Chapter 12: Freeing The City (part 1)

I walked down a narrow dark alleyway. I was in the deepest part of the city now. Here, order seemed really bad. The buildings were beginning to fall apart and dangerous looking people were slowly appearing. Not only that, it was night so it’s a given that shady looking people were appearing. It has only been several hours since we killed off part of the Black Heart gang. Then, after talking to the assassin group, the Red Morgue, I found some really troubling information.

First of all, every man’s family in the group was currently being taken hostage. That means, every single one of them were on a tight leash. I couldn’t help but shake a bit in anger, but I managed to control my emotion. Plus, I had to make sure not to scare the men. They really seemed afraid of me. Putting that aside, the most important info I got from them was the situation of this city. Apparently, there was a reason why part of the city was heavily guarded while the rest weren’t. The city was in some sort of civil war. On one side, the Dwarven Principality of Glagur. Led by a young noble, he has been leading the soldiers from the very front against the opposition, the Black Phoenix of Glagur.

The Black Phoenix is a mix of several gangs in the city. They compromised of different types of military members that boasted high skills. You can say, they’re a mercenary like group that’s occupied at least half of the city. When putting it that way, it is understandable why only part of the city is defended and others not so much. It’s because, the dwarven soldiers may be ambushed and taken out easily. No matter how professional or how strong a person is, they are still prone to die in the field if precautions aren’t taken.

Because of this internal conflict, the city has degraded to the point that I never would have imagined. From the outside, the city was grand, powerful and beautiful. Inside, a terrible war was being waged. That’s why, I decided to change a few things around here. Turning a corner, I then spotted a white building.

“Hmm… let’s see. Is it here?”

I stared at the building, skeptical that it was of any importance. From Roland though, he explained that it was a hidden bar. This was the main location he believes the families are being held. Of course, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure the bar was actually hiding the families. That’s why I decided to check it out. Iridia and Rina immediately complained to me, saying they should be the ones to do it. I told them though that it’s better if they just cover me from the rear. Also, I’ve asked them to set up a distraction in case I actually go for the save.

With this in mind, I looked behind me on the rooftops. There, I saw two people staring back. Seeing as they were there where I needed them to be, I quickly entered the premise. At first, it was silent as I walked down a spiral staircase. When I neared the door though, I can hear noises, cheers and clanking of beer mugs. I opened the door and soon, I was inside a brightly lit room. Here, men could be seen drinking and laughing. For the first time, I see no women joining in with the men. I quickly made my way to the counter where a rugged man was serving drinks.

“One cup. Keep the change”

With a smile, I flipped a gold coin from my pouch. With a clang, it bounced of the counter and landed right into the outstretched hand of the bartender. He instantly took a bite out of it before smiling. After a few seconds, a drink slid on the counter. I caught it and smelled the sweet fragrance of the drink.

“Hmm… aphrodisiac huh”

I don’t know how I knew, but I could smell this strange fragrance mixed with the drink. Would I be affected by this? Well, I’m a spirit so it’s probably unlikely. Then again, it didn’t say anything in the spirit library. Well, just in case I do feel weird, I’ll have the detoxification spell ready. I took a drink of the beer and my taste buds immediately exploded with a gush of sweetness. This drink is amazing. I wonder what makes it so good. The fruits with a carbonated feel. Truly a strange combination. Also, the aphrodisiac… it’s not affecting me. Rather, it’s giving the drink a unique sweet taste. Just… what is this? How can this be possible?

“Well, how is it young lady?”

“It’s… surprisingly really good”

He gave a smile.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s the best thing we have in the house. Seeing as a tiny lady like you could drink, I thought it’s appropriate since it’s the sweetest thing we currently have for alcohol”

My view of the bartender immediately changed. I thought he was the typical scary bartender trope who doesn’t give a damn about his customer. Now, I can only see a sharp man who was just unlucky to have a face and body like him.

“Now, aside from the alcohol. What is a young lady like you doing here?”

I shrugged.

“It’s nothing really. I just heard from a friend of mine that this bar served one of the best alcohols ever”

“Oh, really. That’s great to hear. More customers mean good business, so I do hope you can tell more people about this place”

“I’ll make sure to do so”

He passed me another mug without me ordering it. I smiled as I drank the mug in only a few seconds. I then noticed that everyone seemed to be staring at me. For some strange reason, I felt shivers run down my spine. What is this… feeling? I didn’t feel in danger… but, this feeling still doesn’t feel good.

“Hey, lady. You want to have a great time?”

Suddenly a man approached me. He had an unshaven face and was staring up and down my body. As he did, the uncomfortable feeling increased. Ugh… is this what they mean by, a girl knows when you’re staring. Definitely, this is not a good feeling. I sighed…

“I’m not sure you and I have the same meaning of ‘having a great time’”

“Oh, you know we do. You see, even the boys there want to have a great time with us”

I looked at the men behind him. They were all smiling as they shrugged away part of their coats revealing small daggers and other weapons. I see, this guy was using fear tactics on what seems to be an innocent and weak girl. I could only giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

I could feel the irritation from his voice. This only made me laugh harder.

“Oye, oye. Do you even understand what’s happening here?”

“Let me guess… your trying to pick me up?”

“Hah, that’s a light way of saying it”

I felt the men’s excited tension. I even saw a guy with a rope, ready to tie me up. Yep, these guys are stupid. Then again, no one knows who I am… or what I’m capable of. Also, I used to be a guy. No way in hell am I getting picked up.

