The burning sensation slowly started to increase, causing Victor to curse aloud as he smacked down where the creature was with his hand, tossing away his sword.

“No way I am going to stab myself killing this thing by mistake.”

Still blinded by the magic from seconds ago he slowly started to see again, although to a degree that it was more vague shapes and colors. At the same time, however, he felt a few sharp pains digging into his leg where the ends of the creature’s tentacles dug in, causing his leg to cramp up a little bit until he fell backward where he stood.”

“Fuck,” Victor cried out after landing, “Stop burning me you creepy thing! Let me go!”

Looking from side to side he saw that his sword was tossed to far away for him to be able to get to it from where he had landed. With the burning sensation slowly gaining in intensity he didn’t want to crawl around for it unless he had to so he took the card out from his pouch.

Drawing out the pocket knife from the card he looked through the different options until he found the knife within it, extending it with his fingers.

“You better not miss,” Victor said. While it was directed at the knife the concern was with his own aim as he looked at the length of the blade.

Fighting against his desire to close his eyes he drove the knife down in the creatures' mass, causing it to spasm and a slightly stronger burning sensation to push into his leg where the reptiles limbs ended.

The creature started to glow, giving just the slightest hint of what was about to happen, causing Victor to close his eyes fast enough to not lose his sight completely this time.

Enduring the pain until he could see again he drove the blade everywhere that he thought might kill the slime-coated reptile until the grip started to loosen and the body slide off of him with a few minor twitches.

“Is it…… did I?” He started as he pushed himself away from the reptile.

A quick look from the body to the knife that he had used gave made him let out a small chuckle as he saw the blood stained the knife and the blade was a little darker in some places where the blood was the heaviest.

Only taking a few deep breaths, Victor pulled the knife back into the card, seeing the label show up like it always does. As a result, the blood that had been on it fell to the ground with a slight splatter.

Taking the knife back out he placed it in his pouch and moved back to the, now still, body.

“I can’t take in living things,” Victor reminded himself mentally as he held the card, “Just like it won’t let me steal anything. I mean I wasn’t going to keep it for long I just wanted to test it….. That’s beside the point.”

Speaking aloud he held the card out in front of him as he spoke.

“I know that I don’t pick what you do, but I know you store stuff for me. I killed this thing so it’s not alive and that means its body is mine! I want you to take this creature into you. I want to bring it into town and see if it has a mana core without touching its foul body so suck it up and suck it up!”

For a few seconds nothing seems to happen, but as he is about to turn around the cards' image changes and the body of the creature is visible within it. Below the image is the label “Yellow Jurex” in the usual place.

Looking at where the jurex had been he notes that the blood and a few parts were still there.

“I need to figure out more of this cards standards.” Victor thought to himself as he took out a skin of water and poured it over his leg where a few spots were looking to be the start of second-degree burns.

“I wonder if they got anything like aloe here.” He thought to himself as he looked for Oylayn wave and went back on the path to return to the town that, for the time being, he called home.

Putting the card away he didn’t notice the slight change that had occurred on it. The realistic visuals of the creature and all the cuts and rips had drawn his attention from anything that might have been off, especially to the small degree that had occurred.

When Victor got to the entrance to Orlayn Wave one of the three guards watching the entrance approached him.

“Everything alright sir?” He asked with an air of procedure about the question while the other two guards stood in their post.

“That leg looks like there is a little story behind it and I just need to know if there is anything to be concerned about.”

“I’m alright,” Victor said a little bit softly, “I had a run in with a yellow jurex is all. It caught me by surprise and wrapped around my leg… I guess I didn’t see it in the brush or grass or whatever it was hiding in.”

With only a quick look at the leg, the guard nodded his head.

“Luckily, unless you get the black ones, they are pretty easy to deal with. Around here we mostly get the yellow or green ones anyway and the yellow is the easier one to deal with if you can close your eyes at the right times.”

The words cut through Victor as he wondered if the guard was offering advice or it was something said to mock him.

“Well unless there is anything else I think I’d like to go inside. I was going to see if I could buy something for my burn.”

“I get mine at the cracked vial,” one of the other guards offered, “Don’t let the name fool you though. They do great work with their salves and potions, but the messed up on the woodworking and well you’ll see when you get there. It’s almost in the nobles' shopping area so you can trust its quality.”

