The dungeon stank mildly like potatoes and onions, like an old root cellar after a long storm. The air was musky and heavy, but breathable. The inventory made carrying the nearly three hundred pounds of heavy artillery easy. A row of carts were left behind in the cleared room the door had opened into. The soldiers were left there, the dead left back in the ice elves zone. She didn't have the mercy to drag the deadweight back. Whoever they belonged to could come back to get them themselves.
Oz led the way making quick work picking her way through the dungeon. Selene and Nahern quiet as death behind her. Any monster was quickly taken down, cave-wolves, thunder-ants, a few iron-eating lizards between the three of them.
SLASH!
SLASH!
SLASH!
With the borrowed short blade, everything went down with only a quick strike. She threw off the acid blood and frowned. Her head hurt from everything, all she wanted was a nap. The buzz of extra experience hummed in her blood, only adding to her headache.
'No wonder so many strong hunters are utter dicks.' Oz thought, looking at her hands. She stuffed Grandfather's ring onto her thumb, wrapping the base ring with the chain to bulk it up. She needed a better way to wear the ring, if the boost gave her that much of a one shot.
SLASH!
SLASH!
Another group of thunder-ants collapsed at her feet, the elf siblings quickly harvesting and breaking down the corpses with an efficiency that was mildly unsettling. Ripping the monster corpses apart before they despawned, taking any precious supplies with them. Piles of rare materials broken down to join the rest in her inventory.
Selene hummed in delight, "Our Saint is truly blessed!" She chirped as materials were consumed into the void. Oz couldn't help but rub her neck at the praise.
"It is a lot easier than carrying everything, I guess." Oz hummed, feeling oddly useful.
It was only two two levels to clear the dungeon, a soft hum radiated through the walls. Before she realized it, they were outside.t was only a tiny low level Rank D dungeon, barely worth the time for a higher guild to stake out. The ice-elves kept close to her, only now did Oz panic.
"We need to do something about your appearances." She sputtered, hands waving. She didn't want someone to see them as people walked by on the busy streets.
Their white cloaks and leathers stuck out like a sore thumb. In her worry she didn't notice her beeping watch. Nahern and Selene each took one of her hands.
"Calm yourself, Saint." Nahern smirked a cocky smile before stepping back. In a flash of magic, their appearances changed. Not perfectly human but enough to keep people from doing a double take. Their skin was tanned but still held a shimmer in the sunlight.Their ears shortened enough to hide within their still silvery white hair. The winter clothes shifted, heavy cloaks gone but left in their fluffy harem pants and tunic.
They looked very...exotic. Looking like they stepped out of a model shoot or something. In their presence she felt like a wet sack of shit, but shook her head.
"Where are we?" She looked around, finally dragging out her phone from a hidden zipper inner pocket from her hoodie. The pair peered easily over her shoulder.
"What is that magical box?" Nahern frowned. Selene held up a hand with a smile, "I saw the humans with them, they call it a cellular phone. It connects them to one another like our vision crystals."
After tapping on her phone to bring up the maps app she cursed, they were close but in the annoying construction part of town. How was she supposed to get there in time and guide the curious strangers?
She bit her lip and scratched at her cheek, 'A waypoint would be nice about now!' She thought miserably.
Just as she thought that, a holographic low poly map of her home city appeared before her. This time she knew the elves could see it by the pair gasping, hands flying to their hidden swords. Oz blinked in shock, this time when she waved her hand over the hologram it shifted with her touch.
She could use this.
"Look here, both of you." She had more bite than she expected to her voice, but the pair watched her with expected glances. Zooming out she flew the map over to her home, tapping her building with a finger. All at once a glowing star appeared on the map, one mimicked by a glowing light in the real world. Oz gasped seeing it, but seeing no one else reacting she had to believe it was just them seeing it.
"We are going here. To that light, that's where my home is. We have to hurry."
Oz stuffed her phone back into her pocket only to let out a cry, the pair were already crouched down. With a flash the pair took off into the air.
"Follow us Saint." Selene called back, "We will open your path."
Oz blinked in confusion, all the lightness from before gone. Selene's kind features were hardened like Nahern's, eyes narrowed and body tight. They were on the roof in mere seconds.
There was no active law that hunters couldn't use their abilities in the 'real' world. Just highly looked down on. Hunters were to serve normal people after all, with all their strengths came responsibilities.
A group of people were lingering about, the older women all gossiping.
"Show Offs!"
"In my day hunters were respectful! Not jumping around like some crack rabbit."
"I still think hunters should be shackled in public, who knows what would happen if one just went wild!"
She bit her lip, eyes looking back to her watch. She ...had only so much time.
"Saint!" The sibling's joined voices caught her attention, above they were waving down to her. How long had it been since someone...called out for her?
Swallowing her fears, she spread out her toes. The soft fur cushioned her aching feet. It would be nice just to let go. Just this once.
One time. That's it. Then she would go back to following the rules.
Oz was flying before she realized it. She leapt into the air from a standing position, parkouring her way up over the building. The small window ledges made perfect jumping points as she followed the siblings to the rooftop. She couldn't remember the last time she even was allowed to feel so free.
"Pack Mule move this!"
"Pack Mule, drag this!"
"Pack Mule, you're the bait if monsters come after us! Slow cow"
"Useless woman"
"Waste of space"
The cruel words lit a fire in her stomach. Before she realized it, her body moved. Oz grabbed the rough brick of the wall, sling shotting herself straight up to the roof. The raw surge of power in her veins was new and rather frightening. Instead of cowering, she ran.
She ran as fast as she could, jumping and dancing her way over rooftops to the glowing light in the distance. She wouldn't let anyone hold her down again.