Alerted by the chime of the Item shop's bell, Vhe Dehv makes his way to the store front, already chatting away to the unknown patron. "I'm afraid business hours are well and truly over, friend, you'll have to come back..." His five eyes finally set in the armoured man stood in the doorway. "Tomorrow." He finishes his sentence, it's only polite, after all, and a man such as him can't forget his manners.
"I'd heard that you were running a shop in this town." Vaxyll takes a seat in the waiting area. "It beggars belief that the King of Beasts would ever assist Daylighters, especially adventurers, and yet, here you are."
"If you're just here to confirm your spies' reports, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Vhe has no time for this, especially when Callie could be back any minute.
"This is a personal matter, I wanted to warn you-"
"So that's it? You're attacking Larit? Despite Princess Esmeralda's request?"
"I have a duty to the Night King." Vaxyll says, though his voice is low, betraying his hesitation. "A duty I must fulfil, no matter what."
"And if the Princess tries to stop you on a more direct level? I know you, Vaxyll, and you'd never raise a hand to that girl if your life depended on it."
"I have to pray it does not come to that. But please, as an old friend, listen to what I have to say. Take your..." He pauses. If his faceplate could emote, no doubt he would be scowling at the notion of what he was about to say. "Take your daughter and leave Larit. I wish no more harm to you than I do the Princess."
"Meaning that if it comes down to it, and we choose to defend the town, you'll fight us?"
"Meaning that I want to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed. My orders are to kill the Unique and take the town. That means he is the only one who absolutely has to die."
"I'm afraid your little science project has made that quite difficult. The townsfolk have rallied around young Mr Crowley as of late."
"I am well aware of Maximilian Kendall's failures." Vaxyll mutters. "Of my own failures. And I intend to make up for them all."
"By destroying this town? You should be aware I will not allow that, old friend."
"At the very least, I hope my warning spurs you to keep your daughter safe." Vaxyll says. "No matter the monster I become, harming children is not something I ever hope to do." He stands, and with a flick of his wrist, a small fissure in the air appears beside him. "I wish you good health, King of Beasts." He says as he walks through the rift and disappears.
"And you, Knight from Beyond the Horizon."
***
Everything hurts. After being carried away from the site of my battle with Max, even after being healed to the best of Claire's ability, even after having the Guild's on-staff healers give me the once over, then the twice over to make sure they hadn't missed anything, and being told I should be fine, everything still hurts.
The gashes on my chest are healed. My broken arm has healed. I was worried that the claws on Max's weird arm were poisonous, but there's nothing in my system. Everything points to the fact I should be able to get up and fight if Vaxyll shows up again. But everything hurts.
The entire town's been helping out, with both my recovery, and preparations for any potential attacks. According to Claire, Emily's making me a new robe and Vhe's going to enchant it with some pretty impressive magic of his own, since the old one was torn to shreds. Everyone considers me a hero, despite the fact that Max wouldn't be here if it weren't for me.
Even Emerald, of all people, seems to have warmed up to me, that outburst that nobody was supposed to hear had the exact effect I was worried about, they think I'm going to become some stalwart protector. The Saviour of Larit. A title I know I'll never live up to.
"Mr Crowley?" One of the healers pokes her head around the door, thankfully I was allowed to stay in my Guild room, rather than the infirmary, once I was given a clean bill of health. "You have a visitor."
"Send them in." I say, trying my best to look presentable as Vhe and Callie enter. "Oh, hey. I didn't expect it to be you guys."
"Dad insisted." Callie says. "It's important."
"Vaxyll intends to attack the town." Vhe says. "He... warned me, so that I might keep Callie safe."
I get a feeling there's more to it than that, but it really isn't my place to pry. "That's nice of him." Is all I say.
"I believe he truly has good intentions. He loves the Night Princess as a daughter, you see, so perhaps he sees a glimmer of the man he could be in myself." There's definitely more to this than he's letting on. "If you could appeal to that last shred of humanity within him, perhaps both this town and Vaxyll may yet live in harmony."
"You know him, don't you?" I ask, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.
"From before, yes. He used to be a good man." Vhe hangs his head. "A naïve part of me wants to believe he still is."
"Vhe, you're the smartest person I know." I say. "If you think Vaxyll can be redeemed, then I'll bet on you every time."
"I thank you, young Mr Crowley." Vhe says, the smile returning to his face as his floating hands adjust his top hat. "Yes, of course, I forgot who I was for a moment there, Vaxyll is a good man because I believe him to be, and he shall be saved because I will him to be, that is the method of Vhe Dehv."
"And I'm sure not just gonna lounge around feeling sorry for myself." I say, my chat with Vhe made me realise why everything used to hurt. I wanted it to. The pain gave me an excuse to run away from helping the people I care about. "I'll be needing that new cloak as soon as possible."
