On his way to the forest Arthur decided to walk instead of run to enjoy the scenery along the way. It was something he hadn't really done before and now since he was so familiar with the way he may as well enjoy the walk.

Following the major road down south the two sides were covered by vibrant fields of wheat resembling a sea of gold that flowed along with the wind creating a beautiful sight.

Past the fields of wheat were fields of simple grass littered with a few trees that one could occasionally find an animal walking across.

After an hour of walking and enjoying the sights Arthur arrived at the forest and began to forage for any useful plants that might remain. With most of his best spots for ingredients picked clean already he was forced to walk deeper into the forest to acquire any sizable amount.

Towards the center of the forest Arthur found a large amount of ingredients that were left almost completely untouched by any person. After finding a few large quantities of useful ingredients Arthur was more than confident to make up for a good portion of his ingredient reserves.

But just as he was about to start celebrating he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A large set of claw marks on a nearby tree farther south of his position, and sure enough as he looked around he could spot a few more off in the distance that were also south.

Given he was a good distance from the marks he was likely safe, but that didn’t stop him from trying to determine what caused such claw marks. ‘Whatever animal did this is marking its territory, since herbivores don’t have claws I can rule out one of those creating these marks leaving only carnivores.’

Taking a moment to slowly walk up a bit closer to said claw marks Arthur continued his trail of thoughts. ‘And clearly it is a large animal, leaving only a few that live in this region. Might be a bear, but that raises the question of how dangerous bears in this region are. Hmmm… I will look into the subject before I decide to engage the bear in its own territory.’

Arthur burned the image of the claw marks from the trees into his mind and returned the way he came back out of the forest. On his way out he passed the same cave that sat just a few meters from the small pond. An odd sight in such a place but strangely peaceful, and clearly someone else thought the same as Arthur noticed a few sets of footprints around the pond.

Upon exiting the forest it was already 12:45 making Arthur a little overdue for a lunch, so before he set off towards Antium he snacked down on a Isicia Omentata placed between two slices of bread.

He quickly resumed his journey back towards Antium passing the beautiful fields and slowly approaching the southern gate, but something wasn’t the same as when he left. The people around the gate looked to me panicked and were shouting very loudly.

Arthur picked up the pace and ran to see what was happening, when he got within twenty meters he could clearly hear the guards stationed at the gate trying to calm the crowd down, but it clearly wasn’t working.

Past the guards were several corpses lying in puddles of blood on the dirt road and a small handful of buildings burning. Arthur quickly pushed through the terrified crowd and got up to the guards.

“What in the name of Armok is happening in there!?” Arthur shouted as he pointed towards the carnage within the city.

“Sir, I am sorry but you must remain outside the city while the situation is being dealt with.” The highest ranking guard stepped up to block Arthur.

“Do you know who I am!?” Arthur shouted as he pointed his finger right in the guard's face. Only then did the guard recognize who he was talking to. After a moment of stuttering after realizing who he was speaking to he took Arthur aside and informed him of the situation.

“I'm sorry sir, but several of the criminal organizations that have been vying over the southern district have begun an all out war over it injuring and killing many in the crossfire. That isn’t even getting into the damage done to the buildings within the vicinity.”

Arthur looked up towards the several buildings slowly being engulfed in flames, the flickering red and yellow light cast by the fires bringing out feelings of dread and fear he had not felt since the demon warlock.

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“I'm going in!” Arthur shouted to allow the guard to hear him over all the noise.

“What!? No! Its dangerous, and you don’t even have your armor on!”

Without a word Arthur clenched his hands off to his sides and brought them closer, as he did the dirt that made up the ground tore itself up and flew towards him covering him in a suit of earthen armor that only left his head exposed.

Arthur realized that to create a full body armor with earth magic at his skill level he would first need to use real earth to create it and then leave it quite basic without all the little details he was trying to add before, such as the claws on the ends of each of the fingers. The armor that was realized wasn’t all that special looking but being made entirely out of earth it was surprisingly effective and cost effective.

