Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 12: The Eerie Quiet…

[Unknown]

Under a cloudy night sky, a small being was flying high in the air. The being itself was quite inhuman, less than eleven inches high with a pair of small horns, copper-red skin, bat-like wings, and a deadly barbed tail. In addition, the creature was completely hairless, giving it the appearance of a monstrous infant.

While its appearance suggested otherwise, this demonic creature had intelligence. This being, otherwise known as an imp, wasn't flying through the night for pleasure, it was performing an assignment that had been given to it a few days prior.

For three days, the imp had been flying, stopping only to eat and rest, before continuing its scouting mission. Since it started, the imp had managed to locate two small villages, each of which were messaged to its master. The master would then send spies to infiltrate settlements and investigate or capture their inhabitants for information.

Yet, as the imp flew through the night, it managed to spot specks of light surrounded within a sea of trees, which indicated the signs of civilization. Much to the demi-human's pleasure, it increased the beat of its bat-like wings to approach the lights. Within the span of a minute, the imp arrived above a village that was much larger than any village it'd found previously.

Flying down to get a better look, the imp spotted that this village was completely surrounded by large walls, with buildings that were much taller than the one-storied shacks it'd seen from the other villages.

Before it could continue investigating, a large runic circle of white light appeared near the lake. The imp's white eyes widened at the display of magic, one that could only be created from the highest tiers of spellcasting. The small being didn't dare draw any closer to the source of this power as such an action would likely end with its death which would mean that it had failed its master. Witnessing such strength in this new land needed to be reported to the master immediately, and from there, the Supreme One.

With a hurried flap of its wings, the imp immediately took off and began flying back to its master.

[Kashia]

I took a deep breath as I tried to steady my nervous mind. At this exact moment, I was finally going to use my ring, Shooting Star, to use the [Wish] spell, better known as [Wish Upon a Star]. There was only three uses for this ring, so if this experiment of mine failed then I'd have lost a great resource that I doubt I could ever recover. There were two objectives for this experiment, the first; to see if custom wishes were possible in the new world, and second; to try and gain a complete understanding of how to cast magic.

In addition, I'd spent the last two hours preparing for potential outcomes of this spell, but if the spell did allow for customized wording, the last half-hour up until now, I'd spent going over the wording of the wish with my copy in case the spell decided to act like a monkey's paw.

This also is what led to me casting the spell at an undeveloped section of Haven Lake's shoreline in the middle of the night. With most of the residents of my village asleep on the other side of the lake, there was less risk of them suffering any backlash compared to if they were near me. Another safety measure that was put into place, for both my protection as well as the protection of the village, was my copy maintaining a barrier spell around me called [Deathmatch].

Typically, it was used in large PvP battles since it could create isolation zones on a battlefield. A caster would determine up to four people be separated within the isolation zone. From there, neither people, spells, or abilities could break out of the zone unless the spells cast were higher than [Deathmatch], the caster ran out of mana, or they were killed by people outside the barrier.

The spell used to be able to contain up to ten players until it was nerfed to four. Since the nerf was done before the introduction of World Items, players weren't as opposed to the idea since the ganking meta was absolutely horrific. One caster player would lock nine of their friends into the barrier with an enemy, and unless that enemy was built for combat against multiple opponents, they'd get slaughtered.

Following the ganking meta was the juggernaut meta, and the less I have to say about that shit show, the better.

Regardless, I had all my preparations set. The only thing to do now is make a wish. Giving my copy a nod, which she returned, I held my left hand up and announced, "Activate Shooting Star!" Following this, a large runic circle of magic, glowing with a bluish-white energy grew to life at my feet. At the same time, I had an innate understanding that I could make whatever wish I wanted, and if I put more experience into it, the wish's effects would be even greater.

I couldn't help but smile at the confirmation that [Wish Upon a Star] wasn't limited to predetermined options. "I wish to be granted complete knowledge of Tier magic, with this understanding allowing me to both learn and teach any spell from both YGGDRASIL and this new world!" The moment the words left my lips, my head felt like a nail was being driven into it.

Each second, it felt like a hammer was driving this nail even deeper into my head. But despite the pain, information began appearing in my mind. Simple at first, from what mana was, where it came from, how to harness it, and so on. But as the time went on and I began to learn the method of casting my own spells, the pain in my head began to feel like someone was driving an icepick into my brain. This became so great that I eventually fell to one knee while cradling my head in both hands.

Even though I wanted it to stop, I sensed that this would continue regardless of what I wanted. As my agony continued, my mind was force-fed knowledge at a rate that I couldn't even comprehend. There was just so to learn, too much!

In the back of my mind, I felt like the horrific pain would only get worse the higher in Tier of magic that I learned. And, after enough time had passed, I couldn't tell if I was screaming or not. For only a moment, I felt like I had reached an out-of-body experience since I couldn't see, hear, or feel.

Then, a voice spoke in my mind, one that I felt was the most beautiful sound that I've ever heard in my life.

"Stay strong. You're almost there, little one."

Finally, my consciousness abandoned me and I was gripped by the sweet embrace of sleep.

"-e up! Come on, boss, you're starting to worry me!" Hearing that familiar voice, my eyes shot open to meet the concerned gaze of my copy kneeling over me. My eyes looked past her head to see that the moon was still in the sky, though it was lower in the sky than when I last saw it.

Feeling the beginnings of a migrane, I nodded while massaging my temple. "Not going to lie, I'm never doing something like that again." I answered to the relief of my copy, "Felt like my head got bashed in with a truck." Following this, I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Mind telling me how long I've been clocked out and what happened when I was?"

"Down to business already? Any normal person would be taking a moment to catch their breath after what seemed to be your brain almost melting." I answered with a shrug which made her roll her eyes in response. "Fine, fine. You were unconscious for about a half hour. At the very least, none of the magical energy from the spell escaped from the barrier."

She then gave me a concerned gaze and added, "I was nervous when your eyes started glowing like lightbulbs. Thought that your head was going to explode at that point until you finally passed out. Did the spell work at least?"

