Miracula Luxia C7, P7- "Need For Greed"

"Need For Greed" is the seventh Part of "Miracula Luxia" 's Chapter 7- "A New Beginning". It was released on 17.02.2020.
== Plot ==
Jared's task is to force Farrar's thugs to go away from Dharmon. He knows that he shouldn't make any wrong moves, because they might be the reason for his capture. Or worse.
Little does he know, a real fortune awaits him in the city. A fortune which might be just enough to give him, his father and his friends enough equipment to defeat Farrar's army once and for all.
== Story ==
Jared cautiously approached the city of Dharmon, fearing the fact that some thugs might get out of the passages and attack him.
Seeing no one around the city, he went down the stairway.
He saw that the city was abandoned. There was no one in it. Most of the buildings were now destroyed, with only a few still staying intact.
Jared remembered what his father told him about Dharmon a year ago. The city is actually one of the richest locations in Avernum, having a dozen mines around it. The mines contain gold, silver and even precious gems- a real fortune for the greedy miner. However, they also contain a lot of dangerous monsters which might be a problem for the miners.
With all the miners gone, their fortune remains.
"I can get some of their loot for myself."- The boy said to himself- "But I must leave the food to the leaders of Avernum and its citizens. They need it way more than we do."
He stopped thinking about loot when he heard footsteps.
Someone was coming this way.
Jared hid in the nearby prayer room. He thought that the footsteps were going to go in another direction.
But no. The footsteps were definitely very close. Jared could hear them very clearly.
*clomp* *clomp* *clomp*- the footsteps sounded in the darkness of the town.
"What am I going to do?"- Jared quietly wondered as the footsteps neared the door of the room he was in.
Then he realized that he had a new weapon to fight the hostiles off.
But... what if the ones coming towards him are, in fact, not hostile? Then he would be attacking a bunch of innocent people.
No. This is not a time to be unsure about what to do. Hostile or not, they are a problem for Jared who is trying to hide from the thugs.
Jared pulled out his blade and waited at the door.
Just as the door opened, the boy swung the sword at the one who opened it.
The person immediately fell to the ground and Jared realized that it wasn't really an enemy.
"S-sorry!"- He excused himself- "Are you... okay? I thought you were a hostile. I didn't mean to! I'm sorry."
The man stood up, clearly shaken, but otherwise not hurt by the blow.
He touched the handle of his blade as he looked at Jared. Once he confirmed that he's no enemy, he bowed down.
"No need to apologize, hero."- The man said- "I am just a normal warrior passing by. A person who fights for the good of Avernum- just like you."
Jared nodded.
"I am looking for some thugs around here. Have you seen any?"
The man was surprised by this question.
"Thugs? Here?"- He said- "I haven't seen any thugs."
He thought about it for a bit.
"However, there are some traps around here. Those thugs placed them before they left and we might need to watch out for them."
Jared looked around.
"Are they any here?"
The man shaked his head.
"None that I haven't already looked out for. Let's move on. Two pairs of eyes are definitely better than one in such a risky task."
Jared nodded and the two of them left the room to look around.
They looked around for any hidden thugs. In the waiting room. The blacksmith. Even in a secret room (which Jared found entirely by mistake). 
However, they had absolutely no luck. It was as if all of the thugs vanished once Jared appeared, like ninjas.
Jared wondered what to do next.
"Maybe we should look for secrets around here instead? You know, to gather some of Dharmon's supplies and get them back to Avernum?"
Jared nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. Let us see what we can find in those ruins."
The two of them looked around and noticed that there were a lot of precious supplies scattered around. For example, in the records room there were still a lot of books that were not destroyed during the attack.
And paper. Lots and lots of paper. Scattered all around the room.
Another place with very useful items remaining is the blacksmith. The person in charge of the place clearly left in a hurry- a lot of things were still lying everywhere around Jared and the man.
Weapons. Armor. And, most importantly, gold coins.
The two of them quickly took what was not too heavy for them to take (in this case, the gold coins).
Jared tried to take some of the weapons with him as well, but the man stopped him.
"There's no need for us to take them."- He said- "The avernite forces will take care of them later."
