Once he was certain that the sun had taken its claim over the skies, Basil rose up to sit upon the bed, leaning back onto his arms as he stared up aimlessly. The events of last night were beginning to bleed into his mind’s recesses, and his expression twisted to one of self induced sickness as he rose to his feet. He had let himself go, and somebody had suffered because of it.
He tried to forget about it, but that was impossible.
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After a few moments of properly equipping himself, he exited his room within the Inn. The building was devoid of life in its main chamber, as the innkeeper was nowhere to be seen as well. Perhaps he was up earlier than he had thought? He considered checking around but decided to forgo caring and left the inn without so much as a second thought.
As he was greeted by the roads, dusk draped the skies in a velvety yellow light. Basil sighed as he glanced back and forth, it was rather empty. He supposed that this amount of sleep was a natural habit he would have to break if he was to grow accustomed to Aetherium. Despite that, he trudged along, moving in the direction of Minerva’s Mark once more.
He still had a long time until sunset, so he walked past the tavern without even a glance. What he did take in was instead the surprisingly clean stone paths about it. Whatever blood he had shed the previous night had already been scrubbed from the earth. He gave credit to Minerva’s people, they worked fast. Yet he still wasn’t sure what blood he had shed that night either. His head was beginning to ache.
Eventually beyond the tavern one could find Minerva’s commercial district, it may have been a small selection of stores and markets, but even in these early hours there was a significant influx of activity. People walked and talked and offers and adverts were made breathlessly among the air tinged with the scents of meat and plant.
He walked through the district thoughtlessly, trying to recall what had happened last night in full picture. He had left the tavern in a daze, but still couldn’t recall what it was exactly that had happened after that. Every memory he grabbed within his mind revealed an image too covered in crimson blood to display anything of use.
Out of curiosity, he unsheathed his blade, glancing at its edge. It was covered in blood on one edge’s side. Completely tainting the silver of the sword with its red miasma, he inspected it for a moment, his walk slowing down as he did. It only took maybe a minute for him to realize that he wasn’t the only one who had slowed down.
He glanced about himself, and found that everybody had come to a stop, the public around him staring at his bloodied blade instead with growing fear. It made sense of course, to them it likely looked like he was some kind of murderer. Not that such would be too inaccurate, or that was what he believed. It terrified him that he wasn’t even sure if he had taken a life or not that night.
“Hey. What do you think you’re doing?” A smug man stepped forward, clearly a knight based on his chainmail suit of armor as well as the blade he wielded being marked with an insignia of cyan wings upon its guard. Basil was able to surmise such was the insignia of Aetherium’s military. He exhaled gently before sheathing the blade, not wanting to cause too much of a ruckus after last night’s events.
“Based on that sword and your appearance, I’d say you were the brat that extorted the king, and the one who cut off that man’s arm?!” Despite the weight of his words, his voice sounded like a walking superiority complex. One that Basil didn’t care for, what he did care for was the latter statement.
“Thank god.” Basil stared up at the sky, his eyes misty but without forming tears. The knight looked at him with disdain. “You’re thanking god for your sins?”
“I’m thanking god for not letting me kill a person.”
The knight looked at him with a brief moment of awe, before laughing and brandishing his own sword. It was made of simple steel, and was certainly a threat, but based on the way he held it he was going to prove to be anything but. “I didn’t want to make a mess here..” He clearly did, “However I can’t just let somebody run about severing people’s limbs and thinking it's okay cause it isn’t murder!”
Basil considered unsheathing his blade again, but instead he raised his arms defensively. He didn’t want to reveal his innate magic to anybody, but risking severe damage to this unskilled opponent was a risk he didn’t feel like taking. Once again the knight scoffed, before running forward. “I’ll break you in two!”
It was a downward cleave, trying to be true to his word, in Basil’s eyes, it was far too slow. He could easily step to the side, but he felt like testing his theory.
Did Aetherium..
He caught the blade between his hands.
Enjoy a good show?
With a twist of his palms, the steel blade shattered. It snapped in half effortlessly within his grasp, as he dusted himself off while the knight recoiled in shock and disbelief. “Such strength…” He was right to believe that, in actuality, Basil was pooling water around his muscles.
