Chapter 337: When All You Have is a Hammer...

Mike listened to the small man's incoherent explanation for a few minutes before finally holding up a hand and interrupting him.

"Alright, let me get this straight. You witnessed some kind of assasination on a random stall worker, found a mysterious code book, and then got caught up in a seemingly random zombie apocalypse scenario, and this led you to believe this is all the work of some malign organization called the Shadow Council. Is that about right?"

The man, who called himself Dorn, pushed his glasses back up his nose and frowned. "I'm not certain if you could really classify these creatures as zombies in the traditional sense. They appear to be closer to ghouls or something similar, but lack the intelligence associated with their kind. My best guess is that they are some artificially created variant the Shadow Council developed for their nefarious purposes. Also, apocalypse might be a bit of an overstatement. I doubt they've traveled far outside the city yet."

Mike glanced down at the remains of the zombie-like things he'd killed a few minutes ago. They were all dressed in the kind of simple, roughspun clothing he'd seen thousands of times on the people of this city. If he were to ignore the bone claws, the wicked fangs filling elongated jaws, and the unnaturally sunken eyes, they looked just like regular townspeople.

A quick Appraise confirmed his suspicion.

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Unnamed Ghoul Thrall Corpse

Corpse (Tier 1, Rank 1)

The deceased remains of a Ghoul Thrall, a type undead that arises from those infected with Cannibal Fever.

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[So, a zombie apocalypse was not too far off. Guess I'll just have to RPD my way through this mess until I find Selene.]

A small part of him felt like he was forgetting something about the creatures. Something he should be doing, but he pushed those thoughts aside. For the time being he needed to concentrate on getting to the bottom of this strange situation.

"This code book you found, have you been able to get any information from it?" He asked.

Dorn hesitated, seeming uncertain. "Truthfully, no. I was hoping to meet up with a friend that specialized in codes, but that proved difficult in the current circumstances."

"Do you have any leads to go on at all?" Mike asked, mentally preparing himself to simply leave and start randomly moving about the city in a haze of destruction until something changed.

"Well...if you put it like that…" The other man started to sputter.

"So nothing I can use." He replied, gritting his teeth in frustration. For a moment, he had the urge to simply cut the foolish man down for wasting his time, but decided that wouldn't do anything to help his current mission.

"Wait...the old city." The woman named Julia suddenly chimed in. "If there is anywhere in the city an evil organization could operate out of, it would be the ruins of the old city."

"And where would that be?"

"Allow me to expla-" Dorn started, but Mike had had enough of his long-winded speeches.

"You," He pointed at the midget, "stop talking. You," He pointed at the tall woman, "explain."

Julia hesitated for a second, glancing over at her friend? Lover? It was hard to tell. Then after a few seconds, she began speaking. "Gildusi's big, but it doesn't have much space for underground dealings unless you're talking about the actual underground. Part of living on the side of a cliff. They built the city on top of old High Elven ruins, and there are entrances all over. I know the big wigs up in city hall have been trying to seal them all up for years, but I'm willing to bet there are still a bunch they don't know about."

"Hm, it's not much of a lead, but it will have to do."

Julia looked around. "If I recall, there should be one somewhere in this district…"

"No need." Mike replied while squatting down on his heels and placing a hand on the ground. With an intense burst of will, he sent a wave of mana through the earth and stone underneath him, and used the distorted echoes created by subterranean structures to get a rough idea of what the so-called old city looked like.

[Glad that worked out like I thought it would, or I would have looked pretty ridiculous.]

"There are two entrances nearby. It seems like only one of them is actively sealed. The other is open and is...currently being used by a small party."

"Ah, well that works too…" Julia offered lamely. "I guess you'll be-"

"Brilliant work, sir! Let us be off then." Dorn interrupted her suddenly.

He looked like he was going to continue that thought, but was suddenly cut off when Julia's arm wrapped around his head. She gave Mike an awkward smile, muttering. "Just a moment, please."

The large woman then proceeded to drag her unfortunate companion back several meters and started whispering loudly in his ear. "What in the hells do you think you are doing?! We can't go with him!"

Briefly gasping for air once the obstructing arm was removed, Dorn gave her a reassuring smile. "Julia, my dear, I've been on the trail of the Shadow Council for nearly three years now. If I do not see this thing through now, at the moment the city needs me the most, then I will have lived my life in vain."

Sighing in exasperation, she replied. "But what good do you think you'll be able to do? You couldn't even handle one of those creatures, let alone an army of them. You'll just get in this guy's way!"

"Nevertheless, if there is even the slightest chance that my contributions are necessary, then I am willing to bet my life on making sure that Gildusi did not meet its end due to my cowardice."

Julia made a pained expression, likely torn by a desire to stop him from doing something foolish, but simultaneously full of admiration for the selfless spirit of his actions.

Mike for his part, just felt awkward.

[Do they really not know I can hear every word of this conversation?]

Clearing his throat, he interrupted the melodramatic scene. "Listen, I'm kind of in a hurry. I don't care if you want to tag along, but I can't make any promises about your safety. So, make sure this is really what you want to do before you make a decision. I'll give you a couple of minutes to decide. If you are coming, then meet me on the other side of that building."

