- AMAGHIEL -
Darrel floated in the dark abyss for what seemed like minutes, and then hours turned to days and weeks before he finally realized that time could not be told apart in that space, the same place he had been when he was on the brink of death.
'Hey, it's time to wake up.'
This time Darrel heard a different voice, it was a lady's voice and It sounded familiar to him, but it was hard for him to tell who the owner of the voice was.
"Who's there?" Darrel responded to the voice, but before his question could be answered, Darrel felt himself begin to fly through space before jerking awake in a bed. "Was that a dream?"
Darrel looked at the room from a distance as his eyes examined the objects around, it appeared that the battle had concluded and he was no longer on the streets, dying nor were the beautiful maidens looming over him anymore.
"Just a musty old roof.."
Darrel sighed.
He then raised his hands before his eyes and saw that the burns and bruises he had endured had been healed, Darrel was glad that he had not died during that battle, he felt that it would be unfortunate if he perished before becoming a renowned figure in that world.
"Finally!" The individual exclaimed.
When Darrel raised his head to see who it was, and to his surprise, he saw Larea standing beside his bed.
"Larea?"
"It's nice to see you too, Dar-rel the Spell-less Wizard." Larea responded sarcastically as she drew a longsword highly decorated with gems and pointed it at Darrel's throat.
"Thank... you?" Darrel was confused by her behavior, and Larea could see it in his eyes.
"There is no hiding it Dar-rel."
Larea threw a scroll she was holding in her free hand at Darrel's lap, he slowly reached for it all the while keeping his gaze on Larea. When he unfurled the scroll he saw a sketched image that resembled his likeness partially draped in a hood.
"Are you spell-less? That's a lie, isn't it? And your name, is it false too?" Larea suddenly flooded Darrel with queries as she sought the truth.
"Yes, I mean no! god!"
"Huh god? You are a god? Which one?"
"No! Of course not!"
"I swear by Moria I will lop your head off if you continue to spout more falsities!" Larea reached out further with her longsword before quickly withdrawing and sheathing it back in a scabbard hidden beneath her robes.
"Satisfied?"
Larea sat on the chair next to the bed and regained her composure, she seemed flustered and Darrel worried someone may have been lost during the battle.
"Where are the others?" Darrel sounded genuinely worried and Larea could perceive his honesty.
"Gone. I sent them ahead."
"Are they okay?"
"They are doing much better than you."
Darrel could feel the burning sensation within his body, even though the external injuries had been taken care of, he could still feel his muscles bulging with pain from the slightest movement he made.
"You should see the other guy." Darrel chuckled.
"You almost killed, that would not have been good for you."
Larea stated this in a way that made Darrel feel guilty for defeating the Captain, but it was only because of the strange ability he had triggered at the end of the battle that allowed Darrel to even out the battle.
"You were supposed to be discreet."
"Just like you, I had no choice."
Larea sighed.
Darrel was slowly piecing things together and he figured that there may have been a debate on what to do with him after they found it, Darrel looked back at the scroll with the image of his face with several symbols of the local text written on it.
"It's rare for Moriandia to put out a Pseudo Bounty on an individual, especially for a thousand gold pieces."
"I thought it would be more." Darrel mumbled.
Larea looked at him with a slightly concerned look on her face, as she knew how valuable that amount was to the average Moriandian.
"You could buy land worthy of a noble in Moriandia." She stated with a demeaning expression.
"So aren't we in danger here?"
"Not we, you Dar-rel." Larea reminded Darrel. "Fortunately, the Pseudo Bounty is exclusive to a particular group of individuals, so you will be moderately safe at times."
"Particular group?"
"Indeed, the Pseudo Bounty is sent out to private mercenary groups and not the public to keep the criminal's identity a secret." Larea explained. "This is usually done when the Empire is trying to cover up things that the criminal was involved in that might cause the public to panic."
"I see." Darrel shrunk back in his bed.
"So expect members from the Underground Community of Bounty Hunters, Moria's Mercenaries, the Hired Hands, The Children-"
"Children? That's a pretty childish name for a mercenary group." Darrel scoffed.
"To you that might be so, but this is the most notorious group in Morland." Larea warned Darrel sternly.
A moderate silence filled the room as the sun began to peek through the windows, it was almost time for Larea to leave, but she had a query that was gnawing at her mind.
"Why?" Larea suddenly asked.
"Why what?"
"Why is the Empire looking for you?"
Darrel paused as he wrestled with the idea, he understood that there was a risk in telling people that he caused a great commotion in Oris and managed to escape right under a Holy Knight's watch, but Darrel felt that he could trust Larea.
