A younger man peeked his head out from behind a rather big rock. On the other side of his glance, stood a large silhouette, sniffing something thin out of the air.

The man, in turn, smiled.

"You see 'em, Go?" he asked. "It's looking for us."

"Shh..." Genni shushed him, waving her finger, and crawling closer towards the ground. Ingo stared at her for a few seconds, before looking up at Opo, who chuckled.

"Don't worry, eh?" Opo repeated, smiling, moving back a little. "The damn thing can't hear us. It has no ears, and it's desperately searching for a trace."

"We left footsteps." Ingo furrowed his brows, putting both hands on his head.

"That's right, but they're leading elsewhere," Opo commented.

As his words entailed, the creature focused on the marks left on the ground. Its long, sharp, grey nose almost tried to follow the few clues, even if the three stared from far away.

Now, Opo's beam turned into a large grin. The Sawa Canyon, strung only a few miles from the Mercury Village was mostly filled with ankle-deep rivers, as well as trees, bending from the formations moving upwards, some smaller, some larger, eventually housing bigger bushes towards the top and erecting pathways through tight squeeze caves or more rocks that... generously resembled staircases.

It was home to many creatures, small uphonas, jumping from the rocks to the mentioned pools, tiny centuras climbing around or a few lenos', leaping from one tree to the other. The elephant in the room, however, was a passage that was rumoured to lead right towards Halesdeep, and those few unaware beastmen, such as the deaf the two were staring at, often found themselves wandering through to the canyon.

Ingo recalled his brother's words about the "mission" they were taking part in. Many residents of the Mercury, such as Genni's family, reported seeing or hearing things that one would attribute to creatures of that kind. A certain smell in the air, nail scratches on wooden houses or even destroyed lampposts, for whatever reason.

The girl slowly raised her head, moving towards Ingo, spotting as Opo stepped out of the boulder they hid behind, and approached the creature, one small footstep after the other.

"Ahh..." Genni put her hands near her face.

"Stressed about Opo-nun?" Ingo smiled. "My brother's all the fire you can see! No worries, Genni!"

"No, but like," she shook her head. "He shouldn't be doing this..."

Ingo sat back down. "That creature roamed near your house, didn't it, Genko?"

"Exactly. It should be our responsibility, not yours!" she smacked him, lightly.

Ingo glanced at her again, with a tight smile, the same one that was still plastered atop Opo's face. Still treading the same path, it almost vowed to never change his expression, even in the slightest.

This wasn't the first time the Sforse family ever dealt with beastmen. Their father was once a hunter when younger, and eventually when problems arose with such, the only other way to deal with them was by inflicting the same damage they were to do. A simple hit to the head was given when it came to knocking them out, but beastmen had their weaknesses. Light was one of them, which was the reason they often attacked the lampposts if they ever roamed near the village. Furthermore, their feet weren't necessarily used to the ground, so they bore sandals.

Now, with their father much older and incapable of moving as swiftly and sneakily as back then, the responsibility quietly fell onto the two kids. Ingo's mama insisted that the two shouldn't dwell on expectations, but it was Opo's idea to continue this sort of tradition.

In his words, "Whose sandals will we be wearing?"

And Ingo liked that. Even though he never laid hands on a beastman, he knew the ins and outs by simply observing and taking Opo's advice.

"One." he thought to himself, watching as Opo stepped even closer. "Find their weak point." he turned to their head, where wolf-like ears were supposed to be. Beastmen often lacked at least one of the five senses, and there were different ways of utilizing the said chance.

Genni peaked her head out, again, unwillingly.

"Two, prepare yourself, and be ready at any time." Ingo turned to the few rocks which Opo smashed together, creating sparks. "...and three, get as close as possible, as sneakily as possible, and brace for impact!"

The beastmen sniffed, with the footsteps ending right near the river. Their eyes widened, as another smell entered the nearby area. With a quick turn, they faced Opo, standing with a bat in one hand, and the the stones in the other.

"Yo!" Opo raised his voice, before throwing the sparks right into its face, then pushing their body with the bat further towards the river. The creature bellowed lowly, with the flames spreading downwards towards the limbs that were already soaked in the water.

