Chapter 36 - These aren’t my Badgers

Nate wandered around the Square, looking over the various stalls. He had gotten up early today and wasn’t expecting Kiri to meet him at the Guild for another hour. So he’d decided, rather than sit in his room and beat his head against the Improve Material Skill, that he would see if there was anything interesting or that might inspire him on display in the market. That was where the morning had gone wrong.

As he walked among the stalls he’d heard the latest news. Unfortunately, it seemed there had been a couple more disappearances. This time the victims were locals, outlying families, and while most of the merchants and stall workers didn’t blame him, clearly a few did. The whispers he managed to catch were that no one had gone missing till he’d showed up in town and what was a noble brat even doing in a town this remote. In a way, the questions were valid. This town wasn’t large, not even big enough to warrant a noble maintaining a residence. Instead it was led by a Mayor. So, with his guise of a noble brat in hiding, that secrecy made him an easy target for such rumours and whispers. That thought didn’t make him feel any better about the situation though.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, boss man. Pedestrian worries for pedestrian people, you know?” Frick whispered in his mind.

“Don’t talk about them like that, Frick. They’re just afraid and it’s easier for them to control their fear if it is something they know and can point at, rather than the unknown,” He fired back.

“Call it what you want, boss man. Ignorance is ignorant. If this were a goblin tribe we could just beat them into submission. I am just saying!”

Nate sighed a little. Frick was just being Frick, but he really was bothered by the whispers. Even if he knew the cause, the reason they chose to foist their fears on him, that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. He’d never done anything to these people. Sighing again he went back to wandering around the market, but, failing to find anything of interest and the growing number of whispers quickly drove him away and he made a beeline for the Guild to escape the eyes of the stall workers. He was still too early and ended up waiting in the entryway, offering Melinda a wave as she worked behind the desk, which the blonde returned before continuing to scribble things into various books.

Thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long for Kiri to arrive and he grinned at her before nodding his head in Melinda’s direction with a questioning look on his face. Kiri gave him a small subtle shake of her head and the pair made their way to the jobs board.

“What are we thinking today?” He asked.

Kiri glanced over at him with an intent look in her blue eyes, “I want to push us a little. Do you mind if we do a beast hunt?”

He shrugged, “That’s fine. Bronze or Silver though?”

“Silver. But an advantageous match up for us,” She said, plucking a job off the board. “Spiked badgers.”

“Spiked badgers?”

She smiled at him, “Yeah, there are a few nests of them that I know about from forays with dad. They can shoot the spikes in their back which makes them a bit of a menace for teams that lack a good defence. But with your barriers it shouldn’t be too hard for us. They’ll swarm a bit, which hopefully makes it a bit more challenging for us?”

She tapped her lip a moment before adding, “It also pays really well. Especially if we can hit a couple of nests.”

Nate grinned, “Alright, sounds good.”

Twenty minutes later the pair were walking into the forest, the sun hidden mostly by the canopy as a gentle breeze rustled the blue-green leaves, with Frick floating ahead of them ‘scouting’. Nate was pretty sure the little Familiar wasn’t really scouting and was instead getting up to his usual antics of harassing the wildlife. Nate took the time to replicate the runes he intended to use against the spiked badgers into his robe, before double checking them. Two Barrier, one Mana Exclusion, one Life Drain, one Powerful Water and lastly, a Powerful Wind rune. With that done all that was left was what adventurers spent most of their time doing. Walking. Lots of walking. Hours of companionable silence as Kiri picked a path through the woods with Nate scrambling over logs and through bushes. It was peaceful. A peace Nate finally broke, his brooding over the comments finally giving way to his curiosity.

“I heard a couple of families have gone missing now. They lived out between Helmfirth and Pinewater right?” He asked as he glanced up after checking over his robe.

“Yeah,” Kiri replied. “Dad said the Silver teams that were sent out to investigate the loss of the adventurer team got back yesterday. No sign of the adventurer team, the missing merchants or even tracks to go off. He wasn’t even sure how that was possible. It’s weird, you know? He said if it was a beast, there should’ve been signs.”

“That is weird. Hope they figure it out sooner rather than later. Some of the folk in the market were giving me dirty looks and whispering about how no one ever went missing like this till I showed up,” He griped.

Kiri looked a little surprised before sighing, “I can see how some of them would do that. Sorry to hear it though. Want to talk about it?”

Nate shook his head. He knew he was sulking but the whole experience had put him in a mood and he wasn’t sure how to get himself out of it.

Frick took that moment to float past them, “So, when you going to tell her about your night, boss man?”

Nate wasn’t sure whether Frick was referring to the Mayor sneaking out last night or his encounter with Valeria. The latter thought made him blush which instantly caught Kiri’s attention. She whirled around to walk backwards, peering at his face with an impish grin.

“Come on. What happened last night?” She asked.

Nate couldn’t help but blush deeper at her question which clearly made Kiri even more interested.

“Come on. Tell your best friend. What happened? Or should I say, who happened?” She said, waggling her eyebrows at him.

“Fine. Fine. You win,” he said, holding up his hands, “It was Valeria.”