***
For somebody who's made it incredibly plain that I hate being the centre of attention, I sure do get that exact treatment more often than not. At least this time I can say with assurance that the attention is wholeheartedly positive. A hero's welcome, no matter my protests, is what I find when I leave to the guild hall, and at the forefront are my annoying companions.
"Took your time, did you?" Emerald asks, heading over to me, only to stop when I hold out my hands.
"No hugs."
"No hugs." She says with a smile.
"And while we're at it, I haven't done anything yet. Max was, at worst, a minor nuisance."
"Nobody seems to care." Emerald tells me. "You don't have to have done anything yet, it's the assurance you will that everyone's celebrating."
"That... I suppose now's a bad time to tell you I was planning on skipping town?" I ask.
"You were what." Emerald deadpans.
"With the best of intentions." I assure her. "If Vaxyll's after me, then he won't attack the town if I'm not here. Vhe said as much."
"Why is it you do the stupidest things with the best of intentions?" Emerald asks me, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Vaxyll is still one of the Night King's generals, he will try to take this town, and if you aren't here to defend it, he'll succeed."
"But I-"
"You think there's a good man in there. You're wrong." Emerald finishes with a glare. "He can't be bargained with, or talked into sparing us. The Night King wouldn't respect him if you could."
"Vhe seems to disagree." I say. "Why else would Vaxyll warn him?"
That seems to give Emerald pause, before she finally lets out a sigh and continues. "Regardless of what you plan to do, you'll need this." She rummages around in her pocket, before taking out a faintly glowing piece of paper. "You're adventurer's card. It's been doing that since your fight with... what was his name, Max, or something?"
A glowing adventurer's card can only mean one thing, class progression, the staple of an adventurer who's faced, and succeeded against, strong foes. I should probably thank Max the next time I see him, and not just because I know he'll hate it.
"Congrats. You're the first out of the party to get an upgrade. Guess that cements you as our leader." Despite her scowl, I can tell Emerald's happy for me, and with that, I make my way over to Marie.
"Here to cash in your Class-Up?" She asks, taking my card. "Let's see here... Oh, my. I guess fighting that Max person had it's upside, you're eligible for a rare Upgrade." She looks at me, and her expression turns sour. "Actually, with your stats, it might not be a smart choice to go with it just because it's rare."
"Why? What is it?" I ask, my curiosity piqued. I have to wonder if this is some sort of reverse psychology sales pitch.
"A Copymancer." Marie says, before noting both my and Emerald's confusion. "You don't get many, since it's usefulness is heavily reliant on luck, which is why I'd advise you, of all people, to avoid picking it just for the prestige. In layman's terms, they have a unique ability to learn any attack used against them, be it a monster's signature skill, or another class' ability."
"That sounds awesome." I say.
"But it's random chance to learn any skill, and if it isn't obvious, random chance is based on luck, and yours... well, sucks."
"Hey, just putting it out there, but are the attacks he'd learn counted as spells?" Emerald asks.
"Yeah, so?"
"And if they're classed as spells when he uses them..." Emerald begins, allowing me to finish the thought.
"Then I can fuse them." I say. "Which means it could open up the way to some pretty interesting fusion spells."
"You can't seriously be considering wasting your class-up on an upgrade that your stats are completely opposed to, just because it'd be cool." Marie groans, which I think means she knows I can seriously be considering that.
"Marie, mark me down as a Copymancer!" I announce, to the cheers of the many adventurers gathered around the Guild Hall.
"You seriously are the biggest idiot in town!"
***
With my (completely well thought out) change into a Copymancer completed, despite a certain Guild Maiden's constant insistence that I reconsider, my party and I make our way to the local armourer, where I hope to find my new outfit ready and waiting for me.
"Yo, there's the man of the hour." Emily greets me. "And just in time, too, boss just finished the last touches. Gotta say, it's pretty impressive, real strike fear into the hearts of your enemies vibe, y'know?" She moves out of the way, taking the curtain with her, to reveal a decadent set of cloth armour, the colours woven intricately in a way that, despite the abstract nature of the design, is instantly recognisable as representative of my Unique ability. Against deceptively plain grey backdrop, red, blue, and black thread flow down the right sleeve, while green, yellow and white adorn the left. A large cape is sewn into the shoulders, ending just before it begins to drag on the floor, and simple trousers finish what could only be described as a wearable piece of art. "When we said the super popular hero of Larit needed new duds, she sort of pulled out all the stops. If you want to thank her, you're gonna have to wait. She's asleep in the back and something tells me she ain't waking up any time soon."
"Well, give her my thanks as soon as she does." I say. "This is... incredible. How much do I owe her?"
"Oh, everyone pitched in. It was the least we could do for mister 'I won't let you lay a hand on my friends', after all." Emily says with a cheeky smile. I'm seriously never living that one down, am I? I should probably ask her to define 'everyone' at some point, then let her know if she mentions anyone who wasn't one of the intended recipients of that little outburst.
