The night was fairly chilly as Seika exited the city through the south gate, the eerie clanking of the gates closing behind him not even registering as he glanced at his objective. He had been relatively bored ever since being stationed in Oak, his commanding officers off fighting the bigger fight against the local guild and it’s rather unsavory individuals. This left him with an extremely large amount of free time and rather dubious levels of self regulation to keep him in order. Of course even with these parameters he couldn’t go off and do something incredibly stupid, but well, it wasn’t hard to figure out that after burning down one or two rec rooms in his eagerness to burn off some steam, no pun intended, he was given the go ahead to finally use his more destructive habits on the outside world for a change.

The trek over to the first beacon was without a doubt, the third most boring thing he had experienced since arriving in Oak. For some reason the pathway seemed to go on forever, the hills passing by with little fanfare. Sure he could’ve used magic or even jogged to get there faster, but what was the rush in just getting things done and over with if he was just going to return to being bored at the end of it. He would arrive at the first beacon, the tall structure looming over his person like an obelisk as he simply took it all in with the same expression he had worn all day. Walking up to the top floor, he would regard the worker with some level of inquisition, the young man finishing up his work with a bit of sweat and effort. The motions the young man would take would cause a small bit of amusement out of Seika as he glanced at what he would consider a rather meager pile of wood and fuel before nodding.

“Have you been at it for long?” He inquired simply, taking the boy's shocked and exasperated look in stride before walking over to the pile and kneeling down before it. Inspecting the pile before finding it sufficient, he would extend his left hand towards the pile casually just before a small magic seal appeared at the tip of his index finger before a small spark flew out from the seal. Igniting almost instantly, the bonfire at the top of the beacon roared to life startling the young man some more. Turning to leave without anymore fanfare, Seika would turn his head towards the east, regarding the next of the beacons with a sigh before realizing this would be his entire night.

[450]

Eager to get this trial over with, he stepped towards the remaining three beacons. It would take him some time to reach the second one, the distance was surprisingly farther than he had anticipated it to be. Regarding the monolith with the same languid expression that he had given all night, he began to climb the steps leading to the top with utmost ease and relaxation. He was greeted at the top with the sight of a sleeping guard. The man seemed to be taking his rather easy job as lackadaisical as Seika was, the only difference was the man had the fortunes of being in a stationary location rather than the inspector. Sighing, Seika would ignite this beacon as well, seeing as the man had not done that himself, no doubt to avoid setting himself on fire in his sleep. Turning away as the man jolted awake at the sound and heat of fire, Seika would trek back downstairs and begin his walk through the woods to the third of the beacons.

His journey left him with his own thoughts, the idle chatter of constant static lulling him into a sort of lulling sleep. He could feel his eyes grow heavy even as his feet moved on their own, their destination growing closer with each step. The approach of the third tower was just as uneventful as the previous two however a small nagging feeling at the back of his head prompted Seika to stay on guard. Arriving at the top floor he would find the last guard slumped against the pile of wood, dead. Frowning he would check the scene for signs of struggle before carefully moving the worker away from the wood. He thought against igniting the beacon, if only because doing so would erase valuable evidence.

Leaving the site immediately he would head back towards the gate, alerting the front guard of what he had seen, he would immediately head back into the city to ponder on what could have possibly led to the death of the guard.

[Exit]

[342]