There Eugene stood, outfitted in all his gear as a guard, right out in the open with a prime view of Lucas dangling from Regan's arm. He didn't seem the most pleased about it.
"You going to put him down now, or am I going to have to make you?" Eugene asked, gesturing at the [Hunter] with his spear.
As morally inept a person Regan appeared to be, and as antagonistic she currently was with Lucas, she was neither a great villain nor a bumbling idiot--she let go of her grip on his throat in an instant and backed away with her hands in the air.
"This looks bad," she admitted to Eugene, "but I assure you it's all just a big misunderstanding."
"There's been no misunderstanding," Eugene corrected deceptively lightly, then waved his free hand at Quinn and Yenna. "These two were very diligent in illuminating exactly what you've been up to, [Hunter] Regan."
"You'd believe the words of two children over that of one of the village's dutiful [Hunter]s?" Regan took another subtle step back.
"As a matter of fact," Eugene spoke coldly, "yes."
The next events unfolded so quickly that Lucas struggled to make sense of them, especially since he had yet to fully recover and rise from the ground. So far as he could tell, Regan tried to make a run for it and Eugene responded by closing the distance supernaturally fast, upon which a grapple started.
He watched as Eugene attempted to pin Regan, his spear nowhere to be seen. Lucas had assumed Eugene had a higher level, but from the relatively even struggle playing out, their respective status' had to be fairly close to one another.
For several moments the grapple went on, as the [Hunter] tried to escape and the [Warrior] guard made to prevent just that. The two of them rolled in the dirt and mud several times but never actually stuck one another. It was strange to see such a...non-violent fight, but Lucas supposed it was infinitely more preferable to an escalating one that would see actual harm done.
The fight could only end with Regan subdued or fleeing the village, however. There was no chance of her getting out of this without facing the consequences of her actions, one way or another. She was twice-over unlucky for the guard to be one with such a close relationship to Lucas. After the initial few minutes, she gave up and stopped resisting Eugene's efforts to pin her and the very moment he had her held still, a green-tinted wave of mana emitted from his hands and washed over her body. In its passing, the young woman was left weakened and incapable of resuming any manner of fight.
Despite himself, Lucas shivered. Not because of his own recent fight or the brief time he was suspended by his neck--it was that Skill. Whatever Eugene had just used had completely disabled his opponent. Lucas watched as Regan laid perfectly still as if imprisoned in her own body. The concept of that ability and the inevitability of others like it was terrifying.
If I one day encounter a Skill like that in an enemy, how would I even fight it?
With Regan now thoroughly immobilized, Eugene picked himself up from the ground and tried to brush off a bit of the mud soiling his leather armor, only really succeeding in smearing it. He gave up, seemed to recall the very reason he was in this part of the village, and quickly moved to Lucas.
The man crouched down before him so that they were eye-level before speaking.
"You're okay," he stated, rather than asked, with his hands on Lucas's shoulders.
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"I'm okay," Lucas echoed.
Eugene's grip tightened reassuringly for a moment. "Good. Look, there will be a time for us to discuss this later. Right now, I need to get that one," he nodded his head back in the direction of the prone [Hunter], "in confinement, and you need to get home to your mother."
Lucas nodded. "Thank you for coming," he spoke sincerely.
"I barely did anything," the man smiled warmly with pride. "From what those two told me, you're the real [Hero] of the day. Now go."
Lucas was happy to comply. This whole situation was exciting and stressful and overwhelming--he needed a break and now was the time to take one, because the issue of the events in and surrounding that basement were far from over. Sooner or later, Lucas and the other two kids before him would likely be called upon to give testimony.
"I can't believe you made it out," Yenna said when Lucas reached them. Quinn didn't personally offer any such greeting, his eyes instead rooted to the ground from the moment he drew near and a conflicted look on his face.
"It would take a lot more than a little rat to take me out," Lucas said with only partially-feigned confidence.
"So, what now?" Quinn found the courage to ask, and they both looked at Lucas expectantly.
"Now, we should all go back to my house. Eugene and the guards will interrogate Regan soon, probably rope in the Elders, and we will likely be called in after that," Lucas explained. "It'll be easiest if we are all where Eugene can find us when that time comes."
"What if it takes too long?" Yenna asked. "Shouldn't we let our parents know where we'll be?"
Out of the corner of his eye as he looked at Yenna, Lucas observed Quinn shrink a bit at her suggestion. The boy knew he was going to be in a fair amount of trouble once Penelope and Eliot knew what he'd been up to.
"It might not be that long," Lucas said, "but it could also be quite a while, you're right. We can stop by your houses on the way over to mine."
The two other kids nodded their acceptance of this, and they started on their way. Exhaustion overtook them just enough to hinder any conversation, and in the quiet moment, Lucas chose to take a look at his System notifications and status.
[*ding Congratulations! [Regeneration] has reached level 6-7!]
Must have missed that one from the fight. I don't remember really getting hurt, though, and being held by my neck shouldn't be enough to earn two levels even if it was a very challenging situation. Was it the move I did with my mana? Hmm...
[Lucas]
[Free Stats: 0]
[HP: 220/220]
[MP:180/330]
[STR: 18]
[DEX: 24]
[VIT: 22]
[WIS: 33]
[INT: 18]
[Class: Child of Mana]
[Level: 10]
[Skills:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
[General Skills:
* [Identify: 4]
* [Healing Arts: 5]
* [Basic Combat Training: 10]
* [Vigilance: 1]
* [Stealth: 1]
* [Cooking: 4]
* [Fitness: 10]
* [Learning: 9]
* [Regeneration: 7]
* [----------]
[New General Skills available.]
Even though Lucas wasn't planning on changing out any of his Skills, he still moved immediately to see what was on offer for him.
[Arena Fighting: You managed to survive, even win, your first arena fight! With this Skill, gain small bonuses awareness, combat instincts, and VIT with each level.]
[Fledgling Monster Hunter: You have killed your first monster! Each level in this Skill will give you small bonuses STR and INT when in combat against similar creatures.]
[Mana Manipulation: You have recklessly attempted to manipulate pure mana...and succeeded. Take this Skill and delve into the secrets of existence.]
...
[*ERROR* - effects of General Skill [Mana Manipulation] have already been incorporated into slotted Skill [----------].]
[Inspect [----------] for more information.]
Huh.
Before, his blank Skill had been just that, entirely blank. Lucas did as the System advised and sure enough, when he selected the Skill for more information, there had been a change.
* [----------: - Limited Mana Authority]
Authority?