Since he was already on the continent of Tolgalen he decided to take a look around a bit, from what he could remember and from what he was told by other people the continent was magically created long ago. It was because of its creation it was far stranger than anywhere else on Earthland, it had at least one of each biome on the continent so was quite self suficiant when it came to needing things. Of course given that a trading company took over its leadership it only stood to reason that it still traded with other places in Earthland, the continent of Ishgar being one of them. He had to wonder being as they were a seperate continent if they had to follow the magic council's word, but it would make no sense since they were the magic authority of Ishgar not of Earthland, then again one of the two in charge of the continent held one of the coveted God of Ishgar titles. It again made him again wonder if they did indeed follow the rules of the magic council and if they did why Tolgalen was clearly a seperate soveringe land to Ishgar. The only reason he could think of was the fact that Tolgalen was governed by traders and diplomats so it stood to reason to do their business without to much hassle was to play by the rules and laws stated by the lands they traded with. He also supposed that as the company was viewed by everyone as an unofficial legal guild due to the amount of mages they had working for them; and their reputation of helping those in need when they could no matter where the issue was located meant even if they didn't agree with the rules, morals or had to listen they still neeced to play nice in the public eye which they did. He however had no idea if this was the case it was all speculation on his part.
Given how large the continent was, how it was created and rumours stated it was sustained, the magenta haired teen guessed that there were many secrets yet to be discovered. This meant many artifacts and pieces of knowledge that could be found to better the world and its people, that of course was if they could be found and the secrets of such things unlocked but that might take many years if not centuries to do but it was worth it in the long run... right? The issue he had was the continent was to large to guess and hope for the best so he would have to decide a small area to check and work out from there until he found something of worth that he could bring back to the guild for research. He had heard of an expedition recently done by the alliance his guild was part of, he didn't have much knowledge on why it took three guilds to check a single area out but it seemed like research was being done on the area due to something that happened during one of the companie's seasonal balls. He really did hate social events personally but that was more to do with the masks that everyone wore, nothing felt authentic or real, it was purely keeping up apperances for the rest of the world; at least from the world he himself came from, he couldn't say if it was the same for the trading company or those that had been deemed worthy enough of invites, it was because of this he could only go off of his own experiences and it was something that he had put behind him the moment he had left his own gilded cage thankfully.
Before returning to the continent he had a few weeks of arguing with himself on wither or not going back to Tolgalen was a good idea, after all there where things in Ishgar itself still needing answers or to be located, there was also the bonus that there would be less likely chance to bump into Sol again. The counter arguement of that of course was that others in the guild would be looking in Ishgar for artifacts, relics and hidden knowledge so there would be a race to find such things; and then there was also the fact he would have less chance to bump into Sol on Tolgalen given the place was so big, that was before taking the responcibilities he had into consideration. There had also been rumours he had heard through the social grape vine that Ruvel himself hadn't been seeing clients, the companies official stance from the information given was due to health, this might be true as there had been several times his parents had requested for him personally and he had looked sick. He had personally apologised for his apperance and explained he had a very rare illness that there was no cure for. The magenta haired youth recalled the blonde haired CEO explaining it wasn't contagious but he did require months of rest at times when it flared to badly. He himself had asked what was the sickness so he might look into it, this was of course out of general curiousity but had been told that it was something to do with his magic and that was the only information he himself had been told by doctors. When he had asked about the doctors he could see the micro expression of fear that had been ever so brief on Ruvel's face and had apologised for such a question, something told the spoiled teen that he shouldn't push on getting that information, more so as he himself felt the fear as if it had been his own, to say it was odd was an understatement.
