assistirfilmes Chapter 8: Trading Barbs
Chapter 8: Trading Barbs
The expedition had been a total shitshow from the very start.
Eleonora grimaced, her fingers blurring with the motions for [Lesser Healing]. As the spell completed, she sent the energy toward Jack's injured sword arm where it dangled at his side. Nearby, Rudolf released another arrow at the last comically oversized rat clinging to Jack's shield as he frantically waved it around with his good arm. The creature squealed in pain and fury as the shaft sank deep into its side, an unnervingly green liquid dripping from its maw. But it refused to die.
Her spell took effect, and the wound began to close over. The effects of whatever paralytic toxin the rat spewed also seemed to abate, and Jack began to shake the numbness from his arm as Rudolf hit the monster with another arrow.
Eleonora grimaced. Her healing could only do so much against poisons and toxins, which they'd been running into far too often in this forest. What she really needed was some sort of cleansing skill. It was one of the many reasons they should have turned back days ago. But no. After all, they'd just earned their first stars as Iron Rank adventurers, so clearly they were ready to take on the world. And besides, the Evergreen Seas was a supposedly low-level area. Even encountering the shadow panthers two full days before they were supposed to find any monsters wasn't a bigdeal—they could just push through. At least, that's what their fearless leader Jack insisted.
At this point, she was well past fed up with his overconfidence. There was clearly something wrong here, anyone with eyes could see that. Either those stories of elves keeping the monsters around here in check were entirely made up, or something had sent them packing. Her worries getting brushed off because, since they'd come this far, they might as well keep going... well, it very nearly made her blow her top.
Eleonora kept this to herself as she immediately began casting another spell. After this encounter, she would make sure they left. That, or headed back to the road, the one they were supposed to be following, even if she had to drag her bullheaded teammates there. Thank the gods it was nearby. At least, it was supposed to be. None of them were particularly good at reading a map, and this forest looked the same in every direction.
Jack slammed his shield into the ground, finally knocking the beast off. But if anything, that made the situation worse. Now the creature was free to run around as Jack tried to position himself between it, their archer, and their healer.
It darted toward her, beady eyes narrowed as it screeched again. She couldn't help but let out a squeak of panic as she pointed at it, casting the [Mana Bolt] she'd been preparing. A small ball of prismatic energy shot forward from her hand. The rat took the impact straight in the face, stumbling backwards in surprise.
Rudolf took advantage of the opportunity to loose a [Quickshot] into its thick hide. Jack tackled it a moment later, drawing a dagger from his belt to stab into the thing's head. The rat twitched a few more times, then went still.
The party stood for a few moments, waiting to make sure that it was really dead. Other rat corpses littered the small clearing where they'd been ambushed, their lifeless bodies riddled with arrows and slashes. Once they were certain that no more would jump out to attack, they all visibly relaxed.
Eleonora walked over to Jack and Rudolph as they slumped against a nearby tree, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder to heal him more efficiently. "So. We're heading back now, right?"
Jack looked up at her. His face was tired, but still as steadfast as ever. "Not yet," he panted. "The quest was to deal with the trade caravan disappearances. We haven't even found a single trace of one yet, much less fixed the problem."
"Actually," Rudolf interjected, holding up a finger in that annoying habit of his, "The quest was to find the problem preventing travel in the area, with bonus rewards for dealing with it."
Jack rolled his eyes at the correction. "The bonus rewards are the only thing that make this worthwhile. If we're gonna do it, we might as well do it right."
"I told you, Jack," Eleonora gestured furiously at the forest. "There's way more monsters here than there's supposed to be, and stronger ones too! They probably came through here expecting an easy trip and got ambushed and died—just like we've almost done, I dunno, three times already."
The party leader was already shaking his head. "We don't know that for sure. We have to keep looking."
Eleonora clenched her fists, then released them in an effort to calm herself. This was just making her regret being impatient even more. She never should have agreed to this mission before they were ready. She definitely should have put her foot down about backing off earlier. But also, she shouldn't have let her eagerness to start adventuring blind her to the glaring issues with Jack as their party leader.
For the most part, Jack was a solid guy. Tough, strong, dependable. He cared about his friends and didn't hesitate to throw himself into danger to protect them. But he was also stubborn. Very stubborn.