With a simple thought, I could recall basic magical theory. From it, I knew that magic came from three different sources. The first, which was also the most prevalent, was by drawing mana from the surrounding universe into oneself, like the way wizards did. The second, which was similar to the first, was by being granted the mana from a patron. This was where casters like priests, paladins, warlocks, and similar fit in. Finally, the rarest source was by drawing mana from one's own internal source, such as sorcerers or beings inherently connected to mana.

While everyone's sources were different, every being was limited by the amount of mana that they could channel from their bodies at once.

With this knowledge, I smiled to my copy, "Absolutely! I don't know how far this new understanding of mine goes, but I'm able to recall the basics of magic!" I attempted to get onto my feet and my copy held me steady as I did.

"Some good news at last! Do you feel confident that you'll be able to get home or do you want to crash in the village?"

"I'll be teleporting back to my room at the inn. I told Ninya and Tuare that I would return later tonight, and I'd rather not keep the girls worried." Entertaining myself with a smirk, I added, "I think I've got a few ideas on how to give Ninya some 'homework' while I'm not around."

"Maybe you should try and save that for tomorrow. It's probably best if you get some rest after the ordeal you went through."

Returning my copy a set of rolling eyes, I teased, "Okay, mom. Want me to brush my teeth before I go to bed as well?" My copy flicked her finger between my eyes in reply.

"Don't give me ideas, smartass. See you later." With a nod, I began to cast [Teleport] when a deluge of information entered my mind. Teleporting with magic entailed the process of moving mana from one location to another. Whenever a person performed this spell, they were bending reality so that their starting location and their ending location occupied the same area. This is what allowed for such seamless-looking transportation.

I had to end my thoughts there since soon after, more explanations for different types of teleportation began appearing in my mind. I truly hoped that these bursts of knowledge would become less violent after some time had passed.

On the upside, I was finally a proper archmage with all my newfound knowledge of magic.

[Lukrut]

Day 7:

Another day, another copper, at least, that's what my father used to tell me. To be honest, I never thought that the saying was something that one should live up to. There were already enough people in the world that let their lives be consumed by riches, and most of them were horrid people.

For me, I found that the pride I felt and the acknowledgement I received when I accomplished a task to be an even greater reward than money, not that I was opposed to earning some coin when it was offered. It's actually what caused me to leave my village in the first place. While my father and mother were content with living the life of farmers, I was too adventurous to live such a simple life, forgotten in a town by the crossroads.

When I finally left home to make a life in the city, the constant buzz of activity was something that I fell in love with. In E-Rantel, one might stumble into a bar fight, find their pockets picked, and see a squad of guards fist-fighting one gang or another. That could all happen in a single day.

Back home in Signpass, such events might happen once a month. That mundanity was driving me insane until I finally left. Now, I couldn't imagine going back to my old life, especially when so many exciting things were occurring now.

In just this week, Kashia joined our team, another adventuring team was killed in the cemetery, we discovered that Kashia had a secret magical realm, Ninya's sister was rescued, and it turned out that Ninya had actually been a girl. If this was what resulted from just a few days of having Kashia in our group, then I could only imagine what a month with her would be like.

With a yawn, I scratched my cheek and pulled out a copper coin from my pouch and walked over to a food stall. It was owned by a hunter named Briggs who had this astonishing ability to cook the venison he hunted in a way that I couldn't find anywhere else in the city. Flipping the copper coin to the hunter, I pointed out a salivating slice of venison that Briggs sliced off and handed over.

"Thanks." I said before walking away with a satisfied grin. Tearing a chunk off the strip of meat with my teeth, I wondered about getting Kashia a surprise gift for the platinum-plate rank that she'd be receiving in a few days. At the very least, I could take a look around the market to see if anything of interest caught my eye.

My search, unfortunately, took a bit of time because the items and trinkets that I'd find didn't seem right for Kashia. She didn't seem to be someone who would be interested in useless objects. No, Kashia was a woman who appreciated things that could also have a practical use.

It was midway through this search that I heard a voice call my name. Looking around the area, I finally spotted the voice's owner. It belonged to an elderly woman with exotic dark skin that contrasted sharply with her white hair. Her name was Jevva Nial, a merchant who hailed from the far east of the Baharuth Empire. I've encountered Jevva a few times in the market, typically when I was looking for random odds and ends. If there's one thing she was good at, it was selling obscure items.

"Good day to you, Lukrut! What brings you to the market today?" Jevva asked with a kind tone as I arrived at her stall.

"I'm looking for something that I could give as a gift to a friend of mine." I answered. Jevva gave me a studious look before her mouth grew into a knowing grin.

"Would this friend be a girl you fancy?" I could only chuckle and scratch the back of my head in embarrassment at how easily she could read me. "Ah, so it is a girl! Now, that is different than your typical purchases. By the by, how well has the bow I sold you been holding up?"

"The bow is perfect. It's been working without any issues and the design has allowed me to fire off arrows with more force behind them. For the life of me, I haven't been able to figure out how to replicate the design without any of the test bows I made snapping." I answered excitedly. I'd only purchased this bow a month ago, and while the design looked normal to an untrained eye, there was a warping at both ends of the bow's spine. These warpings allowed for an extra bit of power to fire the arrow.

"It's an ancient crafting technique used by eastern desert tribes. Through a mixture of water and heat, they can add a warping to the bow that won't snap the wood. Each bow takes six months to craft, but the craftsmanship makes up for the amount of time to create." Jevva answered.

Water and heat…I'd have to try that for the next bow I attempted to make.

"Now, young man, what kind of gift did you have in mind for this girl of yours?" Jevva pried while resting her chin on her intertwined fingers.

"For the girl I'm thinking of, she's beautiful and refined, yet she isn't the type to desire frivolous objects. In addition, she's an adventurer, so she can take care of herself." As I said this, Jevva nodded in understanding as she reached under her stall and pulled out objects that were placed on the stall for my viewing.

