“Mallor Henbar? The Reanimator? I thought he died a while back?” [Arbor] Honeygreen said.

The group had gone straight to the [Arbor] after their findings at the first sacrificial site. As soon as Wepish was awake and able, he drove the speeder through the wards. The Elf looked embarrassed and frightened, and he wouldn't look Max in the eyes.

Wepish drove through a secret underground entrance into the heart of Esmel. Wepish explained that Lord Honeygreen had set up a few tunnels like the one they were currently in. Back when Esmel was in its infancy the tunnels served as a last resort defensive measure. The [Arbor] could extend his roots through the tunnels quickly expanding his influence. But today, they were hidden routes for Honeygreen’s spies.

The group sat in the same room in Honeygreen’s trunk. It was noticeably cleaner than before. Cobwebs and dust had been removed, rugs had been beaten and there was even a pleasant scent in the air.

“Yes. He was thought to have died during the Contagion War, but evidently not.” Bishop answered.

“Any idea what his plans are?”

“No. The stalker was only told to watch the site and kill any who finds something Mallor overlooked.”

“No one has died as far as I know… What about the other sites?”

“We only went to one. We thought it best to report this to you.”

Honeygreen’s' stick body nodded. He turned his attention to Max. “What about you? Did you see anything else?”

“Just the Stalker and that the whole area felt wrong.” Max said with a sigh.

“I see… Tomorrow try the other sites. You have an entire day before you can view the newest site… Maybe you could find another Stalker or whatever Mallor may have left behind.”

“Can we go to a site where the center body was gone?” Max asked Wepish

“We should be able to… why?”

“I don’t know much about ruins or sacrifices, but it's safe to conclude that the ones with the century body missing were successes, right?”

Vel nodded. “Yes, why leave the body if whatever you planned worked?

Their discussion went on for a little while longer. They were going to try to examine 3 sites tomorrow.

Buzluc walked through the dark night. Visible plague followed in the form of rusty smoke. As he walked, his footprints caused the lush grass to blister and die. Flies and other decomposer insects buzzed around him. A sickening smell radiated from his rapidly decomposing and healing flesh. This man was a Wight, an undead with impeccable healing. His Blight affliction paired with his undead attributes created a deadly dance between life and death.

Blight Wrights were rare and often found dead. Their decomposition slowly kills them while their healing keeps their constitution. Only one would win the race, and for Buzluc, it was healing. Buzluc had the typical history for a Wight. Born a humanoid, died a humanoid. But through sheer hatred and anger, he was able to revive his dead body and become something else. He became affiliated with plaque, pestilence and Ikzag after meeting Mallor.

Mallor had already been adopted by the Vast Empire at this point. Mallor showed Buzluc the power of plague and he took it in stride. Buzluc’s hatred never settled, and with plague he achieved his goals.

Buzluc was originally a Monolith Devil. Monolith Devil’s were a rather small new offshoot of the typical Devil. Their main characteristic was their bloodline racial for Ground and Rock magic. Monolith Devils were territorial beings, they used their strong magics to create impenetrable fortifications. They would often inbreed their tribe rather than find outside sources. “We must preserve our blood line!” The Elders would argue.

Decades of inbreeding caused their youngest generations to become sterile.

As one of the youngest and non-sterile, Buzluc, still going by his mortal name, was chosen to venture out and procreate a child. Buzluc left his family and friends along with a few others to make as many children as possible.

As fate would have it, Buzluc fell in love with a Greyblood Devil. They had many children together and he returned to the tribe with his family. Buzluc had a total of 12 children. At first everything was well. The tribe elders were happy that their future generations could survive. The adults were happy to see children again. Even the children themselves were happy.

Once the kids grew up, problems started to surface. Monolith Devils prided themselves on their foundation magic. So, when Buzluc’s kids started manifesting their Systems, and the Monolith bloodline racial was missing, blame had to be appointed. Buzluc’s wife was killed. Her body dragged through the small streets. The elders and other adults rejoiced as they found their offender.

Buzluc tried to hide the kids but was unable to do so in time. The justification for the murder of 12 children was said to be tribe security, but Buzluc knew better. The bloodline was failing long before he had children, and that they were a scapegoat for what was to come.

Buzluc sought revenge and ultimately failed. He was never the best at magic, but still, what could he do? Live peacefully in the tribe knowing what they did to his family? Leave and never return? Or, die killing as many as possible. When Buzluc died, he had only killed a few elders. His body was buried in a nameless grave set far from the tribe.

