"Oi, if you know what's good for you dire man, then you'll sit your ass back down and stay out of this one, you hear?"
Lodmund Kodrankin was the leader of the White Wolf Raiders. A gang of bandits, thieves, murderers, and over all scum of Tytaura. The massive Nornsman from the Great Northern Plane of Existence looked more like a pirate that belonged to the sea then anything else. Most of his teeth were either chipped or missing and a long nasty scar crossed over his fat neck. His dirty dust colored hair poked out from the bottom of the red bandana over the top of his head and his breath smelled of booze and gingivitis.
It was rare to see a Nornsman out of the North and it was rarer still to see two of them in one place so far from their homeland. To the rest of the patrons of the Blue Hedgehog, it looked like the two Nornsmen weren't exactly friends. The slightly taller ginger Nornsman had his hands balled into mighty fists like great clubs of iron while the bandit captain cleverly hid a dagger just out of sight of the other. Things had fallen quiet at the sudden interaction and all eyes were now on the two. The members of the White Wolf Raiders smiled with wicked grins as they awaited for the brutal action their leader was getting ready to commit without a moment's notice. The other patrons held their breaths in silence and watched with equal parts terror and interest.
The Nornsmen of the North were infamous for their brutality in combat. Though there were apparently civilized gatherings of Nornsmen in the North, most were considered to be ruthless murderers and raiders. So once a Nornsman was around, tensions usually ran a little higher no matter where you were in Tytaura. Now two of them stood in the hall of the Blue Hedgehog and both looked ready to murder the other.
"Oh yeah? And are you going to be the one to try and stop me?" the ginger haired Norn replied to the gang leader.
"You best not try and battle the northerly gales in which ye have no hope of winning"
Matthew Winters assumed that was some sort of warning perhaps amongst the Norn. He knew nothing of any sort of northern gale or whatever but he assumed the other large man was comparing himself to a force of nature. The man certainly looked like he could hold his own in a fight and Matt guessed one didn't become the leader of such a motley crew of individuals by being nice. He could see the wickedness in the man's eyes as he grinned a smile with missing teeth and he had no doubt that the other large man had no intentions on letting Matt get out of this scott free. The other thugs had begun to resume their activities, apparently fully confident in their leader's ability to deal with Matthew on his own. In a few brief moments, the sound of bottles being smashed, a scream, and the hard thud of something or someone hitting the floor behind Matt echoed in the hall of the tavern but Matt dared not take his eyes away from the other man.
"I like this one!"
There was a roar of laughter from the bandits crew and the sound of a few struggles breaking out in the background. The large man's smile broadened more as his hand clenched onto Matt's shoulder a little tighter.
"Fuck it"
Violence and speed of action was always the name of the game. He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to beat the large man to the first blow but he'd make sure that he'd hit harder not a split second later. Matt may have had his eyes locked with the other man the whole time but he picked up other movement in his peripherals near the bar. Thomas had pulled Sophia back and towards the kitchen behind the bar. Akira had been stuck in her seat beside the two hulking men but she seemed completely indifferent to the situation, like she had full confidence that Matt was actually the one that had this handled and that she perhaps didn't need to intervene. What had surprised Matt the most though, was both Thydius and the bartender who appeared ready to fight. He had no idea where Thydius had come from before but he noticed the boy was now sporting a pair of what looked like leather boxing bracers and a rather serious expression on his face. The bartender, who Matt hadn't yet learned the name of, was standing there beside Thomas with a look of cold dark murder across her face and what looked like three tiny silver needles held between her fingers in both hands.
'So Thomas has some serious back up just in case it seems' Matt thought to himself.
