I surveyed the courtyard where grumpy granny had her market. The area was dead silent. Missing from the scene was any indication of a battle at all. There were no bodies, no destruction, simply nothing.

All that remained were empty parking spots and a few pieces of debris, marking out the one time mass of stalls and local merchants.

"So, where do you think they all went?" I asked the two soldiers that were tagging along.

"I'm not sure," Corporal Jenkins said as he looked up and down the street from our hiding spot in an apartment over some junkie little dive bar.

"How about you Wellman, sense any enemies nearby?"

I watched the man concentrate for a bit before he replied.

"I'm not picking up anything with my skill, but as you know its range is limited."

I just nodded, hard to forget the ambush we just ran into fifteen minutes ago.

"Well, we need to check it out, keep your eyes open for any hostiles or possible clues."

It was a quick trip downstairs and then across the street from the building we were occupying. The market was only another block down and we made sure to scan the surroundings carefully before we headed over. There wasn't a soul in sight. Not even a single body or speck of blood. We split up, looking the parking lot over to try and figure out what happened.

"Hey look at this," Specialist Wellman said, calling us over.

We all looked down at light gray marks on the road, leading away from the area.

"Drag marks," Wellman said, pointing off towards the direction of downtown.

After he pointed them out I could see them more clearly following the road.

"You think they all packed up and headed to the Bazaar?" I asked.

"Safest place to hide, at least until it shuts down for the night," Jenkins said.

I never really understood why the Bazaar shut down like that. I had asked Fiona but she didn't know either, having only been to the place a handful of times. She suggested it might have something to do with the magic that allowed it to exist perhaps needing to be refreshed.

"I figure we have about 4 hours until that happens," he added.

Well, now we had a time limit to try and do something. What that something was, I wasn't sure. Perhaps locate the remnants of the National Guard and Sergeant Cunningham's command. Maybe try to locate and take out as many Black Dragon members as possible or recon the Bazaar to see what was going on there. None were great options.

"How far to the next fallback point?" I asked.

Jenkins pulled out his small map, checking the location before tucking it away again in his pocket.

"About five blocks east. Should take us another 15 minutes if we hurry."

I realized we probably wouldn't have time to complete all our goals. My thoughts were punctuated by sporadic gunfire in the distance. I looked toward Jenkins but he just shook his head, guess that was the wrong direction.

"Alright, let's go. We can't get bogged down in any fights, so aim to disable and we can withdraw."

All three nodded. As we moved along Fiona walked up beside me.

"This would be much faster on our mounts," she stated.

I knew she was right but we couldn't carry the two men with us in that case and it was dangerous for just them to go alone. We hadn't run into any recent patrols, in fact, the number of enemy patrols seemed to lessen as we got closer to downtown.

"We may have to split up after if the next location turns out to be a bust," I said quietly.

She just nodded, returning to her place in our formation. We stood far enough apart to not be taken out by a single attack, yet close enough to support each other. Although we weren't sprinting, we were moving at a good jog. Nobody seemed to have any issues keeping up but I could see Jenkins huffing and puffing a bit more than the rest of us. We only stopped before crossing intersections to make sure they were clear. Otherwise, we kept up the pace, time was running short.

Again the area was eerily still and I was starting to get nervous. Looking at the others I could see they seemed jittery as well. Despite our nerves, nothing jumped out at us as we approached the building where the fallback position was supposedly at.

The building was an old bomb shelter, going by the plaque near the entrance. The Corporal headed up the stairs to open the door while I turned my head to scan our surroundings.

At that moment I was hit by a wet slap and a concussive force that threw me from my feet. My head was ringing and my hearing had been affected by the blast. I knew I needed to get up but I was struggling to rise. Finally able to stand I looked around. The area was covered in dust and I couldn't see more than a few feet. I scanned the party menu to see what everyone's status was. Fiona was injured slightly, Specialist Wellman had remained unhurt but Corporal Jenkins was dead. Whatever trap he set off obliterated his body and the wet slap I felt was likely bits of him hitting me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the mana cost to use Second Chance on the two soldiers. I doubt it would have helped in this situation anyway. Checking my health I noticed I had taken almost three hundred damage from the blast, or perhaps from being peppered by shrapnel, despite all my buff's and resistances. I started casting heals on myself, which was difficult since I couldn't hear. Eventually, I succeeded in getting the healing spell off.

