Rustling leaves could be heard just before the sounds of trees having their branches snapped off rang out into the unusually cacophonous night. However these sounds were all drowned out by the clattering of armour from the men chasing two figures in front. Their dogs were all barking and growling as well, as if they were trying to threaten their prey into finally stopping and giving up.
The first rays of moonlight gradually peeked between the trees and vaguely illuminated the two figures forms. One was a man of average height with dark hair, half hidden beneath a black cap, and piercing golden eyes. If there was more light, it would be seen that his hair wasn’t actually black, and was in fact midnight blue in colour.
The second figure was slightly taller and his hair and eyes were both blood red, giving him a rather demonic feel despite not having any of the features a typical demon would normally have. His name ‘Ignis’ definitely captured the essence of his appearance. Unlike his friend, Ignis had no cap on so he was clearly revealing his hair even in the low light.
The two both wore similar clothes: soft leather leggings, dark brown in colour; ankle height black combat boots; and olive drab cloaks over a dark top. They both also had leather vambraces covering their forearms, and they both wore chunky ruby rings on their right ring fingers over their fingerless hunting gloves. The strange thing was, that neither of them seemed to have a single bag with them – not even a money pouch attached to their belts.
Just then, the two being chased suddenly seemed to disappear. However the armoured group didn’t seem overly shocked by this, as they just hung back a second to allow the dogs to take point as they sniffed around. It was clear that this wasn’t the first time that they’d lost their foes.
Suddenly, one of the dogs seemed to catch wind of the two’s scent again and barked out a warning before giving chase. The pursuers’ armour only served to be a massive hinderance while they once more clattered through dense foliage and close knit trees. Noticing that they’d been found again, the two ahead took full advantage of their greater mobility and once again disappeared from their pursuers’ view.
Unfortunately, this time the two ended up stumbling down a steep ravine and into a deep river. Luckily for them, this also served to confuse their pursuers, and the dogs lost track of their scent.
Deciding that it was best to stay put for a while, the shorter of the two gestured to Ignis to stay quiet and low. Eventually, the armoured group tired of giving chase to an invisible enemy and decided to regroup and try searching for any traces once morning finally arrived. They had been chasing the two for over a week by now, without time for even a single break, and since it was only just gone dusk the traces of their fall were easily missed by the weary soldiers.
“I think they’re gone now, Nihil.” Ignis whispered to his companion beside him.
After waiting a while longer, Nihil finally agreed and the two crawled their way out of the river. Stepping onto the bank, the two looked down at their sodden clothes and sighed in frustration. There was a small village nearby, but they had originally planned on avoiding it – wanting to be seen by as few people as possible. Unfortunately, their current situation bade them to go and find an inn for what remained of the rest of the night. That way they could clean themselves up and put on a fresh set of clothes. They’d also be able to have the first warm meal and soft bed that they’d had in quite a while.
* * *
“We’d like to book a twin room for the night, and if a bath could be brought to our room as well, please, that would be much appreciated.” Nihil addressed the innkeeper behind the bar once they located a suitable place to stay.
“I reckon, you’ll be needing more’n that …” The slightly rotund man raised an eyebrow and drawled in the thick accent that was common in these parts. “We ‘ave a communal bath that’d prob’ly suit y’all better.”
“Just the tub will do us.” Ignis replied genially before Nihil could say anything. “We’d probably just make a mess of the larger one, anyway.”
“Right enough, I s’pose.” The old man responded with a smile, and then proceeded to the more serious business of how much everything would cost.
To his credit, the innkeeper selected a decent sized room, and gave them a huge tub to wash up in. The basin had a tap that released a stream of perfectly heated water from an enchanted gem connected to a separate space. Once done, the dirtied water would enter a different gem (fitted at the base of the tub) that would store the liquid until a worker could activate and empty it into the village’s drains. These gems essentially acted as storage containers that were filled and emptied, by the staff, on a day-to-day basis. They could store anything within a certain cubic volume, but for the purposes of this bath they only stored water. However, as the space inside these gems was only insulated and time still existed, it basically only acted as a very good thermos and the water wouldn’t stay the correct temperature indefinitely. These specific gems had enough space to hold 3 times the volume of the bath they were attached to, which indicated that they were of a reasonably high quality.
After they both felt clean and refreshed, they changed into clothes similar to the ruined ones from before. Strangely Nihil still chose to wear his hat even though they were indoors. They then headed down to the main bar area to grab a bite to eat before returning to their rooms.
Upon entering the large room, Nihil chose a table in the corner due to habit. In this position, he could easily keep an eye on everyone in the room (including those entering and leaving) without drawing suspicion upon himself.
Flagging down a waitress, the two men placed their orders and sat back to patiently wait for their meals to arrive.
