I scout the area as I dive below the water and clean myself. First I do a quick mana scan over a wide area, not seeing anyone around. After getting back the information, I focus on my newly discovered ability as I search for any life force in the surroundings.
Both things come back clean of monsters or humans, or anything at all for that matter apart from some plants obviously.
'Something is not right, if I were the one controlling the monsters I would take advantage of the night while people are sleepy and tired from a whole day and a half of keeping watch. Yet…'
Nothing.
There isn't as much as a single movement in the outskirts of the city, people are gonna start jumping to conclusions pushed by fear and impatience, so it's the perfect time to strike.
Finally looking and feeling clean, I jump out of the water, go through some hardships to clean myself using mana to control a small warm breeze around me, and then proceed to go back inside the city. Not forgetting to wear the clothes that I manage to "secure" before coming here. It's not like I enjoy stealing, but I am yet to be paid.
With everyone on high alert, I stick to training inside the room in my inn. I know it is not a good place to do so without getting discovered, but with people doubting their own shadow at each turn, it is the best I can get.
Reaching a new level of focus on my work, I enter my "flow" state as the whole day goes by.
Meanwhile on the carriage that Liria spotted
Neron was a newly appointed veteran mercenary, an existence that was seen by people as god-like, nonsensical, or even mysterious, but never weak. He however, thought of it as irrelevant, as both his colleagues ascended through the ranks with ease, leaving him behind on his own.
His competitive spirit couldn't take it, he couldn't stay still why others triumphed over him. That's why when he was given a chance, he took it.
He was on one of his short trips in search of clues to get stronger on mysterious places when he bumped into a strange man. He was definitely human, but even him with his superb senses couldn't' make head or tails of what he was seeing.
The man was wearing a dirty cloak all over his body, but he could see a myriad of "channels" all around his body. He had small pathways all over his skin and below it instead of veins, some weird type of mana pumping through them.His scrawny build didn't make the man any less scary as a whole array of those antinatural veins sent pump after pump of that abnormal substance through his body.
The stranger didn't attack him, no, he offered him the chance that he so desperately was looking for, a way to get stronger. He gave him an offer that seemed simple enough.
"Find the otherworlder in Turia, use this stone to mark him with a tracking spell and kill him, it doesn't matter how you do it, just finish him off."
At some other point in time he would question the origin of the suspicious man in front of him, but it was common knowledge that the strong were launching an attack on another plane, and Neron was in dire need of help in his quest to get stronger.
Neron took his offer, and with it, another thing that he gave him, the best thing he could ask for, a parchment. It had a spell casted on it that made it so that people who understood the language it was written in would read a different text than the ones that didn't.
The parchment would still seem legitimate, like those that make it possible for everyone to read them without regard of language, but this one in particular would only let those who knew the language know the real message while the rest would get a hand-made fake one.
The fake message or decoy as it was usually called, was the keyword for the spell woven into its fabric to activate. Once the keywords were said, the construct inside of the parchment would ask for mana to activate, as they were impossible to activate with the reserves stored inside the scroll itself.
This, in turn, would mark the otherworlder, flaring his internal manna coursing through its body and forcing it all out, creating a leak of energy that needed focus and will power to stop.
It would turn the target of the spell not only into a beacon of energy, but it would help assess how much manna, and control over it it owns. It would be like breaking the main channel of a complex system, forcing the person in possession of it to shut down parts, assess damage and isolate sections, only to avoid drying all its mana reserves.
The plan was already laid out in plain sight for him to see, he just needed to proceed with it and finish off the weakened otherworlder once his mana ran rampant with the help of all the other mercenaries that would stay at the ready after reading the message in the piece of fabric.
It was a simple yet efficient plan. It wouldn't have worked with anyone else, as they would be conscious of what they were trying to pull off after the scroll asked for manna to activate, but for someone without basic knowledge of magical traps imparted on them, it was impossible to predict.
Leo
I wake up from my trance in the middle of the night, unaware of how much time has passed. I take a look outside and notice it's been a long time since I closed my eyes.
'I was so enthralled in my training that I didn't even notice it getting dark, damn it's nearly morning already.' I think as I look at the half asleep fox in the window and the dark sky outside.
Deciding that getting some sleep now would be a waste of time on my part and that I don't really need to recharge batteries yet, I assess my current progress over qi.