With the temporary loss of hearing and the dust, I had not noticed Fiona's struggle. She was fighting against three opponents, and Wellman was firing his rifle on full auto at two more, keeping them from getting closer. That left another three heading straight for me.

"LOOK, GUYS, I'M REALLY NOT IN THE MOOD," I said, barely able to make out my words over the ringing in my ears as the healing worked to repair the damage.

They seemed nonplused and continued towards me. I sighed, "Ok, no more good cop," I said, activating Imbue selecting wind as my element, then Flurry, and Blink Step as the closest man tried to launch something at me.

Spearman | Level 8

I glanced at the other three.

Dervish | Level 9

Sapper | Level 7

Vindicator | Level 13

I easily dodged the thrown spear with my enhanced agility and blurred towards the Sapper, you might ask why not go for the highest level person first. Just a little payback for poor Jenkins, since he was likely the one that set the boobytrap. I think even he was surprised as I barreled towards him, trying in vain to raise his club to block my strike.

I simply pulled my staff back, just enough to avoid his clumsy swing before thrusting it forward with all my might. Splattering his brains all over the Vindicator, whom I conveniently lined up for a facial.

This brought the man to a halt as he tried to wipe the gore from his face and spit it out of his mouth. The Dervish came at me with his curved swords trying to carve me up, but he was about four levels shy of being a true threat. Especially since my sparring sessions with Fiona, who was much more skilled and much quicker.

I slapped his swords off to the side, spinning around behind him using the momentum of my strike. With a flick, I sent the bladed end of my staff to the back of his neck. The man fell to the ground, his spinal cord severed. Since he wasn't dead I followed it up with an Earth Fist to his head. Causing it to popup like a ball from one of those automatic pitching machines.

I swung around batting the head straight at the now clean Vindicator, catching him in the face. I swear their lips met

"GET A ROOM YOU TWO," I said, chuckling.

I guess I got a bit distracted with that last one as the Spearman used the opportunity to chuck another spear at me. I was able to avoid a lethal blow but it tore a nasty gash in my shoulder as it flew by.

"FUCK THAT HURTS," I said, my hearing starting to return. I realized I had been yelling the whole time.

I looked around quickly checking on my companions. Both were slightly injured so I cast Rejuvenate on Fiona and Healing Touch on Wellman. This left me enough mana to test a theory. Since both of them were outside of the ten-meter radius I felt it was safe enough. I activated Eye of the Storm before Throwy McThrowerson decided to turn me into a cocktail snack.

I started spinning my staff as the Spearman tried in vain to close on me, but it was too late. The winds whipped viciously around me, much more intense than my previous uses of the spell. Theory confirmed elemental damage can increase spell effects even for my AOE spells. The Spearman tried to dig his spear into the ground to hold position but he lost the fight as his body was lifted off the ground and tossed through the air like a ragdoll.

The Vindicator was having a better time of it, his heavy armor keeping him grounded but also preventing him from closing on me as my spell raged around him. The elemental energies carved furrows in the ground and occasionally struck against his armor, tearing out the fabric. It wasn't a piece of medieval armor or even something cobbled together like mine. No, this man was wearing bulletproof body plates over most of his body making him look like a militant Pillsbury doughboy. While he wasn't fast he was hard to hurt.

I had to end my spell after five seconds, my mana draining down to below fifty. Stepping back I held my staff in one arm, facing the Vindicator as he rose to his feet, his armor covered by dozens of cuts. My other arm I tucked behind my back, striking an amazing pose that said screw with me if you dare. In reality, I was pulling a mana injector from my ring with my hidden hand and injecting myself where he couldn't see me. My hope was he figured I was low on mana.

