Kab was a little relieved when the two unwanted companions stopped following him to whisper their own gibberish filled conversation. Honestly he would have expected them to give up by now, if they weren't trying to stop him from finding his armor then what were they doing?

At one point one of them had spoken something he understood a little, but the red and black haired one stopped her. Which only confirmed to him that they can in fact speak real words, but for some reason weren't with him. It was all so... inefficient. He just needed to find his armor, find out where on Verden he even was and then... Well he wasn't sure what to do after that. He could try contacting Roclycia, but he didn't seen any communication towers or antennas when he looked out the window. Not to mention he hadn't seen a single sign of anything running on Maktite energy in this entire place!

The only light in the building came from open windows and some sort of fuel burning light, judging by the smell and thin ripples of fumes that came off it. The lack of any actual powered light made the hallways a little darker than he was used to when inside.

It wasn't just that lack of lights that caught his attention. Kab couldn't find a single conduit of wire, a power box, or a vanpad anywhere. How did these people control their systems, or communicate with each other at long range?

Perhaps this was another trick? Maybe the people of this country hide all their technology and also speak gibberish to outsiders as some form of deterrent to attacks? That might work against a raider looking for valuable Klarsteins to steal, but to another country like Astris'dan, Scommand, or Ekog they'd be claimed by them in no time. So they must have some other form of defensive options.

Kab shook his head in annoyance and refocused his efforts to either getting out or finding his armor.

So far he's been going in straight lines, but it only lead him to more crew quarters so instead he began taking more left turns. If he was on the right side of the building at the start, then there was most likely a entrance closer to the middle.

And sure enough after a few turns he came to what was quite possible the biggest wooden door in the whole world! Each door stretched about eight standard units high, They were both also caved with what Kab had to admit was beautifully made engravings that he'd never seen before in any building. He couldn't explain it but the swirls and repeating patterns were appealing in a weird way that didn't seem logical.

Kab looked for some sort of vanpad on the walls to open the doors but like the rest of place there was such visible technology.

Instead he noticed after a second look at the door a pair of golden doorknobs that were crafted in such a way their flowing design meshed with the wood engravings behind it, almost like camouflage.

He twisted one of the handles expecting them to be locked, if there was a wall to his prison he would have expected this to be the exit, and so it should be locked. But just like everything else today it surprised him. The nob twisted with no resistance, and with little effort, which surprised him even more he pushed open the large door.

And immediately his nose was assailed by horrendous smell. Like a latrine that hadn't gotten its scheduled cleaning. And Kab saw the source of the smell.

Strange four legged creatures stood in wooden confines that lined the wall. Their faces were elongated with a thin strip of hair running from the top of their large heads down their neck. Two ears stood upright on the top of their heads, twitching and moving every few seconds. Their bodies were huge, bigger than any non insect like animal back in Roclycia. A Plateau bug was still quite a bit bigger, but they weren't as muscled and moved slowly through the sand dunes, these animals here looked like they could keep up with a scout sled on flat ground.

Near one of the animals confines a young man was shoveling out what Kab guessed was the animals waste. And disposing of it onto a... Wooden sled, but instead of.. well two thin rails, or a zakamite hover system installed, it just had two... Round constructions, also made of wood.

Behind the cart however was a site Kab had been looking for. The animal containment room lead out to the open sky just ahead.

Kab couldn't help but feel relief to finally be out of that place and be outside again. Ignoring the confused and startled stares from the young man in the room Kab headed for the exit. And hopefully home.

-----------

"I thought you said you were going to get some rest?" Venus asked Malissa while placing yet another cup of herbal tea that smelt of garesh vine and lupin pedals in front of her, careful not to set it on on any of the hundreds of scattered documents and manuscripts sprawled out over the large table that split their clinic in half.

"I can't rest, not till I figure how, just how my pupil was able to do it." Across the table in a organized mess off papers was every record on the affects of having a mind not recognize the body in Malissa's collection. There were only about ten written accounts of it, each one detailing the patient, theories, and attempted remedies, all failing and eventually leading to death.

