A regal-looking teenager stood at the top of a balcony, his deep onyx eyes fixed on the sky. He was watching birds fly in the clouds untethered and unrestricted by earth; typically, people would have to pay thousands of priceless gems in order to travel and see these animals.
It was the only animal that wouldn't kill you on sight after all, an animal untouched by the cruelty of earth was a true sight to behold.
A soft knock came from the door behind him, followed by the quiet entrance of a maid with scarlet hair tied in a bun.
"The housemaster has summoned your party to the main table. Your mission will be assigned afterward." Her voice was devoid of life, as if rehearsed a thousand times over but that was to be expected, every noble house servant sounded the same.
"I'll be there in a second." The teenager sighed, gazing out at the birds once more before turning and leaving.
Walking down the seemingly endless hallways of a noble estate was a task dreaded by any adventurer, for some reason nobles always loved to flaunt their wealth in the most annoying ways… such as making their house a living labyrinth.
Of course, this would only be the beginning of the struggle. The real challenge was that none of the party knew each other. A proper team required at least three core roles: a healer, a mage, and an oath-sworn knight.
Today, however, they had a healer, one mage, two oath-sworn knights, a prophet, and a muse.
The worst part was that the mission wasn't difficult, they simply had to raid a nearby goblin camp that was growing too big to ignore. It was like using a sword to cut steak, entirely unnecessary.
Caelum thought to himself, 'Usually I get paid about 25% but now I'm not so sure."
Caelum strolled into the main-room with a casual demeanor; every other member of the party was already there, even the muse.
"Ah you've finally arrived! Goodness, I nearly died of old age waiting." The housemaster exclaimed ecstatically, his left hand held a glass of beer half-emptied.
Caelum took a short bow before speaking calmly, "I merely got lost in this massive mansion of yours."
Of course, that wasn't the truth; the prophet had deliberately arrived last so that he would not have to make idle chatter with the rest of the party.
The housemaster's frown disappeared the moment Caelum said the words 'Massive mansion' "Oh well, I suppose I can forgive you this time."
Caelum stood at the other end of the table, glancing at the members of his party with an icy gaze.
One of the knights had a cold front on, the blonde knight seemed to be struggling to not show the fact that he was afraid, though it would probably work on anyone other than a prophet.
Another of the knights was looking towards the mage at the moment, his gaze was entirely filled with nothing but respect for the mage before him.
'Scaredy Cat and Loyal dog.' Caelum thought to himself disdainfully.
The mage remained hooded, but Caelum could see their pale and slender hands shaking underneath the table.
The healer was calm, her blond hair was straightened and fell down to the mid-section of her back.
'It seems like everyone but me and the healer are rookies, the muse doesn't matter 'cause he's not here for combat but to make an epic tale of 'the heroes that helped a noble.'
The mission briefing did not last that long at all, only taking about 20 minutes which for a goblin extermination mission actually was abnormally long.
At the gate of the mansion, the party conversed or, specifically, argued over the money.
"Me, the other knight and the mage should get 25% each." Loyal dog shouted at the rest of the party.
"Absolutely not, that's 75% of the money, how the hell am I supposed to afford to eat with the remaining scraps." The blond healer responded sharply before groaning, "The muse should get 10%, me and the mage 20%, the knights 15% and the prophet should get 20%"
"W-what? That's even worse than last time…" Scaredy cat spoke up, "I'm okay with everyone's payments but the prophet…? What use does he have?"
"A prophet has the most value to any party, no other class could possibly predict the future." The healer immediately stated.
Loyal dog opened his mouth to speak again but the mage cut him off, "These pay cuts are fine, let's just get on the road."
With that the mage turned around and left, not taking no for an answer.
Loyal dog sighed and followed his master, being followed closely by Scaredy cat.
The muse stayed quiet and simply followed the group, leaving the healer and Caelum alone in the back.
"Prophets used to be so much more respected 3 years ago, it's amazing how foolish adventurers are nowadays." The healer spoke kindly, "Shame that it's becoming a rarer class in the lower tiers, haven't seen one in a couple months."
Caelum shrugged and responded, "It's only a rare class in low tiers, once we take the first steps multiple academies will scoop us up to try and nurture our talent or if we are on the older side we'd get recruited into the military or a mercenary guild instead."
The healer nodded agreeing with the statement, "You, me, and the muse seem to be the most experienced in this party. In terms of comfortability, the muse and you are definitely the most relaxed in the group."
"Pfft, that muse is only calm because he knows the noble won't like it if we let him die." Caelum giggled a bit, "How long have you been an adventurer?"
"For about 4 years, I started when I was 18." The healer sighed sadly, "Back then I thought i'd take my first step in a couple months and be welcomed by an academy due to my wondrous talent."
"Fate is a bitch, huh?" Caelum said sarcastically.
"Agreed."
The goblin camp was a day's travel away, so hours later the party decided to settle down and build a small camp for the night, going over the plan for the raid.
In the middle of their camp was a medium sized campfire, there was no wood burning and yet flames were still alive at the middle, the campfire was being sustained purely from the mana reserves of the mage.