The two of them continued looking for any valuables left behind by the citizens of Avernum.
The inn still had most of its food left.
The man looked at the food hungrily.
"I haven't had a bite for days."- He muttered- "I might as well take one... "
He tried to grab a bread from a furnace, but Jared stopped him.
The man looked at him, confused.
"Why did you do that? I'm hungry."
Jared shaked his head.
"I know that you are, my friend."- He said- "But there are people who are even hungrier than you are right now. You shouldn't bite off more than you could chew. That's gluttony!"
The man shaked his head in disagreement, but didn't say anything else. The two of them moved on.
Their search proved to be fruitless as they didn't find anything else of value.
The two of them decided to leave the city and return to the Castle.
"You know, it's pretty nice up there."- Jared said- "The place is really well protected. Has a lot of beds. And, most importantly, it has actual quality food!"
The man smiled.
"I would be glad to come and visit the Castle."
He leaned on his elbow. Somehow, this created some sort of chain reaction and, as the two of them wondered what is going on, an arrow flew towards Jared.
"Watch out!"- The man said and shielded Jared from the arrow with his own body.
The arrow flew right into his back.
"Are you okay?"- Jared wondered, afraid that something might have just happened to him.
The man smiled.
"It's okay. It's okay. I'm alright."
He pulled the arrow out of his back and showed the boy that there was no blood stain on it.
"See?"- He said- "My armor cannot be easily penetrated by a single arrow. It is very durable."
"I see."- Jared said and looked at the armor.
The man noticed the boy's interest and grinned.
"Oh. I see that you like my armor. Well, let me tell you. It is made from drakeskin. I once slew one and made the armor from its skin. No arrow can pierce through this bad boy. But I have to admit it- that... was quite a surprise. Those bandits are truly crafty little guys. That's what they are."
Jared gasped.
"So, you're also a tanner?"
"Well, I have the abilities, but no. I don't do it professionally."
"I see."- Jared said and stared at the loose brick.
It seems like the man had activated some sort of mechanism which opens a secret passage and activates a trap at the same time. Interesting. Whether the trap was placed or not, it does not matter anymore. All that matters is the passage.
Jared and the man crossed the passage and talked about their lives so far.
"Yeah."- The man said- "My wife really misses me. She always tells me that I'm doing too dangerous things, but I never listen to her. Maybe I should do so sometimes. She's a wise woman."
Jared nodded.
"My father always tells me the same thing, but he always comes with me to ensure my safety."
"Your father must be a really caring man if he does that. But... why didn't he come with you now?"
Jared shaked his head.
"I told myself that I would grow up. Eventually. I think that this is the time when I will finally do so."
"But... you're still a kid!"
"A kid who knows how to fight against monsters. Here, in Avernum, you must have at least a little bit of skill to fight everything that is hostile- bandits, monsters, even Vahnatai."
"Vahnatai? I've heard about those, but I've never seen one. What do they look like?"
Jared smiled, reminding himself of his allies- the Vahnatai.
"They have grey skin, milky white eyes and are equipped with very quality equipment- waveblades, razordisks and even some precious usable crystals from time to time. Powerful creatures, I should say."
The man smiled.
"I'll be honored to meet them one day."
As they approached the end of the passage and entered a room, the man noticed a pressure plate on the ground and suspected that there's another trap here.
He tried to warn Jared, but he was too late as the boy stepped on the pressure plate moments before he warned him.
A knife flew towards Jared. This situation is now way too familiar.
The stepped in front of Jared and took the hit again.
This time the knife struck him in the stomach.
Jared looked at his stomach. He noticed that there was blood coming out of it.
It looks like the armor doesn't completely protect the man.
"Goodness gracious!"- Jared exclaimed- "You're bleeding!"
The man shaked his head as three bandits got out of the shadows to attack them.
"This is not... the time to talk about it. Kill the bandits and then I can tell you who I really am."
Jared nodded and drew his sword just as one of the bandits tried to kill him.
The boy struck the thug in the chest with a quick blow and turned towards the other bandit.
With a swift blow, he managed to stab the bandit in the neck and leave him to bleed out.