Kiri’s jaw dropped before she burst out laughing, “Really? Isn’t she like…twice your age or something?”

He just shrugged, glancing to the side as Kiri continued to laugh.

“So, you just like a woman with a little experience. We can work with that. I know there’s a few widows that wouldn’t say no to a little company,” she said, spinning around to walk next to him and nudging him in the side.

“No? Too young? Well, I don’t know many grandmas. But maybe there are a few single ones in town?” She teased.

Nate playfully pushed her which only made her laugh, which in turn made him laugh and finally broke his sullen mood.

“Welcome back to the world of the living. But in all seriousness, how’d that happen? I can guarantee there are a few men in town who are going to be pretty envious if they ever find out. Valeria’s an attractive woman. A little too old for me”, she said with a smirk on her lips, “but good looking all the same.”

Nate quickly explained what had happened with the drawing in the common room and Valeria coming up to his room later that night.

“I should definitely take up drawing or painting. Maybe I can get a few of the younger ladies to pose for me. What do you think?” Kiri said with a grin.

Nate just snorted, “Do you really need the help?”

“You’re right. My natural charm and good looks are all I need”, she replied, flipping her hair and grinning mischievously.

Frick had floated off while they continued to walk.

“Oh, that reminds me. I saw the Mayor sneak out of the town late last night. He had someone with them that seemed to make the guard at the gate completely forget they’d ever been there. Frick suggested it might be some kind of Mental Mage.”

Kiri’s brow furrowed, which turned into a thunderous glare as a voice called out from ahead of them.

“Ya weren’t supposed ta see that. Guess it’s a good thing tha boss wants ya nabbed anyway then.”

Torian stepped out from behind one of the trees, followed quickly by the two goons on his adventuring team. Nate took a second to wrack his brain for the brothers names but came up blank. The bald, red bearded adventurer held a large axe in one hand as he approached them, while his companions both held a sword and shield. Nate instantly activated both barrier runes, throwing up reinforced barriers around Kiri and himself as he used his new Identification skill on the trio.

Torian (Human): Level 35 (Warrior) (Strength,Constitution)
Unknown (Human): Level 33 (Warrior) (Strength,Constitution)
Unknown (Human): Level 33 (Warrior) (Agility, Constitution)

His new identification seemed to show him the class archetype of his opponents and what he suspected were their two highest Stats.

Kiri’s glare was something to behold as she looked over the trio, “Nabbed? Why am I not surprised you’ve got something to do with the disappearances?”

Torian smirked at them, his eyes gloating, “Just good business lass. Maybe ya’ll warm up to me after a few days of slavery. Guess we’re gonna see. Get her, boys. The mage’s mine!”

Nate’s eyes widened as Torian’s body began releasing a red energy, the man hefting his axe with a roar before charging at Nate. Torian seemed barely faster than Nate running over the grass, but the energy flowing off him made Nate think of a deep, unending strength.

Nate wasn’t keen to get hit by the axe and started running, Torian roaring in frustration behind him as he chased him among the trees. He took a second to glance over his shoulder to see what Kiri was doing. Fortunately, Kiri had gone straight up into the trees. A Skill that it looked like the brothers had been unaware of as they argued about what to do about it.

Nate had his own problems to worry about as Torian had almost caught up to him and in response he threw his hand back, activating one of the runes on his robe. The Life Drain rune emitted a red light but the connection to Torian seemed to be invisible. Nate's Intent had focused on speeding up the drain while the lifeforce, which is what he was calling the energy the rune drained, was funnelled into himself. As the lifeforce flowed into him he was able to start running a little faster, fueled by the strange energy, though the loss of lifeforce seemed to have no impact on Torian at all, who screamed at him to stop running. Nate was still funnelling mana to the Life Drain rune when it failed a few seconds later.

The sudden loss of speed made him stumble which was enough for Torian to catch up to him. The awkward angle of the axe as it swung in from the side prevented Torian from putting his full strength behind the blow but it was enough to launch Nate through the forest, his barrier protecting him from the sharp metal but not from the force behind the blow. He only stopped when he impacted a tree, leaves raining down around him as his barrier failed.

He lay on the ground against the tree in a tangle of limbs, Torian’s laughter echoing through the forest as he approached, the red energy still leaking off him.

“Mages. What a joke ya are. Well just hold righ’ there. Gonna rough ya up a bit more to make sure ya don’t get any ideas,” the axeman gloated, continuing to walk toward him.

Nate grunted. He was a little bruised but far from broken. Checking his mana reserve, he could feel he still had over half his mana remaining. He couldn’t see Kiri but he could hear her fight and the sounds of pain from the brothers. It seemed she was fairing better than he was. Spinning up his barrier again, he stood. For some reason the Life Drain rune hadn’t been able to be maintained. It was the first time he’d encountered a problem like that. Looking Torian over Nate suspected it was the man's high constitution. It made an individual more resistant to damage. What if that included magic? Magic was after all just foreign mana. If that was true it would likely affect all his runes.

