1 Day Ago
Captain Ironheart was, as usual, doing paperwork. His hand was still cramping as it always did, and he was still looking forward to the next chance he got to go out and do something. Of course, that desire was quickly tempered by the reminder that if he had to step in, then the city would be facing a major problem.
He sighed and let his head drop into his hands, thinking about the latest in a long line of the Mage Killer’s victims.
Kaelan Zephyr, a Flame Professor from Bandora… Damn it, he was a good man. I just wish I could-
He was startled from his musings by a sudden, sharp knock on his door. It held a certain level of confidence and command that he instantly knew who was on the other side.
“Lord Ironhold, sir! Please come in!” He stood to attention, snapping into a quick salute as the current Lord of Ironhold walked into his office.
“You may sit, Captain Ironheart. I shan’t stay for long.” The Lord spoke with an air of smugness, as if he knew something that no one else was privy to. In all likelihood, he did. Ironheart just couldn’t figure out what.
“What do you require me for, sir?”
“Oh, nothing too significant. I’ve just come to let you know that I’ll be heading off to meet with that Lightning Adept boy. You know, the King Slayer?” He did know, all too well. The uncertainty of that one decision had been weighing on the part of him that yearned to uphold the law. But he couldn’t stray from his own moral code, so that part was soundly ignored.
“Would you like a Guard detail then, sir? I would recommend hiring mercenaries instead, we have very few Guards with the right Skills to fight outside the city.” Ironhold only laughed, throwing his head back as though he’d heard the funniest joke imaginable.
“Oh, you Guard Captains really know how to crack a joke, don’t you?” Once he’d calmed down, Ironhold returned to his usual semi-serious persona, “No, I’ll just be taking Archibald to drive the carriage. I can hold my own in a fight, you know?” There was a glint in his eye that implied a certain… certainty of this fact. As though he’d had irrefutable proof of his strength.
But why would a Lord have combat ready skills? Should he not be trying to improve the city?
“I-I see. So there is nothing else you require of me, then?”
“Hmph, not as such, no. Perhaps there will be more for you to handle on my return.” Ironhold spoke with an amused lilt, then chuckled and turned to leave without even bothering to shut the door behind himself.
Ironheart sighed again, and yelled for the secretary to shut the door for him.
“I should have just taken a regular Guard Path.” He muttered to himself, getting back to work with the same lack of enthusiasm as before.
----------------------------------------
Present Day
Captain Ironheart was doing paperwork, though not quite as usual. No, he was doing it whilst being jostled around by any bump or rock in the road, completely messing up his handwriting and forcing him to go slowly and carefully.
Why was he in a carriage? Well, simply put, the Lord had gone missing. Ordinarily, the Guards wouldn’t assume that someone’s missing unless it’s been more than a week, but this is a special case. Not only is the Lord someone of great importance- the most important in the city, in fact- but his Servant should have been sending periodic Messages to make it clear the Lord is safe.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Needless to say, the sudden lack of those messages has caused a bit of concern.
Ironheart’s excitement for finally getting some action was greatly reduced when he realised that there was still a ridiculous amount of paperwork to be done, so he’d still have to do it during the carriage ride. He was also concerned for the Lord, but he believed that the man wasn’t lying about being able to handle himself. The more likely scenario was that the servant was killed in a bandit attack which, while still a tragedy, would be no more significant than any of the other countless bandit attacks.
Finally, the carriage trundled to a stop and Ironheart stepped out to see the outskirts of the village. There were a few villagers gathering, curious about his presence most likely, but he ignored them. They weren’t important for this next step.
Most Guards and Guard Captains would take a lot of social Skills, things like Interrogation or Social Deduction, but Sylas Ironheart didn’t care for anything like that. His focus was entirely on the things he could do on his own, which did largely consist of combat skills, to be sure, but also included one of the most important parts of any self respecting peace keeper’s Skill set.
Find Secrets
As he thought those words (a completely unnecessary act that Ironheart for some reason insisted on), the world around him faded away. Or, more accurately, anything that he could already see faded away. Behind it, he could see nothing but dozens of small things that people like to keep hidden away, journals, money, food and the like. Mostly useless stuff, apart from one thing of particular interest close to the edge of his range.
