Jack saw the flaming ball of fire fly out towards them at the same time as he saw Brom step forward.

“|Shield Block|!”

The Spell detonated on his shield, the blast itself being diverted to the aside, knocking down the surprised drunks. Jack stepped forward too and pulled Larissa behind him. She might had been protecting the man, but that wasn’t a reason for her to get hurt too. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mrk meld into his surroundings, while Ava brought forth her bow.

A Spell flickered to life, but it wasn’t directed at them. Rather, it was centered on the man, who had leapt down the flight of stairs, his silk robe flowing comically behind him and almost instantly accelerated once he hit the floor, running for the back door.

He must have applied a speed enhancing Spell on himself, since he was faster than he had any right to be. Unfortunately for him, he was still not as fast as an arrow.

“|Light Arrow|”

A flash appeared in the corner of Jack’s vision and the very next second the same luminous bolt was pinning their target to the wall, by having gone through his silken shorts.

“You will not take me alive!” he screamed.

Slightly dramatic.

“Sir, please.” Jack said, stepping forward. “We simply wish to have words with you.”

“I’m not going back!” he said, thrashing, before pointing a finger at him.

A finger adorned with a currently glowing ring.

“|Lightning-“

His words cut out, like the strength to speak them had left him. Which wasn’t impossible, seeing as how Mrk was currently standing beside him, one knife to his throat and another hovering near his crotch.

“Man cast Spell, man dies.” Mrk warned. “Man not speak nicely, man make no more babies.”

He looked conflicted, like he was seriously considering risking it. Two Skills prevented him from doing anything stupid.

“|Calming Presence|”

“|Taven’s Peace|”

Brom and Larissa looked at each other in surprise. The feeling in the air was certainly having an effect on Jacks mind and he almost dispelled it via magic, but decided against it. It wasn’t a direct manipulation, he felt, but rather something like a reasonable voice speaking inside his head. He felt it would have only seriously affected him it he would have been inclined to violence. As it was, it was almost soothing.

He still kept an internal eye on it.

“I though your Skill was passive.” Ava stage whispered.

“It is.” Brom calmly answered. “But it can also be triggered.”

“Fancy.” The satyr concluded.

Jack took a few steps forward and raised his voice.

“We did not come here with a hidden motive. I do not know who this man is and we are not on a mission to retrieve him, as he no doubt believes.” He said, before turning to the man in question. “Please believe me, sir. I do not know who you are. But we are adventurers. We can tell when there is more to the truth and something is being kept from us. I don’t believe you to be a bandit, so there is no cause to fear us. But it was our duty to investigate who Larissa had as her guest, given the secrecy behind it all. Now, as an apology from our side, for having caused you distress, may we buy you a drink?”

If I wasn’t a |Jack|, I would have gotten a |Liar| Class for that.

The man peered at him, before wearily nodding.

“Fine. But make it a stiff one.”

***

They had drunk well into the night. They did get drunk, them managing to stay sober had been out of the question, but that was alright, since Nole had already found them accommodations in a nearby house. That being said, while they had fun, that wasn’t their main purpose. Their main objective had been information gathering and Jack thought they had succeeded at that.

That had found out that the man was named Penor and that he was an exile from a medium-strength kingdom down south. South enough that the lands looked different, since from what the man had described about his home, the surrounding lands were more savannah than grassy hills. His kingdom was called Sorrah, though it was only called a kingdom so that outsiders could more easily reference it.

Their form of command was only half aristocratic, with the power to rule being descended down the bloodlines of the main ruling families, the greater among them controlling vast swaths of lands and the lesser controlling only industries or trade. From these high-born, a ruler was picked, once every ten years. Sure, the king could be deposed early, but that almost never happened. It was far more often for a king to die from suspicious causes, Penor said. It was favoritism and popularity games, of course, but the man did assure the adventurers that the process of electing a ruler was, at least in part, meritocratic.

And that same meritocratic process applied to its officials. After all, a kingdom couldn’t be divided into just peasants and aristocracy. Somebody had to do the actual important work. Therefore, Sorrah had an entire apparatus of choosing the right men and women for the right positions. That was how Penor had first started out his career, with a lowly Class, before reaching the heights of |Royal Administrator|.

Unfortunately, politics is a dirty game and Penor had been on the losing side of the current regime change. The newest ruler came from a not so affluential family and had to use more than simple physical bribes to sway the general opinion to his favor. No, what this ruler promised was a set of positions, directly appointed by himself and freely dividable by the rulers of the families who would agree to help him. They were, Penor said, almost certain Classes to those that were picked. A treasure in all but name.

