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“Liam. It’s… - Eri.”
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I know who it is. Liam cut Eri off before she could finish the text. What I want to know is how she knows I am here and why she decided to come.
Liam didn’t get a reply from Eri as another knock came from the door and the person called out once more, “I would like to talk to you about what you went through. I know it is late and I am a couple of days late, but you must understand that it hasn’t been easy to locate you.”
Liam continued to stay silent. His mind raced on what he should do. As he tried to formulate a plan on what he should do. He slowly and silently made his way to the window and internally asked Eri, Eri, can you tell if she is alone or has anyone near?
Eri’s answer was swift.
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“She doesn’t have anyone right next to her, but there are a couple people standing at both ends of the hall. There are two Lion-folks, and two Wolf-folks. – Eri.”
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Liam nodded his head as he looked outside the window. How about outside the building?
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“None that I can tell that are with her. – Eri.”
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Liam heard Lucy knock on the door once more. This time her knocks weren’t light and sounded a bit more impatient. Her tone of voice was the same as she tried again, “Mr. Liam. I can understand if you are quite upset, but I can assure you that if you open the door and let me in I can resolve the wrong doings you have experienced.”
Liam felt a scowl form on his face as he listened to her words. He searched the window panel to see if there was a way to open the glass that covered it. This inn was quite different than the one he used back in the Tutorial Area. While that inn had no glass windows, this one did. Lucky for him the window did have a latch that allowed one to open it. It didn’t open much and was barely wide enough for his body to slip through.
Liam tried to think about what he could do. He didn’t have many options. He could try to go out the window, but the amount of space would be troubling. He didn’t want to break the window, but if he needed to he would. However, running away from her, especially in that fashion, would make him look suspicious. While he knew she was up to something and she had some connections to what had happened a couple days ago, she didn’t know he knew this. He closed the window, not wanting her to think he ran away from her.
He looked around the room once more and tried thinking of something else. If he could avoid it, he didn’t want her to catch him or whatever she had planned to do. His eyes eventually ended up on the bed. He crouched down and saw the space was enough for him to get underneath it.
“Mr. Liam open up now,” Lucy stated with some authority.
Before he slid underneath the bed, he felt something coming from the door. He noticed some color flash in and out around the edges of the door making him activate Mana Sight. He noticed a few colors that he didn’t recognize which made him curious as to what Field of magic they belonged to.
He quickly pushed his curiosity to the back of his mind as he made his way underneath the bed. As soon as he was completely underneath he activated Veil of Shadows. As he felt the coldness and emptiness of the shadows covered him, a click filled the room. Liam watched the door slowly opened from where he was and saw Lucy walk in.
He watched as her body moved in a way that looked like she was scanning the room. After a few seconds had past, he heard her swore.
“Shit,” Lucy muttered as she walked around the room.
A few seconds after she moved around, the four Beast-kins approached the door. They entered the room but didn’t move away from the entrance.
He wasn’t sure who was talking but he heard one of the men ask, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” Lucy replied as she turned to look at them. “My informants told me he was here.”
One of the four men walked towards the bathroom and peered inside. Shortly after, he turned and stated, “He must have been here not too long ago. The room still feels warm from the shower being used.”
“I know that idiot,” Lucy stated with some annoyance. “The question is when did he leave and how?”
“Do you think he might still be in the building or this room?” Another man questioned as he made his way over to the bed. He dropped to a knee and looked under as he added, “Someone should have seen him leave the building if he had actually left.”
Liam tensed and held his breath as he stared right back at the man who was looking at him. He noticed the Wolf-folk scrunch his brows as he took in a deep breath. He waited there looking like he was trying to solve a puzzle or something of the like.
“What are you doing you moron,” Lucy questioned as she walked over to his side.
Liam could feel his heartbeat thunder inside his chest. He knew that his Shadow Magic wasn’t as strong when he wasn’t in his Spirit Weave form, but he also knew there was no way his shadowy form could be seen on the ground since the bed produced a dark shadow underneath it.
The man slowly started to reached a hand out. Liam slowly and cautiously shuffled away and closer to the edge of the other side of the bed, but realized he didn’t have enough room to do it without letting some of his shadowy form enter the lighted area of the room.
Before the Wolf-folk could extend his arm out any further, one of the Lion-folk men appeared beside him, crouching, and looking under the bed. “What are you doing?”
