“We should get going. It’s about time for the Flow-carts to come and hang out in the Dump,” I said while still sitting on the crumpled walls of the clock-tower’s roof with my back inside of Harlow’s embrace.
“Will they see us from up here?” asked Nova.
While Roana already got up to leave, she had been unexpectedly silent for the whole evening, ever since I presented Harlow to Faruq and her, actually.
Did she not like her? I could not say.
Other things busied my mind at this point. It was erratically, but usually, after the light’s display, groups of youths from Sundoor came out of their lairs to thrash the Dump, well the Dumps. There were many around Sundoor.
It seemed that this time they were interested in the South Dump.
They would kill hordes of creatures for Soul fractions and throw tantrums while they used their weird Stone-based drugs.
“Let them come; we’ll stay right here,” Alistar said, followed by many voices of agreement.
I smirked, “If they start shooting us on sight, and we shoot back, we’ll have the Sunguards on us before we got back to Murkstall; but they… they have nothing to fear.”
“We’re here, though,” said Nova, likely meaning Faruq near which she had decided to sit to try and keep away the girls frowning over him.
“I think Loke’s right. It’s better if we go; we’ve seen all there is to see,” Harlow answered.
The sky was still dimly glowing with the colored lights that Sundoor’s pillar of energy had called; it would last until the first few lights of the day, and disappear with the Sun, so we had something to see for the whole night, but it just was not worth risking a confrontation with Sundoor’s citizens.
“Damn,” said someone, “They are already coming over here, I guess.”
I got up, giving the cub to Harlow, then it was clear; those in the distance were indeed Flow-carts lights coming at us, at least a dozen and increasing.
“Turn off all the lights,” I ordered, it might have already been too late, but we had to become invisible until they got away.
“Adam, if situations require, may I borrow your bow?” I asked one of the boys; he was a sixteen years old regular human.
“No need to even ask,” he said, removing his longbow and giving it to me. A longbow was not my ideal choice of weapon, but it was something.
“Thank you,” I said, wearing the quiver. Then I turned toward the others, the absence of light almost not hindering me in the slightest.
“They have already likely seen us, we might incur in real problems, so whoever wants to leave say it now, I’ve got time to transfer some of you away from the Dump, but you need to form groups if you want to leave, the night is too dangerous for only a few of you.”
Of the fourteen people that came with us, not one chose to leave.
I did not know if to curse them for their bravery or berate them for their stupidity.
“Then prepare yourself for the worst.”
If worse came to shove, I could just murder all our attackers and impede them from contacting the Sunguard; of course, it would create a massive man-hunt for the Night Hunter, but at least the villagers would be safe.
So we holed ourselves up; some like me, stayed on top of the clock-tower, some others descended to lower levels, to easily reach melee range in case of emergency, while some positioned themselves on the first floor, to stay slightly away from monster’s sudden attacks, and to have the fastest response in case of emergency, Alistar was among them.
On the last floor, the only one that was discovered, I permitted only the presence of the Hunter to whom I hadn’t stolen the bow, Nova, and Faruq to show them that we had Flow-blessed among our ranks and Harlow and Roana which could come in handy.
It was not the best time to test my new and improved Perks, but in the meanwhile, I Traced Harlow’s to see if something had changed.
Harlow Raive, Tinker Level 29 (26539/29000), Clock-technician Level 39 (369.875/390.000)
Health: 100%
Stamina: 89%
Strengths: Constitution, Strength, Focus
Weaknesses: Perception, Loke Nightfold
Class Skills: Forged Body (Constitution), Deep Knowledge II (Focus), True Resolve (Willpower)
Sub-Class Skills: Armored (Constitution), Heavy Metal (Strength), Mind for Metal (Focus), Tech Manipulation (Willpower)
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 63 kg
Age: 21
Origins: Unknown
Family: Logan Raive
She smiled at me, I smiled back, “Just checking.”
“You can check as much as you want.”
I thought I heard Roana scoff at that point but didn’t give it much thought.
“Wouldn’t I be more useful on the ground? I have Crystals ready to use for my abilities,” said Faruq.
“I don’t doubt it, but I want you here to avoid confrontation, not turn them into smears on the ground. As long as they turn their light at us and see that we’ve got you, whatever they want to do will probably be to just tease you, and probably Nova too.”
