BXBX NOVEL Chapter 159.1: Salvation
Chapter 159.1: Salvation
The town itself looked rather quaint, though I couldn’t see into the walls yet. But there were no massive, towering buildings like the clock tower back in Carth, and the walls themselves looked pretty standard, being made out of that same magically-cut stone the outpost was with Bon and the rest of the guards. There were no guards that seemed to be manning the ramparts, either, only the gate itself, so ideally this place wouldn’t have too much in the realm of law enforcement. I didn’t plan on committing murder or anything, but the less scrutiny on us, the better.
So we walked up to the walls. The pair of guards standing at the gate, upon spotting us, instinctively reached for their weapons once we were in sight. One with a sword—probably a Swordsman, like usual—and the other actually had a staff. Staffs were an interesting item; they were effectively vessels for Magic-Types to use Enchantments with, sort of like Ripley’s Enchanted axe that drained my Health after it hit me.
Technically, the Enchantments used on staves—ones that modified Spells that were cast through them, typically—could be used on any type of item out there, but people preferred them on long wooden sticks for a few reasons, from what I’d heard. As opposed to putting the Enchantments on something like a sword, which could serve as a weapon if things went bad, wooden staffs were light and easy to use, and they were also cheaper to manufacture. Since most Enchanted gear came with additional Enchantments to harden it and make it unlikely to break, the difference between metal and wood was almost entirely one of weight and cost, and pretty much nothing else. And, in addition to this, staves had to be manually pointed at a target in order to aim ranged Spells, so having something long and maneuverable was nice when trying to do things like fight from behind cover.
But not all—or even most—Magic-Types used staves, and that pretty much entirely came down to the problem of cost. Even though most Classers wouldn’t have too much trouble finding employment as long as they lived in the right area, being able to spare enough money to spend on a well-made Enchantment was more than most could afford. Or, rather, they had more important things to buy. Housing, food, even just some nice clothes and material comforts. If you could get the job done just fine now, why spend so much on something that’ll just make it a little easier? That was the attitude of most.
So seeing someone with a staff, it was a bit jarring.
“You think they spend much on their military?” I asked Erani as we approached. “Might be an issue if they do.”
“Could also be a personal item, just something he brings to the job for the sake of safety, or something.”
“Yeah, well hopefully we won’t have to find out what the thing does.”
The Swordsman among the pair looked up and spotted us approaching, reaching for his weapon seemingly out of instinct. Considering the way the three of us looked, I didn’t exactly blame him; I was wearing a full suit of dark plate armor, Erani looked like a complete monster if you weren’t staring directly at her, and Ainash literally was a monster.
To assuage their fears, I raised my hand and gave as friendly a wave as possible. The guard, not breaking his stare at us, reached over and tapped his companion on the shoulder, gesturing at us. The Magic-Type looked at us suspiciously, but at least didn’t actively point his staff at us, or anything.
“Friendly!” I called out as we closed the distance. “Sorry if we startled you.”
They relaxed at my words, and we finally got up to them. The Swordsman was taller, with a growing beard, while the Magic-Type was clearly much younger, newbie eyes filled with fear at our appearances.
The Swordsman spoke up as we stopped in front of the closed gate. “Who are you?”
“Well,” I said, “I’m Annor Tor, and this is my companion, Eita Niin, and our, uh, pet.”
“You’re…wait, hold on. Just what in the flames are you?”
“Like…species? We’re Human.”
“Then why’s she got a bunch of…” he looked over at Erani, focusing on her so he could name the charactics he saw, but of course, the moment he looked closely, most of the strange things about her would have disappeared from his sight. “Sh-she looks weird. Why’s she look like that? And you’ve got smoke coming out of your eyes. You a Living Armor, or something?”
“The hells is a Living Armor?” I asked. “Listen, she’s practicing a Spell right now, and I’m wearing some Enchanted gear. That’s why we look like this. Put us under a Truth Stone if you want. It’ll agree with me.”
“Can you just take off your helmet, or something? Don’t like looking at you like that.”
“I can’t. Like I said, it’s specially Enchanted. Grafted onto me. Can’t take it off.”
“Grafted onto your—” he shook his head, muttering curses to himself. “That’s a load of horseshit. You just haven’t pulled hard enough.”
He walked up, reaching out to grab onto my helmet and yank it off, and I panicked. If he tried to, he’d be totally able to take off my helmet; my claim that he wouldn’t be able to was a bold-faced lie. But if I shoved him away or tried to tell him not to, wouldn’t that just make him more suspicious?
He grabbed onto my visor, and just as he began to pull, I did the only thing I could think of and activated Noxious Grasp.
The moment I did, he yelped and pulled his hand back. “What in the…’infected with noxious gas?’ Double Stamina loss? What did you do to me? The hell is this?!”
“Told you, man,” I said, trying to keep my nervousness from showing. “It’s the armor. You can’t take it off. Just does that every time you try.”
“How did you even find this shit?” He demanded.
I sighed. “Do you want me to tell you my life story, too?”
“Yeah,” the Magic-Type spoke up to his coworker, “don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid? We can just ask them the usual questions with the Truth Stone, right? Why should we—”
“Why should we?” the Swordsman spun around on the Magic-Type. “Being paranoid is our job, rookie! Haven’t you heard? There’s an invasion in the Koinkar Kingdom. Demons ‘n shit. How can we be sure they aren’t Demons? I signed up here to fight against that threat, not let them wanderin’ into our own home, killing our citizens! You,” he turned and pointed a finger at Erani, “what’s with your look? Why haven’t you said anything yet?”
He was correct that it was somewhat strange for Erani to have not said anything yet, and that was because we’d decided it’d probably be best for her to avoid speaking until she was directly addressed. With her Spell also affecting her voice, talking would only introduce more complications.
But it would be much more suspicious for her to refuse to speak, so she opened her mouth. “Sorry, I—”
The Swordsman pulled back and looked around himself the moment she spoke. Even the more relaxed Magic-Type seemed startled at her voice. Again, I understood their attitude; it certainly wasn’t calming to hear the voice of someone speaking right in front of you coming from what felt like directly behind your ear.
“—I have a Spell that makes me sound strange,” Erani continued. “But it also keeps me safe, so I’d prefer not to deactivate it. Unless there’s a rule that says people absolutely have to have all Spells toggled off in order to enter, of course.”
“Well maybe there is a rule that says—”
“C’mon, man,” the Magic-Type interrupted the Swordsman. “Let’s just follow protocol. If they don’t check out, then sure, question them. But I don’t want to get an infraction during my first month of service for mistreating citizens.”
The Swordsman rolled his eyes. “Flamin’ by-the-book newbies. Fine. Get the flamin’ Stone and do your thing. But if they lie, I’m arresting them.”
“Sure. You stay here and watch them, I’ll grab the Truth Stone.”