Violence and speed of action. This guy was big, so Matt would need to do something that'd knock this dude on his ass and hard. Suddenly the large man's arm shot forward with such speed Matt hadn't thought possible of the man and he saw the gleam of the knife's blade for a brief moment as it was thrusted towards Matt's appendix. He didn't have time to stop the blade and knew he'd have to take the hit if he wanted to reply in full. His adrenaline must have already been kicking in as he swore he didn't even feel the blade pierce his side before his own hand shot forward. With a slight flick of his wrist, Matt summoned forth a weapon from his bracer he thought would be perfect for the job. There was a thunderous clap as the hammer from the Model S&W500 in Matt's hand fell and sent the .500 Magnum round directly into the other man's chest. Blood sprayed over both the men as the bandit leader's eyes immediately began to roll back and his body began to fall backwards to the floor.
Thydius and the bartender must have taken this as their que to jump into action as they both disappeared in a flash behind Matt. He could hear the sound of fighting going on behind him but his attention was instead on Akira who still sat beside where he stood and was holding onto her ears and pouting. She looked up at Matt with a slight look of annoyance, her cheeks puffed out a little.
"Sorry, that must have been super loud for you huh?" Matt frowned apologetically
"What?!" Akira replied loudly.
Matt winced a little and felt bad. Of course someone who had ears like hers would be more sensitive to loud noises and the 500 definitely wasn't quiet by any sense of the imagination. He frowned and did his best to mouth an apology to her but she waved him off almost immediately and pointed behind him.
"Not dead!" She yelled
Matt turned and saw the bandit leader's body on the ground covered in a faint green light as the massive hole in his chest began slowly closing itself up. It was nowhere as clean and neat Matt thought healing abilities might have been based off of the movies and video games he'd seen it in. The wound didn't just simply close itself up but it rebuilt itself layer by layer in such a grotesque manner. He frowned as the bandit leader's body stirred slightly and he began to slowly rise up on one elbow while holding his head. Matt looked around and saw that one of the bandits, an old decrepit looking witch doctor type, was standing nearby and muttering like a drunken fool to himself. He was one of the few bandits left that Thydius and the bartender hadn't been able to deal with yet and it was clear he was the one casting the spell to save his boss. Matt stepped forward towards the rising leader and with a flick of his wrist, the magnum in his hand disappeared and was replaced by the Glock 19. It was fully dressed up this time with a small pistol red dot on top, a flashlight, and a suppressor on the end of the barrel.
"Fuck. That really-"
Those were Lodmund's finally words he'd ever say as Matt placed the tip of the suppressor to the Nornsman's head and snapped three quick shots from the nine millimeter pistol directly into his brain. The leader's body toppled over to the ground like a sack of potatoes once again but before he could be revived again, Matt quickly pivoted and put three more rounds into the witch doctor this time. The first two shots went to the center mass and as the crazy looking witch doctor began to fall backwards Matt squeezed the last round into his head as he fell.
Matt pivoted once again, holding the pistol with both of his massive hands as he scanned it over the tavern. However it looked like the witch doctor guy had been the last of the bandits that remained. Both Thydius and the bartender stood casually in front of a pile of bandit bodies neatly stacked like some fucked up Jenga tower. There were several bandits that had survived the fight somehow and they were tied up on their knees off to the side, each looking fairly roughed up. To say that Matt was impressed was an understatement. Matt had dealt with both the Nornsman leader and the witch doctor guy fairly quickly. Yes, he had been a bit slower and a bit more sloppy than he usually would have liked but he still was able to dispatch the two in a short amount of time. The other two though had taken care of at least fifteen others in that same and had already even cleaned up part of the mess they had made.
Matt frowned and inwardly chastised himself. Sure, he may have been on leave for a bit from his job before he came to this world, but it still wasn't an excuse to be so sloppy. He turned back to where the leader laid on the ground and began searching over his body. He kept the pistol in one hand, pointed loosely in the corpse's direction as a precaution after the man had survived his heart and lungs being blown out of him the first time. Matt found that the Nornsman was hiding an array of different blades and knives all over his body but one particular knife caught his attention though. The Nornsman had had the blade tucked away into a sheath he had sewn in the inner lining of the vest he wore and had clearly taken more care to try and conceal this one then the others. The blade was about eight inches long and with a handle that seemed to be made from some sort of horn or antler. The blade itself was made of something other than metal, looking to be closer to a milky white stone that grew more translucent near the edges of the blade. It had begun to vibrate softly in Matt's hand when he had first grabbed the handle and it still went as Matt pulled it out.