The wolf-folk sneered before looking at the other and said, “I thought I saw something.”
The Lion-folk made a puzzled expression as he stared around. He didn’t waste any time as he stated, “There’s nothing there.”
The Wolf-folk man let out an annoyed sigh as he retracted his arm and they both stood back up.
The only man not to leave where he stood closed the door before asking, “What is the plan now? I heard that the files containing all of our information were stolen.”
Liam could hear Lucy let out a growl before responding, “Don’t remind me of that. Zareth, or rather Falith, was punished for that blunder.”
“Are you sure it was his fault and not the one who was hiding it?” the person questioned. Liam wasn’t sure, but he felt like he could hear some smugness in the man’s voice.
Lucy made her way over to the person and stopped right in front of them. He could tell the comment irritated her as she retorted, “Are you trying to say I am at fault with our information being stolen?”
“Not at all,” the other person replied. “I’m just saying I find it counterintuitive for you to punish the one who helped discover the newest problem. They were not the one who hid the files nor were they the ones who lost them.”
“You don’t know that,” Lucy stated. “Falith stated that he felt something behind him after he left the office before and during his run in with Fred. What if someone used Spatial Magic to swipe it and replace it with those other folders?”
“An event most unlikely, but still a possibility,” the man acquiesced. “However, I must ask, what makes you believe this?”
Lucy turned away from the person as she added with an even more annoyed tone of voice, “One of the folders contains a special type of Protection magic. In case something like this happens I should be able to track it and find the location it was taken too. However, I can’t find a slim of a trace. The only way for that is if it is in a sub-space of some sort.”
“Ah…I can see why the Spatial Magic theory you have is what you are going with,” the man stated. “What about if it was destroyed due to someone trying to forcefully open it?”
“No. I would be able to tell if it was destroyed. The Protection Magic placed on it allows me to know that as well,” Lucy answered.
“I see,” the man muttered. “If that is the case the what you are thinking is the only thing we can go off of…What is the plan then?”
“We have our orders,” Lucy answered. “We need to find this crafter. If he is what we believe him to be then we can get him to a point where he can learn how to stabilize, conquer, and create a Captured Dungeon. With his racial nature he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn it since he would receive so much information on different types of crafts.”
“And if we can’t find him?” one of the other men asked.
“Then we will have to consider it a loss,” Lucy stated. “I will personally punish that fool Morshire for creating so much trouble.”
“We should have disposed of the damn Weasel-folk ages ago,” another stated. “He’s been nothing but trouble since your pet brought him into the plan.”
So Morshire has connections to all of this? And who is this Pet? Liam thought as he continued to listen.
“I would have loved to do so, but that stupid mayor favors him since the man is the same species and race as him,” Lucy replied. “No matter, even that fool doesn’t understand what is truly going on. He will soon though.”
“Oh? Are the festivities happening soon?” one of the Lion-folk men asked.
“Yes,” Lucy stated. “Our new orders are to move the schedule of our plans ahead. We will commence the plan very soon. Since this was a bust, let’s head out so we can get going on that.”
“Yes ma’am,” the four Beast-kins replied.
Liam waited till they all left the room and closed the door behind them. He waited a few more minutes before moving out from under the bed in case they were creating a trap. After he got out he asked Eri, Have they left?
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“Yes. They have left the vicinity and don’t look like they will be coming back. – Eri.”
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Good. If that’s the case I need to leave this room now. Liam responded as he started for the door. He left his Veil of Shadows activated on and left the area.
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It took him some time making his way back to the forested area. He made his way to this area as slowly and cautiously as he could. His entire being was on high alert. He felt like he had eyes on him the entire time he was making his way, but he couldn’t find anything amiss. Even Eri reassured him that no one was able to see him, and he didn’t have anyone following him.
After he had arrived to his and Uncle Naro’s spot, he found the man cooking. It looked like he, too, had just arrived not too long ago. As they ate, Uncle Naro asked him about his day. Liam left out the mission and what he had found out. he just said he worked on some techniques in the dungeon. He was quiet for a while after that.
Uncle Naro noticed something was up with him but didn’t ask anything. At least not for a while. After the silence was pungent, Uncle Naro, “Is there something on your mind? You’re usually not this quiet unless you’re crafting.”