Some of the objects were daggers, others were jewelry. All of the objects were unique, yet my eyes eventually became drawn to a strange silver object that had hinges on it with an orange jewel in the center.

"What is this?" I asked while poking the object. It was when I touched the object that I jumped as it quickly snapped shut to look like a cylinder. Jevva simply laughed at my reaction before she gently picked up the object and pressed the jewel, causing the small cylinder to open up once more.

"This is a hair binder. It's favored by dwarven women to decorate and manage their hair, especially," She then mimed a beard, causing me to nod in understanding. From what I'd heard, dwarven men and women could grow beards, guess Jevva finally confirmed it for me.

Still, I recalled how Kashia began tying her hair after her first day at the guild. That little object looked nice and would be quite useful for her in binding her hair up. "How much for it?" I asked.

"Normally, I'd charge twenty silver for this, but because you've been a good customer, especially when buying some of my less sold items, I'll lower the price down to five." Giving Jevva a friendly smile, I reached into my coin purse and pulled out the silver which I traded for the hair binder.

"Thanks for the help, Jevva. Kashia'll love this!" I said gratefully.

"I wish you luck with the girl. Come back again, young man." Replying with a nod, I left her stall with a bit of a pep in my step and made my way to the guild. Giving Kashia's gift a final glance, I was about to store the object away until a small figure tore it from my hands and began running. Quickly gripping my pouch in case this little asshole had a friend trying to take advantage of my momentary distraction, I began chasing after the thief.

"Hey, you bastard, give that back!" I demanded while weaving through the morning crowd. Thankfully, my years of marksmanship had trained my eyes to spot small moving targets. The thief may have tried to lose me, but I easily kept track of the dark cloak that they wore. Every moment, I drew closer to the bastard, and more importantly, closer to my breakfast.

In less than a minute, the thief broke out of the crowd, while I dogged closely behind. After a short sprint, the prick ducked into an alleyway between a pair of buildings. I began slowing down when this happened and weighed my options.

Knowing these streets, I knew that this alleyway led to a dead end. A good thief would know these streets well enough to avoid such a pitfall, that is, unless this was a trap. Just my damn luck…

Pulling out one of my hunting knives, I made up my mind to deal with this prick. I doubt that I'll be the last person this prick mugs, so I might as well end the cycle here. Especially because, as an adventurer, it was in my job description to slay monsters, fight bad guys, and get the girl.

Stepping into the darkened passage, I noticed that the thief wasn't out in the open. Instead, there were stacks of boxes and barrels, and in addition, quite a few empty bottles. I got an idea when I spotted the bottles and quickly sheathed my knife before I unslung my bow over my shoulder and picked up a few bottles.

Tossing the first bottle in the air over the nearest pile of wooden crates, I quickly pulled out one of my arrows, nocked it back, and fired it at the glass bottle which exploded into a shower of broken glass that fell behind the crates.

With no reaction, I threw the next bottle over some barrels and fired an arrow after it. This earned the reaction that I was hoping for as a surprised shout came from behind the barrels before a gangly man in dark clothing stood up.

My eyes quickly darted to the knife being gripped tightly in his right hand. "The fuck are ya' throwin' glass for?!" He shouted while brushing the shards of glass off his head.

"How about I answer your question with another question. What were you doing waiting behind those barrels with a knife for?" I replied while nocking another arrow to my bowstring. As I did so, I spotted a familiar figure that was still covered by a dark cloak, slip out of from behind a crate with a metallic glint from within the folds of their cloak. Making a split decision, I loosed my arrow at the cloaked figure and thanked my luck that I had acted quickly.

When my arrow slammed into the right shoulder of the cloaked figure, the person was midway through throwing a knife at me. This caused their aim to falter and the knife embedded itself into a wooden barrel right next to me.

"SHIT!" The figure scream while clutching their shoulder. This managed to distract the man nearest to me and gave me the chance to quickly nock another arrow onto my bowstring before he could retaliate.

"Osp, you alright?!" The man closest me to shouted.

"Do I fuckin' look alright, Zane?!" Osp angrily barked back, "I've got a fuckin' arrow in me arm!"

"That wound looks fine on my end. Then again, I could've put the arrow between your eyes." This caught both of their attentions, so I decided to continue, "I don't know who you guys are, and I really don't care. From what I can assume, your friend back there stole that object in an effort to lead me to this alley. Then, once I went past your partner, you'd try to jump me and steal my belongings. Is that about right?"

The man named Zane spat on the ground while muttering curses under his breath. "Fine, we admit it! We were tryin' to jump you. What're you gonna do now?"

I gave him a shrug in reply, "I didn't think that far ahead. I just wanted that hair binder back. Though, looking at the sorry state of your friend, I'm willing to cut a deal." I said while waiting for any sudden movements from either man. One reason I was willing to cut this deal is because I had other places I needed to be right now. The other, one which I'm a little embarrassed to admit, is that I didn't have any sort of way to capture these two for the city guard to deal with.

"What kinda deal?" Osp growled out as he tried to staunch the blood from his wound.

"Still got the object on you?" I asked, which Osp nodded. "I want that back, and then I want the two of you gone. If I hear about any muggings in this part of the city, I'll be coming back for answers from the both of you. Understood?" With sighs, the pair nodded and Osp slowly reached into his cloak to pull out the hair binder before tossing it to me.

Releasing the tension on my bowstring, I caught the venison while storing my equipment away onto my person. "This is your one warning. Try to use it wisely." I called over my shoulder while leaving the alley.

[cut]Transcript[cut]

After that ordeal was over, I studied the hair binder to see if it had taken any damage. While I found no damage, I decided to quickly rub it on my sleeve to remove any lingering dirt before storing it in my pouch. Hopefully, Kashia would like this gift.

It took only ten minutes for me to finally arrive at the front doors of the guild. In comparison to yesterday, there were a lot fewer people coming in and out of the building. If there was one thing I didn't enjoy, it was when there were a lot of people at the guild. I didn't hate the people, but I did hate that finding a job became more competitive when too many adventurers were at the guild.

