“I don’t think so,” Nate said, “There must be a contract out for Captain Luma and they took it.”

“Shit. Wort is one of the leaders of the Mage Hunters, Codrus is his bodyguard. Wort is a goblin shaman who can summon shadow creatures. Cordus is a minotaur warrior who uses what is basically a super sledge from 3 or New Vegas.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. He’s damn good with it too.”

“What’s a super sledge?” Ellie asked.

“You know the engines that propel airships? Think a small one attached to the end of a huge hammer to increase smashy power,” Nate said. Ellie whistled appreciatively. “Needless to say, he likely has the Strength Sigil Stone, as you’d need it to properly wield something like that. Remind me who the Mage Hunters are again?”

“The Mage Hunters are bounty hunters who specialize in killing magic users, but they’ll take any job that pays well enough,” Ellie said. “This is very bad.”

Before Nate could respond, the cloaked figure from the bar approached their table, their movements smooth and deliberate. Removing their hood revealed a black furred panther Chimeran with sharp features and piercing eyes that seemed to see right through the seated group.

“You’re looking for information,” the figure stated, their voice calm but commanding. “I might be able to help, but it won’t come cheap.”

Nate stumbled away from the conversing Chimerans, weighing the options as he sat hard at their table. “What do you want in return?”

The figure smirked slightly. “A favor. A task that will benefit both of us. Think of it as an investment in our future cooperation.”

“Alright,” Nate said, his tone firm yet open. “We’d like your name before discussing any such tasks.”

“Raglan,” the figure said.

“Nate. What’s the task?”

Raglan leaned in, his eyes never leaving Nate’s. “There’s a relic called the Pulse Core hidden in the Mirror Gardens of the Temple of Air, which is a heavily guarded space. Retrieve it for me, and I’ll provide you with the information you need about Captain Luma and her crew’s whereabouts.”

After a moment to check with Quilly, Nate leaned forward, extending a hand, “Where I’m from, we seal deals with a handshake.”

Raglan extended his hand from under his cloak, metal plates over interlocking gears. Nate pulled him close.

“Since you know where they are, or thereabouts, make sure they don’t get taken before we can get there.”

“Luma and her fellow Mothkin are exceptional at hiding. They need not my help.”

“One more thing. How does one take bounties? Are there notice boards or an app for the slate or some such?”

“Notice boards will show you lower tiered bounties, mostly Novice and a few Apprentice,” Raglan said, “but for higher risk and reward bounties, you’ll need the custom slate provided by the Adventuring Academy, which on Aezrith is in the Artisian middle layer.”

“Understood.”

Raglan provided detailed directions, pointing them towards the intricate map etched into the tavern’s wall, showing the layout of Aezrith and marking one of the upper levels of the Temple of Air. “Be swift and silent.” He slipped away into the crowd, leaving Nate and the others to process the new information.

“He was… interesting,” Ellie said after a long drink from her mug.

“I agree, and he wants the Pulse Core for himself.”

“What do you mean?” Krypdyr said.

“His arms are prosthetic, magical arms. They currently are functional, but to unlock their full potential he needs the Pulse Core.”

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“What does it do, give him force blasts or something?” Spring Jack said.

“I’m not sure. But check this out.” He popped up his new quest.

Quest: The Pulse Core.

Objectives: Help Raglan by retrieving the Pulse Core.

Optional Objective: Align the mirrors in the Mirror Gardens before removing the core.

Reward: 50 gold pieces, Windblade.

Accept? Yes. No.

“I feel more and more that I got screwed over when I came here. You have a quest system too?!” Spring Jack huffed.

“Indeed! And it tends to send me in the direction I need to go to complete whatever we are doing at the moment. I think the luck stone may have affected the interface one. In other words, I’m accepting the quest and we’ll try to do the optional objective. I’ll give the Windblade to one of you. I’m pretty well set with Vinebow.” A grumble like rolling thunder emitted from Nate’s purple armor. “And Terry, of course.”

Several heads around the tavern turned their way at Terry’s grumble.

“Then we should get moving,” Krypdyr said. “Want to avoid any further attention. If the Mage Hunters are after Captain Luma and her crew, we need to stop them quickly.”

