I worked all day and managed to close another crack and visited another town and a city. The greetings were still mediocre to non-existent, considering they knew that I would be visiting.

Maybe they don't communicate as much as I thought they did? I asked myself as we came to a rest area. Or maybe they don't care. I thought. “I think we can camp here for the night after eating supper.” I said and the elves immediately protested. I held a hand up to stop them, then pointed. “You can go to the next town if you want. With the current boost on your horses, you can reach there in a couple of hours.”

I slid off the horse and pulled out one of the spare tents I had. My group had bought several spares along the way over the last year to replace old and worn tents, and since the bags of holding could hold... frankly, quite a lot of things... I never threw the old ones away. Since the size of things didn't really matter and it was only the weight that was considered, the tent was already formed and I put it into place and used Presence to drive the tent pikes into the ground.

I put another down a few feet away and pointed to Fred. He tossed his armor and weapon inside and then I handed him a bedroll. He put it inside and came out to wait for supper. Dawn didn't speak as she stopped me from giving her a tent. I gave her a nod instead and offered tents to the four elves. They declined both tents and bedrolls, so I had to assume that they were either stubborn or they didn't want to accept more things from me. I made everyone supper and put feed bags on the horses, who were just as grateful to eat as the people were.

The elves made their own sleeping arrangements and we all bedded down for the night. They stared at Dawn as she went into the first tent and changed into the nightgown I gave her, then they stared at me as I entered the tent. What they didn't see was me becoming invisible and changing into a nightgown, or Dawn and I getting into separate bedrolls. They were right next to each other, so we were neither alone nor together.

I entered a partial meditative state and kept watch, just in case, and I surrounded the camp with a thick Presence Wall. It was invisible, of course. I didn't want to broadcast our location by leaving the energy slightly glowing and blue, because that would have lit up the night like a beacon. The night passed by and the morning arrived before anyone except me realized it. They were all more tired than they thought they were after all the travelling.

We ate breakfast and I absorbed the Presence Wall before we moved on to the next town. Surprisingly, they greeted us properly. They didn't have any prisoners and admitted that they had two of them years ago and had died from the injuries they had gained from trying to get through the barrier. I was a little upset by this; but, they hadn't let them die after I issued my ultimatum, so I couldn't kill them for it. I left them amicably with a sour taste in my mouth and moved on to the next crack.

The creatures we encountered were some of the oddest ones I had seen so far. They were five feet tall and looked like anteaters, except they stood up like kangaroos and didn't have arms or necks. Also, instead of sucking things in through their long trunks, they first spit out a viscous liquid like a mosquito and then sucked everything up. I used up a lot of Presence as armor as I waded through them and held their trunks closed to stop them from spitting on me. I couldn't stop them all, though.

My Light sword had a good workout as I severed trunks and split heads. I wasn't going to keep these creatures, so after several applications of Presence Lightning on the other side of the crack, I memorized the star pattern in the sky and came back through to seal it. Dawn, Fred, and the four elves had been fully prepared to help me, until I told them what the creatures did. When they saw the creatures attacks, they reluctantly stayed back out of the way and watched me.

*

“You're right, Dawn. Even seeing him jump willingly into that creature's gaping maw again, I don't believe it.” Fred said when Hunter disappeared into the crack. “He's like a death machine!” He said and chuckled. “You said that he has a party waiting for him?”

Dawn nodded. “A nice group of like-minded people that are waiting on the outside of the barrier.”

“Why didn't they come in with him?”

“He didn't trust the elves to keep their word.” Dawn said, and two of the elves near them hissed and two sighed sadly. “He was right, too. They had us, right?”

Fred reluctantly agreed with a nod. “I wonder who the other two prisoners are.”

“We'll find out soon.” Dawn said. “The next city is coming up.”

“It's almost like he planned all of this to pick up the prisoners as soon as possible.” Fred said, and he and Dawn exchanged looks. “He did, didn't he?”

