Elira Phasol - The Bloodied Borough

“Are you hiding from someone?”

Elira figured that two days were enough for Azrael to think about his assailant’s burial so she decided to drop by for a visit on the third day after their shopping. However, what greeted her was a wary looking face that peeked through the gap in the door.

“Oh, it’s just you,” relief flooded his face after taking a glance at her pointed horns, “and no, I’m not hiding. Not at all.”

Azrael opened the door for her but immediately closed and locked it after her entrance. She raised her eyebrows at the man radiating anxiousness and followed after him to the receiving room. He gave a deep sigh and dropped his body in one of the couches.

Elira sat on the opposite couch, “You do know that anyone who could get past this residence’s barriers won’t get stopped by a simple metal bar?”

“I know that,” he rested his head in his hands and frowned, “but the additional security still helps me relax.”

Elira made a guess at his host’s problems, “Is it Theresa again?”

Azrael’s frown deepened at her question, “Apparently, she had already left the city.”

“I thought you’d be happier now that she’s gone,” Elira looked around at the sparsely decorated drawing room, “don’t you plan to decorate? or ask if your visitor wants a drink? you’re quite a bad host you know.”

“I would be if she isn’t fetching one of the most powerful individuals in this continent to meet me.” Azrael leaned back in his chair and gave another deep sigh.

Elira’s tail twitched at his statement and asked for details. The man was quite glad to unburden himself about meeting with Serath after they separated at the trader’s area and she learned of The Barrier Master’s apology and warning.

“Are you sure he isn’t just messing with you?” Elira didn’t actually think so but she needed to at least try comforting the man.

Azrael’s deep frown lessened a bit, “I'm su… you know what, maybe you’re right. Serath's grin at that time is quite blinding.”

Elira ignored his choice of words and further reassured the man, “and even if The Mother of the World does come, it’s not like she’s gonna tie you up and drag you somewhere because you refused.”

“Why do people keep saying I refused? I clearly said I’ll think about it!” he ran his hands through his hair as he corrected her.

“Well, ‘they’ll think about it’ is usually used as a euphemism for ‘no’.” Elira ignored the man’s hysterics and stood up, “come on, let's take a walk. You need to relax and staying cooped up in your room won’t help with that.”

“...”

Elira smirked at his silence, “You’ll be harder to find if you’re not here you know?”

She decided to bring him to the park at the center of The Bloodied Borough as they just passed by it during their tour. The combination of the red bark, white leaves, and pink flowers of the trees that populated the park were easy on the eyes and they produce a relaxing scent.

They were heading to one of the benches when Azrael noticed one of the Flora Orleys watering the trees. “I haven’t seen any of their race before, are they part-humans with plant blessings?”

The Fley possessed the same red bark of the trees around them as her skin and clothes, white leaves were stuck to her head that was arranged like hair, and she had pink almond shaped eyes without any irises.

Her face and body were shaped like a female human with the difference in the absence of hands and feet; branch-like fingers jutted from her stumped wrists and she had roots growing on her legs for feet.

“They are the original inhabitants of this world and they populated Lochley even before the First Age of Unity. They don’t have human blood in them and they are one of the major participants in The Orley War and The Triumvirate War.” Elira patiently explained to Azrael the origins of the other species.

The man turned an exasperated look on her, “I don’t know any history from this world Elira.”

She ignored the man’s look and continued, “The First Age of Unity was the event that opened up Lochley to the lower worlds. It resulted in The Orley War which was humans against the original residents, followed by The Divided War when the Second Age of Unity happened and brought the part-humans in this world.”

Elira paused to see if the man was following and when he absently nodded she decided to summarize the last part, “The Triumvirate War was the last major war before the Great Peace which we have today, any more questions?”

Azrael inquired about the Fley instead, “Oh… Do they all look like that? She looks like the trees planted here.”

“That’s because she was born here,” Elira shook her head at his question and continued walking as she added some details to her explanation, “Orleys take the form of the environment they were born in. They take up the appearance of the local flora if it was a Fley, local rocks and stones if it was a Ground Orley or Gley, and local corals and sea plants if it was a Water Orley or Wey.”

Elira noticed the man’s furrowed brows as they sat in the unused bench, “Don’t worry there are no bird Orleys.”

Azrael scoffed at her direction, “I wasn’t even thinking that!”

Elira crossed her legs and played with the tips of her braided hair, “What are you thinking so hard about then?”