Offering a polite thank you to the guards, Victor walked past them before headed to his room.

“Why didn’t she just tell me what it was she thought she could help with. I mean it’s probably something people already know about, but I have told people about it and I guess the inn workers have seen some of it from the cleaning…..”

Shoving the last of his things in the leather pouches he had bought to replace his backpack he gives his room a quick once over.

Since he heard the midday bell ring as he entered the inn, When Victor left it he started to think about how much time he had before he had to be at Leahlas’ place.

After taking a moment to ask someone for directions, once he found himself close to the shops on the edge of nobility, Victor began to look around at the shops. Eventually, he found one that had a hanging sign with a wood burned vial that had a crack in it. In this case, the crack was because the wooden sign had a crack, not because it was burned into the sign.

“Cracked vial. I guess that’s one way to make the best of a broken sign.”

Entering the building, Victor was soon met with a shorter man working behind the counter.

“If you need something that we already have made I’ll get it for you. If its something that I can manage to make I’ll make it for you. If it’s something I can’t make I’ll tell my wife to come in since she knows more recipes than me. If you know what you want just ask.”

Looking around the shop a little bit, Victor noticed a lot of empty vials, a lesser degree of full vials, and a lot of herbs. Behind the counter, on a small table, he noticed a fair number of tools that he couldn’t think of the use of as well as a couple that he could, like the pestle and mortar.

“I got a burn from a yellow jurex not too long ago and was wondering if you could make me or sell me some sort of burn treatment?”

The man nodded a few times, his short beard was soft and almost bobbed as he did so.

“If you got a burn I can manage that so long as it wasn’t a red or black one. If I can find the herbs at least because otherwise, I’ll have to find some. If you don’t mind waiting for me to make it of course.”

Shaking his head, Victor was the man set to work looking between many of the different herbs before he stopped.

“If and only if you got money though. If you have no money I’ll have to ask you to leave. If you want what I’m gonna make it costs two small silver and four large copper with a one silver vial deposit.”

Seeing that the man was working hard to make the burn cream, Victor seated himself in one of the small chairs in the store to wait. To help pass the time he took out one of his books and started to read. On occasion, he would hear the man speaking to himself and he started to wonder if this man was literally starting every sentence with the word, if, or if it was just a coincidence that was happening.

When he heard the door open, Victor looked up and saw a woman coming in with a small basket of plants.

“Oh, honey be careful I think that you turned the heat up a little high. A slower but longer boil works better with burn salves.”

“If you care about the color and scent sure, but if you care about how it spreads on your skin this is better.”

The woman was about a foot and a half taller than the man and looked to be as elegant as he was brash.

“Ah, a burn on your leg I guess that mean’s you’ll be using it right away. He’s just got to let it cool down a little bit before it’s done then you can be on your way, after paying of course.”

Forcing a smile, Victor wondered to himself if payment was something that was a big issue for this shop but held his tongue, choosing to switch to another topic instead.

“I’ve noticed that he tends to say if a lot when he starts talking. Is there a reason for that or….”

“Ahh that,” the woman said with a smile. “It’s just how he is. It is just adorable though, don’t you agree? I mean it’s like when your child learns a new word and tries to use it a lot.”

“It’s just weird.” Victor thought to himself but nodded lightly.

After a little more time passed the potion was done and, after handing the coins over, Victor was given the salve and put the first portion of it onto his leg.

“If you ever need more just come on to the cracked vial.” The man said with a touch of pride in his voice before going to clean up the mess he had made while Victor left the shop.

Looking up at the sky, Victor guessed he had about a half an hour before the late day bell rang so he started to walk towards Leahlas' house with a sigh.

“I just hope she doesn’t have me do anything to out there.”

As the midday bell rang, Leahla was going over her what she needed to do and have to prepare for her visitor. She had started living in Orlayn Wave one season shy of five years and hadn’t had anyone over for anything related to work before and she wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

After opening the window to her bedroom, Leahla let out a single long whistle that started out loud before shifting to a softer tone with a sudden quiver at the end. Seconds after she finished a bird landed on the windowsill and gave her a small scroll with writing on it.

