Xesious 2: Corruption

ScarletNova

ScarletNova

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Elie stepped out of the doors to one of the houses in the city. She looked down at the coins in her hand with a smile. She had gotten pretty good money for the job she had just finished. She had just gotten done a job asked by some of the inhabitants of the city. They were having trouble with a demon near their rivers. Elie happily took care of the demon, she wasn't fond of evil demons; not after what had happened to her in her past but no one ever really knew about that. Most people had heard of the destruction of the village and the claim that it was a human girl, but they didn't know who it was.

So, Elie was glad to get the job though she was still quite surprised. Demon slaying wasn't always a common request, but lately there had been quite a few. It was strange, perhaps there was a reason for the increase in evil around. At the moment, Elie couldn't figure out what could cause it; she just knew something was off.

She placed the coins away and looked around. She watched as others were going about their lives, selling and buying and so on. This town was very known for all their goods it sold, but none of those little trinkets interested Elie. If she didn't need it, there was no point it carrying around with her. She did, however, thought that it would be a good time to stay in the town and take some time to rest for a bit; get something to eat and maybe get a room to sleep in instead of sleeping somewhere in the wilderness.
 
'You're really stupid sometimes, ignorant like a pup most of the time.' A voice in the young man's head started to tell him, this was likely going to be one of her lectures about being careful. It wasn't exactly his fault people wanted to find and fight him to win glory and fame, after all, he was going to become the strongest young and swordsman; it was natural to fight strong enemies. "As you say, Duran, I'll keep that in mind next time." Fang grumbled, trudging along the dirt path while collecting the money they had received from turning in the bandit who had wish to attack him. It was a meager earning but he had more than enough coin to sustain him, he usually had nobles vying for his attention to deal with certain matters and they always paid a decent amount of coin for a man like himself to deal with any monster or human annoyances.

"Not my fault if the guards wanted to keep the reward money, they deserved to have some sense wacked into them. They're just thieves parading around like knights while us mercenaries do the real work." The young man then added, placing the bag of gold into his pocket after making sure the full amount was present. "Plus with the sudden surplus of demons and other baddies we'll likely to be busy for a while." That was a good and bad thing about being a merc, you could pick whatever you wanted but the jobs were hardly ever easy. And it seemed lately that more and more jobs were popping up with less and less people taking them on.

The wolf simply sighed and shook her head, 'I know that, just remember the recent sightings of dragons. Something must be going on because their kind were supposed to be in hiding and acting like they were extinct. What will you do if we meet one?' Fang glanced back at her with a small smirk as one hand went to touch his sword and the other clenched into a fist. "It's simple, I'll kill it, take the parts that I need them sell the others to merchants." He replied, now entering a town and glanced around. Duran rolled her eyes as they walked down a street and observed those around them, 'We're sleeping in an inn this time.' He didn't bother to reply, the young man simply sighed and nodded his head.
 
"Oh, come on!" Alber groaned as he stood up on a ladder in front of his shop, nailing the worn out sign back up for what seemed like the umpteenth time this month. He had work to do. An alchemist could be the wealthiest, most well respected man of the town... or he could be him, the joke of it. It had been years since he had put out an invention that sold well. Most of what his father and uncle had made before were now dated, amazing as they were. Technology just moved that fast these days. If only he hadn't had that mishap with the fireworks five years ago. Maybe he would have finished his training instead of draining away most of the family savings and their good name to go with it. Quickly finishing, he folded up the ladder and hurried inside. Ladders were big and heavy. There had to be ways to improve upon that. Taking a piece of paper and a pencil, he took a seat behind the register and began furiously scribbling different ideas down. It would cost way too much to bring the person up there so maybe the best thing to do was make it easier to store and carry. Any kind of compacting magic would be way too expensive but maybe he could get one of the blacksmiths to give him a deal on some lightened metal if it was in good enough bulk. The demand for it wasn't too high so most didn't stock a lot but it wasn't that expensive to make, nothing like mastercrafting swords. A small time blacksmith would do. Folding up his drawings, he walked out the door, flipping the sign to closed on his shop. He wasn't even to be gone for an hour after being laughed out of the whole block and his papers thrown back in his face.

"Its not THAT bad is it?" he asked himself, wondering if he had truly doomed the shop with his own reputation more than his lack of epic and new inventions. He let out a long sigh, wondering what he was able to make outside of random household convenience tools. How was he supposed to compete with the genuises up the street who had better funding and could actually afford to just make something new every once in a while, riding the profits to their next invention. It seemed like the kind of job for the rich and blessed.
 