Azrael slouched in the bench beside her, “Do you know the requirements to be invited to the Fallen? You said you were preparing for your application on Thirteens, does the Fallen have something like that?”

“Hah, as if. They wouldn’t have only twelve people if they were openly recruiting,” Elira huffed at his question, “why did you ask?”

“Just that Theresa told me something before she invited me…” The man trailed off and Elira waited for him to continue but he didn’t.

She was about to ask about it when he inquired the reason for her visit, “Why did you want to talk to me again?”

“I actually haven’t told you yet,” Elira let the man change the subject as she thought it was none of her business anyway, “I need to know your skills for the team role.”

Azrael placed one of his knees on the bench and faced her, “Shouldn’t you have asked that before actually inviting me to the team?”

She did the same and rested her elbow on the backrest of the bench, “I had a feeling that you were confident in your skill when you threatened me at top of the cliff.”

“I already apologized for that!” His face flushed red at the reminder of his actions, “If you really want to know, I did scout work before and I’m quite good at it. I’m also good with a bow and flying knives.”

“Good we still don’t have a scout,” she expected the man to be a ranged fighter and being a scout was a nice bonus, “I’m more of a physical close combatant while William is quite adept at converting unowned energies to boost his own distinct energy for his spells.”

Azrael nodded at her, “So he’s a mage… wait, are we a fully offensive team?”

“The three of us at least. I asked William to search for our fourth member,” Elira didn’t know many people outside her clan and Azrael just arrived in the Lochley so she left the recruitment to William.

“I’m thinking of a support elemental mage preferably someone adept in earth or water spells,” she stood up from the bench and motioned Azrael to follow with her tail, “you’re free today right?”

“Yeah, I don’t really have anything to do yet other than sleep. Why?” He gave her a confused look as he stood up, “are we going shopping again?”

She shook her head at the man, “No, I’d like to see you fight so let’s head over to the Merc Hall to get a simple mission. I know you survived two mages and a sneak attack but I’d like to see your skill for myself.”

Azrael looked happy at her idea, “Huh, I guess this will be my first mission here then.”

Elira got infected with his excitement and grinned at him “Oh, you’re right. Let’s try to find something interesting then,” her smile faltered after that, “although, I doubt there’s one available right now.”

They arrived at the Merc Hall after a few minutes and walked past the tavern to the mission area. They were greeted by a man waving both hands above his head and a booming voice that made everyone in the room pause to turn and look.

“Elira! Azrael! Here!”

“Quiet!” A book went flying from one of the counters to the direction of the screaming man.

William saw the projectile and ducked down under the table while screaming at the aggressor, “Ronda! That’s dangerous!”

The elven woman behind the counter huffed in the man below the table, “You should stop screaming then, how many times do I have to remind you! Hand my book back to me!”

Everyone in the room went back to their business after the screaming match, used to the sudden outburst of the receptionist to the man slowly walking with a book in hand. Elira was also used to the display and headed to the same direction as William with a smile on her face.

She reached the counter and interrupted the elf who was reprimanding the man in front of the counter, “Ronda, how many books have you thrown at William today?”

“Just this one and he is acting like a man who lost his whole fortune already,” The elf smiled at her approach and noticed the black-haired man following behind, “and who is this man? He is definitely a step-up to your usual companion.”

“Hey! I heard that!” William pointed his fingers at the receptionist who slapped it away with the returned book, “Ow! Stop being violent.”

Ronda just sniffed at him, “Then stop pointing at people, and you were meant to hear that.”

“This is Azrael,” She introduced the man who was busily observing the room and other people in it, “he’s -- uh, new... but he is a genuine Journeyman and we’re here for a mission.”

Ronda held an open palm to Azrael’s direction and asked for his papers, “Identification.”

“You guys are gonna do team missions and you didn’t invite me?” William was sulking which made Elira’s eye twitch.

“I knew you would be here so I didn’t bother informing you,” she remembered the task given to him and inquired about it, “any news on the fourth member?”

William shook his head and frowned at her, “Nothing really panned out, most people here are already in a team and they didn’t want to join a new one. There are those that doesn't have a team yet but.. Uhh”

Elira raised one of her brows at his hesitation, “Just say it.”

William scratched his head and answered, “They were kinda afraid of you.”

His answer made the black-haired man beside her laugh which he tried to cover with a cough.

“Then we don’t need them.”

Elira had expected the result and she wasn’t bothered by it. She turned back to Ronda and stated what kind of missions they would like, “Give us a mission suited for three Journeyman that’s close to the city and it should be on the difficult side.”