There was that small problem which consisted of the individuals actually holding those positions, though. Yet the new ruler had a solution for this as well. They would quit, of their own accord. Why wouldn’t they? There was coin for them if they did and threats if they didn’t. But Penor couldn’t quit. Wouldn’t. He was a |Royal Administrator|, a Class he had worked so hard for. A Class that in his later Levels even allowed him to influence other Classes. He refused to abandon his post or take a bribe.

Which was when the ruler fabricated charges of corruption of treachery against him.

And when he had to run for his life, continuously fearing attackers being sent after him so that he would take the secret of the ruler’s corruption to his grave. He had been running ever since, not staying in one place for long.

And that was how he came to Lendt.

That was the moment Larissa took point in telling Penor’s tale. The man came to Lendt, half starving, yet his flashy attire told the villagers he was certainly a high-born traveler. Slowly, but steadily, they had won is trust. Larissa instantly empathized with him, since she herself had something of a sad story. Apparently, she had worked at the tavern since she had been a little girl, enough that she actually earned herself a Class, though it wasn’t one she wished to share with others. Still, her perseverance managed to share that Class with her former |Barmaid| Class. That fusion, plus a later transition would see her as the current |Tavern Keeper|. She was a hard worker and had prevailed through tough times, yanking herself up by her bootstraps. It was no wonder she had taken a liking to Penor.

Too much of a liking, hearing the jokes about rough play between the two of them, but that was none of Jack’s or the others concerns.

Penor had helped her with advice about Classes and general advice about how to efficiently rule a business. He helped the others inside the village in other similar ways. That was why they were all instantly doubtful of the four adventurers who just happened to stroll into their village. They knew very well that they weren’t well know, though they took pride in their pumpkins. So, when Larissa found out they were here, she did all she could to find out just what their business was and tried to hide Penor’s presence.

Not that the half-naked man strolling down the stairs did her much good.

Yet, after a very intense day, it all ended well. The tavern had filled with villagers and after hearing Penor’s story, the four regaled both him and the villagers of Lendt with their own adventures, though the fight against Amenor’s army was the crowd favorite. They went to their respective beds that night, satisfied. The villagers because they got to meet real adventurers and got to drink and talk with them. Larissa, because her new friend was safe and sound. Penor because he wasn’t being hunted, not by them at least.

And them because they obtained the intelligence they were after.

“I wished Elia would have obtained a communication artifact for us. I believe it would be suspicious to send a messenger, even if we could find one here.” Brom said, from his bed.

They were all sharing a room, that Nole that rented for them. The man himself was sleeping inside the carriage.

“I think they’re too expensive.” Jack said. “I tried to learn the |Message| Spell, but it’s to hard for me.”

“You thinks Penor believe lie?” Mrk asked.

“Oh, I think he fell for that lie, hook, line and sinker.” Ava laughed. “Now we just have to cozy up to him and have him take care of Jack’s problem. Or just kidnap him.”

“Hmm. Normally I do not agree with Ava’s methods, but sometimes the direct route is the best.” Brom speculated. “If it comes to that…”

“Let’s try diplomacy first.” Jack decided. “Or whatever it’s called when we do it.”

They laughed, but nodded.

“Fine, fine.” Ava said. “First we play nice. And then we bag him.”

“Yes, yes. Just remember, our official story is we came here looking for work. So even though we buddy up to Penor, we still have to ask the mayor if he needs our help.”

“But what if he gives us really boring jobs? Like scaring crows.” Ava said, sounding actually horrified. “I’ll be fainting from the boredom.”

“Sometimes life is river and sometimes life is a mountain.”

“Very deep, Brom.” She deadpanned.

“Mrk thinks is deep.”

“Thank you, Mrk.”

“Deeply boring.” He grinned.

“Alright, let’s get some sleep.” Jack said, before their sleepy conversation could devolve into a pissing match. “We have a jumpy foreigner to woo.”

***

It should go without saying that they didn’t manage to woo him. Not completely, that is. Oh, they played friendly, had breakfast with the man and generally made him relax among themselves. But Penor reacted to them asking if they could help him with anything by asking if they needed help with their Classes. Apparently a few months of running for your life makes one safely paranoid. They told him they wouldn’t mind any advice, but that they genuinely asked if he needed help. He pondered the question a little, but finally said no.

That was their first strike out.