“He had planned for a month of clearing the cracks and sealing them.” Dawn said. “With us as motivation, he's cut his trip down to two weeks, the bare minimum to visit each town and close the cracks.”

“That's why he's burning through so much energy?” Fred asked, surprised. “He's going to exhaust himself after a week, even with his absurd recharge rate!”

“I don't think he will.” Dawn said, respect in her voice. “Mentally? Yeah, I think he's going to be tired and he will probably collapse any day now.”

Fred grunted and glanced at the elves. “He won't have to worry. We've got his back.”

Dawn touched his arm and he looked at her. They knew Hunter would be the most vulnerable to the elves and they silently vowed that they would protect him to the best of their abilities.

*

“Whew.” I said and stumbled away from where the crack was. My Presence was down to almost an eighth of its total. “I went a little wild, there.”

“It's all right.” Dawn said and she and Fred were right there by my side to support me. “We got you.”

“I'm fine.” I said and couldn't help read their thoughts with them so close. They're quite concerned about me. I thought in surprise and let some of my weight rest on their shoulders. “I think I need to take a break.”

“We could camp out in the woods; but, you know as well as I do what that could entail.” Fred said. “Overnight for several hours isn't too bad. All day and cooking food?” He shook his head. “We need shelter.”

“We can stop at the next city when we pick up the next prisoner.” I said. “I'm sure we can stay within the city's protection for a day.”

“Will that be wise?” Dawn asked. “If they have a prisoner, then...”

“I'll be able to gauge them when we meet them.” I said and we all sat down next to the horses. “Just give me an hour or so to recharge most of my energy.”

“How can you do that so fast?” Dawn asked.

“This is a mana enriched environment.” I said and rested against a tree. “It would take me two to three times longer anywhere else.”

“You're actually using this green floating stuff?” Fred asked.

I raised my eyebrows at him and he chuckled.

“I can see it for about five feet.” Fred said. “My mother was a mage.” He said as an explanation. “I can't do anything with it, though.”

I smiled. “You're already doing something with it.”

“Huh?” Fred looked at me with curiosity in his eyes.

“Just being able to see it means you're using it to some extent.”

“You're pulling my leg!” Fred scoffed. “Mom said I didn't have any talent for the craft.”

I let him keep that little bit of delusion for now. If my suspicions are correct, he could be like me. He can't cast any spells; but, he could be a self-buffer.

After a short rest, we mounted up and my Forest guide led us to the city with the next prisoner. We weren't greeted at all as we approached the Protection tree and were completely surrounded by female elves. My guards had automatically taken the proper guard positions, even though there was no chance that they would be able to protect us or themselves if the elves attacked.

“Take the prisoner and go.” One of the elders spat and a guard brought forward a very well groomed man. I thought that was odd, since he should have been in the same sorry state as the others. When he was close enough, I felt a very familiar evil taint. I hopped off my horse and walked over to him.

“Thank you for...HURK!” The man's words were cut off when I grabbed him by the throat.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” I yelled and used Presence to enhance my voice. Screams and yells came from the elves around us.

“N-n-nothing.” The man sputtered and the Presence wavered a lot.

I was very tempted to crush his neck and kill him, like my instincts told me to, then I forced myself to stop and think. I needed information and apparently this man had it. Thanks to the old lady's technique and meeting Princess Braya, who only had a one-way link in her mind to receive, I knew what to do with this man. I bared my teeth in a feral smile and created a mental probe.

“Won't... work.” The man said.

“Oh, but it will.” I said and used Presence to essentially drill a hole into his mana.

“AHHH! STOP! STOOOOOP!” The man yelled as my mental probe easily slid into the mana hole I had made. The things I saw inside his head disgusted me.

“Hunter! He's a prisoner!” Dawn exclaimed. “Let him go!”

“This... man... is a murderer and a torturer.” I said and pushed the mental images I was seeing aside. “If the elves hadn't caught him before he...” I stopped talking and looked at the elders. “I will forgive your discourtesy in your lack of greeting, if you will forgive mine for asking you to treat this man well.”

