Asmode and I found ourselves under a tree, having spoken about everything and nothing on our way there. I never revealed more than I was willing to- and I could tell he danced around a few of my questions too.
"Is there any way you can heal yourself?" I asked as I looked back to where we had fought. We had walked- at least, I had- for around four hours. I was starting to seriously doubt the system's statement that I couldn't get tired. "It'll be a pain in the arse to have to parade you through town like this."
"Heal myself?" Asmode asked, an eyebrow raised before it furrowed and he thought. "Nothing," he shrugged after a moment. "No pain, but also no way to heal instantaneously afterwards."
"Seems like a fair trade. Pushing too far in a fight spells your end, though," I warned him, and he nodded in silent agreement. "I'll go into town and grab a…" I patted over my body, feeling for any coins in pockets I didn't have, and trying to find a pouch of money I never owned. "Shit."
"Are we poor, Captain?" Asmode asked with a hearty chuckle. I knew it was only hurting him more, but numbness to pain seemed like an inescapable double-edged sword. "I would say just steal, but those horns of yours are far too rare to not be recognised afterwards."
"They're quite beautiful, though," I whispered in reply as I stroked them. How easily I had adapted to my new body didn't escape me, but my only gripe with it was my lack of a penis. I guess my horns were a much better-looking alternative. "Then what do you say I do? You're in no shape to do anything."
"I know that much, prick," Asmode rolled his eyes. I was glad to finally have a teammate, but I wouldn't class him as an ally just yet. His requirements for a leader were too shaky for me to accept him instantly. "Potions are actually quite cheap. Just do a little quest and get enough for one or two."
"Then you're doing the next quest by yourself," I scoffed as I stood up and felt for my Guild Pass quickly. "I'll be an hour or two. Don't get killed while i'm away."
Asmode shooed me away with a tut as he got himself comfier against the tree. I walked towards the gate which was now within sight and queued up in the Hunters' line. There seemed to be designated lines for everyone- Magic Researchers, Government Officials, and of course Merchants.
"Pass," a guard repeated in a monotone voice as he took everyone's identification and had it checked out by a man with a magnifying glass. It wasn't until I was three away from the guard that I noticed there were a few anxious eyes staring my way. "Pass."
I took a deep breath to settle my nerves before I stepped toward the guard and handed him my engraved identification. He hadn't asked for it, and snatched it with a speed I could only describe as spiteful. After the man with the magnifying glass nodded, the guard scoffed slightly and shoved my pass back into my hand.
"What are you waiting for? Go," the guard ordered with a glare. I shook my head and let out a sigh as I moved through the streets. I rubbed my chest, my skin stinging and itching as I hid it under my cloak.
"Strong bastard. I want to throw fire, too," I muttered to myself as I took the route towards the Guild Hall I had with my first friends. It felt weird now, though, to call them friends. I couldn't bring myself to stop it, to be honest. They were the first people I had ever had genuine conversations with- even if I had stopped myself from being fully honest with Petra.
I pushed open the door to the tavern, and squeezed past an exiting adventurer before putting the hood of my cloak up. I made my way to the bar and gestured for the barmaid. She came up to me and moved her head to peer under my hood. "Oh my sweet little boy. How're you?"
"I'm alright," I sighed, watching as she placed a mug in front of me. She gestured to the drinks at the bar, and I pointed to a container of milk. "Just that, thanks. And any easy quests that can be done quick. I need to buy a potion."
"You don't look too hurt," the barmaid replied with a smile as she set my drink down before me. I lifted it and drank it, wiping away the white moustache I knew it would leave me with on my lip. "But if you want something easy, that'll be a challenge. Some little minx has been stealing from the Hall. Quests, money, adventurers' belongings…" she trailed off with a defeated shrug.
"Would you give me two potions if I caught them?" I asked the pretty woman, and she nodded. "Then i'll catch them. If they're stealing all that from here, they're probably stealing from a lot more places,," I inferred, and finished off my milk. "Also, the potions are for my new teammate. I think he'd like you."