With one tug and one blind step forward, it tipped on the edge of another rock, simultaneously falling. That's when Ingo clenched his fists, and Genni covered her eyes.

Opo struck the back of its head, sending it flying further and landing with the river's flow.

"WOOHOO!" Ingo stood up, leaping over the rock and running towards his brother.

Opo threw the bat down and raised both arms, triumphantly, only for them to hit two high-fives with his brother, then turning into a quick elbow shake and some strange form of a knee-step.

Genni stepped out from behind the rock, trembling. "It's always the same thing," she muttered, gulping.

"So, Gen," Opo turned. "Problem solved, eh?"

Genni sighed. "Thank you." she bowed.

When it came to the Mercury Village, most families contributed to the community in their specific way. The Sforses were, obviously, the beastmen bunch, but it was up to the Andis to provide the certain weapons Opo, and back then, his father, used for the job. Not just weapons, though, but great tools which enhanced the likelihood of everything working out in the end, be it, reaping the soils of the nearby canyons or crafting those lampposts again.

Some jobs specifically targeted finding anything useful in the canyon (since there was a lot to harvest), as well as one where individuals cleared out the surroundings or the village itself. However, beastmen were never to be cleaned up.

It was one of the vows of Ingo's and Opo's father, that the enemies he defeats are to get up the next day, or even earlier, with a lesson taught. Sure, they may strike again, but that was rare, and even if, the Sforses were to stand guard and defend the village, once more. It was a saying that both of the kids followed like mantra, "Don't act like the thing you don't want to be."

Opo and Ingo repeated it so often that even Genni started applying it to some of the things she did in life. It was the basis for the common beastmen attacks. Don't kill them, but hurt them so they know that you're strong enough to do just that.

In turn, the "attacks" from their side were almost always coincidental. Almost, because there was one other situation, but Opo's actions could be easily described as self-defence.

Looking down from the tops of the canyon, Ingo's brother put the bat over his shoulder, grinning. "Think the two of you can go to the village with Champ by yourselves?"

"What for? It can take all of us." Ingo asked.

"Just some things I'd rather mama not see," Opo smirked, pushing his thumb and index against each other as if he were rolling clay. Ingo rolled his eyes, before stepping towards the wolf, patiently awaiting the Morians.

Ingo patted its head, multiple times. "Come, Champ, Gen."

***

Genni put her hands together, stretching right after sticking another lamppost back into the ground. Her mother stood outside as well, filling the claw marks with a few crushed rocks, painting them a nice, brown colour, to match with the wooden exterior of the house.

"I'm sure if your father didn't lay around all day we wouldn't have to rely on them so often." Mama said, turning with a soft smile."Did you thank them, Gen?" 

"O-Of course," she uttered, brushing sweat off her forehead.

"Well, just words may not be enough. Why don't you hop over to the Sforses and hand them this?"

"Another club..?" she chuckled.

"They may need one soon. Besides, it's the least we can do." she closed her eyes.

"Ha." Genni breathed out, stepping over towards the tool, laid against the wall of their house. She picked it up, scanning it with her eyes, before putting it in both hands and treading towards the main road.

"Be back before the sun sets!" Mama raised her voice.

"I know, I know!" Genni waved, disappearing behind the corner.

During nighttime, all of the lampposts in the Mercury Village lit up. Be it, fending off the beastmen, or the fact that the houses there were built in somewhat of a dark spot of Harabara. There was a mountain towering nearby, and the first people there thought it was a great idea to hide in the shades, a rather colder environment. Because of this, there were families embroidering jackets for the others, still light, but a little warmer than typical Haran attire.

Going for a lighter approach, most of the houses in the Mercury Village were made out of wood, with nearby palm trees being replanted for each house created. If such wasn't made out of wood, it was typical clay or rock structures, painted similarly. Wooden houses were more fragile, but sometimes managed to absorb the heat of the sunshine, leaving a rather warm, and cosier feeling inside.

That being said, the Sforses' house was made out of clay with triangular, straw rooftops. Ingo often came complaining about the temperatures during Yule, with another source of their troubles coming from the river passing right by their house. Genni immediately knew where to head, as the Sforses, for most of their achievements, were granted a bigger building near one of the strange trees that made the village.

