The aftermath of a hunt was next to always all business. Admittedly simple business, but business. Mostly in the “filing reports” category so that things could be put into order as they needed to be and so that proper rewards could be doled out.

At least, that’s how it was for a normal hunting contract.

But considering the fact that this hunt was, for lack of phrasing, quite abnormal, the normal process one would go through when finishing up was… quite a bit longer with the new information that Soren and Syr had to provide from their findings, much less the state of the Beasts that they had taken down and were now in for study just like their material finds.

“This is… certainly a problem…” Rahni’s eyes darted across her screen. “We knew their behavior was abnormal, but even just looking at them, whatever that substance is, it clearly has more effects than just heightened aggression…”

“And not to mention, all signs point to the fact whatever it is, it was left behind by another kind of Beast… but what kind is the question,” Soren drew out the scale he had found from a pocket, setting it on the counter. “And whatever it was, it’s definitely not your normal Beast if it leaves behind a scale that looks like this.”

“Certainly…” Rahni took the scale, turning it over for a moment. “I can’t say I recognize what kind of Beast this is from… we may just have a new sighting on our hands.”

“How often does that happen?” Syr asked, leaning forward on the counter. “I imagine with all of the studies that go on nowadays, plus modern information technology and everything.”

“Well… I can’t say it’s as rare it used to be,” admitted the Keeper. “But, with how Beasts can be, you never really know when a new subspecies might pop up under the right conditions. But then there’s… more extreme cases… things like Wyrms.”

“That might make for a better explanation…” Soren murmured. “I was also hearing about some talk going on from the Zenith Frontier about some stuff going on there, but I doubt these could be connected somehow.”

“I can’t say it’s out of the realm of possibility,” Rahni sighed. “But, for now it’s best if we wait for the results about the samples you both collected to come back,” she also slid the scale back to Soren. “You can hold onto this. Consider it part of the reward. Just let me get that sorted out… do you want it in cash, or is there an account I can send the credit too?”

“I don’t have a bank account set up yet,” Syr admitted, giving a sheepish chuckle. “If you could, I’ll take my share in cash.”

“Send my share to my account, same as usual,” Soren said, Rahni nodding as she started to type in the numbers.

While Rahni did her work, Soren and Syr turned as they heard the doors opening again. Night tumbling into the foyer now was a group no doubt made up of the Guardians that were based out of this zone. And they certainly looked like they had spent who knew how long tramping about the woods dealing with who knew what problems that could have been caused by their apparent mystery Beast now.

[Gah, what the hell kind of nonsense is even going on out there?]

[Those damn Beasts are off their rockers! Normally they’d just run off soon as you give them a good smack!]

[I’m telling you, it’s about that black tar stuff that was left behind! I know what I saw out there, and that stuff was left behind by that thing I saw!]

“Hold on…” Syr gasped. “Did one of them say something about…”

“Seeing something,” Soren nodded. “Excuse me! Mind telling us a bit about what you saw out there?”

The exhausted looking Guardians certainly didn’t look amused to have some stranger stroll up with questions, their eyes turning to their companion who had gone off.

“If you got questions, it’s him you’re looking for,” one of them said, pointing out the guilty party. “We’re too damn tired for more of this. Good luck with this one.”

“Ah, come on you lot don’t just… agh, blast ‘em all…” the Guardian who was now left to be interrogated was a Dynor, rather average looking but clearly getting into his middle age, and quite the rugged looking sort, telling of plenty of experience in his field. “Ah, fine! Sorry if I’m coming off as irate. We’ve had a hell of a time dealing with the mess going on here.”

“We’ve seen some of that ourselves,” Syr said, stepping over while she bounced her freshly laden coin purse on her hand. “We actually just got back from a hunting contract, so we must admit, overhearing your conversation piqued our interest.”

“Shit, someone actually took that?” said the Guardian, sounding surprised at the news. “Didn’t think we’d get anyone to take that for a few more days at least… shit then, if you’re wrapped up in this mess now, I’ll tell you whatever you need! But… not here in the lobby. Been running around all damn day, my ass needs to sit down and eat something.”

“Oh, trust us, we understand that much,” Soren chuckled. “Let’s take this to the mess hall and you can tell us about what you saw out there after you get something to calm your nerves.”

“Appreciated.”

With things now arranged, the three went off in the same direction as the Guardian’s compatriots had, coming into a far more spartan looking mess hall compared to the rather homey tavern-like feel of the Amber Dawn’s main hall. Though considering things, perhaps spartan and utilitarian was all that was needed for a base where the personnel no doubt rotated in and our of on a regular basis.

