Candle wax. Melting candle wax. It's up on a wall, filling a sconce with viscous fluid that's threatening to spill, there's also one next to her bed, where a tiny, lamp-shaped thing burns quietly, her face is cast orange and everything next to her bed is illuminated.

  Everywhere else, however, is dark. Visibility does not exist around her, the little candle by the wall is not enough for her to see, for anyone to see.

  Her eyes adjust and she finally peers past the darkness, this was when she notices a figure standing by the door, to the side of the candle, where the light does not reach and darkness reigns supreme.

  Were they wearing a mask? Why? What's the point of that? And what kind of mask is it even? It looks like it has a break! Was he trying to cosplay a bird? What a weirdo.

  "H-hi?" Liberty does not know why she's here, or again, who she was before this. Were they her family? She would have thought so if not for the strange knowledge in her head telling her that this is wrong. Kidnapping.

  Forgetting who she was does not mean that she no longer had the memories of her family. She still remembers them through feelings of joy, happiness, and safety. Right now? Her heart screams of danger.

  "Hello, traveler. Do you know why you are here?" The voice was deep, was it because of the mask? Liberty shakes her head. "I see, then let me tell you about your glorious purpose!"

  Reverence, she has a word in her mental vocabulary for something like this... Insane. There's no way someone normal would act like this.

  Liberty gulps, the ball stays stuck in her throat. She has to force it down.

  'I need to get away from here.' Every fiber of her being is begging her to escape, to where? Liberty does not know. But even a cesspit full of cockroaches is better than here.

  ...

  Arriving at Valdrosen wasn't eventful, nothing in her paranoid thoughts or in her worse nightmares happened and for some reason, Liberty thought that this was the worst thing that could happen. Why was she actively wishing for them to come here and attack her?

  'That would kill the city, okay? Don't think that way. Them coming here will only destroy the city, it's not right!' She tried to scream some morals to herself, did she succeed? She wasn't sure anymore, her thoughts were a mess.

  Her hands tied the strap of her bag into loose knots, the leather tightly wrapping around her wrist was a welcome respite. However, it is clear that she is panicking. Liberty can only hope that no one finds her suspicious as she walks the city streets.

  Going from open space and fields of grass to walls and claustrophobic streets is also hammering at her mind. Liberty decided to just look around, hoping that was enough to keep her calm.

  Concrete buildings, cobblestone roads, and carriages powered by steam and gas. Thin metal pipes made of bronze run between buildings and under the floor, the gas that violently moves through them shakes the structure and every so often, a leak would hiss out steam.

  People here wear either dresses or a tux and pants, they carry revolvers and blades around, their faces are serious, grim, and they move as though the only thing that matters is their next destination. Like there is no time to play around. Liberty is much the same.

  "Hello Miss! You look like you've just finished traveling! Do you want me to clean your shoes?"

  Liberty stops and turns, on the side of the street, is a boy. An urchin. He had a cap with a flat crown that's missing the front, a patchwork of stitches line the top and a gash is opened next to his temple, wearing it did not look comfortable.

  Come to think of it, almost everything the urchin wears has some kind of damage, even his shoes look cobbled together. And yet his face was all smiles, he seemed like a bright kid, one who will be swallowed up by the city eventually but for now, he is innocent.

  "You don't have to pay me a lot, miss! Just a few Tarchs will do!" Tarchs. The cents of this world. It is strangely widespread despite all the dangers present between cities. "I promise I'll do a good job!"

  'It's my fault for not stopping.' People are now looking at them, if she leaves now, she'd look like a bad person and that wouldn't be good for her future image. 'Okay, fine. I'll do it.'

  With confident steps, Liberty walked to the chair behind the boy and took a seat. The kid wore the brightest smile as he pulled a rag from his pocket and pointed at a box next to her, "there's newspaper there if you want! 5 Tarch each!"

  Liberty decided that she might as well read it.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  [Central Hollow Riots have increased over the past few days! Will the Pack Rats make a move soon?]

  This was the head line, which means it's the most important piece of news across all of Valdrosen. A gang riot. The most important piece of news. Isn't this always the case? Her master has said as much.

  She's safe, they aren't here yet if this is what she's seeing in a newspaper. Everything is gonna be fine.

  "Your next shoe? Miss?" Liberty shifts her legs and lets the urchin do his thing while she proceeds to read more of the news. Maybe getting one of these every morning wouldn't be such a bad idea? Keeping up with what's happening across the city would be very useful.

  [Recently, the two biggest gangs of Central Hollow— Javeer's Dogs and Scratch Dial. — have gone into a state of all out war, according to our sources, this all started because an entire group from Javeer's dogs got attacked and killed by the opposing gang, thus it was assumed that they were declaring war.]

  And that was all Liberty needed to read about that particular story, gang wars happen frequently, if it wasn't this week, it would be in the next.