Upon entering the guild, I made my way up the stairs to reach the table where the rest of my team gathered every morning. My eyes quickly spotted Dyne and Peter sitting together, but Kashia and Ninya still had yet to arrive.

"Morning, guys." I greeted as I took a seat at the table.

"Hey, Lukrut. You seem in chipper spirits today. Something happen?" Peter asked while I shrugged in reply.

"Just have a good feeling about today." I answered before switching the topic, "Found any jobs that we could do today?"

"Not yet. It's still a bit early so not many job requests have been submitted just yet." Dyne answered, "We're going to be waiting a bit before we try again." Then, he gave a sly glance to Peter while smirking, "Unless Helena has a job stored away for you." Both Dyne and I laughed at the reddening face of our team leader.

Yet, our laughter was cut short as a man approached our table. One that I, and much of the guild, despised. His name was Cassius Carth, a job poacher and all-around smarmy ass. His armor looked very pristine due to how few jobs he took that were actually dangerous.

"You all seem to be in high spirits. Any reason why?" Cassius asked as he took a seat between Peter and I.

"We were, until you showed up." I grumbled back. Either this guy couldn't read a room or he just didn't care since he didn't even shift position in his chair.

"Why are you here, Cassius?" Peter asked in his diplomatic tone. In response, Cassius turned to Peter and grinned.

"I was wondering if you'd be able to tell me a bit about your teammate, Kashia Blanc. After all, we'll be working together on a mission in a few days. It'd be helpful to know a bit about who I'll be working with." Cassius answered in that smug tone of his. Really, this asshole was working the Magician's Guild protection mission as well?

"Not happening, vulture." I answered immediately. This got the prick's immediate attention and caused him to momentarily scowl.

"That was quite rude of you to say. Then again, I shouldn't expect more from a man who only fights their battles at a distance." I was about to jump out of my chair to prove him wrong with a fist to his teeth, but a strong grip on my shoulder forced me in my chair. When I looked, I saw Dyne standing above me while shaking his head.

"What my teammate meant to say," Peter said in my stead, "was that you should really be asking Kashia these questions instead of us. She knows more about her own capabilities than we do."

Cassius was silent for the moment, then he nodded and got up from the table. "I see. It might be better for me to try this when Kashia is here, and tempers aren't so high." With that smug smirk of his, he left us, and Dyne finally release his grip on my shoulder.

"I fucking hate that guy. I'm surprised that no one has punched his perfect teeth out by now." I grumbled.

"He might be a prick, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's a gold-plate. You can't just weasel your way to that rank without the skill to back it up." Peter stated as if I was going to challenge the guy myself.

While I'd probably get a few punches in, Cassius is specialized in fighting in close range while I trained to fight from a distance. I'd very likely lose that fight. After all, the number one rule of an archer is; if the opponent is close enough to hit you, then you've already lost.

"I get it." I answered Peter, "I just don't like that the guy is asking about Kashia. I've got the feeling that he's up to something."

"Or is it that you're just jealous that another man might have their eyes on our teammate?" Dyne teased with a laugh. I glared at the large man before looking away. He was probably right about my response to Cassius, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an answer.

"Come on, Dyne. Take it easy on the guy. He's still new to competing for the affections of a woman against an opponent that more well-groomed."

The second Peter said this, I leaned back in my chair and said loudly, "Hey, do you think that we should tell Helena that our leader, Peter, would like to take her to a private room and f-"

Peter's eyes widened and he held up his hands in surrender, "Fine, we'll keep it quiet." This caused me to chuckle at how easily cowed he could be when Helena was brought up. Still, I count this as a win for me and a loss for Peter.

"If the pair of you are finished trying to outdo one another, I've got some news to tell you two." Dyne interrupted, dragging both mine and Peter's attention. "Another group went missing in the cemetery again. There's been talk that intelligent undead might've risen which is why so many groups have been going missing."

That was a worrying thought. Undead were already terrible to deal with due to their innate strengths and hunger for the souls of the living. The biggest reason that they weren't a larger threat was due to their lack of higher thought. From what I've heard, one undead in a thousand that revived without the use of necromancy would retain their intelligence.

Combine the immense strength of an undead along with the skills and intelligence to utilize this strength to its fullest ability, and that would be an opponent that I'd not want to fight. But the two types of intelligent undead that were extremely rare, and a death sentence to fight if one were under the gold-plate rank, were liches and vampires.

Liches were said to have powerful necromantic abilities that could create armies of undead in minutes. On the other hand, vampires, while unable to create armies at the rate that liches could, were known for having unparalleled strength and speed along with the ability to dominate minds and create ghouls from their victims.

Even being a gold-plate didn't mean that one could take these types of undead in a fight. It just meant that they'd be more likely to escape with their lives. Either way one cut it, intelligent undead became worse to fight the longer they were alive.

"Have there been any ideas on how to deal with the cemetery situation?" Peter asked with concern.

"Not that I've heard of. From what I know, the Adventurer's Guild is just planning to raise the required rank for cemetery missions again. At the same time, the city guard is going to treat the situation as out of sight, out of mind. Until they start to see undead bashing at the gates, or they are given specific orders to clear the cemetery themselves, they're just going to stay put."

"That'll hurt the lower ranks of the guild." I added, "Cemetery work was always was the starter work for guild newbies." Dyne nodded in agreement before he stroked his beard in thought.

"I'm expecting to see brawls for missions if this continues." Peter remarked, "We probably might see an exodus of members under silver-rank from E-Rantel to other cities in the kingdom." I couldn't help but look over the railing and down at the members skittering about on the ground floor. It would feel strange to see so few members at the guild if an exodus were to happen.

It was while I was looking at the lower level of the guild that my eyes caught sight of a pair of familiar faces entering the guild. "Guys, Kashia and Ninya have finally arrived!" This caught the attention of my teammates as they followed my gaze to where our other teammates were.