They then moved ahead and tried talking to the Village Head. The old portly man was deeply terrified of talking with them, since he seemed to have gotten wind of what almost went down at the tavern and gossip grew in intensity as it travelled. So they had to cajole, impress and borderline threaten a group of sorry looking guards before being allowed to talk with Lendt’s leader.

That took almost an entire day, so one may consider that their second strike out.

After finally seeing them and accepting the fact that their team’s name didn’t automatically mean they would bring death and desolation unto his village, the man calmed down. Yet he confessed that Lendt didn’t require any major help at the moment, that they didn’t have any outstanding threats Death’s Bane could help terminate and that there wasn’t any dungeon, ruin, monster lair or general adventurer attraction they could investigate around Lendt.

There was, however, a forest a couple of hours of travel away. The villagers went there to hunt every now and then. Apparently, it had a handsome bear population, so there was no risk of overhunting. If Death’s Bane would help the poor, grateful villagers of Lendt with some bear meat and fur, the Village Head would be oh so thankful. They couldn’t pay much, maybe at all, but their gratitude would be eternal. And since Jack and his friends did ask and ask so insistently, on that manner, well… they couldn’t really say no, could they.

Strike three.

“And that’s how we'll be on bear hunting duty tomorrow.” Jack confessed to an amused Penor and Larissa. “Don’t get me wrong, we don’t mind helping, it’s just that we were looking for something more…”

“Adventurous?” the man laughed.

“Pretty much.”

He and his team were having dinner with Penor and the |Tavern Keeper|. He had grown to like them and as such, chose to spend his time with them, even dropping the occasional tidbits about himself. Jack personally thought Brom’s |Trustful Demeanor| Skill was pulling half the weight.

“Mrk no mind so much. I likes forests.”

“I still can’t believe you two started this whole thing living in mud huts.” Larissa said.

“Yes, well, from small beginnings and all that.” Jack laughed.

“I don’t mind either. It’ll be a good exercise.” Ava said.

“Because you’ll get to shoot things.” Brom added.

“Because I’ll get to shoot things.”

Jack personally thought it was a waste of time, but if his friends liked it, who was he to argue.

Penor laughed again, before asking a question.

“But isn’t that forest some distance away? I know that’s what preventing the villagers from ging there more often. Well, that and the bears themselves.”

“Some distance, but we have Nole and the carriage. And he has travelling Skills.”

“Oh, my. Well, that’s handy.” Larissa said, before urning on her new ‘friend’. “You know, for such a high and might man, you never take me anywhere.”

“I confess I never saw a proper destination to take you to, my sweet. Not around your quaint little village.” The man defended himself.

“Oh, but you did manage to think a few things to do to me, my sweet.” She archly said, making Jack choke on his ale. “Is that how you treat all your lady friends?”

Penor sighed, but he did it halfheartedly. Smiling, he turned to Larissa.

“My sweet. Would you like to accompany me on a trip to this forest, via our new friends? For, say, a picnic?”

“Oh, I would love to.” She said, giving her a look that Jack could only describe a sickly sweet.

Still, at least we get to spend some time around him. That’s a win.

“Aren’t we supposed to say yes too?” Ava chirped.

No, Ava, why?!

Penor looked at them with the commonplace ‘don’t ruin this for me’ look, before speaking.

“I’ll answer a few of your questions about Classes… or just anything really, to the best of my abilities. In exchange for allowing me and this lovely lady here to accompany you. And keep us safe.”

“Done!” Jack laughed, though the back of his head was matted with sweat.

Impromptu deal over with, they finished their meals and attempted to leave, before the duo pulled them into a new night of drinking. Jack feared they were going to be too mellow the next day, but Larissa assured them her |Privileged Clientele| Skill, her best one according to her, allowed whoever she chose or spend her time with to be shielded from the ill effects or an entire night of merrymaking. Eating too much would not result in bloating or vomiting, drinking too much would still get you drunk, but not result in a hangover. Sleeping too little would have no affect on attention. Also, getting frisky with the Skill’s owner could also be done without any side-effects, though the woman hurriedly moved from detailing more than that, after Ava’s drunken question honed in one the amusing subject.

They went to sleep completely bashed that night, but true to her words, they woke up fresh as they could be. Nole was waiting for them, carriage and horses ready and they ceded one of the two benches to the couple, while Jack and Ava rode atop the carriage itself. They had no baggage, outside of what Larissa brought for their picnic, so they could easily rest there.