Liam looked at the man. he wasn’t sure what he could say. He had a lot on his mind. From what he had discovered from his mission to what had happened at the inn. He wasn’t entirely sure what he could say without revealing certain secret things. After some thought he decided to tell him not everything, but a small, abridged version.
“Do you remember how you suggested I pay for a room at an inn so I can take showers?” Liam asked.
Uncle Naro nodded.
“Well, before coming back here I went and took a shower,” Liam started. “After I was done, someone knocked on my door.”
Uncle Naro stared at Liam. His attention was fully on him.
“With everything that was going on I’m kind of on high alert with almost everyone in this city,” Liam continued. “I am especially so with this person since I found it strange they found out where I was without me ever mentioning it to her.”
“Who was it?” Uncle Naro asked. Liam wasn’t sure, but he felt some hardness in his voice he had never heard before.
“It was Lucy from the New Arrival department,” Liam replied as he looked at him.
“Hm,” Uncle Naro muttered as he brought a hand to his chin. He then looked back at Liam. “While it is strange that she was able to find you, it is not all that strange since it is her job to make sure you are safe. Especially after what had happened.” The look on his face made Liam think he was fishing for something.
“Is it her job to break into the room if I don’t answer the door?” Liam countered.
Uncle Naro’s eyes narrowed after Liam asked that. “No. It is not.”
“Or have four other Beast-kins with her to try and…talk,” Liam air quoted the word, “to me about what had happened?”
A slight scowl started to creep up on the bear of a man’s face. “Definitely not. That kind of treatment is for those who have done criminal things, but even those moments don’t require her assistance in the matter. She has clearly crossed the line with that.”
“I thought so,” Liam stated as he looked down at the ground. The next part was something he wasn’t sure if he should say but he felt like he needed to tell someone. He could have made his way over to the Fiddler’s Spider Web and tell them what he had learned since they have an idea of Lucy’s involvement in something, but that would involve questions. Questions that would revolve around revealing why he was able to find all of this out.
He knew he could try to spin some tale of being able to come across her while she was looking for essentially him, but having something look like a coincidence happen more than once would be too suspicious. At least that’s what he felt. So the next best person he could tell was Uncle Naro. Seeing as he was a Beast-kin, maybe he would know who to tell and how to proceed with this.
“That’s not all,” Liam said as he gulped.
Uncle Naro stared at him, waiting for what he had to say.
“While I was hiding I heard them talking about a plan’s schedule being moved up,” Liam started. “I’m not too sure what kind of plan they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good.”
Uncle Naro brought his hands together and intertwined them while resting his arms on his knees. Liam noticed the pressure he had as his hands were together due to the veins starting to form on his forearms. He wasn’t sure what was going on in the man’s mind, but this kind of reaction told him the bear of a man wasn’t happy.
Liam noticed a scowl grow across his face as he looked around. He then slowly stood up and asked with a predatory tone, “I didn’t ask this, but…how did you escape without her finding you?”
Liam was hoping he wouldn’t catch that, but already had an answer for that. “Before she entered the room, I hid underneath the bed and activated a stealth ability. They didn’t know I was there so after they left I waited before sneaking out and making my way here.”
“Did you make sure you weren’t followed here?” Uncle Naro questioned.
Liam felt a pressure start to exude from the man. Starting to feel a bit nervous and worried, Liam answered, “Yes. I made sure no one followed me here. Why do you…”
He was cut off as Uncle Naro stated, “Then they must have taken a chance on searching this area.”
Confused, Liam asked, “What do you me…”
Before he could finish, Uncle Naro called out, “If you think you’re being clever hiding behind that illusionary magic of yours then you’re mistaken. I can smell you and your vile magic.” His voice deepened further as he growled out a command, “Drop it and reveal yourselves now.”
Liam felt magic suddenly lift revealing twenty-five people surrounding them. They were a mix of Lion-folk, Wolf-folk, Weasel-folk, and even Panther-folk. Each were armored and armed with different types of weapons.
Eri. Why didn’t you tell me that we were surrounded? Liam internally questioned.
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“I didn’t say anything because I knew that the Bear-folk found them out. – Eri.”
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Liam wasn’t happy with the reply, but he also knew she would have said something if she believed he was in any actual danger. However, that begged the question. Was he really in any danger or was her judgement off? He couldn’t do anything but hope she was right with her judgement on the situation.