From her research it took a tremendous amount of mana to be able to enter a persons mind to the point that you entered a previous life, and then tried to heal them. Few could do that on their own, so perhaps it was some group of mages that did this to him? Was it accidental or deliberate? Was this all some assassination attempt by another rival Nobel family? And were her and her pupils now involved in that mess, or was something else going on? She ruffled her hand through her pedals in irritation now as she was thinking of nonsense rather than solutions or answers.

"Malissa my dear you've read those over a hundred times. I don't think there's anything in them that you don't already know." Venus sat down next to her. His skin had darkened to its proper lime green again, meaning he was the only one out of any of them to have gotten any rest recently. His handsome face and well kept pedals were distorted with concern.

He was right, she knew he was right, in fact if she saw someone else pushing themselves the way she's pushing herself she'd call them a fool and send them straight to the closest bed with a batch of Venus's herbal sleep remedy. But she just couldn't, something made her guts writhe about this whole thing and she couldn't stop till she got to the bottom of it.

What had the Oracle seen inside her pupil that allowed her to fix what had always been shown to be unfixable.

When Malissa had told Venus that part of the story she heard him mutter a rather strong word in Urashin bushtalk specifically targeted at their specific Oracle. And their own urashin god for putting such a creature on their world. But most Urashin insults usually ended with them cursing their own god regardless.

It wasn't just that the noble was a mystery all on his own, but her pupil. Her pupil could barely hold simple practice spell for longer than a few seconds. But last night she formed one of the most complex magic spells without a sign of strain or unsteadiness.

"You should have seen it my dear." Malissa said, sipping from the warm tea in front of her.

"The way my pupil moved the crystals to form the circle, it was. masterful." She couldn't help but smile at the memory, she was proud of her pupil, but there was still a MAJOR problem with that. Where in the world did she learn to make that magic Circle! And not to mention the runes themselves were in a language Malissa had never seen before.

All of the runes flowed into one another in one continuous line, unlike how runes are usually formed, individually. One mistake and the whole thing probably would have been ruined.

How had her pupil learned of this new way to cast magic that works for her? And more importantly, why hadn't she told Her about it! She was her teacher after all! Where had she failed in her own personal study that lead to this outcome.

The door to the clinic opened quickly, bashing into the side of the wall, and in came her other Pupil. Kameko, red faced and panting.

"T-teacher.... Venus.. its the noble."

"What happened?!" Venus said standing up but putting his hand on Malissa's shoulder, softly hinting that she should stay put.

"Is the noble alright?" Malissa asked, finishing down the tea, and clenching to the mug a little as if trying to squeeze any amount of energy she could from the drink. Because deep down she knew she was gonna need it.

"Well he's fine.. but too fine." Both Venus and Malissa looked at their pupil in confusion, then to each other, then back to kameko.

"He's running around, barging into every room, we think he's looking for something but we don't know what. And we've tried to stop him but he doesn't speak common! Or Dwarvish, Elf, or Urashin."

"Wait a minute, pupil." Malissa's eyes turned threatening and her pedals moved in irritation.

"What do you mean WE'VE Are you referring to Anisha?! By the useless blood of the gods Pupil I told you not to let that girl leave her room! She shouldn't even be able to move more than a few steps after how much mana she used."

"Well-- I tried to keep her in there when the noble woke up, but then he started causing a commotion and when he started trying to leave I.. just didn't know what to do."

"Where is she now?"

--------------------

WHERE THE HMOTA DID HER SUMMON GO?!

Anisha abandoned calmly walking through the keep and instead was now running as fast as she could around each corner. He was going in a straight line before, but he must have taken a random turn at some point because she couldn't find him!

And unlike before there wasn't a trail of confused servants. In fact now she was the one that stood out and got weird glances from the those in the keep. She tried asking them if they saw a bandaged noble walking around, but they just looked at her like She was the one who needed help. This mess was just getting worse by the second.