"Don't touch the blade!" Akira said loudly as she knelt down beside him.
She was still recovering a little from the sound of the magnum and Matt still felt pretty bad about that.
"Why not?" Matt asked with a shrug
"If this vagabond had used this blade to stab you instead of the cheap piece of steel he had used, then it would have been you lying here instead of him. This knife is a magical weapon that can easily pass through armor, including magical armor as well and cut immediately to the body underneath it. I had used one of my last spell scrolls on you to shield you from the man's attack, but if he had used this knife instead then my actions would have been for nothing." Akira explained to him
"Fuck, that's a nasty little piece. But why can't I touch the blade itself?" Matt asked
"Because the lethalness of this blade comes from the vibrations. It might seem harmless now but the moment it touches any organic matter it'll begin to tear it apart like a wild wolf tears through the carcass of it prey" Akira said
"I see, so it's like a fucking chainsaw then" Matt said more impressed by the blade's potential usefulness then he probably should have been.
"A chainsaw?" Akira asked, confused.
"It's a tool used for cutting things in my world… nevermind. What's someone like him doing with a weapon like this though?" Matt asked
"What do you mean?"
"I assume a weapon like this isn't common, is it?"
"It's not common but also not as rare as you may think. You can find weapons like these scattered across Harvest usually belonging to some lumber or mining company. It wouldn't be too terribly hard for someone to either purchase one or steal one if they so desired." Akira explained.
"So not a super rare item drop, got it. Still though, If something like this is of the uncommon or rare rarity, then I can only imagine what something even more rare could be capable of." Matt said as he carefully inspected the dagger.
Akira was confused by the strange ways in which he described the weapon but she assumed it was something else from his world that she might not ever understand. She watched as Matt took the knife the Nornsman had originally tried to stab him with and used it to cut the sheath out of the dire man's vest. Matt then put the blade back into the sheath and made it disappear from his hands with a flick of his wrist.
"So, are we going to be in trouble for this?" Matt asked as he looked around at the bodies and the mess left behind by the encounter.
"I believe you won't have any trouble from the city guards if that's what you mean." Thomas said as he came out from behind the bar and approached the duo.
"Well that's good to hear, but why not?" Matt asked
"This gang has been terrorizing this part of town for months now but they always run off before the guards arrive or put up enough of a fight to make the guard garrison retreat." Thomas sighed and shook his head with his arms crossed over his chest.
Matt's brow furrowed and he turned to look and see both Thydius and the unnamed bartender already starting to move the dead bodies out of the tavern. If this gang was strong enough to stand toe to toe with the city guards on occasion, then either the city guards were weaker then he thought or Thomas kept some pretty strong company. That made him think a little better of the Tiefling tavern owner and made him wonder if Thomas was just as stronger or stronger then the other two. His gaze then fell on Akira who stood beside him with a smile on her lips. Matt didn't know how else to explain it but it felt like her aura or her energy was much more powerful than anyone else he'd come to meet so far. He could feel a slight bit of pressure emanating from most of the beings around him, and hers felt nearly ten times stronger if not more then anyone else around him. Akira winked at him as if she had been somehow reading his thoughts all along before she turned to Thomas.
"Is Sophia okay?"
"She's fine, she went to fetch the guards. I'm sure they'll be happy to finally be rid of these vermin." Thomas replied before he spat on the corpse of the dead leader and whipped the remaining spit from his lip "Mariana, would please help the guards document what happened here when they arrive? And feel free to leave out any details in regards to our friend Mr. Winters here. I'm sure he and Miss- I mean…Mrs. Akira here would like to refrain from gaining guards' attention."
Mariana had to be the bartender's name as the woman didn't say a word but bowed attentively at Thomas's instructions before resuming her task of cleaning up.
