Walking out the west gate with all my clothes and food in my pack. I looked around with my senses and didn’t see Yagami anywhere. All I saw were the two guards at the gate and the surrounding plants. I walked down the road and kept searching, whistling as I walked to increase my range by a couple of meters. I still saw nothing, even after walking a few dozen meters away from the city.
A strong hand grabbed my shoulder, and I instinctively shot a pillar of stone at where the person would be cause I saw nobody there. No living or non-living person was within my sphere of sight. The pillar shattered as it impacted something, and I was able to escape from the grasp, jumping several meters forward and turning to search for whoever grabbed my shoulder.
Yet I still couldn’t see who was there. I decided to switch tactics and focus on my other senses. I sniffed the air and could smell pollen from roses and tulips and the smell of freshly crushed grass. I heard a slight breeze rustling the grass and the leaves in the trees. And I could taste the dust in the air from my attack a second ago. None of my senses told me anything except for maybe one. I willed my slime clothes to remove my boots and felt my bare feet on the rock and dirt-covered ground.
There! I felt a slight vibration as someone walked in a wide circle, trying to get behind me. They were on my … right! I dropped to a crouch and punched to my right, sending three stone pillars to where the person should be walking. The pillars impacted nothing, and I stopped feeling the vibrations. I stopped, waited a moment longer, and felt the wind stop blowing at my back for a split second before I felt something land behind me on my left.
Whirling around, I kicked at the spot sending a blast of wind at the location. I heard the air impact something solid, and a split second later, I felt something hit the ground. I wasn’t going to take a chance and let whatever I couldn’t see attack again. Stomping on the ground and bringing my balled fist down like a hammer, an arching stone pillar shot out beside me, aiming at where I felt the vibrations land. The pillar impacted nothing but the ground, and I cursed myself for being too slow.
“Shi’kel I’llum,” a deep rumbling voice spoke out of thin air. Then a few meters ahead, upwind of me, the smell of cigarettes wafted over to me, and a human form began to materialize, soon turning into Yagami. Wait! Was I fighting Yagami!? How did he get past my senses? He looked a little bruised and was holding his right side, but he still had that smug smirk on his face.
“Well done, kid. You’re pretty good in a fight,” Yagami chuckled.
I relaxed my posture and looked at him, astounded and confused. I knelt and wrote in the dirt, “How did you get past my senses?”
Yagami walked up and read what I wrote, “It’s a dark affinity spell. I appear to everyone as a shadow. It works better at night rather than in the middle of the day, but it seems to work very well on you.”
I scowled at him and wrote, “Don’t do that again!”
Yagami took a drag from his cigarette before tossing it into the grass, “I’ll do whatever I want, kid. And I needed to see if you could pull your weight. Got a problem with that? Then you’d better go back to the guild and beg that White Lotice wench to take you.”
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I moved a portion of the earth under the cigarette, burying the butt with a wave before writing, “You could’ve asked.”
“That wouldn’t be very fun now, would it?”
I listened intently to his breathing and heard his ribs grinding against each other, confirming that they were broken. I pointed at his side and wrote, “Broken ribs are fun?”
Yagami shrugged, “If someone isn’t injured, it’s never fun. Now come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team. They’re just up ahead.” He turned and walked up the road, clearly not waiting for me. I sighed and began following him.
We walked for about ten minutes before I saw some people within my senses. I whistled to get a clearer look at them and saw one man and one woman. The woman looked a head taller than me, with a slender body, a beautiful and angular face, and a large chest. She wore dress-like clothes, a cloak and had a small, straight stick on her waist. The man was the same height and toned muscle build as me. He wore leather armor and had a bow and quiver of arrows strung to his back.
My whistle drew their attention our way, and they waved at us. Yagami waved back but didn’t pick up his pace. A couple of minutes later, we were finally within earshot of the other two. “Who have you dragged along now, Captain?” The bowman asked.
Yagami cleared his throat, “Let me introduce you to Rose. She has joined our team and be with us from now on. She’s a close-range mage with extraordinary spacial awareness. And she’s blind and mute. So only talk to her with yes or no questions.”
“She’s disabled? And you’re putting her on our team, Captain?” the woman laughed, her voice sensual and sultry.
Yagami didn’t answer and instead took off his shirt. WHY IS HE TAKING OFF HIS SHIRT!?! I backed away from him, a little weirded out by his actions, as the other two people gasped in shock. Then Yagami pointed to his side, where his broken ribs were grinding against each other with every breath he took. “She did this a few minutes ago. And apparently, she’s the one who shattered the guild door,” Yagami answered, “She’s more than capable of taking care of herself.”
The woman rushed forward and pulled her stick from her waist, saying, “Mizzena Wahil!” when she reached Yagami and pointed her stick at his ribs. Water formed out of thin air, and the black and white waving orb pressed itself against Yagami’s side. I could hear his ribs grinding against each other for a second more before being replaced by a fizzling, cracking sound, and a soft groan escaped Yagami’s lips.
A moment later, I could no longer hear his broken ribs grinding against each other. My eyes widened as I stared in awe of her healing magic. “Thanks,” Yagami grunted, putting his shirt back on and turning to me, “Now for your introduction. This right here is Phos, our mage,” he said, pointing to the woman.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Phos said, giving a small curtsy.
“And that one over there is Fuun. He’s our ranger,” Yagami continued, pointing at the man. Fuun nodded and said nothing else.
I nodded to both of them and gave a small wave. And now I don’t know what to do. Should I write something for them? Or do something else? I don’t know what to do!
“All right, let’s get a move on. We’re wasting daylight,” Yagami said as he lit another cigarette.
“Captain,” Phos and Fuun said in acknowledgment as they began walking down the road.
Yagami didn’t follow immediately and instead walked before me and said, “We’re going to the mountains and will be there in a few days. Our job is to kill a bunch of monsters, and we’re going to be running the entire way there. So, keep up.” Then he turned and began running. Phos and Fuun chuckled to each other as he passed them, and they started running too. Channeling my mana into my body, I smiled as I ran and quickly caught up to them. It might not be so bad being part of a team.
***