The commotion, instead of causing a ruckus, sent a wave of silence over the entire canteen where Neph and the Twins were.
Maybe it was the loud shouts.
Maybe it was the old lady covered in blood.
Or maybe it was the crying girl.
Despite the silence the tavern still moved in a chaotic manner as its patronage rushed to grab their gear to defend themselves for whatever was chasing this old lady.
"Alright, alright! Calm down. Now tell me, what exactly happened?" Neph spoke to Enri, announciating every word. At the same time, Gazef moved to stop the tavern's occupants from getting out of control, signaling that the situation was being handled.
"My..." She sniffed. "My friend Nferia, the grandson of this lady next to me, is a potions maker in this city. They run a magical goods shop in E-Rantel specializing in usable items. I wanted to ask him for recipes of simple herbs and tonics that would treat sickness and wounds, as we have no apothecary in our village. But as I near the back of the shop, she ran out." Enri pointed to the old lady with her hand.
"I see..." Neph spoke. He appraised the lady.
Potions maker, eh?
"Diyandi, she's wounded. Treat it." Neph pointed to the bleeding right shoulder.
"Yes, my lord." And Diyandi got to work. She used the same green flame in which Enri was all too familiar with. The same spell that saved her and her sister: [Flame Of Reincarnation].
The old lady backed away at first, but after an approving nod from Enri, she let Diyandi sear the fire against her shoulder.
It did not burn, it healed. Instead of the sound of flickering flames, it was the sounds of rustling leaves. The wound slowly closed as the old lady widened her eyes at the flame's properties.
"Amazing." Gazef blurted out.
"Thank you, young lady." The old lady spoke.
"Good sir, I am Lizzie Bareare, a potions, maker." Lizzie spoke with raspy breaths. The flame had healed her injury but perhaps not the fatigue that came from running here.
"Do you know who attacked you? Do you know where your grandson was taken?" Gazef started questioning right away.
"I, I don't know where he was taken, but we were attacked by a woman with blonde hair. She utilized a large array of daggers, one of which gave me the shoulder wound. She also appeared to be wearing armor made out of adventurer tags."
The entire tavern gasped.
"That's... The Adventurer Hunter..." Gazef spoke softly.
"Adventurer Hunter?"
"Yes, a vicious criminal which appeared near these areas a few months ago. She kills mercilessly and brutally, and few have faced her and lived without suffering." Gazef spoke to the curious Neph.
"My, my grandson threw himself at her to let us get away..." Lizzie started crying again. At this, both Neph and Gazef sprung into action.
"Can you take me to your shop? I promise I will help get your grandson back." He spoke, clasping the Lizzie's small, worked hand with his own, larger, gauntlets.
"Alright." She strengthened up.
"Follow me." Lizzie started out of the tavern.
"I will go talk to the city guards to try and put out more soldiers, as to watch for possible suspicious activity, and if possible, watch for signs of the missing boy." Gazef said, finishing his drink.
"Can you take Enri with you to a safe place?" Neph asked.
"Of course, I will watch over her for you." Gazef also started out of the tavern. Enri looked at Neph and he nodded, leading her to understand that it was for her own safety. She had placed her friend's fate in Neph's hands.
As Enri left the tavern, Neph got ready as well. He took back the mask he had let Verdandi hold and put it on, completing his armor set. An oh so familiar mask to the Twins, that of several horns and two black eyes resembling a mouthless, demonic lion.
"Alright. Let's set out".
The four people stepped into the alchemical shop with a weary outlook. Bottles spilled, herbs splayed about, and tools broken.
These were the definite signs of struggles.
"This was where he stood, when he held her back to let me go..." Lizzie stood in the middle of the doorway that led to the inner parts of the shop with her arms out stretched.
"I see..." Neph replied. The twins behind him began to snoop around the shop to find any sort of available tracking evidence. Neph however, just stood there in the entrance and examined the entire shop through a mind's eye.
There was blood. It was blood of the woman, Lizzie, that I saw. But she described there being a struggle when this boy of hers Nferia held back the assailant.
Neph glanced throughout and saw that one particular section of the shop, the right, where the blue potions, ones he assumed were mana potions, were placed, was not as badly damaged as the rest of the shop.