There was a single step of footsteps leading to two long, straight lines in the grass and dirt. A carriage, to be certain. And it looks like one that was trying to get around secretly.
Ironheart grinned, “Stay here for now, this’ll be quicker on foot!”, and then he bolted off.
Pursuit!
Pursuit was a relatively simple skill, it made him move faster when in pursuit of a criminal. There were several loopholes that could cancel its effect, like if someone were to confess to their crimes and allow themself to be taken away, but it would otherwise work even if the criminal was dead. For a while, at least.
So Ironheart was able to easily jog through the forest at breakneck speeds, seeing more and more obvious signs of the carriages passing. Before long, he noticed a charged current to the air, like what you’d feel moments after a Lightning strike, and felt Pursuit begin to fade.
So Zeneki has been here, and the criminal is already dead. Hmm, a little disappointing, but at least the Lord is okay. I suppose Zeneki must have helped deal with, what, a bandit attack?
Soon, he came upon a clearing. There was evidence of a fight, churned up dirt, broken trees, and blood. But the most striking thing was the swirling rain cloud up above, and the man stood beneath it in a circle of charred ground.
The man, wearing a cloak that was caked in enough dirt to look like storm clouds, didn’t seem to notice Ironheart’s presence for a few moments. But then he did, and shakily turned to face him, moving more like a Golem than a Human.
“Oh, Captain Ironheart… good to see you.” His face was caked with blood, dirt, and tears, but it was obvious who this was. The King Slayer, Robert Zeneki.
Ironheart froze, preparing himself to use any of the Skills at his disposal, and cautiously spoke, “Zeneki, it’s good to see you too. What happened here? Where is the Lord?”
Zeneki looked around, then down at the ground beneath him. “Oh, I guess he was right here, wasn’t he? But now he’s…” He looked around, looking a little dazed, “Hm, I don’t really know. He was here, and then when I hit him with Lightning he vanished.” He shrugged casually, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
Eidetic Reconstruction
Ironheart used another of his most useful Skills, an Evolution of the skill Partial Recall, which makes it easier to connect clues together to figure out a timeline of events. This version of the Skill is obviously much more powerful, and makes it possible to fully relive an event with enough clues.
But for some reason, it just didn’t work. Everything Zeneki said was true, he was certain about that, but he just didn’t have enough information to go off of to figure this out. No matter how you slice it, there is no way for Zeneki’s Lightning Bolt to have that effect. Ironhold could have simply teleported, technically, but there was no evidence that he had such a rare Skill so that’s a bit far fetched.
But is it as far fetched as a rookie Mage disintegrating the Lord of a city?
Zeneki was oblivious to all of Ironheart’s musings, and had taken to looking around the clearing as if trying to figure something out. Eventually, he spoke up.
“Lord Ironhold was the Mage Killer”
Ironheart’s train of thought was suddenly derailed, and he was suddenly thinking back to all of those oddities that he’d noticed but not quite pieced together. His Skills were working against him now, to bring him to a conclusion that he desperately wants to be false.
“That’s impossible, he’s the Lord of Ironhold, he would never do such a thing.” Ironheart spoke with resolve, as though he fully believed what he was saying. And Rob just shrugged.
“Whatever, I’m too tired for this. He killed Kaelan, and probably all those other guys too. His Path was perfect for countering Mages, but I guess it didn’t do much good against me, huh?” Whilst the Guard Captain was still considering what Zeneki said about Ironhold’s Path, Zeneki didn’t stop talking. Though it was more like muttering, like he didn’t realise he was speaking out loud, “No, wait. It was a Pact wasn’t it? Like the lobster guy from before… I don’t know what a Pact is, has someone told me before?”
Finally, Ironheart decided to speak up. “A Pact is an alternative to a Path. It is similar to an Oath, but it is not given freely. By sacrificing General Skill Slots, you can gain power far above your actual Level. But are you saying that the Lord himself had such a thing? Did he tell you this?”
Zeneki gave Ironheart a look, like he was the stupid one, and spoke condescendingly, “No, it was on the Clear notification when I killed him. Obviously”