Harwin had been called upon by someone in the guild. He knew nothing about the matter, but none of his party members had opposed to this summon either. Without much choice, the young mage accompanied the men who had been sent to fetch him.

  Right after entering the guild hall, he was guided to one of the interconnected rooms. Although, he was a bit nervous at first, his worries vanquished as soon as he saw Lyam sitting in front of him. However, Kaith was also sitting beside Harwin's library friend.

  Harwin was signalled to sit down. Soon refreshments were brought as well. The room itself was quite luxurious. It had lavishly crafted furniture, extravagant paintings and decor as well. After a drink, Kaith was the first one to speak:

  "You certainly exceeded my expectations. I never could have thought that someone from Winston's party could possess such remarkable talent."

  "You overestimate me, ser. I was on death's bed after casting the same spell that ser Lyam could perform multiple times without dropping a sweat."

  "No need to use honorific with my name, at least. But, it is true that you managed to achieve a great feat, lad. None the less, we are not here to only compliment you." Lyam replied.

  "I understand, but I can not accept the offer. I have already committed to Winston and Eiza. I do not intend to go back on my words." Harwin already understood the agenda of the meeting. Any man with common sense would have been able to interpret it.

  "You have a good head on your shoulders, man. Your reason is noble, but do know that if you wish to achieve greatness, you will have to abandon some on the way." Kaith said. His demenour was totally different from their first interaction.

  "You honour me. I, however, am a simple man with simple dreams and ambition. I only wish to travel to the capital to take care of some unfinished business. It is also the very reason that I joined a party in the first place." There was no harm in sharing the last bit, so Harwin spoke freely.

  "Hmm, the capital? Quite the perilous and expensive journey. Anyways, we already knew that you would reject our invitation. Although, we also have another offer lined up: an expedition." Lyam added. His words enticed the young mage.

  "Expedition? What sort of?" Harwin asked, his eyes glinted with curiosity.

  "Slaying one of the titans." Kaith replied in his companion's stead. His tone was stern, well the matter demanded it.

  Harwin gulped. He had read about the titans of the shadow ruins. They were extremely powerful creatures, some sentient as well. No other being in the ashen lands, even if combined, could ever come close to a single titan. Most notably, only two titans had ever been defeated in the recorded history. All of them required the presence of multiple saints.

  "I see that you are frightened already. It would be foolish if you were not. Moving on, the titan we are keen on slaying is "Qareen the necromancer". Do you know of him?" Lyam questioned.

  Harwin nodded. Qareen was as old as time. However, it was also true that he was the weakest titan. It was not his battle prowess that was troublesome, it was his ability that terrified all. As suggested by his title, he could control the dead. That was only his most impressive ability, and such a being possessed multiple skills. None had really ever reached his main body, his ten commanders made sure of that. The being was a ruler of the undead, his kingdom lied to the west of Yugsoliva.

  "Why hunt him? I am sure there are multiple other creatures that you can slay for profits." Harwin inquired.

  "Titans are not slain for the promise of reward only, their very being could be threatening to the survival of civilization. Such is the case with Qareen as well. The undead king has grown too powerful and ambitious still. His next target is the town of Belarit. If the titan makes his move, and we do not intervene, then the place itself will become the part of his dominion. He could even set his eyes on this town next." Kaith explained.

  "I know it might be rude to ask this, but why ask me to join you? Yes, I might have taken down the gogliath, but after that, I was left unconscious for days. In a fight so great, my abilities will hardly be of any use." Harwin asked, carefully.

  "I personally did not want you to join it, I do not think that you are prepared for it, but Lyam here insists otherwise. More importantly, the guild itself is not particular about the composition of the expedition group. " Kaith answered.

  "I see. How likely are we to succeed?"

  "Success could have been dubious if ser Roland were not participating. He has been personally ordered by the priestess of Guilmeshan to accompany us adventurers on this journey. There is not doubt in mind that the very presence of that man will guarantee us our win." Kaith replied.

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  He spoke like a maiden in love which Harwin thought hilarious. Of course, he had to control his laughter in front of such a ill-tempered man. Suddenly, something dawned on him. He asked:

  "Who is ser Roland?"

  His two hosts became silent. Their expressions were that of astonishment as well as suspicion. Lyam wss the first one to question:

  "Are you right in the head, lad? Do you really not know of the most famous warrior in the empire?"

  "He must be kidding, right Lyam? There is no way. Oh, he might have not recovered completely from the magika depletion yet. Yes, that could be the only reason." Kaith was muttering to himself, but could be heard clearly. His behavior was that of a fanatic at the moment.