The left, in contrast, was completely trashed, with one of the tables seemingly crushed by something falling on top of it. The blue potions were all spilled, and some of it mixed with the blood present. There was blood on both side of the shop, thus Neph couldn't really decide if he could use a tracking spell on the blood. There might be too many search results, or the potion contamination would make the spell fail.
So, if the right side is less damaged. I can assume the following: Lizzie was working on these blue potions, and the assailant, snuck up behind her, and gave her the wound on her shoulder. Lizzie must have screamed, and Nferia ran out from the inner parts of the shop, thus, the assailant then pounced on him, shattering the table.
"Is there a back exit to this shop?" Neph asked, his hand on his chin.
"Y-yes! I used it to exit the shop with Enri." Lizzie replied.
Ah. So Enri and Nferia were in the shop discussing something, which is why Lizzie was the first to be attacked. And during the commotion, she and Enri ran to the back door past the entrance where Lizzie was posing earlier.
Going by that logic, I think there should be some blood on the-
"Eeek!" Lizzie screamed. Neph drew [Dying Empress] and the twins got ready to cast offensive spells. They trained their eyes on the area around Lizzie, and everyone focused on what she saw that made her scream.
It was a finger.
It laid on the very corner of the doorway where Lizzie stood.
Neph smiled.
"Diyandi, use that to track the boy's location." He commanded.
"As you will!" Diyandi spoke full of heart and walked over to the finger.
She used a low level telekinetic ability to levitate it up, and then suspended it in a bubble of green energy, at the same time closing her eyes.
"[Heartseeker: Fleshbound]" With these words a single red wave emanated from Diyandi. It turned invisible extremely fast, proportional to how large it was getting. As such, only the four in the shop would know that there was something exiting it.
"Anything, sister?" Verdandi asked. At this point both Neph and Verdandi had resumed a normal stance, that is for Neph, he just slung [Dying Empress] on the side.
Neph glanced at Lizzie to see that she was looking at Diyandi with eyes full of hope and remorse. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.
"It will be alright, ma'am." He said softly.
"Lord Neph, there's a signal." Diyandi affirmed.
"Where?"
"South of here, in what appears to be a cemetery."
Death cult eh? Should've figured.
"Alright. We have the location. Let's set off." Neph commanded. Verandi walked over to Diyandi and took the finger out of the green energy bubble it was suspended in, and crystalized it in ice, giving it to Lizzie.
"Keep this, when we get your grandson back my sister can re-attach it" Verdandi Smiled.
"Stay here, Madam Lizzie. We will retrieve your grandson. If Gazef happens to come here, let him know I have a location on the boy." Neph asked.
With eyes full of tears, Lizzie barely managed to choke out: "Thank... you!"
At that, the three started in the direction of the cemetery, where Diyandi's [Heartseeker: Fleshbound] had traced a signal.
They moved swiftly, weaving through the everyday street people like a gust of wind, and before long, they were there at the gates to the cemetery.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" A voice yelled. Neph had his hands on the gate of the cemetery, prepared to push it open.
"There are undead there! Even if it's day time they will wander outside and cause mass hysteria!" The voice came from a guard high above in a watchtower.
"We're looking for a boy that was kidnapped. Our sources indicate that he is being held captive somewhere in the cemetery."
"We still can't let you in! We will send for Rank Iron Adventurers to look for the boy. You three stay here!" The guard made some hand motions to direct a fellow city guard. The second guard climbed down from the tower and ran towards the direction of the Adventurer's Guild.
"This is ridiculous. We're adventurers as well!" Neph yelled at the guard.
"Where are your tags?" The guard asked.
"Tsk". Neph realized that the circumstances of their registration in the guild were special. The three didn't have any sort of tag on them at all. And Neph did not know how long it would take the guild to procure the tags. This entire situation was getting increasingly tedious to Neph.
Ignoring the guard, Neph activated a basic racial ability of his: [Intangibility] and passed right through the gates.
"What the!" The guard yelled.
"Stop that man!"
The twins followed suit with their master. Their wings were restricted, but this did not limit them. They crouched and leaped over the gate with a single bound, aided by some special [Lightning Enhance] from Verdandi.
"Neph-dono!" A familiar voice called out to Neph. He turned around to see Gazef on the other side of the gate's bars.
"The boy is in the cemetery somewhere." Neph spoke, and in that instant, Gazef understood.
