Fae and Tessa stared at the man trying their best not to hurl at the stench. Each syllable he spoke was like an assault to their nostrils.
"My names Einhart, the owner of this inn." He said as a proud smile stretched across his face, sending chills across the duos spines. "Leave 'em alone Einy" A voice called out, as they turned to face it they saw an almost exact counterpart to the man in front of them.
A tall and lean man, with a smooth clean shaven face, and a golden aura around him, a truly beautiful man. Still Fae noticed he was just as bald as Einhart.
He stood up and gracefully walked towards them. Each step seemed thought out and calculated. "My name's Lucien, nice to meet you" The man said as he smiled at Tessa, raising her hand and kissing the back of it. Tessa's face flushed red as she looked down at the ground. "M- my name is Tessa." She replied with a stutter "And I'm Fae." Fae interrupted as he stepped in-between them "Can we book a room please?" he continued.
Einhart jumped back into the conversation replying to Fae "Of course, it's 5 copper per night for a normal room, 1 silver for our best." 'I knew I was forgetting something' Fae thought to himself fighting back the urge to face palm, he had been dead less than 24 hours ago, he didn't have any money. Besides power, money was probably the most important thing in this world.
"1 silver for one night?" I didn't think this was such an expensive inn." Tessa cut in and said. 1 silver was equal to 100 copper, this isn't too crazy for someone with an amazing job or a noble, but Tessa had ran out looking for Fae and didn't bring much money.
"Is money a problem milady?" Lucien said as he suddenly appeared beside Tessa. 'Fast" Fae thought as he didn't even notice him move. He realized these 2 men were definitely way stronger than him.
"We can afford a night in a standard room it's ok." Tessa said as she walked past Lucien ready to hand 5 copper too Einhart. Wind brushed past Fae's face as Lucien suddenly appeared in front of Tessa again. "A beauty like you doesn't belong in a standard room, you can stay the night with me, I have plenty room." He looked into her eyes with a smile.
{SYSTEM WARNING! Mental attack being attempted on Host, attempting to stop} {Host intelligence not high enough, attack successful.} As Fae heard the system sound in his head he was instantly alarmed. 'A mental attack? What does that mean' As Fae looked around for the source he eventually locked eyes with Lucien; Fae could instantly feel his thoughts go numb as he lost himself in Lucien's gaze.
He and Tessa fell to their knees staring up at him. "Don't worry kids, this will all be over soon." They heard Lucien say with a maniacal laugh as they lost consciousness.
***
"How's the mission going?" A crystal ball sounded out as a man sat in front of it. "Perfect, we got the girl." The man said as he stared into the ball; if Fae was here he'd recognize the man as Lucien, except the previous almost golden aura around him was now more sinister and angry.
"Good, the pickup crew will be a little late, their carriage got caught up. MAKE SURE everything goes smoothly!" The crystal ball glowed bright as the voice in it screamed. "Yes sir." Lucien dryly responded with a disgusted look at his face. Luckily the crystal ball only sent out voice messages, it was actually a communication device referred too as a 'Voice Stone'.
"Good, don't fail me... son." The crystal ball glowed bright one last time before dimming out.
***
*Drip Drip* The feeling of water hitting Fae's face woke him up. 'What happened? Where am I?" Fae thought to himself as he tried to stare around the dark room. {Host currently underground, in a cavern about 10 meters below a lake.}
Fae didn't care too much to dwell on where he was he was only worried about one person right now. "TESSA, CAN YOU HEAR ME!" Fae called out into the darkness. "HMMM HM" He heard a muffled voice trying to call back. 'Is that her? Is she ok? Is there something covering her mouth?' Fae had dozens of thoughts running through his mind but he knew he had to get to her.
Fae tried to stand up and realized he was tied up against a beam by rope. he pulled hard against the rope ripping through it as he stood up. "TESSA, TESSA" Fae called out as he followed her muffled cries.
Eventually he found her tied up against a beam just like him. "Just rip through it Tess." Fae said as he wondered why Tessa seemed to be having a problem against some ropes.
[System suggests host uses skill: Analyze}
'Skill? What's that?' Fae thought back, hoping the system would answer.
{A skill is an ability that the Host can use, usually with different cooldowns, and tends to drain your MP or your stamina}
'Like mythic bloodline abilities?' [Host currently has no mythical bloodlines} 'Currently?' Fae thought as he was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by Tessa's cries.
'System use analyze'
Suddenly an information window popped up as he looked towards Tessa, the rope around her began to release a slight blue glow as words formed around it.
{Spirit Rank Suppression Ropes}
{This rope is enchanted with the property to restrict and suppress the bloodline of those trapped in it, usually used as a form of imprisonment.} Fae's eyes widened as he read the message, he was surprised the skill allowed him to figure out what things are and their usage, and finally he could realize how game changing this "system" could be for him; he was curious how the skill actually worked.
[Analyze: Level 1}
{Allows the user to examine different items, materials, and weapons, to determine their strength, usage, and abilities.} A smile dawned on Fae's face as he read this message from the system.
"Hold on Tess they used a suppression rope, I'll figure out a way to get this off of you." Fae said with a concentrated expression as he stared at the rope. 'System, why didn't the rope work on me?' {Host currently has no bloodline for the ropes to suppress.} Fae had almost forgotten that with the help of the system his strength had been just that, pure strength, no help from his blood. With that thought in mind he grabbed the rope and ripped it off of Tessa, and helped pick her up off the ground.
{Hidden Quest Complete: Save Tessa}
{Rewards}
{100 XP granted}
{Host has leveled up (level 5)}
{XP (25/100}
{5 stat points gained (5 available)}
Fae smiled as he read the messages, just saving Tessa made him stronger? If it was this easy than becoming strong enough to protect himself would be a cake walk.
"Come on, we gotta get outta here." Fae said as he pulled Tessa along.
"Not so fast." A voice called from the shadows, as a strong smell began to swirl in the air a chill went up Fae and Tessa's spines. They both instantly knew who had just called for them.
'EINHART!'