He answered only after a few seconds of what I couldn’t interpret to be consideration or awe, but he said, “As you want, captain.”
Harlow looked at me with a questioning smile; I gave her a “what can I say?” look. But it was doubtful she could see my full expression given her poor Perception, not with such dim light.
A few minutes later, the first Flow-carts invaded the Dump. They were fast, like most Flow-cart, but were heavy; they could easily trash the place and remodel it while still on their carts, instead, they dropped down and started laughing, hitting breaking things, which sincerely were already broken enough or would not belong to the Dump, and having “fun” in their peculiar way.
Those few had no idea we were up here, those that noticed arrived a few minutes later.
They were decidedly calmer but much more sure of themselves.
The moment they descended from their Flow-carts, they climbed up to the building closest to the clock-tower; it was a four stories tall building, tall enough for them to get our attention.
What instead really took my attention was their ability to climb it from the outside. They did not even need to enter the building, they simply climbed like Nova, and I always did, from the outside.
I could hear Nova strangle the cub she was holding a little, she had likely gotten to the same conclusion I did. These people were well-trained.
They were young, but most of them were our age.
Which meant that to be all so agile, they were a group of rogues, which was unlikely, or they had already started delving, which made them all Advanced Classes users.
To be sure, I had to check, but Tracing was not something I could do first, or it would surely be read as a threat.
I would wait for them to do it.
“I don’t like this,” said Harlow, when she noticed them point their Flow-torches at us.
“Hey!” One of them said, “are you nomads? What are you doing here?”
“My wife and I are checking the lights,” said Faruq coming in front, pointing at Nova. The lights on us were strong enough that they could illuminate the whole roof.
“What about the damaged goods?” said the young man on the other side.
“Is that an outlander my eyes see?” asked another, laughing.
Damaged goods? I asked myself, then I realized it.
Harlow was not wearing her upper armor, her clock-arms were partially exposed, the day was hot, and unlike mine, her arms were not covered by animal hides as I liked mine.
I don’t know what restrained me from nocking an arrow and killing the f***** on the spot; it was probably Faruq’s cold-blooded answer.
“Those? They are our slaves; what else?”
“Costly slaves you got, nomads. You could surely find something better if you wanted, but maybe you are endowed with loads of Crystals, right?” He asked, getting all the others to laugh.
“They’re worth the cost,” he said, “this one is good at making and fixing our solar panels,” he said, pointing at Harlow, “the Shade-cursed is good with pets. There’s never enough pets when you hunt big games like my tribe.”
“Oh, big games, uh? Have we got a sand champion on our turf?” He asked, laughing.
“Anyway, you need to leave now. We want to raze this place to the ground; it belongs to us.”
If it kept going like this, we could shortly breathe a sigh of relief.
But rarely things went the way I wanted them to.
“Hey, look at that!” Said one, “There’s somebody else hiding down there!”
“Wow, quite a few slaves you brought for protection, right, nomad?” Said the one that started talking first, sticking his light on Faruq’s eyes.
Faruq did not answer; he turned to look at me.
I knew he had done exceptionally well until then, but it was my turn now.
I Tracked and Traced the guy in front of me.
Berthold Amin Junior, Dark Brawler Level 34 (58596/340.000), Freerunner Level 31 (287.890/310.000)
Health: 100%
Stamina: 93%
Strengths: Agility, Constitution
Weaknesses: None
Class Skills: Fast Track (Agility), Metal Flow Body II (Con), Jab II (Strength), Steps Trace (Perception)
Sub-Class Skills: Dash (Agility), Recover II (Con), Focal Point (Focus), Haste (Willpower)
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 87 kg
Age: 21
Origins: Sundoor
Family: Berthold Amin Senior, Mariya Tully-Amin, Ajda Amin
Metal Flow Body II, it could be troublesome if he had Crystals on him, but only if I gave him the chance to actually use it.
He was also fast and sturdy, a deadly combination. Metal Flow Body and Recover were a nasty combination of Skills. He could exhaust himself with Metal Flow Body, then fully Recover his Stamina to start anew.
Fortunately, he had something that would make me win an eventual duel among us with one hundred percent certainty.
He thought we were weakling.
“For Sun’s sake, remove that Tracker from me, whoever you are!” He said, moving his torch from one face to the other.
I nodded to Faruq, who had been waiting for me to answer.
