[B Rank Exam] The Past and the Present

Eero had been mostly researching at the Guild, with some exceptions of expeditions that made him travel to some interesting places. As such, he was quite surprised when he was given an assignment to raise his rank among the mages. The assignment had him go to the Peace Village and see if he could recover some of his memories. When he thought about it, it was pretty much what he had been talking about with Leona recently. Lucky coincidence? He didn't know. What he did know, however, was that he was given a fair warning about an increase of bandits in the area he was assigned to go. He sincerely hoped that it wouldn't come down to a bandit attack during his visit, but he had to be prepared, in any case. Was this selfish, though? He was on an official assignment, but it revolved around him and his lack of memories, again. Eero sighed. He didn't think there was much benefit for the Guild from this trip and it bothered him.

The boy spent several hours preparing all of the items that he needed for the road. Soho helped him out by gathering some items that Eero had forgotten about. He put on his all black outfit, minus the black jacket that he had for colder climates. He still had to pass through the mountain, but Eero thought he could make it through just fine. As such, he settled for a long cloth coat of sorts, with long sleeves, that went over his black t-shirt. One last time he checked his travel bag for the supplies. The boy nodded and reached out for his bo staff, the Earthshaper. It softly glistened in the weak light of the room. Eero was quite happy with the outcome of that trip. It was quite the experience, aswell. Almost even cost him his life, if it weren't for Leona, so he would treasure the weapon, always. After creating the staff, Eero attached a few leather straps to the strap of his travel bag, to make it easier to carry it. The boy strapped the staff into place and threw the travel bag over his head. On the table there were only two things left. His leather choker and the artifact. With a quiet sigh Eero put on the choker and attached the artifact to it. Soho joined him on his shoulder and the duo left the room.



Thankfully, the Peace village was one of very few landmarks that were around the Guild, just beyond the blizzard and the Phoenix Mountains. For most of the travel through the mountains Eero held Soho close, to make sure he didn't freeze. After they were past the freezing point, Soho flew around, scouting for any danger or possibly food. The road to the village was quiet, but not too quiet. Eero passed by some travelers and merchants, going both to and from the village. He had to wonder though. What was he even looking for? Would he find out who he was? Who this mysterious stranger who pretended to be him was? Or just a miserable clue that would only eat away on his mind in the future? The boy groaned and put his into his jeans' pockets. He looked up, into the endless sky. A few puffy clouds moved along, in the winds. Was he just like them? Slowly drifting into nothingness? Eero sighed.

The day was still young, when they arrived in the village. It was calm and peaceful, just like he remembered. The village also had the word 'peace' in it, so that also helped make it more obvious. As much as Eero wanted to have Soho look around, he couldn't. There was nothing that he could give his bird companion as a hint as to what for he should be looking out for. Maybe he could start out in the inn that he and Poko stayed in? It was worth a shot, seeing as he had no other idea. Soho found the inn quite swiftly. It was just a village, afterall. Eero didn't lose any time and went straight there. The doors were open, to let in some of the fresh breeze. Soho landed back on the boy's shoulder. There weren't many patrons in the ground floor's pub. As Eero neared the reception desk, he recognized the man behind it, the innkeeper he met with Poko back then. Though it seemed that the innkeeper himself remembered the boy and gestured for him to come closer. "Ah! It's yer young lad! How's yer life been?" Eero was honestly surprised that he remembered him. "I'm alright. How about you?" The boy would ask in return. "The usual, laddie. Folks come 'n go. I see yer have a pet now, do ye?" The innkeeper would ask and nod towards Soho. "Yes, sort of. His name is Soho. Although I would say that he is a friend, rather than a pet." The boy would reply and scratch Soho's head. The innkeeper nodded understandingly. "I get ye, I get ye." The older man would muse for a moment about something. "So what can I do fer ye? Another room?" That was a good question. Maybe he should get some accomodation, just in case. He didn't have a deadline on his task, so he would make sure that he fulfilled it as best as he could. "Actually, yes. A single bed room, please. Two nights for now." The boy would request. "Yer wish is mine command." The innkeeper laughed and reached out for a book that had the list of rooms and guests. After a moment he turned around and fetched the key to the room. The innkeeper handed the key to the boy. "How much-" The innkeeper's laugh interrupted him. Eero and Soho looked at him in surprise. "It's alright, lad. Ye get a discount. On thee house." He would explain with a grin. Eero's face stayed in the same surprised frame. "Are you sure?" The boy would ask in disbelief. "Of course. Ye go do what ye came to do." The innkeeper looked at him with the look of a man who knew that there was something more going on with the guest than they were letting on. Eero bowed to the innkeeper and Soho did the same. The older man chuckled as the boy went upstairs.