"And how much of a man is he compared to you?" She asked with a smirk. I scoffed slightly, and she giggled. "Unless he's double the man you are, i've got my sights set. Another year and you're mine."
"Sadly, he is double the man I am- in probably more ways than one," I joked back, and a shiver ran down my spine as she liked her lips hungrily at my words. "I'll catch that poster thief for you. Any clues?"
"She's quick, and none of my magic hit her when I tried to catch her," the barmaid told me. I thanked her for the information and headed out. Twenty or so minutes had passed since I had left Asmode. I only had another hour to get back before my promised time-frame was broken. He didn't seem like the type to abide by weakness in any form.
I slid down an alleyway and waited until the streets on either side were bare. I used a moment of calm on both sides to use 'Wind Manipulation' to float me atop a building a few houses down from the Guild Hall.
"If I were a thief…" I whispered to myself as I examined the streets beneath. "Not you," I thought as I looked at a weapons shop. Too risky, and probably owned by someone efficient in using weapons. "Not you," I repeated as I glanced over a magical instruments store. It's full of danger. Even if that danger looks like it sells for thousands.
'But if they're stealing from a Hunters' Guild Hall, then are they even afraid of the danger?' I thought to myself.
[Statistically: Probably not.]
"Thanks," I snorted out loud, caught off guard. "So if danger doesn't matter, and they're good at avoiding magic…" I thought aloud as my eyes dragged back to Cragnum's Canes and Everything Arcane. I watched as people shuffled in an out. Two crowds of shoulders battering against each other in the small doorway.
I watched as a black-haired woman with a pointed and rimmed hat pushed her way out, having a tougher time than most. She was carrying an ornamented staff she had just purchased in hand, and I watched as she continued through the sea of people, but her staff went the opposite direction without her noticing.
I leapt down from the rooftop and landed softly with the aid of 'Wind Manipulation'. I approached where I assumed the staff would exit the crowd and waited on it. When it appeared in front of me, I glanced down and grabbed the thief by their collar and lifted them.
"Put me down! Let go! I bought this fair and square! What is this?!" She yelled, flailing futilely in my grip. I pulled down her hood and took the staff from her with my free hand in a swift motion. "Stop it! What do you think you're doing?!"
"A beastperson,"I noted aloud as I watched her fox-shaped ears wriggle. "Here's the deal," I said, dragging her down an alley that separated the magic shop from an estate agency. I didn't let her out of my grip for a moment, remembering the barmaid's warning. "Where's the shit you stole from the Guild Hall?"
"W-What?" the foxgirl asked me, but I slammed the staff on the ground to hush her argument before it could even begin. "I-I sold it to another thief."
"Then where is he?" I asked as I raised her to be face-to-face with me. Only then did I realise that one of her eyes was covered with a wrapping of some sort. "And what happened there?" I asked as I noticed movement beneath the wrappings.
"H-He always moves around, nobody knows where he lives to be honest, but I can tell you what he looks like, and even where his family stays," she rambled, trying to slither out of the situation.
"Hm," I dismissed her as I laid the staff against the wall and reached the rip the wrapping off her face.
"Okay!" She squealed, jerking her head away from my hand and banging it against a wall in the process. "Don't touch that and i'll take you to him! Shit! Just don't touch that!"
"That's all I wanted," I smiled as I removed my hand and set her down. "Lead the way."
[Name: Envy (Levi Elbrus)
Species: Leviathan.
Level: 18
Magic Skills: Devour, Electric Discharge, Electricity Resistance, Water Manipulation (+5), Web Secretion, Vine Control, Wind Manipulation.
Physical Skills: Transform, Night-Vision, Thick Skin.
Innate Skills: Mountain-Splitter Style Swordsmanship (Advanced), Ancient Blood (Not Manifested) ]