Anishas frantic search was only brought to a stop when she almost ran straight into the book keeper Sirme Rakho. Her hair was no longer disheveled like last night, now it was up in an elaborate Braide with two silver and gold hairpins holding most of her brunet hair up in a professional style. She pushed her large rimmed glasses back up after they had almost slipped from her face.

"Good heavens miss, you startled me... Are you alright?"

"My apologize Miss Rakho, but have you seen the noble from last night?"

"Recently? No, I wasn't expecting to talk to him for another..." She began flipping through her large pile of papers before pulling out what she must have been looking for.

"A yes here it is... Malissa said he wasn't due to wake up until midday, which isn't for another few hours. Is he already up and about? Do you happen to have his name yet?"

"yes, and no. he woke up a little bit ago, I think he's.. ahh.. Hallucinating or something and is wondering around confused, I lost him and haven't been able to find him. Has anyone by any chance reported a strange person in the keep?"

Rakho put a finger to her lip, thinking for a moment and then pulled the top two paper from her stack.

"There was a report from multiple servants about some creep in the servants quarters... And... and ahhh oh dear... a report from the stables about a man in bandages leaving through the keeps rear entrance... I just gave this report to the guards as I had assumed some criminal had snuck in somehow, and told them to tell the guild to be on the look out for this person... that was the noble was it?!"

Rakhos face paled in fear as she may have just sent guards to arrest a noble man.

And Anishas face paled because her summon was now loose in the city. With the town guard, and guild members all looking for him.

--------

Kab walked the streets in udder bewilderment, he had to be dreaming right? Got hit on the head too hard and can't think straight, like a vehicle whos onboard computer system took a direct hit and has few cracks in its vannmite array. Yes that had to be it! Because there was no possible other explanation to this place.

It wasn't just that one building he had been in that was strange. The people in this country were... Well different! He wasn't even sure if they were people. Sure he saw other people, but there were others that were covered in thick colored plating that connected straight to their skin, like fish scales, and their faces were elongated out in a triangular way with rows of sharp teeth that protruded out. And from their backside sprouted a actual tail! The one he was looking at turned and gave a guttural growl, but it didn't dissuade him from continuing to stare as he saw it was holding a smaller version of itself in its arms.

There were others with dark green skin, some with red skin but had horns that came from their head and twisted in random ways. And from what he could see it wasn't some sort of head piece that could be removed, but was in fact actually growing out of their heads!

He kept walking, hoping to find at least one thing that made sense.

But instead of everyone else looking around in confusion like he was at all the strange sights, they all looked at him like he was the one that was wrong!

A Roclyian without his armor was a strange sight though Kab thought to himself. How was he ever going to get back home, let alone find his armor in this whole mess.

He stopped in the middle of the street for a second, just to gather his thoughts.

He wracked his brain for some explanation, some sort of basic training education class that where his instructors had mentioned a country with differently shaped people. But nothing came to mind.

Taking the time to stop and think however made him realize, that he was in fact, still very much injured, and in a tremendous amount of pain. It was only years of training to ignore exhaustion that had kept him going, even though he felt like he hadn't slept in a week.

As his adrenaline began to fade he could feel the wound in his chest. One lung felt like it couldn't expand fully, like it had some giant weight on it crushing it down.

He tried to force it open, tried to get just a bit more air in to his system, hoping that it would clear away what he was seeing. But when he tried it only brought on a painful coughing fit that showed signs he hadn't really been patch up properly, because his hand now was stained with his own blood.

---------

"The Lord Sog is a drunken oaf that's going to be the death of this kingdom." Braunchus the Eastern Frontier Kingdom treasurer mumbled to himself as the treasury coach made its way through the still drying muddied streets of the town. Bumping and jostling him to no end.

He mendaciously stacked this months tax collection on the small table in the center of the cramped coach.

"If he just let me increase the tax rate by 10% we could afford actual paved roads! Instead of trenching through this mud heap, its like a pig pen!"

