Elsword: Silver Lining

Turning Point

"No offence, man, but you look horrible." That was the first thing Chung said when Raven plopped himself across the table.

"Good morning to you too." Raven greeted sluggishly. Amos mutely propped his breakfast beside Raven's and hopped into his seat.

It's been a couple weeks since the Hope Bridge invasion. During this time Eve did everything she could to avoid us. She used Amos to assure us she was only keeping her distance to keep us away from the captains' radar (she's been put under heavy surveillance after she bit the bullet for me) thus we could continue to plan for the revived mission. Chung and I both agreed our next destination would be Hamel as it was the most recent place to be attacked. We informed Raven of our plan the moment he was discharged. The only downside was the absence of letters. Up until now those mysterious messages have been pointing me down the right path. I almost feel lost without their aid.

Elsword and Speka made an extra effort to avoid us during this time period, but we couldn't afford to waste any more time to persuade them into helping us. We needed to take action fast.

"Give him a break, Chung." I slapped him on the arm. "You'd be tired too if you had to spend hours in the library."

"I had fun reading books," Amos chirped. I wouldn't be surprised if Amos spent his time reading about alchemy while Raven was left alone to do all the work.

"I didn't," Raven groaned, rubbing his baggy eyes.

"So did you find anything?" I asked in a more serious tone.

Raven darted his eyes around the Mess Hall. Once sure we were safe from unwanted ears he answered," I found a few books depicting the castle's old layout, but I can't find anything that would give us a clue of the Shard's whereabouts."

Chung suspected the Shard was hidden somewhere in the castle, perhaps in an old, unused room. It was unlikely for a Captain to carry it around, especially when they must always be prepared to run out into the battlefield—the risk of losing it would be too high. Raven proposed to research the castle's old layouts in hopes of finding a hidden space where the El Shard could held. He'd pretend to find a nighttime story for Amos to draw away any suspicions.

"We could leave without the El Shard." Chung proposed.

"It's too big of a risk." Raven answered before I got a chance to. "It'll only be a matter of time before the demons launch a massive attack on the castle for the Shard."

"I'd rather let the demons know we have the Shard than keeping it here." I added.

"Geez, it was only a suggestion." Chung muttered, absentmindedly stirring his small serving of apple slices.

"I'll keep researching." Raven groaned. "But you guys will have to take care of other factors like our escape route, food and supplies."

"I know how to navigate through the ocean well so heading to Hamel won't be a problem." Chung stated proudly.

"Except we don't have a boat." I pointed out bluntly.

"I-I'm sure Velder has a few boats lying here and there." Chung chuckled with unease. "R-right?"

"Even if we manage to get ourselves a boat, how will we get food? There's no way we're catching fish and eating them raw." Raven continued to list out our ever-growing problems.

"I don't see a problem with that." Chung whispered under his breath.

"We could steal food from the kitchen." I suggested reluctantly.

"But stealing is bad." Amos scowled; as if I wasn't feeling guilty enough with that idea.

Raven rubbed his chin," I wouldn't normally appeal to thievery, but it's not like we have a lot of options."