The Vamps were a local group of loosely organized crime. The sort of group that watched out for themselves, all others be damned. They took what they wanted, when they wanted it. As such, the slums and the border were prime real estate for them. They would raid the well off areas of town, then scurry back to their den before the city guard showed up. They had earned their name due to their leech-like methods on society.
Then a few weeks ago they had been approached by a young woman looking for some giant metal. As they had just stolen a shipment of raw giant metal fresh from the mines, their leader had been cautious about this newcomer and refused. When he had dispatched some members to tail her, she had been easily able to give his goons the slip. When his warehouse where they had stashed the giant metal was completely ransacked the day after, he knew who it was, but not where to find her. Giant metal was, after all, one of the most valuable materials in the world and there was no way that he was just going to let someone walk away with the prize they had worked so hard to acquire themselves.
The search for the woman had been extensive, with his contacts identifying the woman as an adventurer named Hannah. Himself equivalent to a Green rank, he could hardly believe that a mere Red was eluding his network. Yet there was no amount of tracking that found where she was staying in the city. It was a random coincidence that saw a little girl asking a little boy about what giant metal was that resulted in that woman being found. That she had two brats to care for meant nothing to him, maybe their father should have been around. He savored the thought that perhaps he had dealt with the father already.
He glared at the two children, sitting huddled in a corner. The little boy was trying his best to shield his sister, though the effort was not worth much. All he had to do was speak the command and the slave collars would tighten around both their necks.
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Tess stepped through the door.
“I said I’m here.”
She took a quick count of the occupants inside. Twenty men and women of several races had turned their attention to her arrival. Only one seemed out of place, as she was poorly dressed in rags and had a collar on, shuffling about serving drinks and food. One of the men, closest to her, stood from his table.
“Oy! Hes! Ren! What are you two doing out there,” he called as he came around.
“They’re dead,” Tess answered.
“What?”
Tess appeared to casually lift her blade. The man approaching stopped, then fell apart as his torso slid diagonally off from the cut.
“I said they were dead. Like you.”
There was a pause as the rest of the room took in the sight. The enslaved woman let out a scream and the rest leapt from their various positions into action as their own blades emerged from hidden sheathes. With a tap against the grip of her own blade, it elongated into a full length staff. Taking a two handed grip on the new naginata-like form of her weapon, Tess took a stance and started.
The blades that had been thrown first were parried with a spin of her polearm, deflecting some back with greater speed at a handful of targets. The nature of the ruffians’ positioning before ended up staggering their approach. With quick and precise movements, Tess cut down one after another. She was happy to see the blade slice through their, admittedly light, armor without issue. It even cut the blades of those that were fast enough to attempt a parry.
Watching several of their colleagues fall to Tess at close range, the next wave attempted to stay further away, only to be skewered as Tess would lash out with the reach provided by her blade being at the end of a long stick. With less than ten remaining, the remainder dared not approach anywhere close to her.
“Is that all?” Tess asked, relaxing her stance.
She maintained a one handed grip as she looked from thug to thug. They likewise looked at each other, as though unsure how to deal with the situation. Tess could not blame them, as they had seen their companions fall in seconds to a source of unexpected death.
“What do you want?” one of the remaining thugs managed to ask.
“I received a beautiful note from you all. I’ve come to collect what is mine.”
“You’re the one with the giant metal!” another commented.
“Go get the boss, he can deal with her,” the first one said.
“Yes. I will have a conversation with him in a moment, but first you all are just as guilty.”
Tess channeled magic through her weapon. The etchings forming arcane runes along the blade and staff began to glow, as well as the embedded gems within the blade. She had slowed down this process, to really get a feel of how it would function. In more intense scenarios, this would be much faster.
“What is that thing?” she heard one of the thugs whisper in awed fear.
“My Witchblade.”
Bolts of pure arcane energy arced out from her weapon, curving to pierce through the heart of each remaining thug in the room. All of them simultaneously dropped to the floor dead. With a nod of satisfaction, Tess casually walked over to the enslaved woman who had dropped to the floor and was visibly shaking with fear.
“Hey?” Tess called out gently.
The woman raised her head and looked at Tess. Her eyes went wide with fear and she scrambled back away from Tess.
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“No, please,” she begged, “Don’t hurt me.”
Tess understood. She had just cut down nearly two dozen people with ruthless efficiency and cold callousness. Why would this woman believe that she would not do the same to her? Tess’s blade glowed with magic again for a brief moment, then the slave collar clattered to the ground. The woman looked stunned as she stared at the instrument of her torture, no longer able to inflict the will of the cruel master.
“Please wait here. I will get you to a safe place shortly.”
Tess turned away from the woman and marched into the back, which led to the tunnels that the Vamps used. As she progressed, she inspected short side tunnels and chambers that were off the main path, liberating captives and dispatching Vamps. She was so quick and quiet that each group was surprised to see her and tried in vain to stop her. Those longer branching tunnels she sealed with earth magic so as to not end up flanked. Finally reaching the room where she remembered the boss being, she politely knocked.