By surrounding the innards of his limbs with the fluid, they would grow numb to the outside world and their field of movement was magnified. The blade’s durability grew irrelevant if it could not be felt at all, so his hands damaged themselves without knowledge to break his blade apart. It was a simple trick, and through similar manipulating he could instantly realign any bones or fingers that had bent back and such.
He shivered, even then, the feeling of numbness within his body was one that traumatized him to no end. The sensation of nothingness was one he did not enjoy bringing back, even if only for a second.
“Damnit.” The knight cursed under his breath, but charged forward anyways, thrusting with his shard of a sword at Basil’s abdomen. “Die!” So this had become an execution? Basil smiled as he slipped to the side of the stab, elbowing the knight in the face. The knight began to crumple to the ground from the blow, but steadied himself again with a stomp of his leg.
“Just die!” He threw his sword forward, which Basil easily swerved his head to dodge. It was a startling attack perhaps, but nothing unexpected. The people around them were already cheering for his victory, clearly this knight wasn’t one that people liked. Basil continued trudging forward, preparing to knock the unarmed man unconscious.
“Why..” He paused, watching as the knight muttered under his breath. “You’ve got to be a bit clearer than that. Don’t want me severing your limbs do you?” Basil jested, as he patted his blade’s handle. The guard stared him dead in the eyes, his smugness having all but faded away. “Why won’t you die!” He thrust his hand forward, and Basil instinctively crossed his arms in defense.
It was like being smashed in the chest with a tonne of bricks.
Basil was sent flying backwards, as the gust knocked directly into his stomach. His mind was burning as all he could think about was his inability to draw breath. He gasped empty gasps as he looked around himself, he had landed in some apple crates it seemed, and his injuries weren’t too serious. He had gotten reckless, thinking his enemy was out of the fight without a blade. Wind magic was something he needed to be ready for from now on.
As he got up, the knight scoffed. “Still alive? Then I’ll finish this!” The knight had gained that same confidence, but Basil was the one to laugh now as he stepped forward.
No matter the magic, this knight was still far too slow.
Before another instant passed, the knight crumpled to the ground, barely processing the punch to his face. Basil stood before him, having crossed the gap in less than a second. He was heaving deeply, as the ability to breathe was still coming back to him slowly. Still, he grappled the knight’s arm and raised it up for the now massive crowd to see. “Now what was that again, cutting off people’s arms you say?”
The knight’s dazed eyes widened as he grasped reality again, and cried out in fear as Basil’s blade began to cut lightly upon his forearm. “Is that what you want me to do?” He considered actually doing it as the knight before him begged, and the people around him began to cheer for the very same. Of course, he didn’t want to perpetuate these rumors about himself. He needed a higher reputation for his plans.
He was about to let the knight go, when a man emerged from the crowd. Dawned upon him was no armor, but wielded in his left hand was a rather massive sword, it was more like a greatsword if anything. Also bearing that winged insignia. Basil watched as he raised his empty hand. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
He looked around and saw that the crowd’s emotions had changed, as if they had swapped sides. Clearly this one was more beloved by the people. It would do him no good to start a spat with this one.
He shrugged and threw the knight forward, the pathetic fighter stumbled and staggered, before running away and disappearing into the crowd. The greatsword wielder smiled gently and looked at Basil. “I apologize for my subordinate, he doesn’t understand how to tell one’s abilities yet. He was also out of line, of course.”
“Of course.” Basil remarked almost sarcastically, but he could tell just from a glance that this guy was a few cuts above the rest. He didn’t have any killing intent, but the way he held himself and his confidence in coming here without any armor proved that he would be a real fight if it came down to it. He was beginning to worry that it would be a fight he would lose.
“I am Captain Iridian, leader of the knights of Minerva. Please…” He raised his blade, and Basil’s hand instantly went for his own, the raw power this Iridian exerted was too much. He was going to die, Basil was going to be slaughtered in seconds, no confidence could be held onto as he prepared for death.
The greatsword slammed into the ground, as Iridian prostrated before him. “Please forgive us!” Basil looked on in awe as this captain kneeled in apology to him, and suddenly felt awkward as the crowd began to whisper in confusion and amazement. His hand left his blade, as he shrugged nervously. “Sure, yeah, just stop that..”
Iridian rose again, smiling thankfully. “Gracious are you, my friend.” Basil looked on with bewilderment as Iridian turned around and began to walk away from the crowd. Was that really all he had come for? Well, it didn’t matter that much to him. Basil thought nothing of it and began to walk away as well.