I move it inside my body, cycling it a few times, but not noticing much of a difference, so I then push some of it outside of my body, infusing it into my clothes. I move around a bit with them, but it's hard to test anything with normal clothes, so I change my target.
Not owing any weapon, and not wanting to create my own one due to the strain it would put my mind through, I choose to reinforce with my qi the next best thing that I can think of nearby.
A tree.
I leave the inn and get close to the very same tree that I took some wood days prior to create a mask. The place where I put my attention at the time to create the mask is healing, but there's still a small indent from where I took the required wood. I intend to fix that.
With my new training on scanning nearby life forces somewhat done, I can at the bare minimum set the tree life force apart from the rest of the surrounding plants, animals, and people.
Focusing on the tree's life force alone, I send some qi through my arm before touching the hole in its bark and passing my energy to it. The tree's life force reacts surprisingly proactively, sucking all the energy it can and asking for more. I send only a small amount of what I have, not wanting to use much in my first test, and then cut off the channeling, waiting to see any changes.
The tree is now seen by my senses as a beacon of life force in comparison to before, which begs the question…How would a person get seen by it? But that's for another time, I won't risk blowing my cover right now just to satisfy my curiosity.
My focus is already laying elsewhere as I notice the bark of the tree regenerating at an amazing speed. It is enough of a deal to be seen with the naked eye, mere seconds go by before the small indent on its trunk is filled back again, and the tree's life force doesn't even seem to get dimmer that much, only losing a bit of its radiance.
For a second, I am tempted to strike the tree with a punch or something, but with my current strength, and the inability of the tree to use the qi I just gave it, it would probably end up as a pile of splinters, so I refrain from doing it.
Knowing that the guild should already be open, I make my way there to get my reward.
After being subjected to a couple of scrutinizing gazes from the only two guys that are there at the time, I get my reward from the only clerk that's available right now and make my way out, ready to finally get something with my own money. Passing by the two guys as I leave, I don't take their bad manners to heart, they probably see me as someone who only seeks money amidst the current chaos.
'I don't blame them though! They don't know I am so poor.' I mindlessly walk outside the place as I put myself in their shoes, nearly bumping into a suspicious guy that enters the establishment as I leave.
".̴̙̜͖̑ ̴̡̡̙̬̹̦̐ ̸̛͇̩̀̇̄͆͊̍̏̆̄´̴̢̪͖̯̇͒̉̇̿̇ͅ ̵̳̻̤̙͐̓̈̏̈́̕ ̷͇͍̜̬͍̞͌ͅͅ ̷̨̱̲̹̍̈́̃̎̿̇̐̾̚ ̵͉͈́̑̄`̶̧̘͕͎̱̥̟̺̯̔͌̍͆ͅ ̵̧̢̗̯̭̟̗̃͒̈͐̏̕ͅ.̴͎̔͊̉̽̾̂͛͗͠ ̶̨̬̏͊̕ ̴̛͈̺̟͇̲̲̻̠̙͑̔̄̽̑!̷̲̥̃̀̑͐̓̉̇́̚͠ " He says so as he pushes a piece of paper inches from my face.
'What the hell is with this guy.' I gloss over whatever he says and leave the place, getting a dangerous look from him on my way out that nearly stops me in my tracks.
'WTF' I inwardly cuss at him from oozing so much killing intent over such a trivial thing. One look at his face however, tells me that it is time for me to leave and I do so.
I get one last creepy gaze from him before I close the door behind me and see him making his way to the next guy in the building, clear intentions of asking the same thing.
"What's wrong with some people?" I muse, still half dazed.
'That guy has to be strong, really strong.' I assume as I go buy some armor and an actual weapon.
Two hours later and I am already making my way back to the guild with Bruma on my shoulder, this time armed with a leather chestplate, made from one of the monsters in the area. It's not the best I could have taken, but money wise, it was the best I could afford, and there wasn't that much of a difference anyway, once I infuse qi in it, it should be enough for now. I did take that into account though, choosing the one with the easiest to infuse with qi.
I have heard that there are some people that are able to reinforce their equipment with mana after some talking in the inn between meals, which makes me wonder how much control over it you need to achieve just to be able to not destroy whatever your mana touches. I can still clearly remember how my tries ended up, only ashes remaining of the first clothes I infused them with.
