The GM was pissed about the Ogre attack. Not once in the fifteen years since he’d taken over the position of Guild Master had an attack of such magnitude occurred within Auris. But breaking his perfect record wasn’t what angered him, no, it was the loss of civilian life that infuriated him.

The guild was solely responsible for defending the city from the dungeons. That was its whole purpose, and if it failed to fulfill its purpose… What good was it? Why did they receive tax breaks from the government, if they’d failed to do their duty? Why pay their employees so much, if they weren’t able to do their jobs properly? Why did he spend so much time begging the larger branches for more resources, if the guild wouldn’t use what they already had as it was meant to be used? Once his rant was over, the GM let out an exhausted sigh and asked the gathered hunters a question- “Which dungeon did it come from?”

The gathered hunters looked back and forth at the people around them… None had an answer to the GM’s question.

“We don’t know where it came from, sir.” Eli said, deciding to step up and answer the GM’s question. As the captain of the first closing team, and the person who’d been with the guild the longest, it was Eli’s responsibility to do so- Eli flinched at the rage-filled eyes of the GM. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to disappear from here.

“Captain Valdove, you’re not seriously suggesting we have a potential Dungeon break on our hands, and WE DON’T KNOW WHERE IT IS!?” He shouted; his voice was loud enough to make everyone’s ears ring. “That’s not what you’re telling me right now. It’s these old ears of mine; they misheard you, right?” The GM asked. He looked sad- no, remorseful while he stared holes through Eli.

“I’m sorry, sir. But we really don’t know where it came from. None of the dungeons within the city have shown signs of breaking. We’ve stuck to the usual bi-weekly clear to maintain the dungeon’s population, and we haven’t seen any abnormalities inside any of them.”

“Sir,” A mousy looking halfling woman said, and raised her hand like a school age kid trying to get the teacher’s attention. “My name is-”

“I know who you are, Ellie Underlake- You’re the seventh member of the third scouting team.” The GM interrupted. He looked as if his energy levels were being drained by the second. “If you have something to add, I’m all ears.”

Ellie made a startled sound at the GM remembering her. “Oh! I didn’t expect you to-”

“Ellie.” The GM sighed. “Please.”

“Sorry.” She quietly replied while glancing down at her feet. “I was just going to suggest it may have come from outside the city. None of the scouting teams have been sent beyond the walls in forty-seven days.”

The GM’s body tensed as if she'd just shouted in his ears. “Did your captain tell you not to venture outside the city or did someone else issue that order?” He asked; It was obvious to everyone he’d wanted to shout, but had held it in. Ellie wasn’t high enough in the guild to decide something like that on her own, so shouting at her would get him nothing but the Ire of the other hunters.

A dark-skinned elf stepped forward and placed himself beside Ellie. “I’m sure the same thing happened to the other scout captains, so I don’t mind speaking for them. I received an order from my division commander to prioritize exploration of the dungeons within our walls, and passed the order along to my team, sir.”

“I see…” The GM nodded and trailed off. There was a moment where Sulika wondered if he would ignore the captain’s words and still place the blame on the scouting teams… “I thank you all for your honesty.” He said after a long moment. “I was supposed to leave again tomorrow, but after everything that’s happened, it doesn’t look like that’s still the case. All of you have my word; I’ll not be leaving until the Auris hunters guild is back on track. You’re dismissed, get back to your duties- Oh, except you, Captain Wysarie.” The GM said while staring directly at Sulika- who waited for the other hunters to depart before approaching the Guild Master. “I’d appreciate it if you’d follow me to my office.” The GM said while looking up at her. “There’s something we need to discuss-”

“Sorry to bother you, guild master. But I was wondering if I could have a word with my junior before you steal her away.” Eli asked from a few feet behind Sulika- his voice was startling to hear since she hadn’t realized he was there.

“Captain Valdove…” The GM replied in a manner that was more Sylvani than common; His words stringing together to produce a sound that resembled an extended growl, rather than proper sentences. Sulika also noticed the fur on the sides of his neck standing on end, showing just how irritated the GM truly was.

Like normal dogs, a Kandis's emotions were usually too subtle for most people to comprehend. But Sulika, who was technically a cousin to the Kandis race, sort of knew what signs to look for; Talking with his teeth exposed- Check, fur on the back/sides of his neck raised- big check, his tail- actually, the GM didn’t have a tail, so that one was out. But the way his eye was hyper fixated on Eli’s face more than made up for it. The GM was pissed, and Sulika wondered if she was about to see Eli flung across the room like the half-orc… But after a second of staring into Eli’s soul, the GM released a sigh and looked at Sulika. “I’m heading to my office now. If you wish to speak with your former captain-” His eye darted over to Eli for a second before refocusing on Sulika, “Then I won’t stop you. But I don’t have all day, so make it quick.”

Sulika also glanced at Eli. He was smiling at her, and projecting for all the world to see how easy going he was. Sulika didn’t need to be an Oracle to know what he wanted; Aldritch had offended him, and his pride wouldn’t allow him to let it go.

