Gloomy – the sky was, dark and covered in a grey mist of clouds that was distributed over the vast skies like a veil. It appeared as if the empyreans were on the verge of crying, its tears used to fill up rivers, lakes, dams and precious gold to those who haven’t gotten a single drop of rain. The town was quiet, almost as strange as it sounds and Hargeon had always been a bustling city with tourists and townsfolk all over the place, that one would not even be able to walk in the streets properly due to the crowds. Perhaps, it was due to the dark skies and mayhap, they predicted that it would be raining for the day. The young man tugged onto the hood of his clothing and let it conceal part of his face. He tilted his head upwards, staring up at the vast sky that outstretched above him as he felt droplets of water falling on his face.

Back in his country, rain was gold, for the entire year would be summer all year round with no rain or snow. Drought was common in Desierto and a lot of people suffered and died tragically from the dry climate. Due to the harsh weather condition, it was hard for farmers to grow crops as well and thus, they would mostly import it from other countries to share among the citizens. Even then, it was never enough for the entire country, especially the low-class citizens. It was extremely fortunate that King was born into a wealthy family, attained whatever he wanted, unlike the other townsfolk who had to struggle to make a living. By watching them, he realised that gold and wealth was extremely important. In Fiore, life was much easier compared to Desierto. Mages were strewn everywhere all over the country, and they could easily earn a few jewels just by doing a couple of quests.

So far, he had been enjoying the life of a mage although, he would often think about his own country when he had nothing else to do. After all, it was a place that he grew up and despite how his childhood wasn’t exactly as fun and happy as others would have expected, he was still a proud citizen of Desierto. While he stood in the middle of the streets, he thought about those things. Rain thudded against the skin of his umbrella and he’d slowly shift his attention back to the road as he was finally brought out of his reverie. He recalled himself that he was supposed to meet a man for a quest to retrieve the details he did not know about. His eyes darted around the area and for a brief moment, he wondered where he was until he started sprinting down the road in a hurry. His boots splashed through the puddles that were littered along the streets and water would spray onto his nice clothes of white and gold but he didn’t have time to care since he was too bothered that he might not make it on time.

Upon his arrival at the client’s location, he would be filled in the details of the simple quest; which was to retrieve the dog that was located back at his ex-girlfriend’s place. He couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle at the thought. Ah, men and their past dramas. There was always drama whenever a girl was involved and it was the same for him too: whenever he would dump a woman, they would come over to his house crying and declaring how much they loved him and how much they would sacrifice for him. He had gotten used to all those pretty words. When he wouldn’t respond, the women would just trash his apartment or do something terrible to him out of spite. Of course, he didn’t mind all those things and to be honest, he didn’t care about all of them.

The client described the dog as large, vicious and wild, almost untameable that King wondered if he would even return alive. The coordinates of his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, called as Brittany was written on the piece of paper that Maxwell had jotted down for him. Looking up at the tall building that towered above him, he assumed that it would be the apartment. Since King was informed that Brittany was out for work, there probably won’t be anyone inside the room, or so he assumed. It took much of his effort to break down the door since it was locked and the moment he broke it open, his arm was sore and painful from the number of times he had thrown himself against the door. His arrival inside the apartment was immediately greeted by a woof. In fact, it was a high-pitched one, unlike those large dogs that had an extremely hoarse voice. King was startled by the sound and when he noticed how tiny the dog was, he realised that the puppy wasn’t as vicious as the client had described.

King had never associated with animals, although he had an immense amount of love for them. It was that they were never allowed to have a pet inside their household, for everyone was doing their own chores, tending their business and doing whatever God knows they were doing. The pupper was reluctant at first, but as he reached out with a genuine smile on his face, the dog began to approach him. He never showed any intent of cruelty to the pupper and to be honest, he was very excited to hold one. After the pup had succumbed himself to King, he would began to search for a box to place him inside so that the people wouldn’t think he was doing anything else with the dog when he returned to Maxwell. Rummaging through Brittany’s house, he found a cardboard box hidden deep inside her closet and placed the dog inside it. An almost sorrowful look passed across his features as he stared down at the dog. He had always wanted to get a pet and if it wasn’t for Maxwell, he would’ve just stolen the pup back to his place.