"Let them go! We can trust them!" Gazef spoke to the tower guard.
"But, Sir!"
"Let them go!".
Just then, a large amount of undead rose from beneath the soil.
"This is-!" Gazef choked. There were hundreds, if not, thousands of undead skeletons rising up in broad daylight.
"But how?!" The guards yelled.
"Reinforce the gates!" Gazef yelled. At that, the three, in the middle of the undead horde rising began moving as fast as the could toward the signal of Nferia that Diyandi found.
They moved swift as the flowing winds.
With [Dying Empress], Neph ran the whip blade slithering through the horde of undead in front of them.
With a [Ember Pulse], Diyandi sent a wave of fire to make sure the skeletons on their sides did not close in on them.
And with a [Frost Bomb], Verdandi made sure that the steps of the three person party left small traps. Runes of ice which would trap those who walked over, a "ice bear trap".
They cleaved through the undead with ease, but before long-
"Stop!" Neph shouted. They were in front of a gathering of people.
"These must be the Death Cult that Gazef mentioned, Lord Neph" Diyandi said. She signaled for her sister to get ready. Diyandi procured a bow from her inventory, [Six-String Bow], a bow at a level similar to Neph's [Dying Empress]. It possessed twelve limbs extending from the middle grip, with six strings all interlocking at a similar point behind the grip for massive power.
Similarly, Verdandi pulled out a weapon of the same caliber, [Julhwen]. A straight katana imbued with the property of lightning.
"What should we do, Lord Neph?" Verdandi asked.
Hmm.
Neph was in deep thought.
In this situation, it would be quite easy to move on these guys and take them out. But that would cost us potential information sources.
He looked at the occult group. There were seven people there in the middle, chanting towards a man in the middle holding an orb. For a total of eight. Noticing Neph's stare, the man to the left of the one holding the orb spoke to him.
"Khajit-sama, there are intruders on our grave." The man said.
Khajit? What are you from an old video game?
Clearing his throat with a loud "AHEM", Neph broke the chanting rhythm.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I believe you are Zuranon, the cult of the dead." Neph spread out his arms.
The man in the middle of the spellcaster conglomerate moved forward.
"And what of it?" The one called Khajit spoke. Neph could see that he held the orb with a tight grip, the knuckles of his hand white.
"Who are you? Masked warrior? And what business do you have with us?"
"I am Nephilentines, a new adventurer." Neph answered.
"Oh? Are you a copper plate?" Some asked. Someone not in the group gathering in front of the three that had just arrived.
Just then someone out of sight moved in a flash across Neph's vision.
Sensing the voice's intentions, Neph instinctively moved his [Dying Empress] to block an attack aimed for his neck. The [Wynter Siege] armor that Neph wore would have blocked the attack, but Neph did not want to take any chances with a low level armor.
The sound of metal clanging reverberated through the air, followed by the soft sounds of two boots touching the ground.
The woman with blonde hair looked at Neph with amused eyes.
"You could block that? You're probably not copper then."
"How dare you!" Diyandi yelled, she drew her [Six-String Bow] to fire an arrow at the blonde woman.
"Diyandi stop. Greetings, madam. You are correct, I am not a copper plate. I am a silver. May I ask if you are the one who took a boy named Nferia?" Neph bowed lightly.
"Ahahaha, how quaint you are. Yes I am. I am known as Clementine." She also bowed.
As she rose, tension built in the air in the form of a thick silence. Neph's party of three, and Khajit's party of eight, plus Clementine.
"So. Would it be too much to ask if I may take him back?" Neph's glare met Clementine's. She slyly looked away, then answered.
"Perhaps. But would you care to entertain me?"
"In what form?" Neph asked.
"Clementine this is not the time for games just kill him and be over with it already!" Khajit slammed the end of his staff into the ground.
"Now now, Khajit dear, let me enjoy myself. He seems pretty strong." Clementine said as she pat Khajit's bald head.
"This is nonsense, Lord Neph does not have time for games!" Verdandi started an attack. She leap forward with [Julhwen] to the side.
An attack that was a wide cleave, its intention was to take Clementine's head clean off. Clementine hastily ducked down, and as such, Verdandi's lightning imbued blade only cut three inches off the back of Clementine's blonde hair. As the attack passed, Clementine jumped from her position as a way to back away from Verdandi.