"Seeing another Nornsman at the scene of a massacre like this one might cause the guards to become more weary of you then necessary. Especially if they were to find out that you were using weapons of the Iron Citadel as well. I don't know how you were able to get your hands on their technology and truth be told I don't want to know. The two of you best head up to your room though before the guards arrive, I'll have Mariana or Thydius bring you up your dinners as soon as possible."
"We appreciate your help Thomas. We definitely owe you one" Akira smiled as she grabbed a hold of Matt's hand with hers and began leading away towards the stairs.
"Think of it as a small portion of the debt we owe you repaid if nothing else" Thomas replied before he quickly left to help with the clean up efforts.
Akira led Matthew back upstairs and towards their room, holding his hand the entire time. They passed by several other guests at the tavern who had come out of their rooms most likely to see what all the commotion had been about. Those that had been down at the bar when it all started were starting to help clean up as well and Matt thought they all looked like they were a part of some cover up conspiracy. Maybe Thomas had just promised them free drinks though for their cooperation.
It didn't take long before they were back in their room with the door closed and locked with the latch behind them. This time Matt was able to get a better look of the room itself as he stepped further inside. He realized that their room was actually more like a suite than a normal hotel room. There was a small living area with a few couches centered around a fireplace built into the wall on one side of the main room and a small kitchenette on the other. The kitchenette was more or less just some counter space with a few cabinets up above but it also had a long wood table that sat about six to eight chairs around it. There were three doors that lead off of the main room besides the front door that Matt went and quickly examined. The door beside the fireplace led to a large bedroom with a single massive bed inside. There was a pair of wardrobes and a window that let in some of the outside light on the far wall. Lastly Matt learned that the fireplace must have been double sided between the two rooms as they both mirrored one another and he could see a small bit of light coming from the other side.
The second door led to a small bathroom, where Matt was very surprised to see an actual honest to god toilet. There was also a functioning sink and even a tub that made the bathroom look like one from back home on Earth to him. The only thing Matt saw that was different was that there were no knobs for the water on either the sink or the tub, instead there was a pair of what looked like runes from some ancient book etched in place where the knobs should have been. Curious, Matt placed his hand over one of the runes and he was astonished when it began to glow a gentle red color as warm water began to fall from the spout. Matt was amazed by the strange mix of what he considered modern plumbing and magic together. He touched the rune again and the light got brighter as more steem began to rise from the water. He tapped it two more times as the water got even hotter before turning off.
"That's so fucking cool" Matt muttered to himself before he decided it best to stop playing around with the sink like a child and go check out the last door.
The last door on the other side of the kitchen was nothing more than a small walk-in pantry that was completely empty. The wooden shelves were bare and there were no windows in the small pantry but there was still a light source on the ceiling. Matt looked up and was again surprised to see another strange looking rune etched into a clear looking crystal glowing brightly like a lightbulb. He closed the door and looked around the suite to see that there were several of these small crystals with runes all around the room and glowing just like a lightbulb.
"Holy shit" Matt muttered to himself again
"I'm going to take a bath. I've been on the road for now for far to long and I feel like I'm still carrying half of it around on me" Akira said as she walked to the door that led to the bathroom and stepped half inside and stopped to look at Matt with a sly grin "No peeking dear~"
Matt's face turned a little red and that made her giggle as she closed the door behind her. To him, Akira hadn't looked the least bit dirty. In fact he thought he would have been hard pressed to find even a single bit of dirt on her delicate smooth skin. That got him thinking a little. Spells had to be a thing in this world. He was pretty certain he'd seen Akira cast a few already and he made the assumption that the runes throughout the tavern might as well be some sort of way of holding different spells. Could it be possible that there were magic spells similar to those of the games he once played back on Earth? If that was the case could there have been a spell that instantly cleaned you up? Maybe it made you appear as if you were clean and just hid all the dirt and grime. Or maybe it actually cleaned you and Akira just really wanted to take a bath.