As with anything such information was shared like wildfire down the grapevine, it hadn't seemed like the quite and mild mannered CEO minded that such information had been shared, he had said that it had given him peace of mind if he did have to be unavaliable due to his health. It was because he had been open with his clients about such a thing that his disapperance didn't seem unusual now, however, there had been rumours that the youth had been injured recently and was staying out of the eyes of the public due to it. There was however no evidence of such a thing happening and without that, the upfont and honest CEO's image remained untainted, then again even if it had been true it wouldn't have been as people get hurt all the time. Then again as one of the four legendary God of Ishgar he guessed it might be different, he was suppose to be one of the four strongest mages Ishgar had to offer. Strength was all well and good but many people only looked at the magical and physical strength of a person, to him Wizard Saints needed more than this, they were meant to be a shining beakon; A light in the darkness there to remind everyone no matter how bad a situation got, there was always hope and so longs that hope survived then they had nothing to worry about. Hope after all even if dull could never truly be snuffed out so longs one person still had it, from what he had seen even through the glammour the young CEO wore to hide what happened to him to the rest of the world, he hadn't given up his hope and to him this was his strength.
After all the back and forward arguements that had happened in the magenta teen's head he headed to the research department, made a copy of one of the maps that had been created during the recent expedition before making a researchers pack containing specimin jars, note books, pens, pencils, drawing pads, sample collection devices, food and drink sealed in stasis bags, jars and bottles for around a week heading to Hargeon town to once again get a ship to get to Tolgalen. He swore with how often he had gone to Tolgalen he should start getting frequent miles, he had to wonder if the West Fiore Trading Companies airship would be there because it would mean getting to Tolgalen would be so much quicker than the last few times he went there. Stepping out of the warmth of the guild hall he was dressed in a long sleeved white t-shirt, black trousers and brown boots, it was warmish given the time of year he had expected it to be colder but the sun was out even if hidden by clouds. He started heading down the mountain path at a steady pace, he was now getting use to which paths to take but on occassion still took the wrong one and grumbling at his idocy and how it should really have signs to prevent such a thing happening. He guessed he couldn't complain to bad as by the time he got to the bottom of the guild's territory he seen a coach coming, seeing him the driver stopped and after a brief conversation he discovered it was going to Clover and would be indeed going through Hargeon to get to its destination.
He paid for his ticket and not a moment to soon as a thunderstorm seemed to start, problem was at this point the youth wasn't to sure if it was natural, someone testing their magic or someone messing around with something they were researching. Regardless it wasn't his problem at current, though he did hope that he would return to the guild hall in one piece if it happened to be one of the latter two. He had heard stories of how Sabertooth's and Fairytail's guild halls had been destroyed on more than one occasion and would rather his current home fall under the same fate. The ride was more than a little annoying to the teen, the coach was cramped so he could barely breath let alone anything else, there was a kid in front of him a few rows screaming and yelling and a grown ass man behind him who kept kicking his seat telling him to adjust it forward so he could have more room. How he wanted to kill everyone on the coach right now but remained quiet and ignored it all the best he could. The driver should have known better than to keep allowing more passengers to get on, if there was an accident then there would be a lot of people injured if not killed due to it. Rules and regulations on how many people could get onto public transport was there for a reason and it seemed to be a reason that the driver had forgotten every time he let someone else join the sardine party. He wasn't surprised when a fight broke out in all honesty but made no attempt to get out of his seat to stop it, mainly because he couldn't move for love or money but it really had nothing to do with him. He had to agree however it was dangerous and called out as such to the driver finally who stopped to see what was going on, it had taken around twenty minutes but the fighting finally stopped and the driver continued to the closest coach station requesting that everyone standing get off, there was a lot of grumbling but he assured them that another coach in the station would take them the rest of the way with their tickets which though still irritated them they agreed that it would be safer and likely more comfortable that way so took their bags and moved to the other coach.
The whole situation had taken around an hour to sort out and once again the coach was back on the road, during the hour the drivers details, the coach details were taken and spread to everyone. The poor guy was likely just wanting to help everyone get to their destinations instead of having them wait for the next coach, now he was going to have so many complaints against him he was likely going to get fired. Alma were normally a brat would have jamp on him like the angry mob remained calm, he had learned that the world he was use to was different from the one he now lived and people done the best they could and tried to help others out. Along the journey he had managed to get most of the coach to give the driver a break, there was a storm and he just didn't want to see people out in the horrible weather. He had told them, he guessed that this was the truth, it was human nature not really wanting to see someone suffer in such a way because illness and potential death could follow expecially with the old, young and infirm. He knew there were people out there who only cared about themselves but still he liked to believe that the driver wasn't one of those people and was just trying to help people out of the rain till he could get to the station to get the other coach. He had even stated to the people he had spoken to, if that wasn't the case then there wouldn't have been a coach waiting to take on the overflow, this seemed to pacify them further which he was thankful for, it was his good deed for the day as small as it might have been it may have saved the driver his livelihood. No one knew what the man's family was like, how many kids he could have had, what type of schooling etc they were going through; for all anyone knew this man was the sole provider for his family.