Anger and hatred eventually fueled the conditions needed for a reanimation spell and thus, Buzluc was born. Buzluc searched for years for power to seek revenge. During his search, he found Mallor and Vast Empire. With the power given to him, he was able to kill all of those who wronged him. Monolith Devils are no more, forever being a lost and forgotten race.

Buzluc was currently walking through all countless wards, uncaring of their reactions. Alerts were sounded all across Esmel. Teams were dispatched to investigate by the city guard, and many of the [Arbor] factions.

Buzluc arrived at the sacrificial site. He made a disturbing whistle. His eyes darted around looking for something.

“Interesting.” Buzluc said after a few minutes. His call was for the Elemental Stalker that Max had captured and Vel had killed.

Buzluc began his investigation using an evolved form of Mana Sight. He quickly found the spot where Vel embedded her rune into the ground. Vel had sifted the dirt, removing any visual evidence of the rune, but she forgot about the preservation wards.

Her mana signature remained along with the mana imprint the rune caused. Normally both would fade after a few hours, but within the ward, they could remain for years. Buzluc recognized the caster and the rune. With a sinister smile, he changed his focus on the hastily approaching scouts.

“STOP!” A city guard yelled. “Wha-what are you?”

The guard was used to criminal Elves, not whatever monstrosity was in front of him. His team of guards quickly regrouped and regained their composure. By now, other teams had arrived and joined together, forming a circle around the decomposing man.

Buzluc slowly raised his arms. He had waited for every nearby team to arrive before his attack. Efficiency heh. Buzluc internally joked. Buzluc wore no clothes, but he was covered where it mattered. His insect followers paired with the sickly plague created enough coverage for him to not be considered indecent.

Bug started to crawl down his arms, legs, and torso creating a layer of moving armor. The Elves around Buzluc all started to feel the same premonition. Death. The insects exploded off of Buzluc and swarmed. Guards and scouts began to fall, each with countless bugs eating their skin and infecting them with disease. A few of the more powerful were able to retaliate, but their spells and swords were intercepted by shields of plague or swarms of insects.

Buzluc casually strolled through the battlefield. He ignored most, only having to reposition his shield when a particular deadly spell was inbound. To his insects, he was the king, and his life mattered more than theirs. Insects would rush to protect him, killing priority targets or sacrificing themselves.

The battle was over in a matter of minutes. Every Elf was dead or dying. Buzluc however, was untouched. He thought about staying and killing the reinforcements, but he had more pressing things to do. He had to inform Mallor that Veline could either see Stalkers or someone in her party could.

Buzluc walked through the dense forest smiling, imagining the new job Mallor would give him. Hunt down and kill Veline or whoever was the seer.

Max and Bishop were awakened by a pounding knock on their door. Both men looked at each other and assumed battle positions. Lightning arced from Bishop as he created daggers. This was Max’s first-time seeing Bishop’s lightning constructs. He had seen Reep’s imitation, but something about a master at work awed the Lost One.

“Hello? Mister Bishop? The [Arbor]’s stick man is here to see you!” The innkeeper shouted from behind the door.

With a sigh, Bishop released his daggers allowing them to dissipate. He opened the door and found a tired looking female Elf. She wore a slightly panicked expression. Max gathered Emi and followed Bishop out of the room. The innkeeper went next door and woke Vel, then the next and woke the girls.

Max and Bishop sat next to each other in the common room. Across from them was [Arbor] Honeygreen. He had his arms crossed and his normally green eyes shimmered with red. The other trickled in and the conversation started after a privacy spell was used.

“Someone, a few hours ago, triggered the wards protecting the site you all went to today. Twenty-five guards and independent militiamen died investigating. The reports are still coming in, but the general consensus is death by bugs and plague.”

Everyone had varying stages of shock. The students were the most surprised, then Bishop and lastly Vel. Honeygreen noticed Vel’s lack of reaction.

“You knew something like this would happen?”

“No. Well, sort of.” She sighed. “I killed the Stalker. Someone would come and investigate eventually, right? Looks like that happened.”

“You knew something like this might have happened and you did nothing to stop it?!” Clammy asked irate.

“Child. It's not that easy. Think about it. We went into that site without anyone other than [Arbor] Honeygreen and Wepish knowing. Max found something and now we are paying the consequences of our silence.”

“But… We… They died…”

“I know, child. I know. Trust me, it was a hard decision.” Vel looked crestfallen, her normal arrogant aura gone. “I had hoped that it would be a grunt that came to investigate, not Buzluc. That way, the guards had a chance.”

Clammy nodded, moving her glazed eyes to the table.

