Once my mind recovered from all the new information I stood up. Shauriana smiled pleasantly at me for a moment longer before her face became stern. She turned to the trio and began to speak. "Although I am pleased to see the three of you. I need you to explain what happened. Your replacements tell me that you did not arrive at the arranged meeting place." The trio hesitated for a moment before Zakia offered an answer. The language she spoke sounded like a cross between Spanish and Arabic. It was a beautiful sing-song language. Thankfully my ability to translate everything into English.

"We were scouting the outer edges of the canyon. We heard a child and assumed they had gotten trapped in a sinkhole. We made our way over and hadn't noticed the ambush. We fought the best we could but we were defeated." The matriarch nodded as she listened but didn't interrupt their story.

When Zakia finished she took a beat before starting."I see, hytal patrols have grown over the last few weeks. Have you noted anything else out of the ordinary? The desert is dangerous enough without their presence." When the trio shook their heads she turned her gaze to me. "Would you be willing to help us? The Hytal will grow in presence if we don't do something about them." When she finished speaking a notification window popped into view.

You have been offered the Quest: The Enemy of my...

Shauriana of the Black Canyon has requested your assistance.The presence of the Hytal so close to the Black Canyon is a danger to both you and the Ifrit. The Matriarch has asked you to assist them in understanding what is going on.

Quest Details: Investigate the Hytal presence in the desert.

Rewards:

Increased relationship with the Ifrit of the Black Canyon.

1000 Experience points

Penalty for refusal or Failure: Reputation loss with the Ifrit of the Black Canyon

Do you accept: Yes/No?

I read the message twice to be sure I understood and then I selected yes. I didn't have anything better to do besides hunting so the chance to fight more of the Hytal could be interesting. Not to mention they would eventually find my safe spring at which point I would be screwed. "I can't promise anything but I will look into their presence and tell you when I come across something." Shauriana let out a gentle laugh and shook her head.

"You will be working with my Granddaughter and her friends. Together the four of you will travel through the canyon and investigate the Hytal starting where you all." She gestured to the trio. "Were taken, ideally it will be a small tribe that has moved close to the canyon before going about their way. If not then I want you to gain as much information as you can." I nodded my agreement before looking at my new companions. "I will provide a few potions for all of you." She waved both of her hands and muttered a word that I couldn't hear. There was a flash of light and a crate containing nine potions appeared. There were three of each type. I checked my water skin and it was still half full which meant I could rely on it for a bit. I nodded to the trio and let them take the potions.

Zakia nodded before handing me the three azure potions. "You can take these, we don't use magic for the most part. I think you will be better off with them." I nodded and connected the potions to my belt. Additional magic was never a bad thing. "I don't know if you know how to move through the desert quickly or not but Angalia can create a squad for us." I had no idea what that meant and was just about to ask her when a notification appeared.

You have received a squad invite from Angalia. Would you like to accept?

Yes/No

I selected yes and three icons appeared in the right of my vision. The icons were in the shapes of each of the Trio's faces. I could see each of their levels and my eyes went wide. They were each between eight and ten with Zakia being the highest amongst them. I looked over at them and waited to see what they would think. There was a brief pause in their preparations but other than that they didn't say anything. "Thank you for your gifts." I turned toward the matriarch and gave her a polite head nod. She smiled and headed back into the cave.

"I trust you ladies will lead the way?" I said with a slight chuckle. The trio looked at me before nodding. "We need to get new weapons. Give us a few minutes to get ready and then we will set out." She paused as if searching for the right words. It took me a moment to figure out why. "It is alright. I will wait out here." Based on the way they were standing it was clear that they didn't want me to go forward. Instead, I moved and took a seat on a nearby stone. It took them nearly twenty more minutes before they were ready. Once the group regathered we set out.

We reached the location of their ambush nearly two hours later. The site of the battle had been cleared away with barely any signs that people had been there. I walked around with the group until I caught sight of beast-like tracks. At first, I thought they were just from an animal but when I took a closer look I noticed it was the size of an actual footprint. I remembered back to when I fought with the hytal. The footprints from back then were similar to these. As soon as I made the connection I received a notification.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Notice! You have learned the skill Tracking. None shall escape your sight. This skill allows you to track people through the land, sea, and air. Masters of the skill can track even across the various planes and realms. Each level grants an extra 3% to your chances of picking up tracks and seeing through attempts to hide them.