He was stuck on the coach for a while longer and as much as he wanted to check the copy of the map something told him it was best that he didn't. The information was still ongoing discussions and such about what was seen in the area, he was still new so didn't really comprehend what was being said. Little did he know he would soon be getting a crash course on the area and just how dangerous it was first hand. For now however he was venturing into a place you weren't meant to go without being fully informed about the danger, then again even if he knew what he was walking towards it would be unlikely to sway him due to his child like curiosity. It was true that most researchers and scientists held this quirk but it was more than that for him, he was pretty much a child experiencing everything for the first time on his own. He knew he would slip up, make mistakes and walk into situations that he likely would be kicking himself for in the long run but that was just part of growing up for him. He was still excited about the unknown and would face everything as if it was nothing more than a puzzle, to him that was all life was after all. A complex puzzle that did have a solution that no one knew but then if people could see all the pieces and knew how everything fit then it would just make people like him and his guildmates obsolete. He thought on that for a moment and actually felt saddened at the thought of having nothing new to discover, research, improve or invent; this would make life nothing but boring to him and a hell of a lot of other people now he came to think of it. Luckily however that wasn't the case, the world was filled with mystery and it was a race to make your mark in uncovering some of it.
After quite a few upsets and a less than adequet journey that seemed to take a lifetime the coach finally got to Hargeon, the magenta haired youth couldn't get off the coach quick enough that was for sure. It seemed whatever had been going on around the guildhall had cleared up but he still had no idea if it was nature or one of his guildmates, he really hoped the former because messing around with elements well he always believed that came with a price to the world around them and to the one trying to mess with it. Wither this was the case or not that was yet to be seen, just something he was brought up believing and yet another enigma in the world. When he got off the coach he was about to scream freedom and hug the ground but he thought that people would end up looking to him so he decided against it. He was running from his family the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself considering he knew his family had likely set out a large reward for his return. Then when he was dragged back he would be scolded for behaving is such an uncouth manner so yeah he just got his bag and walked towards the docks in the hopes there was a ship that was going directly to Tolgalen and had wind lacrima on board to help them make good speed. Well even if there wasn't he guessed he could just charter a ship himself, his families money came in handy every now and then but because he kept some of his allowance in another account not seen by his family. It was how he lived the kind of life he was use to without his family being able to find him, sure he kept the same first name but his last name he had changed, he couldn't be the only person in the entire universe called Alma after all. He also found an issue that Sol knew exactly who he was and was afraid that he might tell them about his whereabouts, so far this wasn't the case but he had his own reasons for such a merciful and benevolent act and to him it was far more sinister if someone was to ask for his opinion.
Walking down to the docks he looked carefully at each ship and crew, he had heard of people going missing after choosing the wrong ship. He could hold his own however he would rather not fight if he could help it, he had better things to do than to be carted off by guards until everything got sorted out and sueing them for their mistake. Still he found a captain that he knew from a few journey's ago and once again bartered passage to the continent of Tolgalen. It had turned out that the captain and his crew had fallen on hard times due to the season being over and offered them more than enough to keep him and his crew covered for the winter season, all he asked was to be taken directly to Tolgalen and back to Hargeon in a months time. He even suggested that he talk to the CEO's of the West Fiore Trading Company to be able to do cruises around the continent and the islands off it. He remembered the tropical storm and how it would likely be warm enough to do his trade there during the winter months. When payment was given and accepted he moved onto the ship and went to his normal quarters, at this point he was seriously thinking about hiring the ship and crew on retainer with how often he travelled to and fro from Tolgalen. This would give them all a monthly salary so a financial peace of mind while allowing them to spent time with their loved ones not needed, he wouldn't even mind if when he wasn't needing the ship if they continued doing what they normally did or even changed to something else. He understood that doing that meant that he would have to give a bit of notice or would allow the captain to alter his buisness a bit, that could be something he could talk to the captain about on the journey home. For now he had a lot on his mind such as how to avoid Sol for example. The journey took around three days, during this time he spent most of his time looking over the copy of the map he had looking for anywhere that he himself might find interesting. Taking different coloured markers he started to colour what each where and circled the ones that he believed seemed to be most likely to bare some sort of fruit. He noted that right in the center there seemed to be a metropolis of some sort and looked at the note near it, it had turned out that the ones who had taken the sketch hadn't enter and that though the walls had crumbled there was a bad feeling coming from the inside so he decided that would be the place he would start; after all he who dared won... well nine times out of ten at least, the other one time the idiot in question was dead and so a footnote in history that everyone tended to forget.