The man popped his neck and pulled out a massive zweihander from his storage ring. This thing had even more range than my staff did. The blade also gave off a crimson aura. I used Identify on it.

Blood Drinker

Apparently, that is all the information my skill would give me as the blade was in use by another. It was enough for me to guess that it was a magical sword. The man also activated a skill that sent sparks zipping around him, lancing the ground occasionally. I decided to test it and sent a Stunning Gust his way. A glowing spark intercepted the magical attack, causing it to disperse harmlessly.

It was enough clues for me to realize what type of class vindicator was. He was a mage killer and I had a sinking suspicion that if he got close enough that he could disrupt my Shield spell and possibly my other spells and buffs with whatever aura he was using. I didn't want to let him get close enough to find out. Unfortunately, the man had other plans as he charged me, and not as he ran at me, no he used an ability to slam into me before I could even react.

I got lucky that it seemed he could only shoulder charge me and not charge with his blade out. Otherwise, I would probably have been split in half. Instead, I was sent tumbling to the ground. My instincts kicked in and I threw myself sideways, avoiding his overhead slash that slammed into the ground with tremendous force.

'Ok, note to self this guy probably has a strength and endurance-focused build.'

I managed to get to my feet and knock aside another heavy blow that almost caused me to fall again. I was able to backpedal out of his reach quicker than he could approach.

'Yay for high agility,' I thought.

I took my momentary reprieve to check my active abilities and see how my team was doing. I had been partially correct, my shield was down but all of my other abilities were still active.

So apparently only external effects were negated by his aura. Good to know. The others were also faring ok. I couldn't spare the healing with my mana so low.

I spun my staff, knocking his sword wide again, and stabbed forward with a quick jab. I managed to hit him but his armor took the blow. I took a slash to the arm as he pulled his sword back when I tried to duck out of reach. Blood ran down the deep gash pretty profusely but I used Healing Touch, draining my mana to 60. I needed to end this fight sooner rather than later but this man had the upper hand. He was fresh and I had burned almost all my mana trying to keep me and my team alive.

I was just about to reengage when a red whip of water curled around the man's neck, cleanly severing his head from his body. Blood fountained out of the neck as the body flopped over, spraying me in gore.

I just raised my arms up in the air, "What the hell, I totally had that guy," I said in exasperation as I turned to Fiona, noticing all her enemies were down.

"Yes, but we don't have time to sit and watch," she said, chastising me. That's when I noticed Wellman sitting there looting the corpses of the two he took down.

I grumbled but agreed as I went to loot the other three. Well more like two because I couldn't find where my spell tossed the spearman, I only knew that he had died. It wasn't like I was all that angry, just that my battle lust had been left unsated. I sighed again as I looted the corpses. Just your standard fare, about a hundred credits, no storage rings though. I let Fiona have the Vindicator since it was technically her kill.

She handed me the ring, but I saw she took the sword. Not sure it fit her fighting style so she probably meant to sell it. No biggy, when I saw the ring size I lost all interest in the sword. It had seven cubic feet of storage. I was starting to get a large selection of storage items, I tucked my old ring into my boot after taking most of my goodies from it. I left some emergency supplies like some food, water, a health potion, and the one spear I managed to recover from Mr. Throwy. The money got was split three ways and I ended up another 750 credits richer.

Unfortunately, this battle had cost us almost fifteen minutes. I also had a feeling the other two locations were trapped as well. Deciding it wasn't worth going to check them since the only map was vaporized along with Corporal Jenkins. I also wasn't in fighting shape as my armor had been badly damaged in this fight.

I tossed Wellman the sack for Sergeant Cunningham, "Get this to your commander. Since he is either dead or unreachable I consider my obligations met by giving it to one of his subordinates. Especially since the agreement on his end can't be met. So, unless you want to follow us to the Bazaar to check it out, this is where we part ways, Harry."

The man stopped, looked at the bodies, the remains of Jenkins, then at us.

"Yeah... I think I'll come with you two if you don't mind."