Path of Ruin: The Dawn of a New Era

There are two men at the end of this dead end and they are holding a girl prisoner there. It's Sara and they're harassing her. My anger is building up to the point where I can't hold it in anymore. I pull my only knife out of my pocket and run towards them at top speed.

Sara's screams drown out my footsteps and the trio notice me as I reach them. I stab the closer one of them with my knife, I avoid his fist which he attacks me in self-defense and I hit him under the pelvis. I stab twice more before hastily retreating.

The other one attacks me, but I step back again, slashing his hand in the process. I will attack again. He's two feet taller than me, who's around five feet, so I can easily dodge and attack them.

In the end, they withdraw in hatred. I'm not chasing them. It's too dangerous, I quickly run after Sara instead. Luckily he's fine I made it in time but he's still a bit scared.

We won't talk, here in the slums this act is not unusual. She quickly adjusts her clothes and then we run after the others because we're not far anyway.

We will all meet again soon. Arthur had arrived earlier. They ask where we stayed. At Sara's request, I will not mention the incident. Instead, I'll say we went for a walk.

It's already dark and the light of the full moon frames our children's faces. Today, before going to bed, we watch all kinds of stories and remember legends. And although we are disturbed by various sounds, we are so used to them that we ignore them.

Arthur narrates the first. The short story is called Květ Dalimilův. It is about the first natural mage. It's a classic old story.

The main character in it is a young man. He is the second son of a duke. He started learning magic at the age of ten. But he didn't like any magic known so far. Arthur continued his narration and everyone listened to the story, “The boy always loved nature and his favorite thing was the sakura tree standing in the middle of the garden of their estate. The youth eventually settled on a combination of water and earth magic out of compulsion, but he was never satisfied. He once visited the royal palace with his family. Already thirteen years old, he went for a walk in the royal garden. He loved nature. One flower that he had never seen caught his attention. Unconsciously he directed his step towards her. He reached out to touch her but was stopped by a voice:." Arthur's story is interrupted as Eon speaks, "Love at first sight such a classic that it's impossible for it to actually happen."

"Eon, don't interrupt, we all know you're just a bitter brat, but at least be a little tolerant." Sára says with a laugh and the others join her and the mood is full of smiles.

"Go ahead Arthur, we won't disturb you anymore." I decide to end the conversation and continue to listen to the narration with the others.

"So, the young man was stopped by the girl's voice:." Arthur changes his voice and tries to imitate the girl's: "Don't touch them. The young man stops his movements and looks at the girl. Nothing outside of nature could ever charm him, but she did. He fell in love with her at first sight. After the lady saw his eyes, they enchanted her. It was love at first sight. The girl forgot what she wanted to say and instead asked the young man who he was and why he was here. The duke's son answered truthfully and then himself asked about her identity and why she could not touch these flowers. The girl introduced herself as the only daughter of the king. They immediately engaged in conversation, mostly about natural beauty, a topic they adore, until the evening when they unintentionally broke up. Since then, the young man secretly visited the princess and spent time with her. He eventually proposed to her and she accepted. So he decided to officially ask the king for her. The king refused it at first, but after persuading his daughter, he finally approved it, after all the groom was the duke's son, he is a suitable match for her. There was a grand wedding. A few months after the wedding, however, the princess's health began to deteriorate imperceptibly. Nevertheless, there was one joy that did not contribute much to her health, the expected child. In the end, a boy was born to them, and despite her bad condition, the princess survived and even recovered a little, but even so, her condition continued to deteriorate. A few years have passed and the princess cannot leave her bedroom, she is too weak to do so. But what she regrets the most is that she cannot visit the garden. Here, Dalimil remembers his childhood dream of creating natural magic. He didn't know how to do it when he was little, but now he does. He immediately went to his wife to share the happy news. When he reached her bedrooms she was in the worst condition she had ever been in, he immediately used his newly created magic to heal her. That's how the day went. Her condition did not visibly worsen or improve. At midnight the next day she began to show signs of improvement. After a year of treatment, his wife recovered. She was completely healed, but something will stay with her forever and that is the flower that formed on her chest. And so the family could be together again. The end.” Artur tells his favorite story.

"Every time you tell it, I'm totally into the story," Ezra says.

"That, me too, not like Eon, who always tells us a tragedy, while Mia cries every time." Sara.

"You don't have to keep reminding me, but otherwise I really like this story too." Mia.

“Speaking of which, what lessons do you learn from this?” I ask them.

“Lessons learned? I can't think of anything.” Sara.

"Me neither." Arthur.

"I don't know." Ezra.

"Eone, is there anything on your mind?" Mia.

"It's simple, if you put your heart into something, you will eventually achieve it."

"Oh yeah you always figure it out, I can't consider myself smart here because of you" I tell Eon. He just smiles slightly, shakes his head slightly and doesn't answer me.

Then Sára and Ezra also tell stories, Sára tells one of the stories about the great general Karak, Rout's greatest strategist, and Ezra tells the legend of Alek, a bandit who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. Finally we laid down and went to sleep.

Early in the morning, before the roosters crow, we woke up. It's not surprising to see Eon awake, but seeing Mia at this time is. Mia chats cheerfully with him, but he stutters a bit. He always had a soft spot for her and only she could throw him off balance.

Mia notices me as she gets up, "Good morning Luke."

"You too, it's unusual to see you awake at this hour Mio." I reply and Eon nods.

"Hmm, today I woke up early and when I saw Eon I started talking to him."

"What were you talking about?"

"Who knows Luka." Mii Eon jumps in as she is about to answer. He can also be funny sometimes, especially when he's a little redder than usual.

Our conversation wakes up the other sleepers and the next day starts all over again. Eon, Arthur, Ezra are supposed to go today, but at my request Eon stays and I can go and continue watching.

When I look at Sára, she seems a little depressed, she was probably looking forward to me staying here with her today. I would like to but I can't, I have to keep watching. That's why with the same alleys as I sneaked to the house of the Naret family yesterday.