Surrounding the campfire were three logs, Caelum and the healer sat on one log, Loyal dog and the mage sat on another, while scaredy cat and the muse sat together on the third.
"Well, any grand ideas Prophet?" Loyal dog spat out, balancing crudely on a log that the party cut down from a tree. "If you're worth as much money as a mage and healer then you must be able to communicate with your god well enough to solve this problem at least."
Pairs of eyes landed on Caelum, most of them were curious, wishing to see a true prophet at work, while others were of greed, and pride.
"I'll need a few items for a more accurate reading." Caelum said slowly, "Someone get me a piece of paper, a leaf, and a piece of glass."
Scaredy cat pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, then pulled out a pair of glasses before breaking the glass out of them.
The entire party glanced at the boy causing him to go red in the face, "What? I'm a knight now, these glasses were just taking space in my pockets anyways."
The muse stood up from his log before smiling slightly, "Then I'll go fetch a leaf from a tree."
"Make sure it's around 5 inches in length." Caelum said in a low voice before thinking to himself, 'First time I've heard that man speak.'
"What do you even need all these items for?" Loyal dog spat out.
"I'll be performing a basic astrology ritual, I need the extra pieces because it'll help more divinities to be included in it." Caelum spoke firmly, "It's common knowledge that the more laws of the world you include in a ritual, the more accurate it is."
Loyal dog snickered before muttering a curse under his breath.
The muse returned shortly later bringing a leaf that was perfectly 5 inches in length, he passed it to Caelum.
Caelum took the leaf before wrapping it against the glass so that one side of the glass was covered, then he took the piece of paper and covered the other side of the glass with it.
Caelum then stood up and looked at the moon, the moon was full today which would greatly enhance the ritual.
On the moon was a large, red crystalline flower, the flower covered about 80% of the moon's diameter, the only spots left showing were the edges of the moon.
While staring at the crystalline flower Caelum spoke in careful words, "Great half-deity, please accept this humble offering. Here is the essence of life, the essence of reflection, and the essence of intelligence. I beg you for blessings in the near future, Oh' great one."
The mage gasped as the ritual began, "Your… a prophet of The Dragon of Desolation?"
Some of the party immediately stared at the mage, with Loyal dog nearly shouting from shock, "That… can't be possible, how can the dragon's power reach this far?"
"I'm a bit confused, why would a half-deity of that level accept a prophet that hasn't even taken their first step?" The muse spoke skeptically
The mage immediately responded, "Hell if I know."
Caelum ignored the others within the party, slowly he injected his mana into the strange offering.
It's said that mana is the catalyst of the impossible, using such a tool is necessary to perform a ritual like this.
The leaf suddenly changed colors, turning pitch black before crumbling in its entirety. Then, the glass became melted and despite the intense heat from the glass it did not burn the paper, it did however, slide off the paper directly onto Caelums fingers, inflicting burns.
Despite the scorching liquid on his fingers, Caelum did not let go, nor did he flinch. Already used to the sacrificial portion that comes with any useful ritual.
A half minute later, the liquid glass all slid off and onto the ground joining the crumbled pieces of leaf.
"Let me heal you." The healer instantly raised their hands over Caelum's but Caelum shook his head.
"No need, I refuse to let outside sources heal wounds inflicted during a ritual." Caelum sighed, "If it wasn't necessary then it wouldn't happen."
Loyal dog spoke up next, "Well? What's the response?"
Caelum looked at the piece of paper in his hand, there a constellation was mapped out.
"John's constellation." Caelum spoke, "It represents Freedom and Movement, what it means is that we should continue moving forward as the direction we are on in life is the correct path."
The muse smiled at this, "John's constellation? Oh how nostalgic, I remember how many times adults would annoy me about memorizing the history behind them."
That remark got a laugh out of the entire party, lightening the mood only slightly.
"Well, I'll bid you all farewell." Caelum stood up to leave, "I need to rest to recover the mana I've lost in the ritual."
Caelum left the group before entering his small tent, making sure to close the tent behind him.
He raised his right arm and rotated his right hand so that his palm faced the ceiling, then he whispered while manifesting his mana once more; "Light."
His arm started to glow, revealing his burned fingers.
Caelum then spoke out loud, "Conference."
The burns of his fingers gradually worsened, causing the tips of his fingers to become blackened and char at the base.
Caelum closed his eyes, reopening them to find that he was no longer in the tent that he had just entered but instead he was floating in nothingness.
Or near-nothingness, in the endless void he was in, there was the moon still covered by the giant crystalline flower.
Turning his head, Caelum noticed that before him was a man sitting down on a basic wooden chair next to a wooden table, with one leg draped over the other, and a teacup resting in his hand.
The man had long silky smooth hair that stopped at his waist, and wore a midnight black royal robe that covered his feet. His face was near perfect, a chiseled jawline, a strong nose, medium length eyelashes, bold eyebrows, and enchanting dark eyes that mesmerized anyone that looked at them.
The dragon of desolation spoke, placing down the tea cup in his hand on the table next to him. "Should I tell you of your future, my loyal devotee?"