The room he was given was relatively simple, but clean and neatly tidy. A bed, table, small wardrobe and a bathroom. Soho hopped down and sat on top of a chair's back, watching Eero take out some extra clothing and snacks he brought along. He wanted to have Earthshaper with him, so he had to take his bag with him. However, Eero wasn't there to just think about his life in an inn room. Just as swiftly he got to the room, he left it to go outside. The clues wouldn't find themselves.

The first idea that Eero got was to return to the place where his puzzle artifact got shattered. That was what triggered some of the fragments of his memory to become clearer. The spot was in front of the inn. He remembered the argument he had with his other self back in the room. The boy shook his head. All of that happened, yes, but it didn't help. He needed to talk to people and see if anybody knew somebody who could unlock memories. Or something as cool as that. Eero left the area around the inn and decided to take a stroll through the village. It was a battle of his introvertness with the task he needed to accomplish, once again. He passed a few people, too afraid to walk up to them and ask. The embarrassment just kept steadily growing. /"Grow a damn pair, Eero, jeez."/ He scolded himself for overthinking things again. There was a lady who had just finished her purchase at a street vendor. Eero worked up all of the courage he could muster to walk up to her. "Hello! Excuse me. Is there a seer or somebody similar in the village?" The boy would ask awkwardly. The lady only looked at him in confusion, shook her head and took off. That didn't work, at all. Perhaps he should rewording his question? That would be quite tough, considering he still had no idea what exactly was he looking for. And he felt like he couldn't just walk up to people and ask if they recognize him or if they know how to make people's memories return. After he asked the first lady, the questionings went smoother. Not by much, but for Eero it was a substantial improvement. He asked three more people. One reaction was the same like the lady's one was. The other two people gave him a bit more of a push. Both were able to tell him that there was a fortune teller of sorts, in the village. But people thought that the fortune teller was a tad too creepy, so they had no idea where to find them. The village wasn't too big, so Eero reckoned that he could possibly find this fortune teller himself. He wasn't expecting any signs outside the buildings or anything, but Soho could prove useful. "Take a look around, would you?" Eero would ask his bird companion, who nodded and flew upwards to get a better vantage point. In the meantime, the boy decided to ask about the fortune teller at least one more person. He came across an elderly man, who was leaving a house. "Hello! Excuse me. Do you know about a fortune teller that is supposed to be in this village?" Eero would ask the man. The man turned towards the boy and slowly walk closer to him. "Hello, youngster. What does a young man like yourself want with a fortune teller?" It was a fair question, but Eero wouldn't completely reveal what he was after. "I am looking for something. I think that the fortune teller could help me." The man didn't look too convinced, but didn't deny Eero the answer he was after. "Very well. But you have to be prepared. You may learn things you would be better off not knowing about." Eero would receive a warning. He was afraid of that, but on the other hand, he needed to know. Otherwise he would go insane. "I need to know. Please." The man nodded. "The house right here." The elderly man would turn around and point to a tiny house that was right next to the one he came out of. "The fortune teller is there." Eero was a little bit surprised that the fortune teller was so close. Then again, maybe it was because of that fact, that the old man knew about the fortune teller's whereabouts. The boy would bow. "Thank you so much, for your help." The elderly man chuckled. "At least today's youth is thankful.." He said and slowly walked away. Eero straightened his back and waved, to gain Soho's attention. Moments after, a blue bird appeared and sat down on Eero's shoulder. "I have the information we need. It's right here." The boy would point to the house that the man revealed to him as being the home of the fortune teller. Soho let out a short screech, eager to get going.