"Eager, aren't you?" Peter teased while leaning the back of his chair. I quickly waved off his comment and thought about Ninya for a moment. If felt strange to think of the little mage as a girl instead of the boy she pretended to be. Though, it did explain why her face looked more feminine than masculine. All of us just put it off as Ninya being a late-bloomer that was due to grow some chin hairs soon enough.

Turns out that we were all wrong on that account.

But, keeping that in mind, I couldn't help but notice that the loose-fitting tunic that she wore seemed a bit tight on her chest today. I think I'm going to try and forget that the observation crossed my mind…

I tried to think about anything else which was actually made easy as my eyes were attracted by the movements of Kashia's bosom. Catching myself before I stared too long and ended up making a fool of myself, I pulled my eyes up to the exotic orange of Kashia's. While I've never said this aloud, it always seemed like her eyes had a slight glow to them. While one might wave such an observation off as just light reflecting from her eyes, the fact that she was a powerful sorceress added credence to my theory.

From what I've seen over the years, heavy use of magic could sometimes have a physical effect on the user, especially if the user was powerful. Changes could vary, but usually there was some type of tell that I've picked up on. For instance, Ninya's eyes would sometimes have a low glow to them, not as bright as Kashia's, but noticeable if one was specifically looking for it.

Another feature I noticed, typically belonging to mages who practiced a lot of necromancy, was a mixture of pallid skin and a thinness to them, as if they hadn't eaten in days. Regardless of the physical change, I've always had this strange ability to pick out mages from a crowd. While odd, I didn't take this skill of mine for granted since it's been especially helpful whenever our team had to fight groups as the magic casters could be the be the most dangerous if left to their own devices.

"Guess the gang's all here." Peter remarked as Kashia and Ninya joined us at the table. "A forewarning for you, Kashia, Cassius Carth was asking about you a bit earlier. He's going to be on the same escort mission that you're performing."

"Thanks for the heads-up. Anything he was asking about in particular?" Kashia asked with that mischievous interest of hers.

"Just about your strengths and abilities. We told him to ask you himself, both because it didn't seem right to talk about you while you weren't here, and because Cassius is an asshole. Lukrut nearly decked him earlier and I didn't want a fistfight breaking out." As Peter said this, I had the decency to look away from Kashia and Ninya's stares.

"I'll keep that in mind while speaking with him." Kashia assured us before changing the topic, "Have you three managed to find a job yet or are you still looking?"

"Not yet. It's a bit slow in the morning and none of the jobs being offered right now were worth the measly pay." Dyne answered.

"Then it looks to be your lucky day." Kashia said with a playful smirk, "One of my recent business partners, Nfirea, is in need of an escort to the village of Carne to pick up some ingredients. He originally wanted me on the job, but since I'm already going to be occupied with traveling to Tob in a few days, I recommended the rest of you instead."

That sounded interesting, especially since I've never been to Carne before. Usually, it was because there weren't many jobs that came from the village, but it was also a dangerous place since it was near the borders of the Slane Theocracy and Baharuth Empire. With the tensions that Re-Estize had with both countries, it made Carne a prime staging ground for one of the two countries to invade.

"What's the pay like?" Peter asked.

"Each of you will receive ten silver for accepting the mission, and another five for completing it." Now, that was a tempting offer. The trip to and from Carne village would take about three or four days, yet we'd be making a combined sixty silver from doing it. Possibly more if we hunted some animals on the way and took their pelts.

"Pretty good pay for an escort." I remarked, "I'm up for it."

"I'm in agreement, especially since we might be seeing competition for jobs in the upcoming weeks." Dyne answered, causing both Ninya and Kashia to give the druid curious looks.

"Sounds like an easy job that pays well. I am also willing." With Peter's reply, that left Ninya who hesitated for a moment before agreeing. It was understandable since she'd be leaving her sister alone for the next few days, and considering that the two had only recently reunited, that was a hard choice to make.

"I can do it." She then turned to Kashia, "Would you mind watching out for Tuare while we're gone?"

"Don't worry about your sister, she'll be perfectly safe while you're gone. Meepo will also be watching Tuare when I leave, and that kobold is probably one of the strongest people in E-Rantel at the moment. She'll be safe." Kashia's reassurance made Ninya smile and nod. On the other hand, I felt an ominous dread at how casually Kashia declared the terrifying kobold as one of the strongest beings in the city. After all, Meepo had shown how protective he was towards anyone attempting to court Kashia. "With that settled, Nfirea wanted to leave the city in the next hour, so he'll come to the guild to meet up with you."

"Lukrut and Ninya, you two are on acquiring rations." Peter said, taking charge as group leader. This was pretty usual for Ninya and I to get rations. One of the reasons was that we were good at acquiring long-lasting food, but the other reason was because we were physically weaker than Dyne and Peter. "Dyne and I will get supplies. We'll meet back here within thirty minutes for any last-ditch preparations. What'll you be doing, Kashia?"

"I'm going to speak with Cassius while you prepare. I'll see the four of you off before you leave." Kashia added as we all stood up from the table together and headed off to perform our assigned tasks. I didn't like that she was going to meet with that asshole alone, but I'd have to accept her choice.

Even though I knew that Kashia is a strong mage and could take care of herself, I just had this feeling of complete revulsion at the thought of Kashia meeting Cassius.

Pushing these feelings down, I rushed off with the others to gather our supplies.

Kashia

With the others going off to perform their assigned tasks, I asked around for Cassius Carth. It wasn't a long search at all, especially due to the amount of hatred that this guy had accrued among the other guild members. From what I learned, the guy was known for taking all the easy, well-paying jobs that was considered a taboo in the guild, especially if the job was below your rank.

Regardless, it did make me wonder as to why he had taken the Magician's Guild's escort mission considering that it was going to the Great Forest of Tob, an area that was considered deadly to travel due to the monsters inhabiting it. For a guy known for taking easy jobs, this was the opposite of his typical actions. There was definitely something else going on behind the scenes that I couldn't put a finger on.

