With all the rumors that the gas mage has been hearing about the trouble in Era, it seemed pretty quite now that he's here. He was thinking of checking out the Era headquarters for any updates. Little did he know that a load of trouble was to be stirred up tonight. However it was still 10 in the evening and Ace was hungry. The jewels he had made were saved up for his grandfather just a few kilometers away from Era on the outskirts of the holy capital Crocus. The 12 year old wanted to treat himself for a big feast before heading over to the Rune Knights' headquarters, so that meant he needed a few more jewels. Besides, what harm would it do. A quick request, easy jewels, a good meal then the headquarters to make sure all was good. Surprisingly enough the gas mage has never been to the Era headquarters before. His while engagement with the Rune Knights was on training camps in Corcus as a page. However the mage was promoted to the Apprentice rank and was now looked up upon by his peers. Funny enough for a 12 year old surpassing 20, 30 and even 40 year old peers.

The apprentice walked around the town which was mostly lit by the moon's light. It was quite and peaceful even though there were still a good few walking around the empty streets of Era. People were probably leaving their jobs or getting their families dinner. Ace looked up around town for the request board and managed to get to it easily enough. There he scanned the off white papers that hung off the sturdy wooden board. Most of the requests were for tomorrow's date with very few overnight jobs that required him to stay up all night actually doing something. He was tired enough from his journey and much rather preferred to do a quick job. However there weren't any. Instead of leaving it till the morning, the gas mage stripped a paper off the board. This one required him to "guard" a caravan overnight. It didn't have a very long shift either as it ends around three in the morning when the other shift comes in just before sunrise. That sounded like a good plan.

Ace forgot delayed his dinner to a breakfast the next day and went to grind his jewels out while sitting next to some paranoid merchant's caravan. The requestor stated on the bottom of the paper that he'll meet with whoever takes the job at the caravan's location and attached an address on the back so only those who take the request can know where it is. The gas mage rolled his eyes.

"This man truly seems paranoid"

Could he have been actually selling valuable goods to the extent that he'd hide his location that much. Anyways Ace would find out shortly by meeting him. He followed the path highlighted on the request and took very little time to actually get there. A somewhat old looking man with long brown hair stood there with a worried expression on his face. Ace greeted him the old man saying "Hey, I'm Ace Brookes of the Rune Knights here to watch your caravan for the night". The man let out a deep sigh of relief and said I was starting to wonder if anyo..." as he got interrupted by Ace continuing his sentence, "...anyone was about to show up... I know, it seems like all the last minute quests I do end up like this". The old man smiled and said "Good, so stay here till three and the next shift will hand you your reward before you leave". Ace nodded and watched the man leave the scene only to stop and turn again, "Son you do know that this caravan is really precious to me. That's why I wanted a mage to take the job. There are many streets and alleys that lead to this location so please stay alert" he said worryingly. The gas mage simply just nodded again to reassure the man that he got this. He expected no one to even know of this caravan. Most of the time people were just overly paranoid because they care about something, or at least that could've been Ace's opinion on the matter. It was his job to roam around the caravan whether or not there was a threat to the goods.

At this stage Ace was left alone with the caravan to make sure no one attempted anything. The gas mage has done enough D-rank quests to expect no threat at all during the entirety of this quest. It was also very hard to stay awake. He slightly leaned on the caravan as the moon light dimly lit the streets of Era. The air felt like blankets wrapped around the young mage. He was definitely tired from all the traveling he'd just done and it probably wasn't the perfect timing for this request but at least he knew he was doing the man a solid favor by just being there. He was looking very worried before Ace showed up and at least the gas mage knows he has nothing better to be doing really.

A few hours later the gas mage's eyes were starting to give out. His eyelids were beginning to feel very heavy over his eyes. The same plain scene of the caravan and the trees behind it was getting very boring. Just before he actually fell asleep, the gas mage heard some noises coming from one of the alleys nearby. "What the fuck..." he whispered to himself as his eyes rolled wide open. He prepared himself and slowly walked towards the alleyway. It sounded more and more like people planning something the closer he got. "What were they saying?" he thought to himself. The gas mage peaked behind the white building's wall only to see a couple whispering to each other. It seems like they were getting something started for the night. The gas mage immediately showed no interest and avoided listening in on anything they were saying, but still kept his guard as he leaned on the caravan from the alleyway's side now.

That was pretty much the highlight of Ace's night as nothing interesting happened for the entirety of the evening. He simply waited for the next shift, got his well deserved reward, and left the scened.