They were extremely tall and thick near the ground, with some rumours and witchtales of them coming to life when everyone was sleeping and sneakily changing positions with one another. Opo always complained about people looking at their house as if it were some tourist attraction.

Genni knocked on the door, only for no one to answer. The two's parents often found themselves in smaller markets at night, drinking some worries away, but she heard the two in a small garden area. Treading over a tiny bridge near the river and a few pathways between roofs, she saw the two, battling each other with the bats like it was Tuesday.

Ingo had a few bruises on his face, and Opo's seemed as clear as the Herbes night sky. One strike with the bat, although light and Ingo flew to the side, but vowed to stand up again.

"You've still got a long way, coming, Ingo!" Opo reached his hand out, only for the other brother to crack a quick smile and smack his palm, before straightening out without any help.

"One more." Ingo groaned. "I'll be faster this time, damn it!"

"Tsk, tsk." Opo turned his gaze towards Genni, standing like a statue in the pathway. "Hi!" he quickly bowed, closing both eyes.

"I-I brought you something," she revealed the bat.

"Wow. A bat." Opo scratched the back of his head.

"Like we already don't have thousands." Ingo snickered, giggling, with Opo trying to contain his laughter.

"Hey, my mama made it for you! Respect the Andi workhold!" she furrowed her brows, almost throwing it to the ground.

"Listen, you don't need to thank us. A common day at this point, and even better practice when it happens again." Opo nodded, with Ingo treading towards the two. He took the bat from her hands, looking at the letters embedded near the grip.

"Kanow." he read, without much thought.

"It means thanks" Genni explained.

"Like all the others," Ingo smirked. "But the design is cooler than last time, so I'm taking it."

"Still will be a while 'till I let you swing it at the beastmen!"

"Tomorrow I'll prove it, sucker!"

***

"Three thousand... five hundred and exactly..." Opo searched around his pockets, sticking his tongue out. "forty-six silver."

"Ahh..." Genni breathed out. "You earned that much?"

"Bwaha. Even more." Opo shook his head. "Notice anything different about my hair?"

"I want those dreadlocks too, damn it!" Ingo added.

"Haha! Earn ten thousand and you've got it like nowhere else!"

"Maybe some village." Genni continued. "I've heard that there are a few of those older Harans closer to the north that do them for free."

"Older Harans? No way." Ingo muttered. "Tell 'em, Opo."

"Dude, the tattoos." Opo moved back and forth. "They're kind of scary."

"C-Come on." Genni furrowed her brows. "My grandpa has them..."

"But not full-body, man!" Ingo yelled out. "Opo said he saw someone from head-to-toe, fully naked, just full of those whirls and swirls!"

Genni turned to Opo, who coincidentally refused to look her in the eyes. This wasn't an uncommon sight. He often said things that just didn't happen to further impress Ingo, as if he wasn't already doing that.

Genni liked the two brothers, and Ingo was a nice person to hang out with. They went to school together, with the boy miserably failing at all the knowledge-oriented questions, yet, being at the top of the nine-person class in everything that required strength.

Yet, when it came to being around Opo, it was as if Genni didn't exist. She thought it was kind of cute, in a sense.

"Gambino tells you a lot about the world. You could use that, Ingo." he pointed, smirking. "Did you know that Tributals, much like those old Harans, also do tattoos? Although, at about the time they're teenagers."

"Huh." Genni smiled.

"Are you implying that I'm stupid?" Ingo asked.

"Maybe."

"Then take me there already!" Ingo stood up, and Opo did so too, almost unprompted.

"You aren't ready yet, Go." he shook his head. "I said what I said. Turn thirteen and prove your strength by singlehandedly carrying out a mission against a Beastman, then you'll get my stamp, and hair braided by professionals!" he gave him a thumbs-up.

"Fine!" Ingo stood up. "Swing the bat again and I'll prove myself!"

"Nah." Opo turned towards the doorway. "I'm stepping out for a little little."

Ingo growled, with his brother opening the door, waving back, and closing it as soon as possible. A few footsteps away, Ingo breathed out, turning to Genni. "Damn him. We can train by ourselves!"

"Let's... not." Genni beamed, from ear to ear.