Regardless, from the information given to me, I quickly was able to spot Cassius sitting at a table while reading from a leather-bound book. As I approached him, my eyes took in the pristine look of his armor. Either that set of armor was enchanted or he rarely got involved in combat. It would be good to note that bit of information for later as I'd be working with him in a few days.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I arrived in front of Cassius. He quickly looked up from his book and I felt his eyes trailing up and down my body before his eyes finally met mine. "My teammates told me that you wanted to talk."

"Of course, Miss Blanc, do you mind if I call you Kashia? We'll be working together soon, after all." Cassius asked with a charming tone that seemed opposite of the way the others in the guild portrayed him as. This didn't do much to change my opinion of the man as I'd encountered enough well-spoken assholes that'd stab you in the back as soon as it increase their standings.

"Sure, you can. I don't care about formalities like some do." I answered with an even tone. "Interesting book you have there. I don't see many in the guild that do much reading unless they have to."

Cassius smiled while closing the book and setting it down. "It's a bestiary of the creatures within, and around, the Great Forest of Tob. I like to be prepared for missions before going on them. Learning about what we might be encountering in Tob ensures a better chance of survival and success."

"Is that what led you to ask my teammates about me?"

"It's one of the reasons. Due to your recent arrival in the guild, there's not much information about you besides hearsay and rumors. You can see why I'm a bit curious." That's reasonable, yet I had no true interest in revealing much about my abilities.

"And are you asking the same about the others that we'll be working with or am I just special?"

"Of six adventurers that have been hired for this mission, I know that two are a pair of silver-plate twins that are average swordfighters. One is a skilled gold-plate monk that only performs jobs to afford his booze. Another is a silver-plate ranger that is more coward than adventurer. Then, there's myself who I am intimately acquainted with. Finally, there's you, the unknown sorceress that, until recently, was one of the newest copper-plates in the guild."

"Sounds like an interesting set of personalities. Unfortunately for you, I subscribe to the adage that a good magician never reveals their secrets." I answered with a smirk. If he was upset at my response, Cassius did well at hiding his emotions.

"I see. Is there anything that you could inform me about yourself, just to reassure me that you won't be a hindrance to the mission?"

"You'll just have to trust me when I say that I can take care of myself. Probably even better than you can take care of yourself." Cassius gave me a dry look at my statement.

"Noted. Hopefully, you'll be able to back up these claims during the mission. Until then, I'll make sure to keep an eye on you." He then smirked after this remark, "Then again, it's not entirely difficult or unpleasing to do so in the first place."

Giving the man a raised eyebrow, I replied, "I tend to get remarks along those lines quite often. But, to be nice, I'll tell you that my magic skills are above a silver-plate's. Take that information as you will." Following this, I walked away from Cassius to let him think over my statement.

As I left Cassius, I made a mental note to take care with the spells and skills I displayed around him. Unlike most, he seemed the type of person to heavily study and scrutinize my abilities. It would be a small risk to stay around him since he could potentially discover my lack of humanity if he looked hard enough.

While my [Kitsune Illusion] hid my tails and ears, it didn't hide inherent aspects of my biology, like my sense of smell, sight, hearing, or my enhanced ability with magic. And those were just some of my more obvious traits that couldn't be hidden. While I doubted that anyone could discern my true race, it wasn't a far-off possibility of someone figuring out that I wasn't human.

And yet, such an event didn't so much as frighten me as it did excite me. By now, hiding my race felt less like an everyday risk and more like a game. At this point, I felt like I was breaking a world record. Each day undiscovered was another to add to the scoreboard.

Unfortunately, the more I thought about my illusion, the more that random information behind the mechanics and processes of the spell filled my mind, giving me a mild headache. It'd been like this since I woke up this morning. I cast a spell and information would seemingly burst into my brain like fireworks.

While the headaches seemed to be lessening as the day went on, I needed to master a way of controlling these information bursts so that they wouldn't impact me as much as they did now. An idea that I'd come up with this morning to control these bursts involved casting a simple spell repeatedly until I finally forced the information bursts to stop.

Taking a seat at an empty chair on the first floor, I cast the spell [Illusionary Orb] in my hand. What came from this was a small, translucent, blue ball which gently floated in the palm of my hand. This spell, when used by other casters, could be formed as a non-damaging replica of other spell-effects in order to trip up an opponent. But, when used by a holder of the [Chosen of Loki] class, it would deal damage due to the class making illusionary spell effects real.

After creating this orb in hand, the small burst of information filled my mind. Then, I dispelled the effect before once again casting it in hand. Each time I did this, I mentally commanded for the information to stop. Once in a while, the information would cease, yet it wasn't an often-enough occurrence to label my training as making much headway. I'm not entirely certain on how long I'd been casting this spell as I entered a state of hyper-focus, but I was pulled out of it when I heard someone call my name.

Ceasing the spell, I looked up and spotted the familiar blond hair of Nfirea. "Hello again, Miss Blanc." Nfirea greeted with a smile.

Giving him a nod and waving him over, I said, "Good news, Nfirea, the rest of my team agreed to escort you to Carne Village. They are just out, at the moment, to gather supplies for the journey. What about you?"

Setting the canvas bag that he was carrying onto the ground, I got a good sniff of salted meats and bread within the bag. Then, Nfirea took a seat next to me. "That's a relief. I was slightly worried that they wouldn't accept the job. Not many adventurers are willing to travel up to that area considering the tales of the Slane and Baharuth soldiers being spotted near the area."

"I wouldn't worry too much about the tales of soldiers. Technically, adventurers are considered neutral in kingdom politics, which makes it in the best interests of other kingdoms to avoid killing adventurers as they could receive retaliation from their country's branch of the Adventurer's Guild." I said in an attempt to reassure the teen.

"Still, you can't expect the possibility that something wrong might occur."

"If that ever happens then I'll typically have multiple contingency plans in place to fall back upon. Regardless, I give you my personal reassurance that nothing wrong will happen, and if something does," I quickly cast a spell to create a [Talisman of an Allied Beacon] in my hand which I handed to the teen.

He took it with a questioning look before examining the object. "What is this?"