The guard took a step back as well as everyone else at the sight that just unfolded before them. Arthur looked the guard in the eyes and said, “I'm going in.” This time he did not shout to be heard, instead it was soft and normal as if he was simply asking about the weather.

Arthur took off at full speed towards the city in flames determined to do what he could to help. Since he was wearing armor made from earth it weighed nothing, as he was using geomancy to keep it from weighing him down so his speed was not hindered.

***********

In one building that was once a simple herbalist shop that recently opened due to the increased security in the area, several people including a city guard named Lar and his nephew.

Lar was keeping the only entrance shut while a group of three criminals tried to break it down from the other side. “Oh come on, open the door, we wont bite yeah.” The criminals laughed as one returned with an axe to properly break the door.

“If you don’t come out we're gonna have to come in yah know.” The leader of the small band of criminals laughed as he raised the axe up ready to swing at the door.

With a loud crack he swung the axe and left a large hold in the door. Several of the people inside shouted out in terror as they heard the crack followed by more laughing. Lar was sweating enough to fill a bucket as he desperately tried to keep the door shut. ‘If only I wasn’t off duty, then I would have my equipment on and I could deal with this scum of society.’

Despite all his wishful thinking the axe kept striking the door creating a larger and larger hole each time, soon the hole was so large that one could fit their whole arm through which one of the criminals did in an attempt to open the door.

Lar did the only thing he could do, he reached for his trusty knife that he always kept with him just in case and stabbed the hand reaching in. A loud shout came from outside the door as the criminal felt the blade pierce his skin. But Lar did not stop, he grabbed the arm of the criminal and repeatedly stabbed him in the arm until blood pooled out of it like a fountain.

The criminal screamed like a banshee the entire time it happened and when Lar finally let go he fell to the ground clutching his bleeding arm as his accomplices watched.

“You stupid idiot, they don’t have anywhere else to go so of course they are gonna stab yah the first moment they can.” The leader of the three criminals gave his subordinate a swift kick and raised the axe once more.

But suddenly he heard something to his right and turned to see what it was. What he saw several meters away was a human running towards him wearing a slim brown colored armor wielding a longsword with both hands. The look on the human's face was that of sheer anger as he closed in on him and his two subordinates.

It was a face he was familiar with, clearly he was more than happy to kill all three of them, likely because of the people hiding in the building. It was the face of a hero, and he had killed hero’s before. With just a bit of trickery he would deal with this hero like the rest by using the people hiding inside the building.

“If you care for the hostages I have you would be best to stop where you are!” The leader shouted at Arthur as he closed in. He inwardly laughed as he imagined all the ways he could slowly kill him, but as he saw Arthur continue at his present speed he stopped and shouted again. “H -hey! I said stop!”

“Yeah! He said stop!” His subordinate who wasn’t writhing in pain walked towards Arthur waving his rusted sword around expecting for the new target to stop.

But when Arthur got within sword range of the second subordinate he swung his longsword and severed the arm at the elbow that held the old rusted blade. The second subordinate screamed out and Arthur angled his sword to leave a large cut across his stomach that caused him to reel over.

Arthur did not stop there, he used the momentum to angle his blade to stab at his final opponent. The leader attempted to block or deflect the sword with the axe blade, but it wasn’t a proper weapon designed for war, it was a wood cutting tool that was just left nearby. And so the leader of the three criminals felt the sword pierce into his shoulder and push deep, eventually dislocating it and severing it.

The leader followed his two subordinates and fell to the ground writhing in pain from his wounds and clutching at the bleeding stump that was his shoulder.

Lar, who watched the leader of the criminals fall to the ground from the hole in the door, slowly opened it to take a proper look at their savior. Upon seeing Arthur he immediately knew who he was. “I suppose I should consider us lucky that you showed up to save us sir Arthur.”