Quest: Mage Hunter’s Folly

Objective: Show the Mage Hunter’s the folly of facing off against us.

Reward: Novice Growth Orb.

This Quest cannot be declined.

“Getting sassy now, Quilly?” Nate mentally asked Quilly.

I have no idea what you’re talking about. Quilly said, though the face on the quill held a smirk.

“Love it. Keep up the good work.”

The three cloaked figures moved to position around Nate, who sent the mental command to Terry to stay in the shadows for now. The shortest one, who stood between the others, pulled his cloak back. He had dark green skin, a long nose, and only his left ear, his right a jagged scar. His leather armor, clearly magical, sported faint runes etched into the seams.

“I thought you’d have more warts, Wort,” Nate said.

The right cloaked figure chortled, “I told you!” A deeply resonant voice.

“Fine,” a higher, feminine voice from the other cloak. She tossed a small bag over Nate’s head and the other caught it.

“You made bets?!” Wort fumed. “Now’s not the time!”

“Yeah, Cordus, a little decorum,” Nate said with a friendly smile. “Your boss is trying to be intimidating and stuff.” Nate saw notifications that his chat connection with Fuzzball, Ellisandra, and Zeff was cut off. In his peripheral vision he saw a black scaled tail in the shadow of the warehouse, and he sent a mental command to Terry.

“We have your friends,” Wort smirked. “They should be cuffed and unconscious by now.”

“I’m sorry for your… friends? Cohorts? Minions? Yeah, we’ll go with minions.”

Wort frowned, “What do you mean?”

Screams erupted from outside. “Don’t worry. I told Terry not to kill any of them, but based on how my hunger is dropping, their folly is costing them an arm and a leg.”

A bleeding hawk faced Chimeran ran into the warehouse with eyes bulging with fear. “Boss! There’s a-” A portal opened next to him and a large purple hand reached through and yanked him through with a scream cut short as the portal closed, returning a moment later but sounding much further away.

Moments later, a portal opened behind him and Terry stepped through, hauling a sleeping Fuzzball, Ellie, and Zeff, crunching through the bones of what was clearly someone’s arm. With a pulse of aura, their suppression cuffs snapped open. Wort’s eyes widened.

“Is that a-?”

“Yep! What? You don’t like Terry?”

“Beatrix, let’s begin.” The lithe figure’s cloak dropped to the ground as she stepped into the shadows, Nate only just catching her elven features.

The large warehouse echoed with the rhythmic hum of machinery. Towering containers held shimmering water reserves, their surfaces rippling faintly under the dim, bluish glow of magelights. Nate and Terry stood in a loose formation as Krypdyr stayed in the shadows, the unconscious forms of Ellisandra, Fuzzball, and Zeff lying just behind them. The oppressive tension in the air was palpable as Wort, Cordus, and Beatrix approached.

“Interesting familiar,” Wort sneered and dropped the cloak to the ground, his mechanical arm clicking as he spun a small, smoking device in his hand.

Cordus snorted, his massive form blocking much of the light as he hefted his jet-hammer, the engine belching smoke as it grumbled to life. Beatrix was a shadow, flitting from container to container, her eyes glinting with mischief.

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“I’d rather we didn’t fight,” Nate said firmly, his Grappler Whip coiled and ready. “You can leave now, and no one else gets hurt.”

“Unfortunately, kid,” Wort replied with a toothy grin, “that’s not how we make a living.”

Without warning, Beatrix struck first. A shrouded figure in the dim light, she lashed out with her daggers, aiming for Nate’s throat. He ducked at the last second, countering with a crack of his whip. Beatrix phased briefly into shadow, evading the attack with supernatural grace.

Cordus roared, charging forward with startling speed for his size. Nate raised his hand and cast Elemental Bolt. A crackling bolt of freezing energy shot forward, colliding with Cordus’ hammer mid-swing, the ice jamming up the engine, slowing the strike. Cordus growled and gripped the chunk of ice, breaking it free and punching the hammer, starting the engine back up.

Wort, meanwhile, hurled his device. It exploded into a cloud of shimmering dust, disrupting magic in the area.

