Anthony examined the cellar of the old farm house, it didn’t take him long to recognize the hidden trap door. It was the only place in the whole cellar that had not been covered in dust because it had recently been moved. When he opened it, he found a frightened Clio ready to strike with a stream of water from a bucket kept by her side. The moment she saw Anthony’s face she splashed it back into the container.
“Oh, thank the King’s it’s you Anthony.”
“We must hurry, we need to help Ms. Zoe before things get out of hand.”
“What? I’m not a fighter, all my training has focused on medicine and preservation.”
“How is that possible?”
“It’s my choice, I don’t use my abilities for combat, but for peace.”
“Are you at least brave enough to help me save the hostages?”
“How can I do that?”
“I’ll create a distraction, but no matter what happens I need you to focus on the Wind Mage. I can tell he looks inexperienced enough he won’t be expecting a surprise attack. Make it to the tree line and stay hidden.”
“What about you? Even from here, I can sense the power of mage craft in the area, and you have no magic.”
“Trust me, I know how to defend myself against mages.”
Anthony escorted Clio and instructed her to wait until she heard a loud crash. At the time, she didn’t know what he was talking about but when she heard the sound of lightning strike she knew that was the signal she could not ignore. She ran in time to see Anthony dodging a barrage of ice shards hitting the house, she saw as he tried to avoid the other incoming assaults of ice that came after leading him further and further away from her area. She saw the Wind Mage partially distracted watching the fight and the Niles and Thisbe attending to their falling son. If there was an opportunity to strike now would be the best time, but where to find water?
Luckily the recent shards that hit the house had evaporated, giving her plenty of resources to work with. She quickly gathered water in the air, melting them into a large sphere as she quietly snuck up behind the wind mage. One push with the force of tidal wave was enough to render the mage incapacitated. By the time he recovered, he could only see Clio helping the farmer’s father and mother carrying their son into the woods far from their sight.
“The hostages have fled?!” Notes screamed not knowing what to do.
“What?” Oceanus was momentarily distracted by this sound, giving Anthony a good opportunity.
While his focus was diverted he stopped running away and started running toward his opponent. With incredible speed he could have stabbed or even punched his opponent in the gut, the key weakness in Water Mages. It would be enough to incapacitate him in only for a moment while taking him down. Oceanus on the other hand was no fool to be taken off his guard so easily, he quickly dropped his remaining water on the ground and spread it out upon the grass in an instant. Anthony could feel a sudden decrease in temperature beneath his feet, realizing that the attack was soon to come. A foot away from striking, Anthony doubled back as a large sturdy icicle appeared from the Earth.
In his second breath the giant ice monolith began to crumble. Anthony knew he couldn’t avoid the incoming assault but he could only cover himself as best he could. With his arms and legs he shielded his major vitals and organs as the icicle broke and scattered tiny sharp shards forward toward him like a claymore mine. They were not as potent as the dry ice he had felt before, but just enough to feel the burning on his arms and legs as he fell to the ground.
Anthony screamed in pain as the shards of ice embedded in his flesh, the melding of ice mingling with blood from several small wounds. For his quick thinking, only his arms and legs were affected, but his head and chest remained intact. He collapsed to the ground in pain as Oceanus looked over him with wicked delight.
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“I think we got a better bargaining tool here!” The Water mage nodded to Castor to stop playing around, just when he was in the middle of a feral lightning assault.
“Looks like your hunter is only human after all.” He told Zoe as she held her sphere of lightning together.
The moment she heard these words was Castor’s chance to catch her off guard, throwing all his force into one final lighting bolt. It was enough to cause the sphere to break, but Master Zoe was still wise enough to know how to handle it. Most mages would simply try to hold the lightning to keep it stable, but this sphere was too unpredictable so there was only one option left. She placed her hands straight up in the air and released the energy like a large lightning blast of pure energy into the sky. It made her fall backwards to the ground, but prevented a more disastrous outcome as evident when the sphere hit the clouds. The blast cut a hole in the sky, dispersing the dark clouds and revealing the light of the evening sun. Master Zoe got up to her feet just in time, to see the three men gather around the beaten bloody Anthony who was squirming on the ground in pain.
“Hope you left him alive enough to interrogate Oceanus.” Castor walked up the wounded hunter between Zoe and her protege.
“If I had used hot-ice like my spears he wouldn’t be bleeding so much.” Oceanus laughed. “Who cares anyway, we got the healer with us, it’s about the only thing he’s good for.”
“Hey, I told you guys, I’m not a hunter.” He tried to cover for his recent failings.
“For a Greater Mage class you know nothing about how your family's business works.” Castor placed his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, kid, that’s why you’re here to learn.”
“Starting with Ms. Gaia here.” He turned to face him down while Oceanus stood guard over Anthony lying on the ground in pain. “As I was saying, are you going to show us where the herbs are?”
“W-what do I care about some hunter?” Zoe tried to fake indifference. “They’re a silver, a dozen in the low states.”
“He’s also the first hunter who’s been stupid enough stand up to our warnings. So, he’s either arrogant or he means more to you than you’re letting on.”
“...He’s just some kid from the Duchy, nothing special.” She tried to hold back the pain in her eyes seeing him in this state. “He’s just too stubborn, arrogant like you said.”
“Is that a fact?” He nodded to Oceanus to pick him up from the ground and hold him up from his shoulders.
Anthony’s blood splashed across the fine leather suit that Oceanus wore, holding him up by the shoulders as Castor approached them. He struggled and twisted, trying his best to escape, but the blonde hair Fire Mage approached stretching his fingers as he reached out toward his chest. Anthony saw the sparks slowly building up his finger tips, until they made contact to his stomach with a large sound of the crackle of electricity through his body.
Although it was only 3 seconds, he screamed in pain as the electricity ran through his body for three minutes. His leather armor did little to protect him, his nerves and muscle stiffening to the force of several thousands volts coursing through his body. In a few moments it was over, but the pain remained, his body shaken and his mind disoriented from the experience.
“Bet you wish you had gear like this.” Oceanus whispered in Anthony’s ear. “It’s specially designed to resist electrical charges.”
Castor turned to Zoe again, but this time she could not hold back the look of shock and awe in her face.
“That was only the lowest voltage Ms. Gaia.” He waved his hands to shake off the sparks. “It won’t leave a scar, but if I increase it high enough I could burn through the leather hide and turn his skin light up like kindling. Keep that in mind when I ask you again, will you show us where the emerald leaf is?”
“I...I can’t.” Zoe painfully said as she wiped her face to keep it composed. “Even if I wanted to, the herb is a sacred heirloom to these people, it is not mine to give freely.”
“Suit yourself.” He charged his fingers again and held them tight against Anthony’s stomach once more.
For 5 seconds and at twice the previous voltage, the electricity coursed through Anthony’s body. He didn’t even bother to ask another question, he simply reached his arm back and punched him again, harder and stronger against his chest. His fist slowly opened each time with fingers releasing more energy at once, burning through the leather gear and leaving a blackened scorch mark when he was finished. By now, Anthony could barely stand on his own two feet.
“This serves no purpose!” Zoe called out in anger and frustration. “Why torture a man who needs medical attention?!”
“Don’t worry, when he’s barely alive I’ll make sure there’s plenty to heal.” Castor smiled as he readied his fist for the third time.
“STOP!” A voice called out from the brush.
Everyone’s eyes turned to see a young girl carrying a bundle of goods in her hands rushing by Zoe’s side. Anthony’s eyes opened just barely enough to catch a glimpse of the young Ida rushing in. In her hands she held the herbs, the only thing they had to bargain with and exactly what the stranger’s were looking for.