Chapter 52 Get Ready.
Isaac looked at Edward like he was waiting for the punchline of his joke. “He’s serious.” The warrior with the tower shield and spear from the Flame Ravens said. “We want to join you for the subjugation quest.”
“And you are?” Isaac questioned. The raven motif had tipped him off on why he was there but they had never been introduced.
“Mark, warrior, platinum grade adventurer with the Flame Ravens.” The warrior replied curtly.
“Just Mark?” Isaac asked.
“Just Mark.” The warrior agreed. “No fancy family name. I’m just a freelance soldier.”
Isaac nodded and then shifted his attention back to Edward. “You are aware of the tension between most of those present.” Isaac told the Guild Master. “Don’t you think you are asking a little much this time, Edward?”
Edward nodded. “I am aware. I would greatly appreciate it if you took them along.” He told the dark mage.
Isaac looked at Lenna and waited for her input. “I’ll survive. Business is business.” Lenna told Isaac. Something in her voice let Isaac know that she was being honest. There wasn’t any false bravado to be heard. She might not have forgiven Fable but she could put that aside for the sake of the bounty. At least for now.
Isaac nodded in response to Lenna and then turned his full attention onto Esk. “What about you?” He questioned. “You would be working with the man who killed your brother and the woman who scattered your body across the arena.”
Esk looked like he wanted to explode and kill Isaac on the spot but at the same time he was too afraid to even meet Isaac’s gaze or look at Lenna. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He met Isaac’s gaze for long enough to answer before his eyes darted to anything else: “I won’t cause problems.” He assured them.
Isaac nodded again and looked at Edward. “Do you think they can keep up? We set an extreme pace.” He asked the Guild Master.
“That is their problem.” Edward replied. “They are the ones that want to join you. I won’t ask you to babysit them. I would appreciate it if you could work with them, if they are able to keep up with you.”
Isaac sighed. “Fine, but you owe me one.”
Edward winced and glanced at Fable. “Right, I’ll owe you one.” He said to Isaac while still looking at Fable. Some unheard message passed between them and Fable nodded.
“Alice, maps?” Isaac said and strode up to the receptionist who was now put on the spot.
“Uh, yes, here.” She hurriedly replied and handed him a small stack of maps that could all be laid out to form a mostly cohesive map of the region infested with Ori-Masa.
Isaac leafed through them and then handed them to Lenna. “Thanks.” He told the receptionist. “See you in a day or two.” He flashed her a grin. “Don’t work too hard while we’re gone.”
“See you!” She replied and gave them a wave. “Take care!” She told Lenna.
Lenna gave her a small wave and smiled behind her helmet. “You too.” The V’Nova Wexler duo headed towards the door without looking back.
“That’s our que.” Esk told his team. He was wearing a cheap set of platemail that automatically sized to fit him from the general store. His once boastable armor was destroyed beyond repair. At least he still had his flaming sword at his hip otherwise he would lose his self-made title of the ‘Flame Raven’. “Everyone ready?” He received a mix of nods and verbal agreement. “Then let’s go. Make sure not to fall behind and embarrass yourself.” He headed towards the door and the rest of his team fell in behind him with Fable bringing up the rear.
Stolen story; please report.
Isaac touched Lenna’s shoulder and then his own. A thin line of death flames connected them before it was shrouded in shadow and vanished from sight. He gave her a nod and they started towards the gate in a jog. The Flame Ravens and Fable followed behind. Isaac was nervous about letting Fable come along. Even ignoring his own feelings about the man, he was a security risk. A man that strong was not to be trifled with and there was no way that Isaac could trust him to watch their backs. To that end, Isaac wasn’t planning on taking it easy with the Flame Raven’s in tow. He was going to push them to their absolute limits and try to clear the mission area in as little time as possible. If he could make them be a burden for Fable that would be ideal. That was the plan anyway but whether or not that would be optimal was still to be seen.
The team of seven left Safeharbor and headed towards the mass of tunnels that still had a rather large spider presence. That spider presence was much smaller than it had been but there were still enough of them for the area to be seen as a training ground of sorts for the local adventurers. Halfway through the tunnels they took a side tunnel and were met by a phase widow. The spider had died in an instant as Isaac appeared behind it already swinging his mana covered blade. With Isaac making sure that Lenna’s armor was silent, the spider hadn’t even heard them coming. The duo had been almost sprinting as soon as they had left Safeharbor and the Flame Ravens had already started to fall behind. Soon they would have to resort to magic in order to keep up.
