by Sarah Lin
Raigar shrugged. "Yeah, okay. We can be allies for now."
While the man thanked him, Secretary Skeleton sighed. "If we must, we must. But this one is only an adventurer of middling strength, my lord. If he is to be a useful tool, then perhaps we should bestow on him some of your remaining artifacts?"
"Fuck you, those are mine." But as Raigar looked down at his new tool, another idea came to mind. He slammed a fist into his hand. "It was about time to terrorize the place again, right? Let's rob a store."
Chapter 20
As their lives fell into a routine of preparation, Meara found herself increasingly dissatisfied. She was doing well in her task of finding manageable quests, but that left her to one side in a support role. With each accomplishment the others gained equipment and statistics, but she fell entirely outside that feedback loop. Though she could feel the "EXP" that apparently controlled the world, the points couldn't touch her.
Currently she sat in the lobby of the Adventurers Guild, technically selling potions but barely aware of her surroundings. Instead she looked inward, testing the boundaries of the system implanted within her. It was unalterably that of a noncombatant merchant, so she knew that it would never be possible for her to pick up a weapon and join the others. Even if she accomplished it, she would become a Level 1 adventurer and lose all her unique abilities. But surely there was something...
She wasn't so deep that she didn't notice when the others returned. Meara pulled out of herself and looked up to see Danniah and Izzy enter. Danniah wore her old helm to be less conspicuous, while Izzy wore a gray cloak that completely covered her face. It would have looked suspicious if she hadn't been so short. Gharavi was back at the crypt with Bloodwraith, the two of them deep into magical research.
Wrapping up her business, Meara pulled her potions back into her cloak and stood up to greet them. Danniah smiled warmly at her as they approached, and from within her hood Izzy beamed. She definitely didn't look human, especially when she smiled, but at a distance in shadow she could pass.
"We found the effigy in the temple," Danniah said. "Or maybe you already noticed that?"
"Only our dour friend gets box notifications like that. Besides, I don't think he gets any credit at all for the work until you come back here and announce that you've finished it." Meara moved with them to the Guild desk as she spoke. Danniah blinked as she considered that.
"That's so strange. Why is that?"
"I think the box gods are very concerned with rules. Fighting monsters in the temple doesn't count for anything, finding the effigy doesn't count for anything... only telling the Guild that you've done those things."
"So weird. I guess if it wasn't that way, maybe people like you-know-who would just run off after doing the fighting part?"
It might be, but Meara stayed quiet as they neared the desk. So far it didn't seem that anyone was specifically pursing them, and they took basic precautions with their conversations, but being overheard was still a potential threat.
Meara held back while Danniah set the religious effigy down on the counter and the Guild confirmed that the request was complete. She felt something shift at that moment, the lines that bound all of them vibrating and something passing through the air toward Bloodwraith. His reward for their work, presumably. The Guild paid only a small amount, since the religious order that placed the request was poor, but the point had never been the direct reward.
Though she wanted to go, at that moment there was an additional complication: apparently Danniah had fulfilled enough requests that she was promoted from an Iron-ranked adventurer to a Bronze Ranker. Not that dramatic, and it didn't really help them, but Danniah seemed pleased to have her work acknowledged.
As they headed out of the Guild, Meara glanced back to them. "So, did you have a good time on this one? I had a feeling there was something big, but I wasn't sure what it was."
"Oh, it was some sort of basilisk!" Danniah shivered a bit. "Well, maybe not a true basilisk, because nobody turned to stone, but when it looked at me, it really hurt. Fortunately, I guess it was some sort of death magic, because it didn't hurt Izzy. So with her, we were able to take it down."
"I didn't consciously intend that, but I'm happy to claim I did. You had fun, Izzy?"
The ghoul smiled and snapped her teeth together twice in quick succession. It made a distinctive clicking sound that would have been somewhat disturbing from anyone other than Izzy. She then licked her teeth, suggesting just what had happened to the basilisk, but didn't speak. Bloodwraith had made that rule about visits to Manascas very clear.
"I also got these." Danniah pulled two metal gauntlets out of their Extra-dimensional Bag and turned them over in her hands. "They're really beaten up, but they were in a special box so I think they might be useful. Can you tell what they are?"
"Sorry, but not in detail. I can tell you that they do seem to have a fairly strong enchantment... the boxes would call them 'Very Uncommon', I think."
"That's... the third one, right? Well, it's better than nothing. Now we just need to get them fixed."
They headed toward the district of the city that held the relevant shops. Meara found her eyes wandering the streets, noting the fear she saw without much emotion. In the abstract she cared about all the lives in their world and the fact that Outsiders like Raigar could manipulate them. But when it came to specifics, they were just insubstantial patterns floating at the edge of her vision.
The attacks had slowed down - the last one had been a strike in which only a random store had been destroyed - but terror still gripped the city. Bloodwraith had been even more concerned that Raigar might be attempting something new and Meara thought he might be right. But she had nothing else to offer, so all they could do was continue with the plan.
