"Here, take this. It's all the money the town has been able to collect in the past month."

Handing over a small cloth bag, the mayor couldn't help but let out a sigh, feeling every one of his 60 years weighing on him. The amount of valis they had been able to gather was a significant sum to the townspeople of Agris, but compared to how much a high class adventurer could make in Orario's Dungeon, it seemed woefully inadequate.

However, they couldn't afford to wait any longer.

"If the Guild still won't accept the commission with this amount, then…" the mayor trailed off.

"Don't worry, Mayor! I'll definitely convince the Guild to help us. No matter what!" a bushy, brown tail swung back and forth accompanying the declaration.

The mayor smiled at the enthusiastic response, putting his darker thoughts aside to focus on the youngster who volunteered to take on this dangerous request.

If anyone could travel to Orario and convince the guild to send help, it was Julius Maurer. Despite his delicate looks, the young chienthrope had a sharp mind and fast legs. Both would be necessary in order to make the trip from Agris to Orario without alerting the bandit gang that had taken up residence in the old ruins of Shreme Castle. Under normal circumstances such a journey would only take a handful of hours on horse-back, but those thugs had been keeping a watch on the town like vultures eying a carcass. Any attempt at moving along the road would instantly draw the bandit's attention.

Rather than risk getting caught, it would be better for Julius to travel by foot and make a wide arc around the castle, using the darkness of early morning to hide his departure.

With sunrise less than an hour away, the conditions were ideal.

"I believe in you, Julius. But please, promise me you'll travel safely."

"I promise," he nodded enthusiastically, "I'll be back before you know it with a whole group of adventurers! Those bandits won't get away with what they've done."

Eyes glinting with determination, Julius tied his traveling cloak firmly around his shoulders. Not allowing himself time to have second thoughts, the young chienthrope stepped out the door. A moment later, he had disappeared into the shadows.

The mayor, now alone with his thoughts, took another moment to stare out into the darkness before he shut the door a resigned click.

A muttered prayer to the Gods was all he could offer now.

"I finally made it." He let out a relieved sigh.

His escape had been successful.

Julius had slipped from shadow to shadow as he slowly made his way north in the ever-increasing morning light. The sun had just completed its ascent over the horizon and he could no longer see Agris behind him, though he could still make out the faint lines of Shreme Castle in the distance. He would travel forward for another hour before beginning his loop toward the west to Orario.

His nerves, which had been on-end since he had left the mayor's house, were finally beginning to settle.

"Nnggg~"

He allowed himself a full body stretch, reliving his tense muscles. He hadn't traveled a great distance, but the constant sense of danger had him feeling like a wound-up spring.

Even his tail was sore from how still it had been.

After taking a moment to calm down, Julius didn't wait long before he resumed his march. While the bandits were out of sight, they weren't the only danger out in the grasslands surrounding Agris. Though uncommon, there were various species of monster that made their homes here. They tended to stay away from towns, but lone travelers had to be wary of attacks. Better to keep on the move.

He had only taken a few steps before a distant rumble caused his ears to perk up.

His eyes darted across the horizon, widening as they spotting a plume of smoke in the distance.

"I should get out of here," he quickly decided, "those thugs can definitely see that from the castle…"

"But what if someone needs help?" He bit his lip in thought.

He glanced back and forth between the smoke and the outline of Shreme Castle a few times before deciding on his course of action. Life was seldom easy for those who lived in towns or villages not frequented by the Gods and their adventurers, but people survived by relying on one another. At least in Agris, those who had the means would reach out to those who didn't; even an orphaned chienthrope who couldn't offer anything in return was always taken care of and treated with warmth.

Having barely completed his thought, Julius' legs were already carrying him toward the source of the explosion.

If someone was there, he'd do what he could for them. If not, he'd pick up his pace and head a bit further north than originally planned to avoid any curious bandits checking out the area.

To help someone else was common sense, after all.