The trip itself was comfortably uneventful. They traded jokes and small nothings as the time passed. Larissa looked positively delighted and confessed this was her first time going outside the village to relax for… she didn’t even remember for how long. Penor didn’t look that much enthused about the countryside, rather bored actually, but he did smile honestly when Larissa was happy.

There might be something real here. Really hope we don’t have to kidnap the guy.

They reached the forest soon enough and found a decent spot to camp, a few minutes inside the forest proper. Nole hitched the horses to a tree and went inside the carriage for a nap, while the two moved away, further inside the forest, to find a picnic spot. And for privacy. That’s probably also why they refused Mrk’s offer of guarding them. Jack told Penor he could have his acid wand, since he didn’t the man to get mauled by a bear of all things, but he simply laughed and told Jack he had a few magical artifacts on his fingers that would better protect him than a wand.

And that’s how Jack and his friends found themselves wondering the forest, looking around for bears.

“How many do you think we have to bring?” Ava grinned. “I bet I can get at least five. In… two hours?”

“This isn’t that big of a forest.” Brom wared. “Two would be more than enough. I believe the village head would be extremely happy with just one bear.”

“So… three?”

“Do you think the two will be safe out there?” Jack asked. “Because it would suck for our best bet at a solution winding up being eaten by a wild animal.”

“Oh, trust me, the only wild animal that’ll be eating Penor is Larissa.” Ava serenely said.

That got a laugh out of them, whether they wanted to or not.

“No, but really.”

“I believe they will be fine. His rings allow him to cast |Fireball| and |Haste|. I am sure one of the other rings offers a shielding Spell as well. Yet, I agree we should move quickly.”

“Mrk thinks so too.” The ratling said, tone intense. “I think more danger here than we knows.”

“Why?” Jack asked, instantly alert.

“No know. Just… Mrk thought I caught scent before. Not know scent. But makes Mrk think of danger.”

“Monsters?” Brom asked.

“…maybe. Mrk not sure.”

“Ava, keep your vision Skill focused. Look for enemies as well as prey.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s get to it then.” Jack breathed out. “This just turned from pleasure to work.”

Luckily, they didn’t encounter any foes, either normal ones or monsters. No traps either. Mrk himself confessed that whatever he felt was no longer present and that it had been faint enough the first time around too. Perhaps the scent of a long-gone threat? He couldn’t be sure.

They did manage to down a couple of bears. Both males, both killed by the greedy Satyr who left nothing for her friends. Though Jack had to admit Ava killing the bears with an arrow through the head, in one case actually going to the bear’s eye, was a much cleaner way of killing than he or Brom hacking away at them with axes and Spell. Made for more valuable fur too, so the Village Head would be doubly happy.

They were currently dragging the bears back to the carriage, a much harder feat than it sounded, since two of their members had short legs and another was whiny, when they heard it. The first sound was an explosion, followed quickly by a woman screaming.

They didn’t even look at each other. They simply let go of the ropes they were using to drag the animals and bolted forwards. Ava was tall, but Mrk had |Scurried Steps| so the two soon disappeared ahead of Jack and Brom. The dwarf was keeping up with Jack two, though his method of dealing with obstacles in his way, like bushes or roots, was to dah them away with his enlarged axe.

They ran for a while and Jack thought they must have been nearly back from whey they left Penor and Larissa, when he heard Mrk bellow, letting out an enraged scream. Considering his friend was the stealthy killer among their group, that couldn’t have been a good sign.

They broke out of the bushes and into the small space where they left them and saw a disaster scene.

Nole had untied the horsed, tied them to the carriage and was now trying to get to Penor and Larissa. Preventing him was a wall of fire, in the form of a loose half-circle, covering maybe thirsty feet of the forest’s floor. The fire wasn’t tall, perhaps just above ankle wight, but it was spooking the animals. Nole was desperately trying to get his horses to dash through it or to go around it, but so far, he didn’t look to be having much luck at pulling it off.

Penor himself was guarding Larissa, keeping her behind himself. There was a shimmering shield layered over him and his hand was outstretched, though there was no |Fireball| flying out. Perhaps that was because his target was currently engaged with Ava and Mrk, too close to them for a Spell to only target their assailant.

As for the assailant itself, the seemed to be more than a match for Ava and Mrk. Jack couldn’t tell what it was, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t a human, since that height and built could have only meant a child was fighting his friends. There was one more detail, though. Whoever it was, it was draped it armor head to toe, masking its face and every exposed body surface. It wasn’t chain mail armor either, but plate armor, polished and clean, joined together in such a way that it allowed for fluid movements. But there was one detail that no one missed. Their attacker had a tail. It might had been covered in segmented armor, but that was a tail alright.

