Eleisa and Bonlanu set a punishing pace towards the next town, another small farming village called Loden. Even though the chance of them finding an alchemist that could work with the blissfruit was quite small, it was still possible. And with Mimi’s life on the line, they weren’t going to take any chances.
It was just before nightfall when they reached the town, which was about the size of Carrow’s Heath before it was destroyed. They went straight for the Hunters’ Guild, as that was both the place that would probably have information on any nearby alchemists, and because it was likely the only place that would allow them to rent rooms for the night.
They quickly located the familiar sign emblazoned with a bow and arrow, and stepped into the building. Immediately, all conversation within ceased, and they were met with glares from the handful of people sitting at the tables. Unfazed, they approached the desk, and Eleisa made their requests.
“We would like rooms for the night, and we need the services of a powerful alchemist. Do you know of any in the vicinity?”
The man at the counter looked over their party, then sneered as he met Eleisa’s eyes.
“We don’t serve your kind here, greenblood. You can have a room for the two of ya and your weird doll thing, but only because it’s required by my contract with the guild. It'll cost ya, though. If it were up to me, you’d be sleeping in the streets.”
Eleisa's guts roiled in anger and disgust, her ears and wings twitching. Bonlanu must have noticed, because he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder as he addressed the man.
“We are grateful for the room. How much for two nights?”
The man seemed to think it over before responding.
“10 gold. Each.”
Eleisa nearly turned and walked out, Bonlanu's hand on her shoulder being one of the only things keeping her in place. That price was obviously highway robbery. The Groveborn gave her a calm smile, then took his hand off her shoulder to pay the requested fee.
“As my companion mentioned, we are also in need of a skilled alchemist. Do you know of any nearby?”
The man's eyes glittered as he took the gold, placing a numbered key on the desk. Then he sneered up at Bonlanu.
“And who do you think you are, tree man? We don’t serve your kind here either. I won't give sub-human freaks a breath more than I'm forced to by the GEAS.” His sneer turned to a wicked grin. “Unless I happen to get some more incentive to loosen my lips.”
Eleisa's fists clenched. This was extortion, plain and simple. She thought that things were bad in previous towns, but she had never faced such blatant discrimination.
Bonlanu just sighed and reached into his pouch, pulling forth another 10 gold. The man took it, but left an open hand on the desk, his smile never leaving his face.
“You're gonna have to do better than that. It's not often I am forced to deal with your like.”
Bonlanu retrieved a pouch with 40 more gold and placed it on the desk, his eyes growing hard.
“This is all you'll get before I hear what you have to say. If your information is good, you can have another fifty. If not-,” Bonlanu's presence grew imposing, towering over the man. “You will pay the price of wasting our time.”
The man greedily scooped up the pouch, waving at them dismissively as he counted the coins inside.
“About a day and a half walk from here, there's an old hermit. Not hard to find, jus’ head east ‘til you reach a stream, then follow it. Eventually, you'll see a big rock. She lives inside it. Not sure if she can do whatchu need, or even if she'll see you, but she's your best bet.”
Bonlanu nodded, retrieving their room key from where the man had placed it on the desk, and they headed upstairs. They easily found the room with a number that matched the key and entered, finding a standard guild room, with a bed, a small writing desk, and a window overlooking the town.
Bonlanu placed Naomi on the bed and looked up at Eleisa.
“Go, seek the hermit. I will remain and tend to Naomi. I do not know if I will be able to help her, but I must try.”
Eleisa agreed and left, taking off as she exited the building.
As she flew, her mind raced. What was in store for Naomi? Would the hermit be able to make what they needed? If not, would Jared be back in time to help the mimic? What other factors might they be overlooking?
These thoughts and others circled through her mind, refusing to be settled. She shook her head.
Focus on the things that you can control. I am flying to the hermit, who is our best bet at getting help for Naomi if Jared fails or takes too long. If she cannot aid us, we will find another solution.
As she was reigning in her thoughts, a faint whistling reached her ears, speedily increasing in volume. For a few crucial moments, she tried to work out what the sound was. Then her eyes went wide and she tried to dodge out of the way as a massive projectile slammed through her left wing, tearing a ragged hole.
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Glancing down, she saw a group of figures working a ballista that had been camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding hills. A moment later, another bolt shot up at her, but she barely managed to avoid it.
Her injury was slowing her down, so there was little chance of her being able to escape before being hit again, and it didn’t seem like her attackers were going to give up trying to shoot her down anytime soon, which left one option. Tucking her wings in, she dove at the men, retrieving her spear from where she had stowed it on her back.
The men scattered as she swooped down and struck with her spear. A sharp twang rang out alongside the cracking of wood as she severed the ballista’s cable. She turned to fly away, but one of the men snagged her foot with a rope, hauling back on it to keep her in place. She swiftly cut the rope with her spear, just in time to be tackled out of the air by a bear of a man, bringing her crashing to the ground.
The man, now on top of her, smiled down at her as he pinned her limbs with his own, attempting to keep her from being able to fight back. So she slammed her chitin-plated forehead into his much more fleshy face. A satisfying crunch rang out as she felt something within the man’s face prove itself weaker than her natural armor, and the man was sent reeling.