The wooden fence around the tiny house was in shambles. The gate was unlocked. The front yard was a complete and unkempt mess. The house itself had no additional floors; all it was, was just a small thing on the ground. The house was made of dark wood, but the house was in a surprisingly good condition. Maybe the fortune teller only cared about the house and not its surroundings. It wasn't really Eero's business, though. He stepped through the unlocked gate and walked up to the house's door. Eero knocked on it politely, but as he knocked it opened. Even the front door was unlocked? The fortune teller was surely not worried about anybody coming in. The boy couldn't see anybody behind the door, so he quietly walked inside. On the walls was a collection of strange paintings, that made goosebumps go down Eero's spine. He closed the door after himself. The wooden floor didn't creak under his footsteps as he walked further into the house. He didn't see any doors, just thick curtains of beads that divided the rooms. Strange trinkets lined the wall shelves; necklaces, amulets, talismans, cards. Eero could name anything and he would've found it buried in there, somewhere. He didn't want to just explore the house all willy-nilly; he was still a guest, afterall, even if he entered unannounced. One of the bead curtains was slightly different form the others. All of them were quite colourful, yes, but this one wasn't just colourful. It seemed like the beads that were a different colour created a symbol of sorts. Eero couldn't fathom the origin of the symbol. Something told him that he was better off not knowing. He reached out to the curtain, but hesitated. Eero could feel Soho tense up, just as he was. The boy took a breath and pulled the curtain apart.

The beads clicked softly at the motion. The curtain revealed a dark room, lit by a handful of lacrima crystals, scattered about. In front of him was a low table with a traditional crystal ball, set of cards and some other talismans. Behind he table sat an older woman, but not even close to old as Eero had predicted the fortune teller to be. He was expecting an old crone with fisheyes in jars. This was quite a pleasant surprise. The air was filled with a smoke from an incense burner, which calmed his mind. The woman had a loose silken blouse on her and a scarf around her neck. Her eyes were closed, but Eero knew that it wasn't because she was having an afternoon nap. "Come now. Do not hesitate. Have a seat." A raspy voice sounded through the room. The woman motioned towards the pillows that laid scattered on the other side of the table. Soho tilted his head in curiosity at the crystal ball as Eero sat down, as he was instructed. On the wall behind the woman, Eero spotted various maps of the night sky that had pins in certain spots, obviously marking something. His attention was quickly brought back to the fortune teller, however. "Quite the dilemma you have, for somebody as young as you." Eero could agree with that. "So you know about my memories, then?" The woman nodded. "Your other self, too." Oh. "How do you know-" The woman interrupted him with a light chuckle. "I know more that you think I do. But I don't know everything." She said and opened her eyes to look at the boy who sat in front of her. She had crimson red eyes, that seemed to hold secrets beyond one's wildest imagination. She would bow her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Eero and Soho. You may call me Saya." The woman would introduce herself. Eero shifted uncomfortably. She did know more than he had expected. "What do you seek?" She would place her question in a low voice. Eero had to think on that. He wanted to know about his past, but how was he supposed to formulate a question? "Is there a way for me to recover memories?" He would ask her carefully. Eero didn't want Saya to think that he just wanted to use her to get his memories back. The fortune teller hummed. "I assume that you have already tried triggering the return of our memories by visiting places that you thought could potentially have ties to your past." She stated and Eero with Soho nodded. "But are you sure that the memories are missing?" What? Eero was confused. "What do you mean by that?" Saya looked at him with a serious expression. "What if your memories were still there?" She pointed at his head. "...Or there?" She then pointed at his puzzle. Eero looked downwards at the reversed pyramid, hanging on his choker. "And they are just simply locked away, for your own good?" Eero's head shot upwards. His memories locked away for his own good? What could have possibly had happened to him to warrant such an action? The boy stared at the fortune teller in shock, unable to form a sentence. "I cannot give you your memories, Eero. You will have to do that on your own." Saya would say with a harrowing undertone to her voice. Eero had a clue now, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't recover any of his memories, as it were. "Where do I look? What do I do?" He would ask the fortune teller, desperately. Saya only shook her head. "I don't know. You will have to do it on your own." She would repeat herself. Eero knew that. But he just felt like he needed guidance. Just a tiny nudge to get him going. His other self's words rang in his head. You can't do anything yourself. The boy sighed. He wanted to get up and leave, as there was nothing more he could learn, when he heard loud horns, sounding outside. "An alarm. Bandits are coming in for an attack." Saya explained the sound. It made sense; Eero's brief contained a warning about the bandits in the area. "Go on. They could use a mage like you." The fortune teller would urge Eero to help out. The boy hastily stood up. "Right. Thank you for your previous insight." Eero quickly bowed and ran outside, with Saya following him with her eyes.

