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Murphy’s Magic Emporium, Cromswerth
11:15 AM, Tuesday, May 14th
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Walking over to Zack, Arlo could see a few boxes of stuff on the countertop next to them as well as a cloak of some kind and a pendant that had a gem in the centre, a lot like the one Bill had previously given him but just with a bigger gem in it.
“Ok, put those on quickly, the others are probably done and waiting for me now and I don’t think you want to wait around too long and risk the Minisry popping in,” Zack said as he picked up the boxes.
“Oh, sure thing,” Arlo responded before taking off the pendant that Bill gave him and tossing it back to him. The moment he took the pendant off he could feel that the pressure was nowhere near the level that it was before, he would even say it was almost back to normal, well if he wasn’t currently in the back room of a magic shop, “Hey, you might want this back, by the sounds of it I'm getting an upgrade.”
“Sure thing,” Bill replied, a tad bit of loss audible in his voice.
Picking up the pendant on the counter and putting it on Arlo could feel that the pressure he was feeling immediately stopped, startling him for a moment. Putting on the cloak he didn’t feel anything immediately different. Pausing for a moment he looked over at Zack, “So what are these exactly?”
“That’s a pendant of Mana protection, like the one you just gave back to ya friend, but that one is rated to cover advanced level rifts, it also is able to completely hide the mana trails of anyone at or below the Compacted core stage,” Murphy replied, “And the cloak has a normalcy enchantment on it, basically it subtly changes living beings perceptions to think nothing of you being there, they can still see you but if it would be normal for other beings to be somewhere it makes you fall under that normal. Quite a common request actually, meaning that you can get quite close to something or not get immediately targeted when out in the wild, it’s also quite a common thing when passing through gates so as long as you go with others you shouldn’t get any hassle for it.”
“Yeah, quite the useful things, arn’t they? Sucks that they don’t work for trying to sneak up on someone that wants to be alone,” Zack said before faking a tear, “Anyways, we should probably be off now.”
“Ok then,” Arlo replied as Zack turned towards the entrance to the front of the shop, starting to go after him, “And remember, I won’t be gone forever, I’ll be back to see you guys when possible,”
“Sure thing,” Emily said with a soft smile despite still being a bit choked up, them all having just been through something so traumatising along with a long departure of one of her closest friends and support.
Bill giving a silent nod, Arlo turned back to face Zack who was already mid-way through the front of the store. Rushing a bit to catch up with him, they both left the front of the store, the bell on the door signalling their departure.
Leaving the store Zack took a left walking back up the street in the same direction Arlo, Bill, and Emily had previously been going down before Murphy called them into his Emporium. Arlo sticking close to Zack followed as he crossed to the other side of the street and took a right. Continuing to walk down the residential street Arlo could see everyone just going about their daily life, or as close to that as possible after an outbreak which often took a day or so to bounce back from.
Turning onto one of the feeder roads that feed off of the main roads that lead through the town Zack suddenly spoke up, “Hey kid, just letting you know the others I came with can be a bit intense, so just watch out for that, alright?”
“Sure, but err… you sure it’s alright to be talking to me while I have this on?” Arlo questioned while tugging on the end of the cloak with his fingers.
“Nah, it’s fine, it makes people think it’s normal for you to be there, so they don’t really pay you any attention, it doesn’t actually make you invisible, silly,” Zack came back, jovaily dismissing his concerns.
“Oh, in that case do you mind me asking what they are like? The people you came here with?” Arlo questioned, meeting people was never his strong suit, never really knowing what to say, and meeting awakened for the first time, the thought of that being kinda scary to him.
“Nah, it’s cool, let’s see,” Zack said as he continued to walk, Arlo following right behind, “Well you have Harper, she should be about your age actually, she hasn’t really got much experience talking to people not in our little group, so forgive her if she is a bit much. And then we have Eric, or was it Edan? I keep getting those two confused. Anyway he joined our group about a year ago looking to get more experience with his fighting techniques. He’s fun to mess with and if you ever want to go a round or two or have someone to spar or get tips from, he’s always up for that kinda stuff,”
Crossing over an intersection Zack continued,” Then we have Jasper, he joined a few years after I did, he can get quite defensive at time’s but after what he’s been through you can’t fault him for it, besided, after you get close to him I don’t think there is any lengths that he wouldn’t go to to try and keep you safe, or at least that’s what he does with Harper and the others”
“So your quite the tight knit group aren’t you?” Arlo asked, from what Zack had mentioned so far the group didn’t seem that bad, and at least tolerant of new people.
“Yeah, we are, although we do get new people coming in every once in a while, some people even place bets on it if it’s been a few towns or two since the last time someone brought anyone back, man am I going to make a few people mad when I get back because of it,” Zack said with a chuckle, “anyways, we are coming up or our meeting spot so let me introduce you when we get there, alright?
“Oh, sure thing?” Arlo replied, getting kinda nervous about the prospect of meeting them, not knowing if or what he should say, using his fingers to rub the side of the cloak to try and calm himself down a bit.
