This was a mistake.
When I accepted the task of protecting the tomb, I didn’t think that it would be full of so much waiting. I could get over the fact that it’s boring, it’s not exactly ideal but I could probably keep this up for days if I had to, the real problem is that I have nothing to take my attention other than my own thoughts.
And I would really prefer to not have to listen to those right now.
Unwittingly I thought of Kaelan, and how he was… you know. I grimaced, this wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking of, not now or ever, so I looked around the forest for something to distract me.
Finding nothing, I sighed and began to create chords of Lightning. I could train Channel Lightning a little but I wasn’t willing to risk having low Mana, and needed to keep a look out for the thieves as well, so that was barely able to occupy my attention at all.
I wonder what Render is doing…
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Absolute Render was under more mental strain than any other point in their life, even more so than when they were ‘encouraged’ to go out and explore the Middleground, and the initial days of uncertainty and confusion.
Kaelan’s death weighed heavily on his conscience, and they found themself constantly thinking about what had happened, what they could do better. Unfortunately, the only answer they could find was that they were simply too weak, or perhaps simply too slow. If it weren’t for the bulkiness of their Armour things might have gone differently, but then it might have been them on the ground, their head nowhere in sight, instead.
Perhaps that would be a worthy sacrifice.
But these what-ifs were unproductive, so they banished such thoughts from their mind and returned to the task at hand. Kaelan’s death was unexpected, although perhaps it shouldn’t have been, so he had made no preparations for what to do with his belongings once it happened. Which is why Render was here, in Kaelan’s house, collecting everything that would need to be returned to the Zephyr Clan.
When they entered the bedroom, the first thing their eyes were drawn to was the badge attached to the wall. It was something that he had been given for assisting in countless small emergencies, and was meant as a reward for being a model adventurer. Well, that was what they say it was for, but Render suspected that its true purpose was to assist in creating a good relationship with Bandora.
Though that was unlikely to work, since Bandora didn’t have one power structure like the three Kingdoms, but if the Zephyr clan had a good opinion of them then that may spread to the rest of the Clans.
Regardless of the dubious reasons for it being here, it at least served as a reminder of one other thing that Render would have to deal with relatively soon. As far as the Job Hall was aware, he was still alive.
Render sighed, creating an odd metallic sound that rarely appeared when they properly controlled their voice. Returning Kaelan’s belongings to the only people who could claim to deserve them was important, but it could wait a little longer until this was done. Not that he was likely to be able to deliver them until after the Mage Killer was dealt with, but he may have a chance of succeeding within a few months if Rob was truly willing to help after clearing his mind.
Although putting one who is so young into harm's way would still feel morally questionable, regardless of how willing they were to do so.
It took a half hour of walking, with the cautious stares that they’d long since gotten used to following them all the way, in order to return to the Job Hall, and by then it was close to dusk. Coincidentally, that also happened to be when any new Jobs were put on the boards.
Not that I’ll be taking any for a while. This Mage Killer has been active for far too long now.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
They stood patiently at the counter as the receptionist finished with the Job they were putting up and returned to their place behind the counter.
“Hey Render, what’s up?” His cheerfulness grated against the guilt and shame that was still infesting Render’s thoughts, but they tried not to let that bother them. They were unlikely to know what had happened already.
“Nothing good, I’m afraid. Kaelan Zephyr has been killed by the Mage Killer. He will no longer be able to return here.” The pleasant smile on the receptionist’s face faltered, and when they next spoke the sympathy was clear in their tone.
“Oh, oh my. I’m so sorry for your loss. He was teaching you something, right?” Render dropped their head, and their voice lost the strength it previously had.
“He was, but please spare your sympathy, I feel it is wasted on me. His loss is much more keenly felt by Robert, when I had to tell him he did not seem to take it well.”
“Oh I know him, he was the one who got lost in the sewer’s right? How’s he holding up?”
“I am unsure of his current state. He left earlier today on a Job in Woodhaven. I hope that it will assist him in coming to terms with this loss.” The receptionist gave Render an odd look before speaking with some doubt leaking into their speech.