The coach came to a sudden and very painful stop, which send Braunchus sprawling forward and scattering his well organized and stacked pile of collected gold coins across the floor.

"Brahhhh!!! GODS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU DRIVERS!" He could hear the horses still naeying and shifting their hooves on the ground nervously as they had just been pulled to a stop suddenly.

"My apologizes Master Braunchus but some ragged clothed street rat just stopped in the middle of the road!"

"Oh for the love of.. THEN EITHER GET HIM TO MOVE OR RUN HIM DOWN! I'VE GOT IMPORTANT BUSINESS TO BE ABOUT TODAY!" Braunchus went about picking up the now scattered hundreds of gold coins. If he lost any he was gonna dock it from the drivers pay!

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"You got muck in your ears scum! I said move it! Or I'll make you!" The coach shifted as the hefty driver climbed down from his seat atop the coach and now made his way to confront the rift raft.

"Hmmm" Braunchus gave an approving grunt, it was hard to find some actual help with a backbone in this backwater town. Too many of these guards wouldn't treat the common scum the way they deserved to be treated, especially when they were hindering the work of nobility!

"That's it! I warned you- Ow! Wait- AHHHH!!" Braunchus stopped his collection when he heard the yelling and the notable gasp of the surrounding commoners.

Just what was going on out there?

Undoing one of the window covers he stuck his head out the window and his eyes went as wide as a gold coin that now dropped from his hand.

In the road laid his driver, either unconscious or dead, Braunchus didn't know or care. But standing above him stood a tall man with black hair, his body was mostly covered in bandages, and grey pants that were bunched up around his waist, he was barefoot in the mud and in his hand he held a bloody knife.

"Ahaha-aha ha a THIEF!!! Come to Rob the people of their hard earned TAXES! YOU WONT GET AWAY WITH SUCH GREED! GUARDS GUARDS!!! THIEF!!!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kab disarmed the attacker as he approached him with a unsheathed knife, he wasn't sure what he had finally done to cause these people to drop their façade, but now they were trying to kill him. The man continued to make sounds he didn't understand, but when he started waving a weapon at him, he understood that just fine. That was a declaration of war.

So Kab obliged. With practiced motion he stepped forward grabbed the mans wrist and twisted it forcing him to release his weapon. Then in one fluid motion he caught the knife and slashed it upward cutting the mans wrist. Insuring he couldn't attack with that hand again.

Then with his other hand he threw a full force punch into the attackers face. Kab felt and heard the mans jaw break from the force that also sent the man spinning as if hit with a tank round and fell to the ground, without another move.

Kab was surprised by the force that went in to him. He didn't think he had hit him that hard...

Resetting his mind he gripped the knife, testing its weight, it was no talon knife but it would do for now.

Roclycian doctrine usually didn't allow the use of enemy weapons unless in situations of unique circumstances. And Kab would bet that this would count.

Another man emerged from the wooden, vehicle that was pulled by three of those long faced animals he had seen back in the barracks. They were hitched together, and to his amazement and also confusion, it seemed they were used to move the vehicle, instead of using maktite powered zakamite system that most sleds used to operate.

The man started yelling in very loud gibberish but from what Kab could tell from the mans face he was furious with what Kab had just done.

Had they underestimated him as a Roclycian? He may be missing his armor and weapons but he was still a proud Roclycian soldier, part of the sacrificial generations that would see Verden Unified once more so of course he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"I will not die so easily, lost one. Now, return my gear and me to my people or face unifications through Roclycian attrition."

The man ignored him and continued to yell gibberish, but showed no sign of aggression.

Kab instead glanced around the ground that had formed a semi circle around him. All of them flinched away from his glare as he assed whether or not they were civilian or combatants. But Kab had learned that these enemies mask their intentions and who they are. Its like their whole culture was built around it. The man who attack him looked no different from the common citizen, most likely a strategy to get close to him and then kill him. So any one of them could be a threat.