I raised an eyebrow and checked my affinities. I had a 70% affinity for this skill which wasn't bad. I wasn't sure if I was going to rely on the skill or not but it couldn't hurt to practice it. I looked up and gestured for the others to check it out. "I think these tracks show where people who came after you all left. Should we head in that direction?" Zakia and the others looked at each other and then nodded.

"Angalia you should lead the way." She said with a steely resolve. "Of course," Angalia said before placing her hand on her new bow. She moved to take my position which made me take several steps back. Once she had found the trail the group was off. We made our way through the black sands silently for another hour. The sun began to set as we made our way up a sand dune. When he reached the top we ducked down. We caught sight of a trio of hytal. They were sitting around a campfire with a makeshift barbecue. They had chunks of meat on thick wood roasting over a flame. I turned and looked over at the group who were busy making plans. They were using hand signs that reminded me a bit of military, stealth communication. I was just about to ask for clarification when my ability began to translate.

"Split up, you and me around the right side. Kita and the magician on the left." Three head nods confirmed their plan and they began to move. Kita tapped me on the arm. I nodded and settled into place behind her. We kept low and crawled and walked our way along. Together with the other group, we created a cross-section of ranged attacks. I look down and began casting my newest spell. I kept my right hand below the sand and out of sight. Once the casting was complete I looked at the closest hytal warrior.

Hytal Warrior: Level 5

Hytal are one of many beastmen races native to Akopia. They are reminiscent of Bipedal Hyenas and our raiders who live primarily in Akopia's Deserts.

I checked the others and got the same information. The highest leveled warrior was level 7 which shouldn't be difficult for our group. When I was ready to begin I have Kita a nod. A moment later Angalia drew back her bow and I began to cast.

I began dual casting as soon I saw Angalia move. A bolt of radiant energy formed in the palm of my hands. The glow from my hands drew the attention of the warriors which gave Angalia pick of the liter. Her arrow sailed through the air and buried itself into the knee of the level five warrior. His cries of pain competed with my shout as Lesser Bright bolt sailed through the air. The high level warrior ducked out of the way of the attack but before he could respond Kita rushed forward. Zakia moved to the join the battle from the other side. My eyes focused in on the third warrior who let out a cackle of fury and rushed for me. I began casting a new. Lesser Ray of Light formed in my hands just as the hytal cut the distance between us in half. Twin rays of light shot forward. This time the rays split into three each slamming into a different part of the hytal's body.

I moved forward until the warrior was just inside the range of another of my new spells. I brought my hands together in the movements for lesser gout of fire. Scarlet flames poured out from between my fingers. The stench of burning fur filled the air. His screams of pain filled the air. I looked over to track the rest of the battle. Zakia and Angalia had all but killed their opponent. Kita's fight was going a bit longer but her opponent had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. I turned back to my target just in time to catch a flash of steel. I moved my head out of the way just in time to avoid having the blade split my head in two. The pain exploded through my body just in time for power to rebound back and into my arms. For a moment it felt like I had been holding onto a live wire. Two opposing sources of pain shot through my body forcing me to the ground. My vision went white as I tried to gather my senses. I felt hands on me and then glass being forced into my mouth.

When I was able to sit up I saw Zakia,Kita and Angalia standing over me. "What the fuck happened." I pulled up the blinking notifications and searched for an answer.

BATTLE LOG

You deal 46 points of Damage to Hytal Warrior Level 6You take 95 points of Damage from Hytal Warrior Level 6.

You suffered a critical hit.

Your concentration was broken.