***
Preparations for any upcoming battle with Vaxyll were almost complete, but I have one final stop before I can truly say I'm ready. Normally, if I were headed for Vhe's item shop before heading out, it'd just be to stock up on potions and other adventure staples, but this time, my goals were, for once, altruistic.
"Ah, good to see you, young Mr Crowley." Vhe greets me with his trademark enthusiasm. "What brings you here on this fine day? I must say, your new attire is quite fetching, though perhaps from somebody who had a hand in it's creation, that rings hollow, no?"
"Vhe, don't take this the wrong way..." I say, how to put this in a way that won't be misinterpreted? "I think you and Callie need to leave town."
"I do beg your pardon?" Vhe, taken aback, stares at me. "Why ever would we do that?"
"I don't want you two to get caught up in all this." I admit. "In fact... could you take Sara with you? And Emily, and Marie, and... anyone who might get caught in the crossfire if things go south and not be able to defend themselves."
"Ah, I believe I understand fully, young Mr Crowley." Vhe says with a smile, "though, I hope you wouldn't deny us somebody who can fight, just in case the battle reaches us?"
"I'll pick out somebody who'll defend you to the last." I tell him. "Can't have the town losing it's item shop, now can we?"
"No, I'd say we can't. You adventurers wouldn't last a day without me."
"There's only one person I trust completely to protect you guys, though." I turn to Aura. "I know you want to see a piece of the action, maybe catch a glimpse of your daring leader finally showing that rust bucket just who he's dealing with, but-"
"I would be honoured to serve as their guardian, Darius." Aura cuts me off. "But maybe don't challenge Vaxyll alone. I know just how soft you mages are."
"I prefer the word squishy. It makes me sound cute."
"Indeed, squishy you are, then." Aura says.
"Alrighty, that's everything." I announce. "Now I just need to find somewhere safe before Vaxyll shows-"
"Vaxyll's attacking!" Sara shouts, bursting through the door. "He's at the gates, demanding that you show yourself."
"Oh, Gods damn it!" I let the mask slip for just a moment, before storming out of the store, with Emerald and Claire close behind.
***
"You just had to show up now, didn't you!?" I yell at Vaxyll, much to his, and everyone else's, surprise. "Everything was going perfect! I upgraded my class, I got new gear, everyone who couldn't fight was going to find somewhere safe, and I was gonna head in the opposite direction and challenge you outside of the city gates, but no! You had to show your big, dumb, metal face right at this moment, right?"
Everyone's attention shifts from me, to Vaxyll, who just says "You realize I'm the bad guy in this situation, right? I'm not just going to say 'oh, sorry, I'll come back later', or anything. You do understand that, right?"
"Yeah, I get that, but you can't blame me for needing to vent when you show up right when I think everything's going smoothly." I approach the living armour. "I guess it's my own fault for expecting anything to go my way."
"On that, the two of us are in agreement." Vaxyll unsheathes his sword, a ridiculously huge piece of metal no normal human could wield. "Now, shall we get this over with?"
"Yeah, let's." I motion for my backup, by which I mean Emerald, to take up her position. Strange, I don't hear her moving, and it's not like I can turn around and check. I give her the benefit of the doubt and take up a casting position, and hope that either she'll cover me, or Vaxyll will let me get at least one spell off.
"Open, gates of purgatory, and deliver burning flames from the void. Melt down the very foundations that prevent the world from falling to entropy, and my enemies with them. Inferno Purgatorium!"
A large portal appears in the sky behind Vaxyll, and fiery tendrils spew from it, wrapping themselves around the knight and yanking him into the air.
"I see you are intent on using your pathetic Daylighter spells on me yet again! Have your past interactions with both myself and the failure of a hybrid taught you nothing?" He calls from above me, and severs the apparitions in a single swipe, falling to the ground completely unharmed. "Now, if this farce is over, I shall make my counter attack!" He announces, lifting his huge sword into the air.
"Emerald, now!" I shout, tumbling backwards just before the blade cleaves me in two. But Emerald doesn't jump to my defence, nor does she do anything. In fact, a quick scan of the crowd shows she's not even here. "E-Emerald? What's going on, where are you?"
"Right here." She calls from atop the town walls. Though she's not dressed in her normal brawler's outfit. Covered in head to toe in elaborate black armour, she leaps down, taking pride of place right next to Vaxyll. "Stand down, Darius." She orders. "My father desires only one of two outcomes from this battle. The annexation of Larit, or your death. Don't give him both."
"Your... your father?" I ask, dumbfounded.
"The Night King." She declares. "Why would the Night Princess have halted Vaxyll's attack against you all that time ago if she had never met you? In other words, if she were not me?"