“I suggest you don’t cause us any trouble and leave us alone. Turf fights are our specialties, whether we deal with delvers or not,” he said.
Faruq was so sure of himself that it almost made me feel as if he was born for this role.
“I suggest you remove this Tracker from me before I get furious and start by shooting you all down from that clock-tower,” threatened the Berthold guy.
But as my Tracking Perk saw his next movements, I already knew that he was not even half as capable as I had previously thought.
The boy was taking out a Flow-gun.
Although they were important tools, a delver did not need a Flow-gun to prove his point. Not if his class didn’t relate to them.
“These are stupid kids,” I said, turning toward the others, “I thought they were young delvers, but they are not. Let me handle it.”
I raised the bow then, pointing it at him. For Sun’s sake, it felt so good to finally have a bow in my hands again.
“Drop the gun or die where you stand,” I said out loud. Loud enough to shut them all up.
“What the f*** is he saying?” said one of them.
“Is that guy serious?” said another.
“I’m going to give you five seconds, then you are all dropping from that building, willing or not.”
Then I started counting, “Five…”
“Shoot him down, Bert! What are you waiting for?”
“Four…”
“Why are we even wasting time here?” said a girl.
“Three…”
“Let’s just kill these Shade-cursed,” said another.
“Two…” I said, raising my voice some more.
The guys shot me then, but I already knew the direction in which he would shoot me; I was tracking his arm’s movements.
I just had to slightly move to the right to evade it; it was a joke.
“One, last second!”
“Berthold, just kill that guy!” said one of them that was starting to get really scared.
“Ze-” I would have started shooting at zero, but someone from the ground interrupted us.
“Would you please stop this nonsense?”
Said a female voice.
I could not remove my eyes from my target, but I focused on what she was saying.
“What does it matter why they are here, who they are, or what they are doing, can’t they enjoy the damn Festival?” she continued.
“What do you care about? And who are you anyway?” asked one of the guys from the gang that had been threatening us.
“What does it matter who I am? What does it matter who anybody is? Why are you creating trouble? These people came here only to look at the lights. They are not even the only ones to do so! There are nomads in all the Dumpsters around Sundoor that come here to look at the spectacle that we are so privileged to attend from its very source. Who are you to deny them that sight? Who gave you the authority!?” she continued to valiantly defend us.
She took us all aback, but most of us all, Nova. She gave the cub to Harlow to get closer and take a better look at the girl speaking.
I did not lower my bow, but I very much wished I could keep hearing those words for the rest of my life.
I did not know how it came about, but she kept talking, of justice, of the proper use of power, of protecting the life of every sentient, of nurturing the lands. And we kept listening, she spoke, and we listened, we all listened to her, even those other Flow-cart that had come from Sundoor were listening to her, enthusiastic, enthralled.
Until somebody broke the spell.
“I know who she is!” Said someone from the group challenging us, “she’s that General of the Sunguard’s daughter! The one that has made it to the paper!”
“Oh, I know what you’re talking about! Cyrus Mustafa!”
“Yes! That guy! She’s that man’s daughter, Aisha, I believe! Don’t listen to her; she’s just a damn pacifist!”
“Yeah,” said still somebody else, this time coming from below too, from a different group, “If it was for her father, we would let all these f****** nomads and plagued individuals inside of ours walls!”
“Then get them, Berthold, get them!”
A chorus of “get them”, started.
I could see Nova’s hope shatter with the tail of my eye.
Nova was sincerely hoping for that girl’s heartfelt speech to breach into these fuckers’ stone hearts, but they managed to break the spell.
Now I would break their necks.
“Trick Shot,” I whispered, releasing the arrow.
However, the arrow was not aimed to kill; no, I was not going for the killing. It would be enough to make them paralytic; I could bet they had healers for that in Sundoor.
Also, it was about time to test my new Trick Shot Perks on proper subjects.
The arrow impacted in between Berthold’s feet, and the subsequent explosion pushed him over the edge.
For I had chosen Trick Boom as my newest Perk.
Trick Boom:
Your Trick Shot explodes if impacting with an object of adequate mass (the explosion’s power depends on the copied object).
He was not expecting anything to hit him from behind. The stupid boy was standing on the edge of the building.
Somebody screamed a “no,” but I did not stop; I couldn’t care.
I nocked another arrow as the ones from his group were paralyzed by fear. However, a couple of them were seriously prepared.
