Landrin
With the realisation still ringing in his head, Lan stood there trying to process what he was looking at,
‘How the hell do I even report this?’ Lan breathed before he saw a change in the sphere. A small golden light built up on the surface of the black ball before the traces of gathered Experience broke through it and floated towards him.
Lan watched blankly as it stretched over to him. For the Experience from the goblins he had killed to be already seeking him out could only mean one thing. All combat in the area had ended.
All those goblins just like that… gone in moments.
Before the golden light could reach him, Lan felt the Wisp in his mind again and turned to follow it. The Experience would follow him, and although he would be leaving a trail, it was better than waiting for the darkness to notice him again.
Following the Wisp, Lan broke into a run before stumbling into a tree and coughing up blood. Every breath felt like he was stoking a fire in his chest. He needed to rest. It wouldn’t close his wounds or knit together his bones, but with time it would numb the pain enough for him to go on.
The Wisp flew over to him and sent a new feeling, this one something akin to worry, before quickly following it with the one of urgency, and he knew why. They were still too close to the clearing. So Lan pushed himself off the tree and put one foot in front of the other.
With the Light of the Wisp guiding him and the pain of each step indicating when he had made one, Lan’s mind blurred, and his body moved, puppeteered by the Wisp’s light. Lan existed like this for some time until his foot slammed into something hard, and he almost flipped over as he crashed to the ground.
Groaning, Lan blinked and looked around. He was lying on the base of the tree he had tripped on. Lan tried to get up, but finding that his body wouldn’t listen, he pulled himself into the space between the base of two roots giving him some cover. Even then, the act of doing so left him gasping for air.
This was his first solo job. What the hell had he gotten himself into. An unknown threat that was dangerous enough to wipe out a Goblin Swarm, a Wisp that seemed to be leading him to something that to it was more important than the thing that killed a Swarm like it was nothing, and by some joke of the Tails, he was in the centre of it.
Lan laughed before reeling from the pain. The city was truly doomed if he was the best that this story had to offer. Lan thought before his mirth sunk into his chest. Really what was he supposed to do when he wasn’t sure he could even return to the city. He didn’t even have the strength to make a fire to keep himself warm. This was mostly good, as it would undoubtedly draw something else to him.
Too tired to even hold his head up, Lan let it drop before feeling something jab under his chin.
Probing around for it with his hand, Lan felt something sticking out the top of his armour. Pulling it free, he was greeted by a small perfect-cut lapis stone set in a platinum hairpin.
Feeling the pain fade from his body Lan turned the hairpin’s stem between his thumb and finger. He had brought it because he planned to return it right after the job. Somehow it hadn’t been damaged by the goblin titan or everything else that he had gone through. Lan watched the lapis stone's golden flecks catch the Wisp's light.
His pain, fears, and hopelessness faded as he looked at the hairpin. Maybe it was because of the promise he had made or just who it belonged to, but having it brought Lan a sense of comfort greater than a thousand fires. Even if he couldn’t do anything else, he would focus on what he could, returning the hairpin no matter what he had to do. With that thought keeping him warm, Lan allowed himself to drift into the darkness of sleep.
[Exp 1230 gained] [Exp 2265 / 4000]
[Kill log]
Goblin x 6 – Level 5 = 350 exp
Goblin Knight x 1 – Level 9 = 280 exp
Goblin Titan x 1 – Level 11 = 600 exp
Locke
Locke took a drink from his mug and suppressed a frown. For some reason, it had a bitter taste that night. The perfect drink for a night like this, he reasoned. He wanted to sigh, but with the others around their usual table, he chose not to. First, they were called by the guild master for another special job which turned out to be a rampaging Veradon of all things. If finding out that a literal walking mountain could rampage wasn’t bad enough, they had returned only to find that Lan hadn’t come back from his first solo job. Yes, this really was the perfect drink for a night like this.
Losing an adventurer never got easier, even if you didn’t know them well or at all; anytime One of the Great Hunt fell was not only a reminder of the risks they all took part in. Something he would admit most of them needed seeing as when the Call of the hunt was singing in one's mind, it was easy to forget that they were mortal, but it was also a sign that there was one less person to face that risk with and there weren’t many of them these days. Even counting those that didn’t have the Hunters Mark and were only in it for the money.
But this time, it stung just that little more. Looking back at it now, he should have said something to him even though he wasn’t one to openly talk about such things. He should have told Lan that he liked him. There weren’t many people he could say that about; in fact, all of them sat around him except for one or two others.
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Not many people could stare him down when he lost his temper, but only Lan had him forget which one of them was the seasoned adventurer when they looked back. And that was to say nothing of the fact that he had risked his life to save almost everyone around him.
For an adventurer, there was no greater honour than for one to offer their lives for yours. For men and women that risked their lives every day, what could be a greater gesture than to say that I would lay down my life to preserve yours? Lan had done so with only a single health point and at least nine levels below their attackers. It was no wonder they had all taken to him so quickly. It was a moment that none of them would soon forget.
No doubt he would have been a great adventurer, Locke thought before chastising himself. There was always a chance that he was still alive, and Lan had already survived something that he should not have. He reasoned, and he owed him that much.
Hearing a creaking, Locke looked up and found Vulk messing with his chair.
‘Ah! There something wrong with this chair.’ The Red-haired dwarf huffed, shifting around some more.
‘It’s the same chair as always,’ Sora groaned. ‘You know the chair you make sure to set aside whenever there is a brawl so it doesn't get damaged, the one with your name on the corner.’
