Vitmori POV

Left to my own devices, I made my way out of the keep and through the bailey until I was at the village plaza once again.

All around me was the buzz of activity as guards and villagers worked hand in hand to clean up their homes. From here I could see a few lines forming around various wells as people passed around buckets of water to start combating the various fires that were still smoldering within ruined homes and other buildings along the edges of the village.

Those who weren't dealing with fires were busily working to dismantle the mess of barricades left behind by the raiders in the plaza; all while the remaining villagers went around gathering the stray crates of materials and sacks of food that had been left in the streets by the raiders.

All in all, despite the chaos that had started the day; everything seemed rather coordinated and organized by now. Every person I spotted seemed to have a role and they took to it with steely determination to try and grab a semblance of normalcy as soon as they could. In the end, the only person that didn't have something specific to do was me.

As I walked through the plaza; looking for somewhere I could pitch in, I suddenly felt a set of eyes lock onto me after initially giving me a passing glance. With my curiosity piqued, I casually looked at one of the buildings I was next to before slowly pivoting around to start walking in the general direction of whoever was looking at me.

With a passing glance of my own, I spotted an olive-skinned human woman wearing a vibrant blue gambeson with a mix of leather and metal plates on key parts of her body, along with an arming sword that remained strapped to her hip. She looked to be in her late thirties as far as I could tell, but she wore her age well and carried herself with clear confidence that simply exuded from her with every step.

Turning away and pointing my attention towards the barricades as they were being disassembled, I waited for a few moments as the woman made her way up to me and spoke up. "Excuse me, Ser Mage, may I take a moment of your time?" She asked, sounding rather polite and respectful.

I pretended to be vaguely surprised, looking from side to side before turning around to look at the woman directly as I offered her a small smile. "Well, sure, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" I asked as I did my best to match the level of respect she had given me.

Looking at her more directly, I noticed that she had a deep cut over her left eye. It looked like a rather old wound, having long since healed perhaps a decade or two ago maybe. As for her eye, it seemed like it didn't survive whatever caused her wound as it was clearly an artificial one, being some kind of sapphire or blue crystal.

The woman returned my smile with a small smile of her own, holding out her hand to me for a handshake while slightly lowering her head and taking a half-step back with one foot as if to perform some kind of curtsy. "I am Vivia Lucfan, wife to Trelio Lucfan." She stated simply enough.

I met her hand with my own and gave it a firm shake before pulling back; while I was vaguely worried she would notice my hand was nothing but wood, the fact that we were both wearing gloves did help keep that detail under wraps for now. "Well then, it truly is a pleasure to meet you, I am Vito." I mused kindly while bringing my hand up and gently fondling one of Basmori's ears as he remained sound asleep despite all the activity around us. "Was there something you needed?" I asked, glancing at Basmori for a moment before looking back at her again.

I could sense her vague surprise as she spotted Basmori, seemingly having not spotted him at first before nodding her head at me. "Yes, Mage Vito, if I am not overstepping my boundaries and if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to ask for your aid in the cleanup." She explained at first, being reserved and polite in a rather diplomatic fashion.

I tilted my head ever so slightly; if this woman was Trelio's wife, then she was likely also a rank two elite, making her one of or at least the second most influential person in this entire village. The fact that she was speaking to me so politely likely meant that I've probably earned a measure of respect through my display of might and the merits of my actions. It did feel nice, but I also didn't feel all that comfortable with her being so overly reserved in the way she had been.

I flashed a little grin as I nodded in response, respectfully meeting her gaze and maintaining eye contact. "Sure, I'd be happy to. Though feel free to speak with more directness and less restraint, I don't care much for politics and prefer people to be straightforward with me rather than talking in circles."

As if a mask was pulled away, Vivia shifted her stance and flashed a roguish grin, seeming much more relaxed and confident than even moments earlier. "That's good to hear, Mage Vito, one can never be too sure how to handle necromancers such as yourself, or whatever sort of mage you are, so I appreciate your candor." She mused cheerfully enough, casually resting her left arm against the pommel of her sword.

I just chuckled softly at her comment and rubbed the back of my head. "I've found that 'eccentric' is a suitable enough moniker for me, so feel free to refer to me as such." I mentioned before bringing my hand back down to continue doting on the dozing Basmori. "Now then, you said you needed my help? What can I do for you?"