“I forgot to mention…”
Basil tensed and looked over his shoulder, as Iridian stared back at him.
“That was some incredible prowess, if you wouldn’t mind considering it... The knights could use one like you.”
Basil smirked, and continued walking away. That was a good sign, making a name for himself was key.
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Sunset arrived eventually, and as Basil had expected, Avar was sitting in the same seat as before. The table had not been repaired, so it was still shattered, an interesting thing to put between them as Basil sat down opposite to her. Her eyes lightened with hope as he had kept his end of his promise, but his darkened as he recalled what it was he was discussing here. He felt sick to his stomach.
He kept himself calm, as he spoke gently. “Revenge, go.” He commanded, and she flinched before beginning her story. “Right. Revenge.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“I was traveling with a group of three others, they were my friends and we had been fighting together for a long time now. We were going on the claims of there being a camp of bandits laying in hiding within the Focar Caverns. It was supposed to be a quest to get some easy money…” Basil watched as her face darkened and grew sick, sick with pain and remembrance.
He placed a hand on her shoulder, offering what little comfort he was capable of providing. She smiled gently as she inhaled and began to speak once more. “It was a drake, a young one.” To think that one even still lived was amazing to Basil, he leaned back in amazement as Avar nodded. “Yeah, a real drake, it could even breathe fire. It burned my friends alive.” It made sense, lying about it just seemed pointless though.. why send people to die instead of calling for the correct people to address it?
He thought back to his encounter in the commercial district, Iridian, he probably could’ve had his knights deal with such a beast, or do it himself… It's odd that it went unnoticed. Basil had gotten deep into thought, and was confused when Avar had placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey?”
“Right, I’m sorry.” He remarked sluggishly, as he crossed his arms. “So you want me to help you kill that drake, and get revenge?” He weighed the idea, fighting a drake would perhaps be within his capabilities, but it would indeed be a difficult fight. Avar looked at him pleadingly. “Please, I can’t even sleep at night without remembering what they looked like…” She shivered reflexively, and Basil exhaled deeply.
He really couldn’t deny a request when it was worded like that. He rose onto his feet and glanced over to the other side of the tavern, there was no rowdy activity yet. The real drunkards would be pouring in during the midnight hours. Instead he walked over to what seemed to be a board, over it were all sorts of quests and wanted posters. “Which one is it?”
Avar followed along, keeping in step with him before pointing to a poster in the top right. “There. That's the one that lied to us.” Basil glanced at it before ripping it from the board and getting a better look. It was as she had said, bandits having taken up encampment within some cave system he didn’t recognize. “Focar Caverns then, how far is it?”
He looked back at Avar who was considering it in her mind. “At most maybe a day and two nights from here, that's assuming you go on foot.”
He looked back at the board, and saw something else of interest. He pulled from the top left, and grabbed ahold of the poster. It was a wanted one, dead or alive. Meras, The Thief. What piqued his interest of course was not his name, but his appearance. He looked identical to the mysterious young bandit that had wielded Shadow magic.
Peculiar, he thought.
Basil eventually glanced at Avar, nodded and smiled at her. “We’ll go now then, I promise to get the revenge that you desire.” I looked into her green eyes, still filled with that hungry light, he wondered if his own had a similar hunger within them. The kind that represented the hole only fulfilled by vengeance.
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They left the tavern soon after that, and eventually came up to Aetherium’s gate. Minerva was one of the outermost towns, and so it was one of the few with direct access to the world beyond Aetherium itself. It was still open even now, but there were now guards checking every person who passed through it. Basil supposed Ether wanted to be a little bit more careful after the bandit attack happened so quickly.
It wouldn’t matter of course, his worst nightmare was already inside. He smirked at that thought as Avar walked past him, approaching one of the guards. He let her handle the talking, as he watched the banter from a ways off. After what seemed like a few minutes, Avar turned to him with a beaming smile. “We’re good to go!”
He nodded, feeling lighter at seeing her innocent smile. If the world was full of smiles like that, perhaps bloodshed would be a thing of the past.
He came up beside her and, after having only been here maybe two days. Basil left through the gates of Aetherium, stepping upon that earthen bridge once more. The trek down it was a brief one, in comparison to how long it took upon his arrival. Has something changed perhaps?