"Consider it an insurance policy. If you're ever in a situation where you and the others are in danger, just hold onto that object and think of me. It'll bail you guys out of danger. Just remember though, it only works once. So, use it wisely." Nfirea bashfully nodded his head before carefully pocketing the item.

"Thank you, Miss Blanc. I will make sure to keep this item safe."

Smirking at the teen, I playfully flicked him on the side of his head, "Your life matters more than a simple item. Avoid being stingy with it since you only have one life."

"I understand, Miss Blanc." Nfirea answered as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You know, you don't have to call me Miss Blanc. I'm not that formal."

"Sorry, Miss Bl- I mean, Kashia. It's just that after everything you showed and told my grandmother and I, it's just hard to not to treat you with great respect." I patted him on the back and smirked.

"You don't need to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong, after all." I reassured the kid before changing the subject, "By the way, what kind of herb only grows out around Carne Village? Seems like it'd be a smarter idea to try and find a method to cultivate it in the city. Would save you a trip otherwise."

Nfirea tried to avoid my gaze after I asked this. I even noticed that his face turned a little red along with a scent of hormones that emanated from him. "W-Well, there's also a person in Carne that I like to visit whenever possible. Going out to collect herbs also gives me an excuse to visit." I couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl as I finally pieced everything together. Little Nfirea had a girlfriend in Carne that he wanted to see.

"What's her name?" That got the boy's attention as he turned to me with shock and an extremely red face.

"How did you know it's a girl?"

"From your demeanor along with what I could smell from your body, it was obvious that there's someone that lives in the village which you have an attraction to. Though, I could've been wrong if it turned out that you preferred your gender. But the simplest answer is that you have an absolutely terrible poker face."

"Oh…" He said with embarrassment. "You said that you could smell it on me. What did you mean by that?"

"Compared to most people you'll encounter; my senses are highly advanced. My hearing is good enough to pick up quiet conversations in rowdy places, and my sense of smell is pretty much unparalleled. It does tend to be a bit of a curse in large cities since I can smell everything, good and bad. You were giving off enough hormones to make it obvious that you're attracted to someone within that village." The teen blushed before nodded.

"Her name is Enri. We've known each other for years, but I've found it hard to tell her how I feel about her. I'm worried that I'll screw it up and hurt our relationship." Nfirea said with a small bit of shame.

"Nfirea, there's a famous quote from my home that might help you here, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.' Nothing will happen if you don't try to ask this girl. Girls like confidence and you have to be confident when confessing your feelings to someone."

"But what if-" I put a finger on Nfirea's lips to silence him.

"No what ifs. Besides, you've got plenty of things going for you. You're smart, not that bad looking, and you've got a well-paying profession and skills to match it. If you wait too long, someone else will snatch up this girl before you can." He was silent for a time, contemplating what I had said. Then, he looked back at me with a soft smile and nodded.

"I'll try it." Nfirea said with a bit of confidence. I simply nodded while my interest in Nfirea's courting outcome grew. It also made me wonder if I could try and push Ninya into the dating scene since that girl needed more confidence in herself. Before I could ponder any further on future activities for my apprentice, the scent of Lukrut and Ninya appeared at the guild.

"Glad to be of assistance. Speaking of, half of your hired help has just arrived at the guild." I nodded my head at the entrance where the two just entered. I waved my hand at the duo and gained their attention. They hurriedly walked up to out table and set a pair of bags down where scent of salt and pork emanated heavily from within them.

"It looks like we managed to beat Peter and Dyne to the guild. Even better, you managed to find the client, Kashia." Lukrut said with excitement. "How are you this morning, Nfirea?"

"I'm doing well, Lukrut. I was just conversing with Kashia before you arrived." Nfirea replied. "How long do you think it'll be before your other teammates arrive?" I remained quiet when said teammates strode through the entrance and picked out our group from the crowd.

"With Peter and Dyne, they'll typically arrive at the guild around the same time that we have, give or take a few minutes." Ninya helpfully replied.

"Make that just a minute." Peter said, announcing his and Dyne's presence while also causing Ninya, Nfirea, and Lukrut to jump in surprise. "Nice to see that everyone's arrived. Worry not, we've come with provisions." To demonstrate this, Peter and Dyne dropped a set of packs onto the table.

"Seems that all of you are set to go on your job." I remarked before focusing on Ninya, "While you're traveling, kiddo, try to find a way to combine your spells to enhance each other. I'll be excited to see what you come up with when we see each other again." The young mage nodded, making me chuckle, "Try to stay safe on your mission, everyone. We've still got to have those drinks at the bar."

"Just another reason to make it back safe to you, my beautiful sorceress." Rolling my eyes at Lukrut's reply, I watched my team and Nfirea stand from the table.

"Good luck on your job, Kashia. See you in a few days." Dyne said with a warm tone as he picked up his pack, followed by the other soon following the action.

"Make sure to come back and tell us about all the interesting details of your job when you return." Peter asked, which I answered with a nod while watching the group of four start leaving the guild. At the very least, I was satisfied with the knowledge that if they were to get into anything beyond their ability to handle, Nfirea would be able to use the gift I gave him which would allow me to bail them out of trouble.

That said, I felt a bit of amusement knowing that I needn't bring that many supplies with me due to my crafting abilities. I could easily conjure myself a tent and bed if needed. While some foods could be summoned or conjured with a few abilities that I knew, the methods weren't fully tested which made it a safer bet to gather non-magical rations beforehand.

I wouldn't need many rations, since I could just cast a permanent [Enlarge] on them which would give me more than enough food to last me the few days my journey into Tob would take.

On that note, I was torn between being worried and excited at the idea that some of the residents within the forest might recognize me, even without my furry appendages visible, and out me to the rest of the party that I'd be traveling with. Perhaps I could change my appearance some, maybe wear a hat? I'd have to figure that out when I arrived at that point.

Taking a moment to stretch my arms above my head, while also ignore a few of the obvious stares around me, I heard a satisfying pop and got up from the table. It was time to get to work since I couldn't just sit around here all day. Acquiring supplies early would be the best idea since I had an immense amount of time to kill.

