“Take out the tokens I gave you,” the Fire Servant said, reaching into the crystal heart burning in his chest to call for its Fire once again. A blood red Fire, that was different from all the other flames he could conjure. And much more difficult to control. Almost as if it had a mind of its own. Though he would not be surprised if it really did.

  Still, it was not as if the flame did not listen to him at all. It just behaved like a child, roaming around his body, refusing to listen to his summons. Fortunately, his body itself was made of fire, and could be controlled as he wished. So, it did not take much time for him to squeeze the blood red flame to his palms, before pushing it out of his body. Once it left his body though, he could barely keep it contained.

  A child indeed, the Fire Servant thought, before glancing at the Wanderers around him. As he had asked, everyone had taken out the token he had given them earlier. A fist sized piece of wood, with the thickness of an inch, and the shape of a ten sided circle, carved with intricate patterns on both side, that none of these ignorant people could understand. It was, after all, a pattern directly granted by the ancient being.

  “Bring them here,” the Fire Servant commanded, prompting the Wanderers to glance at each other in silence, only to shake their heads after some thought. It was not time yet. For the moment, they had to do as he said. So, despite their hesitations and reservations, they still walked up to him with the token in their hands. Beginning with the Wanderers closest to him. A blue robed one.

  A descendant of the Bluerose clan, the blue robed Wanderer was not the leader assigned by his clan for their mission, but his strength and status were no less than the blue robed Wanderer standing just a couple of feet away from him, earning him a place in the Fire Servant’s plan. One that had him bursting with excitement for the entire past month. Yet, as that plan neared its completion, he could not help feeling a trepidation.

  Maybe having a high status was not always a good thing. Though, if he did not have his status, then he probably would have already been turned into ashes. At least he still had a chance to fight. But he could not show any flaws. So, suppressing the trembles in his Heart, and hands, the blue robed Wanderer stretched the token towards the Fire Servant.

  In turn, the Fire Servant looked at him with a slight smile, before splitting a small part from the flame hovering above the palm of his right hand, roughly a tenth of its size, and made it drift towards the token, to the centre of the pattern carved on its surface. A circle, that perfectly matched the size of the flame. Just as the flame perfectly complemented the patterns on the token, making them come to life.

  Or at least, that was how it felt to the blue robed Wanderer. He could swear that he saw the patterns on the token’s surface squirming from time to time. Yet, in the senses of his Spirit, they remained still. The only thing moving was the flame itself, but within the constraints of the circle it was placed in. No matter how wilful it was, the blood red flame did not dare leave the confines of the circle. Or burn the token.

  Though, there was also a possibility that the token was immune to fire, it was almost negligible. Inexistent, even. After all, woods capable of resisting Fire, especially the kind trapped on the token, was not what mere False Wanderers like them could get their hands on. And even if he assumed that the man in front of him could get hold of such woods, the token in his hands was definitely not made from them. Because he had seen the man create the token from the woods in the forest right in front of eyes.

  From chopping down branches, to cutting them into shapes, grinding away their sharp and rough edges, and carving out the impossible patterns, the Whitebud Wanderer had done everything in front of the Wanderers around him, never hiding his actions. It was one of the reasons why they were willing to believe him. Maybe they should have been a little more careful back then. At the very least—

  “I know that the token is beautiful, but you can admire it later,” the Fire Servant said, bringing the blue robed Wanderer out of his thoughts. “We are running out of time.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “…My apologies,” the blue robed Wanderer said, and hurriedly moved aside, making way for those behind him. A green robed Wanderer. Another man, who was not the leader appointed by his clan, but possessed similar status. And just like the blue robed Wanderer, he too did not hesitate for long before stretching the token in his hand towards the Fire Servant, who, in turn, repeated the same process, before asking the green robed Wanderer to move aside, and calling for the next Wanderer.

  By then, everyone had understood that the Fire Servant was not going to make a move on them right away, so they did as he asked, and came before him one by one to receive a wisp of the blood red flame, until there was no longer any flame for them to receive. But there was still one Wanderer whose token did not have any flame.

  “What about me?” the brown robed Wanderer said, glancing at the tokens in the hand of other Wanderers, before turning towards the Fire Servant. “What about my share?”

  “…Your share?” the Fire Servant said, raising the edge of his lips in a smirk. “Why not try asking the ancient being? Maybe he has it?”

  “I…”

  “Relax, I was just joking with you,” the Fire Servant said, letting out a chuckle, allowing the brown robed man to relax a little. But not for long.

  “Though I really do not have your share of flame anymore. Who told you to be the last one to come to me?”

  “I… You are right,” the brown robed Wanderer said after a moment’s pause. “It is my fault for coming to you at last, not yours. So, you do not have worry about our promise anymore. Just pretend as if I do not exist. And—

  “You are thinking too much,” the Fire Servant said, waving his hands to dismiss the brown robed man’s fears. “Though you do not have your share of flame, you still have your share of promise. It is the least I can do for all the sacrifices you made.”

  “…You do not have to force yourself…”

  “I insist.”

  “…Then what should I do now?”

  “Just stand still,” the Fire Servant said, before reaching out to the blood red flame once again. Not the one burning in his chest, but the ones he had used to punish the disobedient and incompetent Wanderers. Or rather, to the traces that they left behind in their wake, the tiny embers that kept floating in the wind, arranging themselves in a pattern similar to the one carved on the tokens that everyone was carrying. And in the centre of that pattern, replacing the wisp of flame, was the brown robed Wanderer in front of him.

  “Do you remember the promise I gave you, Nomar?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Can you help me recall that promise?”

  “…You promised to give us resources equivalent to a hundred thousand Blood Coins, or a hundred True Oren Stones each.”

  “And?”

  “…And you later increased that reward to five times the initial price.”

  “Is that all?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Then why do I remember you asking the ancient being to fulfil his promise?”

  “…Because it was a promise that only he could fulfil.”

  “Really? What kind of promise was it?”

  “…To help us break through to the True Rank.”

  “Did the ancient being made that promise with you?”

  “…No.”

  “Then who did?”

  “…You.”

  “So, I made a promise with you, and you went to the ancient being to have that promise fulfilled? Do you think that I am not capable enough of keeping my promises?”

  “But it was breaking through to the True Rank!”

  “So?”

  “…You can help us break through to the True Rank?”

  “There is only one way to find out,” the Fire Servant said, letting out a smile, as he patted the brown robed Wanderer’s shoulder. “How about it? Do you want to be the first one to try?”

  “…What?” the brown robed Wanderer said, staring at the Fire Servant with wide eyes, as did all the Wanderers around them. Even the black robed boy. After hearing what the Fire Servant said, he stopped playing with the birds, and quickly took them down, before turning towards the group of Wanderers huddling together. But he was too late.

  “Do want to break through to the True Rank?”