The sound of coughing filled the air, interrupted by the occasional expletive when the cougher's lungs could find the extra oxygen to spare for a few curses.

"Damn i-" another cough forced its way out, "that's the third time this month!"

Almod Milner was having a bad day.

He, one of the premier Black Mages of the Magick City of Gariland, kept failing! The last three months of his life had been consumed by failure after failure, all to comprehend a single spell. It was driving him mad. No matter how much he researched, no matter how many other experts he discussed the intricacies of spellcraft with, it always ended the same way. An explosion, and in this case, the third botched teleportation he had been caught up in.

"The last two experiments may have had errors, but this one was perfect, so why did it explode?!"

In a fit, he yanked his pointed hat off his head and chucked it as far as he was able. Unfortunately, the black hat was light, and all his effort only resulted in it drifting slightly in the wind before landing near his feet.

He wanted to hop up and down in a rage, but barely managed to repress the urge.

The smoke surrounding him had largely cleared by now.

Almod glared around, as if the grassland he was seeing had personally offended him, before letting out a bitter sigh.

Like a defeated rooster, he seemed to deflate as his shoulders slumped.

"Another failure…" he murmured, running a gloved hand through his short, black hair. "And I thought the Banish component was correct that time."

As if to add insult to injury, he didn't recognize the area he was in at all. In his teenage years he had traveled across most of Ivalice, along with several foreign nations, so he considered himself to be quite worldly; it was just his rotten luck that he ended up somewhere he was unfamiliar with.

At least he wasn't completely without direction - he spotted the outline of a man-made structure on the horizon, which seemed like a good starting point for his long trek home.

Picking up his hat and dusting it off, he placed it on his head.

However, just as he was preparing to begin walking, he heard the sound of quick footsteps and a fluttering cloak coming from up ahead.

His grip tightened around his staff, but he kept his posture non-threatening.

His arrival was anything but subtle, so it was no great surprise that someone would come to investigate. It was only a shame that they had come so promptly, he would have preferred a few extra minutes to distance himself from his crash site. Hopefully the new arrival would be able to keep things civil.

As he spotted the figure, a light brown cloak concealing most of their appearance, they must have seen him as well as their steps slowed from a run into a brisk walk. The lack of obvious weapons was a good sign, though not one Almod would take for granted.

Deciding to kick things off with the other party, he raised his free hand in greeting.

"Well met, friend."

Now that they were in speaking distance, the figure's height, or lack there-of, had become more apparent. They were short; if they were human, he would compare them to a child, perhaps a young teen. However, considering the variance in height between most races, he wasn't willing to come to any conclusions based on that.

"Um, hello. Are you okay? I heard the explosion from a ways off…"

As they were speaking, the figure removed their hood, revealing a pair of brown dog ears perched upon a head of messy shoulder length hair. Their face looked young, and he was pretty sure that was a tail hovering uncertainly behind their legs. The bit of dirt smeared on their face did nothing to enhance their maturity. Likely a child from a local village.

Interesting.

He couldn't recall any dog races so closely resembling humans. Could this be a canine variant of the Miqo'te? Or something else entirely? Perhaps he could bring up the question after they had gotten to know one another.

"Thank you for your concern, miss. Fortunately, I'm unharmed, the explosion was just an…"

Almold allowed his voice to trail off as he observed the young girl in front of him visibly bristle.

Had he done something wrong?

As if it had a mind of its own, her tail puffed up to twice its previous size, and even lifted the back of her cloak in its attempt to show its displeasure. Barely held-back tears glistened at the corners of her eyes. Just what was…

"I'm not a girl!" he indignantly replied, fists clenched and voice an octave higher than before.

"Ah," Almod attempted damage control, "My apologies."

With the speed of one used to fixing mistakes, he barely skipped a beat as he tried to salvage his first impression.

"Allow me to start over. My name is Almod Milner, but I'd prefer if you call me Alm. I am a mage from Gariland. As you can see, the explosion from before has me rather out of sorts, so please consider my earlier misstep a side effect from having my head rattled by the blast."