After the Guardian had gotten himself some food and drink, Soren and Syr simply waited as he stuffed his mouth. And once the man seemed satiated, all they could do was be patient.

“Pheeeeww… ah, man it ain’t the best, but can’t argue with something filling your belly after a hard day’s work!” The Guardian laughed before then downing his tankard of frothing beer, and once he’d done that, now he seemed ready to give his time to the two Mercenaries. “Ahhh… alright, first up, how ‘bout we get some names eh? Keep it simple. I’m Keller, and as you can tell, I’m one of the unlucky bastards who was taking up this base right as things became a mess.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Soren nodded. “The two of us are from the Amber Dawn, a Mercenary Guild. I’m Soren, and this is Syr.”

Syr gave a dainty wave, and Keller now seemed even more interested.

“No kidding? I ain’t from Clearharbor but I’ve heard stuff about the Guilds there. Ain’t you Dawn folks like… one of the biggest Guilds in the city?”

“We have a reputation for sure,” Soren mused.

“Perhaps a… rowdy one,” Syr murmured.

“Wait a… ah blimey, now I know why that name seemed familiar!” Keller slapped the table as he chuckled. “I’ve heard of you! Soren the Sword Saint, the kid who joined up with the Dawn not a couple years ago and blasted his way up to High Rank in record time!”

“Apparently my reputation proceeds me a bit,” Soren mused. “Though I’m sure if it was someone like Sellen this place would be in an uproar.”

“Ahhh, you mean the Spear Maiden!” Keller chuckled. “Most likely the case. But we’re not here to talk stories or who has what fame. You wanna know what I saw out in the woods that has something to do with the mess going on here, yeah?”

“Anything that could help,” Syr nodded. “When we were investigating the area near the Plains Raptor’s nest, we found more of that tar-like stuff, not to mention they were abnormally aggressive even for predators.”

“That, and this,” Soren drew out the scale once more, setting it onto the table.

Keller took the scale with a curious eye, and after a moment, his brow knit as his eyes glinted with concern.

“A black as night scale… yeah… this has to be from that thing,” Keller slid the scale back to Soren. “Alright, here’s what happened. It was about… a couple days ago by my recollection. Before things started getting hectic around here. I was on a routine patrol, normal things you do to make sure everything is in check you know? Peh, can’t imagine how much worse it is for those Hunters working in the Frontiers though, ya get me?”

“Yeah, I’ve met a few. Been on a few Frontier trips myself,” Soren nodded. “Their patrols tend to be pretty dangerous. Beasts are a lot more likely to try and jump you in one of those places.”

“I can imagine. Frontiers are their turf, not ours,” Keller let out a deep sigh. “Now as for how the patrol was, it was pretty routine. Me and a few others, sticking together for the most part, branched off a ways in so we could cover some extra ground. We were in a thicker part of the forest, near the brook the Raptors like to hang out around and hunt at. Probably the same place you did your hunt.”

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

Keller took another swig from his tankard.

“As for what I saw… honestly I ain’t sure how to bloody describe it. Damn thing looked more like a giant shadow than any Beast I’d ever seen prowlin’ around the woods before. I’ve been in and out of this place for a while, so I’ve seen my share of the food chain’s biggest. Worst thing we see stompin’ around is from a pack of Ardensden. You know ‘em?”

“Yeah, hunted a few,” Soren nodded. “Brute Wyvern, easy to piss off. Tall as a house and has a nasty habit of belching fireballs. It’s hide makes for damn good leather though, especially the parts with its pelt. My jacket’s made from some of it, actually.”

“Aye, definitely good stuff. But the thing is… whatever this was, obviously weren’t that. I’d say it was… a bit smaller than one of ‘em, but still pretty damn long. Not small by any means. Problem is I also couldn’t get as good of a look at it as I probably could’ve. Was too busy hiding from the damn thing since like Gehenna I was going to stand in the open for it to find me. Didn’t even think to take out my Deck and make a video of it for proof, blasted idiot move that was.”

“What could you see, at the least?” Syr asked.

“Well, aside from its size, like I said, damn thing was black as night, basically a walking shadow. From what I could tell, it kinda seemed like… well, a damn Dragon more than anything, from my guess. Was walkin’ on all fours, but also seemed to have wings. Big ones too, covered most of its body from the glimpses I got of it. That’s also why I can barely say more than its color and how big it is. Thing looked like it was wearing a cloak with how big those wings had to be.”

“Sounds like a Dragon, yeah…” Soren murmured. “But if it had been a Dragon, they definitely would’ve found you… and then probably chewed you out for hiding from them, depending on their temper.”