Just then, a group of 12 adventurers entered the room. They quickly moved to the largest table in the room. Given their number though, they still had to move one of the smaller tables nearby in order to sit together. The core of the group appeared to be the two attractive women in the back.
The older of the two had long, black hair that reached her waist even while styled into a braid that ran down the centre of her head and traced along her spine. She looked to be around 19 years old, and wore the same, tight-fitting leather bodice and flared battle skirt that her companion wore.
The second girl had short, silver hair that had been styled into a pixie cut. She looked around 18 years old. There was something about their facial features that looked similar, which made Nihil wonder if they were sisters – despite their differing skin tones, hair, and eye colours. The black haired woman had a very pale and delicate skin tone, with piercing blue eyes. However pixie cut had a dark, bronzed tone to her skin, and her eyes were a fresh mint green.
Feeling eyes being trained on them, the two turned and looked over at the somewhat aloof man that had been assessing them. However, before either party could speak, the waitress returned, bearing a tray laden with the food and drinks that the two men had ordered. This successfully distracted the golden eyed man, and everyone refocused on their own groups and actions.
Ignis let loose a long, satisfied sigh once he’d finished wolfing down his food. Even Nihil allowed a small smile to play at the corners of his lips, having fully appreciated the warm, hearty meal. Leaving some coins on the table, the two returned to their room to bed down for the remaining few hours of the night. Neither of them spoke once they’d settled down, as they both knew that they’d have to be up and out of the village before the sun had even completely risen into the sky.
* * *
The next morning, the two snuck out of their beds just as the first rays of light were dancing over the horizon. They had expected to be the only ones awake at this point, but were surprised to see the two female adventurers from the night before, already seated at a table in the main restaurant area. They were eating a light boxed breakfast and chatting to each other as the two men walked in. From the looks of it, their meal had been prepared for them the night before.
The four people gave each other a polite greeting with a nod of their heads, and Nihil and Ignis walked straight out onto the street. They needed to make up for lost time, and put some distance between them and their pursuers. It was likely that this village would be the first place that they checked – if they weren’t already here.
Stretching to get rid of the last vestiges of sleepiness from their bodies, Nihil and Ignis made their way to the village gate. As it was still early in the morning, the large main gate was shut and locked tight. However, after speaking to one of the guards on duty, she readily opened the smaller sally port to allow the two men out of the village walls.
Looking towards the sunrise barely visible through the huge tree trunks surrounding the village, the two headed East once again. They crossed the river and re-entered the forest, being careful to cover any traces of their passage. Sometimes they seemed to disappear from view, only to reappear again almost instantly, much further into the dense foliage. This was the same trick they’d done the previous night and was very useful in their attempt to shake their pursuers.
* * *
Later into the morning, the two made a sharp right turn, correcting their bearing so that they were now headed South. They were ultimately heading South-East, but were wary of travelling in a straight line and possibly giving away their destination to those behind. Once they knew where they were headed, it would be a simple matter to overtake them and set a trap. Naturally this was something that the two wished to avoid.
Just then, a gruff voice travelled from between the leaves. “Excuse me, but have you seen a pair of men looking to be around 20 years of age?”
Before the intended party had time to answer the question directed their way, a slightly belligerent female’s voice spoke up. “I don’t know why we’re even bothering to look in this area – we have eyewitness reports saying that they were headed East. That also coincides with the direction we saw them travelling last night.”
The woman’s last statement revealed the two of them to be scouts from the party of pursuers that were after Ignis and Nihil the previous night. From the sounds of it, they were still after the two men and the eyewitnesses that she mentioned were probably the guards at the gate from that morning.
“They might have changed direction to foil our pursuit.” The first voice answered somewhat testily. “We also have people searching the West and North just in case. Of course, our main force is still pursuing East.”
“Umm, I’m sorry to interrupt … but, does one of the men you mentioned have blood red hair and eyes, and the other have piercing golden eyes with dark blue hair?” A lilting voice questioned the arguing pair.
“That’s them! Have they been this way after all then?” The gruff voice asked eagerly.
“No they haven’t.” Just as she caused a couple of surprised grunts from the two, she continued. “We stayed at the same inn last night and I sensed a strange feeling from them, so I was wondering if it was those two.”
“Hmm, they’re probably still heading East then.” The man mused somewhat disappointedly.
“Might I ask why the Royal Guard is pursuing them? They looked like decent enough folks, but it would worry me if they turned out to be heinous criminals.” The girl trailed off in a disturbed tone. Ignis could almost picture the scene, two pretty women (for, by now, he’d worked out that these two were from the large group of adventurers the previous night) worriedly exchanging looks with each other, and the poor guard frantically trying to reassure them.
“Don’t worry, you weren’t in any danger … they’re just some petty thieves that have caused some trouble for us.” The man replied hastily. “They’re constantly harassing our troops, and finally the higher ups have decided to take action against them. But they only seem to target the Royal Guard – there have been no reports of civilians being affected at all.”