The young boy looked Alm over, seeming to gauge his sincerity.

With a sniff, he pulled himself together.

"Name's Julius," he mumbled, "I'm from Agris." A thumb was pointed backwards in the direction of the town.

Not a town the mage had ever heard of, but as long as it was more than a conglomeration of straw huts it would serve as an adequate starting point. If he could get a local guide as well, that would be ideal.

"By chance, are you heading back in the direction of Agris?" Alm asked.

"No," Julius shook his head, "I'm on the way to Orario."

"Ah, a shame. If I were to walk in the direction you just pointed, do you think I would have any issues getting there? Do I need to cross any rivers, or such?"

It seemed that Julius was about to answer in the negative, but he paused and took a furtive glance in the distance toward the structure Almod had noted earlier. The black mage kept his silence as he waited for the young boy to speak.

"Um, it might be dangerous to go that way," he finally uttered, "there are bandits who've taken over the castle there, and they'll probably be on their way here by now."

"I see." Alm responded, bringing up a hand to rub his chin in thought. Facing a few thugs was unlikely to be an issue, but given his current situation it didn't seem wise to go looking for trouble without cause. Perhaps it would be better to go another way instead.

"Um, if you're worried about them, you could follow me to Orario instead?"

While the boy's tone was uncertain, the invitation seemed genuine enough.

"If you don't mind the company, I'd be happy to travel together." Alm gratefully accepted.

"Sure!" Julius smiled, "Lets hurry, before anyone else shows up."

"Lead the way."

The sound of swaying grass accompanied the crunch of their footsteps. While they had exchanged a few pleasantries initially, their march had been largely silent up until now. Almod was content to simply enjoy the company of another person, but Julius seemed to become anxious as the silence stretched on. Amusingly, while his body and face didn't show much of his anxiousness, his tail betrayed him, reflecting his emotions clearly as it found various positions to tuck itself against his person. Finally, tail stiffening in determination, he was unable to remain quiet.

"Hey, Alm, are you an adventurer?"

"Hm?" the man gave a curious hum, "Do I give off that sort of impression?"

"Um, sort of? I haven't met very many mages, but those I've seen have always been adventurers."

"Well, you're half right. I was an adventurer in my youth, but I retired several years ago to settle down and focus on my magical research. Trying to keep up with both was too much of a hassle, so I had to let one of them go."

"Your youth?" Julius cocked his head to the side, shooting his traveling companion a skeptical glance, "You still seem pretty young to me."

"Hahaha," Alm couldn't help a good-natured laugh, "Thank you, you're very kind, but I'll soon be celebrating my 74th birthday. My younger days are quite behind me."

"You're in your 70s?!"

Julius' eyes widened in disbelief.

"Whoa, you're even older than the mayor…"

"Does that mean you're an elf?" he questioned.

"That's right," Alm confirmed, lifting the brim of his hat slightly to show his pointed ears, "Have you met many elves?"

"Um, only a few. One of the mages I mentioned earlier was an elf with green hair. She was really nice."

"I see." The mage smiled.

"So, how come you were testing spells out in the middle of the field? Was that part of your research?" Ah, there it was. Almod had been anticipating this question, considering how much of the truth to share. While Julius seemed like a trustworthy sort, he was still in the dark about his current location. Sharing just how lost he was could lead to trouble if the wrong ears heard it. Half-truths would have to do for now - he could always fill in the blanks later if the need arose.

"Well, I was- stop."

Julius flinched back as Alm's tone suddenly changed, tail going rigid.

"W-What?!"

"Stay behind me," Alm took a few purposeful steps forward, "You there, come out immediately before I burn that grass to cinders!"

Julius, having understood the situation, shot his eyes fearfully toward the tall grass they had been approaching.

Barely a moment later, the grass shook as several hunched forms stepped out.

""Goblins…"" they both noted at the same time.