Just how far had these people fallen from unity that they would employ such back handed tactics They were almost as bad as an Ekoggian Mercenary!

When no one stepped forward to challenge him he took it as a sign that he had won this battle for now. And he began to look around again, for anything that might lead to his escape.

His glancing around stopped when his eyes landed on what he guessed was the exit to this place. Two buildings in the distance marked the wall, and he could see the way out was open. All he had to do was reach it.

He gave one more look around assuring that all threats in this area had been dealt with before dropping the bloodied knife to the ground and making a run for the exit.

Roclycian doctrine didn't permit him to keep any enemy weapons, nor did it allow any form of retreat. However since this was not an active war zone, and the circumstances are, well not normal Kab came to the conclusion that he would be cleared to move back to Roclycian controlled borders.

He would just have to find those once he got out.

--------------

Murdera hefted the sack of now repaired armor over his shoulder. Graven Vein stood triumphantly next to him, covered head to toe in forge suet and metal shavings. While all his apprentices were looking haggard and like they were reconsidering apprenticing under Graven.

"This my friend, is the finest work I! Graven Vein Forge Master of the Eastern Frontier Kingdom! Has ever made! You be sure to tell that noble just that, and also bring up my request. And in exchange the armor repair will be free of charge! You have my silver blood oath on it!" With a specialized ring he pricked his finger, and silver blood slowly dripped from his index finger into his palm, he then took a stamp dipped it in his blood and stamped it down on a piece of paper. Sealing it with a silver seal with his family crest in the center. A Hammer in the talons of a phenix.

Murdera gave a acknowledging grunt and nod before heading off back to the keep.

He made it a few stalls away from the forge before curiosity got the better of him and he had to see exactly just what he had done to the armor. He had seen some of Gravens former work before and it was immaculate.

Setting the sack down on the ground he undid the not and pulled on the top chest piece.

Where there was once a gaping hole on the left breast plate, was now a beautiful seem line, like the vein of an ore in the side mountain, the patch was made of black Dathite for strength but was coated in a layer of Grey holdare and silver for added strength. Leading to a appearance of a polished silver blue with specs of black.

The techniques to combine those materials in such seamless way where it look as though the two metal belonged together takes a level of precision truly worthy to the tittle of Forge master.

He placed the plate back in the bag and resealed it. But he only made it a bit further when a commotion up ahead got his attention.

A large group of towns people were gathered in a loose cluster around the treasury coach. The circle then opened wide and a man ran out from the center. His chest was bound in bandages, and wore a gray pair of pants. His black hair ruffled as he ran past Murdera. And a all too familiar triangular hair strand stood out.

Was that the noble?

"AFTER HIM MEN! DON"T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

A group of armored guards with pikes ran in close group after him.

Was that the keeps guards?

"That's the thief from the keep! Quick after him and the reward will be ours!" Yelled Aldrin Null, an adventure in Murderas guild. He hefted his long sword on his shoulder, cast red magic to increase his speed and bounded off.

Why was his guild looking for the noble?!

"WAIT DON'T HURT HIM! ITS JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING!" Anisha yelled running after the group waving her arms to get their attention to to no avail.

What did that thorn ear do this time?

----------

Kab had made it about half way before he had to start slowing down. The pain in his chest grew ever worse the more he pushed himself. But he couldn't stop, he had to get back, find out what happened, find his squad, and come back to find his armor.

Also he just wanted to get away from this strange place that seemed more like a merchants tale then reality.

From behind he heard more shouting and the clinking of metal, he turned back to see a group of armored men with long spiked poles chasing after him.

Why were they using those? Couldn't they just shoot him? It would have been much easier than trying to stab him with some piles of sharpened scrap on pole.

He stopped running and slid to a complete stop, spun back around turning to face the new attackers. He would not run from an enemy even now. There were five heavily armored men, most likely hard case armor plating, meaning there was little chance of piercing it anywhere except for the joins.