“Really? I’m not sure investigating a grave robbing would do him much good.” Wait, what?
“A grave robbing? I am afraid I’ve heard nothing of the sort. Wasn’t the Job to do with missing crops?”
“It was, but a few days ago they sent a request to change the Job to something else. Apparently someone stole a few bodies from a tomb. I can’t imagine why, it’s nasty stuff though I’ll tell you.” They spoke for a little longer, but Render wasn’t listening. Their mind had completely frozen when they heard the words ‘stolen’ and ‘bodies’.
It couldn’t be, could it? Not there, of all places.
Half a minute later they had to interrupt the receptionist whilst they were gossiping about some adventurer or another, “Apologies, but I have something important I need to do. Our conversation was pleasant, despite the saddening topics.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. See you later then.”
“Goodbye.” Render rushed out of the building and quickly began to walk as fast as they could down the streets. They had no pressing matters to attend to, so without so much as making a single detour they left the city and pressed onwards towards Woodhaven.
I find myself wishing for greater speed more and more as of late. At my current rate it could take well over a day to reach Woodhaven. I only hope I’m not too late… not again.
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I shrugged. Probably just training or something.
Turning my mind to more important things, I thought about my Skills. Specifically, I wondered if there was a max level for Path Skills at all. My Lightning Bolt was- I took a moment to check my Status- already level 18, and if I kept using it to Evolve my Skills, then surely I’d be able to level it faster and faster.
Although if it keeps taking longer to level then the extra experience from all those Skills might eventually just go to waste. Is it better to spread them out across a bunch of different Skills?
Rolling onto the grass so that I could stare up at the forest canopy, I sighed. Thinking so much about it was seriously just annoying. I’d probably be better off focusing entirely on Lightning bolt and getting that to a ridiculously high level, right?
The only Skills that could be as useful were Lightning Generator and Charge, so I wondered if it might be better to focus on either of those a little more.
I remembered that I was still supposed to be keeping watch and sat back up, returning my gaze back to where I thought the door was supposed to be.
Whatever, I guess I’ll consider using Charge for my next Evolution, but that probably depends on what Skill actually ends up Evolving. I don’t know how well Charge would work with something like Sense Danger, after all.
Something rustled in the bushes behind me and, despite not feeling anything from Sense Danger, I span around and began to charge a Bolt. Admittedly, I felt pretty stupid once the rustling revealed itself to be from a woman coming to bring me a tent and some food, but I would have also felt stupid had I not reacted and the person was here to attack me, so I still felt justified.
“Hey, sorry about that. You startled me.” I let the Bolt dissipate harmlessly into the air, and the woman slowly lowered their arms and cautiously placed their load onto the grass beneath their feet.
“No, that’s fine. I should have shouted or something.” I expected them to leave so I turned back to watching the cliff face, but a few minutes later I was startled once again, though with a far less severe reaction, by them speaking up from behind me.
“You know you’re not looking in the right place.”
I made an embarrassing strangled sound and looked to see that they’d somehow managed to stand right next to me. To be honest, the fact that I was completely unable to detect someone’s presence without Sense Danger made me feel a little uneasy. What if someone can somehow hide from it or something?
Either not noticing my reaction or not caring, they continued to speak after a short silence, “The tunnel’s over there, where a few rocks stick out in kind of a cross shape, see?” She pointed at a part of the cliff and I saw that there were a few rocks that could loosely be described to be shaped like a cross.
“Huh, you’re right. I didn’t even notice,” I turned back as I spoke to them, only to be struck by another thing I didn’t notice, “Hang on a second, you’re that girl from the river. With the Water Elemental problem. Since when did you live here?”
She gives me a deadpan stare, completely devoid of any noticeable emotion besides annoyance, before talking at me as though I was stupid, “I grew up here, and then moved into that cabin because I wanted to be alone. When I heard about what happened I decided to come back so that I could help out a little. Does that answer your question?”
Jeez, no need to be mean.
I just nodded and then silently went back to watching the wall. A while later I turned to ask them a question about why they wanted to be alone, but found that they had at some point left the clearing without me noticing.
I need some kind of spatial awareness Skill.