You suffer a spell backlash.Spell backlash damage equal to Spell level 1

Spell backlash damage is doubled due Dual cast

Spell backlash damage was negated due to ability

Ho-ly shit. I had taken 95 points of damage. I had almost died in one shot. I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees. It looked like Arcanum Infinitum had protected me from death or at least bringing even closer to the end. My heart was racing a hand smacked me across the face and for a moment I thought the hytal had come back. I brought both my hands up to protect myself.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Zakia's voice was the first thing my addled brain made out. I stared dumbly at her before my brain began processing information properly. "What the hell happened? If Angalia hadn't seen what happened, your head would have been decorating the sand." I attempted to speak but my mouth wouldn't agree with my brain. She must have gotten tired of my stuttering. She turned and let out a growl of frustration. "Kita please find out what that one knows. Angalia keep an eye out and make sure we haven't drawn too much attention." The trio split up leaving me to sit next to the pool of my own blood. I closed my eyes and the moment of that attack played out as clear as the first time I lived it. I bit down on my bottom lip and willed my body to stay still. My stamina and magic were sitting around 50 and 100 while my health bar was sitting around 80 points. I reached down and got my water skin. Once the cool liquid filled my mouth I started to feel normal.

I placed the skin back onto my belt. I looked down at both hands and recounted the battle this time divorcing myself from the feelings. I had messed up. I assumed the pain from the fire would keep him from being able to attack me. I then took my eyes off my opponent. He was then able to take advantage of my lack of focus and deal with a critical hit. I knew better than that. I balled my fists up the fear quickly turning into anger. I knew better than to get distracted from my task. Being that careless nearly cost me my life. It might end up costing me the group as well. I took several deep breaths and let my anger go. Ultimately the mistake was mine which meant the only person to be furious with was myself and being mad at yourself served nothing. I know what I did wrong, the problem was something that could be fixed. The only thing to do was to fix it. I took another deep breath and pushed the lingering emotions down. I opened the other notifications from the battle.

You have been awarded 600 experience points for defeating Hytal Warrior Level 6

Well, I was 250 experience points away from my next level which was pretty good. It looks like I only get experience points from enemies he managed to hit. Either that or there was a minimum amount of damage he needed to deal with first. Either way, the next battle should be enough to level me. I dismissed the notification and stood up. I made my way over to Zakia and sat on the sand next to her. "I want to apologize. I have never dealt with Spell Backlash in the middle of a battle." I decided that keeping my background secret was the best way to move forward. I couldn't afford for people to burn me at the stake or something ridiculous.

"It's alright. I apologize for screaming at you. Your wound was bad but you hadn't endangered anyone from the group. I would recommend you improve on that going forward. Future battles will only be more difficult. Especially if we are going to complete this quest together." I flinched slightly at her words but she wasn't wrong. We were in this together only because of the quest. "We will set out again once the interrogation is over." I nodded and looked over at Kita was having a very spirited conversation with a very unhappy hytal. I decided to find a spot in the sand away from that situation and get some rest.

An hour later night had fully fallen and we were making our way through the desert. Kita was in the lead following the instructions from the Hytal. We reached the site of the hytal camp. The camp was inside a crypt that had been unearthed after a sandstorm. The crypt reminded me a bit of an ancient Egyptian tomb. It even had the animal-headed people engraved on the sides of the building. Thankfully the structure was too large for the hytal to secure and their leader was more focused on something in the center. We were able to crawl under an outer wall and make our way inside. We crouched in a hallway in order to make our plan.

"We need to get the leader. Angalia and the Magician take up a position in the middle. Kita and I will take spots in the front and the back. We will move through the building like that. If we come across an enemy we focus on eliminating them as quietly as we can. Magician avoid casting unless you make sure the light from your spells won't be seen. Kita your secondary concern will be keeping him for getting his head taken off."Zakia took charge and began giving out orders. She was about to continue when I decided I needed to speak up.

I held up a hand to stop her from continuing. "You can call me Darterrius." The trio stared at me for a moment. "A person's name is important. If our goal is to take out the leader we should find a way to isolate them from their reinforcements. If possible we would want to trap them in a room. Did any of you bring poison? Specifically a paralysis poison?" When no one answered he shook his head a bit disappointed. "One of the spells I learned will tell me the level of our opponent. Do any of you have any level-dependent abilities?" Another no. It looked like there wasn't much they could do outside of attacking straight up. I let out a sigh. "Alright in that case let's push forward."