The armor was similar to Scommand Hard case designs, but were smoother and had a layering of cloth on the top that had some imagery of another animal he'd never seen before. They came to a stop, put their long sticks sharp end down and pointed at him.

One of them that had some gold trim to his cloth covering began yelling at Kab, but Kab didn't understand any of it. So instead Kab took up a fighting stance, bracing himself for the eventual charge. It would be unlikely he could avoid all the poles, but if he managed to just slip below the first attack he would be able to close the distance and enter the lines in Close Quarter combat.

Without his armor he is more venerable yes, but also freed him of the weight, and gave just a bit more flexibility to his movements.

Those armors looked heavy and more cumbersome to use than any other he'd seen before. A weakness He'll have to capitalize on.

The line of spiked poles moved towards him at a slow speed.

Kab braced his legs for the charge, ready to do what was necessary, ready to die here for Verdens Unity if he made a mistake.

A shadow overhead and instinct however made him react on in a different way. He instead of charging forward, dashed to the side, just narrowly avoiding an attack from a red hair man who just appeared from nowhere and came falling down towards him with a large sharpened piece of metal, that when it struck the ground causes a slight explosion of force that sent out a literal gust of wind.

What on Verden was that kind of weapon?

The man raised his head up gave a cocky smile and hefted what Kab now thought was a ridiculously oversized knife over his shoulder. It was as tall as he was, had two metal bars that came out above the handle. The sharpened end tapered to a fine triangular point. A weapon like that was impractical in most circumstances, but Kab had to admit, that right now, it could still kill him. The ground where Kab had just stood moments before was a small crater.

If that weapon had hit him. He would have been cut in half!

"Uraw No don's mondo laul, Aldrin Null! utabe grol machalul!" The red haired enemy said gibberish with such confidence that he had to be mocking him.

He took his weapon and with one two hands held the handle down, but the tip pointed up in a stance that was very clearly offensive and defensive. He would be able to move to attack and guard from any potential attack Kab did. So he was limited to waiting for an opening when his opponent made an attack.

But the man in front could also just be another distraction of some kind, something to keep him an unaware of his surroundings. Perhaps they were moving a sniper into his blind spots. It would be a brilliant move against him, but something in his gut told him that wasn't what they were planning.

He hadn't seen a single gun in this whole place. Only sharpened scraps of metal. Did these people only encage in close quarters combat? If so why, what advantage do they have that would lead them abandoning the clearly superior firepower and tactical options a fire arm brought.

"HEYY!!! Uraw goult do vat na goularish?!" The red haired one turned his head and now pointed his sword directly at Kab's chest with one arm. A horrible decision because it completely left him wide open.

"Tuala? Uraw hatlish-"

Kab bounded forward, and with his hand shoved the blade aside at the tip with all his might.

The opponents eyes went ride as he desperately tried to bring the weapon back into place, but it was too late, Kab had closed the distance between them and enter the mans range where his oversized weapon would be difficult to use.

The moment of confusion only lasted a few heartbeats, seeing Kab's move he responded with his own. Kab didn't understand how but the man glowed a bright red for a split second, and with one back step, launched himself backwards an impressive distance clearing him of Kab's grappling attempt and putting Kab back into the lethal range of his own attacks, he swung his weapon from a high position from where Kab had knocked it before, and brought it down towards his neck.

Kab ducked the edge of the weapon, only managing to cut a few strands of his hair rather than his neck.

The tremendous amount of force the enemy put behind his attack made it continue to move from the momentum, before he could bring it back around Kab moved in again and instead of going for a grab hold, grabbed one of the mans arms, spun his back to him and tried to disarm him while also throwing him to the ground.

The enemy was caught completely off guard by the move and tried to resist the pull but was pulled off his feet and over Kabs shoulder.

A sudden and intense pain in Kabs chest however lead to him loosing his balance and the both of them were sent into muddy ground.

He let out a pained yell, it felt like he had just been shot by a lite caliber round.

Was he wrong, was there a shooter concealed somewhere?