“I concur.” Honeygreen said. “You made the right decision. I should have made the same connection. If anything, the deaths are on me. I could have interfered after the wards were tripped without outing you all.”

The table went silent for a moment.

“Who is Buzluc?” Reep finally asked.

“Buzluc is Mallor’s familiar and a Blight Wight. Nasty creature. He uses insects to carry magically modified diseases. As a primary attack, it is nigh unblockable. Only barriers and flame spells have a chance. Oh, that reminds me. You should quarantine the site and anyone who entered. Get some specialists and cleanse it, the faster those preservation wards are gone the better.” Bishop said.

Honeygreen nodded and Vel went wide eyed.

“Oh no.” Vel looked scared. “I forgot about the preservation wards. Buzluc knows it was me who killed the Stalker. He also knows the mana signature for anyone who used magic while in the ward.”

The others all looked at each other.

“That's bad right?” Max asked.

“For you? Yes. Unmanageable? No.” Bishop said. “Vel and I are able to handle ourselves in a fight, but you and Clammy…”

“What he is trying to say is that since he has never met you, since he has never seen YOU actually cast magic, he won't recognize you from your signature. He probably has a good guess since you are with us, but as long as you never allow him to see your mana, you should be looked over.” Vel stated.

“Reep is fine since he didn’t see her mana?” Max asked for clarification.

“No. Unless she casted something that I missed.” Vel looked to Reep. She nodded.

“Good. Less of a handicap for us.”

“Handicap?” Honeygreen asked. “I am unfamiliar with the phrase.”

“Oh, uhhh. It's like something that weakens us from our normal state. Unfair advantage would be another way to say it. In this situation, it's knowledge.”

“I see... Yes, that would be a handicap.” Honeygreen said, trying the word.

“But there is one thing about handicaps most don’t think of.” Max waited for everyone's attention. “They can be exploited by both parties.”

After seeing everyone’s confused states, he supplemented. “Think about it like this. If I didn’t have a right arm, and we were sparing, you would use that as an advantage. You would attack my left, forcing me to reach over myself to guard and attack, right?” He waited for the [Weapon’s Master] to nod. “But what would happen if I baited you into attacking that side, and I had a hidden blade or I was able somehow use my arm stub as a weapon?”

Bishop’s eyes widened a little in understanding. “Ah. I see what you are saying. We call that a trap.” Everyone nodded at the term, making Max feel insecure.

“That… Yeah that’s right. What if we use our Handicap as a trap? I’m not sure how, that would be up to our strategist.” Max gestured to Reep.

“Me?” Reep looked confused. “Why not Vel or Bishop? They out experienced me several times over.”

“In our team, you are the leader and strategist. But you're right. This is not a normal fight, and we are going to need to really think about our next move.” Max reassured.

The table, for the next couple hours, brainstormed idea plans. The first few plans were to use Max or Clammy as bait. No one liked the idea, and it was quickly forgotten. Ideas were thrown around, most were bad, others had potential. The group decided to continue their examination of a second site. The original plan was for the group to visit multiple sites, but now that the stakes were higher, things needed to change.

After they visit one site, they would return to the city and rob the bank. Or at least stage a robbery. Whoever the spy was, they must have had a reason to steal the bodies from the first found sites. They would attempt to rob the bank. They would make a lot of noise, alerting the whole city of the robbery. They would make sure to use spells, leaving their signatures and thus baiting Buzluc to the surface. There were a few problems with the plan, however.

The first and primary being what if Buzluc didn’t care or didn’t take the bait. There was always the possibility that whoever stole the bodies had no connection to Mallor or Vast Empire. They could simply be a person of opportunity, meaning that Buzluc would have no reason to defend their attempt on the bank. Buzluc could also recognize it as a trap, or simply not care about Max and Clammy.

Second, it was dangerous. Buzluc took down 25 trained fighters. And from all the evidence, he did it without a scratch. Buzluc was dangerous, and no one could guarantee their safety.

Third, it could get awkward if they got caught by the guard. They, of course, wouldn’t be imprisoned. Honeygreen, however, would have to intervene at that point.

Max really liked the idea. Not because he thought it would work without issue, but because he wanted to rob the bank. Max had originally wanted to rob the bank, but he played it off as a joke. His thinking was that the bodies are important, and the bank was their quickest way to information. Max also thought he could crack, or at least see-in-too the Space Safe. Max didn’t know what his Astral Dimension did, but he felt like he could, at least get some useful information. Plus, who else could say they robbed a magical bank. Max thought it was kind of badass since he wasn’t actually stealing anything...