“Which is why it had to be a Magic Beast. After that run in, I went digging through the Guild’s records about what kind of Beasts could fit that description. All I got was a few files about Wyrms… Black Wyrms, to be precise.”

“Black Wyrms?” Syr tilted her head. “I know that when it comes to danger rating, Black rated Beasts are all in the Wyrm classification… but does Black Wyrm mean something different?”

“Very different,” Keller nodded, then glancing at Soren. “You wanna do the honors? Figured a High Ranker’d be better at explaining them.”

“Lug it on me huh?” Soren gave a dry chuckle. “But, fine. Alright, let’s start from what you know. The only Magic Beasts that are ever rated at a danger level of Black are always Wyrms, which are Beasts that get such a name because they exist outside of the regular paradigms we classify Magic Beasts under, yet still aren’t true Dragons like the Wyverns.”

“Of course,” Syr nodded. “Anyone who even does a cursory study on Beasts knows about Wyrms. They’re incredibly special specimens, about as rare as actual Dragons when it comes to encountering them in the wild. So rare the only way we know how to name them is with the old Ascian method that was discovered in some ruins decades ago. But then… what makes a Black Wyrm different?”

“Black Wyrms are, to keep short I guess, the top of the food chain when it comes to Magic Beasts. The kind of things that only a true Dragon could make look weak in comparison,” Soren had a grim edge to his voice as he spoke, Syr’s eyes widening. “The thing is, the Guild doesn’t know a whole lot about these things. All we’ve got about them are whatever scant records we recovered from Ascian ruins alongside information about other Wyrms. But where we’ve at least encountered specimens of the other Wyrms… the Black Wyrms are something some people aren’t even sure exist.”

“Let’s put it this way,” Keller spoke up. “If your typical Wyrm is powerful enough to disrupt the ecosystem of a location it winds up in if it wanders out of its territory, a Black Wyrm is a living natural disaster, with none of the levels of intelligence that a Dragon has to keep it in check. At least, so the rumors go. Like your pal said, Guild doesn’t know a whole lot about them, much less if they even exist. But the only lead I’ve got is them, so I got no clue if this walkin’ shadow or whatever it is fits the bill.”

“Well, good news for you then is we just dropped off a few canisters of samples of stuff we’re pretty this mystery Beast left behind,” Soren stated. “When it was gone, did it leave anything? I just wanna confirm things.”

“… yeah, actually. Along the ground its tail must’ve been dragged over, I saw bits of this… tar-like slag or whatever. I’m sure Rahni showed you the stuff first. It was me and my group who first reported finding that kind of stuff in a few spots in the woods.”

“Then it’s exactly what we handed over alongside the bodies from the Plains Raptors,” Soren shut his eyes for a moment, giving some thought to what he’d say next. “Also, I’ve got a theory about why the Raptors were more aggressive than usual. When Syr and I were gathering samples, the first thing she did was check the local ether currents for anything unusual.”

“And, what I found… well, it was concerning,” Syr’s eyes angled down a bit as she recalled the sensation. “I was hit by this kind of… feedback, I suppose. And it felt… off. Whatever left behind that tar, and its ether as well… it’s not normal, at least not the kind of normal you’d find. Not to mention, the Raptors we fought weren’t just more aggressive, but I’d say outright manic. Even when we hit them with near-fatal wounds, they just kept attacking like it didn’t even matter.”

“Bloody for real? Just like what we’ve been dealin’ with…” Keller balked a bit. “Damn unusual. Plains Raptors are bleedin’ cowards who run at the first sign of being overwhelmed. To think they’d up and keep fighting when badly wounded. Actually, damn, I can’t think of a single Beast that would keep fighting like that! Most are smart enough to run and lick their wounds rather than stick around till death takes ‘em! Y’sure about all this sure?”

“Sure as me having needed to make two charged cuts with my sword down the sides of the Greater before it went down for good,” Soren put a hand to his sword’s hilt. “Whatever’s going on… well, we can’t do much more than way for the results to come back in from the Guild about those samples we got.”

“Tch, that’s the worst damn part about this for sure,” Keller let out a sigh. “Anyway, glad I could be of some help to ya’. Now that those Raptors are dealt with, should make our work a lot easier. So long as anything bigger doesn’t end up in the same state as ‘em, anyway.”

“And we can’t thank you enough for telling us what you knew,” Soren chuckled as he stood, Syr bowing her head as she did the same. “Good luck out there then. And hey, feel free to send in a call to the Amber Dawn if something else comes up, we’re happy to lend a hand.”