  Harwin, obviously, regretted asking the question. He could not have backed down now, either. His best option was to remain queit and act dumb.

  "You might be right Kaith. You are excused for today. Come talk to us when you have fully recovered and ready to accept our offer as well." Lyam dismissed him.

  Confused and bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Harwin left to seek his party members immediately. He had questions that needed to be answered at once. Upon reaching his room, he was subtle about his inquiry regarding this Roland fellow, twisting his words to not sound suspicious.

  He asked Eiza as Winston would have overreacted just like Lyam and Kaith. As the former had suspected, Ser Roland was basically a hero of the Khalezkat — the empire.

  He served as the head guard for one of the cardinal priestesses, a claimant to the unoccupied grand priestess seat. Her name was Isabel, one of the youngest member of the order. The order of the priestess was similar to the system of saints, although, the former were meant to serve the latter. Each cardinal was assigned to a city, advising the descendant of the saints of that land in various matters. However, the corrupt descendants hardly ever paid heed to the words of their councilors.

  Isabel was an exception, her words were not only listened to but also implemented, all because of the powerhouse behind her. How Roland came into the service of this priestess, no one knew. It was, however, rumored that they were more than just some simple master and bodyguard.

  Now coming back to Roland, he was truly out of this world strong. Strong enough to slay one of emperor dragons of the shadow lands. To put it in prespective, a single emperor dragon took the effort of the entire empire to put down.

  "Such a feat can only be possible by someone blessed." Harwin thought. He had narrowed down his target. If someone were even untraceable by the deity who had brought Harwin to this world then this fellow met the criteria, at least for now.

  After a brief discussion about Roland and his legends, the young mage gathered the rest of the party members. He had already taken Winston in confidence regarding the offer of the expedition, it would have only caused problems if he had not. No matter what, the latter was still the leader and creating a rift in the party could have had terrible consequences.

  It was a long discussion. Stretching from noon to the late hours of evening. All of them presented valid arguments. Winston was all for it, but Eiza rejected it outright. It was true that their group could not have taken such a risk, but the whole community of adventurers was involved, abstaining could have ousted them as a whole.

  At the end, a show of hand was the only way to settle the debate. Three were in favour while Eiza and Daren voted otherwise. In the morrow, Harwin met with Kaith and Lyam once again to finalize their decision. Winston did not accompany him as he was still scared to show his face to the man he had owed a considerable debt to before.

  The two were quite satisfied with Harwin's affirmation. They even offered him assistance in preparation for the journey ahead which he rejected. However, the young mage still accepted to take proper training lesson from both Kaith and Lyam. One being a master swordsman and the other a great mage.

  There was about a month or two till the expedition began. As men from all around the empire were gathering around Berlarit, this time frame was considered appropriate by the guild masters.

  Harwin thought of buying some equipment in the meantime. It was an advice from Kaith. His current armour was made up of poor quality materials, although, it was still better than the rugged clothes he had been provided for the first time after arriving in this world.

  The young mage purchased quite a great set of equipment. It was all made of leather, yes, but the material was all extracted from the monsters of the shadow lands. It was enchanted as well, a common practice in these lands, so it was not all too expensive. The enchantments varied, some boosted the protection, some made the gear a bit lighter — all very basic ones.

  He had to spend total of five silver teeth. It was a considerable amount, but nothing was more precious than one's life. This same gear would have costed him ten or even twenty times more in the southern continent.

  Winston was certainly impressed by his choice. He himself had an enchanted one. Infact, every single member of the group had enchanted gear. So up until now, Harwin had been the odd one out.

  Two months passed rather swiftly. Harwin practiced daily under his two new mentors. He was able to achieve better efficiency in magika utilization under Lyam, but only in one type: fire. The young mage learned to perform a simpler version of the inferno blade, called blazing daggers. Lyam was the inventor of this spell and many more.

  It was under the mentorship of this mage that Harwin learned: there was more to magika then incantations passed down from scrolls and books. The mystical concept was dependant on the imagination of the user. A person could have used magika to manifest anything and everything. Of course, it would only remain in existence as long as the caster had the reserves to maintain it.

  Coming to swordsmanship, Harwin learned nothing new. Kaith was a great warrior, but he did not come even remotely close to the teachings of Landel and Graftel who were prodigies. It was not as if the young mage had managed to beat his new master in a duel, but he had given a tough competition to the man. Infact, Kaith gave up on teaching him in just a week.

  Just like that, the day of the journey finally arrived. They were to travel to Belarit first, it was from there that they would march on to confront Qareen and his undead army. Harwin and his party were nervous, but this was the time to prove their worth to the rest. In addition to this, the young mage had other motives as well which were well hidden from the rest for now.