Almod was relieved, while Julius' panic seemed to grow. The goblins before them were pitiful examples of the species; they were skin and bones, likely on the verge of starvation. If they were ordinary animals Almod would have felt some sympathy for their plight, but goblins were a particularly nasty sort. They'd find no mercy from a black mage. Two of them wielded crude weapons made of stone, while the others only had their spindle-thin arms and legs to rely on. In Almod's eyes they weren't qualified to be called a threat, but his young companion disagreed.

"T-There are eight of them, we have to run!" the boy's voice shook.

The mage didn't need to look behind him to know that Julius was ready to bolt, but doing so would be dangerous if there were more monsters in the area.

"Calm down," Alm spoke steadily, attempting to ease his companion's fear, "There's no reason to panic, just take a deep breath and stay behind me. I'll have these goblins wrapped up in no time."

He was unable to confirm whether or not Julius had taken his advice, as the goblins took that moment to spring forward. Each one snarled loudly in an attempt to win the initiative, drool leaking from their mouths.

"Hiii!" a high pitched scream rang out behind him.

Well, he thought humorlessly, their plan worked on one of us.

He considered his options briefly before opting to stick with his initial promise.

His staff lit, and without incantation, a basic Fire spell was cast.

It took the flames a second to reach their targets.

Slow.

Before another second had passed, all eight goblins were reduced to burning hunks of flesh. The scent tickled at his nose, causing a familiar feeling of revulsion to well up. This was why he had always preferred ice magick.

Rusty.

A few more seconds passed before the bones finished burning, leaving nothing but ash behind.

With a second wave of his staff, the flames licking at the grass were extinguished.

He could feel the frown tugging at his lips, but forced it away. It had been several years since his last fight, and it showed. Clearly his time as a researcher had affected his skills more than he had been willing to admit. He would have to add some casting practice for to his routine. However, now was not the time for such considerations.

"Are you alright, Julius?" he turned to inspect the boy, concern in his voice.

The sight that greeted him nearly caused him to laugh. His small dog-eared companion had frozen in a perfect display of disbelief; eyes wide, jaw dropped, and tail puffed to twice its usual size.

"Whoa…" Julius managed to squeak out.

Alm could see the questions forming before they were asked, but this wasn't a place to remain for too long. Giving his eyes a good-natured roll, he patted his young friend on the back and steered him around the charred ground.

"Come. We can continue chatting as we walk; we still need to make it to the town before sunset, no?"

"Oh- Right!" Julius seemed to catch himself at the reminder, shaking his head to clear it.

It only took a handful of minutes for the young boy begin peppering his larger companion with questions. Thankfully for the black mage, the earlier query about his arrival here had been forgotten in the excitement of meeting a few goblins. At least they were good for something, he mused.

"Alm, just what level are you?"

There was an odd weight to the question that Alm didn't fully understand, but answering seemed harmless enough.

"Currently, I'm level 82. It has been a while since I've last leveled up, though."

Julius gave a huff, like a child who knew they were being teased.

"Fine, fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. In that case, what about that spell…"

Alm continued to answer question after question as they walked, managing to throw a few of his own in as well. However, the more he learned, the more his mind kept drawing back to that first query and the odd reaction it had garnered.

The black mage would not consider himself to be a particularly humble individual; he was proud of the strength he had managed to obtain so far in his life. However, even in his vainest moments, he would easily admit that he still had much to improve upon. He could name several individuals who had breached level 90, especially amongst the longer-lived races. Julius' reaction could be explained away by a lack of experience, but something about it still caused Alm's brow to furrow. His instinct was nagging at him.

Well, there was no reason to rush. For now he would consider it a stray puzzle piece to keep for a later time.

The two figures continued their steady march as the day passed by.

Orario was an impressive city. Encircled by large walls, it was clear that much thought had been put into its construction. As they had crested over a large hill, Alm had been able to see several roads that all led to the center of the city while countless buildings were arranged in a tight pattern all around.