"That was a good strike" Clementine said. A commotion caused Verandi to look behind her. She was now close to the Zuranon group, and they had backed away as well.
"Strong as you are, I want to fight him first." Clementine signaled Neph.
I see. A warrior's conversation.
"Very well." Neph agreed.
"Verandi! Diyandi! Take care of Zuranon and the undead. I will deal with her personally." He ordered.
"Are we to make sure they can be interrogated?" Diyandi asked.
"You know me so well." Neph said, and followed Clementine to where he assumed was a remote location.
"You're not going to help him?" Khajit asked.
"He will die, you know. Preying on new adventurer is the specialty of Clementine. He will die, a painful death."
"Well, you see. We have faith in our Lord. Not to mention we have our own orders to deal with you." Verdandi answered.
Khajit was agitated.
"Sister, you deal with the undead horde. I'll handle these guys!"With that, Verdandi charged into the Zuranon group.
She repeated the attack she used on Clementine, and this time succeeded. She took off the head of one of the men who did not run in time. The group scattered.
Hmm, this will be a bit annoying to chase them all.
Diyandi had let Verdandi to her own devices and had moved away to deal with the undead horde.
Seriously, who does she think she is? Ordering me around like she's older than me. I'm the older one!
With this agitated thought, Diyandi fired a single arrow at a skeleton that was blocking her path back to the gate where they entered. It was where there was the most undead.
The arrow, carrying six string's worth of forces, shattered the sternum bone of the skeleton, and did the same to the spine behind it. The core body of the skeleton had crumbled, leaving only a graphing head and limbs in a slow flailing motion.
Well, sister should be enough to handle the guys. I'll finish up here quick and head back. Lord Neph asked to keep them in a state where they can be interrogated. Diyandi looked around.
But all of these guys are skeletons. In that case I'll just wipe them all out.
Diyandi levitated in the air for a few moments, about three meters off the ground. The took mental notes of where most of the skeletons were located, and concentrated.
[Rising Terra]
Diyandi concentrated on the space between her index finger and thumb, and manifested a arrow made out of stone. Aiming vertically down into the ground, she fired with the full draw force of the [Six-String Bow]. [Rising Terra], an attack that was the opposite of a conventional [Rain Of Arrows].
The arrow sunk into the ground as if someone had dropped it into water. A second later, spears of earth erupted from the ground in a thunderous speed, impaling the majority of the skeleton horde. In an instant, she had reduced the population of the skeletons down to a mere few dozen. The spears that struck had scattered parts of skeletons everywhere, even if not directly hit the force would disassemble one.
The spears lingered for a few moments, then sank back into the even ground as quickly as they rose. With most of the skeletons now on the ground, it was now possible for the group behind the gate's fortification to see what was going on.
And all they saw was a lone girl with a odd looking bow, standing above the remains of hundreds, if not thousands of skeletons. There was only one conclusion they could reach. She did this.
"...What terrifying power..." One of the guards at the fortified gate spoke. Gazef was there too, after gathering a fortifying force. He was glad they were on his side.
"Eeeeh!" One of the guards cried, and everyone else raised their shields. Gazef looked and saw that Diyandi had aimed her bow at them, but he quickly saw her move it to where the remaining skeletons are. There were about thirty skeletons left, and one question lingered in Gazef's mind as he looked at Diyandi.
One arrow?
"[Skipping Stone]" Diyandi uttered. She let loose an arrow inspired by the motions of a stone skipping over the surface of waters.
The arrow shattered the skeleton it hit, and bounced to another, repeating the same motion for all of the remaining ones. As bones crumbled to dust, the city guards stood bewildered at the power of a single woman.
Cancelling her levitation, Diyandi gave a nod towards Gazef, and headed back to where Verdandi was.
"Who are these people?" The guard on the tower asked.
And Gazef had no way to answer.
A/N; I apologize to the readers who have faithfully followed this story up until now for the long gap between this update and the last. University is getting quite intensive, and spare time is sparse. But seeing as there is a break in schedule, I will attempt to pump out another two or three chapters after this one, with perhaps a day or so between each.
Again, I apologize to my loyal readers. I will vow to continue the story at a more regulated interval. But I promise you this, I will not drop this story until it has a conclusion.
-Author