The elders exchanged looks for a moment, then as one, nodded.

“Hunter, what's going on?” Fred asked.

“An interrogation.” I said and closed my eyes. “Ugh, disgusting. Deplorable.” I shook my head. “Your tricks to discourage me aren't going to work.” I said and let the smile appear on my face again. “Unlike you, I've been through what you enjoy doing to others and I smiled the entire time, because I didn't want to give my torturers the satisfaction.”

The man's eyes widened as I sent him my final torture moments. Since they were my memories, he saw and felt everything from my perspective. “N-no. No! NOOOOOOOO!” He screamed and tried to break free from my grasp.

“Sleep.” I said and the man fell unconscious. His mental protections became reactive, so I easily avoided them and I pulled from his mind the information that he had. How he was an acolyte of the planet's goddess, about how he and all of her followers had been abandoned years ago, and how they were working their way to try and gain her favor back again... by torturing and killing people. I shook my head mentally at the sheer stupidity that showed.

Unfortunately, the man didn't know where everyone else was, only a select few from what he considered the inner circle, which included the mangled face man. It was clear in his mind that he was a disciple and had followed the man religiously down the path of depravity and torture. Like most people that did such things, they could dish it out and couldn't handle it when it was done to them. He had sang like a canary when the elves had started in on him and they knew about the conspiracy.

I stopped my mental probe and looked at the elders. “That's why you didn't tell the queen? Because there was nothing she could do about it?”

The elders exchanged looks again and one stepped forward. “The knowledge didn't benefit us in any way, except in helping to deal with that.” She said and motioned to the man in my grasp.

“It's good that neither of us has to deal with him anymore.” I said and snapped his neck. He didn't die right away, so I used Presence to grip his heart and crushed it. “Is there a mage that can cast Fireball or a similar spell nearby?”

One of the town guards stepped forward. I created a slightly blue Presence box the size of a coffin and left one side off, then stuffed the body inside.

“Shoot this please.” I said and stepped back.

“With pleasure.” The guard said and you could hear the satisfaction in her voice as she held a hand out.

A few seconds later, a one foot wide fireball came out of her hand and hit the body. I quickly closed the Presence box and used Presence to allow oxygen through the box and kept everything else in. I increased the fire until the orange and yellow flames became blue and white. After only a couple of minutes, there was nothing left inside the box, not even ashes. I cut off all air and the flame was snuffed out. Everyone stared at the empty box and I dismissed it instead of absorbing it.

“I request sanctuary for myself and my party for the night.” I said to the elders and they regarded me with a critical eye for a moment.

The elder who had stepped forward before spoke. “We will not welcome outsiders into the tree. However, shelter will be provided until tomorrow morning.” She waved to the guard that had cast the fireball. “You will be guarded and then warded against attacking us.”

“I'll agree to the guards and only warding the place we stay to keep us inside. If you cast anything on me or mine, I will see it as an attack and will respond in kind.”

The elder looked like she was chewing on something sour, then she nodded.

“We'll need a yard or a place for the horses.” I said to the guard, and we took the horses with us as she led us down the street, with no less than ten other guards. I thought that was a little excessive, considering I already had four guards as an escort, then shrugged and didn't comment on it.

A medium-sized property with a fairly large tree-house on it was waiting for us. Thankfully, it didn't look lived in and must have been empty for a while. It had a good sized front yard, so I created Presence Walls around it and we put the horses in it. We took off all their kits and saddles and I stored them all in my bag of holding for loot, making sure to mark each one so that the horses would have the same equipment returned to them.

I let the guards take the largest bedroom with the huge bed, mainly because they needed the room, and I took the second bedroom. Dawn joined me, unsurprisingly, and Fred stayed in the living room. I made him a large box of Presence in the shape of a bed and added a bedroll. He laughed at my attention to detail and climbed onto the bed and pretended to fall asleep. We both knew he was going to stay up and watch us, to make sure I was undisturbed. Dawn and I changed for bed and she kept her eyes on me to see if I was going to peek at her.