“Aye to that! Next time I’m in Clearharbor, may just stop by myself! Treat ya’ to a round if you’re around the place!”

“Haha, then I’ll look forward to it!” Soren waved as he and Syr set off.

It was only once they were packed up and set back on the highway, with naught by the radio the car to break the silence that Syr finally found a good time to strike the conversation up again.

“So… what do you think about this?” said the Alf, Soren humming as he scratched a cheek. “First we find news about that odd substance, and then Keller’s report about that unknown Beast… could this… mean something?”

“No clue. We’re better off waiting for the egg-heads at the Guild to get back to us with the results of their findings. When it comes to Beasts, the Guild makes it a priority to keep everyone up to date on any new information that come across. Remember how I mentioned something was also going on in the Zenith Frontier?”

“Right… something about some unknown Beast making trouble there… I wondered if it might be a Dragon. Do you think these are connected somehow?”

“Can’t say it is until we get proof,” Soren chuckled. “But… I’ve always had a pretty sharp instinct for stuff like this. I won’t say anything concrete until those reports get back to us… but for now there’s definitely something worth paying attention to. I can tell that much. What are your thoughts? Considering you were the one who chose the contract and all.”

“Well…” Syr folded her arms, letting out a breath. “It was certainly a twist. If anything it’s piqued my interest in following this lead we’ve found further. Haaaagh… I just wish we didn’t have to wait for the results! If I had the equipment I had access too back at the College, I could just do the analysis myself! And probably get it done a lot faster to boot!”

“Hahaha! Well then, maybe that can be something you can start putting some of that newfound money towards,” Soren chuckled as Syr fumed to herself. “Carys’ll be more than willing to get you set up.”

“The question is how much she’ll charge me for what I need.”

“True… she can be quite the price hawk.”

“But, as for my impressions on my first job…” Syr chuckled as she looked to Soren with one eye shut. “I would say it was a great success! And I’m more than ready to start adding more notches to my belt.”

“Haha! Good attitude to have. I’ll be sure to treat you once we’re back in town.”

“I’d be happy to accept! I have wanted to take some time to see more of the restaurants that I could visit.”

“Hehe, then consider me your guide! I can get a list from Manas of good spots too.”

“Then I do look forward to it.”

As their talk quieted down, Syr took a second to roll down her window and place her hand outside the car, feeling the air whip past her fingers. And out here, the winds felt far closer to what she was used to. Swirling with countless traces of ether, and none of it tainted by a single thing. A sensation that only made her think of what happened all the more.

And whether or not it was some kind of omen.

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else in Laguna, a train rumbled along its rails at speed. Such lines were still commonplace even in the age of modern cars and airships, a ground transport that while antiquated would perhaps always find a use of its own, be it for moving people or cargo.

One of the cars of this passenger train was quite the usual routine. Passengers who were either chatting amongst themselves, some communicating through their Decks, some just quietly passing the time through one activity or another.

While at the same time, filled with the soft sounds of plucking strings and a humming voice. The source was a Hengeyokai, a young woman of pale, soft features. A messy curtain of bright pink hair fell about her face and down her back, partly pinned in place by a decorative blue pin shaped like a Dragon’s body.

Fox-ears with a red color to them poking out, and a bushy tail swishing about as she hummed her song while plucking at what looked to be a lute to the other train goers, though its sound was certainly different.

Clothed in bright white and red robes, accented by decorated red chords, the style simple yet elegant and telling of the Yamatan origins of the style, not at all broken up by the travel boots that peeked out from below the dress formed out of the lower robes, and matched by the finger bearing palm gloves that extended further up the sleeve.

After a time, the musician stopped playing, opening her eyes and revealing their bright red color. Giving a hum, she set the lute side, bringing a hand to her chin.

“It doesn’t sound improper… but what lyrics could I give it? Hmm… I need something more…”

The musician’s ears twitched as she felt something in the air. Looking around, none of the other passengers appeared to react at all. Lifting her left hand, a soft glow began to rise from her palm, soon turning into small swirls of water that reflected a number of colors. And a look of concern crossed her face when those colors darkened, becoming marred by a dark, inky black.

“It’s faint… but this ether is unusual…” As soon as she’d caught it though, that flicker of black vanished. “Huh… wasn’t nearly enough to remain for long. What could that have been? Ah well… no reason to dwell on it for now. I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed. Hmhm… will of the Grands permitting, perhaps I’ll find myself crossing paths with them?”

A smile coming to grace her face, the musician picked up her lute again, resuming her song and content with her decision for now.

“Best to leave some things to the currents of fate.”