He motioned in the direction of a large guildhouse set back against the cliff wall. Based on his earlier analysis, the entrance to the ruins was hidden near the rear of that building, but before he went any further, he had to ensure that the way was clear.

Without giving the couple another word he began running towards the ruin entrance, barely taking notice of the ghoul thralls, who emerged from their hiding places just long enough to lay eyes on him, and then fled at top speed.

[I guess they can somehow sense the difference in strength? Maybe they are more intelligent than they look.] He idly thought while sweeping into a seemingly dead-end alley between the guildhouse and something that looked like it might be a form of tenement housing.

Without slowing his pace, he channeled mana into his fist and slammed it into the cliff face near the end of the alley. There was a titanic impact and a section of the rock formation collapsed and shattered, crashing into some of the nearby buildings.

Mike was forced to use a bit of Earth Magic to keep the opening he'd created from being buried in the resulting rubble, but once the dust cleared, he was left with a visible tunnel that extended deeper into the darkness.

Stomping his foot on the ground, he once more sent a wave of mana into the earth, confirming that this was the place he was looking for. He also took note of the handful of creatures taking shelter a little deeper into the tunnel complex. While it was difficult to tell using this method, it seemed like they were trying to lie in wait for him.

There was a slight buzzing at the edge of his hearing, a droning, unpleasant noise that made his head hurt, but he didn't have the time to focus on it, instead concentrating on the task at hand.

"Why do they have to make it difficult?" He complained under his breath while sending a wash of fresh air infused with his mana into the tunnels.

The wind quickly passed through the twisting and partially collapsed corridors, seeking out each of the seven humanoid figures who were hiding nearby. Once he had a solid location for them, he flexed his will, causing the air currents to suddenly harden and wrap around them.

Making a violent pulling motion with one hand, he ripped the ambushers from their hiding places and dragged them up to the surface. They came flying out, obviously battered by their passage through the tunnels. As soon as they had passed over his head, he whipped them into the ground, creating seven human shaped craters in the cobblestone alleyway.

A quick Appraise confirmed his suspicions. All seven of their entries had the word Ghoul in their race description. It seemed like these were just the people he needed to talk to, but he had six too many.

Selecting the least injured of the group, a young looking man who was suffering from two broken legs and several cracked ribs, he channeled his Water Magic and invested his will into the circulatory systems of the other six.

He raised his hand into the air, lifting his chosen victims off the ground in the process. A few of them whimpered in pain, but were unable to do more than that as their bodies refused to respond to even the most basic of their commands.

Once they were at eye level, Mike focused his will and began applying pressure outwards in all directions. For a moment, nothing appeared to be happening, and the chosen survivor looked around in uncertainty as his fellows were suspended in the air trembling silently, a hint of growing panic in their eyes the only sign that they were even aware of what was going on.

Then one by one, they popped, exploding in a rain of blood and viscera that showered down onto the seventh ghoul. Once he was done, Mike walked forward, careful to not dirty his boots on the pools of blood that now filled the alleyway.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I was hoping that you could answer a few questions for me." He commented nonchalantly, as if he were having a casual conversation in a tavern rather than interrogating a prisoner who was covered in the guts of his comrades.

"Tarin, is it?" He asked after a quick Appraise. Once he got his confirmation in the form of the youth's mute horror. "Let's you and I have ourselves a good long chat."

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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Julia asked again as they passed in front of the Brewer's Guildhouse. "I'm not sure if I trust that guy. He didn't even tell us his name yet."

[Not to mention the fact that he just wantonly destroyed a section of the city.] She added mentally.

Something about the strange young man was setting off warning bells in her heart, although she couldn't place exactly what about him unnerved her so much. This feeling seemingly even bothered the ghouls that were stalking them, since they were still refusing to come out into the open despite the fact the man was no longer with them.

"Come now," Dorn replied jauntily, "surely we can trust the one who saved our lives. Besides, he is clearly an enemy of the Shadow Council, and we can definitely use all the help we can get in taking on those monsters."

Julia was about to reply, pointing out that just because he saved them once did not mean that he had done so out of benevolence. More likely, he protected them simply because he was in need of information and assumed this was the best way to gain their assistance.

However, those words died in her throat as they rounded the corner and turned into the alleyway next to the guildhouse. The narrow street looked like a warzone. Parts of the cobblestone pavement were cratered and torn, whole sections of the neighboring buildings have been caved in by flying debris, and at the other end, a large gaping hole in the side of the cliff continued into the darkness like some kind of wound on the city itself.

In front of this tunnel stood the golden-eyed man, his back to them. Despite that, as soon as they came into view he called over his shoulder. "I see you've made your decision. Very well, let's get started. I've learned a few things from the guards stationed here. We can discuss it on the way, but I suggest we press on before any reinforcements decide to show up. I'd hate to make another mess."

Dorn, ignoring all the obvious warning signs, moved up to join him, already giddy at the possibility of intelligence gleaned from a real life member of his elusive target. "I do hope you took notes. We'll likely need to pour over the results carefully. The Shadow Council is quite adept at deception, and we cannot afford to be taken in by false information."

The man's reply was too quiet for Julia to hear as they began walking into the dark tunnel. She followed after them with some trepidation. Glancing around at the alley that she could only describe as war torn, she only had one question.

[What happened to the guards he mentioned?]