Eero wasn't sure where to go. The horns have already stopped and there was nobody in the streets anymore. Thankfully, Soho guided him to the center of the village, where some of the village's fighters had gathered. "Keep on scouting, alright? Also keep an eye on where I go." Eero's bird companion screeched and flew upwards to fulfill his instructions. In the center of the village he could see a handful of people. Some had leather armour and very few had plated armour. They were mostly equipped with swords. Eero saw a few bows in the mix. The age range was quite the variety pack. There were older men, young men and even a teen, who had one of the bows. Eero approached the group. One of the older men noticed him. "Go inside, kid. There's an attack incoming." He said, shooing Eero away. "I know. That's why I'm here." The boy would reply and the rest of the group slowly turned towards them. "I'm a mage from Silver Wolf. I want to help." He would explain. The older man that spoke up first looked at the rest of the group. Most of them shrugged, they didn't mind if he joined the force. But the teen spoke up, instead. "Sure, we could always use more people to defend the village." He still had somewhat of a high-pitched voice. Eero nodded. "Thank you. What is the strategy?" He would walk closer to the group. "They are attacking from the eastern and southern sides. We are going to split up into two groups. Supposedly there are going to be more bandits on the southern side. Mage, you go there with others. Got it?" The boy nodded firmly. "Yes, sir." "Good. Now get going before they got into the village!" The man yelled and the rest of the group shouted a warcry and started to run to their positions. While Eero omitted the warcry, he too, ran to his position on the southern side of the village.

They barely got the southern side, the bandits were already almost to the village. /"I slowed them down."/ Eero thought as he got ready for a battle. The bandits were not going to play nice and there was no way that he wasn't going to get overwhelmed by emotions. He knew that he would get overtaken by his other self no matter what. He could only hope that he wouldn't turn on the poor villagers. That certainly wouldn't cast a good light upon the Guild's name. Eero took a deep breath. In their group there were two archers, who already launched a couple of arrows, taking down a bandit or two. The bandits were within reach. Eero could see several swords and makeshift bombs within the bandit ranks. The boy reckoned that some of them possibly had some magical powers. But it was time for his contribution to the cause. He gathered liquid acid in his body and let it out from his left hand to form a bow, Deathgarden that solidified and Eero took a shot at one of the closer bandits. He landed the shot perfectly through the bandit's head and his body just lifelessly slumped down onto the ground. After that shot Eero blacked out once again, as his other self got released.