Using his momentary disorientation, she slipped out of his grasp and pulled herself to her feet. Immediately, she was beset with attackers using a variety of weapons to strike at her vitals, making it clear they weren’t planning on taking her alive. She planned to show them a similar level of mercy as she activated her buffs.
Enhance Reflex. Enhance Learning. Combat Analysis.
The first two were tried and true parts of her fighting style, while the last one was a relatively new addition. It allowed her to passively read the movements of her opponents and use her past experience to predict their attacks. It would have been one of her best Skills by far, if only Enhance Learning worked on it. But it turned out, this particular Skill only improved by using it in combat against new opponents. Not even her Somniant Trials could speed its growth, as she only had her previous experience to create her dreamscapes with, and the Skill pulled from that same experience.
Her buffs active, she went on the offensive.
Sidestepping an axe strike, she retaliated with a swift thrust, then retreated a step as a man wielding a longsword came at her from the side. With a pivot she riposted, her strike landing neatly between the man’s ribs. With him dealt with for the moment, she caught a chop from another axe wielder on the shaft of her spear and turned it aside, her own weapon taking him through the throat in the same motion.
She danced between her assailants, skillfully fending them off and taking them down one by one. Each time she successfully drew blood, energy flowed from her enemies, down her spear, and into her body, giving her movements added strength and speed.
Soon, it was down to only Eleisa and the bear of a man that had tackled her. He stood in a half-crouch, obviously wary of Eleisa’s spear. He grinned at her as she finished off the last of his comrades.
“You’ve got more fight than we expected. Good. It’s been too long since I’ve had a good scrap.”
He raised his fists, which turned silver. Not wanting to lose her momentum, Eleisa darted in with a rapid thrust for the man’s neck. Her strike met only air as the man danced backwards with a speed and grace she didn’t expect from such a large man.
Almost immediately, he was on top of her again, lashing out with a lightning fast jab aimed at her side. She barely managed to twist out of the way, then had to dodge again as the man pressed his advantage.
She found herself constantly giving ground before the pugilist’s relentless onslaught, barely able to keep up with his movements. She evaded most of his punches, elbows, and kicks, but couldn’t completely dodge some, and was forced to take glancing blows to her limbs to avoid more debilitating hits. Apparently even the additional Alacrity given by her Consolidated class was only barely enough to match the man’s speed when augmented by her buffs and spear.
Then the man’s foot slipped in some loose dirt, putting him off-balance for a moment. Eleisa took the opening, lunging forward with her spear. The instant before her weapon struck, the man smiled. In a flash, the silver coloring of his fists flowed up his arms to his chest, and instead of the wet thunk she was expecting as the spear hit, there was a metallic clang as the majority of the force of her strike was dispersed by the metallic aura.
But not all of it.
Red light flowed from the cut she had made, refreshing her spear’s buff and increasing it yet again. Unfortunately, even that was not enough to let her completely avoid the man’s retaliatory strike. His fist slammed into her stomach like a stampeding rinox, folding her nearly in half and lifting her off her feet briefly.
Air whooshed out of her lungs, and she collapsed to her knees, fiery hot pain burning through her torso. She expected him to capitalize on landing a solid blow, but when the expected follow-through didn’t come, she looked up at him as she unsteadily regained her feet.
The man was staring in shock at the cut on his chest.
“You actually managed to cut me through my Ironskin. It seems my body isn’t as tempered as I had thought. You win this one. I will make sure that when next we meet, your blade won’t be able to pierce my flesh, even without reinforcement.”
Then he turned and started walking away, leaving Eleisa baffled.
“But did you not seek my life as did the others? Why do you leave when victory is within your grasp.”
The man turned his head to regard her, then gestured to the corpses around her with a snort.
“These ignorant bigots? They got what was coming to ‘em. I only came along with ‘em ‘cause it seemed like you’d make for a good fight. I was right. You broke my nose and cut me through my toughest defense Skill, while I was only able to land one solid hit on you. Killing you would only deprive me of the chance to battle you in the future, which I can already tell will be glorious.”
He turned to keep walking, then hesitated for a moment, looking back over his shoulder at her.
“Before I go, would you be so kind as to grace me with your name?”
Eleisa stared at him for a moment, considering whether giving him her name was a prudent idea. Then again, he had her dead to rights, and could have finished her while she was reeling from his first hit. He also was only the second human she had met that didn’t seem to care at all that she was Kyrien, the first being Jared.
“Eleisa of the Mind Eclipse.”
The man grinned. “Well, Eleisa, thanks for the scrap. And since you won this one, I’ll give you my name as well, so you know who’s going to beat you next time. I’m Brayden Stonefist. See ya around!”
With that, he turned and launched himself at high speed across the plains, heading in a seemingly random direction.
Eleisa shook her head as he left, then sat down to enter Ecliptic Regeneration. There were hairline fractures all over her exoskeleton from deflecting Brayden’s blows, and her stomach had a few larger cracks. It was only thanks to her armor that she wasn’t in multiple pieces. She needed to recover somewhat before she would be able to fly.
As she meditated, her mind reviewed the fight, seeing where she could have done better. There was a lot she could learn from this encounter, but Brayden’s odd behavior had made one thing clear to her: she had a long way to go to understand humans.