“I am quite surprised you were able to tell we were here,” a Wolf-folk stated as he took a step forward. “Let alone to be able to find us while our Illusion Magic was active. I commend you. However, your luck ends there. Hand over that young man and we’ll leave you alone. Interfere and…” The man let out a chuckle, “Well, you should already know what will happen.”
“Do you not recognize who I am?” Uncle Naro asked as he looked at each Beast-kin.
Liam could hear murmurs echo around as they asked each other who the Bear-folk was. From what Liam had heard they were all confused and didn’t know who he was. Liam felt it was strange Uncle Naro would ask a question like that but didn’t question it for now.
“I’m afraid not,” the wolf-folk stated. “Am I supposed to?”
Uncle Naro let out a sigh. “I figured as much. It relieves me to know that none of you are who you are pretending to be…”
The wolf-folk’s eyes narrowed as a puzzled expression grew on his face. “What’s that supposed to me…”
“However,” Uncle Naro interrupted. An angry and pissed expression spread across his face as he shouted, “I’m also pissed that vile creatures as yourselves have infiltrated this island.”
The Wolf-folk looked annoyed at Uncle Naro’s words. “I don’t know what you’re saying, but it doesn’t matter. Once we swipe the target you’ll be dead.” The wolf-folk then crouched before pushing off his back leg and bolted right for Liam. His speed was so fast, Liam didn’t see him move until he suddenly appeared right before him, reaching an arm out for him.
However, before he could touch Liam, a massive War Hammer suddenly slammed right into the man’s side. The force of the swing was so powerful that it sent the wolf-folk flying right into a tree not too far from them. Liam’s eyes widened as he looked at area where the dust cloud and loose tree bits that exploded from the impact.
The wolf-folk slowly stood up after the debris disappeared. Blood washed down from his head and the side where he was struck was damaged badly. His arm laid by his side limply. His weight was shifted over to the side he wasn’t hit on. Blood escaped his lips as he let out a cough and said in a pained filled voice, “How the fuck…”
“I suggest you all come at me at once or I will kill you before you have the chance,” Uncle Naro challenged as he slammed the head of his War Hammer down next to him.
Liam stared at the weapon. It was quite impressive. The Head of the War Hammer was smooth on both sides. The metal of the weapon part looked to be made from some sort of black metal. The shaft of the weapon was wrapped in some red hide made from a beast Liam couldn’t begin to understand. It looked like it had scales, but at the same time what he thought were scales looked like they weren’t.
Both heads of the weapon was what really impressed Liam. The size looked like they could almost reach his waist maybe a little farther than his waist. He couldn’t really tell since Naro had taken a few steps away from him after he attacked the man.
“It’s your funeral,” the Wolf-folk stated as he looked all around him and yelled, “Kill him!”
Chaos exploded. The closest group of men raced towards Uncle Naro as a few women and men that stood on the branches of trees started chanting.
Uncle Naro gripped his weapon and timed his swing as he used all his might to lift it off the ground attacked the first three men that approached him. The head of the weapon slammed into the first one. The man had a look like he believed he could withstand the attack as the weapon approached him and he tensed his body embracing for impact. His expression changed as the hammer knocked him off his feet, causing him to slam into the other two right by him.
Two more appeared from his right side as he spun around. The head of the hammer lowered as he aimed for the attackers’ legs. As it slammed against their knees, Liam heard bones shatter and screams of pain escape their lips as they flipped in the air and landed on their faces into the dirt.
A Wolf-folk and Panther-folk appeared behind him and aimed for his back, however, with speed that didn’t seem right for his weight Uncle Naro released his weapon, allowing it to drop down, pulled out two blades that looked a lot like giant meat cleavers, side stepped and swung down. After the first Meat Cleaver sliced through the Wolf-folk’s extended arms, Uncle Naro took a step forward and sliced their the Panter-folk’s arms as well.
Blood gushed out from the opened wounds. He didn’t stop there. He then swung both weapons right through the necks of the two men. Their heads flew off their bodies and landed with a thud on the ground.
Liam then watched as Uncle Naro crouched down before exploding forward. With precision and grace, the giant man danced around the group of people slicing through limbs and necks as if he were thinning pieces of meat for cooking.