“Hey, you lot”

They immediately froze at the bartender’s voice.

“Take it outside, I don’t want you messing my bar”

He then gave me a wink. I see… I guess he has a small understanding of my strength. My evaluation of him just rose even higher. I quickly jumped off the stool and patted myself clean of any dirt. The men, had stupid looks on their faces. I ignored them and casually began to exit the place. I could hear sneers from the surroundings.

“If you’re part of the Black Heart Gang… I welcome you to follow. Who knows, with enough of you fighting me, you might actually win”

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I tried to be as sarcastic as I could. Oh, how I wish I had Iridia’s provocation skill. Sometimes, even magic users have their own limitation. Surprisingly though, I felt killing intent fill the room. The only one that wasn’t leaking any killing intent was the bartender.

“Hey mister, can I have your name”

“It’s Raymond. Just Raymond”

I gave him a confused stare. Raymond was a very western name. It’s surprising how a dwarf has this kind of name.

“Oh, you’re probably curious about my name. Well, if you beat these guys, I’ll tell you all about it. So make sure to give em a thrashing for me will ya”

I smiled.

“You bet I will”

With those words, I quickly ran out of the bar. Behind me, I could hear curses and shouts. I guess that really worked. I feel as if he did that purposely to have the people follow me in anger. I ran a bit farther away until I made it to a dead end.

“There you are you little bitch”

I turned around and sure enough, a huge amount of men were blocking my way. I then noticed that some of the people were actually female. Hmm… how did I not see them before? Still, to be part of the Black Heart… they sure are unlucky aren’t they? I immediately began to lick my lips. I could feel my excitement. My instincts were really blaring out. But first, I have to make sure I’m only killing the Black Heart Gang members.

“Now, since were in our little playing field, I’ll give one last warning. If you’re not part of the black gang, I suggest you leave”

None of them flinched. Instead, I could still feel their gaze licking every inch of my body. Even the girls… wow, that is very surprising. Well, I do need some information. Let’s see… I’ll be lenient. I won’t kill them. I’ll just make sure that they won’t give the guards any trouble when I turn them in. With this, I dropped my hood. Everyone took a step back. Fear was clearly in their eyes.

“No… no way”

“Spirit! IT’S A SPIRIT”

“No, that’s just not a spirit. It’s the queen! GET OUT! EVERYONE GET OUT!”

My excitement wavered a bit. That’s because I was confused. Do they know what I am? Now, I really need to capture them for information. Wait, wouldn't that mean that Roland knows what I am. Then again, I was too focused in making a plan for the city that I probably didn't notice. Oh well. I guess I'll ask him later alongside these idiots.

Iridia, Rina. Create a barrier. Make sure they can’t get out

Hai

As you will

Immediately, I saw an invisible barrier form behind the group. They tried running away only to be blocked by it.

“What is this?”

“No way”

They tried to push through but to no avail. Hmm… they seem pitiful. Oh well. It’s not like they’re going to die anyway. I began to chant one of my highest form of light magic.

[Mystic Frost]

The surroundings began to freeze which slowly crept up to them. Some of them saw the incoming spell and charged. With a yell, they were arching their weapons above me. As soon as they touched part of my spell though, they began to be encased by the ice. They screamed and struggled in despair as they slowly began to freeze. Soon, in front of me, several ice blue statues could be seen. The ones who didn’t attack now looked at me with even more fear. They once again tried to break through the barrier, but in vain. Why are they so afraid? It’s not like I’m killing any of them. I sighed as I continued freezing one after another. Soon, the entire place was covered in nothing but ice. I then noticed that a couple of knives were in the air. An ice pillar was attached to these and they too froze before they reached me. Honestly, this is such a strong spell.

“Iridia. I want you to prepare ropes and a cage. A lot of them. We’re going to need them all”

“Hai”

She quickly disappeared. I then turned my gaze towards Rina.

“Come with me. We’re going to look for the families”

She nodded as her scythe transformed into a sword and buckler. That sure is a convenient weapon. But still, I haven’t calmed down the s

lightest. That honestly was a big letdown. Hmm… maybe I should have fought them with my bare hands instead of using a spell. Oh well, the night is still young and there's still a bunch of things to do.

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Author Notes:

Hey Guys. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully. Also, here's a little bit of info that you guys are probably curious about.

Light magic is very unique in this world. It is a magic that is solely associated with heroes, but even then the probability of a hero having high light magic is almost close to 1%. Also, their are many mages that do have some control over this, but they can mainly use only basic and intermediate types of light magic spells. Now, light magic is separated into several categories.

Attack spells

Defensive spells

Support spells

I will only explain the offensive power for now. Attack spells have different level of powers. Basic, intermediate, hard. But the one that Ferizia used is categorized under the legendary category... something that is usually unheard of. Basically, her form of light magic can take the form of many elements. Fire, water, earth, wind, etc... The only difference between normal elemental spells and her light elemental spells is that the light magic elemental spells will not act according to their nature. For example, her ice cannot be melted by fire. It can only be melted by the users will. In other words, unless she says so, the bandits will continue to be trapped inside. She also has control over the characteristics of her spells. In other words, she has the power to change how it looks, feels and reacts to the surrounding world.

The problem with these spells though is that you need to have a huge amount of mana to continuously use them. Also, these are very weak against nullification type spells.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you found this useful and if anything comes up in the future, I will briefly explain it.