The early-evening light only added to its majesty.

From their place in line at the eastern gate, Alm was still able to see the massive Tower of Babel located at Orario's heart.

"Next." The guard ahead called out lazily.

The gate would only be open for another hour, according to Julius, before it would close until the next morning. They had made it with a bit of time to spare.

"Next."

As they were called up, the guard looked them both over. He gave Alm a more thorough glance than his smaller companion, but apparently didn't deem him to be of any particular note as he launched into a practiced greeting that they had already overheard several times while waiting for their turn.

"Welcome to Orario," he droned, "The entry fee is 500 valis per person, unless you're an adventurer with a valid request slip signed by the Guild."

Julius took the lead, handing over the requested amount, though it looked like it pained him to do so.

As the guard turned to Almod, the black mage counted out 500 gil.

"I'm afraid I don't have any valis; will this be an adequate substitute?"

The admission caused both the guard and Julius to raise their eyebrows in surprise. The guard took the gil in hand, confirming that it was in fact gold.

"One moment, please."

Getting a nod from Alm, the guard waved to one of his comrades to keep watch as he entered the nearby guard-post.

Their wait wasn't long, as the guard stepped out again a minute later.

"These coins are fine this time, but please exchange some of them for valis when you get the chance in town. There's a currency exchange in the market area. They're likely closed by now, but you can get there by…"

Alm took heed of the directions, thanking the guard for his time. He had never heard of valis before, but the coins seemed to be similar to the gil he was familiar with. He wasn't carrying a lot during his experiment, but it should be enough to serve as travel expenses for a week or two.

Though…given some of the information he had heard from Julius on their journey to Orario, he may have to consider finding a method to earn money here for a time. If his suspicion turned out to be true, he was further from Gariland than he had anticipated. The puzzle pieces had been piling up.

Gods and Goddesses walking among the people, was it? Interesting indeed.

Alm was jolted from his thoughts as Julius spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled as they walked along the city's streets.

"Um, what will you do now?"

He sounded nervous. The boy had opened up more and more throughout the day as they traveled, sharing stories and details about themselves. By the time noon had passed he had been an animated ball of energy, unrestrained and with a rampant curiosity. Now, however, he was acting like when they had first met that morning.

"If you don't mind, I'd at least like to accompany you to the Guild. We can decide what to do after that."

"Alright…" the boy's tail drooped.

Alm reached out a hand and ruffled his companion's hair, receiving a squawk of indignation in response.

"Come on. You have something you need to do, right?"

"R-Right!"

The mage saw a tail wagging out of the corner of his eye and smiled to himself as they continued on.

The Guild hall was mostly empty when they arrived.

A pair of adventurers stood over by one of the walls, seeming to be deep in conversation as they paid the new entrants no mind. Most of the counters for dealing with customers and adventurers were closed, however, one remained open. A red-haired woman with a pair of animal ears atop her head watched them with a cool gaze as they made their way in her direction.

Alm stopped at one of the benches in the lobby, content to wait for Julius to finish his business.

Julius took a breath, steeling himself as he approached the counter.

"Welcome to the Guild. How may I assist you?" the woman's tone was firm, giving the impression of someone with a no-nonsense attitude.

"I'm here to put in a request." With barely a quiver in his voice, Julius stated his intention.

"I see, one moment." The woman reached under the counter, taking out a large binder. The massive stack of papers within wouldn't have been out of place in one of Almod's research journals. It always did his heart good to see pen and paper being put to good use.

"What type of request would you like to commission?"

"Bandit e-extermination."

"Location?" the woman asked, not looking up from her paperwork.

"The ruins of Shreme Castle - they're southeast of Orario. Um, the bandits moved there about a month ago."

The red-haired woman scribbled a note before continuing.

"How many bandits?"

"Around fifty," Julius bit the inside of his cheek in thought, "give or take ten."

"Have they raided any towns or villages in the area? Any fatalities?"