There was one way to see if he lacked the Magic Power to punch through Torian’s skin. Nate activated his Powerful Water rune, using his Intents he shaped a spear of water, then froze it. Spending an Intent to reinforce it he then fired it off, spending his last two Intents on speed. The spear of ice launched with incredible speed before slamming into the middle of Torian’s chest, shattering in a spray of ice that had the man swearing as some of it got in his eyes. However, that discomfort and a drop of blood on his chest were the extent of the damage.

That settled it for Nate. It was time to look for a way to run, rather than fight. While Torian brushed away the Ice, Nate poured a full quarter of his mana into creating a flood of water he released from above Torian. As the water fell Nate guided its shape so that it was like a block and the moment it had covered Torian who stood goggling at the water, he spent his last three Intents to turn it into ice and then reinforced it twice over. Torian stood locked inside the ice, his eyes angry as he struggled to bring his strength to bear. Nate knew it wouldn’t hold him for long. If he was resistant to magic he was almost certainly resistant to the cold. He’d get out there, but Nate hoped by then he’d be long gone.

Bursting into a run he sprinted towards where he could hear Kiri fighting. He found that he had been right about Kiri faring much better than him. She seemed unharmed if tired, standing on a branch over ten metres off the ground, while the brothers both stood below her, shields raised and bleeding from multiple wounds. As he watched, Kiri fired an arrow at one of the brothers which veered around a shield at the last moment to slam into her target's leg. The brother ripped the arrow out, yelling at Kiri in anger and frustration.

Nate was running low on mana but he could see that Kiri had spotted him and her gaze flicked back to the brother she’d just shot. He knew instantly what she wanted and he activated his Powerful Wind rune, focusing it into a tornado aimed at the closest of the two brothers’ back. The unexpected blow from behind caused the goon to fall face first to the ground. Kiri used the distraction to launch herself into the air above them, bow drawn and arrow coated in deep shadow before launching the imbued missile at the back of the downed brother's head.

The other goon threw his shield over his downed brother to protect him but Kiri had clearly been holding back with how much mana she had been using to imbue her arrows up until now, as the arrow punched straight through the shield. It continued down, mangling the man's arm before hitting the downed brother in the back of his head. The shield had managed to bleed off enough of the force that the arrow failed to do more than draw blood and drive the man's head into the ground.

Nate used the opportunity to continue running, Kiri catching up with him a moment later as they sprinted away from the battle.Nate glanced at Kiri as they ran and she mouthed ‘Dad’ at him. He nodded and they kept running, even after they were sure that they were no longer being chased. It took them a couple of hours of running interspersed with moments of sprinting before they got back to Kiri’s house on the edge of the woods. Jorge was around the front before they had even gotten to the low wall around the garden.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, without any preamble.

Kiri gave a quick summary of what had happened in the forest and before they knew it Jorge was marching them towards the doors of the Guild. Jorge had been so furious upon hearing the story that Nate was surprised that he hadn’t marched off into the forest to finish off Torian and his crew, but the reasons became obvious as they entered the Guild. Aisling and a pale dark haired man that Nate didn’t recognise stood facing Torian who was in turn flanked by his crew. The brothers looked worse for wear, with more than a little blood covering them, arrows held in their hands. Torian however looked completely unharmed, but spared a glare for Nate as they caught the tail end of what he was saying to Aisling.

“...an’ attacked my crew in tha forest. Is this the kind of shop ya runnin Aisling? No one went missing till tha’ Barrier Mage showed up in town. An’ what a perfect skill for capturin’ people without a trace.”

Nate’s temper was slow to build normally, but the accusation that they’d started the fight caused it to flare.

“That’s a lie, you sack of shit!” He yelled, stepping forward as Jorge’s arm came up to block him.

“What are you doing, Torian?” Jorge asked quietly.

“Protectin’ this town an’ its people,” Torian replied, a sneer on his face as he looked at Jorge. “One would think as an ex-Ranger ya’d have raised ya daughter to be better.”

Jorge glowered but didn’t rise to the bait, looking at Aisling.

“Your ruling, Guildmaster?” Jorge said, his restrained anger evident in his voice.

Aisling looked between the two groups and Nate could feel the air crackling with her irritation before she growled out, “The Guild will take two weeks to gather the evidence of who initiated the attack. Until then, both teams are barred from the Guild. Now, get out of my Guildhouse.”

Torian attempted to object, indicating the arrows that were held in the brothers hand but Aisling cut him off before he could more than open his mouth, “Those are evidence of a fight. Not who started it. I said OUT!”

Nate followed Kiri and Jorge out, the afternoon sky darkening to evening, but when he turned towards the inn Jorge grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Better you stay with us for a couple of nights. Just in case.”

Nate nodded and walked with Kiri and Jorge toward the gate. He was bruised and beaten, his rage simmering below the surface. He’d rarely been this angry. Not at Torian or his crew. Bullies were nothing new, though definitely more violent in this world, where death was a real possibility. And Torian clearly had some angle and was likely involved in the disappearances, given his comments. But what Nate was most angry at was himself. He’d only had the power to help them run, not fight. They’d have almost certainly lost if they had stayed, and in this world, that likely meant death. He needed to do better. He would do better. With that thought he started thinking about his Improve Material Skill again. That was the key to more power and more power was what he needed.