Regardless, he and Avar walked together in sync as they reached the base of the bridge. While they did so, Basil felt a need to talk about something, being stuck in silence wasn’t something he very much enjoyed. “So, you said you were traveling in a group of four, what did each of you do?” He asked proactively, as she breathlessly delved into the subject.
“They were all brutish guys, but we had one mage who wielded fire amongst the other two idiot fighters…” She laughed lightly at that, but couldn’t keep that up for very long. “I was just the cook to be honest.” Basil arched a brow at that, and Avar looked at him and shook her head. “It's true! I didn’t have the same knack for combat they had, so I just supplied them with good food, and medicine if they needed it.”
“No knack for combat, huh?” He recalled their time in the tavern the night before, when his front was taken twice by her hands. She had easily gone under his notice, perhaps it was the lack of killing intent? “Surely you’ve got the stealth needed, with some training I imagine you could really be a capable fighter.”
“I doubt that.” She said softly.
At the base of the bridge the dirt roads were quite lively, as carriages moved back and forth. It seemed Aetherium’s invitation had reignited the love of travel for many across the realm. He considered looking around to see what kind of people he could find, but Avar pulled him by the sleeve in another direction.
He glanced at the carriage she was leading him to, one that had just dropped off its passengers. After a brief conversation, the man agreed to drive them as close as the roads would take him to Focar. They sat in the back of the carriage together, and Basil exhaled as it began to move. This would at least give him some time to think.
The opponent he was preparing to fight was that of a drake, he recalled his father’s teachings about the many classes of monster.
Among dragons, there are three major classes one needs to be aware of. There is of course the mythical beast itself, the original dragons. Their physical strength exceeds even the king of Fictillis, then there are Drakes… youthful beasts that lack the fiery might of their superior species, but they are still very dangerous.
Yet the one Avar spoke of had apparently burned her comrades. It was a discrepancy he found odd, perhaps history simply didn’t have the details right, it wasn’t surprising considering how many times he had broken the limit of water magic. He glanced to his right, Avar had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He supposed not everybody was kept awake by rage.
Despite that, a fire breathing drake was going to be a difficult fight. He could use water magic to easily mitigate their own natural flames, but blowing his cover just for the sake of somebody else didn’t sound all that appealing to him. He pocketed the idea as a last resort, just in case. The beasts have thick hides, so it was possible his blade wasn’t going to cut deep as well..
All in all, he didn’t have a proper plan going into this. Despite that, he felt an inclination to help somebody who had asked him. Especially with a task like this, this Avar was no child, but she had clearly shown desperation.
Desperation was something he could understand. He glanced out as the carriage trudged along, two horses pulling them towards their destination. It may have taken some time, but under the span of a few hours he found that the carriage had slowed its movements to a stop. Basil peered out at what greeted him, there was some forestry and foliage still between them and the caves. After waking Avar and leaving the carriage, the two made their way deep into the clutches of nature.
“We’re not in Fictillis territory, are we?” Basil queried, to which Avar shook her head, as they stepped over root and branch. “This is neutral ground between Aetherium’s outskirts and Fictillis’. His majesty wouldn’t dare try to take anymore, lest he incur Invictus’ wrath.” Avar explained, and Basil nodded along. In the time he had spent wandering, very little knowledge about the ways of the realm had been gathered.
He was still for the most part, uneducated, not that it mattered. It was he who was trailing her now, as her knowledge of the place grew useful, she effortlessly stepped over all sorts of obstacles and inconveniences, as if she knew the forest like the back of her hand. “If I remember correctly, our camp should still be somewhere here…”
Eventually they broke into what seemed to be a camp indeed, torn tents surrounding a long since burnt out campfire. Basil inspected the site, it seemed to be free of any wildlife or animals as well. “Has it stayed in this state for this long?” He denoted aloud, as he peered inside one of the tents, a mat likely meant for sleeping still laid untouched. Avar’s sigh could be heard behind him. “Yeah, I sometimes come just to.. check on it.”
That would explain her understanding of the forest’s layout. “The Focar Caves are just ahead, but it might be better to rest here and eat first.” Basil considered it but shook his head, “I don’t want to waste too much time, we can get this done here and now.” His body was disagreeing with him, but he felt impatient. His stomach clearly disapproved, and he felt sick at the thought of giving it what it wanted.
