Adrenalin still coursing through his veins, Ian checked if the Mind Mage was really dead. Ian had seen the other three men's heads be pulverized by Ezra's Pea Shot, but being under the influence of the Mind Mage's illusion had made him miss how the Mind Mage had ended up on the floor. A quick look at his neck quickly told Ian the whole story - it was bent at a weird angle, with a bright red mark wrapped around it. Ian had Ezra's Vine Whip to thank for that.
Taking long, deep breathes in an attempt to calm his nerves, Ian started to think about his next steps. If what Midas had said was true, then the whole city of Brenas would soon be in an uproar looking for him. The Alchemy Guild was extremely influential, and if Vanessa painted Ian as the murderer of the Guild's greatest Alchemist, even the city guards would be looking to arrest him. Would anybody believe that Ian was innocent? Probably not, since Vanessa was the secretary of the Alchemy Guild's Master, while he was just some poor country boy. Waiting until the morning to escape would be too late, but the city gates were closed at night and tightly guarded. Ian would need to find some other way to run.
Right now, what Ian wanted was to get out of this warehouse as fast as possible. Before leaving, Ian went through the each of the dead bodies' pockets, finding four coin purses of varying degrees of fullness. Ian quickly took a look at the contents of Midas' purse, which was the fullest of the four, and was greeted with the sight of a small mountain of glimmering gold coins. Ian smiled ironically- he may be branded a wanted criminal by morning, but at least he would be rich.
Ian put his two Lesser Magical Peas back into his Magical Farm, and was about to put Ezra back as well, when he realized that that was a foolish idea. If Ian was attacked again, he would need some way to quickly defend himself, and going into this Magical Farm to retrieve his plants would be too slow.
Ian suddenly had an idea. Going into his Magical Farm, he retrieved an old wheelbarrow that he had "borrowed" before leaving his family farm. With a grunt, Ian hoisted Ezra's pot into the wheelbarrow, and tried pushing it forwards. It worked, and Ian now had a mobile Magical Plant that would hopefully defend him from danger. Ian knew that the sight of him pushing the plant would be ridiculous, but he would rather be safe than sorry.
Ian paused and looked at the first plant he had ever evolved. "Ezra, I'm going to have to ask you to protect me a bit longer. Thanks for your help." Ezra waved its vines in response, and Ian took that as the Magical Pea Plant version of "you're welcome".
Ian slowly wheeled Ezra to the nearest exit, where it opened the door for Ian by turning its handle with a vine. Ian couldn't help but chuckle - Ezra had gotten a lot smarter than Ian had expected, and it was always amusing to see a plant act like a human. Ian appreciated Ezra's unintended comic relief, as it helped Ian to push back the guilt he felt over having just killed four men in cold blood. He would have to wait until he was safe before dealing with the rest of his emotions.
With that thought, Ian pushed Ezra through the door and out of the warehouse. No matter what was outside, Ian knew one thing. The next few hours before sunrise would determine whether he lived or died.
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Edward had been standing guard outside the warehouse for hours now. Well, standing guard would be slightly inaccurate, as he was hanging from the rafters of a neighboring building in order to keep an eye on both of the warehouse's entrances. Having received a Tier 3 Rogue class on his 18th birthday, Edward had quickly fallen in with the wrong crowd, eventually turning to a life of crime. His Rogue class gave him a myriad of skills suited for crime, and his high DEX made him a valued asset in his gang. His job here was simple: make sure nobody entered the warehouse, and to kill anybody that tried to escape. Not that anybody would be able to, Edward mused. He had seen Midas and his gang mates bring in Ian's unconscious body, and knew that the boy's chances of escaping were little to none.
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Edward heard one of the doors opening, instantly heightening his attention. They had agreed on a signal of knocking twice on any door before opening it to announce that everything was safe, and Edward had not heard any knocks. The door swung open and a wheelbarrow carrying a potted plant came out first. That was surprising, Edward thought. He had not been informed about what they were doing in the warehouse, but none of them had brought a plant or wheelbarrow in. The wheelbarrow moved forwards, and the boy behind it became visible.
It was the boy whom they had kidnapped, Edward recognized. What had happened in that warehouse? Where had Midas and the rest of his men gone? It didn't matter. Edward had been given a job, and he was going to do it.
As silent as a cat, Edward climbed onto the roof and tiptoed over to where Ian was heading. His lvl 4 skill, Silent Steps, had the ability to muffle any noises that would normally result from walking, so he was confident that the boy would not be able to realize his presence. He readied his knife. Edward could see the scenario already; he would drop from the roof, landing on Ian's back and use his Cutthroat skill. It would be a clean, silent kill.
The boy's position was now almost right below him. As soon as he passed, Edward jumped off the building in a practiced motion. It was not Edward's first time doing this, and he knew it would not be the last.
Edward did not know that his final thoughts would be so wrong. His last sight was that of a cluster of green vines coming towards him, and then he never saw anything again.
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Ian had walked for less than one hundred steps before he heard a sudden crack and thump behind him. When he turned around, he was greeted by yet another dead body with a neck broken like the Mind Mage's had been. Ian looked at Ezra. Yet again, the plant had saved his life. Yet again, another man had died at Ian’s hands.
Ian had known that he needed to be vigilant, but getting attacked right outside of the warehouse showed that he was in more danger than he had realized. Once morning came and Midas’ body was found, Ian was not sure if Ezra would be enough to deal with the people who would want him dead.
Looking around, it seemed like the warehouse was by Brenas’ docks, and it was probably used to store outgoing cargo. Ian ran through his options again. Escaping by land would be almost impossible with the security at the city gates, so there was really only one option available. Looking at the harbor, there were several ships docked, probably merchant ships that had either just arrived or were getting ready to leave.
If escaping by land was impossible, then Ian would have to escape by sea.
Ian started pushing the wheelbarrow towards the docks. His plan wouldn’t work if there weren’t any ships that were going to leave in the morning, Ian realized. Even if there were ships that were leaving, Ian had no way of telling them apart from the ships that weren’t. This plan was flawed, but it was Ian’s best bet.
Ian arrived at the center of the docks and was now surrounded by six ships. Each of the ships were massive, and were definitely merchant ships where carrying capacity was more important than appearance. He tried to look for any signs that a ship was about to depart, but Ian had never even seen a ship before and had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.
There was no time to waste. Ian did not know how long he had been unconscious in the warehouse for, but there could only be maximum two hours before dawn. There was not enough time to go into each ship to look for clues. Ian would have to make his choice by chance.
Ian reached into Midas’ coin pocket and pulled out a gold coin. As with all government sanctioned currency, the coin had an image of the Mother Goddess Lenessa printed on both sides. In the image, Lenessa was wearing an off the shoulder robe and holding up her symbol, the torch. According to the church, Lenessa had guided her children out of the Darkness with her torch as their only source of light. Ian bent down and spun the coin on one of the planks of the dock. He would let Lenessa’s torch guide his fate as well.
Ian watch as the coin spun. After a few seconds, the coin began to wobble, making Ian hold his breathe in anticipation. The coin slowed down and Ian was sure that it would fall to the right, but it suddenly gave one last wobble and instead fell the other way. Ian looked at Lenessa’s torch; it was pointing at the second boat on the left. Ian picked up the coin, and started pushing Ezra towards the ship’s gangplank. Optimally, he could find an unused closet and hide out for the duration of the voyage. Ian didn’t have any food with him, but he figured that he could survive off the peas from his Magic Garden. Now he just hoped that the ship would leave before he got caught.
Ian’s fate was no longer in his hands. All he could do now was wait and pray.