It was when he heard that they were pulling into port he got everything together, he was neat but he wanted to make sure everything was as it should be and so it was a few minutes after they had gotten into the port he finally stepped outside and walked down the gang plank. He used a map lacrima to find out which direction he should be going before turning to the captain giving his thanks and saying he'd see him in a month before heading north deeper into the continent. Strangely it almost seemed like part of the lacrima map was fogged over, it was almost like they wanted to hide something, that just wasn't going to do. He did however find it strange that a company that was always transparent with clients from what he could tell would do such a thing, he doubted if he asked Sol he would tell him but would ask him none the less next he seen him, perhaps he would get the answers he wanted but he decided not to hold his breath one way or another. He had no idea how far he was going to be walking and kept out watch to see if there was transport going in the genral direction he was going, but there was nothing, it was silent almost desolate which unnerved him more than a little but he continued moving forward at a quick yet steady pace. It was easily dark by the time he got to the fogged area of the map, he seen posts and even seen the runes forming some sort of sheild but it only made him that much more curious about why something would have a runic shield. He went to the posts and tried to read what was on them but they were faded and the little he could make out he just couldn't read not matter how much he tried. It made him wonder just what was going on and if it was that important wouldn't new signs be put up in a language everyone could understand? With a bit of a shrug he moved forward past the runes and instantly shivered, the air seemed colder and he couldn't explain it, it seemed some what heavier. Taking out his notepad he noted the date, time, weather, how the sky looked, moon cycle, co-ordinates, his vitals such as temprature, how he was feeling and his mood. It might not have seemed like much given he had only taken a step passed the barrier which he also noted there was in his notes but the more information and data he gathered the better he guessed. When he was happy with his notes he placed it back in his messenger bag and headed further into the freakishly enigmatic land in the hopes to find something that could help the other researchers inside the guild with their work.
Word Count: 4,026
Given how large the continent was, how it was created and rumours stated it was sustained, the magenta haired teen guessed that there were many secrets yet to be discovered. This meant many artifacts and pieces of knowledge that could be found to better the world and its people, that of course was if they could be found and the secrets of such things unlocked but that might take many years if not centuries to do but it was worth it in the long run... right? The issue he had was the continent was to large to guess and hope for the best so he would have to decide a small area to check and work out from there until he found something of worth that he could bring back to the guild for research. He had heard of an expedition recently done by the alliance his guild was part of, he didn't have much knowledge on why it took three guilds to check a single area out but it seemed like research was being done on the area due to something that happened during one of the companie's seasonal balls. He really did hate social events personally but that was more to do with the masks that everyone wore, nothing felt authentic or real, it was purely keeping up apperances for the rest of the world; at least from the world he himself came from, he couldn't say if it was the same for the trading company or those that had been deemed worthy enough of invites, it was because of this he could only go off of his own experiences and it was something that he had put behind him the moment he had left his own gilded cage thankfully.