A part of Sulika wanted to tell the GM she had nothing to say to Eli and just follow him up to his office… But another part- A Big part, wanted to see where this would go. If she was lucky, she might even get the chance to kick his ass before she left the guild for good.

“I’ll make it as quick as I can, sir.” Sulika replied while smiling down at the GM, who watched her for another second before nodding and leaving them to their own devices.

Sulika’s smile dropped the moment she laid eyes on Eli, and she stared at him- While he stared back at her while maintaining his own smile. “That’s a scary look on your face, Sulika. You shouldn’t hold such anger within your body, it’s really not good for you.” He told her.

“The fuck do you want, Eli?” Sulika replied, having little desire to put up with his bullshit.

“Hey, I just wanted to check on you. See if you’re okay, you know?” He said and took a step closer to her. “Last time I saw you, you were walking away with a stranger, right?” He asked and chuckled just loud enough for her to hear. “Can’t I be worried about you?” He finished, reaching out to touch Sulika’s face-

“Nope.” Sulika replied while slapping his hand away. “You lost that ability after we broke up. Also, let’s be serious for a second Elluine Valdove. You didn’t come over here to ask if I was okay- you could care less about that. You want to ask about Aldritch, so ask.”

Eli maintained his smile through Sulika’s accusation, but it began to falter when he noticed some of the other hunters watching them. “You need to keep your voice down, Sulika. People might get the wrong idea about us-”

“Us?” Sulika asked, incredulously. “There is no Us, Eli. Hasn’t been since you Cheated on me.” Sulika said, putting an especially loud emphasis on the word ‘cheated’. She couldn’t help but grin at the way Eli’s face paled, and how even more eyes had landed on them. “Hey, this is pretty fun. I should’ve done this earlier.” Sulika watched Eli’s face for any sign that he would snap, but to her surprise, he didn’t. He was able to suppress his anger… Kinda. His fists were already clenched to the point his knuckles went white, and the veins in his neck were standing out.

He was clearly mad, but he wasn’t dumb enough to damage his own reputation by doing something stupid here, with so many other captains watching. No, the more likely outcome was him waiting until they were alone to do something- however, since she was leaving at the end of the day, that would never happen… But that wasn’t the outcome she wanted either.

No, the ending where they go their separate ways, never to see or interact with one another again wasn’t what she wanted. It wasn’t nearly satisfying enough. If she’s leaving at the end of the day, why not give all these hunters something to remember?

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Sulika smirked. “It’s been a while since you gave me some pointers, Eli. Wanna spar for a bit?”

Eli was instantly suspicious of the request. Sulika had never liked sparring with him, so why would she ask to do so now? His instinct was to say no- but that damn smirk on her face. “Why not?” Eli laughed. “But don’t worry, I know how much the Guild Master hates waiting. I’ll make this quick.” He beckoned her to follow him to the sparring ring in the melee room. On the way to the ring, Eli grabbed a pair of wooden daggers off a nearby weapons rack, while Sulika grabbed a one-handed sword and pulled out her wand.

The ring was an elevated platform in the shape of a circle, with a wooden palisade surrounding it. With a radius of only twenty feet, it was fairly intimate for a combat ring. Some two-handed weapons could barely be swung without hitting the palisade. Luckily, neither Eli nor Sulika would have that problem.

As a ranger, Eli’s true specialty lay in his bow. But that didn’t mean he was helpless in close quarters. Eli had spent years practicing his dagger technique just in case he was ever in a situation where he couldn’t use his bow. And by his own estimation, he was pretty damn good with them.

Eli opened the palisade’s wooden gate and stepped aside to let Sulika enter first. “Ladies first.” He said, smiling down at her.

Sulika stepped past him without a word and moved to the opposite end of the ring. She took a few practice swings with the wooden sword to get a feel for its balance, weight, and how it felt in her hand- She frowned at the way the sword wobbled slightly with each swing.

She pointed the sword’s tip out in front of her body and peered down its edge… Sure enough, the sword was off center. There was a faint bowing of the wood, causing it to lean slightly to the left.

Sulika’s ears twitched at the sound of Eli locking the gate behind them. Glancing over at him, Sulika saw an arrogant smirk on his face that caused her anger to spike- Sulika shook her head and closed her eyes. She couldn’t afford to get angry. Not yet at least. Eli was an asshole, yes, but he was an asshole with a much higher level than her. If she wasn’t careful, he’d put her down before she could blink, and she’d lose her chance to get back at him.

“Ready?” He asked. Sulika frowned at his relaxed stance; Eli stood with his knees locked, his daggers hanging in a limp-wristed grip, and his eyes only half open. He was mocking her- making light of her, no doubt due to the ten-level difference between them… Good. She could use that.

Sulika pointed her sword at Eli’s chest with one hand while placing her other hand, the one holding her wand, behind her back. “Whenever you are.” Sulika replied with a grin of her own. “Enmet: Lunar Mirage.” Sulika whispered her spell while pointing the wand at her own back.

