A few hours later…

Logan stood up from the floor, dragging his dagger from the dead body of a monster, blood flying into the air and dashing the floor. All around were the corpses of wolves, crowbolds, and lizards the size of carriages.

Marcus similarly was coming from his side of chasing foes, alongside other adventurers who were nearby and guards who had been ordered from the walls. There wasn’t much danger posed to the capital, more to anyone outside the walls and in the forests, so this measure was to make sure those were safe.

Investigating some of the rings used in this… diversion some might call it, Logan saw the metal bands had snapped and whatever gems or components that were used in its creation had exploded. Some new forms of trinkets, untested and dangerous, were the reason for the stirring of monsters.

One thing was for certain, this could spell danger for settlements without such ample access to trained classed beings.

Carting components and trinkets, and ferrying bodies onto carriages, everyone made their way back to Gauntlet. The rest of the day was spent writing reports and taking account of all that had happened in the past twelve hours. Many people had been killed, but due to the presence of stronger adventurers and hunters, the number of casualties on the side of the guards was low.

The next few days were spent just like that—record keeping and cleaning the streets. A few members of the under market were apprehended after the raids, hiding out in other buildings or their own homes. Logan’s quest tracker and map allowed him to find many who thought themselves undetectable.

However, Logan couldn’t find everything. Even the system that attributed to him his quests and journals couldn’t penetrate magical stealth that easily. Echo Radar as a skill was spotty when it came to invisible foes, but magic to hide detection other than sight made it impossible at a distance.

Thermodan and a few other important persons were untraceable, and the seers found that certain aspect difficult too. Where system and magical means failed, the pen would pick up the power.

Requests were sent to the nearby MT buildings to ask that Thermodan be ex-communicated and be marked as a traitor. Enough confessions and witness reports were handed over to have a return letter accept the appeal.

It wasn’t much harder to track down the magi who had worked the market channels. Several were unaware they had been targeted and were apprehended immediately, while others had the forethought to travel away on “business” to escape capture.

From conversations with parrots, as well as spies sent into the different buildings, it was estimated that close to three-quarters of the under market had been killed or captured. Half of the remainder wouldn’t be able to reestablish themselves without notice, the other half probably strong enough to hide away for years.

With the numerous trinkets that were harshly crafted in custody, the magi who had been forcibly harvested were treated to regeneration services and retribution pay. They would never get their past lives back from the trauma they suffered, but they could at least get back to some semblance of normality.

The rest of the detained goods were disenchanted or sold through legal means, a lot taken into the guard’s kit to save on costs down the line. The pay was ample across the board for those who engaged in the raids, the adventurers and hunters more so.

To bump up his spell stores, and allow his absorbed MP to stretch further, Logan applied to gain most of his reward in the spell rings, bloody how their creation may have been.

Replacing the Flame and Lightning rings he had, the Spellthief acquired five more Dimensional Jaunt rings. He also picked up some recipe books from the buildings to help him craft some other items for himself down the line for “cheap” though some still cost a house to make.

Selling off old items and buying new ones, Logan made a pretty penny beyond the new things and rewarded a full 5 gold after the fact. Slipping a ring onto his newly grown pinky made it feel like it had never left him.

Accompanying time was spent reading tomes or training. Amalia’s system quest to aid in the defence had brought her to level 6, Marcus with his own raid and training against the elementals brought him close to level 13. Celsius, Spark, and Fahrenheit stayed level 11 while Servoir hit 6 and Umbra 4.

Whilst the investigations were going on, Logan had the homeless he had “employed” before aid in asking around the capital. It was easier for them to get info, looking for items on the cheap or illegal channels. With their income from previous tasks some even had the ability to get employed into the guard and start up new lives.

There was a lot to do, and it took a lot of time.

The day before Congress.

There was little left to do. Logan and the guard had cleaned up most of the mess from the under markets as well as sorted most of what they needed to for the upcoming congress meeting.

With the aid Logan offered, he garnered a few votes from the higher-ups of the guard via Jirango’s communication and word of trust. Witness statements were also taken from the captives in the spell harvesting cells, revealing many had failed duels and were put under false pretence for their imprisonment. Added together it made a strong case for the law abolishment.

With some time to himself, Logan kept checking the hunting and adventurer boards for anything to pique his interest. Aside from making it easier for mages to walk the streets, he needed to make it so his quests weren’t going to overpower him.

The hunts weren’t too interesting, aside from the one the vampire had put up some time ago disappearing. The adventurer ones, however, were interesting.

“Vaskt Eradication:

Locals have mentioned a vaskt has been patrolling the nearby woods, with signs of cocooned monsters and humanoids leading into its deepest parts. The monster is to be killed so that it does not interrupt the local area any further.

Limitation: Rank 15 or higher, or sizeable group size.”