Before returning to the continent he had a few weeks of arguing with himself on wither or not going back to Tolgalen was a good idea, after all there where things in Ishgar itself still needing answers or to be located, there was also the bonus that there would be less likely chance to bump into Sol again. The counter arguement of that of course was that others in the guild would be looking in Ishgar for artifacts, relics and hidden knowledge so there would be a race to find such things; and then there was also the fact he would have less chance to bump into Sol on Tolgalen given the place was so big, that was before taking the responcibilities he had into consideration. There had also been rumours he had heard through the social grape vine that Ruvel himself hadn't been seeing clients, the companies official stance from the information given was due to health, this might be true as there had been several times his parents had requested for him personally and he had looked sick. He had personally apologised for his apperance and explained he had a very rare illness that there was no cure for. The magenta haired youth recalled the blonde haired CEO explaining it wasn't contagious but he did require months of rest at times when it flared to badly. He himself had asked what was the sickness so he might look into it, this was of course out of general curiousity but had been told that it was something to do with his magic and that was the only information he himself had been told by doctors. When he had asked about the doctors he could see the micro expression of fear that had been ever so brief on Ruvel's face and had apologised for such a question, something told the spoiled teen that he shouldn't push on getting that information, more so as he himself felt the fear as if it had been his own, to say it was odd was an understatement.
As with anything such information was shared like wildfire down the grapevine, it hadn't seemed like the quite and mild mannered CEO minded that such information had been shared, he had said that it had given him peace of mind if he did have to be unavaliable due to his health. It was because he had been open with his clients about such a thing that his disapperance didn't seem unusual now, however, there had been rumours that the youth had been injured recently and was staying out of the eyes of the public due to it. There was however no evidence of such a thing happening and without that, the upfont and honest CEO's image remained untainted, then again even if it had been true it wouldn't have been as people get hurt all the time. Then again as one of the four legendary God of Ishgar he guessed it might be different, he was suppose to be one of the four strongest mages Ishgar had to offer. Strength was all well and good but many people only looked at the magical and physical strength of a person, to him Wizard Saints needed more than this, they were meant to be a shining beakon; A light in the darkness there to remind everyone no matter how bad a situation got, there was always hope and so longs that hope survived then they had nothing to worry about. Hope after all even if dull could never truly be snuffed out so longs one person still had it, from what he had seen even through the glammour the young CEO wore to hide what happened to him to the rest of the world, he hadn't given up his hope and to him this was his strength.
After all the back and forward arguements that had happened in the magenta teen's head he headed to the research department, made a copy of one of the maps that had been created during the recent expedition before making a researchers pack containing specimin jars, note books, pens, pencils, drawing pads, sample collection devices, food and drink sealed in stasis bags, jars and bottles for around a week heading to Hargeon town to once again get a ship to get to Tolgalen. He swore with how often he had gone to Tolgalen he should start getting frequent miles, he had to wonder if the West Fiore Trading Companies airship would be there because it would mean getting to Tolgalen would be so much quicker than the last few times he went there. Stepping out of the warmth of the guild hall he was dressed in a long sleeved white t-shirt, black trousers and brown boots, it was warmish given the time of year he had expected it to be colder but the sun was out even if hidden by clouds. He started heading down the mountain path at a steady pace, he was now getting use to which paths to take but on occassion still took the wrong one and grumbling at his idocy and how it should really have signs to prevent such a thing happening. He guessed he couldn't complain to bad as by the time he got to the bottom of the guild's territory he seen a coach coming, seeing him the driver stopped and after a brief conversation he discovered it was going to Clover and would be indeed going through Hargeon to get to its destination.
He paid for his ticket and not a moment to soon as a thunderstorm seemed to start, problem was at this point the youth wasn't to sure if it was natural, someone testing their magic or someone messing around with something they were researching. Regardless it wasn't his problem at current, though he did hope that he would return to the guild hall in one piece if it happened to be one of the latter two. He had heard stories of how Sabertooth's and Fairytail's guild halls had been destroyed on more than one occasion and would rather his current home fall under the same fate. The ride was more than a little annoying to the teen, the coach was cramped so he could barely breath let alone anything else, there was a kid in front of him a few rows screaming and yelling and a grown ass man behind him who kept kicking his seat telling him to adjust it forward so he could have more room. How he wanted to kill everyone on the coach right now but remained quiet and ignored it all the best he could. The driver should have known better than to keep allowing more passengers to get on, if there was an accident then there would be a lot of people injured if not killed due to it. Rules and regulations on how many people could get onto public transport was there for a reason and it seemed to be a reason that the driver had forgotten every time he let someone else join the sardine party. He wasn't surprised when a fight broke out in all honesty but made no attempt to get out of his seat to stop it, mainly because he couldn't move for love or money but it really had nothing to do with him. He had to agree however it was dangerous and called out as such to the driver finally who stopped to see what was going on, it had taken around twenty minutes but the fighting finally stopped and the driver continued to the closest coach station requesting that everyone standing get off, there was a lot of grumbling but he assured them that another coach in the station would take them the rest of the way with their tickets which though still irritated them they agreed that it would be safer and likely more comfortable that way so took their bags and moved to the other coach.