Kab placed his hand over his bandaged chest and felt a warm liquid. Blood was beginning to stain his bandages.

A new coughing fit began. And blood spilled from his lips.

"COUGH no, not shot... I-- I to- COUGH tore my COUGH COUGH stitches..." despite the serious medical situation, Kab forced himself back up to his knees.

He wasn't gonna die lying down.

His other opponent also got to his knees, using his weapon he stabbed it into the ground and used it as a crutch to lift himself up. His face no longer concealed with confidence. His eyes were furrowed and his mouth downturned.

"Vtylando clearata Utavada gu hyil... haha.... jukulada." he brushed mud away from the red and brown clothing he wore, there was no visible armor besides some thicker fabric material that crossed his chest and went down his shoulders. Rare to see someone who fought with almost no armor, he must be truly confident in his fighting ability.

He got back into his original position keeping his weapon in place ready for whatever attack Kab threw next, his posture and face showed that now he was taking this serious.

Why was he doing that? I'm clearly injured and open to attack. He also holds the advantage in man power. why had only he attacked me when there were five other armored men just standing there instead of joining the fight?

"Kurashal! Malda grusha li Hmota."

"Enough with the- COUGH gibberish already." another cough of blood left his mouth. He could feel his left lung filling with liquid. He'd be completely unable to breathe soon, and he doubt they would treat him a second time.

The red haired mans head turned in confusion at his words.

"Kula? Jugish Werty hosgo?"

Kab let out a bloody exacerbated sign before pushing himself back to his feet. Holding his right arm over his now re opened wound in a vain attempt to slow its flow.

"Very well... But know this. My death will only bring my people, and even if I die without my armor and become lost like you, I will still gladly die for Verden's Unity!"

Kab straighten his back and crossed his chest with his right arm, a salute of his people. And readied himself for the fight. Fully intent on meaning what he said.

The man responded with tightening his grip, resetting his footing and giving a resolute nod to him, understanding that Kab wasn't backing down.

"KAB!!!!!!!" yelled a voice from the crowd.

Frea?!

Kab turned his head, to the crowd.

But it wasn't his squad mate Frea Dauf who he thought called his name, instead his eyes met that of the red and black haird woman from before.

"K-kab... Uraw gulial Kab?..."

How did she know him by that name?! Only his Squad called him that.

Movement from his left made him curse as he now remember he was still in a fight.

There was a blur of red and the butt end of the mans weapon struck Kab in the side of the head, and the world faded to black.

----------------------------------------

Anisha felt their link go quiet.

As she had gotten closer to him while trying to find him in the city, she could feel his emotions more and more the closer she got. She used it to find him.

At first she felt how he was confused, angry, happy, sad, proud. All the emotions at once it made her own head hurt as she tried to process all of them. But now it was quite.

Aldrin delivered a strength enhance handle bash into her summons head knocking him to the ground. And he wasn't getting up this time. She didn't think this would be the outcome. When she finally remembered what his comrade said to him in the caves, something like Kab atsual... she thought calling out his name would get his attention, maybe calm him down. But instead it lead to him only getting hurt even more. She had to stop this now.

"NO! STOP!!" she called out, and ran out of the crowd, and just barely avoided being grabbed by one of the guards that reached out to pull her back.

Aldrin hefted his sword, eyeing her summon as if expecting him to get up again at any moment. Ready to deliver another attack that would be sure to keep him down permanently. But Anisha wasn't gonna let that happen.

She placed herself in-between the two.

"Anisha? What are you doing? Move away from him." Aldrin didn't relax his stance.

"The guild has a bounty on this man, I don't know what your history is with him but-"

"HE SAVED ME!" She yelled out. That made Aldrin's posture change a little.

"What do you mean?"

"My first quest... it didn't go well, we were overwhelmed by Lant's, Julu and Nathul didn't make it. I- I only survived because he was there and saved not only myself but also Guild Master Murdera."