Looking over the words she puts it to the flame of a candle and writes a short note in response. She wrote only five lines of dialogue before rolling it up and tying it to the birds' leg.

“Victor will be here shortly after the late day bell,” Leahla thought to herself as she looked in her closet at the different outfits.

“Since he isn’t from around here I’m not sure what will put his mind at ease. I wish we had more time before doing this, but work is work.”

Setting a dress on her bed she stood back and looked at it. It wasn’t the most expensive one she owned but it was mostly red, which people said was her color, with some blue along some of the trim and had a hair clip that was usually worn with it.

“That should work. I already got dinner started on the stove and Terp should have what I need for the meeting before the next bell….”

Going around her home she was glad she hadn’t accumulated a lot of unnecessary things. A single painting of an ocean scene done by an artist who died before becoming well known and a few books were the only real indulgences that would be noticed unless you dug deep enough into her life to be seen as rude.

Checking on the meal on the stove one quick time she traces her finger along the line below a rune before she left home, intent on checking on a few final things.

Making a stop at the guild, Leahla looked over the job request board and sighed a little bit as she moved from one side of the board to the other.

“At least there aren’t too many jobs. If I had to go away for a while when we were busy I would feel bad for the replacement. At least there isn’t anything above rank orange now that the blue one got accepted.”

Taking a few things from her desk, Leahla left a letter on it and left at a quick pace to the stables at the edge of town. They were located just within the city limits, meaning the guards would want to check the contents if the horses left carrying more than a person.

“Lady Leahla!” A man said with a bright smile as he approached her, “I managed to get a bigger cart for tomorrow like you asked. It will only be a little bit more money than we originally estimated since I offered to let the owner use two of the usual sized carts until you return. A fair enough trade overall, but you should get a fair amount back from the deposit so I think overall it will be a little less than discussed upon your return. Unless you are gone for too long.”

Counting out several coins and placing them into a small pouch, Leahla handed it over to the man, “That’s fine. I’ll be packing it up tonight with the help of a couple of friends. We’ll be gone before you wake up though so unless I say someone stole it and I need a new one it was me who took it.”

“Fair enough.” He said before turning back towards a small home attached to the stables.

“That’s everything.” Leahla thought to herself as she returned home, ignoring a few people who recognized her and tried to get her attention but were ignored.

Once home Leahla went to her bedroom and repeated the whistle from before at her window while changing into the dress she had picked out.

Shortly after changing, the bird landed with a small bag of herbs. Picking it up Leahla gave it a shallow sniff and set it aside before giving the bird a little food and water and watched it fly away.

After changing into her outfit Leahla walked into the kitchen to finish the meal, putting a teapot of water on a rune to let it heat up as she set out two meals when the late day bell rang.

“He should be here soon.”

After a few moments passed the teapot started to produce steam just as there was a knock at the door. Quickly putting the bag of herbs into the teapot she walked to the door and opened it.

“Hi, Victor. I’m so glad you could come.”

She noticed that while he was wearing the same shirt from the morning, he had changed the pants he was wearing and there was a sweet scent slightly notable in the air as she let him into the house.

“I got some stuff that I think we can talk about, but for the moment how about you put your stuff on the couch, and then we’ll have dinner. We can work on the little project after.”

The smile on her face was what she used when talking to new guild members. It was often described as natural and soothing and many would say it helped them feel more comfortable about the possibility of the work they would be doing, especially considering the potential uncertainty.

Doing as she requested, Victor walked in and put his stuff on the couch before looking around the place.

“This is a pretty nice place,” He said, “I like the furniture and whatever is cooking smells nice. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble for it. I mean…… I can buy a meal at the inn anyway.”

Smiling just a bit more Leahla leaned in closer, “I am doing this because I need to eat and it didn’t take to much more effort for me to make it for two people instead. A little more water to let it have water to boil away. A little bit more of this or that mixed in and skinning a little bit more fruit so I can use the peels for a sweet tea to go with it. Nothing too over the top.”

As Leahla set up the meal on the table she had a little small talk with Victor that ended when she started pouring the tea. She couldn’t help but think she about the effort she put into the meal, wanting her guest to see a good meal waiting for him. She couldn’t help but lean forward to see if he liked it or not.