The whole situation had taken around an hour to sort out and once again the coach was back on the road, during the hour the drivers details, the coach details were taken and spread to everyone. The poor guy was likely just wanting to help everyone get to their destinations instead of having them wait for the next coach, now he was going to have so many complaints against him he was likely going to get fired. Alma were normally a brat would have jamp on him like the angry mob remained calm, he had learned that the world he was use to was different from the one he now lived and people done the best they could and tried to help others out. Along the journey he had managed to get most of the coach to give the driver a break, there was a storm and he just didn't want to see people out in the horrible weather. He had told them, he guessed that this was the truth, it was human nature not really wanting to see someone suffer in such a way because illness and potential death could follow expecially with the old, young and infirm. He knew there were people out there who only cared about themselves but still he liked to believe that the driver wasn't one of those people and was just trying to help people out of the rain till he could get to the station to get the other coach. He had even stated to the people he had spoken to, if that wasn't the case then there wouldn't have been a coach waiting to take on the overflow, this seemed to pacify them further which he was thankful for, it was his good deed for the day as small as it might have been it may have saved the driver his livelihood. No one knew what the man's family was like, how many kids he could have had, what type of schooling etc they were going through; for all anyone knew this man was the sole provider for his family.
He was stuck on the coach for a while longer and as much as he wanted to check the copy of the map something told him it was best that he didn't. The information was still ongoing discussions and such about what was seen in the area, he was still new so didn't really comprehend what was being said. Little did he know he would soon be getting a crash course on the area and just how dangerous it was first hand. For now however he was venturing into a place you weren't meant to go without being fully informed about the danger, then again even if he knew what he was walking towards it would be unlikely to sway him due to his child like curiosity. It was true that most researchers and scientists held this quirk but it was more than that for him, he was pretty much a child experiencing everything for the first time on his own. He knew he would slip up, make mistakes and walk into situations that he likely would be kicking himself for in the long run but that was just part of growing up for him. He was still excited about the unknown and would face everything as if it was nothing more than a puzzle, to him that was all life was after all. A complex puzzle that did have a solution that no one knew but then if people could see all the pieces and knew how everything fit then it would just make people like him and his guildmates obsolete. He thought on that for a moment and actually felt saddened at the thought of having nothing new to discover, research, improve or invent; this would make life nothing but boring to him and a hell of a lot of other people now he came to think of it. Luckily however that wasn't the case, the world was filled with mystery and it was a race to make your mark in uncovering some of it.
After quite a few upsets and a less than adequet journey that seemed to take a lifetime the coach finally got to Hargeon, the magenta haired youth couldn't get off the coach quick enough that was for sure. It seemed whatever had been going on around the guildhall had cleared up but he still had no idea if it was nature or one of his guildmates, he really hoped the former because messing around with elements well he always believed that came with a price to the world around them and to the one trying to mess with it. Wither this was the case or not that was yet to be seen, just something he was brought up believing and yet another enigma in the world. When he got off the coach he was about to scream freedom and hug the ground but he thought that people would end up looking to him so he decided against it. He was running from his family the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself considering he knew his family had likely set out a large reward for his return. Then when he was dragged back he would be scolded for behaving is such an uncouth manner so yeah he just got his bag and walked towards the docks in the hopes there was a ship that was going directly to Tolgalen and had wind lacrima on board to help them make good speed. Well even if there wasn't he guessed he could just charter a ship himself, his families money came in handy every now and then but because he kept some of his allowance in another account not seen by his family. It was how he lived the kind of life he was use to without his family being able to find him, sure he kept the same first name but his last name he had changed, he couldn't be the only person in the entire universe called Alma after all. He also found an issue that Sol knew exactly who he was and was afraid that he might tell them about his whereabouts, so far this wasn't the case but he had his own reasons for such a merciful and benevolent act and to him it was far more sinister if someone was to ask for his opinion.