“You can eat at least?” Avar suggested, as she sifted through the other tent. “There's still cooking equipment here, and I brought some stuff incase.” Basil looked on in amazement as the girl began to set up a makeshift cooking station over the campfire, a minute later and the fire was roaring with life. The camp may have been abandoned for a long while now, but it still seemed to perform all the functions she desired.
“Fine.” He sat down upon the hard earth, and watched on as Avar cooked a meal he probably didn’t deserve. “First you paid for the carriage, now you’re making me something to eat, you really don’t need to do all this.” Avar looked back at him, smiling gently, but the hunger in her green eyes made her true intents clear. “It’ll be worth it when that damn beast is dead.”
Scary.
He decided not to prod further, instead simply taking what he was being given with thankfulness. It was a simple stew of some kind, boiled within a metal pot and left in his hands in a wooden bowl. He was quick to consume it, but no matter what he was to do, by the time he had finished, nightfall had arrived. He sighed, and Avar smirked. “Guess you have to sleep after all.”
“You planned that.”
“Of course not.” She innocently shrugged, as she went into one of the tents, Basil looked back at the one behind him, and decided to do the same.
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By the time morning had come, Basil stood ready, though his stomach was still killing him. It wasn’t hunger at this point, he ignored it and instead looked on into the distance. The cavern was in fact visible from here, and he began to walk towards it. Before he could even take one step, Avar grabbed ahold of his arm. “You’re just going like that, alone?”
Basil shrugged, unsheathing his sword. “You said it yourself, you won’t be any help in the fight.”
“I’ll bring you its head.”
Basil strode onward, feeling his body relax as he approached the cavern entrance. It would be better if Avar wasn’t there, he’d be able to utilize his magic freely. This was the decision he had come to while seeing her kindness beforehand, he didn’t feel like putting her in any danger.
The cavern of Focar, the Focar Caves, the Focar Caverns, a hundred variations of a name that meant nothing to Basil as he entered its maw. He expected to see the beast quickly, but found that the cave only led further in with no signs of the beast. The winds blasted across the landscape and into the cave, buffeting against his back. He ignored it, his mind zeroed in on hunting down and killing this drake.
No, that wasn’t correct, it was more like he could only think about killing the drake. He flinched, as he tried and struggled slightly to think about other things, had the sleep made his mind sluggish? Did it matter? No.
He continued to walk forward, before finally coming to a stop. Before him the cave stretched steeply downward into the depths of the earth. It was a dangerous place, if he were to jump in, he wasn’t going to be able to get out very easily. He weighed his options, perhaps using his magic to get down safely?
Before he could think, the wind roared again, and he lost his footing. He jerked back to try to steady himself, before the wind sent him falling downwards into the earthen abyss.
A downward tunnel that saw no end, Basil frantically looked left and right for some kind of hold to stop his fall. When he saw none, he chose to stab his blade into the tunnel’s wall. His fall began to slow and slow until it completely stopped. “Quite the trip. How did her group get this far in the first place?” He heaved before dropping down the rest of the way, with the nature of his body, any impact wouldn’t really affect him.
He landed onto the hard earth once more, and stepped forward in the dark basin. There was nothing to be seen, he peered into the darkness but found nothing but palpable black receiving him. “If anything, it has to be here…”
The earth began to rumble.
The third class of dragon, while not as powerful as a dragon may be. Is perhaps more dangerous in its own right.
Fire lit up the cave basin, as the mythical beast began to prowl forward, appearing within its flame’s light. Its long snake-like body covered in feathery white scales, and its talons sharp as knives, its eyes were blood red and flames fumed from its snout. It bore no wings, but hovered without their use.
“Should’ve known the breathing fire thing made no sense for a drake.”
Is a wyvern.
The beast roared, as its flames blasted towards Basil’s head. He grimaced as he raised his empty arm, forming a bubble around his body without a single word. The plumes of fire swerved around his shield, but the intense heat could still be felt even through his defense. “Hah, I guess I’m going to have to make this pretty quick.” Basil raised his blade, as he prepared to fight.
The bubble fell apart.
Basil’s eyes widened, and the wyvern growled in its own surprise.
He glanced down at his arm, which had been acting as the bubble’s flowpoint.
It was slack, laying against his side.
He tried to make it rise, but it didn’t even twitch.
It was the numbing sense of nothingness.
Basil screamed.
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