“You do realize that I don't have to look at you to see you, right?” I asked and climbed into bed.

“Yes; but, you never look at me directly and I can delude myself into thinking that you're not staring at me.” Dawn said and climbed into bed beside me.

“I'm fine with that, because I'm not staring at you.” I said and laid down on my side.

Dawn was quiet for a minute. “So, you didn't look?”

“Not like that.” I said and she rolled onto her side to look at me. “It's one thing to see something, it's another to look with intent.”

“Did you... do you like what you see?” Dawn asked me.

“I can't get involved with you physically.” I said. “I'm sure Maylia would be quite upset if I was to take advantage of you like that.”

“Yes, I suppose she would be upset if I tried to steal you away from her.” Dawn said, sadly.

I chuckled. “No, it's more like you're emotionally vulnerable and even if it is consensual, you're not really in a good position to judge what's best for you.”

Dawn stared into my eyes. “You're not the best for me?”

I shook my head. “I've got too much work to do and you need someone who can devote themselves to taking care of you.”

“You can't do that and work, too?” Dawn asked.

“I've had a girlfriend for a year and I'm a guardian to a wonderful girl. I miss them both very much.” I said with a smile. “Missing them is not enough reason to ignore them and have sex with you, though.”

Dawn sighed and nodded. “I'll stop pressuring you.” She said and rolled over to face the other way.

“Will you hold me and keep me safe instead?” I asked her. “I'm going to be unconscious for about eight hours and I need protection.”

“You want me to protect you?” Dawn asked without turning around. “You are a one man army and I'm not even a knight yet.”

“Yeah, but... I am only one man. I can't do everything by myself.” I said. “I need friends and allies.”

“Is that what we are? Friends?” Dawn asked, her voice subdued.

I reached out and lightly touched her back. “I've only known you for a few days, and yet I feel like we've known each other for years. That doesn't happen for no reason.”

“I... yes, it's strange. I feel like I can trust you with... with everything.” Dawn whispered.

“That's why I feel like I can...”

*

“Can what?” Dawn turned around and looked at me. “Hunter?” She shook her saviour's shoulder and he didn't react. A second later, a wave of sleepiness washed over her and she yawned. It was followed by a wave of peacefulness and she slid in close to the man that had saved her from the savages and tucked herself into him as she hugged him, then promptly went to sleep.

*

“Oho!” Fred said when he felt the wave of sleepiness. “Nice one, Hunter!” He said and shook his head to counter the effect. He needed to stay awake to watch for threats. When the wave of peacefulness washed over him, he knew that he had been extremely lucky to have been rescued by such a great man. He couldn't put it into words how the man made him feel. He had seen the evil floating off that prisoner and when Hunter had reacted immediately and then dealt with the evil man, Fred had felt such a rush of admiration that he almost peed his pants.

Even just remembering the body being burned up with blue fire gave Fred shivers. Good shivers. Fred walked over to the bedroom with the elves in it and saw that they were in various states of undress and had succumbed to Hunter's sleep spell and barely managed to get on the bed.

Weak minded fools. Fred thought and closed the door and went out to the living room and looked out the window. He smiled widely at the unconscious guards that were supposed to be watching the house. He didn't warn them he was going to do it, either. He thought with a quiet laugh. Thanks for making my job easier, Hunter!

Fred went back to the bed-shaped box that Hunter had made for him and climbed on. He relaxed and stayed vigilant, which was not difficult for him at all. As a fighter, he always slept with one eye open, in case the people he was with decided that he wasn't needed anymore. He had a party turn on him once, when his cut of the loot had been a bit too much for them to ignore. He smiled as he remembered killing them for betraying him and he got all of the loot for himself.

Fools and their money are soon parted. Fred thought with amusement and dozed as he kept watch.