Walking down to the docks he looked carefully at each ship and crew, he had heard of people going missing after choosing the wrong ship. He could hold his own however he would rather not fight if he could help it, he had better things to do than to be carted off by guards until everything got sorted out and sueing them for their mistake. Still he found a captain that he knew from a few journey's ago and once again bartered passage to the continent of Tolgalen. It had turned out that the captain and his crew had fallen on hard times due to the season being over and offered them more than enough to keep him and his crew covered for the winter season, all he asked was to be taken directly to Tolgalen and back to Hargeon in a months time. He even suggested that he talk to the CEO's of the West Fiore Trading Company to be able to do cruises around the continent and the islands off it. He remembered the tropical storm and how it would likely be warm enough to do his trade there during the winter months. When payment was given and accepted he moved onto the ship and went to his normal quarters, at this point he was seriously thinking about hiring the ship and crew on retainer with how often he travelled to and fro from Tolgalen. This would give them all a monthly salary so a financial peace of mind while allowing them to spent time with their loved ones not needed, he wouldn't even mind if when he wasn't needing the ship if they continued doing what they normally did or even changed to something else. He understood that doing that meant that he would have to give a bit of notice or would allow the captain to alter his buisness a bit, that could be something he could talk to the captain about on the journey home. For now he had a lot on his mind such as how to avoid Sol for example. The journey took around three days, during this time he spent most of his time looking over the copy of the map he had looking for anywhere that he himself might find interesting. Taking different coloured markers he started to colour what each where and circled the ones that he believed seemed to be most likely to bare some sort of fruit. He noted that right in the center there seemed to be a metropolis of some sort and looked at the note near it, it had turned out that the ones who had taken the sketch hadn't enter and that though the walls had crumbled there was a bad feeling coming from the inside so he decided that would be the place he would start; after all he who dared won... well nine times out of ten at least, the other one time the idiot in question was dead and so a footnote in history that everyone tended to forget.
It was when he heard that they were pulling into port he got everything together, he was neat but he wanted to make sure everything was as it should be and so it was a few minutes after they had gotten into the port he finally stepped outside and walked down the gang plank. He used a map lacrima to find out which direction he should be going before turning to the captain giving his thanks and saying he'd see him in a month before heading north deeper into the continent. Strangely it almost seemed like part of the lacrima map was fogged over, it was almost like they wanted to hide something, that just wasn't going to do. He did however find it strange that a company that was always transparent with clients from what he could tell would do such a thing, he doubted if he asked Sol he would tell him but would ask him none the less next he seen him, perhaps he would get the answers he wanted but he decided not to hold his breath one way or another. He had no idea how far he was going to be walking and kept out watch to see if there was transport going in the genral direction he was going, but there was nothing, it was silent almost desolate which unnerved him more than a little but he continued moving forward at a quick yet steady pace. It was easily dark by the time he got to the fogged area of the map, he seen posts and even seen the runes forming some sort of sheild but it only made him that much more curious about why something would have a runic shield. He went to the posts and tried to read what was on them but they were faded and the little he could make out he just couldn't read not matter how much he tried. It made him wonder just what was going on and if it was that important wouldn't new signs be put up in a language everyone could understand? With a bit of a shrug he moved forward past the runes and instantly shivered, the air seemed colder and he couldn't explain it, it seemed some what heavier. Taking out his notepad he noted the date, time, weather, how the sky looked, moon cycle, co-ordinates, his vitals such as temprature, how he was feeling and his mood. It might not have seemed like much given he had only taken a step passed the barrier which he also noted there was in his notes but the more information and data he gathered the better he guessed. When he was happy with his notes he placed it back in his messenger bag and headed further into the freakishly enigmatic land in the hopes to find something that could help the other researchers inside the guild with their work.
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