  Beyond the news— which simply consists of what rich people did in their daily lives. Fun. — there are also advertisements from stores, with the front page belonging to some store called [Cap Emporium], which sells mushrooms and cultivation trays for mushrooms just in case someone wants to grow their own.

  'Which I do.' Liberty decided to remember this particular store for the future. 'Cultivating Pulsing Yellow Heads and Vermillion Vein Caps would be ideal if I want to stay here for the long term.'

  Because honestly, she's not gonna spend most of her money buying mushrooms just to make more medicine. On that note, Liberty also found another place that would be useful for her medicine.

  [Silire Slime Ranch announces that they have over 1000 Goopies in cultivation and over 300 Slimes in captivity! Raising a new record for the city of Valdrosen!]

  Liberty is glad that there's a Slime Ranch in the local area, she really didn't want to source her jelly from external cities, importing slimes often means that they are starved during transportation, as to ensure they stay in place.

  While it is useful for those transporting the slime, it isn't for the ones buying them!

  "We're done, miss." 10 Tarchs were her total payment for the service, 5 for the kid, and 5 for the newspaper. She did get something out of it in the end, which was information.

  'But I really can't waste any more time, I need to get to the Practitioners Guild and get this registration over with.' Before she left, her master told her that he would send a letter to the director of this guild to make it easier for her to settle into Valdrosen.

  Knowing him, the letter must have arrived several days ago and so the director has spent over a week waiting for her to arrive. Liberty knew that this kind of opportunity was rare, no one else would have a master trusted by an entire city vouching for them.

  She was scared to be honest, what if the director gets disappointed in her? What if she starts failing and shames her master? Anxious thoughts filled her head, all of it stopping the moment she stood in front of the Practitioners Guild.

  It was an old building with walls made of cracked stone, glass windows— a pretty rare commodity, really. — are all over the place, overlooking all sides of the building from every single floor. A series of steps leading to an elevated platform held by four pillars serves as the entrance for those who wishes to register, meanwhile, people asking for the guild's services must go underneath the platform and enter the first floor.

  Ascending the stairs lifted a heavy burden from her shoulders, her biggest worry was finding someone who would be able to help her and it is said that the Practitioners Guild protects those who are under them, they do not converse with the people hunting their members and just attack on sight.

  Joining this place means she is finally safe. Relatively safe. She can never be too complacent, her enemies are everywhere and they are always searching for her.

  The lobby was empty, which meant no line.

  "Good morning miss." The receptionist was very kind too, she wasn't looking at Liberty in suspicion and was clearly just trying to do her job. "I see that you are a Lampiy, which means you are a healer, correct?"

  The woman's eyes move to the medical bag Liberty is holding, she then looks back up. Liberty nods, she didn't need to confirm it, but it didn't hurt to do so, "yes, I practice medicine, I'm also... Here to meet with the director? Tell him that Liberty Hazelwood is looking for him."

  Did she sound too demanding just now? She really hoped that. Her experience has a lot of times where she was disrespected while working a similar job, even without the details, Liberty knew how it feels.

  "Oh! We've been waiting for you!" The woman beams, she nods and gestures to a door somewhere to her left. "Please, the director is currently available, just knock on the door and he should allow you to enter very shortly."

  Strangely enough, she was no longer hesitating, confidently striding to the office of the man she forced to wait for weeks wasn't as scary to her anymore. Her knocks were precise and quick, with a rhythm that sounded upbeat.

  "Come in." A growl-like voice echoed from the other side.

  Liberty reached for the knob and twisted the door open, she timidly walked inside, embarrassment flooded her veins again now that she's actually facing the director.

  The man behind the desk was bulky, in a way, and also old. He had wide shoulders that his suit failed to hide and a head of black hair that's graying at the sides, his face was stern, and not even the lines on his eyes could make him less intimidating. They added to it, actually.

  "Hi!" Liberty gave a short and awkward wave. "I'm Liberty Hazelwood and—"

  "How's your master?" The man cut her off rudely, it's like he didn't even care about her. "It's the first time I've heard from him after so long, forgive me for being curious about his well-being."

  "He's as strong as ever, I genuinely doubt someone can bring down that old man. Not even age would do it." Liberty shrugged, what else is there to say? Her master is a tough old man, and he always has been according to him personally. "I'm here to register for the guild, I practice medicine and have learned from the best."

  "Liberty, was it?" The director opened a drawer and placed the paper he was reading inside. His height made the space around him look small when he stood up. How tall is this guy? "I'm Jorain, nice to meet you. And forgive me for doubting your proficiency in the medical arts, but I'm afraid I'd have to see how well you heal people before I register you, so if you'd follow me?"

  He started walking and Liberty had to move aside to give him space, once he was out of the door, Liberty quickly rushed after him.