Chapter 27 - 26 Clash

After sleeping for many hour Marcus woke up feeling a lot better and being back up to full HP. He quickly got up and changed his clothes before trying to swiftly leave Poulsen's manor.

'I need to get out of here quickly, the longer I stay the more likely something bad is going to happen. Once I get out, I can report back to that shady royal investigator and get the rest of the information I need.'

Luckily for Marcus when he came out Poulsen was in an important meeting, and he was able to get one of his servants to allow him to leave the premises without any hassle. After escaping from Poulsen's house Marcus made a beeline for the Invincible Tortoise Inn. It was a fairly long walk but after around an hour of searching around Marcus found his meeting place. Once inside he walked up the stairs and went back to his room and when he entered, a familiar cloaked figure was waiting for him.

"So, how did it go, were you successful in your assignment."

"Yes, I was actually more than successful since I found actual incriminating evidence as well as planting what you gave."

"Oh, I am surprised you actually found where he keeps evidence of his illegal transaction you are a lot better than I thought. Now would you mind telling me where this evidence is, and I will begin my raid immediately."

Marcus then went onto describe where the incriminating documents could be found and how there was a second safe behind the first one.

"I see that is how he did it, no wonder I could not find any evidence on my first raid he had it hidden quite well, I really am not sure how you managed to find this second safe, but it does not matter to me as long as I can complete my job."

"Okay since I have held up my end of the deal I would like my payment, you told me you would give me more information on those slavers I am interested in."

"Yes, I am a man of my word, however I will need to hold onto that information a little longer until I have verified that you really completed your assignment."

"Fine then let us go right now so I can put all of this behind me."

Leaving the Invulnerable Tortoise Marcus and the royal investigator headed towards Poulsen's manor, and once it came into sight the royal investigator told Marcus to find somewhere nearby to wait because it would be too dangerous for him to be proceed any further.

Marcus then watched as the royal investigator took off his cloak revealing his young mid-twenties appearance, blue uniform, and golden hair. As he began approaching the manor more men in blue uniforms joined him until there were around twelve of them. Being curious Marcus slowly inched closer towards the manor to get a better look at the raid. Marcus saw the twelve blue uniformed men open the gates and start searching around the premises. He soon saw Poulsen appear before the golden-haired royal investigator, and he was yelling so loud that even Marcus could hear him.

"Damn you, Wade I do not care if you are the kings nephew, I will have your badge for this. You did not find anything last time and you will not this time either, at this point you are just harassing me and ruining my reputation!"

Marcus continued to watch seeing Poulsen follow Wade into the house as the raid continued. After a few minutes Marcus heard a loud shout coming from the second floor of the manor.

"FUCK YOU, I WILL KILL YOU WADE YOU BASTARD!"

'I guess Wade found the evidence and Poulsen is not happy about it.'

After Poulsen's loud shout the entire manor seemed to tremble before there was a loud icy explosion on the second floor. Marcus watched as Wade jumped out of the manor coated in a thin layer of ice and holding a pitch black wicked looking dagger. Poulsen soon followed now holding an ornate blue spear that was emitting a frosty aura. Once the two had landed on the ground they began to fight at a speed that Marcus could only catch glimpses of, as Poulsen tried to skewer Wade while Wade defended with his dagger. The two continued to exchange blow after blow neither being able to cause a decisive injury. However, with his longer reach Poulsen had managed to keep Wade from going on the offensive and soon managed to make an opening. As he thrust his spear aiming to pierce Wade directly through the heart, Wade suddenly disappeared into the shadows only to reappear a distance away. Now that he was at a safer distance, he took out five throwing knives and started throwing them at Poulsen. Poulsen blocked each of the knives thrown at him and when he had just deflected the fourth one, he yelled. "DIE!" Before lunging his spear into the ground and the area Wade was standing froze into an ice pillar around eight feet tall encapsulating him.

"Ha I win, you may have ruined my life, but I ended yours, I may have to hide in the underworld now, but I can still live the life of a king."

While revealing in his apparent victory, Poulsen's face suddenly turned to horror when he watched the frozen body turn into shadows. Sensing danger behind him Poulsen hurriedly turned around to see the fifth throwing knife coming towards him. He managed to bring up his spear to block in the nick of time, before he started to chant a spell. At the same time Wade had also started chanting his own spell, unfortunately Poulsen finished his first, and a massive serpent made of water lunged towards Wade. Wade however, calmly kept chanting and threw a black orb towards the serpent. When the two met the orb sucked the serpent into it like a black hole before shattering, and in that moment, Wade finished his spell and the five daggers around Poulsen grew darker before pitch black chains erupted from them and entangling him.

"I am afraid it is you who have lost, had you just come quietly you may have been able to avoid a severe punishment because of your father's status, but trying to kill a royal investigator is likely to get you executed."

Poulsen then began to curse Wade and try to break out of his restraints, when he started a chant to cast a desperate spell the chains quickly moved to close his mouth canceling the spell. Soon the other members of Wades team came over and put more restraints around Poulsen until he was completely emasculated. Defeated and in chains Poulsen was dragged away from his manor that looked like it was now part of a war zone.

'Damn so that is what a battle between two higher level people looks like, they moved so fast I could barely see them, and the magic they were using makes my spells look like parlor tricks. That water serpent in particular was about the size of a semi-truck but Wade managed to deal with it easily using some type of magic item. I really wonder how strong I would have been if I had been level forty.'

While staring at the after math of the battle and thinking about the epic battle he just witnessed Marcus' attention shifted when he noticed Wade approaching. When Wade arrived in front of him, he took out a few items from a magic pouch on his belt and handed them to Marcus.

"Here you go, these documents have details on the slavers you have an interest in, and since you did such a good job you can have these as well. Here is that fire magic book you wanted, and this is a letter of recommendation from me. If you are ever interested in joining the royal investigators, go to the capital and find the investigators headquarters and show them this letter. Though right now your level is a bit low in the future you could make a great investigator. If you want to go to Loursend I recommend you join the adventures guild and find a job as a guard protecting a caravan. The road there is heavily traveled and many monsters and bandits attack people on the route. If you go alone at your level, you are bound to die. Well, it has been a pleasure doing business with you and I hope to see you again."

Marcus thanked Wade for the extra rewards before the two parted heading on their separate ways.