Eli made a ‘come on’ gesture with one of his daggers- Sulika accepted the challenge and rushed in. She flipped her wand into a reverse grip and used the extra space to wield her sword with both hands.

She swung at Eli’s head with all her strength, hoping to take him out with a single hit. But that was never going to happen- Eli batted the sword aside with the dagger in his left hand, while jabbing the dagger in his right hand at Sulika’s abdomen.

Rather than fighting against the parry, Sulika went with it. She twisted her body out of the way of Eli’s dagger, then used the momentum of the twist to add a bit of centrifugal force to her next blow- Sulika’s right leg snapped out into a spinning heel kick that forced Eli to lean back or risk getting his head knocked off his shoulders.

But he realized too late that it was a fake. Sulika had only pretended to throw a kick, and at the last minute had pulled her leg back in and used the extra momentum generated by bringing her leg up to further increase the speed of her spin. With the extra force added to her blow, Sulika took her left hand off the sword and blindly swung it with her right.

Eli caught the sword with his right dagger, and using only the strength of his wrist, flicked her sword into the air. It left Sulika’s hand with enough speed to tear some skin from her palm and launched over the Palisade to land somewhere in the melee room.

Unwilling to accept the loss, Sulika raised her fists in front of her face and ducked into his personal space- but Eli was ready for her to try something like that and ducked back to avoid the haymaker she’d launched at his head- Eli’s head rocked to the side as Sulika’s fist slammed against his chin.

Sulika smiled. This was what she’d been waiting for; Lunar Mirage was a second level enchantment spell that tricked the opponent's eyes, making them think the caster was closer than they actually are. The main issue with the spell was it had a slightly longer than average activation time at 8.6 seconds… Which gave the opponent almost nine seconds to rush in and beat the shit out of the caster.

Knowing this weakness, Sulika knew she had to keep Eli on the defensive or risk being overwhelmed- Which was always a major concern for Enchantment specialists like her.

Enchantment spells cost less mana to use than other schools of magic, but in return, could only be consistently used on targets of a lower level than the caster… But she didn’t have to worry about that, considering her heritage; Kitsunes were master enchanters, and were essentially born to use enchantment magic. This was especially true for Kitsune with the ‘Nine-Tail’s Heir’ class; Kitsune with this class could weave illusions into reality at a whim, bringing forth the target's greatest wish- or their deepest fear- without worrying too much about the level difference. So long as the target was within twenty levels of the caster, a kitsune’s enchantment magic would land, and Sulika was no exception to this.

However, the price they paid in exchange for the ease with which they used enchantment magic was steep; The heirs had… issues learning other types of magic. And while they could certainly still use the other schools, the spells always cost more mana than they would for any other type of spellcaster. And the disparity only grew as the level of the spell climbed higher and higher. So, the difference between an Heir’s level one spell and another sorcerer’s level one spell might not be that significant- But by the time you reach third level, the heir is using about thirty percent more mana than everyone else. And unfortunately for Sulika, enchantment magic was really only effective if the target didn’t realize you were using it. Just like the ‘practical illusions’ of a street magician, once the target knew what was happening, it became almost impossible to fool them with the same illusion.

Further evidence of this came when Eli dodged Sulika’s second punch by a hair’s width, and the third punch by a matter of inches. The fourth punch was parried by Eli’s left dagger, while he used his right arm to lock Sulika’s arm in place- Sulika’s eyes went wide as Eli pulled her into a knee that locked the breath from her lungs.

Sulika dropped to her knees and gasped for air, the pain and lack of air caused unshed tears to come to her eyes.

“That was a good punch.” Eli muttered while holding the side of his face. Sulika could see an inflamed patch of skin beneath his hand, where a bruise was already beginning to form. “What’s your strength attribute sitting at?”

Sulika climbed to her feet, though her aching abdomen made even that a tedious task. She stared at Eli for a second, and debated whether or not to tell him… With a sigh, Sulika opened her status window.

Status

Class

Nine-Tail's Heir

Level

31

Ability Scores

Strength

10

Dexterity

20

Constitution

10

Wisdom

14

Intelligence

16

Charisma

20

“Ten.” Sulika begrudgingly admitted.

“That’s… Impressive.” Eli replied, sounding genuinely impressed. “It certainly didn’t feel like a punch from someone with a strength level of ten. I’d have guessed twelve.” Eli shrugged and smiled- The pommel of his left dagger slammed into the side of her face, knocking her off her feet. She landed on the ground with an aching head, and an identical bruise to the one on Eli’s face. “By the way, don’t forget to go see the Guild Master - You know, after you pick your pride up off the floor.” Eli whispered to her. With a pleased smile on his face, he walked to the gate and let himself out.

Sulika climbed to her feet a few moments later with her pride ‘mostly’ intact. She’d lost… But she hadn’t actually expected to win. A ten-level difference was like night and day. It was an insurmountable wall that no one could overcome, no matter their stats or what equipment they had equipped. And yet, she’d managed to punch that bastard in his perfect little face.

It wasn’t much, but it was a win in her book.