Chapter 27 That Bastard.
“The answer to your question ‘why can’t anyone sense her?’ is both simple and complicated.” Benedict began once Isaac and Lenna had finished explaining everything that had happened to them pertaining to Chatohsha, the red dragoness that had crashed their parade through the forest.
“Oh?” Isaac prodded. “How so?”
“First, I must explain some history and myth.” Benedict told him and settled further into his seat to begin his exposition. “There are two dragon deities. Once the Dragon Surge is foreseen to be less than a thousand years away, they will begin to choose their champions and guides. These young dragons are given blessings of protection to help ensure that they will live until the Dragon Surge. One part of the blessing is that mortal magic cannot latch onto their souls. This makes it so that no form of divination or control magic has any direct effect against them.”
“What else do the blessings give?” Isaac wondered.
“Larger mana pools, stronger natural healing, sharper senses, and more resilient scales and bones.” Benedict replied.
“That explains why she was so damned slippery and seemed to be ready for me before I even arrived.” Isaac said with a frown. “The blessings just pack more ‘dragon’ in each dragon. It’s something that would go unnoticed unless you knew what to look for or specialized in magics that lock onto their targets.”
“Exactly.” Benedict confirmed. “That seems to have been by design.”
“To make it harder to hunt them down specifically.” Isaac surmised. “Chatohsha should have a massive target on her back but because no one can track her, she is basically dust in the wind.”
“I like smart adventurers.” Benedict complimented him. “Unfortunately, not even my brightest scouts could find more than a crater related to her. There was plenty of blood on the ground and a trail that led towards a small dell. That was where they lost the trail. She must’ve rested there for a little while and then left.”
“Damn it.” Isaac swore. “I should have gone after her. I would have caught her lying down within half an hour of the clash.”
“Hindsight is perfect.” Benedict commented. “No point in beating yourself up about a missed opportunity. She will surface again, some day, some place. Hopefully it will be in front of you.” He added with a nod. “Thank you for your time, and the information, I will compile it and leave it as a dossier on the dragon in question. That will then be distributed to all of the Guild Masters, and especially the Guild Leader, for future reference.”
Isaac and Lenna both nodded in reply. “Guild Master.” Lenna began right as he was about to stand up. Benedict settled back into his seat with grace and gave her his full attention. “Hopefully you can shed some light on this city for us.”
“I can try.” Benedict replied. “Is there something specifically bothering you?”
“Duke Sasston.” Isaac said calmly.
“We want to understand him better before our meeting with him tomorrow.” Lenna added. “What is he like?”
Benedict had started to narrow his eyes on Isaac before Lenna smoothed over any misunderstandings, that were actually perfectly accurate understandings. “He is a benevolent ruler who prefers to let the city grow and expand at its own pace. I believe that he cares very deeply about this place and the people that live here, that is why he tries his best not to get in their way.” Benedict explained. “I have only met him a few times but he is a ruler through and through. He has the air about him of high nobility. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe that he was related to the royal family.”
Lenna nodded. “Thank you.” She told him.
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“Now, if that is all?” Benedict questioned and waited for a reply before he would rise.
“There is one other thing.” Isaac said and leaned in. “What can you tell us about the slums?”
“To leave them be.” Benedict replied sternly. “Some things are best left alone. Good people should stay in good places, and as far as I can tell, you two are good people.”
“Good?” Isaac spoke with a raised eyebrow and leaned back on the sofa. He rested his arms on the back of the couch, leaving himself totally open for the Guild Master. “I think you have the wrong idea, it is just easier to get what I want when those in power aren’t breathing down my neck. We’re going to the slums, Guild Master, and I would like any information you can give me on them.”
Benedict frowned deeply at Isaac before he slowly rose to his feet. “No.” Benedict replied resolutely. “I will not be telling you anything.” He told the pair and headed for the door. He opened it without looking back. “You can find your own way out.” He said and then left, closing the door behind him.
“And here I thought he was a nice guy.” Isaac commented to Lenna while lazily looking towards the door. A moment later his face shifted from a casual calm to a focused intensity that only ever came out when he was pushed into a corner. The entirety of the room was suddenly wrapped in a magic shell. No magic, no mana, entered or left and Isaac was absolutely positive that the room was entirely cased in a Reality Bubble.
“You were saying.” Lenna replied coldly.
“That bastard.” Isaac swore and hopped to his feat. “Does he really think a Re… a… li… ty…” Isaac continued before a sudden burst of drowsiness started to overtake him.