"The Guild Master?" he looked back at the bandaged man on the ground now, as if seeing him for the first time.

"If this is true Anisha then how do you explain this." Aldrin finally lowered his sword down, but gestured to the crowd of onlookers, the guards and himself.

How could she explain this that wouldn't lead to them both being executed.

"He was seriously injured in his last fight. That's why he has bandages on. He was on the verge of death for days and was having nightmares of battles past. When he finally woke up here, in a place he doesn't recognize and coming from just a fight for his life he was probably just scared to wake up in a place he didn't know."

"Please let me take him back to a clinic to heal him again. He just needs somewhere safe so he can calm down and heal."

"I THINK NOT!" yelled Braunchus as he pushed his way through the crowd and soldiers alike.

"This!- This! Wild man was out to kill me and claim the gold for himself! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"That's not true! He's a Noble he wouldn't do such a thing!"

"BAH! A NOBLE?! I refuse to believe this disgusting pile of clothes is a noble! I've never seen him before. If he claims to be one then that is just another charge against him! One that will surely get him executed for impersonating someone of higher class."

"That is not for you to decide coin counter." Murdera Stormchin hefting a heavy sack over his shoulder emerged from the crowd of people. Anisha was at first relived to see him, but the disappointed death stare she got told her he didn't feel the same way about her right now.

"The Guild has a quest against this man, and seeing as C ranking Adventurer Aldrin Null was the one to apprehend him, he fall under my authority." Murderas tone was authoritative and was said in such a way that didn't invite much debate. But the sniveling treasurer decided to push it anyways.

"Stormchin... Even you must adhere to custom. We have no way to know if this man lies or not. Your... student here may be able to explain his rabid behavior caused by a confused mind, but we can not know for certain if he's a noble as he claims unless we bring him to the Oracle! If it says he's a noble then we'll drop this whole thing." Braunchus said this in the way a parent would make a deal with a stubborn child.

"Agreed, I likewise want to know just who this man is." Murdera gave the 'noble' a look that Anisha didn't feel good about. Was Murdera starting to question her too now?!

He reached into pocket and pulled out the rectangular piece of metal that her summon had on him when they first tried to heal him.

"I've done my own searching into this mans history while waiting for the armor to be repaired. I couldn't find any record of a matching emblem in my logs. But I still have reasons to believe that this man truly is noble."

"Oh? And what reason would that be!"

"His armor and weapons are of a grade I've never seen before, something only a A rank adventurer, or a Noble would have access to."

Murdera reached into the bag and lifted up the now repaired chest piece showing it to all around.

"Forge Master Grave will attest to the quality of this armor."

"He could have stolen those! We already suspect him to be a thief!" Braunchus argued.

"You are right in that regard, so I am in agreement with you that it seems our only options is to use the Oracles, and see if he matches any known noble across the world. But I will keep him in the guild lodge cell until he has recovered enough to face the Oracles stare. I will not send a man in such a condition to the Oracle, or else it would just be his execution."

".... Very well. Guild Master, but I will leave a few of my guards at your lodge to make sure there aren't any more... Incidents."

"I will allow this." Murdera said, clearing stating that he was the one making the final decision in this and not Braunchus.

The treasury clearly got the meaning, sneered and turned away. Back to his coach.

"Out of my way Peasants! I've got work I need to get back to."

Anisha heard Murdera curse in dwarvish as the man turned away.

rust bloodied inbred.

"Null." Murdera turned to Anisha and Aldrin.

"Yes. Guild Master." Aldrin straightened and took a respectful stance.

"Lift his legs, we're taking him back to the guild."

"W-wait, he's hurt, let me try to heal him a bit before you move him."

"I think you've already done enough Anisha." Murdera said back, not sparing her a second glance.

"If you want to be useful go back to being a currier, and got get Malissa. We need someone who can actually use magic."

"Ah.. Y-yes Mur-... Guild Master. I'll go get her..."

Anisha turned, leaving her Summon, and her dreams of being a adventurer behind.