Liam wasn’t sure if what he was watching was real or a dream. He was, though, starting to understand what Nabal had been trying to instill into him during his time in the Tutorial Area as he watched Uncle Naro. The Bear of a man didn’t use skills or abilities as he fought the wave of people. He was using nothing but the basics. Basic strikes, basic footwork, everything he did was from using the basics.
If practicing the basics can make your fighting look this…beautiful then no wonder he’s been so adamant on repetitions. Liam thought as he kept his eyes on the man.
Several different pressures suddenly surrounded the area causing Liam to look around. The Beast-kins that were standing in the trees finished chanting whatever spells they were readying and released them towards Uncle Naro.
Liam was about to shout out to warn him, but stopped as he noticed a wicked grin form on the man’s face. After spinning around and killing off the few that had tried to attack from so close, he threw both meat cleavers into the ground, pulled out a cauldron with both hands and spun around.
Liam’s mouth dropped as he watched Uncle Naro catch every magical attack with the cauldron as if he were scooping water in a river or pond. After the last bit of magical ability was scooped up, he pulled out a metal spoon after slamming the cauldron down, swirled it with both hands four times then lifted the cauldron up and drank every bit of what looked like Liquified mana down to the very last drop.
He then wiped away the bit of liquid that didn’t enter his mouth and let out a loud satisfying burp. A multi-colored cloud escaped his mouth before he let out a laugh. The group of beast-kins that had managed to get close enough to him stopped, confused as to what had happened and stared at the man. Liam couldn’t blame them since he was trying to process what had happened as well.
Uncle Naro didn’t stop at that as he said, “Gourmet Consumption Reversal.” Liam then watched as the man took in a very deep breath, making his chest rise more than normal. The second after he reached the full amount his body allowed him to inhale, he let out a loud roar.
To Liam’s surprise the loud roar released more than just sound. Every magical attack he caught earlier with his cauldron escaped from his mouth and collided with the Beast-kins who were froze with confusion. The attacks hit each square against the chest or right on their faces, making them fall backwards.
After the last bit of magical abilities Uncle Naro had swallowed up earlier finished, he then pulled out throwing knives and gracefully threw each one at the Beast-kins who were standing on the tree branches.
Liam watched as each Beast-kin, who was hit with the throwing knives, fall to the ground and land on their heads with a sickening crack. Liam didn’t need to be an expert to know they had snapped their necks from the fall. However, he believed them to already be dead before hitting the ground since each knife was lodging right into their heads.
Uncle Naro grabbed his two Meat Cleavers and made his way towards the beast-kins who were still alive after getting pelted with the magical spells Uncle Naro had reflected towards them.
Liam noticed a Lion-folk man get up from the ground not too far from him. As impressive as Uncle Naro’s fight had been so far, Liam felt ashamed that he hadn’t contributed to this fight at all. Steeling his resolve, Liam raced over and pulled his Shadow and Lunar Blades out from their sheathes and went to strike at them man. However as he was about to strike, images of people glaring and crying flashed before his eyes.
Those sudden memories caused a brief moment of hesitation. That hesitation was enough to alarm the Lion-folk to Liam’s failed surprise attack. He swirled around and kicked Liam right in the chest, making him reverse momentum effortlessly and send him flying backwards.
Liam could feel exactly how powerful the man was and had evidence to prove it as his health pool drop to ten percent. Him crashing into the tree had dropped his health down even lower, but luckily for him it didn’t outright kill him.
After finally coming to a stop, Liam fell to the ground. Pain exploded throughout his body as he tried to get back up to his feet. His sight blurred and darkened a few times, but Liam willfully forced himself to stand back up. After getting back to his feet, his eyes widened as he saw the Lion-folk, who was now enraged, suddenly appear right in front of Liam with a punch ready to be thrown.
Liam felt his blood run cold as he realized how fucked up of a situation he was in. His mind couldn’t think of any possible ways to get out of this as pain continued to wash throughout his body and the sight of the man in front of him getting ready to attack made him panic.
The Lion-folk released his punch, however, before it could land, a blade sliced through the attacker’s neck, sending his head flying towards the side. The fist unclenched and fell limp as the body came to a halt as Uncle Naro held it back before it could fall on Liam.
Liam felt relieved as his body relaxed. As soon as it did, the darkness that was creeping along the sides of sight grasped its opportunity, making Liam lose all consciousness.