Back at Gauntlet

Logan sighed as he looked over the bodies he had piled next to Jirango’s desk, the hard-working Half-Hand who had been given a lot more work recently due to the influx of hunter work completed by the Spellthief.

Four new people were to be processed by the guardhouse, the AV club was a well-known organization as it was the largest anti-vampire presence on the continent. Stripped of their gear, the sentence for their actions was death, several times over. If they were to give up names and locations they had a chance of life behind bars, but it was life regardless. The four had little in the way of hope of seeing the outside ever again.

With this in mind, Jirango quickly looked over the items in their possession, and while some of them might have been bought with stolen coin, or stolen some time ago, it would be next to impossible to find out where it all came from. As the difficulty of the confrontation was quite high, alongside what knowledge such strong members would hold, Logan was allowed to keep everything he took from the bunch.

“If they talk, that’ll be another thing to discuss with the other higher-ups. We’re still confirming our actions for the under market and the illegal ring trade”, Jirango informed as he scribbled in his book.

“Think they will?” Logan asked without much hope.

Jirango shrugged as he handed Logan a pouch of 40 silver, “I’m on the wall if I want them to or not. I guess in the end it’ll make the workload easier, in exchange for a short while of overwork.”

“By the way, the attack seemed coordinated. While the other settlements I’ve already been to may have other members waiting for me to arrive, I don’t like the idea of them finding out that I am doing this. Would there be any way to find out how this information is getting sent their way?”

Jirango hummed, “I can send some officials to check over the ooran deliveries. Outside of that, a petition to the Magi’s Tower association for communication magic tracking… that’ll be expensive though.”

“Too late after the fact to make much of a dent, I take it?”

“You’re almost done, right?” Jirango asked to a nod reply from Logan, “Then you’re correct. I’ll still check on the oorans, but going forward you’ll just have to be careful.”

Logan sighed, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Taking his pay and looking over the items he took from the four aggressors, Logan returned to the higher-class section of Gauntlet.

After informing Armin and his servants that he couldn’t do much more in the way of deliveries today, with the attack, he retired to rest. It would really add an additional day to his deliveries, matching up with the seven-day approximation, though that was seemingly on the table with the dates lining up with his return to Tinte.

Spending some time walking around Gauntlet, Logan handed off some of the trinkets he obtained to Amalia to shore up her attributes. Selling off the rest, Logan ended up 8 gold and 47 silver richer. It was such a good payday when he didn’t have to hand the effects over.

Checking his notes, reading up on recent events, and generally preparing for the days ahead, Logan had a long look over his available skills. He was of half a mind to save his skill points for a situation where he needed particular skills, and another to spend them now to have an easier time leading up to such a predicament.

There was still the question of focusing on Rogue skills, Wizard skills, or his unique Spellthief skills. Skills of Life were fine to leave as they were, as almost all increased with usage.

Resolving on a midway approach, Logan unlocked the two last skills that had shown themselves to him on reaching level 10.

If Logan were to ever face more casters, such as Enhance-focused Devouts like Marcus, he would be able to remove their advantage over him. However, since the skill came maxed, he was able to infer its effectiveness went on his Spell Absorption mastery.

As for Stealth Attack, at his current Backstab mastery, he would deal +130% extra damage. That would make any further stealth missions much more manageable, at least before his targets learnt of his presence.

Logan still had two skill points to spend, but he resigned to save those for later. The Spellthief instead spent the rest of the day reading and resting.

The fifth day of deliveries thankfully had no additional portions to inform the guards about. No AV Club members waiting in the background, nor many words whispered at Logan’s back to put him in a worried state.

The sixth day came with a bit of a morning change, Logan informing Armin about another task he had promised. It would just put in a few hours of work the next day. Meeting back with Marcus, Logan teleported his friend back to Tinte. Amalia stayed behind in Gauntlet to continue her smithing work.

At around forty-two and a half miles, the pair needed six Dimensional Jaunts to reach Tinte. With some miles to spare, Logan was able to teleport to the sky and the floor without additional casts. He was even able to teleport just outside the church without issue.

Tinte was seemingly still on the mend but doing better. Entering the church, the pair saw the interior lit by candles and sunlight as usual, while the air was purer and the atmosphere less sombre.

Standing at the far altar were Marta and the healer who had been hired for help. Marta looked like she had never been hurt, but the wounds were hidden under her clothing. Her face was clear of dirt and dismay, though Marcus knew she was still sore.

Approaching the altar, Marcus spoke, “It is wonderful to see you on your feet, Marta.”

Marta smiled in reply, “Wonderful still that I was given the chance. I give you my deepest thanks for your assistance, though I am saddened I had to put you through such—”

“There is no need for worry. Kindness pays in kind”, Marcus cut her off as he looked towards the healer, “No complications I hope?”

“We are blessed that none came up. I have given Marta a list of herbs and components for crafting potions to aid the low days, but aside from that, my duty is done.”