"Because I escaped from Oris."
Though this may not have been the reason for such a bounty, it certainly was the finishing touch to inflate Darrel's criminal record. When he first came to Morland Darrel had been accused of causing the explosion that allowed the Greyhearts to escape even though he was miles away.
'In my defense, I had no idea what had happened at the time.'
Unfortunately, Darrel's braggadocious claims had made him suspect and after unlocking his boon and going on a rampage had caused the Holy Knight at the time to blow a hole through Oris, and since the dust clouds concealed the events, many in Oris had claimed that it was Darrel's doing.
'That I know I was involved in...'
Darrel's manner of escape from Oris had been oddly similar to how the Greyhearts had escaped. This had only solidified his connection to the Greyhearts further, making him a prime suspect and collaborator of the notorious group.
'Ludicrous.'
Larea nodded in agreement to his initial reason, and Darrel was pleased that she believed him since he did not want to share any other occurrences that happened while he was in Oris.
"Yes that's one reason, and it's written right there on the bounty." Larea stated as she pointed to a text on the bounty scroll. "However, a thousand gold pieces for one escaped prisoner? That's absurd even for Moriandia's standards."
"Maybe they are desperate."
Larea chuckled at Darrel's comment, it reminded her of the first time she met with Darrel and how desperate he too had been to get a job.
"I see." Larea relented.
Despite Larea's attitude, Darrel could see from her body language that she was still unsatisfied with how he had responded to her queries. Darrel found such people difficult to deal with because they were the type that could dig through your bare skull to get answers.
"Sognie told me about your fight with the Captain." Larea started.
"That fight, I remember almost dying."
Darrel saw images of his battle with the Captain flash before his eyes, it was a desperate attempt at survival.
"That's not what she told me." Larea reminded Darrel as she walked toward the dresser in the room and turned around. " She said you held your own quite well."
Darrel sighed.
"Is there a point to all this?"
Tired of all the idle chatter Darrel urged Larea to get to the point, as he knew what she wanted to know this time.
"Do you know what Wechseln is?" Larea asked Darrel
Darrel shook his head sideways.
"It is a spell chain unique to Rank-Masters, it originated from spells called Andern and Verandern which are used to change a mortals job class, including skills, spells, abilities, everything."
'I see.'
Darrel raised his head as he confirmed his assumptions, it seems Sognie had seen him when he fought with a staff and then changed to a blade mid-fight. However, Darrel recalled that he had already professed his job class to them.
"I did say I am a Magi-Blade."
"Yes. Yes, you did." Larea agreed. "However, when I checked in Morland's ancient text, there has never been a Magi-Blade recorded in Morland history, ever."
"Of course, that's because I created it." Darrel stated firmly. "I am the first one, even my teacher affirmed its existence and she is a renowned Rank-Master."
"She?" Larea's curiosity switched.
"Muriel-"
"You met lady Muriel?!" Larea suddenly asked. "You lie!"
Darrel understood from the time he spent with Muriel that her name carried weight, but he did not expect a group of misfits such as them to know about her, and from the way Larea sounded it seemed they knew her personally.
'She helped me escape from Oris.' Darrel mused. 'Like I would dare say that to her.'
"She taught me how to use my abilit- I mean profession." Darrel explained.
Larea seemed to be in denial with Darrel's words, but everything he had said was the truth and she had no way of disputing his claim.
"I see." Larea sat back down on the chair next to Darrel's bed and then leaned closer. "Where did she say she was going?"
"She didn't. She left without saying a proper goodbye. " Darrel could see Larea's face squirm. "The last thing she said to me was that her demand had grown."
"You had best not get involved with her anymore."
"Why?"
"She's not the person that she seems."
Larea turned away and slunk back into the chair, she seemed rather relieved that Muriel was nowhere near here, Darrel could not imagine why this was the case with Larea but Muriel was too precious to him, especially after everything she had done for him.
'Even though it was for her own ego.'
"What's that supposed to mean?" Darrel asked aloud.
"It means what means." Larea stated firmly.
'She keeps picking strays for her foolish ambition, it's only a matter of time till she gets herself in irredeemable trouble, or worse.'
At that moment, Darrel felt a weight in his mind collapse and he heard Larea's words clearly as though she had said them with her mouth.
"What trouble?" Darrel asked.
Larea paused and looked at Darrel as she pondered on how he had known the words running through her mind.
"Maybe you were worth the trouble." Larea smiled lightly.
Darrel suddenly felt his eyes grow drowsy and before long he had fallen into a deep slumber.