Vivia nodded intently as she curiously looked at Basmori again before looking back at me once more. "I witnessed your feats with spacial magics earlier when you took on our entire drawbridge at once; if it's not too much of a burden on you, would you be willing to clear away the rubble from the burned and shattered buildings?" She asked, looking off to the side as if to glance at one of the buildings in question when she returned her focus to me. "While we can put out the fires ourselves easily enough, moving all the rubble afterward will take us a lot of physical effort; effort that you could spare us from if you are willing." She explained simply enough.

I tilted my head a little from side to side, acting as if I were contemplating her request before speaking up after another moment. "That shouldn't be too much of an issue... Would you prefer if I clear the buildings away in their entirety or just take the rubble?"

Vivia blinked with vague surprise at my question and I could sense that she didn't even consider that as an option. After a few moments on her end to think on it, she simply nodded and regarded me again. "If you're able to do that much, then I would be grateful. You'll certainly save us even more time once we begin the reconstruction efforts."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Sounds good with me, lead the way then." I offered with a gesture, the woman nodding in response as she guided me to one of the closer buildings in question.

Coming up to a building along the edge of the village, it appears to be a home of some kind; a simple but spacious two-story affair that was connected to one of the farmsteads which filled the clearing between the village and the somewhat distant treeline.

The ruined building had been just barely extinguished, leaving a thick sludge of ash-laden mud around the remains of the building. From where I stood, I could see a family of six picking through the ruins, doing their best to salvage what they could from what remained of the lives they had before everything that happened this morning.

With a glance over at Vivia, I could feel the weight on her heart as she watched this family; she knew them well enough, their crops and goods often finding their way onto her table over the years. "You should ask them to clear out, I wouldn't want them to accidentally get swept away in the cleanup." I suggested while stepping closer to the burned-out building as my borrowed boots sank a little into the mud.

Vivia hesitated for a moment, looking at me before nodding as she went ahead, speaking with the family of farmers in question. I could sense their reluctance to leave without recovering all of their belongings, but they weren't about to argue with the mayor's wife.

As they were led out of the ruined building by Vivia, I made my way up to the building before getting down to a kneeling position in the mud. I didn't want to make it seem like all this was too easy for me to do, so I made a show of closing my eyes and lowering my head before plunging both hands into the mud.

I started by draining the water from the ground around me, leaving it damp but not the muddy sludge that it was when I arrived. From there I stood and approached the building itself, stepping inside as I slowly but thoroughly pulled everything into my inventory, every single brick and ruined scrap of wood until nothing was left but the clearing where a home used to be.

I could feel the quiet despair coming from the parents and older children of the family, and the sad confusion of the younger children as they watched the remains of their home literally vanish before their eyes, but I wasn't done quite yet.

Going through the remains of the ruined house within my storage space, I did my best to sift through the rubble and begin pulling out pieces of intact furniture, drying and cleaning off what I could and fixing what I was able to. Things like a dining table, a few chairs, plates and utensils, various chests of belongings, all sorts of clothes, sheets, and pillows, little ornate latch boxes with simple jewelry, and children's toys.

After another fifteen minutes had passed, I managed to recover everything of value that I could find that wasn't ruined beyond recognition. Stepping away from the neat pile of goods and belongings, I flashed a little smile towards the family. "That was everything I could find, I wish you all the best."

The family was certainly thankful, the mother and children making their way over to check out everything I managed to salvage, all the while the father took his time thanking me for my help, going so far as bowing at the hip before going off to join his family.

Despite the loss of their home, I was glad that they were still able to smile once they discovered not everything was lost. They still had the rest of their farm as well, so it was likely only a matter of time until they were back on their feet.

Turning my attention back to Vivia, I sensed that she was seeing me in a new light, not having expected that I would go out of my way to do what I did. I just offered her a smile as well and made a gesture for us to keep walking. "On to the next building?" I suggested cheerfully enough.

Vivia returned my smile with one that had a surprising amount of warmth before nodding once. "Of course Mage Vito, if you'll follow me." She said, stepping away from the new clearing and leading me to the next smoldering house.

Tul'mi POV

The battle was over as quickly as it started, between the guards and the odd undead and her own efforts, they were able to dispatch the foreign soldiers holding her neighbors hostage with no friendly losses.

It took some time once it was all said and done, but before long they had returned to Lucfan's Rest with all the goods and missing people, the villagers for their parts getting straight to work putting everything back in order and cleaning up their homes and streets.