"Well this was a complete bust." Yuja said as he stood along the river bank. "If there was a demon near here it would of already shown itself, isn't that right?" he asked the strange looking ax strapped onto his back. Of course the weapon had no response, but Yuja continued on with the conversation regardless. "I heard it was a big one too, woulda been entertaining." He turned away from the river and looked around at his surroundings, numerous broken trees and scorch marks were scattered around the area, making the river bank look more like a battlefield. "Seems like someone had a good time." Whoever it was they had piqued the strange warriors interest. Most likely some knight trying to make a name for himself, then again he was in the lands where mercs roamed freely.

"We're heading back to town." he said turning towards his ax again, before walking off towards his next destination. Whoever this strong warrior was, he wished to meet them, maybe have a friendly duel. "Wait that last duel Ceph didn't end well for the town. And judging from the damage done here, there would be a lot of collateral." Either way he had made up his mind, if someone was this powerful to take on a demon, they were still worth meeting.
 
Talia sat on a rooftop overlooking the village, her mind abuzz with all the different action going on around here. "Oooo what is that, Oh what are they doing? OH what about them?" She rambled on, her ADHD obviously having taken over. She then saw a blonde haired boy who seemed kinda down. "Hey, he's sad. I hate it when people are sad... I know, I'll make him happy!" Talia then jumps down and runs right up to him. "Hiya!"
 
Aphria smiled at the young girl she was about to heal who laid on a cot, "Can you hold on to your mother's hand? Squeeze it if you get worried. But I don't think this will hurt any, honey." Aphria gently touched the young girl's stomach and automatically her eyes flashed with the girls insides and the area around the damage, "Demon attack, huh?" Aphria sighed a bit and in her mind she was freaking out, 'What if this demon attack I can't heal? Demon's are unpredictable! I can heal cuts and other wounds but demons? Ugh. Okay. Keep calm, Aphria. You've got this. You have to get this. You have to heal her!' "Okay, here we go!" Aphria's hands hovered over the girls stomach where a large black mark mixed with some blood was, this girl was lucky to escape whatever demon had attacked her.

Aphria closed her eyes and focused on the wound and soon it started to heal, closing itself up and her flesh returning to a normal color. After a few minutes Aphria opened her eyes and smiled, "Well, it looks like that will be healing quite well." Aphria touched the girl again gently to double check everything was running properly in her body, "Yes. It should be good. I hope that demon was killed but in the meanwhile you need to be more careful. They like young girls like you." Aphria winked at the girl before going to her beaten up dirt covered brown satchel and pulling out a small container with an greenish white herb in it, "Here is this, it's kind of a calming herb. You're suppose to put it in hot water. It's good for cleaning out your body and will calm you down to. It doesn't taste half bad and I highly suggest you take it, just to be safe. Alright?"

Aphria stood up with a smile and nodded at the girl and her mother, "Oh. And don't worry about payment. It's okay." Aphria picked up her satchel and left the house. Aphria hardly ever accepted payment, after all she had money to spare. She was a traveling noble! Money wasn't an issue, which Aphria was glad about. She would hate to heal people and then ask for money from them, she didn't know how her father and grandfather ever did that.

Aphria didn't know this town very well, but her goal was to find an inn and then explore and get to know the other shops around this town. But she would need to find an inn eventually, the sooner the better, she wanted to actually get some good sleep and she was personally afraid of the demons. It had crossed her mind once or twice to travel with some mercenaries or a blacksmith, at least then she could fight in a group and would be more safe. But Aphria making friends, or even acquaintances, was next to impossible. Her kind exterior often rubbed people, especially hard core mercenaries, the wrong way. It was also shady that she was a noble of some pretty known healers who insisted on traveling instead of staying at her home healing people in her own village. And the fact that she refused to talk about herself and her past was also another pretty shady thing. All this together meant Aphria just never made any real friends.
 
After some time of walking Elie had stopped at a place to eat. It was a small place, where you sat on bar stools in the open. The only part inside was the kitchen itself, so people were still walking behind her. It was the best choice for her, since no one else was sitting there eating. She preferred to be alone, not at a crowded tavern. She took a sip of her drink after finishing up her food and giving the coins needed to pay for her meal. She would have to look for a place to rest during the night after this, but at the moment she just wanted to enjoy sitting there. The life of a mercenary always had you traveling around, it was just nice to have some time to relax especially after a job. The demon she had fought was pretty strong, but it didn't compare to Elie. She beat it pretty easily, but it still took up some of her energy. That was natural of course, you fight, you use up some energy and need a break.
 