Getting to where the feeder road met the main road they turned left toward the east gate, crossing over the main road they went down it for a few minutes, passing all the major shops and retail chains as they made their way down the side of the industrial district, getting to a place where people and awakened passing trough were able to stay and resupply. Walking a bit further down the road they could see as different groups of people were going in and out of shops, people having their fill before they hit the road as well as resupplying for their upcoming trips or excursions.
Arlo followed as Zac seemed to be walking towards a group of 3 that all seemed to have large backpacks and ample supplies, the group seeming to be waiting about as they seemed to be looking for someone. Two seemed to be about his hight but there was one that seemed significanyly taller. The taller one seemed to be broad and well built, apearing rather muscular under what seemed to be leather armour made from a magic beast, having all sorts of strapps along it but not in a way that seemed like it would hinder mobility. And of those that seemed to be the the same hight as him, one seemed to be a guy with short black hair, and an athletic looking build under the half plate armour he had on looking like he was happy about something. The girl on the other seemed to have brown braids going down either side of her head, wearing a similar kind of leather armour too the other too, all seeming to be made out of some kind of beast hide. The staff she was holding and having a bit more of a flowy outfit design, similar to Zack’s suggested that she was probably a mage of some sort. The expression of her face alongwith the excitement she seemed to be exuding seeming to be in part the cause of the smile on the other two.
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As they got closer, the group noticed Zack as he was approaching, the taller one speaking up, “Hey Zack, you’re late, we said to meet back up seven minutes ago.”
“Ah, don’t be like that, I was just catching up with murph, you can’t fault me for that, can you?” Zack protested lighty, seeming to be having a good time with this.
“Well, we can when your our ride out of here, otherwise we would have debated leaving you behind,” The taller one shot back, a resigned look falling over his face.
“And that’s what I like about being able to fly places, people can’t just leave you behind… well they can, they just wouldn’t get very far,” Zack responded, a smile evident on his face.
“Aww, you went to visit Murphy, I didn’t realise that was here, why didn’t you tell me I woulda wanted to talk to him, I haven’t seen him in ageee’s,” The girl lamented.
“And who is this kid you brought with you?” The tall one asked Zack sternly, seemingly not impressed with him as he turned to arlo before looking him up and down. Becoming the main object of scrutiny Arlo felt even more nervous then he already was, the other two members of the group turning to him with piqued interested, not really noticing that he was there before.
“Kid, these are Jasper, Eric, and Harper,” Zack said, while pointing at the tall one before at the other guy and girl.
“How many times do I need to tell you, my name’s Edan, not Eric,” Edan said, throwing his hands in the air as he turned around, frustrated that Zack kept getting it wrong, “I swear sometimes you do it on purpose.”
Zack laughed a bit at Edan’s reaction, “I don’t mean to, but anyway’s this is a kid I met while meeting Murphy,”
“You know you can’t just decide to bring someone with you.” Jasper stated looking at Zack with a slight bit of frustration.
“I know,” Zack said before turning to Arlo, “but this guy here would do something stupid if I didn’t and I can’t just let him do that without at least giving him another option first.”
Jasper looked at Arlo, his impression of him seeming to worsen, “Just because someone is going to do something stupid doesn’t mean you can just take him with us, if they are able to do whatever it is then they should at least be able to get themselves out of it.”
“Well, he apparently saved himself and his friends from multiple packs of firehounds in that rift just now to the point of mana depletion, and he’s scared that people will find out what he can do and use him for it, so to avoid that wanting to try and make it by himself.” Zack explained, “Why not save him the trouble of getting beaten up in the woods and just take him in now?”
Hearing Zacks explanation Jasper looked back over at Arlo still looking a bit reluctant but also seeming to hold some sympathy and respect for him in his eyes. Edan and Harper on the other hand seemed to have their curiosities peaked, knowing that the person in front of them had just faced off against multiple packs of firehounds and managed to get himself and others to safety with what looks like not even a scratch on his clothes. Seeing how exited Edan and Harper looked Jasper let out a sigh before getting serious again, “Fine, but your on the hook for him, got it?”
“Sure, I kinda knew that when I asked if he wanted to come on with us,” Zack responded. Seeing that Jasper had agreed to let Arlo come with them, Edan and Harper became even more exited, going up to him to get a closer look.
“Did you really face multiple packs of firehounds? How many in total? Man I bet your really strong if you were able to get out of there without even a scratch on you,” Edan started ranting excitedly, “ How many did you take down? Were they tough?”
Harper on the other hand and circled around the back of him before coming around the other side, “You smell smokey, well I suppose you would after being in a burning building. Well at least you were able to get yourself and your friends out of there ok, it was at a institute for normal people, did they really let you study there of were you just visiting your friends or something?”
Suddenly being averwhelmed with questions arlo didn’t know what to do, rubbing his fingers against the side of his cloak to try and calm down. Having people this close to him making him feel slightly uncomfortable and a bit paniced at they got into his personal space. Vying for an escape he tried to circle around to the other side of Zack but Edan and Harper followed after.
“Hey now, guys, give him a bit of space,” Zack said, putting his arm between Arlo the the rest, “besides, we should be getting back on the road, we were supposed to get on the road a bit ago, and I’m sure kiddo over here would like to leave quickly anyway,”
“Fine with me,” Jasper replied turning to Zack, “But do you want to put those boxes in the dimension pouch first?”