The receptionist browsed the connector in front of her and looked for a mission that would meet their requirement.

“Hmm… what about this, an alchemist is in need of a spiked tail gorilla’s manly parts. Other requirements would be the source should be from a fully grown specimen and you need to bring at least three.”

Both men at her side froze at the given mission but she smiled at the receptionist that displayed her sharp canines.

“Perfect, we’ll take it.”

Elira was followed by two mumbling men outside the Merc Hall and they made their way to the stables to look for a ride. She was wearing her adventurer set and weapons when she met up with Azrael but William wasn’t as prepared and had to separate to acquire his supplies.

Azrael narrowed his eyes at the other man’s retreating back, “He won’t ditch us, will he?”

Elira waved her tail at his concern, “Don’t worry about it, so any questions about the mission?”

Azrael tapped his chin with a finger, “Well, I’ll be scouting for the enemy so a description would be nice.”

Elira recited their target’s appearance, “They are furred bipedal creatures that have strong and thick limbs; they use their spiked tail as an extra limb for climbing and attacking and they mostly use physical attacks. They possess a strong upper body and they are quick to anger that’s why they usually live and wander alone unless it’s mating season.”

She took out a telepath stone and handed it to him, “Here’s yours, we got it for you after you left last shopping trip. Just send your distinct energy through it while thinking of something and it will automatically convert them to thought energy and connect to our own stones.”

Azrael turned the stone around his palms and observed it, “These are quite convenient, how much do I owe you?”

“Just buy me the next one,” She stopped him from withdrawing money, “they’re consumables so we need to get another after its energy gets depleted. Telepaths would be more convenient and would be harder to intercept but looking for one is difficult.”

They arrived at the stables and Elira inquired for the next schedule of the carriage while Azrael asked her another question, “Where exactly are we going? And why are we using beast pulled carriages instead of that hunk of metal we used before?”

She found a schedule for the next half hour and registered their names and paid for it, “We’ll be riding a carriage heading to the next city, Towering Cairns, as they will pass the Rolling Slopes where we will find our target. Energy carriages are quite expensive and beast-pulled ones would be more economical in this case.”

William arrived around that time, wearing the same leathers as her which was fitted for his body and a metal gauntlet for a weapon. He was also equipped with several straps and belts for easy access to other consumables that he might need.

Azrael commented on their equipment, “You guys make quite a pair.”

“I know! We hunted these lava bears together and they were quite nasty, one almost burned all my hair off!” William was eager to narrate the source of the leathers but Elira told them that they should make their way to the carriage in case they missed it.

The carriage was quite comfortable with only five people occupying it before it departed the city. They shared it with a friendly elf who narrated her whole life with them and a quiet avian which Azrael discreetly avoided.

It was an hour and a half later that they disembarked the carriage and were greeted by a tall grey mountain with a thick forest in its base; the trees populating it were impressive but not as much as the trees from the Ends Forest.

“I need you to observe how we fight first so that you know when to attack. The creatures in this forest won’t be as dangerous as the one in Ends but they can still pack a punch.”

Elira explained some of the monsters they might encounter inside to the newcomer, with William piping up additional information here and there. They entered the forest and it wasn’t long before they encountered their first enemy.

It was a giant lizard that had long hind legs, hard green scales, and a row of sharp teeth that were visible as it snarled in their direction.

Elira immediately rushed to the creature while withdrawing her katars from the straps on her back. Channeling the soul of a Shadow Cat, her body burst with speed and she managed to close the distance with the target before it could move to her other party members.

The lizard snapped its jaws at the incoming demon but she nimbly dodged it by rolling to one side while a blast of energy hit the side of the creature when it tried to take a bite of Elira.

It snarled at the direction of William, rage building up at the pain it received, but Elira made a quick stomp at its direction backed by a strength increasing soul that pushed the lizard off balance.

William didn’t miss the chance and gathered the surrounding energies to his fist and then punched it in the direction of the stumbling lizard. The mass of energy sizzled as it hit the scales of the lizard and it made a growling sound of pain.

Elira followed up with a jumping stab from her katars, followed by a kick as she used the body of her target as a leverage to jump back in the distance.

The lizard was smoking on one side and bleeding on the other but it didn’t plan on going down without a fight; deciding to ignore the long ranged attacks and focus on the nearest enemy.

Eliradidn't panic and easily sidestepped the desperate attacks of the dying lizard, slicing it with her katars to produce more bleeding injuries with William constantly barraging the monster with balls of energy.

