The Villainous Heroes

| Chapter One | The Acrean Empire

Arthur stepped onto the dock, his eyes briefly glanced back at the ship that he's been confined to for the last six weeks. He's use to sea travel, but that does not mean he enjoys it, he isn't a real big fan of confined spaces.

As soon as he left the ship, he looked out towards the massive city to see it as busy as ever. Kyra, the capital city of the empire, is perhaps the biggest city in the world and home to the long-lasting imperial family. The city itself is built like a fortress, having gone through many remodels over the decades to the bustling and joyous area it is today. While there are some imperfections, there is no denying the beauty that it holds since the city itself is very well taken care of, at least the more developed areas at least. Even in Kyra, there are places that are underdeveloped and people abandoned for the nicer places which left for all types of people to come from Kyra and not just one type.

Arthur walked into the city, he knew full well that he was going to get lost since Kyra is very easy to get lost in. But even with that risk to get lost, Arthur isn't really in a hurry to see the emperor so he's not too worried. He decided to explore a bit, see what changes have been made since he only comes to Kyra once every blue moon. It isn't that he doesn't like the empire, he hates the experiences he had in the past here compared to the much more favorable kingdoms.

He found himself walking around for twenty minutes, just seeing what has been going on and not a lot has changed. But he did find himself going towards the one of the many training halls in Kyra, and one popular one in particular. Adam's eyes glanced up to the sign that read 'Rynger Training Hall'. He almost went in, stopped at the bottom of the steps that went up to the entrance to admire the structure as old memories of the place flooded his senses. The clang of wooden weapons and shouting of instructions could be heard on the other side of the doors, he didn't want to interrupt a class going on but he also wanted to see if Simon was in. So, he went inside quietly, seeing a wide-open space of training equipment, weaponry on racks, and students practicing. He smiled, seeing a match going on with a very familiar teacher/friend on the sidelines. He walked around, staying in the back as to try not to draw attention to himself. He watched the fight, seeing problems that the students need to work on but kept his mouth shut since this isn't his class.

When the fight was over was when his presence was finally noticed by the teacher. She looked at him and smiled. "Arthur Silverstone, it's been ages, how are you?" she asked before she went up to the hero and embraced him which Arthur returned in fold.

"I've been doing fine, Kaylen, I see the training hall is still up. Your brother about?"

She shook her head at him. "No, Ian showed up two months ago, taught a class or two, but he talked about working near the Empire-Candred border. I suppose he must be over there now since I haven't seen him since. Speaking of teaching classes, when are you going to come back and teach some classes? You would be doing me a huge favor if you could."

Arthur tilted his head. "Well I would but my schedule is pretty booked, but I do promise to try to find the time to come back and maybe start teaching here again. And really? I didn't know Ian was there. That's interesting—"

Kaylen poked his chest. "Not as interesting as you showing up out of the blue. There were rumors spreading about the emperor inviting you here but I didn't believe them since you never come to this side of the world willingly."

Arthur smiled at her. "Well I couldn't exactly say no to the reward given I do not have as many shillings as I would like to."

Kaylen rested her hands on her hips as she stared him down. "Oh? And why is that? Why is it you are always broke? What do you buy that is so expensive?"

Arthur put his hands up in defensive. "Hey, I'm a wanderer, I don't have a stable job like you that has a good payout and—"

"Meaning your heroic adventures don't pay well."