A wicked grin appeared on Eero's lips. "Well well well. What a treat we have here." He laughed as he covered his right arm in dripping acid with his Toxic Lash technique. Eero ran into the fray with the other defenders of the village. He ducked a sword slash and punched a bandit in his gut. He screamed as acid made contact with his skin that would slowly eat away at him. An another bandit tried to slash at him, but he stumbled and Eero took advantage of that. He punched him in his side with his envenomed arm and the bandit screamed, just like the one before him. The bandit was writhing on the ground from the poison's effect. Eero stood over him. "You never should've come here." He said in his deeper voice, menacingly. The boy wanted to release Miasma, but his confidence got the best of him when he felt sharp pain in his left shoulder. He could then feel the hotness of his spilling blood. The boy turned around sharply. He was suddenly face to face with a bigger bandit, who didn't seem scared of him at all. "Should've stayed home, kid." He tried to sound intimidating, but Eero only punched him with the last charge of Toxic Lash and used Regenerative Molt to get away. The bandit howled in pain and swung with his axe at the molt that Eero left behind. He was confused and looked franticly around for the escaped mage. Eero had dashed away and ran behind the bandit. The boy was relying on the fact that the bandit was most likely a dumbass and wouldn't look behind him for a while. The boy threw his travel bag on the ground and massaged his left shoulder. It was still slightly bleeding, but Regenerative Molt was slowly working on it. He heard sounds of fighting on his left, so he presumed that most of the village guards were in that direction. Eero gathered acid in his body once more and released it in a wave of Miasma around him, just like he was about to do before he got axed. He heard several screams, but the most prominent ones were from the three bandits that he had tagged with poison, beforehand. "I need more." The boy said to himself and grabbed the Earthshaper. Eero gathered gaseous poison in his body and released it into an aura of fumes around himself, that would slow down enemies and make it harder for them to aim by disorientating them. Several more bandits ran up to him from his right. He didn't notice them in time, so he got slightly taken surprise. A few slashes appeared on his arms and one even landed on his right cheek. Eero growled and swung with the bo staff. He his one of the bandits on the side of their head, knocking them out on impact. The bandits that surrounded him already started to look like they were getting affected by the Disorientating Fumes. They moved more sluggish and they were slowly losing their focus. Eero slammed Earthshaper onto the ground and released a narrow wave of vines that caught two bandits and rooted them in their places. He wanted to summon his Blighted Wings, when his face got hit by a small fireball. It singed off bottom of his beautiful fringe and a bit of his right eyebrow. It didn't help that his right cheek already had a wound, which made the fireball stung a while lot more. Eero growled and looked in the direction the spell came from. A masked woman was approaching the three bandits who weren't snared and were blocking him from behind. She was clad in leather pants and a tunic. Eero couldn't see her face, since it was blocked by a mask, pair of darkened glasses and a cap. "You caught us by quite the surprise." She would say as she took out a hunting knife from behind her belt. "Feisty little mage, I tell you." She chuckled and made sure not to stand too close. She must've noticed how not in a good shape her cohorts looked like that surrounded him. "Maybe you should've thought about the possibility of there being a travelling mage. You seem smarter than these brutes." Eero would motion towards the bandits around him. "While you are quite correct, they still pack a punch. Mostly people don't want to deal with us, so they just give us the stuff we want." The boy wasn't sure if she just thought about them as basically fodder for the meat grinder or not. "And you wanted to do the same here, right?" He would ask the obvious. "Very much so, kiddo. Say, you're quite smart and strong." He knew where this was going. "How about you work with us, hm? I would give you quite the cut of our loot, for your efforts." The boy scoffed. He may have been more on the wilder side, he wasn't a complete and utter dumbass. "I have my allegiances set quite well, thanks. So do me a favour and piss off." He would growl the last part. Eero could feel the woman's gaze on his person, burning a hole into his head if she could shoot flames out of her eyes. Eero still had Earthshaper in his hand. He knew that the snare on the two bandits was about to expire and the fumes were getting milder by the second. Soon enough he would have five bandits and a leader to deal with. As much as he hated to admit it, he would be severely outmatched and outnumbered. From behind him, with his greater senses, he could hear the yells of the village defenders. They were getting closer and closer. He started to gather acid inside his body as he dropped Earthshaper onto the ground. Upon that motion he could see out of the corner of his eyes the three bandits who lunged forward at him. The leader in his direction started to gather a fireball as Eero swiftly formed the Deathgarden. He didn't have any time to properly line up a shot, so he shot the arrow instinctively. Shortly after he felt burns on his chest as he got knocked out by one of the bandits to his side.