Matt looked down at his bracer and did his best to summon a notebook and pen into his hands and it worked, though to a degree. The notebook had a leather cover with a thin leather strap that was used to secure it closed. The pages inside looked more like old parchment paper and were completely blank. The pen was actually a pen but looked more like one of those older inkwell pens you saw in a museum or as an expensive knock off. Upon a closer look, Matt saw another small rune etched just above the pens well and watched as it glowed ever so faintly and filled the well with ink when he touched the pen to the parchment in the notebook. Satisfied enough with his results, Matt took a seat down on the couch and began first writing down the description of every event that he had seen so far that could be described as some sort of magical spell. Afterwards he then jotted down a small picture of each of the runes he had seen so far and wrote a small description of what they did.
Matt had never been one to pick the magic caster in any of the games he'd ever played in before. He preferred the more martial classes, especially the ones that got to hit like a truck and could take a hit too. However, he was fascinated with the concept of the real life magic that was all around him and part of him even wondered if he could cast spells as well. Sure he could summon items practically from thin air but he chalked that up to the magic coming from the bracers, not himself. He wanted to experiment and see if he could cast any spells outside of summoning when he remembered that spells usually had a cost in most the games he'd played. Whether it was some sort of pool of magic deep within someone's soul or components that once used were gone and needed to be replenished afterwards. There were also things called focuses that he remembered that allowed certain magic users to cast spells through the item without using other materials like components. He tapped his chin with the pen as he thought about all the different methods of casting magic he'd seen before and wondering which ones applied in this world and which ones he might be able to use.
He'd been too deep in thought to hear the bathroom door open or to notice Akira when she sat beside him on the sofa. It wasn't until he heard her voice did it break him out of his deep concentration.
"Someone looks like their deep in thought. Were you perhaps thinking about me?"
She of course asked in such a way that had a clear provocative meaning behind her words. Matt chuckled at her continual pervy antics and was about to tell her what he had actually been thinking about when he looked at her and paused. She sat beside him on the couch, carefully running a brush through her long hair that had turned back to orange at some point and looking at him with a much bigger sly smile than usual. That was when Matt realized that the fox woman had nothing on but a towel draped over her lap. Matt felt himself get instantly a bit hot under the collar as his eyes widened in surprise.
"A-Akira?" Matt asked, unable to look away from her quite yet and doing his best to just keep eye contact with her.
Her long hair was draped over her front side and covered her private areas just barely enough like she was some sexy waifu character in some sort of pervy anime. Her eyes narrowed a little on his as she saw him struggling to keep focus. She then made a show to stretch a little bit with her arms raised above her and… Matt had to look away.
"You really are just far too easy to tease! Are all men like this where you come from?" Akira laughed
"I'm pretty sure anyone from any world no matter where they came from would be equally as… distracted with someone as provocative as you are" Matt said with his back turned to her.
"Oh? So you find me distracting dear?"
Matt felt Akira's arms wrapped around his neck as she pressed her naked body to his back. She nearly whispered the words into his ear and that with the added feeling of her chest pressed against him made chills run up and down his spine. He felt frozen for a moment, then paused himself. Right then and there, like a divine realization from above Matt knew what he had to do. If he ever wanted to not be so easily distracted by her overwhelmingly provocative allure, then he knew what he had to do. Slowly, he turned his face into hers and before she had a chance to react, he planted his lips onto hers. Instantly he felt her entire body relax against his as she nearly seemed to turn into putty almost immediately.
Sure she put on a more dominant front but it seemed the moment he asserted himself to her, that all fell away. He chuckled inwardly a little as he found himself repeatedly kissing her lips over and over again, Akira seemingly welcoming each one as she melted more and more. Matt eventually ended the kiss by slowly parting their lips. He could have almost swore he heard her groan in slight protest as she tried to chase after his lips just a little bit before she stopped. They both then locked eyes with one another and Matt saw the red color on her cheeks as her sparkling green eyes searched his. It was then that Matt realized… he was wrong. His actions wouldn't stop her at all, and it was that hungry look she had in her eyes that told him what he had actually just done.