Edan and Harper having their fun cut short initialy pouted a bit, but livened up at the offer to get back on the road again because they knew they could ask him things on their way back to camp.
“Yeah, definitely, don’t want to be flying about with stuff in my arms,” Zack said, bringing his other hand back to reposition the boxes in his arms from when he just had to move it to stop the others from pestering Arlo. After he got the boxes in position he placed them into the dimensional pouch that Jasper was holding open, making sure to keep his staff that he had at the bottom of the stack.
Having made sure the group had everything they set off down the road to the east gate, since that was the closest to where they currently were. Edan leading the pack as Arlo and Harper stuck close to Zack who was following directly behind, Jasper rearing up the newly expanded group. It was fun for Arlo to see the interactions they all had, Edan going off ahead a bit before turning around and encouraging the others to keep up, and how Harper was trying to subtly mess with Zack by trying to take things from him or otherwise just pestering him, and looking back to see Jasper scanning the space around them seemingly on the lookout for something, before looking directly at him causing Arlo to look forward again.
As they got closer to the town walls, they could see an increase in activity as the people that had newly come in or wanted to leave went past, the frequency of supply shops and places to eat for those that had just come in increase drastically as different groups of awakened all seem to be preparing to leave. Looking at those groups' compositions, or how they are dressed at least suggests that they are different hunting parties or hired escorts getting ready to go out for the day. Looking around a bit more Arlo could see vehicle bays coming up for the intercity transport network coming up with a variety of different off road busses and other vehicles being present.
As they got closer to the gate the smell of sweat and blood in the air increased, although everyone around seemed to be fine with it, it was a natural consequence of having to go out and battle monsters after all.
“Ok everyone make sure to stick together and I will handle the gate attendants, alright?” Zack said, as they approached the gate, getting a nod from everyone.
Getting closer to the gate they had to get in a bit of a line, after waiting for a few minutes they got to the front of the line, seeing that they were in a group the attendant asked, “Group member names and reason for leaving?” In a tone of someone who had asked that same exact question for the decade of their life.
“We came in under the group name ‘I know you can’t just call your group name supply run’, we came in to get resupplies for our group,” Zack said, the attendant looking at him unimpressed yet indifferent, Arlo looking at him wondering why they would use that as their name.
“Ok, I see you in our system, I hope you found everything you need, have a safe trip.” The attendant said before calling out, “Next.”
Arlo had never been outside the town walls before, so although he knew that he was will a group of awakened he still felt a tad exposed, being without the layer of protection the walls offered. Although that layer of protection didn’t help him a couple of hours ago when a rift formed like 10 meters away from him. Getting further from the walls he could see the small belt of land this side the town that had been cleared so that those on the wall had a clear sight of monsters approaching. Looking back at the walls he could see that it was littered with all sorts of previous divets from where it had previously been atacked, along with all the scorch marks from where fire magic got involved.
Looking back towards the woods, Arlo could see large trees that seemed to have multiple large channels of brocken branches and stumps, along with the path infornt of them that was starting to curve more northward as they went along.
“Just a bit longer until we get out of the suppression limit, then we can take off,” Zack said as they walked, the suppression limit being something Arlo knew as the limit wherein unless in case of emergency, that awakened above the Condensed core stage should suppress their mana as too not overwhelm those that aren’t awakened.
“Ok,” Arlo said among other sounds of agreement from the rest of the group.
“And we’re out,” Zack said, as Arlo heard Harper and Edan let out a sigh of relief.
“Finally, I don’t have to hold it in anymore, trying to get a hang of the controlling our aura thing is hard, I mean I know I chose to come but I only advanced about a week ago,” Harper lamented.
“Eh, you get used to it,” Edan replied, “Hey… new guy, aren’t you going to let your’s out?”
“He has a pendant of mana protection on, none would come out even if he could,” Zack replied, letting out his as he started drawing mana out of his hands.
“Oh and what’s your name by the way?” Edan asked, finding that just a moment ago that he didn’t even know this person's name.
“Yeah, you said you would only tell me when we were out the city,” Zack added as he continued what he was doing drawing the mana in his hands into a magic circle before starting to add details before some more rings were added.
“So your telling us you brought him on without even knowing his name?” Jasper scoffed in exasperation.
“Yeah, well he wanted to make it as hard as possible for the Ministry to find out who he was, so I didn’t push the point when he asked me not to,” Zack said, before going silent for a few moments as he looked the magic circle over, the entire process of drawing it up taking about 30 seconds, “the magic circles done, everyone get ready for flight.”
Looking around Arlo could see Harper and Edan looking excited as the magic circle that Zack made seemed to come to life and seemed to latch something onto everyone, before a few seconds later hearing the wind go past his head as he and everyone as started shooting into the air.
“So how do you like it, kid?” Zack asked, looking over at him.
Feeling his stomach fall before the feeling of weightlessness took over him as he shot into the air, a smile crept onto Arlo’s face as he looked over at Zack, “Amazing, it feels Amazing.”