AK – The Alchemy Kingdom

Year 2, Winter, Third Month, Second Week.

“Do you think they can really do something about it?”

Heidi looked down like she was considering something before answering Chris.

“They shouldn’t but… That wind attack was truly… Can you think of how they did it?”

The wind Mage tried to remember what he sensed at that moment.

“Not really… I think I sensed a spike of wind energy but I’m not sure. The girl could have affinity to wind, but that wouldn’t explain the glow on her coat. There’s another possibility, but I don’t know much about it, Shamanism…”

“Primitive soul magic? I don’t think so, they say only Beastmen can use it… I’m not buying this tribal act anymore, that Lew guy has too many manners, he was definitely educated in the Kingdom.”

Chris only made a sound of agreement. If they really found a solution, wouldn’t it be great? They couldn’t go back to Hurricane City empty-handed, otherwise, how would they pay off his debts?

Chris and Heidi were bastard children of a Lord from one Houses of Hurricane City, they grew up working as servants for the young Master and Mistress of the House, just like their mother, who was a maid in the Maynor. Fortunately, their Masters didn’t care about the bastard status and only treat them as bad as any other servants, but that was only until Chris showed affinity for the wind element. Since then, their half-siblings did everything they could to make their lives miserable.

Earning their freedom from the House, paying for his studies and advancement, left a huge debt with his Lord father. The old Mage was as croaked as their half-siblings. Since he already had an heir, Chris Magestry was only seen as an investment to earn profits from. He played with the boy’s dreams of a better life and offered him an abusive contract in exchange for getting him a magic instructor and even threw in martial training for his sister to honey-trap him. Chris couldn’t resist the deal and now he owned the man hundreds of golds.

Fortunately, the sad story also had a touch of irony from fate. Chris was considered the most talented Mage of the family by his instructor, which was surely told to his father. However, the man would never make him his heir, after all, he was a bastard. The only pride he could offer his progenitor was to joke with other Mages that his seed was so powerful that even cleaned the filthy blood of a commoner. Not that Chris wanted to be part of the House anyway, he planned to leave Hurricane City with his sister as soon as they paid his debts.

The problem was that he was running out of time. The Originless contract stated that if he couldn’t pay everything before the next spring, Chris and Heidi would return to the position of servants of the House. This was why they decided to go on a last desperate attempt of hunting for resources in winter. The materials they already gathered could barely pay for the team they hired. So, when Lew offered the opportunity to cooperate, they couldn’t afford to refuse it, no matter how fishy the proposal appeared to be.

***

The complicated expressions over the Concillors’ faces were a perfect representation of the situation. Since they received Samia’s report about an approaching group, they have been preparing themselves for different reactions, from fleeing during a storming night to fighting against an enemy force. However, nobody predicted such an odd situation. Marlen, who was finally regaining the respect of the other Councillors, offered the first opinion.

“It’s very unexpected, but I think you did well… It’s a little early to think about contacts and trading, but we’ll, eventually, need to form commercial relationships with outsiders… Can you explain in detail the situation and your proposal?”

Lew could finally breathe again. He was afraid of having overreached and that the Council would condemn his actions, but Marlen’s approval calmed him.

“They came to the forest, apparently, in a desperate attempt of earning money. Although the forest is less dangerous during winter, its resources are also more difficult to find… So we offered help to locate MT beasts in exchange for a part of the loot. Since Samia already knew the location of a hibernating MT beast, we took them there to test their sincerity. Even if they refuse to fulfill their part, they would be helping us get rid of a potential threat, so it would be a win-win situation either way…”

He observed their reactions to see how they judged him. Seeing that most agreed or didn’t have complaints, he took another deep breath and continued.

“Then, we went to the cave to check on the supposed hibernating beast, but what we found… We found bats, around two dozens of them…”

The inquisitive expressions showed that they didn’t understand the problem, only Marlen, who was visibly scared, seemed to know what this meant.

“Bats are MT beasts, but a very particular and dangerous kind. They are wind beasts that developed the sound variant of the element, like ice from water. The bats can use sound for tracking prey for large distances and use extremely dangerous sound attacks. I never experienced it, but many say that this kind of attack affects the mind… So only a few would try to hunt them.”

Now, this was the kind of reaction Lew was expecting. From panicking to discussing the repercussions for the camp, different responses could be seen from the Councillors. However, the only reaction that matter to Lew was Karl’s. After he confirmed the Alchemist was pondering on something, he proceeded.

“I told them we might have a solution for the sound attacks…”

The silence spread through the pavilion as everyone turned to Karl.

“Hmm… Tricky… If we don’t mind revealing our abilities, I could do something about it, but only to block the sound attacks.”

“That would do… But it would be even better with you could…”

***

Samia analyzed the results of her scan and nodded satisfied, the Adventurers hadn’t moved besides scouting their surroundings. As long as they didn’t move towards the camp, it would be fine even if they chose to don’t cooperate. Next, she would need to do run a few kilometers to do a perimeter scan for MQ beasts, it wouldn’t be good to get caught unprepared when they already have so many potential threats.

The cold wind made her extremely uncomfortable, but not as much as the symptoms of magic poisoning. She started feeling stronger effects two days ago, but she wouldn’t report them until they solved the situation with the Adventurers.

A movement in the endless sea of snow and trees captured her attention as she prepared to engage in a potential fight. Three white wolves. Should she flee or take a chance? Before she made a decision, the wolves had already decided for her.

Samia passed the dagger to her left hand and got the throwing knife that she recovered from the Adventurers. She powered the Arrays in the knife with a fast move and launched it towards the approaching beasts. Without waiting for the result, she also threw the second knife. The weapon whistled through the blurry air, faster than any non-enhanced weapon would. The first knife only left a cut into one wolf’s back, but the second one carved the neck of another wolf.

Unfortunately, Samia didn’t have time to pass the dagger back to her good hand, but she avoided the attack by rolling to the side. The second wolf was already on her but she dodged again. Now, with the dagger prepared, she was the one to jump at the beast. The line of blood painted the snow as beast howled, but she wasn’t intimidated. Capitalizing on the lightness effect of her boots, she jumped again and finished the wolf before it could get its revenge.

The remaining one didn’t jump carelessly like before, it knew she was dangerous. The beast circled her, trying to find an opening to attack or flee, but Samia already decided she would be the one making the decisions. With a powerful dash, she jumped at the beast. It clawed her arm, but the coat protected her. The beast screamed and tried to retreat but the huntress didn’t allow it.

A sound of clapping captured the attention of the panting girl.

“Good kill… I was prepared to intervene, but then your throwing knives took down one, so I decided to see how you would fare… You sisters are really something…”

Samia only grunted before turning back to take the crystals out of the dead beasts.

“Let’s finish this quickly… It’s time to hunt bats…”