Ava was losing arrow after arow, but seemed to have trouble using her more dangerous Skills because of Mrk. The ratling was in close proximity to the armored foe, snarling and yelling, his knives not being used as finesse weapons, but almost like short swords. Jack had never seen Mrk act like that. It was almost as if he went berserk.

“Brom, help the two. Get them inside the carriage and leave! I’ll help Ava and Mrk.”

“Fine, but we’re not leaving without you.”

“Penor safety is important.”

“And you all are more important still. I’ll get them in, but we’re all leaving together.”

Jack frowned, but nodded. Dwarves were famously stubborn and Brom did have a point.

He went back to assist his friends and got a better look at their foe. It was possible that they were outmatched. The other was armed with twin swords, thin and long for its stature. But it wasn’t attacking. Instead, it was weaving around them, dodging their hits with ease. Almost playful. And the way it came close to Mrk, tempting him into a hit, dodging back right before Mrk’s slash landed…

It’s playing with us.

“Mrk! Get back!” he shouted, but the ratling didn’t seem to hear him.

“He’s gone feral!” Ava shouted, as she sent an arrow, only for it to be casually deflected by the armored one.

“Mrk!” Jack shouted thinking fast. “I’m hurt bad! I need your Healing Potion!”

That managed to make the ratling come to his senses a little. He stopped screaming and turned to peer at Jack. When he pretended to be aching, have bounded back, which was when Jack shouted.

“Now Ava, hit it!”

The Satyr didn’t even hesitate, catching his plan from the wind.

“|Summon Crescent Bow|, |Lunar Barrage|!”

At the same time, Jack grabbed Mrk and hoisted him over his back, running back towards the carriage. Ava ran too, but only after a second of staring. He saw that Penor and Larissa were already in and Brom was just outside, axe and shield ready.

Mrk started thrashing as soon as he figured out he had been played, but Jack held on tight. He threw him inside the carriage, before jumping on top of it, screaming at Nole to move it while he and Ava helped Brom climb.

The carriage sprung into movement with a start, almost toppling them. Ava had her bow out still, but no one was coming after them, before or after they left the forest.

“Good thinking.” The dwarf breathed. “A barrage of arrows was the only safe bet.”

“Yeah. Hope it put it down, whatever it was.” Jack agreed.

“It didn’t.” Ava quietly remarked.

“What?”

“I stayed for a second to see if it worked. It… didn’t. It deflected all my arrows with those swords. Almost… all, actually. It let the last one hit it in the chest. My arrow bounced off. Just to show me it did it for sport, not because it needed to.”

“…damn.”

“It seems the kingdom of Sorrah can afford to send mighty opponents.” Brom concluded.

They were silent after that, except to reassure a frightened Penor and almost hysteric Larissa that they were now safe. They reached the village and after a tense few minutes of discussion, the Village Head assigned all guards around the Patched Boot. Not that it would do much good if that one came. He even asked for Jack and his team to guard the tavern, since Penor was a valuable guest, a request to which they readily accepted.

They would sleep in turns, but first the had dinner. By themselves, since Larissa had taken the night off to shake off the fright with Penor.

“It might be better to simply take the man.” Brom said. “If it comes again, it will not be as easy to escape.”

“Maybe… didn’t think he’d have that after him.” Jack said. “What Level was that thing?”

“Level 20? Thirty?” Ava guessed.

“Who knows. We might have beaten back an army, but that was mainly circumstances.” Jack continued. “I don’t like our chances against it.”

“I believe we could win.” Brom opined. “But it would cost us. That being said, the opponent wasn’t only strong. It was smart. Penor has said that before he opened fire, it asked him who he was there with. Collecting information on the force it would have to face with.”

“I really wished Penor didn’t |Fireball| it.” Ava sighed. “It actually cut that Spell. The fire on the ground was from his Spell. It said it just wanted to talk at first.”

“And you believe it?” Jack laughed.

“No! But if the guy had half a brain, he would have stalled for time until we all got there.”

“Regardless, we need to set up a sleeping schedule.” Brom said. “I propose-“

“It not after Penor.” Mrk said.

Those were among the few words he said after his encounter. He had even evaded answering what got him so mad in the first place.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked. “Why do you think that?”

“Is not after Penor. Mrk knows.” He said, sounding hurt.

He raised his head and looked at them. There was still anger in his gaze. But also resignment. And… hurt?

“Is after Mrk.”