Unfortunately, by the time they reached the shops, many had closed for the night. Security had tightened since the last attack. Danniah had no problem with just waiting for another day, but Meara had actually been waiting on one item in particular. At the end of a row of buildings she saw that the light was still on in her shop, so she banged on the door until the owner approached.
"What are we here for?" Danniah asked in a low voice.
"Our dour friend's sword."
"Oh, right!" Danniah turned to smile at the owner when he opened the door.
"Can't you see we're closed?" The owner scowled at them, but then recognized Meara. "Oh, it's you. Fine - you already paid, guess there's no trouble handing it over."
He opened the door just barely enough for them to enter and so they crowded in, Meara staying close behind Izzy to shield her further. But the owner didn't seem interested in looking at them, only concerned with getting them out of his shop as soon as possible so he could close up. After looking around in the back for a time, he came back out carrying the greatsword in both hands.
Meara analyzed it with every sense she possessed. Attempting to upgrade Bloodwraith's sword had been a risky proposition, so she needed to make sure that nothing had been done to it. He had wanted to replace it entirely, but despite days of searching, she hadn't found any weapon of comparable quality that could also store mana.
There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, however. The end of the pommel had been replaced with a sapphire, which must have been the reason for the hefty price. Perhaps more importantly, the green lines marbled through the blade glowed more intensely than before.
"I did the job," the owner said, "but let me tell you: this is all you're getting out of this thing. Lodestone blades are dependent on the quality of the original stone forging. There's no mage in the world who can upgrade this any further."
"We appreciate your work." Meara accepted the blade with both hands and started to carry it out, but Danniah lingered.
"Do you repair enchantments on gloves? Because I hav-"
"Get out!" The owner pushed at them until they left the store, then quenched the light as soon as they were out. On the street, Meara checked that no one was watching
and then slipped the sword into her cloak. She felt it settle heavily in her "inventory" - as Bloodwraith called it - but it would be no problem to bring it back to him.
"Shame about the gloves, but I guess that's how it goes when we get back this late." Danniah yawned and headed off down the street. "Come on, let's get back home before we miss too much of the night."
Meara followed her and chuckled. "Your 'home' is a rather interesting one. I like what you've done with the murderous undead." Izzy snapped her teeth together and pointed at herself, but Meara only ran a hand through her hair with a smile. "Not you, Izzy."
Danniah shook her head as they headed out of the city. "You know what I mean. It's where everyone comes back to sleep, so it's like our home for now."
As they left, Meara found herself examining the sword again. She could feel that it was stronger and she didn't think anything suspicious had been done to it, but that was all. If Bloodwraith had been present to summon a box, she could have gotten a better impression and guessed at much of the text, but on her own she was limited.
Once they got out of the city, Izzy became more animated, eyes gleaming red within her hood. "The basilisk was tasty. Why so tasty?" Her language was improving in leaps and bounds, especially whenever she spent a long time around Bloodwraith. Since Danniah could only shrug, Meara took her best guess.
"Powerful creatures have greater concentrations of mana inside their bodies. Perhaps that was what you were tasting."
"Why have more mana?"
"Oh, I can answer that!" Danniah held out one hand, flexing her fingers. "I may not be able to control mana directly like a mage - at least not until recently - but my body still contains some of it. As I train I absorb more and more. That's how I can be a lot stronger than someone my size would normally be."
"Hmm." Izzy put a finger to her lips, peering at Danniah. "So Danniah is tasty?"
"H-hey! Don't eat me!"
"Danniah is friend." Izzy hopped onto her back with her arms around her neck. "Friendship also tasty."
Perhaps not what Danniah had wanted to hear, but she laughed it off and hooked her arms around Izzy's legs to give her a ride. "Just so long as you don't get confused. You... seemed to enjoy killing that basilisk a lot. At the end, I mean, when it couldn't fight back."
"Pain is tasty! Suffering is tasty!"
That got another awkward laugh from Danniah, but Meara looked toward Izzy thoughtfully. As much as she teased Bloodwraith about it, she knew that Izzy was not truly a child. She had barely existed for two months, forming a strange mix of inbuilt patterns and learned behavior. Exactly what she would become would be interesting to watch.
As they were passing a ruined old building, Meara's world turned upside-down. She desperately swam from the current of shifting forms, danger and power, trying to carry what she had learned back to the surface. It felt like much longer, but it was only an instant before she returned to reality.
"Take cover!"
Danniah and Izzy reacted instantly, Izzy hopping off Danniah's back and ducking behind her while Danniah raised her shield. It happened none too soon, because a moment later archers hidden in nearby bushes loosed their arrows. They bounced off Danniah's shield, while Meara simply let herself fade. Just a merchant, just a merchant... the arrows passed through her harmlessly.
That was only the initial volley, however, and the archers were spreading out. Worse than that, a man in red armor emerged from the bushes with a triumphant expression. "I told you! I knew I saw them leave by this entrance!"
Baratak. Meara had hoped that he had slunk away when the city became more dangerous, but apparently he had been observing them. She cursed under her breath, realizing that their easy access to the city might have come to an end.
"That ruin is our only cover." Danniah spoke in a hiss as she slowly retreated toward it. "But I don't know if we can make it."