After a few more seconds of fighting, the lizard went down with a quiet thump. It lay on the forest's floor, struggling for its last breath as it died from too much blood loss.

“Basically, I will take the attention of the monster while you guys try to sneak some long range attacks on it and wear it down,” Elira explained to Azrael as she holstered her katar and withdrew a carving knife, “Any of us could have killed the lizard alone but by being smart about it, we get to save our energies for the next fight.”

She started pulling the longer teeth of the lizard and deposited them in the pouch hanging on her waist. Azrael nodded at her explanation but he was looking intently on how she dismembered the lizardm for its useful parts.

“Are you harvesting it for materials?”

Elira remembered the cloak he was wearing and realized she could use the man as the team’s mule. “Can you deposit the whole body of this lizard in your cloak?”

Azrael answered her while poking the dead lizard’s body with the toes of his boots, “That would depend on its worth. Putting something as big as this would require a bit of my energy and taking it out again will require the same.”

“Wha --, he is a Seeker of Space?!” William was pointing at Azrael with his finger while directing the question at her.

Elira threw one of the lizard’s claw at William, “Stop pointing at people, and he is a Weaver of Space not just a Seeker.”

He stared wide eyed at Azrael, who chose to ignore the attention he was getting from the other man, “I think I’ve been called that before, what does it mean?”

“Seekers of Space can affect the threads of dimensions but only at the extent of their own personal bubble,” Elira raised her brow at the man as she thought he would know about it, “Weavers of Space can affect the threads of dimensions outside their own bubble and use the unowned energies in the surrounding instead.”

Azrael nodded in her explanation, “We didn’t have those terms back home but I understand the difference.”

“I can’t imagine him as a Weaver of Space, doesn’t opening one outside the personal bubble require huge amounts of distinct energy?” William was still observing the other man, “I don’t mean to be rude but your distinct energy amount sucks, even mine is bigger.”

“Oh, I use life energy instead of distinct energy,” was Azrael’s off-handed reply.

“You use your life span as an energy source?!” Elira screamed at the man, she knew he wasn’t using distinct energy to open the dimensional cracks but she didn’t expect him to use his life energy.

Azrael was confused about their reaction and nodded at them.

“Are you insane? Do you want to die?!” Elira couldn’t believe the man was acting like he was throwing leftover crumbs and not his own lifespan.

“Oh, as long as I don’t overuse it I’ll be fine since I can regenerate it easily if I use it in small amounts.” he was smiling at them like he didn’t say something that would make anyone drop their jaws in shock.

Azrael, as it turns out, was an Ageless Immortal.

End of Chapter 12

Energies of the Wesh

Distinct Energy

One’s unique energy produced by their own body. (Think Mana) All distinct energies are owned energies, but not all owned energies are distinct energies. Can have several properties that would boost certain affinity towards another type of energy.

Personal Bubble

A term used to indicate the reach of one’s own distinct energy outside the body. (Think a bubble surrounding the person’s body)(Think Personal Space)

Owned Energy

Energies that are in possession of someone and cannot be used by others according to the rules of energies.

Rules of Energies

The first rule of energy states that no one can take hold of an owned energy and must be pierced or moved from the outside first if one wants to invade/attack it. (Think personal space) Example: One cannot produce a fire inside his opponent's body as it would violate the rule. Instead, one needs to make a fire outside the opponent’s personal bubble and throw it at his target if he wants to burn the man with his fire. There are always exceptions to the rules but they are very rare anomalies.

Elemental Energy

Energy that can be found in the atmosphere of Lochley and is the main type of energy that one absorb and uses for their own elemental spells. They are considered unowned energies until someone actually takes hold of them and convert them into owned energy.

Life Energy

One’s own lifespan. Life energy increases as one’s own distinct energy increases but deteriorates throughout one’s life.

Thought/Mind Energy

Energy that’s naturally emitted by all living things. It would require a special constitution or training to actually understand and use them for different purposes. Telepath uses them to communicate with their team members.

Special Energies

Energies that doesn’t fall under normal categories and is commonly used by unique constitution holders. Example: Phasol’ Constitution which allows them to understand and harness Soul Energy.

Ageless Immortal

A title given to someone who possesses a constitution that allows them to regenerate life energy. They can still die from injuries and overuse of life energy but they don’t normally age and could live a very long life if left to their own devices.

Elemental Mage

A known classification of mage who uses elemental energies either by converting their distinct energy into elemental energy, and/or using the surrounding elemental energies as a source for their spells.