At 6 gold, this was quite a dangerous quest for a big payout. No matter the pay, it allowed Logan to gather the next item on his long list of improvements. Gathering up his summons and Marcus, they all headed out.

Warping across the skies, Logan and Marcus appeared close to the forests mentioned in the contract. Summoning up the rest of the elementals, Logan instructed most to grant support from afar.

It had been some time since Logan had taken on such a strong foe with Marcus, but at least now they were outside and far from any form of teleportation disablement.

A tap on the shoulder had the pair enhanced, bumping Logan’s Agility to 52, Constitution to 44, and Intelligence to 74. Marcus improved his Strength to 42, Agility to 35, and Constitution to 36.

Travelling through the forest brought back memories of earlier times to Logan, becoming nostalgic for months prior. This time it was full of already killed monsters, though they did quickly come across cocooned sights.

“Over here”, Marcus waved as he investigated a cocoon stuck to a large tree.

“Identify”, Logan mentally commanded. “It’s a local game hunter, still alive in there.”

“Guess the intel about paralysis poison was correct”, Marcus mentioned as he pulled out a small piece of parchment.

Pulling out a vial, Logan tossed one to Marcus and the pair downed them. “Anti-venom should stave it off a bit, make sure to take a dose if you get hit with it.”

The liquid caused their veins to push against their skin for a while, glowing green, before fading back to normal. The magic in the potions was potent and had a good chance of postponing the paralysis effect.

Taking a dagger to the cocoon, Logan freed the man within. The body was stiff from the venom and the man was not waking.

Marcus placed a hand on the man and chanted, “Body purge what is within, and restore thy function. Restore Condition.”

The man’s body was covered in a soothing wave of blue, his eyes darted open as it finished. Sitting up immediately, he spoke through quick breaths, “What? Where am I?”

“You’re in a forest near your village, you got paralysed by a vaskt. Do you feel fine?” Marcus asked.

“I… Think so. Thank you, sir.”

Logan took out a level 1 dagger and handed it to the man, “Do you know of anyone else in the forests we should look out for?”

The man shook his head, “No. I was just coming to get some deer. I didn’t even know there were any… vaskts did you say?”

“Alright. We’ll head further in, Can you make it back to your home?” Logan asked.

“Yes, sirs. Thank you again”, the man replied as he stood and bowed before walking quite quickly from the forest.

“A snack for later?” Marcus asked.

“Possibly. It is a big monster, probably saving up a store.”

“Maybe. Celsius, you can burn these webs from us, can’t you?” The Devout asked the creation of flame.

“No troubles!” Celsius replied as he slammed his saluting hand through his head and out the other side.

“We’ll have to be swift, the vaskt has varied attacks”, Logan instructed as he clicked his fingers.

Moving between the trees, the group found two more cocooned people, both gashrieks, showing the spider cared not for how crunchy its meal would be, considering the ridged skin of the rarer species.

With enough time spent scouting and scanning they eventually reached the dark home of the vaskt.

A mass of webs clung to the trees and created an intricate design above the ground. Interlinking lines of glistening white, rain hugging the web as if also trapped. The sunlight reflected off the area, sparkling lights painting this place as much more sacred than it was.

Sat within a larger mass of webbing was the vaskt in question, its countless eyes shut as it rested within its comfortable domain.

“Identify.”

“Vaskt - Arachnid. Level 20: 340/340 HP.

A breed of spider that grows to the size of a small hut. Countless red eyes spy at a 300-degree angle, making it almost impervious to sneak attacks. Each eye can spy up to 10 miles away with incredible detail, even in foggy conditions. Legends state that on the clearest day, with the cleanest eyes, they can watch creatures up to 30 miles away with finite detail.

At 10' tall and with a width close to 15', these spiders can grapple most humanoids. On average, a vaskt eats one person every other day.

Skills: All-Around Vision, Iron Hide, Multi-Grapple, Razor Hair, Venom, Web, —

Reduction: ?.

Resistance: ?.”

“Damn, stronger than I would have liked”, Logan cursed under his breath.

“How bad does it look, Logan?”

“Level 20, 3 above me and 8 over you.”

Marcus scoffed, “So much for the hall’s estimate of a rank 15 taking it on.”

“It is going to be hard to Stealth Attack this one, it’s very perceptive.”

“I’d hate to let it hunt more humanoids if we let it live until we’re stronger.”

Logan thought for a moment before replying, “I’ll try and barrage it, but if things go south we’re teleporting out of here.”

“We’re in agreement there”, Marcus chuckled.

“You got plenty of spellforce left? Might need you to blast some spells in there too, Chain Guard, if it’ll work.”

“A bit, some potions in the satchel too if needed.”

The pair nodded at one another as they made some distance. Marcus drew his crossbow, the elementals stood at the ready to throw out blasts or charge into melee if needed, while Logan looked to the skies, at least what he could.

“Dimensional Jaunt”, Logan mentally commanded.

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