“Those rapscallions always seem to manage to escape our pursuit, despite not having any real power. They’re sneaky little buggers, and they somehow seem to know this area better than we do.” The female guard cursed angrily. She had been one of the guards from the previous night, and had been especially pissed off that they’d managed to escape, given that some of the items that they’d taken this time around had belonged to her. This also explained her foul mood at having been delegated to searching this area.
Just what did those guys take? The two adventurers wondered in amazement. It was rare to see the Royal Guard deployed for something like that, as it was generally treated as something trivial. Normally the higher ups would view it as an ‘if they can take it, then they deserve it’ matter. The two women were instantly intrigued by the seemingly ordinary men that they’d met the night before.
It was no easy thing to steal from the Royal Guard, nor was it even a crime, strangely enough. As such, they would only pursue it if it was something of national level importance. There were only three major crimes that ever resulted in a manhunt like this one: 1) obstructing the Royal Guard in their duties to the crown; 2) Murdering a member of the Royal Guard/Family, as this was considered treason; and 3) anything to do with slavery – be that buying, selling, owning, or even just transporting them. The Royal Guard were peace keepers. They monitored the entire country, and if any dangers cropped up (a particularly violent person, an invading country, slavers, etc.) they dealt with them swiftly. Even if their target wasn’t technically a criminal, if they were causing enough of a disturbance, the Royal Guard would still act. However, they overlooked petty disagreements, even murder if it was only on a personal scale.
Smaller crimes such as these, would be handled by the local police, and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. This freed people up to take care of themselves for the most part, and if the motive was just, then even murder could be consequence-free even for common citizens. Things only usually got dicey if nobility got involved, but since the local police was made up of volunteers from the general citizenry, they often ended up united against the nobles if a spat ever did occur.
Above all, this was a world where the strongest fist was the most ‘righteous’. This meant that the continent was pretty chaotic, and yet it was somehow peaceful in the grand scheme of things.
This situation could only come about because of the type of continent it was. Every person, in every race (be they Human, Dwarf, Elf, Dragon, Mysterious Beast, or Demon) had the potential for either learning Magic or for Cultivation. Magic was the process of manipulating external/worldly energy; and Cultivation was the process of manipulating internal energy. When a child reached puberty, they could choose a path to follow. However, once they decided which sort of energy they would learn to manipulate, they couldn’t change their minds, nor could they train both at once. As such, there were various tests that they could undergo in order to figure out which one they had a higher aptitude for.
Although everyone had the potential for either path, the same could not be said for their aptitudes. This meant that there were an awful lot of people who couldn’t get past the earlier stages, and they were referred to as ‘Northmanni’. These people lived their lives eking out a living through the important but less ‘glamorous’ jobs. They were the ones who worked the fields, reared cattle, ran inns, etc.
The few who did have the talent to pursue being Cultors, had other ways to earn a living. These talents often made up the elites in the army or were nobility. Others also became adventurers, seeking treasure or lost secrets from ages long since passed. There were also jobs such as: Alchemists, who brewed pills and elixirs to improve healing, restore stamina, etc.; and Enchanters, who engraved runes into an item, and instilled it with energy to power the spells created, these could be used to improve battle power, improve defence (either of the item, or the user), and so much more. For example, the water gems from the inn were made by enchanters, and they could only maintain the temperature of the water for a long time once they’d been processed.
“What should we do if we do happen to encounter them again? Is there a way we can contact you?” The same lilting voice from earlier spoke up. This voice belonged to the dark haired girl from before.
“This is an SOS button. If you break it, it will send a signal to headquarters, and it will ping your location to us. This one is one we are handing out specifically for sightings of those two.” The male guard’s voice explained after a moment of rustling.
SOS buttons were fairly common, and most people would have at least one on themselves at any given time, but those were general purpose ones for when they needed any sort of rapid response. The fact that they were handing out special ones specifically for sightings of the two guys they’d met the previous night, shocked the two girls.
“This is a lot of effort and cost to spend on catching two northmanni. They must have thoroughly pissed off the higher ups, huh?” A different voice commented at this time. This was probably the silver haired girl’s voice.
“The details are confidential, and even we don’t know much. What we can say, though, is that those two aren’t to be messed with as things seem to have a way of working to their favour -“
“That’s giving them far too much credit.” The female guard interrupted her colleague snippily, rolling her eyes for good measure. “They’ve just been slippery, and have decent luck. For two northmanni it’s only a matter of time before we snatch our stuff back and hand them over to the higher-ups.”
Her vicious tone seemed to be too strong for just having had a few of her items stolen, so the dark-haired girl had the sneaking suspicion that there was perhaps more to the story than the two Royal Guardsmen had let on.
Aerone Grey 