Vulk looked at the back of the chair and grunted.
‘Well then, it’s the table. One of the legs must be shorter than the rest.’
‘This table has literally been here longer than I have been an adventurer.’ The young rogue shot back.
‘Well, something is wrong, and I don’t like it!’ Vulk snapped loud enough to make some of the closer tables turn to look, even if it was much quieter in the inn that night. Even still, Vulk's outburst seemed to put a voice to what they were all thinking.
Losing an adventurer never got easy, but losing a friend was worse.
‘It couldn’t have hurt to try and teach him how to use the spear a little,’ Drevin chimed in, ‘Maybe he could have learned a few combat skills.’ He added, getting a nod from the others.
‘If he was going out alone, some scouting or herbology skills would have been good.’ Vasha said, rubbing the marks that shooting her bow had left on her fingers as the others nodded.
‘Hmm, I wasn’t really needed on this job. I could have stayed back.’ Sora added.
‘That’s enough,’ Locke started drawing the other's attention, ‘it’s only been a day. Until his tag is recovered, let's not give up on him yet,’ the party leader said, finding it easy as he believed them himself.
‘I just wish I had teased him less.’ Olivia shrugged, ‘or maybe more.’ She sighed, getting a smile from the others.
‘Who knows, it might have given him the drive to get back.’ Drevin joked, getting a pout from the mage.
‘I don’t know. I think Lan has already caught on to your little game.’ Vasha laughed.
‘I don’t ever remember saying it is a game.’ Olivia huffed as she stuck her chest out.
‘I am sure he will be back in a day or two.’ Cassandra added with the finality she did with everything else. Leaving the others to just look at her for a long moment.
‘Well, we better keep his seat warm then.’ Locke smiled.
Enri
As her husband and son sat talking at the table, Enri took her time with the dishes. From the corner of her eye, she saw her husband Kurt occasionally look at Lan’s chair. Something that he hadn’t done for a long time, but after Lan returned, he seemed to do it every moment he was in the kitchen. He was also spending more time in his workshop again, like when Lan had first left.
She couldn’t say anything as she looked out the window at the path leading to their home. It was funny. For years, she had done so, waiting for the day that she would see her son coming up the path, and once again, she found herself waiting for that exact same thing, only now it didn’t hold the pain it had in the past. Only a mountain of worry.
Enri’s train of thought was broken when Maya walked over to her.
‘Let me help with this.’ Silas’s fiancé said as she tried to pick up the drying cloth.
‘Oh, don’t worry about it, just go and sit with the others.’ Enri said, getting a wry smile from the younger woman before she picked up a plate.
‘I think I have had enough talk about materials for one day.’ She said before the two started to work. It was funny how quickly the two had fallen into a comfortable silence around each other, which she took as a good sign on top of the fact that she thought that Maya was a great match for Silas. She could do with a few more points in strength. Enri thought, but there was plenty of time to bring Maya to her thinking, she decided before looking out the window and having her previous thoughts return to her.
Yes, although she was incredibly relieved that Lan was no longer in the clutches of that rotten worm, thinking about what he had done to him still filled her with rage. Enri heard a breaking sound, and when she looked down, she found the plate she was holding in two pieces.
‘Oh no, are you alright?’ Maya asked, trying to take the plate from her.
‘Don’t worry.’ Enri said, trying not to blush as she set the pieces aside.
Once they were done with that, the two got back to the dishes. Enri once again found her thoughts shifting to Lan. He had said he found a job, but of all the things a level one could do, not many gave her too much hope.
What did was the look in his eyes when he told her. It was the first time she had seen it in years, but there was no mistaking it; it was the look he got only when he had his heart set on something. And she hadn’t known anything that could stop him when he got that look in his eye.
No matter where he was or what he was doing, Enri knew that her Lan would come walking up the path home, and she would be there waiting for him.
With that thought in her mind, Enri looked out at the night sky, wondering what she should make for dinner when he returned.
Lawrence
The young noble swirled the amber liquid around the cut crystal glass. It was a perfect vintage of his favourite liquor that he chose to end each day with, and tonight he needed it to be perfect. The heat coming from the fireplace was perfect. After weeks of beatings, the new firekeeper had finally learned to keep the fire just as he liked it.
The new robe he had made was perfect. His father had gotten the silk from a merchant that owed him money, and Lawrence managed to talk him into giving it to him. It was no doubt the most expensive thing that he owned, the young noble thought, dispassionately feeling the fabric between his fingers. It was perfect.
Everything should have been perfect. But it wasn’t. Lawrence thought, gritting his teeth. It hadn’t been perfect since he met that man…
At first, the idea of being the wedge driven into another’s relationship had sounded like fun, and it had been. Showing the level-one trash his place in front of Liza and the others had been wonderful. It had been perfect until… he saw the pain in Liza’s eyes, and after, she wasn’t the same for the whole night.
That anyone could make someone he wanted feel deeper than he could, left him seething in rage.
If that wasn’t bad enough, that gutter trash had the nerve to show him up in front of the others.
Just remembering the look in that man’s eyes made his blood boil. That someone like him had been able to look him in the eyes made him want to be sick, and that he had challenged him made him want to kill. And if that wasn’t bad enough, after that, Liza had acted the same as before, that was to say nothing of when she returned that night and wouldn’t even say a word to anyone.
Lawrence squeezed the glass until his knuckles popped.
No, this could not be allowed to go unanswered. He would put that bastard in his place if he had to kill him but not before making him beg for death.