We need to go back to Layne. Mr Gundrik already told me it's practically impossible using a Stargate, so I was thinking—if you have a book, I can explain what I would like to do."
Gundrik looked around. "Ya' think I have a book on hand, boy?!"
Xerxes shrugged. "How do you keep track of your sales?"
Gundrik then realised Xerxes had a point and ran to the kitchen, quickly grabbing a small notepad used for tracking orders—but Xerxes had something else in mind.
He roughly drew Elaijya on it. "You see, I was thinking about it last night. I think it would be viable to take this route. I understand Baratheon is surrounded by the Mons' Mountain Range, so it's practically impossible to traverse through them. I've heard stories that the Mons' Mountain Range is home to terrors that only Tier 4 or Tier 3 adventurers consider passing through. Even then, it's still narrow."
"So my idea is that we pass through Baratheon, then traverse the large snow-covered land between here and the Elven Kingdom. Eventually, we would reach one of the Elven Kingdoms—either the coastal Kingdom of Amento or the Kingdom of Eros. From there, we can continue onward."
Gundrik raised an eyebrow. Even if Xerxes wanted to travel through Amento or Eros, the Mons' Mountain Range was still there. Albeit there weren't as many mountains, it was still a dangerous venture.
"Either we will try to use a Stargate if possible, or if not, we can pass through the Mons' Mountain Range, which shouldn't be a long journey from that point—no more than a month, which is possible given the strength we'll be able to gain between now and then, which is at least a few months."
"Then we arrive in the human kingdoms, close to Layne, which shouldn't be too bad, as I'll know my way around."
Gundrik looked at it in a new light. It was a good plan, though it was a very long route, it could work. The only problem would be gold.
"Ya' see, it sounds all sunshine and rainbows till ya' consider the fact yer flat broke. So, ya' got a plan for that?"
Xerxes looked around and scratched his head, then an idea came to him. "Mrs Bertha, last night you seemed overworked. How about Leiya and I work here part-time?"
Bertha looked around and began to seriously consider the offer. Yes, she would lose a bit of profit from the business in employing and training both of them, but the two of them could surely help her. She was only growing older, and she needed a beautiful young lady to attract more customers and a young man like Xerxes to handle the riled-up adventurers.
Gundrik then looked towards his wife, awaiting her final decision.
"Whilst I'd love the helping hand—and I'd be willin' to pay ya' for the work—it still won't be enough to cover the journey, chap. But I do have an idea on what can, that's if ya' got any fight in ya'."
Xerxes and Leiya both raised an eyebrow.
She pointed over at the wall, where a mass of different posters on a bulletin board were displayed—one of which was called 'The Eclipse Trials.'
"Word is, every few years, King Aasmiar Baratheon, Queen Viel Baratheon, and the Aspect Mazium Forbringer host a grand event. This is known as the Eclipse Trials—a trial for adventurers to become official adventurers or get re-evaluations of their rank. The tournament is separated into a few different sections, but there are multiple prizes."
Xerxes narrowed his eyes, squinting to see the prize, and his mouth began to drop.
"First place: 10,000 gold coins, a recommendation to Indonyia Magic Academy, and a national treasure."
"Second place: 5,000 gold coins, 5 blacksmithing cards."
"Third place: 1,000 gold coins."