"Put on your helm." Meara reached into her cloak and pulled it out. Though Danniah hesitated, in the end she tugged off her old helm and slid on the new one.
The archers and thugs around Baratak flinched when they saw it. One of them actually began to back up. "Oh shit, it's her... I didn't sign up for this..."
"Stand firm, men!" Baratak grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Kill the monster, seize the child, and keep the woman alive. We need to track down this Raigar for the good of Manascas."
While he wasted time on his speech, their group hastily retreated to the ruined building. Yet though the entrance was clear, leading to a single large room, Meara saw that all the other entrances were blocked by rubble. Perhaps that was a coincidence... but it felt wrong to her.
She didn't figure out why until she saw a flicker of flame appear. A mage stood on a raised platform on the other side of the room - this had been a trap. Baratak had known they would try to escape, so he set up the archers to make them retreat for cover instead. Yet though Meara could understand all of that in an instant, she couldn't warn the others.
Izzy hurtled forward, crossing the dark room in an instant. The mage hurled a burst of flame at her, but she leapt aside, bounced off the wall, and lunged at him. Though he tried to raise his hands toward her, he couldn't reorient himself fast enough. Izzy's sword went through his arm and her momentum drove her into him.
They fell to the platform and Izzy tore into his neck with her teeth. Though Danniah paled as Izzy finished him off, she didn't let that slow her down. After checking for anyone else waiting to ambush them, she moved out of the doorway and braced herself.
"Do you think I should try to hold the doorway as a choke point?" She glanced toward Meara nervously and Meara struggled to know how to answer. She was no great strategist... but something about the way Baratak was striding toward them made her nervous.
"No. Fall back and get ready to ambush them."
Though Baratak moved toward them confidently, he still sent his men in first. They were prepared to be attacked as soon as they entered, but not prepared enough: Danniah slammed her shield into the group and the shockwave sent them tumbling to the floor. Izzy immediately leapt on them, blade stabbing out to finish them off.
The others tried to flank Danniah, but she retreated to a corner and put her shield and armor to good use. Most of the men still hadn't seen Izzy fight, so she had a chance to surprise attack them from behind.
Yet as the fight progressed, all Meara could do was retreat backward. She kept herself unfocused so that any stray attacks would pass through her - though she tried to draw off some of the others, they had seen the arrows fail to harm her and they were too suspicious to be easily manipulated.
If she let herself break apart into pieces, she could certainly horrify them long enough for Danniah and Izzy to kill them. But the last time Meara had tried to do that, she had found herself breaking apart, almost losing her grip on the system within her and even on her own identity. Only Bloodwraith had been able to bring her back from that, and he wasn't present.
Just as Meara was beginning to think that the others could end the battle easily enough, Baratak entered. As he did so, he lifted a short javelin and hurled it.
The weapon shot through the air, hitting Danniah's shield so hard that it tore through part of the metal as it scraped off, then buried itself in the stone wall. Danniah staggered from the impact and one of the remaining thugs tried to take advantage of it, but Izzy leapt on top of him, sword going through his neck.
Baratak struck her a second later, drawing his sword and piercing her through the heart. Izzy dropped and lay still, and for a moment Meara worried for her, but then she realized that Izzy was playing dead again. Or perhaps playing at being alive. Even if they knew she could fight, they wouldn't expect her to be undead. Smart move.
That motivated Meara to try to become involved. Danniah had struck down the last thug in the confusion, but now she was pinned in the corner with Baratak advancing on her. He hadn't seemed this powerful before, so what could have changed? When he struck out at Danniah, the
blows seemed to knock her back against the wall with surprising force.
As she moved closer, Meara examined the flow of the system around him, sensing items. Yes, especially around his hands: beneath his gloves, she realized that there were rings of great power. He had a full set of eight, which appeared to be enhancing his strength to truly impressive levels. Combined with his speed, he had Danniah pinned down and was battering away at her defenses. Danniah was already bleeding from several large wounds, struggling to keep her shield raised.
Meara closed her eyes and reached out. Yes, she could sense that the rings he wore were also part of an inventory, in a sense... she was a merchant, inventories were her domain... placing items in them... and also removing items. As she drew close, Meara stretched her fingers toward his hand...
His sword went through her stomach. Meara only slowly realized that it had not passed through her, it had torn open her body, then the pain flooded through her body.
She let out a cry and fell to the ground, the pain breaking her apart. It was difficult to focus, but she realized that she had made a mistake, come too close to getting involved with the battle. When the system ceased to consider her a non-combatant, it no longer shielded her.
Though she tried to retreat into her usual state of detachment, the agonizing pain and the feeling of her blood leaving her were too much. She was locked into the battle and helpless to do anything to help. In theory she should be able to create a potion to heal herself, but her mind was fragmenting into too many pieces. Even just retrieving a potion from the space within her cloak was too much - the void yawned open, threatening to consume her.
"Meara!" Danniah used the rest of her mana on a shield bash that drove Baratak back, then drove toward Meara with a furious assault. Smirking, Baratak deflected her desperate swings easily and simply retreated, letting her exhaust herself uselessly.