While Victor ate and drank as he liked, Leahla waited until he was distracted and slipped something into her own drink, stirring it with a small spoon before bringing it to her lips and smiling at him from across the table.

“Have you liked staying here so far? I took a peek at your record and saw that you have no mana production. I hope people aren’t causing you and troubles because of that.”

Stopping for a moment, Victor sipped his tea and yawned slightly, “No nothing like that, but……. no nothing like that I just……”

Some of Victor's words started to slur as he continued.

“Sorry I guess I’m a little bit tired. I got attacked by one of those yellow um….. jurex things earlier today and I had to get something to deal with it.”

Smiling and nodding Leahla poured Victor a little more tea, “Oh. If not expected they can be quite the hindrance, but it’s rare for someone who isn’t a child to die from one in this area. Are you feeling alright? While it’s normally just a burn sometimes they are said to have a venom that takes a while to kick in. It starts to make you feel like you need to sleep and your body is harder to move around.”

Putting down the cup Victor nodded his head a little bit, stifling another yawn.

“I see well it seems that you’re having a hard time talking and you feel like you might fall asleep any moment is that right?”

Nodding again Victor tried to stand up, falling back into the chair.

“Good, it worked perfectly. I need you to stay put while I check what you brought and since I didn’t put the diluting agent in your tea you won’t be able to move much at all until at the earliest midday tomorrow. You drank more than you needed to.”

Going to the window Leahla closed the curtains so nobody could look in. Shortly after the curtain was closed her form began to shimmer and in seconds, where she once stood, was a completely new elf.

This new elf was a little shorter and had a small cluster of scars on her arm that were visible despite the dress that she was wearing.

“I didn’t feel what I was curious about in your bags so it must still be on your person.”

Trying to say something, all that Victor could manage was a garbling sound.

“Now now let me take care of you,” the elf woman said, “I just need to find what you have that holds your magic. Everyone has a feel to their natural life energy, even if they have a sickness stopping their mana production.”

Slowly looking over Victor's body, Leahla started to trace her hands over every nook and cranny, “And yet despite the tests saying that you are incapable of it you have no noticeable sickness. If you truly had no mana then there would no nothing I could notice, but there was. Unlike those with sickness, it wasn’t in your body but near your body.”

Her words slowly went from sweet to intense as she found and drew out the card from the small pouch on his side, a smile spreading on her face that was like the one before except with a level of desire in it that faded when she dropped it.

“Hmmm won’t let me try to use it. A personal form of magic I suspect. It will probably never be able to get too far from you before it fades like all conjuration style magic, except for the most skilled users.”

Picking up the card Leahla looked at it, “Doesn’t seem to cause me pain if I just hold it so let’s check something.”

Victor could only watch as the woman, who he both did and didn’t hope was Leahla, walked away from him and out of the room, the figure of Leahla shimmering back into place as she went to the next room.

A moment quickly passed before she returned to the dining area, her form shimmering to remove the form of Leahla.

“It vanished before I could go outside. Shorter than most conjurations.”

Running her hands along Victors’ body again the elf found the card again. This time it was up his sleeve.

“Looks the same as before. It seems even if someone robs you this will never be too far from you. It turns out I was right and I won’t have to give up our Leahla.”

Grabbing Victor's neck, the elf forced something into his mouth and held it shut until he eventually swallowed, “Sleep well, Victor. When you wake up you will find yourself somewhere new, but try not to panic when you wake up.”

Taking her hand away from him, the elf helped him fall safely to the ground before a shimmer made her look like Leahla. Once she had the right look the elf walked outside and got a crate filled with clothes of various types as well as blankets and did a whistle similar to the ones that drew the bird to her.

Once she brought the crate inside, the elf took the clothes and moved about two-thirds of it out and, with only a little trouble, placed her house guest into the box. She then went to the kitchen and put the possessions he brought with him into the box alongside him, before binding him and attaching a gag to his mouth that forced his mouth open slightly.

The last thing she did was place a small plant near his face and put a small board over him, stacking the rest of the cloth over the false bottom.

Shortly after she finished packing, a knock was heard at the front door and she saw a few people standing there.

“I got the package in the dining area. We’ll leave after the sun sets. He shouldn’t stir until at least midday tomorrow depending on how well someone without magic heals, but he is alive so let’s keep it that way.