Alber looked up and flinched, hearing someone address him. Funny enough, it wasn't accompanied by the throwing of a blunt object but a girl who looked like she was having a much better day than he was. He had a half mind to warn her that she might be the recipient of said blunt objects if she stuck around him but after thinking about it, found it rude in several other different ways rather than considerate.

"Um... Hi?" he greeted, not exactly sure what to say. For the past few years, he honestly hadn't had a whole lot of contact with people outside of trying to get business which included more begging than actual conversation. So he was just a little bit at a loss for words of any real meaning.
 
"You look sad. Is something wrong? Whats your name? Where do you work?..." Talia seemed to ramble on with endless questions. But her point was clear, she wanted to know about this boy in front of her, and it was obvious she wouldn't leave until she found out.
 
"You don't know who I am?" Alber asked, kind of surprised. He was pretty well known around here and not in a good way. Not that it would change anything to pick up and go to another city. True, he didn't recognize the girl but people tended to avoid his place like it was a garbage dump. Even the value of the property near him had a small dip for being on the same street as his store. Two business owners had picked up and left.

"I'm Alber Schiffer, a failed alchemist and the owner of the Tand Schatze, the store behind me," he sighed. He might as well have given unnecessary verbal clearance to laugh at him given its shoddy condition. The wood was old. The building could use a severe cleaning and the sign above the door looked like it was getting ready to fall off all over again somehow.
 
"Oooo cool. I like your store! I looks old and run down, it makes me feel like someones lived in it so long that they tried they're best to keep it going. I like people like that. So you're a failed alchemist... how are you failing? Is that why you're sad?" Talia obviously, due to her background is really accepting of things that don't look the nicest.
 
As he and Duran continued along, he would hear whispers now and then as they walked down the path. "There's the mercenary Fang and his wolf, Duran." or "Isn't that the man whose style is like a monster?" and sometimes "It's the Dragon Knight." Now that was one of two nicknames people called him. The other was 'The Human Dragon' simply because he could create and control fire, the public really loved giving their favorite mercs nicknames. Though many nobles have been addressing him by one of those titles; only friends were allowed to be on a first name basis with him. That was something Duran enforced so the nobles would know where he and the canine stood.

'The day we aren't recognized will be the day pigs talk.' Duran sighed while shaking her head from side to side. "Well, you're talking so I wouldn't say it'd be much of a stretch for another animal to talk." Fang replied, moving one hand to rest on Black Blade's sheathe as they continued to walk around and look. Before the wolf could retort, Fang interrupted her, "Maybe I should buy a gun, then I'd be able to start using two weapons at once." He mused while moving the other hand to rub his neck while he pondered that thought. He'd have to drastically change his style while fighting to permit him to efficiently use a gun in battle while swinging his blade. But the extra power would likely be worth the change.

Just then, a flash of white bounded past him and it took a few moments to realize his furry companion was running towards or after something. With another sigh, the pace was picked up a little as Duran stopped behind a young woman and pressed her nose against the other person's back before moving to sit in view of her. Then Fang sat on the stool next to her and simply ordered something to drink while glancing in her direction with a small smile. "Nice work on that demon, I've heard rumors that the battle ended before it even heated up." He mused, handing the owner some gold while grapping the mug and taking a sip. 'Lots of scorch marks around the area though, you may want to practice your aim, Elie.'
 
"The building is only about five years old. I accidentally blew up the original and haven't managed to come up with much stuff of use since," Alber admitted, figuring that even if the girl was new in town, she would have found out about his reputation quick enough whether she'd wanted to or not. At least if he said it himself, he would have taken some small form of ownership over it. It was common knowledge that an alchemist that couldn't seem to I nvent anything good was nothing but out of a job. The onlycreason that he had crawled along this long had been because of his family's accumulated money and possessions which he was borderline squandering with how badly the store had been doing and it had only gotten worse. Really, there was no way one could tell that the building was only four years old by looking at it. It was definitely his fault for his inability to do basic upkeep and not having money to pay someone to do fix ups. Then again, if he cleaned, he would barely have any time to invent which was an equally assured doom.
 
"Did you say... blow it up? You mean like... fire? Like BOOM BANG KABLOOSH! That kind of blowing it up? OOOOHHH I LOVE EXPLOSIONS! They're the best! I know all the different kinds, like the ones that are really small but have these speical little elements inside that burn for a long time. OO or the ones that can keep an engine going, Or the one that can melt metal! I have so many ideas on new explosions! Like ones that don't burn, but freeze instead! Or ones that blind people and make a really loud noise. Or...or.." Talia goes on and on, her ADHD and love of explosions and fire being very obvious.
 