No sooner had Isaac finished cutting off the spider’s head and tossing it into his Inventory had the rest of the group caught up. Isaac gave them a nod and continued on their way at the same breakneck pace. Lenna had no trouble keeping up with him as his magic maintained both of them at peak condition. Isaac and Lenna felt magic surrounding the rest of the team’s boots during their brief interaction. It was clear that they were already using magic to keep up. Now, at least, they could hear their temporary companions a few dozen yards behind them.
“They are keeping up well.” Lenna commented. Her breaths were deep but not labored in the slightest as they ran.
“Better than I thought.” Isaac agreed. “Let’s see if they can keep it up.”
A few hours later Isaac slowed to a stop. He had been feeling the ‘fuzzy’ Ori-Masa for a little while. Lenna had been periodically checking the maps while they ran and sure enough they were on the edge of the Ori-Masa territory where it bordered the Mushroom Kingdom. “Up ahead there is a small cavern. Water has been known to pool here but it is listed as toxic on the map.” Lenna explained to Isaac.
“Let’s wait for the tag-alongs.” He told her and started stretching. “They feel fuzzy.”
“Flesh ball part two?” Lenna questioned.
Isaac nodded. “Most likely.” He agreed. “We have four casters with fire magic this time so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Some of them have been burning mana to keep up.” Lenna reminded him as the rest of the team slowed to a stop behind them.
“That’s a them problem.” Isaac replied. “If we run out of firepower I’ll just move on to the next area and drag it along through the rest of the encampments. Worst case there is an apocalypse level monster that I can lead to Contantis’s doorstep.”
Lenna shook her head. “What about me?” She questioned.
“We both know that it’ll go after me. I’m the king of monsters and it’ll want the title.” Isaac replied.
“I thought you were the Lord of Darkness?” Lenna questioned playfully.
“The king of monsters bit is a side gig, Lady of Hellfire.” He replied with a smirk and wink. “For now just sit back and let me warm up. Save your mana for part two.” Isaac looked back at the rest of the team. “The same goes for you lot. Save your mana until the monstrosity shows up. Fire is the only thing that’ll work on it so rest up while you can.”
“What kind of monstrosity is it?” Fable questioned. He was going to let Esk do the talking, as he was the leader of the Flame Ravens and he was just tagging along, but it was obvious that Esk wanted as little interaction with Isaac and Lenna as possible. If Fable hadn’t talked the boy into joining Isaac and Lenna on the mission then he wouldn’t have. Fable had argued that it would be a good opportunity to see the duo in action and get a proper read on their skills and abilities.
“You’ll see.” Isaac replied. “Just stay out of the way until it shows up. When it does, kill it with fire.” He said and started striding down the tunnel. The power he was feeding Lenna faded away as he gave himself a bit of a boost. Nowhere near his maximum but it was enough that he felt like a different person. He spent as much mana as he was generating on his boosting ability and drew his sword. Usually when he boosted himself he would be afraid of damaging the magically reinforced steel, but this time not only was he attacking soft targets but he also wasn’t pushing himself at all.
Fable frowned at Isaac while watching him start to leave. Lenna gave Isaac a twenty foot lead before she started following after him. The rest of the group took that as a sign that it would be fine to do so as well. They stopped at the edge of the entrance to the cavern just in time to see Isaac start to get to work. “No further.” Lenna told them and they all packed into the mouth of the cavern to watch the carnage.
Isaac was a machine of death. He moved like the Reaper’s scythe. He only targeted their heads and hearts. Every attack was a sharp stab that ended an Ori-Masa's life. He could tell that he wasn’t really killing them. It was more like he was cutting the strings holding up their puppetted corpses. A dozen corpses were scattered around in just as many seconds. Soon enough there were a hundred bodies bleeding all over the once gray stone. “Where is all of his mana coming from?” The elf sorceress, who hadn’t spoken a word yet, questioned. Her pale skin and hair all but glowed in the pitch darkness. The human’s present had all used potions or magic in order to see in the dark without the need for lighting. She could feel the amount of power Isaac was burning while weaving through the Ori-Masa’s numbers and almost couldn’t believe her own mana senses.
“He is the Lord of Darkness.” Lenna explained simply. “It’s dark.”
“That is a lie and you know it.” Fable interjected. “I have met enough demigods to know that he isn’t one.”
“Then explain what you are seeing?” Lenna retorted. There was a slight harshness in her voice that no one else ever received.
“I can’t.” Fable replied after a long moment. “But there is no divinity in him. Maybe he is a monster that just looks human.” He said as the final Ori-Masa fell dead. “Maybe a devil or a demon.” He postulated.
Lenna’s gaze snapped to him. “He’s human. I’ve seen his Status.” She told him. “He isn’t a monster let alone a devil or demon.”
To punctuate her point Isaac teleported back over to them. His sleeves and cloak were splattered with blood. He whipped his sword to the side and blood painted the ground next to him. “Get ready.”