Coming to the plaza, she watched as the villagers disassembled an array of fortifications made from furniture and wood from their homes and businesses, doing their best to organize and get things back to where they belonged.

Tul'mi was surprised to see just how little carnage there was in the plaza, considering the brunt of the battle took place here, she was expecting to see a pile of corpses and limbs or at the very least a lot of blood. But there was nothing... The only signs that a battle took place here were the fortifications themselves, the burns on the keep's walls, as well as the fact that the drawbridge to the keep was missing and replaced with some kind of stone bridge.

Before she could decide what she was going to do, she heard the clanking of metal coming up behind her. Turning to look, she spotted the Lucfan twins making their way up to her, clearly delighted to see her as she offered a small smile in response. "Larkis, Vitra, it is good to see you both again. What did I miss?"

The half-elf siblings each pulled their helmets off, tucking them under their arms when Larkis piped up. "Only the most grisly battle ever, you should have seen the aftermath." He reported with grim eagerness. "I only got to see the aftermath myself due to remaining with the villagers in the field, as per your orders." He mentioned before flashing a grin. "But that scene I came across was one of pure carnage, scattered limbs, sliced throats, and those undead of his eating the enemy alive." He explained, eyes wide with excitement. "There in the center of it all was the stranger, standing there drenched in the blood of his enemies and the molten remains of the armor he stole from the foreign soldiers."

Vitra just shook her head at her brother's enthusiasm before looking up at Tul'mi. "Unlike him, I actually got to watch the fight." She mentioned as she reflected on her memories of the battle itself. "He fought with considerable skill and looked like he knew his way around a blade despite being a mage. I couldn't tell if he was using his manaheart to move at extreme speeds or attack with any greater force than normal, but the sheer amount of mana he threw around was the real deal." She explained with no small amounts of awe and wariness. "Though he displayed an odd amount of vitality and resilience, at one point he even took two arrows to the head and multiple spears to the chest... It... It looked like he died, but then he suddenly came back with greater force and fought as if he didn't just suffer those mortal injuries."

Tul'mi blinked with surprise at that, surviving and battling after suffering those kinds of wounds reminded her of an old berserker she used to know, but to hear of a mage with a berserker's resilience was a rather odd match-up. She knew Vito was strong upon meeting him, but that was almost absurd to hear. "I see, and do you happen to know where I can find Vito?"

"Is that his name?" Larkis asked enthusiastically.

"He's over with Mother on the edge of town, he's supposedly helping clear away the rubble." Vitra explained dutifully.

This revelation earned a half-hearted glare from Larkis as he lightly nudged her with his forearm. "Are you saying you knew where the stranger was this whole time and didn't tell me? Come on, let's go see him." He enthused eagerly as he turned to walk away.

However, Vitra was quick to act, snatching her brother by his pointed ear and pulling him back. "Hold it, you and I both have duties to tend to, we don't have the time to be bothering a mage of his caliber, not to mention that he's busy helping us as well."

Larkis couldn't help but hiss with pain, grunting as he wrangled his ear free before rubbing it with a look of annoyance on his face. "Fine, I get it, geez..." He muttered before sighing a bit. As he massaged his poor ear, he seemed to have a realization as he suddenly looked around with concern on his face. "Wait, where's Puh'ma, I thought she was with you."

Tul'mi couldn't help but flash a small smile at the young man's worried expression as she reached out and patted his shoulder. "She's alright, she managed to escape the brunt of the battle this morning to try and get a message to Sunspot Keep, according to Vito, she's resting with one of his familiars in the woods and will be collected by his caravan."

With the news that Puh'ma was safe, Larkis visibly relaxed and let out a sigh before rubbing the back of his head. "That's good to hear... Well, I suppose we ought to get back to our duties then." He said, standing a little taller and looking more professional than moments earlier, though the image cracked a little bit as he flashed a grin. "Maybe if we finish early enough, we can go visit Vito together." He mused before turning to walk off.

Vitra just shook her head at her brother's expense. "It's a wonder how Puh'ma managed to wrap him around her finger. He's rarely ever that motivated to do things on his own like that."

Tul'mi snickered at that as her tail flicked and lashed behind her. "She gets it from me no doubt." She mentioned before looking at Vitra. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'll go visit with your mother and see where I am needed."

Vitra nodded dutifully, lowering her head in a show of respect. "Of course Tul'mi, see you around." She said before turning on her heel to get back to work.

Now on her own, Tul'mi set out to find where Vito and Vivia ended up.