Not delving over it, I hit the center of my chestplate, sending a small flow of qi over it. The armour is all leather but the part covering the chest, which is made of steel. The pants are your average utility ones, a thick fabric to help withstand the light blows and a good amount of pockets.
Yes, I admit it, I bought this one because I couldn't get used to always bringing pouches with me. No reason to carry inconvenient things like those pouches that are easy to steal and hard to hide.
That being said, I also took a sword. It's nothing crazy, but it's a good one, one of the best I could have bought from the blacksmith that I talk with. Its durability is good, which was the least I could ask for, and while its quality is quite lacking, I can always sharpen the blade with qi and get a better one later on. After all those purchases, I am back to poverty again, only salvaging enough coins to keep my room at the inn and a couple of meals.
That's why I go back to the guild. I was told that the vice-leader hadn't arrived yet when I went there this morning, so I will go now and ask if I can do anything to get some more money. Even if I leave this place amidst the chaos that will ensue when we are attacked, I will need money to buy whatever I need elsewhere.
I am about to enter when I see some kind of parchment hung in the door. I can't understand the language, but I still look, attracted by the big letter and a seal at the end of the text. Once I try to decipher what is written on it though, I feel a pull from the fabric, like someone asking me to give them something.
Assuming it's mana what it wants, I am about to give it a small amount, but then a curious idea pops into my head. What if I give it qi instead? Would it work? Not sure about what's going to happen once I give him mana, I try my sudden idea and feed it some qi.
It takes a couple of seconds for a message to be delivered to my head with some weird method. It takes but a moment for the letters to rearrange in my head and somehow allow me to read it.
'...' I gloss over it as I don't like the sensation that I am being subjected to, only focusing on the last couple of words of the message, where the seal closes the message.
'My might beseeches freedom' I read to myself with some doubt, not sure what's the meaning of it.
'A whole text of politics to end up with that phrase? Weird. Must be a common expression around here of some sort.'
Opening the door, I step inside the guild, finding it nearly full of people, the usual line of people coming in and out nowhere to be seen.
'Most of the mercenaries of the town must be in here, maybe that political speech was more important than I thought? Or is it something else?'
As I continue walking, I feel something weird stirring inside my body. My qi starts to move by itself, forced by something. I try to stop it from leaking, but it soon becomes unmanageable when more and more places all over my body start getting caught in a chain reaction of swirling qi, making it impossible to control fast enough.
One second everything is alright, and the other I am caught in the middle of a big pillar of qi, the energy twirling around me as if I were in the eye of a storm. The energy takes a yellowish color, making it look as if I were on fire, but when I look around, something has changed.
I was expecting people to react with panic or curiosity to my qi leakage, but what I see on all their faces is anger and thirst for blood and vengeance. All the mercenaries in the guild stand up one by one and encircle me, weapons in hand, and that's when I figure out what is happening.
'This thing that's happening to me… was it their doing?'
*clang* A flash of light comes flying in my direction with insane speed. I barely have time to focus my as much qi as I can at the center of my brand new metal piece of armor before the impact hits me and I and send flying.
I don't have time to use barriers or my weapon to deflect the incoming attack, so all the strength hits me dead on the chest. Thankfully, even with half my qi out of control, I manage to send a good amount to the area. I save my life as I smash through the thick wooden door behind me, bump in the middle of the street and smash into the wall of the first house in my way, which barely holds my momentum before falling on top of me.
Trying my best to keep my qi from messing my insides and leaving my body, I inspect the damage that had been done.
All the qi I used to defend from the attack is now gone, together with my new chestplate that is in shambles after taking the attack. Reinforced or not, the metal plate of the armor is now bent inwards, so I dump it on top of the rubble of the wall once I get back up, knowing it will bother me while moving around.
I am stopping my leaks by the second, but I can only do that much as I force some more to be infused in my body, strengthening it to the best of my current possibilities.
'Whoever attacked me there is a lot stronger than me, I need to flee, and fa-' My train of thought is cut down by another attack, and I am nearly cut in two too as I dodge a slash by a hair's breadth.
"Fuck." I curse as the man who I saw before at the guild asking for help with his parchment, maybe If I had given him more attention I wouldn't be here.
'This isn't good.'