“Isaac? Isaac!” Lenna snapped and jolted to her feet. She took two quick sniffs of the air and frowned deeply. “Sleeping gas.” She mumbled and turned to see Isaac already out cold on having fallen back onto the couch. Even she was starting to feel a little tired and she was resistant to most natural poisons. The fact that she was resistant to it at all meant that the sleeping gas was not conjured but something that was already at the ready. She grabbed Isaac by the collar and hauled him to his feet while slamming a hot wave of healing magic into him.
Isaac jolted and then his eyes flew open. “Huh? What?” He began and looked around. It only took him a second to realize what had happened. He was already starting to lose consciousness again. “Shamesh.” He spoke and gestured next to him. A small void extended out of his shadow on the floor and his retainer was quickly pushed out of it.
“Yes my-” Shamesh began but then saw Isaac passed out again in Lenna’s grasp. “I see.” He spoke and then looked around. “My Lady, how should we proceed?”
“Pop the bubble and I’ll get Isaac out of here. Once the bubble has popped, fly and shroud yourself while you follow us out.” She ordered him.
“As you command.” Shamesh replied and pointed his palm towards the door. “Command: Negation.” He ordered the anti-magic field that surrounded them. It only took a moment for the field to crack and fizzle under Shamesh’s superior power. “Command: Be Undone.” He chanted and focused. A snaking line formed of dozens of small sticks of prismatic reality magic appeared nearly instantly. His aim was not perfect so the branch of reality destroying magic hit the middle of the door instead of by the handle. The Reality Bubble instantly collapsed as its continuity was annihilated by Shamesh’s spell. A moment later, Shamesh was lifting off the ground and then had vanished from sight.
Lenna hauled Isaac towards the door and then kicked the doorknob. The brass handle, lock, and strike plate all crumpled under the assault. The doorframe fared even worse as it was blasted out in bits and pieces from the door being forcefully pushed the wrong way through it. Oddly enough, the door, with a massive hole in the center of it, seemed to come out mostly intact. Lenna strode through the shattered doorway and out into the hall. She looked to her left and then right. To her left was the hallway that they had come from but to her right was a rather interesting sight.
Benedict, the Guild Master that had just locked them in a room with sleeping gas, had frozen in place with his key still in the lock to his office at the end of the hall. They locked eyes and he instantly knew that he was going to pay for what he had tried to do to them one way or another. Both stared at each other for little more than a heartbeat before they both burst into motion.
Lenna threw another pulse of healing into Isaac while she shoved him towards the opposite end of the hallway. The mage caught air for a few feet before he hit the ground on his back which led to him rolling over backwards and ending up on his face. While she did that, she used the momentum from shoving Isaac to help start her sprint towards Benedict.
The Guild Master stuffed his key into one pocket while he raised his crossbow towards Lenna with his other hand. “Wait! I can-” He cut himself off as he pulled the trigger. It was immediately clear that Lenna had no intention of slowing down, and as it stood, she was likely to take him through his office door and into his desk ten feet on the other side.
The bolt fired from his one handed crossbow glinted with glowing green runes as it fired towards Lenna. The bolt shattered against her armored left forearm as she batted it aside. She realized immediately that the bolt was going to do something. Lenna was already igniting her aura and left arm as the wood fragments of the bolt turned into vines that rapidly grew and tried to wrap themselves around her arm and then the rest of her. Unfortunately for the vines, and the Guild Master, Lenna’s aura and conjured flames instantly turned the vines to ash and she wasn’t even slowed in the slightest.
Benedict tried to twist and roll out of the way of the charging Lenna right before she ran headlong into him. All that managed to do for him was earn a knee to the gut that was strong enough to pick him up off the ground and slam him into the doorframe to his office. He gasped for air even as he tried to shoulder her backwards and away from him. His shoulder hit what felt like a solid steel wall but that was only half of what he was doing. At the same time, his belt undid itself and stretched thin to less than half its original width. It looped behind Lenna’s left knee and then around Benedict’s right forearm.
As Benedict tried to throw Lenna off balance she brought her right hand down on his back, right between his shoulder blades, and grabbed onto his shirt. She then stepped back with her left leg while she tried to throw the smaller man into the wall to her right side. Benedict managed to hang on just long enough to cause his arm to stretch a bit farther than was healthy before his belt snapped and he was launched, right shoulder first, directly into the wall.
Benedict slumped to the ground as Isaac appeared next to Lenna, positively radiating power. “Fine.” Benedict groaned. “You win.”
“Damned right.” Lenna spoke as she glared down at him. “Explain. Now.”