Logan looked between the three before patting Marcus on the shoulder, “Need a few minutes before we leave?”

Marcus replied with a nod.

Logan waved the healer to follow him outside, taking the hint well enough.

Logan and the healer spoke for a few minutes, the outside sunbathing them well in its light. It was good news that Tinte hadn’t seen any further traitorous scenes and even more that no monster troubles had brewed.

A dozen minutes passed before Marcus exited the church, a calmness to his face that put Logan in a similar mood. “We’re all good to head back”, the Devout spoke.

“I can come back for you later if you want”, Logan offered.

Marcus shook his head slowly, “No need. We have things to do, and an ooran here or there will pass on my words well enough.”

Nodding, Logan pulled out his eagle’s eyeglass, had the pair place their hands on his shoulders, and teleported them back to Gauntlet.

The remainder of the day was spent on farewells to the healer, conversations with Marcus, and a handful of deliveries.

The seventh day rolled around, finally. Logan was able to clean up the final blood drives around the local settlements. Though “local” wasn’t too precise, the further ones would take days upon weeks to arrive via horseback.

Apparating at the Eventa estate for the last time, Logan jogged towards his final payment from the servants, a single gold coin that marked a relatively easy task.

Meeting with Armin again, the pair had a long chat about recent events combined with Armin’s journey in getting support and evidence for Logan’s law proposal.

There were still seven days till the congress was held, so Logan had some time to prepare. A few things had come up during his hunting work that he could use to bolster his side’s arguments. Another was getting a guild on his side. Leaving the estate, Logan warped to the skies.

Knocking on the doors of the Lightbeam guild, Logan was greeted by the foyer attendant, Debrek.

“Welcome, Logan, how might I assist you?”

“Is Cassius or Prevesna in? I’d like to have a word.”

Debrek thought for a moment, “Cassius is out, won’t be back for some time, but Prevesna is here. Let me see if she’s willing for a visit.”

Logan nodded before Debrek closed the door. A few minutes passed before the door opened again to show the sub-leader.

Gold and silver armour shining as ever, it seemed Prevesna had either recently returned or was preparing to leave soon. “Logan, how might I be of assistance?”

“I was wondering if we could talk about something in private.”

Prevesna looked Logan up and down before inviting him in, leading him into the interview room as before.

Sitting down, Logan pulled out the rolled piece of parchment with signatures on it, “There is going to be a vote cast in Congress soon, to overrule the current duelling laws in place. I was wondering if I could have your guild’s backing in favour of it.”

Prevesna’s eyebrow raised slightly, “Is that so? What in particular is the proposition concerning?”

“Complete abolishment.”

The sub-leader gave a slightly rushed exhale of air, not even half of a laugh, “My, you do like to tackle giants, don't you?” Drinking from a tankard at her side she continued, “Do you believe such an old law can be removed? One so embedded within high society?”

“There’s a chance, and I’d like to take it.”

Prevesna looked at Logan briefly, mulling things over, “I’ll talk with my guildies. If there are no other concerns in Congress they’d like to address or vote for, I shall send for you.”

“Consideration is enough for me. Though I would ask to keep the talks interior. I don’t want people building too solid a case against it.”

Prevesna nodded in acceptance, signalling Logan to take his leave and wait for a reply later.

Back at Meek Moat Inn, Logan was treated to the sight of Marcus maintaining his gear near the fireplace. The Devout had been working hard in his time separate from Logan, not to mention the mornings or evenings he spent training against Logan’s elementals. With this last day spent training against the summons, Marcus had bridged the gap to level 12.

With the two increasing their levels they spent some time also replacing their old gear. It was nice spending some time together shopping for new things. It brought back memories of their time till now. At least the disastrous events had seemingly come to a halt. Now they were in limbo awaiting any further fallout.

There were thoughts to buying the next stage of trinkets to improve their attributes, however, the price tag of six gold for the lowest variant of them was a bit steep. It would only really improve by 1 point too. Instead, they used their money on purchasing new tomes to upgrade their skills and spells, something that was harder to take away than a ring on their finger.

With some leeway until the congress meeting, and the timer starting anew for a system quest for Logan, the pair had a lot of breathing room when it came to their antics. The first portion would be spent on reading some of their new tomes, however.

Bringing Force to be just under the damage of a low-mastery first-level spell brought into perspective how some skills granted such a huge boost to a person’s power. It was costly at a few gold, as well as requiring high levels to even reach that output, but having a reliable infinite attack granted a nice backup.

On the other side, Marcus was keeping some of his advancements to himself, citing a want to “impress” Logan down the line.

The Spellthief chuckled slightly at the notion but was accepting regardless.

Resting to the next day, Logan arrived at the entrance of the inn and was greeted by the sight of an envelope on the counter addressed to him. The consensus was, “Meet us at the Gerro Guardhouse, events are beginning to transpire.”

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