The group along with Wepish arrived at the second site. Vel and Bishop had been more alert during the ride over there, and they were even more vigilant in the site. Each kept watch using various magical means. Both had already been marked by Buzluc, so they were pulling out all the stops in security.

The first thing Max checked for was Stalkers. He had everyone fan out and hope they got close enough for Stalker to reposition. They walked around the site for close to an hour, before Max finally conceded. Since the Elemental Stalkers were not actually part of this world, Max couldn’t just use his Space Affinity to find it. The Stalker had to be actively moving to alert Max, otherwise it would blend in with the space around it, blinding Max.

“I don’t think any are here.” Max finally said.

“It makes sense. Stalkers are valuable and hard to come by. Mallor probably recalled all of them after the first one's death. They are effectively useless if someone could see them.” Bishop added.

Max and Emi began their search of the grounds. They picked the same route as before. Following the runic lines to the focal points. At the end of the search, they both concluded the same thing. Something walked out alive.

On the previous site the evil and oppressive feeling Max and Emi had was localized to the site. But now, on the site where the center body was missing, there was a direct line starting from the center heading out into the forest in the direction of the city. Max could feel where they placed each individual step. Each individual footprint.

Max and Emi followed the trail, until they came to the end of the preservation ward. Max couldn't see where the actual war ended, but the footprints were cut off.

“Wepish? Is this where the preservation wards end?” Max wanted confirmation.

Wepish activated his necklace. “Yes… How did you know?”

“I can feel footprints of taint or evil or something… They end right here and I figured it was the wards.”

“Footprints? In that direction?” Wepish looked aghast. “Oh no!”

Everyone by now realized the implications. Whatever plan Mallor had, was probably already set.

“We need to go.” Vel said rushed.

They all piled into the speeder and tore through the wards. At this point, their identities didn’t matter. Buzluc already knew, and now, all of the leaders would know.

A small legion of guards and soldiers were waiting for them at the city checkpoint. Elven scouts had marked their movement as suspicious since they were coming from the direction of the alerted wards. The city refused to send anymore out to the site. Their losses had been too great.

The speeder came to a stop a safe distance away for the armed guards. Weapons were drawn and spells were pre-cast. Vel stood and leaped down. She took a few steps and eyed the Elves.

“I am Veline, The Shadow Deluge!” Vel spoke through her mana, causing her voice to change slightly and amplify in volume.

A rushed chatter fell through the ranks of the guards. Most fighters or mages knew not of Vel, but of her title Shadow Deluge. Many great and important quests, finished by Lester’s team, were sung by bards and music men off all over. Everyone on Lester's team was famous in their own right, for being an absolute powerhouse of magical or physical abilities. Of course, Vel hadn’t had any adventures in a long, long time, causing the songs to wane, but the cultural net had already been cast.

“I have information that is vital to the survival of the city! I seek an audience with Esmel’s [Arbor] Lords and Ladies. [Arbor] Honeygreen can vouch for my authenticity.”

A louder chatter rang out from the soldiers. A few minutes later, a man stepped forward. He wore a similar uniform and armor to that of the rest, but his markings and sigils told Vel that he was of higher rank.

“The message has been sent. Remain here until a reply.”

Vel nodded and walked back to the speeder. She saw the wide-eyed looks her students gave her.

“What?”

“I think that they are surprised by your level of” Bishop cleared his throat, “Badassness.”

The students nodded.

“A little old lady standing in front of an armed platoon of soldiers and demanding to speak to their leaders. Yeah, I would say that's badass.” Max added.

Vel scoffed. “If you think that was badass, you have no idea.”

“Oh, no… I do… Can you teach me how to do that voice thing?”

Vel eyed him whirly. “Just use some mana on your vocal cords when you talk.”

“Oh.” Max began to try. He started with one word at a time and found that it was more difficult than he thought. It was all about timing. Too early and nothing would happen, too late and only the last syllable would morph.

“Max.” He looked up. “Not the time.”

An hour later there was a shift in the guard. The guards looked between each other, unsure of the news they received. The same higher ranked soldier spoke after a few minutes.

“I have received notice that you are no threat. [Arbor] Honeygreen has vouched for you, and you are to proceed directly to his trunk. The other [Arbors] are gathered there also and wait for your entry. I suggest you make haste.”

“Thank you.” Vel said.

Bishop steered the speeder slowly through the checkpoint. The same soldier waved them down as they drove past.

“A-are we safe?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Son, I wouldn’t be here if you were.” Vel said.

As they sped up to the city, Max sat in admission. That line was fucking badass. He thought.