Cassandra was bored. It was just the beginning of the day, bright sunlight, cool air and a part of the tree leaves had turned yellow. The people in town must feel blessed, or so she thought, since it was nice weather for most of the work they had to do. Yes, most the work, not all. Like her job, for example, was quite not very active through this kind of weather, that was so friendly and all.

"So what should I do now?"

She thought to herself, walking down the street.​
 
Yuja walked into the city wearing a large cloak covering most of his body, he didn't want to be recognized right now. He was hoping to find the demons killer and didn't want to be bothered by anyone. Though the comically large ax strapped onto his back still caused him to get quizzical looks from passersby. He wandered between different buildings, asking residents about the demon. Apparently it had been harassing those by the river for a while now, and that some citizens had recently hired a mercenary to kill it. "A mercenary huh." he said turning his head to look at his ax "Seems I guessed right."

Entering the streets again he stood out in the open and shouted "Killer of the River Demon, I request an audience." This sort of challenge usually worked with Knights and Nobles, they couldn't resist a challenge such as this. But a common merc, he wasn't too sure. What he was sure of that if the mercenary was still in town, word would reach their ear that someone wanted to meet them.
 
Elie knew the familiar feel of Duran against her body. She turned towards Duran and Fang once they sat down, a small smile forming on Elie's lips. "Damn thing wouldn't stop moving around in fear, you try aiming at it while it's hysterical." She replied upon hearing Duran's comment. She sat down her drink now, she had finished it anyway. "The good thing is that demons dead." It seemed that her actions were beginning to be heard around the town. That was expected, she even thought she might have over heard some towns people mentioning about some cloaked guy asking about it or something like that. "It's nice to see the two of you." Elie admitted as she looked forwards, with a small smirk still on her face. Elie wasn't the one to show much of friendly emotions but Fang was somewhat of a different story, though she still didn't want to admit that to him or Duran.
 
Alber subtly flinched at the explosion sound effects. They were mostly correct but he'd rather not think about it. He was familiar with all of the explosion variants that followed as well as how to make them. Or at least he had been before but he hadn't tried in years and didn't intend to now. Despite her lack of tact, she seemed nice and certainly full of energy.

"Why don't you come inside?" he suggested, beginning to feel the eyes boring into them from the neighbors on the street. It would be terrible if she got shunned along with him for associating with the one that would be voted off the street if that were possible. If it did happen, he wouldn't be able to help but feel responsible. As he turned to walk inside, he reminded himself what a terrible salesman he was, inviting someone in whom he really had no intention to sell anything to and whose seemingly greatest interest was the very thing that he would never make again.
 
Snapping back from her small explosion rant, Talia replied. "Okay!" She followed behind him happily, almost staring in awe like a child would look at a foreign object.
 
Aphria walked around for a bit, trying to figure out what she should do. It was when someone recognized her that she decided she better make a decision soon about what she wanted to do next. Aphria readjusted the satchel on her shoulder while her eyes scanned the area. She noted a man trying to summon someone who had slayed the river demon. She noted this because she hadn't known where the demon had been located, the young girl she healed earlier hadn't spoken much. Now Aphria knew to avoid rivers, that was for sure.

Aphria decided to wander the streets a bit more, even though some eyes lingered on her. It wasn't like she was a bad person with a terrible reputation.

As Aphria wandered she bumped into a women and automatically she noticed a scratch along her arm, "Oh. Ma'am! May I heal that for you?" Aphria couldn't help herself when it came to healing people. No matter who they were, if they had an injury Aphria wanted to heal it. Some people thought she was crazy for always asking strangers if they want to be healed. Aphria thinks she is crazy, personally. Their have been few times she has gotten in trouble for butting into someone's business to heal them.

The women though reluctantly agreed and let Aphria put her hand on the scratch that ran along her forearm. Less than a minute later the wound was healed. It was a deep scratch, just a long one, therefore not much was required of Aphria to heal it. But she did start to feel a little worn out from the days traveling and healing. An inn would be nice right about now. Even though tiredness was starting to wear at Aphria she still smiled and walked away from the women, the two exchanging very little words. Another thing that merchants and others found a little uneasy about Aphria was her smile. She seemed to good, to kind hearted, to be true. Aphria only appeared that way especially at a first glance. The truth about her was hidden away a long time ago. She had decided during a certain event in her life that she would live her life like she didn't matter. The only people that truly matter to her are the injured ones, the ones she can fix. And that's how it always has been.
 
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