"Yes," his voice dropped in volume, "They've raided Agris a few times. T-They murdered two people in town."

The woman jotted down another note before looking up.

For the first time since their conversation began, her eyes softened.

"The fee for a bandit extermination on that scale will be 400,000 valis."

As soon as he heard the number spoken by the woman, Julius' shoulders tensed. Alm wasn't able to see his expression, but the stiffening of his tail was enough to tell the story. It was unlikely that he had enough money to establish the contract.

The guild worker seemed to understand as well, since before Julius had a chance to reply she spoke again.

"For bandits that are troubling the local area, we can waive the guild fee, so only enough to pay the adventurers would be needed. That would lower the price to 350,000 valis."

"I…don't have enough." Julius lowered his head.

The woman bit her thumb, double-checking the paperwork before her.

"How much do you have?"

"170,000…"

"I'm sorry," she forced herself to say, "but we can't- wait!"

She reached out a hand to stop him, but Julius had already reached the guild doors. He threw them open with a bang and was out on the street before anyone had time to react. The two adventurers who were chatting in the corner were startled as they turned their eyes to the door. The red-haired guild worker ran a hand through her thick locks, face marred with frustration as her eyes looked at the door seeming to consider her options.

Alm gave a thoughtful hum as he stepped forward to the counter.

"Is there really no way to lower the fee further?" he wanted to confirm.

"It's impossible," vexation colored her tone, "Fighting against people is different from fighting against monsters in the dungeon. The guild won't send anyone below level two on a request like this, and the number of bandits is much higher than average. Even if we low-ball the estimate at 40 bandits, we can't send less than half that number of adventurers, so you're talking about at least 20 level twos."

"Even at 350,000, that isn't a lot of money for each person compared to what they could make in the dungeon."

She sighed as she finished her explanation.

"If we took the request and posted it for 170,000 valis it would sit on the board forever without anyone touching it."

"Is there not an option for the guild to handle the fee, considering bandits are like a plague for the local populace? Or perhaps a loan that the town of Agris could pay off in installments?" Alm continued.

The woman's brow furrowed at Almod's questioning.

"The Guild won't do a loan," she denied, "However, it might be possible to get the Guild to pay for it out of pocket. We'd need at least three Familias with a rank of C or higher to petition for the request, along with the leaders of the affected villages."

This time, it was Alm's turn to frown in thought.

"How long would such a process take?"

The woman seemed to agree with the black mage's thoughts, as her frown mirrored his own.

"Optimistically, a month. Pessimistically, six months."

"Even in the best case, that seems too long." Alm shook his head in defeat.

Technically, they had only known one another for a day, and Almod himself had never even been to Agris so he held no attachment to the town. It would be easy for them to part ways here. Almod could leave the guild, find himself a room for the night, and set off in the morning. He was unlikely to encounter Julius again.

However, the image of the young boy racing from the guild hall in tears brought with it a sour taste.

Perhaps it would be good to pick up the life of an adventurer once again, at least temporarily.

A break from his research was certainly due.

"Well, coincidence brought us together, but it seems that choice will keep us so." The mage decided on his course of action, turning to exit the guild "I'll see to it that he has help with his request. Thank you for your time, miss."

"Wait!" the guild worker stopped Alm from leaving.

Curiously, the black mage turned back toward the woman and was met with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Rose Fannett," she introduced herself, "Please come find me whenever you get the money together and I'll make sure everything is taken care of as quickly as possible."

Alm took her hand and shook it with a smile.

"Thank you. My name is Almod Milner, I'll be sure to find you when it's done."

The small smile he received in return was the first he had seen on her face since they walked into the guild. While he had only known her for a handful of minutes, he had the distinct impression that Rose Fannett was not one to show such a thing often.

She seemed to have misunderstood his intentions slightly, but the request would be completed none-the-less.

He pushed the thought aside as he exited the Guild.

For now, he had to go find his friend.

AN:

I wanna try to write an OP MC. It might be okay?