Wandering Into Town [Halkoran Intro]

The town was an amazing thing. He had heard rumors of course, pertaining to the wondrous guild of Sabertooth. It was surrounded by a town, red-roofed buildings carved into the mountainside. He could even see a lake out beyond the town, pristine and blue. Citizens walked around him, pacing about their day-to-day lives as if a town this beautiful was absolutely normal. He was here for a reason though, one that did not include gazing adoringly at the architecture and scenery. He'd love to paint it sometime though. Shaking his head to himself, he continued towards the absolutely massive tree. It was an ancient thing, from what he had heard, sprung forth after divine intervention. Halkoran wasn't exactly sure if that's exactly how things went down, his source being rather unreputable, but it was certainly impressive regardless.

One thing he wasn't sure about though, was how he'd get to the place. He knew that the hall was likely located somewhere near the top of the hill, on which beautiful stone pathways wound. It was a great experience walking up them, during which he ran his hand along the smooth stone rails. While somewhat tiring, the trek up the path had been worth it. From here, he could view most of the city. But now, he was faced with a problem that differed from his aching and muscular legs. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. Staring up from the base of the tree, he wondered.

The large tree which held up the guild hall of Sabertooth was said to have been as old as the land itself. The planet itself. Now, Imai didn’t know much of it yet, because he couldn’t find any reliable sources addressing this tree and its background. However, it was a proud and beautiful symbol of the guild’s eyes watching over the world, ready to protect from overworld forces who wished to harm this world in any way.

Dashing around the tree like nothing, Imai caught the presence of someone approaching the hall on their own feet. The person seemed to be a little confused, in which the red-haired boy wanted to help a little. Perhaps he was trying to visit them but didn’t have the guts? That couldn’t be good, could it? Leaping down, Imai’s feet would approach an area near Halkoran where his voice could still be heard as he descended, making Batman-like background noise to childishly excite the fall. Once landing, he would speak: “Phew… hey there! You want to visit?”

It was the oddest thing, a tune sung by the voice of a child. Glancing in the direction of the noise, Halkoran soon made a sound of stunned shock upon seeing the sight of a red-headed child falling towards the ground. Reacting out of instinct, after many cat rescuings from trees, his large hands shot out in an attempt to catch him.  Much to his dismay, and later delight, he wasn't able to reach the startlingly fast boy Instead of hitting the ground and injuring himself, the child managed to stick the landing. Wiping nervous sweat from his forehead, Malkoran exclaimed after the boy spoke.

"Are you okay..? By the sun, I thought you were falling from somewhere."

Eventually realizing the child had spoken, the words registered in his mind, prompting a response.

"Oh! Yeah, I do actually. I heard this town held a mages guild, sabertooth?"

”Oh, yeah, I’m fine!” the wizard replied happily. He had tried worse than falling from a tree, anyway, so he would be safe and sound. However, this guy had walked up higher than where many others were walking about, so he was most likely wanting to visit the guild for some reason. As a member of the nearest guild from here, Imai felt that he was responsible for leading him to the guild.

“Say… you seem to have walked a lot. Let me show you a shortcut,” the star mage suggested as he made it to the edge of the road that was leading up to the guild. The way was long, but with this shortcut, Imai could lead the tall guy up to the guild in no time. Now, the shortcut wasn’t exactly a new road or anything, that was a surprise.

“I have a very smart shortcut over here. Come and see..!”

It was embarrassing that the boy had noticed his exhaustion from just walking up a long hill, but it had truly been a lot of work. Somewhat bashfully, he blushed and glanced away. Resisting the urge to cross his arms, Halkoran let out a deep chuckle.

"A.. Shortcut? Gladly."

Thankful for its apparent existence, he walked closer to the boy, hoping to gain sight of this apparent shortcut. Glancing around somewhat, nothing appeared to be that different, no unique line of sight that revealed a hidden stairwell. He didn't wanna say anything though, considering how the boy had yet to actually show him what the secret pathway actually was. Maybe the kid was just pulling a prank on him. Kids were usually like that in general. Halkoran briefly wondered why the kid had just fallen from the tree, he'd address it with somebody else later though, kids playing high up in trees unsuprivised was probably something people in the area should be aware of.

"I don't see it, is it back down the path or something?"