“Spread out!” Nate yelled, coughing as the gas thinned the air around him. Krypdyr struck from the shadows, his aura amplifying his strength as he landed a poisoning strike on Cordus. Terry leapt forward, claws extended, targeting Wort directly.

Beatrix lunged again, this time targeting Nate. She aimed for his hand, seeking to disarm him of his whip. But Nate cast Multitool, summoning a wrist mounted buckler that deflected the strike. The sudden rebound threw Beatrix off balance, giving Nate an opening. He lashed out with the whip, wrapping it around her ankle and yanking her off her feet.

Krypdyr emerged from the shadows, slamming into Cordus with a flurry of strikes. The minotaur stumbled but retaliated with a wide swing of his jet hammer, launching Krypdyr back. Cordus bent his legs to stabilize his stance, his Stoneheart aura reducing the severity of incoming wounds as he stood still, letting Krypdyr make attack after attack. The poison magic of his strikes seemed to disappear within Cordus.

The absorbed magic rose up through Cordus into his arms as he swung his hammer. Krypdyr tried to block, but the blow, enhanced by the magic absorbed from Krypdyr’s own strikes, easily broke through the guard and slammed into Krypdyr’s side. The force of the strike catapulted Krypdyr into the rafters, landing him gasping for air on top of one of the water tanks.

Terry engaged Wort in a chaotic flurry, but the goblin dodged backward as his hands worked in a fury. A small object burst near Terry’s feet, wrapping him up in thin but surprisingly strong wire.

“Is this all you’ve got?!” Wort taunted, spinning another gadget in his hand.

Krypdyr shadow-stepped next to Nate. Beatrix slipped back into the fray, darting toward Ellisandra’s prone form. Krypdyr yelled a warning, but it came too late. Beatrix struck with precision, her dagger dripping with venom as it pierced Ellisandra’s side.

“No!” Nate roared, sprinting toward her. Beatrix vanished into shadow before he could retaliate. Ellisandra gasped in pain and began convulsing.

Fueled by anger, Nate tried to cast Healing Touch, but the shimmering magic-suppressing powder made his casting fail.

“Focus on them!” Krypdyr yelled, trying to hold Cordus’ incoming attacks at bay. Cordus was slower than before, Krypdyr’s poison coursing through him.

Nate turned back to the fight. He summoned another Elemental Bolt, targeting Wort this time. The goblin barely dodged, the icy edge grazing his arm and forcing him to drop his device. Terry seized the opportunity, using his jaws to grab Wort’s mechanical arm, his sharp teeth shearing metal and cables as he ripped the arm away.

Krypdyr delivered a brutal uppercut to Cordus, his shadow-infused aura leaving dark tendrils that further slowed the minotaur’s movements. “Nate! Now!”

Nate’s whip disappeared into his inventory as he ran out from the dust cloud and summoned his bow, firing two arrows in quick succession, hitting wrist and elbow of Cordus’s arm, causing him to drop the jet hammer. Beatrix appeared behind Nate as he shot, stabbing out at him with her envenomed blade.

Wort, staring momentarily at his stump, threw down a smoke bomb. “Enough fun for now. Let’s get out of here!” he shouted.

Beatrix reappeared beside him, pulling a reluctant Cordus toward the warehouse exit. “We’ll be back,” she promised, her voice cold as she glared at Nate.

As the Mage Hunters fled, Nate, Krypdyr, and Terry regrouped. Nate picked up Zeff, pointing to the others. Krypdyr grabbed Ellie and Terry began to pull Fuzzball away from the magic suppressing powder.

“We need to move,” Krypdyr said. “They’ll regroup.”

Nate nodded, glancing at the unconscious Zeff and Fuzzball. “Let’s get everyone out of here. We’re not done with them yet.”

Once outside, Nate tried again to heal Ellie. While he could close the wound, her pallid skin remained so, and she shivered. He noticed as he cast Healing Touch that his magic points weren’t recovering.

“I could heal the wound, but the venom remains. I think that venom she used on me messed up my magic recovery.”

The crowd around the warehouse suddenly began to clear as the sound of heavy armored troops grew louder. Twelve people consisting of two Mothkin, six Chimerans, and four Oreforged marched up.

“Stop right there, criminal scum!” the gravelly voice of the forwardmost Oreforged bellowed.