[7 Hours Later]

After a long day of acquiring supplies, exploring the city, and practicing a few spells, I found myself sitting on a couch within my sanctuary reading a history book that I had bought earlier. While it wasn't as detailed as I would've liked, it offered a bit of information that I hadn't known before.

For instance, the Re-Estize Kingdom had one of, if not the, largest cavalry units out of all the surrounding countries. In fact, their cavalry units were considered some of the best due to the Re-Estize's belief that cavalry was what won wars, making them focus specifically upon improving those units. At the same time, magic was looked down upon, both by the army and many nobles, due to their belief that it was weak and cowardly for a warrior to rely upon tactics that didn't utilize their own physical strength.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing when I reached this passage. It was pretty obvious that whoever was running this kingdom's military was a complete moron. Back on my world, it'd be like a military that abhorred using guns because it was dishonorable. It wouldn't matter about how honorable a method was when the side with guns kills you before you can get near.

With the lack of mages in the military, I was absolutely astounded at how the Re-Estize has managed to almost keep their yearly war with the Baharuth Empire at a standstill. Either the soldiers of the Re-Estize were badass if they weren't getting wiped out by a salvo of fireballs or they just had a huge amount of reserves to replace the charred remained of the dead.

It would explain why the Magician's Guild had been established. Someone with a lot of resources, but not enough political power, probably saw the obvious flaws in the military and tried to create an organization to compensate. It would also explain why the Magician's Guild doesn't receive any funding, even though the organization served under the government.

Aside from that, the kingdom's political landscape was an absolute mess. Multiple chunks of the country were divided up between many nobles that ruled their territories with different laws and standards. This led to a kingdom that was extremely decentralized, with infighting of different nobles being frequent. I wouldn't doubt that the king of the Re-Estize was more like a figurehead than a ruler as he only had enough authority as the other nobles would allow him.

If the Baharuth Empire was smart, they'd only need to buy the loyalty of a few nobles to crush the Re-Estize from the inside. The fact that they were instead throwing away thousands of lives every year on the Katze Plains in order to shrink the Re-Estize's army was immensely wasteful.

Before I could read any further, the door to the cabin opened and Tuare and Meepo stepped inside. From the massive smile on the girl's face, it was obvious to see that she had certainly enjoyed her first day. Not that I expected anything to go wrong since I had Meepo act as her unseen protector today.

"Hello, Kashia!" Tuare answered before looking around the building for something or, more likely, someone. "Where Ninya and the others? I would have expected them to be here with you."

"Ninya and our friends are going on an escort job for a few days." When I explained that, Tuare gain a worried look, "Don't worry, it's just a simple escort job to Carne Village. They are strong enough to take care of themselves, and I've given them an insurance policy in case anything was to go wrong."

"That's good to hear. I guess I'm just still used to the times when I had to look out for Ninya when we were younger." Tuare said with relief while I nodded in agreement.

Setting my book aside, I snapped my fingers and caused a large couch to materialize in front of me, "Now, why don't you come on over, take a seat, and tell me about your day. No doubt the both of you would enjoy taking a load off."

"Thank you, Kashia." Tuare said as she walked over to the couch with Meepo and sat down upon it. After doing so, she started to work on removing her boots. Meepo took the time to soften up his spot on the couch before settling into it like a cat.

"Meepo has performed the task Mistress assigned with perfection! Tuare was protected from all harm while Meepo remained undiscovered by any watcher! Meepo is great at stealth!" The little kobold said with excitement before he began to shiver in pleasure as his charge stroked his back.

"Today was quite a rush. Miss Celica spent some time teaching me how to cook certain meals, know the differences between different ales, even methods on how to deal with unruly customers." She then smirked while looking down at Meepo, "Though I wasn't that worried since I knew that Meepo was watching over me."

"Seems like you had fun." I remarked, "Make any new friends or are you still working on it?"

"There was another worker named Marin who I talked to a bit. I can't exactly call us friends since we just met, but she was quite nice to me and helped me when she could." It appears that this job was turning out to be a good fit for Tuare. She was getting the chance to meet different people, learn new skills, and gain a sense of normality.

Right now, Tuare just needed a few constants in her life to rehabilitate her. A stable job, housing, and companionship would fit the criteria, and while Ninya or myself might not always be here, due to jobs, I'd have Meepo stay close by to her to act as another constant.

For a long while, Tuare, Meepo, and I just chatted. Sometimes it was about random events that happened during the day, other times it was just different topics.

It felt nice to have such a mundane conversation. I didn't need to worry about tasks that I needed to accomplish, dangers that had to be faced, the duties that I had to fulfill. I could just be myself and ignore the world for these simple moments.

Little did I know, but simple moments like these would become harder to find in the future…

Day 9:

Yawning lightly, I couldn't help but find myself a little annoyed that this mission started at the crack of dawn. I enjoyed my beauty sleep, and I hated having to wake up early in the morning. My only solace in all of this was that I'd be getting paid and earning a new rank in the guild.

The one good thing about it being so early in the morning was that the streets weren't as crowded with citizens as it would be later on; it made for a peaceful walk. At least, it would've if not for the stench of a corpse hung about the streets.

I might've said that someone had died recently, but the stench that filled my nostrils was from something that had been dead for a long time. I needed to get to the bottom of this, as either some undead had managed to escape from the cemetery or a hidden body was being exposed to the air.

Turning around the corner of one street, I was quickly brought face to face with a pair of cloaked travelers. One of these travelers, a serious-looking woman, might've appeared normal to a regular human, but I could tell from her scent that she was anything but. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what she was, but I knew that she was definitely not human.

Walking next to her was a being fully enclosed in a suit of dark armor. The armored one stood head and shoulders above the woman, and from the massive swords strapped to their back, they were quite strong. Yet, the scent of a corpse wafted from within the armor. This person was highly likely to be one of the undead. Before I could make further observations, the armored being said one thing that shook me to my very core.

"Fox13itch?"

Stay Frosty My Friends.