“What do you want?” she heard from within.
“She’s here,” Tess replied.
There was a moment of silence before steady footsteps approached the door. It swung open to reveal the boss. He was a slimy looking fellow, thin and with greasy hair that seemed to stick to his head. The surprise on his face was genuine though, replaced by shock as Tess grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up with one hand.
“Where are they, Mitch?” Tess demanded.
Mitch, the boss, was trying to pry her hand off his throat with no success. Desperation started to set in as she gave a squeeze.
“Inside,” he gasped out.
Tess stepped through, still holding Mitch up. She looked around, spotting Favi and Gwen in the corner of the room. She admired how Favi was standing protectively in front of Gwen.
“Are you two okay? Did they hurt you anywhere?” Tess asked in a friendly manner, in complete contrast to her grip on Mitch’s throat.
Gwen shook her head and had tears in her eyes as she ran towards Tess, Favi following close behind. Tess tossed Mitch like the piece of filth she thought he was, causing him to sail through the air before landing like a sack of potatoes. She crouched low and embraced both, whispering a silent spell.
“How cute,” Mitch coughed out, “Too bad mommy can’t save you. Kill.”
He gave the command with such confidence that he actually started laughing. Tess just quietly hugged the two children, letting him have his moment.
“Mommy?” Gwen asked, which snapped Mitch’s spree off instantly.
“What? The collars should have killed them by now!”
“These collars?” Tess asked, tossing the two towards him, “Already took care of that.”
Mitch was stunned into silence.
“Who are you?”
“No one of consequence.”
“I’ve beaten Greens before. You’re just a Red.”
“Get used to disappointment. Gwen. Favi. Close your eyes and cover your ears.”
The kids did so quickly. Tess stood and with one hand threw the Witchblade. It pierced straight through Mitch’s chest, the force knocking him back.
“It’s better than you deserve, for all the suffering you’ve caused.”
Tess called the Witchblade back to her hand. With a sucking sound, it magically dislodged and soared back to her side. She cleaned both her gear and weapon with her shower magic before shrinking the Witchblade back into sword form and sheathing it. She then led both Gwen and Favi out of the room and out to the tavern area. A small contingent of people she had liberated had gathered here. It seemed that they even moved the bodies out of the main space.
“Ms. Tess?” Gwen tried again, “Are you going to be our Mommy?”
Tess got down low again.
“Is that something you both want?”
Gwen nodded vigorously. Favi seemed a little more hesitant, but agreed too.
“What about Mommy?” Favi asked.
Tess had done an investigation once she had heard their mother had disappeared. The implications were that the Vamps had something to do with it, and while she did not find the final answer, she was fairly certain of their mother’s fate. Their father had been an adventurer who had never returned from a dungeon dive, so they only had each other left.
“When she comes back, she can take care of you,” Tess lied.
Favi seemed to contemplate that answer.
“Okay,” he agreed.
It made the next thing she said harder.
“I would like to be your Mommy, but I have to go to a far away place.”
“We’ll go with you!” Gwen said.
“It is a very dangerous place, Gwen. I can’t take you with me.”
“But you just said you would be our Mommy!” Favi said.
“No. I asked what you wanted. You want me to be your Mommy. I like that, but I can’t.”
Gwen started crying, grabbing Tess and not letting go. Favi looked mad and started trying to punch Tess. She easily intercepted his little punches with a hand as she patted Gwen’s back with the other. She felt it best at this moment to let them work out their feelings. Once the two calmed down a little, Tess resumed speaking to them.
“How about this? When I get back from my trip, then I can be your Mommy. Is that okay?”
Gwen gave a mournful yeah while Favi angrily nodded.
“Good. Now while I’m away…”
Tess turned to the group of people awkwardly standing in the room. Many looked very uncomfortable about the scene unfolding between Tess and the children, as though they were unsure what to do at the moment. Tess motioned to the woman who had been in the tavern at the very beginning. She cautiously came forward.
“Excuse me, what’s your name?” Tess asked.
“Hannah.”
Tess marveled at the odds.
“Hannah. Would you like a job? There’s no obligation to accept, but I promise there will be good pay among other benefits.”
Hannah readily accepted.
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Elsewhere over Iriea
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“What was that?” Oena asked.
The lesser deity had no answer either to what he had just witnessed alongside the goddess. The goddess’s new choice of hero had dismantled that entire crime ring with a display that outperformed her stats and skills. That was after she had been taking down powerful monsters that the System generated for entire teams to take on and dungeons meant to be impossible for small groups to succeed in, let alone players going solo. He had even evaluated the gear that she had crafted to find out how she had done anything like that, but it still made no sense. He started to wonder if this display was similar to any of those complaints that he used to field. The lesser deity hopped back onto the process of detangling the goddess’s blessing from the liar’s profile, a process about eighty percent of the way complete.
“You still want her to have this?” he asked.
Oena sat in quiet reverie. The smile on her face spoke volumes. This hero was worth everything. She could only hope that when she was able to speak to her again that the hero would forgive her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”