Eero felt himself floating in vast, dark nothingness. He was floating through the empty space, no destination in mind. But then he opened his eyes and saw.. a flicker of light. People always said not to follow the light. Did that mean that he had died? He didn't know. The curiosity won over rational judgement, so Eero willed himself to drift towards the speck of light in the distance. For the longest time it didn't seem to be getting any bigger. Suddently a flash of light enveloped his sight, blinding him. When the light disappeared, he noticed that he was floating inside a cavern. It felt similar to the experience he had when he witnessed the previous fragment of memory. The part of the cavern that he was floating near was dark. Eero wasn't sure whether it was a memory corruption or how it actually looked like. There must've been something else in the cavern. Soon enough he spotted it - a boy, laying on the cavern floor, seemingly unconscious. He wanted to get closer to him, but unknown force had his rooted in place. Nothing was happening for some time, until the boy came to, as he rolled over in pain. Eero was still very much far away, but he could make out the hair the boy had. The strange hair that he knew only one person had - himself. Was this boy his younger self? "You are either brave, or stupid, child." A voice echoed through the cavern. Eero recognized that voice.. It was the same voice that he had heard in the last fragment. At the very end. The area became hazy, making Eero unable to see what was happening below him. "...What is it you seek from me, child?" He heard the voice ask. "I... I seek the knowledge about lost magic." His younger self answered, slightly unsure about himself. "So you seek the power of dragons?" The voice would place an another question. The power of dragons? That would explain Eero's sudden surge in power after he awakened to the dormant powers. "I do." Replied the young voice. So he sought the dragon's power in the past? What could've possibly given him that idea? "Tell me. What are you going to do with such knowledge?" The other voice gave little Eero yet an another question. The answer of his younger self intrigued Eero himself. What was the answer? He had to know. There was quiet for a while, before the young voice spoke up again. "I would use it to protect the people of my town." I wanted to protect people, just as I still want to now. What happened that made him lose his memories, though? "Such a noble answer." The other voice said amusedly at the youngster's reply. Eero wished to see more, but he noticed cracks appearing in his vision. The fragment was about to break. Just as he thought of that, he was blinded by the light again.



When Eero came to, he woke up in a bed. /"This seems oddly familiar.."/ It was exactly the same as the time he woke up after he lost his memory. Except the room was different and a bird was sitting next to him. Soho. His companion immediately noticed Eero waking up and hopped closer, to pull back the bed sheet a little. "Hey bud." Eero greeted his friend as he slowly sat up in the bed. He was in his inn room that he was staying in. The boy pet his companion. Soho let out a soft noise in contentment. It was then he suddenly felt pain in the right side of his face. His hand immediately shot up to feel his face, but his hand only met bandages. "I guess I got pretty messed up, huh?" Eero asked Soho who nodded. "How long have I been out?" That was the most important question. He didn't want Leona to worry about him. Soho let out a short screech and flew out. Eero assumed that his companion went to fetch somebody who could explain what had transpired during that bandit attack. On the table he spotted his travel bag. In a corner of the room there was Earthshaper leaned against the wall. Eero was glad that his possessions made it out safely. Moreso that Soho was safe and sound. Soon enough the door to his room was opened and an older man walked inside. Eero recognized him as the man who gave out orders before the attack. "Glad you finally woke up." He said and closed the door behind him after Soho flew back inside the room. "I don't know how long I've been out." The boy would state. The man nodded."For about two days. I'm surprised you are up already. We thought you would be out for at least three days or so." He didn't hide the surprise in his voice. "Thanks for getting my things off the battlefield." The boy would thank with a light bow of his head. His face stung pretty bad. He was glad that at least the bandage wasn't over his eye, or else he would've been extremely worried. "You should thank your bird for that. We brought the things back, but he showed us where the things were." The man replied and Eero would pet Soho again. "He also saw you getting surrounded by those bandits and fetched the rest of the group to help you out. But you already were knocked out." The man would add. "Thank you, Soho. Where would I be without you?" Eero would rhetorically ask as he gave Soho a nice little scratch on his neck, that made the bird tilt his head in that direction. "I should also thank you, for helping us out. You took out some of the bandits, albeit in kind of a painful way." Eero looked away. Poison wasn't kind and the death by poison would always be awful. "But you managed to incapacitate the leader, who was then taken into custody. We owe you a lot, lad." Right. He guessed he did that, at the price of his face. "Speaking of which, what is your name? People would love to know the name of the mage who helped to defend the village." The boy looked up at him. People wanted to know his name? It felt.. strange. "My name is Eero Saarinen, of the Silver Wolf Guild." The man's face lit up. "Ah! The Guild in those perilous Phoenix mountains! Glad to meet you, Eero. I am Sven." The man would introduce himself in return. "I think it would be best for you to rest up before you do anything. Have you accomplished the things you needed to here already?" The boy would look at the puzzle that glistened under the travel bag on the table. "Yes. Yes I have."