As they left the tavern, the vibrant energy of the Sand Markets seemed to pulse around them, buskers playing various instruments that were both discordant and somehow blended into a cohesively enjoyable tune. Shopkeepers called out over the music, pushing colorful clothing, trinkets mundane and magical, and an assortment of foods made from the exotic creatures found within the Sand Sea. Nate purchased some kabobs of meat and vegetables he didn’t recognize but thought smelled amazing, handing them out to the rest and putting two extras in his inventory.

“Extras?” Ellie asked.

“For Zeff and Fuzzball.”

Ellie nodded and slid off a grill marked white sphere from the end of her kabob, savoring the bite. “I love grilled marshmelons.”

When Nate heard the name, he excitedly bit into his own. “Like a cantaloupe that tastes like marshmallows? This is amazing!”

Spring Jack was already several vegetables down, and pulled a slab of meat from the kabob. “Never liked sandworm meat. Too oily. Terry?”

Terry’s enormous head poked out of Nate’s chest, nearly making him drop his kabob. His mouth opened wide and Spring Jack tossed the meat in. It disappeared with a loud gulp. Terry then turned his head to snag the mostly uneaten kabob from Nate’s hand.

“Hey! I was going to give you some. That wasn’t very good boy behavior, Terry.”

Terry’s guilty whimper sounded like a muffled banshee wail.

“Oh, I can’t stay mad at you, Terry!” Nate patted Terry’s head and gently pushed him back until his armor returned to normal.

The Docklands, which were on either side of the Sand Markets, were as busy as ever as Nate and company returned to the airship.

“Hey, boss,” Zeff called from the deck. “Can you fix the front of the ship?”

“Sure thing. Also, not your boss,” Nate called up his Mending spell and touched the side of the ship. Like watching a rewound video, the crumbled pieces that littered their landing bay drifted up to reattach where they had broken loose. His head ached from draining his full magic meter several times, but the ship was looking much better. Large areas were still missing, the bits scattered across the Sand Sea.

“Thank, Nate. Ellie?”

Ellie leapt up to the deck next to Zeff, Nate and the others following soon after. “Spring Jack, I need everyone here to bleed on the deck.”

Pulling a small blade from somewhere on his person, Spring Jack cut a line across the top of his hand. “You heard the lady, folks! With all of us adding to it, shouldn’t take enough to cause lasting damage. Fuzzball, pull back your aura so the bleeding doesn’t heal too fast.”

Nate did the same cut, flexing his hand to get the blood flowing. Ellie pulled in the falling blood, changing it to metal that she shaped to fill in the holes on the airship. Fuzzball used his aura to heal everyone back up and they moved around the ship, sealing and closing up the holes. Ellie even reinforced sections that Zeff pointed out as points that had been weakened during the storm.

“Should be good to go. The core was intact, and we’ve got the siphon plates calibrated to absorb the energy from constantly blowing breeze. Not as efficient, but as we’ll be here a while, it should be fully charged within a few weeks.”

“Zeff, I don’t think we tell you enough how much we appreciate you,” Nate said with a grin. They filled Fuzzball and Zeff in on what happened at the Gilded Coin Tavern.

“Couldn’t you just walk through the Smokestacks with your lucky power running and find them by chance?” Fuzzball asked.

“No,” Ellie said. “The Smokestacks are a sizeable sector in the Undercroft, and it’s full of nooks and crannies whereby they could hide.”

“When you were with them here, was there a particular hole you’d hide in?” Spring Jack said.

“There were some, but if they are fleeing this bounty, which we should check on, any of the usual spots are likely to be watched.”

“Why don’t they just flee?” Nate asked.

“The Sand Sea is fairly open outside the city, they’d be immediately spotted and pursued.”

“So this bounty must have happened after they got here.”

Ellie began pacing, “Agreed. The only other thing that may be holding them here is one of our own tossed in the Smog.”

“That’s a prison in the Smokestacks, isn’t it?” Nate asked.

“How did you know that?”

“Context and naming conventions, mostly. Kinda love the name.”