One of them was a Hunter; he was ready to strike me with his foldable arbalest and seemed to be immune to my Tracker. He might have been a rogue.
But that was not all I had. The next arrow I shot was not aimed for the killing; it was aimed behind the man’s head.
Before I transferred behind the Hunter’s back, I dropped the bow on the roof of the clock-tower; it would be just hindrance at close quarters.
I could hear and see with Synesthesia the “thud” of the bow falling on the roof of the previous building while I grabbed the Hunter from the scruff and threw him over into the dark night.
Not only had I transferred behind his building. My Strength had doubled as I threw him over the edge.
I had indeed chosen Nasty Trick as my new Minor Perk.
Nasty Trick:
Double your Strength for the next attack following a transfer.
I threw my knife toward a guy taken aback by the sudden throwing of his friend, then I started dashing toward him; when I transferred in front of him, the momentum of my dash was transferred together with me and further empowered the shoulder tackle that threw the other boy down toward the darkness.
Before they could appropriately respond, I threw another of them down with a powerful kick in the guts.
Four gone, four to go. But they had the upper hand now; they were angry and ready to attack. But I was not alone. Another Hunter was waiting on the clock tower.
He covered for me as I threw my knife in an arc all the way over to the clock-tower, then transferred, grabbed the knife in mid-air, and fell to the ground to pick up the bow I had dropped, and shoot a few more exploding arrows at the four fuckers.
Only another of them fell; the remaining three ran away by descending the mostly broken downstairs.
“Take your fallen and run, assholes!” Screamed one of ours from one of the middle stories of the clock-tower.
I could hear Aisha shouting to somebody then, “Get them to a doctor, fast!”
Then I heard something a little bit disconcerting but at the same time heart-melting coming from Nova.
“Should I heal them?”
And weirdly, the one answering was Roana. The one who had suffered the most from Sundoor’s unofficial slavery.
“I think you should,” she said.
“And we should all get to know that woman, Aisha,” said Harlow, “I read something very interesting about her father from the newspaper that the delvers constantly bring to my father.”
We all turned toward her, “As it seems, this man is a Flow-blessed son of a regular turned slave, and he has legally married an Elf that he met on the war front. She is a political refugee. She has betrayed her people to run away with this man and now he’s become a General. He’s been promoted to join the Inquisition, and he is all for integration.”
“That is… very interesting,” said Faruq. Then he turned toward me, “Captain, we should really speak with that woman; it is the chance of a lifetime, however…”
“However, it is better if I stay hidden, I know.”
I sighed. They were completely right.
But before judging if she was really worth our time, I had to at least Trace her.
I intently looked at the robed young woman that had spoken words I had never before heard. Words that we all needed to hear.
I saw her Sun-blessed brown hair, covered in platinum spots instead of the solar amber of Sun-blessed humans.
I saw her slightly pointy ears and took a long look at her eyes.
One was amber, the other was silver.
She was indeed astonishing in many ways.
Aisha Mustafa, Thermomancer Level 35 (287.950/350.000), Politician Level 34 (260/340.000)
Health: 100%
Stamina: 85%
Flow Capacity: 99%
Strengths: Focus, Willpower
Weaknesses: Agility, Strength
Class Skills: Thermal Resistance III (Constitution), Thermodynamics (Focus), Feel the Flow (Perception), Flow Control (Willpower),
Sub-Class Skills: Bolster (Focus), Interpretation (Perception), Speech (Willpower), Luck of the Draw (Fortune)
Race: Half-Human, Half-Elf
Sex: Female
Height: 169 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Age: 19
Origins: Sundoor
Family: Cyrus Mustafa, Aryawin Szariella
She turned to look at me, but I had already dropped the Tracker at that point.
Because what I had in front of me was a mage, a real mage, likely the second one I had ever seen.
A Thermomancer.
Recalling how I had seen Sunguard mages fry creatures alive with a wave of their hands, I couldn’t help but be wary of the peculiar halfling standing only a few dozen meters from me.
However, even the fear of a Thermomancer evaporating me disappeared in the next moment for something even worse took its place.
The fear of the Inquisition razing the village to the ground, killing my friends, my sister, my lover, and hunting me down for a public execution shook me to the very foundations of my being because the Soul of the world whispered to me…
You’ve earned 16458 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 299.689/320.000
One of the people I had thrown had died because of the fall.