The final bandit tried to shoot Jared with his crossbow, but the boy reacted quickly and threw his sword at him, slicing him in the head.
Once he made sure that there's no one else trying to kill them, the dying man beckoned for Jared to approach him.
"I never told you about that, but it's about time for me to do so. I am a secret agent, sent here by King Starrus The Second himself to analyze the situation in the ruins of Dharmon. He told me to wait for you and, once you came here- to help you take the treasure back to the Castle."
"What treasure?"- Jared wondered.
"There's a lot of treasure in this room. You just don't see it."
Having said that, he pushed a nearby button, revealing a lot of gold in the western end of the room.
"Amazing."- Jared said.
The man nodded and noticed that he is now bleeding at a much more alarming rate than before.
"I have very little time left in this world. But, before I go, take this."
He gave Jared a small object.
"It's a communication device which I used to communicate with His Majesty. Use it well. You're its owner now."
Jared left it in his pocket and nodded.
"I wish that I could save you."- Jared said, sadly.
The man shaked his head.
"No. It's too late for me now. You're more important than I am. I'm just a normal guy who fights for the good of his home. Nothing else."
Having said that, the man died peacefully from his wounds.
Jared shaked his head. Another human being has expired. Another soul has left this world.
Just as the boy was about to look at the treasure, the communication device beeped once.
Jared pulled it out and heard a voice.
"Gerald? Can you hear me?"- The voice was saying, barely audible.
The boy recognized the voice.
"Your Majesty?"
"Jared? Is that you, my boy? How did you find Gerald's device?"
"Well, Gerald is... "
Jared looked at the dead man and sighed.
"Gerald is no longer with us, sir. I'm sorry."
The king didn't say anything. At first, Jared thought that he had ended the call. Then, he realized that he was just sighing.
"It's okay. He was a good man. But we must keep fighting on, for his sake."
"Right."
"Anyway, I heard that you are in the secret treasury of Dharmon. Is that correct?"
"Indeed I am, sir. There's a lot of treasure here."
"Well, I want you to mark the location, so our warriors can go there later and collect it... "
Jared didn't hear the king. The treasure was too tempting for him.
There was so much there. So many golden coins which would help him and his allies go back to the surface and establish better lives for themselves.
But, if they did that, the hopes of Avernum to defeat Farrar's thugs once and for all will be crushed.
He had to choose between those two options.
Fortunately, his moral compass kicked in at just the right time.
"Jared?"- The king said- "Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. It will be done. For the good of Avernum."
"Very well, my boy. See how much there is and return to the Castle. I have one more urgent mission for you to complete, this time with your father."
With that, the king ended the conversation.
Jared looked around and estimated how much gold there is in the vault.
Approximately, there is a huge amount of about 12,000 Gold Coins scattered around the vault now.
Jared wanted to take some of those coins, but his honor did not allow him to do so, so he just left the room without thinking twice about it.
Before he left the room, he looked at the gold once again, briefly, and moved on.
However, he decided to not just leave the corpse of the man who helped him just to lie on the ground, along with the corpses of the thugs. The boy decided to spend a few more hours burying the corpse of the man.
He grabbed a shovel from outside, grabbed the corpse of the man and went outside.
He buried the man's corpse near the city and carved the words "Gerald" on a nearby stone and stuck it by his grave as a sign of who he was in life.
Then, he returned in the secret vault room and grabbed the corpses of the three bandits. He started a campfire outside and threw the three corpses in the fire.
One by one, he watched them burn to a crisp, collected their ashes and threw them in a nearby hole.
He spent the whole night staying near the campfire, thinking about what he had to experience to be here.
"All the lives that I had to risk just to become a hero."- He thought to himself- "I should have stayed in Paris. If I did, uncle Jason would still be alive."
"But there is no going back now. I must think about the future and about the ones who are still alive. I must fight to keep them alive at all costs."
"This is my life now. The life of a hero who protects the good people around him and tries to keep them safe without thinking twice. This... is the life of a true hero."
With those thoughts in mind, Jared fell asleep on the cold, hard ground, tired by all the things he had to do today.
== Trivia ==
* This Part's name is a reference to the popular game "Need For Speed".