Unfortunately, the guild had rules. Every party had to have a leader, and that leader had to be at least eighteen. She and Rudolf were both still a year away from that, so the second Jack turned eighteen, they'd formed the party just like they'd always wanted to. However, Jack had different ideas of what being a leader meant, something that became all too clear once he was put under pressure and the cracks began to really show.
Marcus allowed his gaze to rove across the camp as he walked, waving occasionally to Legionnaires as they busied themselves with cooking, repairing gear, and other such work. The air filled with the sounds of clanking metal and shouted commands. Clearly, the army wouldn't have fit inside Habersville itself, considering they outnumbered the townsfolk four to one. But their solution... well, it seemed a bit excessive.
What they called a "camp" he might've more accurately described as a pop-up fortress. Rows upon rows of precisely aligned tents formed a neatly ordered grid within its interior, with the higher-ranking officers' tents concentrated at one end. The entire thing was surrounded by a freshly dug moat, layers of sharpened sticks, and an honest-to-gods palisade. The wall stretched at least eight feet tall, its logs freshly felled from the newly-enlarged forest clearing that surrounded them. There were even elevated guard posts and gates at each entrance.
He couldn't help but shake his head at the sight. All of this, erected in a single day—less than that, considering how late they'd started. The fact that the men were still fresh level ones with no trained skills simply made it more incredible. Watching them had been like watching a swarm of ants, all chaos that somehow resolved into perfect order.
The reminder made him frown and activate [Appraisal] on the soldiers as he walked. Sure enough, every single one he passed was still level one. How that was possible, Marcus still wasn't sure. The Legion clearly was killing monsters, as evidenced by the shadow panthers roasting on spits all across the camp. If nothing else, that should have netted them at least a few higher-level fighters by now. But he had yet to see so much as a single level two, from the rank and file all the way up to the officers.
Maybe their class didn't gain experience from killing monsters? Something like that would be unheard of, yet the concept of group skills already suggested they were an anomaly. Still, every time he tried to prod Tiberius for information about it, the man remained frustratingly tight-lipped.
He mulled over the conundrum as he left the camp and began the short walk back to Habersville. The dark forest looming in the distance still made the back of his neck prickle with unease. However, the field of fresh stumps that pushed its edge even further in the distance than before certainly helped. That, and the scent of roasting meat that followed him out of the camp.
Now that he thought about it, the Legion's building prowess would probably make repairing the bridge a breeze. All he had to do was ask Tiberius or one of the other officers about it. Only, Marcus wasn't quite ready to move on yet. In only a few short days, Habersville had become quite the interesting place to be. He might not have enough material for a ballad yet, but in a few months... well, who knew what legendary feats the Legion might accomplish? It may even be enough to regain his place in the royal court.
As he approached the town's wall—a new one, since the Legion had seen fit to replace Habersville's old fortifications bright and early on their second day—Marcus waved up to the guards keeping watch above. Their polished metal breastplates gleamed in the sunlight, long spears gripped in their hands as they stood alert.
"Ho, Marcus!" One called down to him in the strangely clipped accent all Legionnaires seemed to share. He nudged his comrade in the side. "See? That's the one I was telling you about."
The other man peered down at Marcus. "Who? The storyteller guy?"
"Yeah, the bard. You should see him do accents, Sextus. He's the real deal."
"Better than you?"
"Well, maybe not that good..."
Marcus gave one of his signature bows as he hid a smile. "Ho, Cassius! Ho, Sextus! Hard at work keeping the town safe, I see!"
Cassius snorted. "Yeah. It's been real exciting up here. Almost as good as watching trees grow."
Cassius, on top of being a Legionnaire, was a bit of an amateur bard himself. After seeing him tell a surprisingly well-executed war story around the fire one night, Marcus had given him a few tips about stage performance. After that, they'd bonded over a shared love of telling stories, swapping some of their favorites. It was a great way for Marcus to get new material, not to mention learn more about his audience's tastes. And if he ever did leave the Legion behind, well, that new material would go to good use. After all, the first person to tell a story wasn't always the one who got credit for it.
Not that he'd ever do that to Cassius. He wouldn't even think about it.
"As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have business to attend to in the town. I don't suppose you fellows would be willing to let me through?"
Marcus hadn't made his way out here simply for a leisurely walk. No, he had things to take care of before his afternoon meetings. Things that were best nipped in the bud well before they flowered. He needed to talk with the recently deposed Mayor of Habersville.