Chapter 18: Rescue

Chapter 18: Rescue

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Stamina Use: 35

Mana Use: 2416

[Level Up]

Skill Experience Earned

Extend Aura: 286

Purify: 528

Winter: 92

Amplify Aura: 286

Detection: 1200 [Rank Up]

Aura Focus: 24

Intrinsic Clarity: 2416 [Rank Up]

Attributes

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

Level 8

Experience: 2294/4118

Dynamo

Health

400

Stamina

200

Mana

400

Strength

20 [10]

Recovery

10

Endurance

10

Vigor

10

Focus

20 [10]

Clarity

100

Free Stat Points

0

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

400

400

0

0%

H.Regen

100

/day

100

/day

0

0%

Stamina

200

200

0

0%

S.Regen

100

/day

100

/day

0

0%

Mana

400

400

0

0%

M.Regen

447

/hr

350

/hr

-8/hr

30%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

10

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

1

0%

1

0%

1

The man fought him for a moment, then relaxed, slumping back to rest his head against the floor.

“Oww,” he said, weakly.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes as the adrenaline drained from Rain's system to be replaced by exhaustion and pain. He had acquired quite a number of bruises, and he was freezing from the icy water saturating his clothes. Purify had taken care of the mess, but it did nothing for the moisture.

Fucking hell, feels like I was flushed down a toilet, ugh.

Rain leaned in as he heard the man struggle to speak. “What?”

“...thank..you,” the man managed, weakly.

“Any time,” Rain replied, smiling in relief.

The injured man coughed out a weak laugh. Suddenly there was light as the orb returned to float around the man's head.

Rain watched as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing and holding his hand to his head as he inspected the damage.

“Are you ok?” Rain asked again, concerned.

“No,” the man replied, wincing, “I to .”

“Sorry, I don't know that word,” Rain said.

Damn language. At least if he is using sentences, he is probably fine.

“What?” the man asked.

“My language is not good. Sorry,” Rain replied.

“Oh. Well , I . Thank you,” the man said, scooting over to the wall and leaning against it to rest with his eyes closed.

Rain joined him, watching him carefully in case he passed out again. The man had dark skin with long, straight black hair tied back in a ponytail. He looked to be about Rain’s own age and his black robe was sodden from the water. He was clearly a mage of some sort if the glowing orb of light wasn't enough of a clue. There was a bronze adventurer's plate hanging from around his neck.

“Hello, my name is Rain,” Rain said, offering the man his hand.

The man took his hand and shook it, “Val,” he replied, then let his hand fall back to his side with a wet thump.

Rain paused to catch his breath at the top of the stairs, worn out from having hauled a semi-lucid Val all the way back to the entrance. The man could barely walk and Rain was already tired from the morning's exertion. Not knowing where else to bring him, Rain started towing Val towards the guild, their steps slow and plodding, both of them at their limits.

They had made it about halfway there when Rain suddenly felt the burden of the wounded man lessen. Looking up, he saw that a man wearing a boiled leather jacket had come up to the struggling pair and draped Val's other hand over his shoulder, supporting half of his weight.

He smiled as he saw Rain looking at him. “Where to?”

“Guild,” Rain managed. “Thank you.”

The three of them set off, Val barely managing to keep his feet moving at this point. They made better time with the stranger’s assistance, reaching the guild after a few minutes of walking. Rain turned to thank the man as he steadied Val on the steps of the guild, but to his surprise, he was gone. Rain searched the guild square with his eyes, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

What the? Where did he go? I didn't even get to thank him...

Val groaned, and Rain put the mystery out of his mind, pushing open the door to the guild hall and guiding the bedraggled man inside.

“Help!” Rain called out, causing a bit of a stir in the quest hall. A few people rushed over to their aid, helping the pair over to one of the benches. He guided Val down, then collapsed right next to him, his stamina totally spent. Rain saw one of the guild attendants disappear down a hallway as he was assaulted by a barrage of questions. He didn't answer, feebly waving them away and looking concernedly at Val, who had passed out again.

Soon, a man Rain didn't know appeared wearing Guild blue. He placed his hand against Val's head, giving a displeased grunt before repeating the motion on Rain. As he did so, Rain felt a pulse of foreign mana invade his body and sweep through it before returning to the man's hand.

What was that?

“What happened?” The man asked, staring at Rain.

“Sewers. I found him. We fell in the water. He hit his head.”

The man gave Rain a skeptical look. “Fell in the water? I don't think so. What did you do?” The man was fingering Rain's collar, which was of course clean. The fabric had even dried out during the slow journey back through the tunnels.

“Wallace, it’s fine. He is the one I told you about. The one who cleaned the Guild.”

Rain was relieved to hear Gus's voice as the portly man joined the circle of people surrounding them.

“Humph,” Wallace said. “OK, fine, I you. Healing is 20 Tel, stamina restoration is 10. Cough up.”

Hurriedly, Rain reached into his pocket for his vial of Tel. He knew he had enough to pay for healing after defeating the slimes. Not finding the vial, he checked his other pocket, then panicked, finding only the quest slip and nothing else.

Someone stole my money! I had it, I'm sure! It was still there after I got out of the water. I checked.

Rain slid off the bench to search the ground, hoping that he had dropped it somehow. The floor was bare, with no sign of the vial anywhere.

“No money, no healing,” the man called Wallace said impatiently. “Well?”

Rain pulled out his quest slip and threw it at the man, turning to check the pockets of Val's robe.

“What is this? A quest?” Wallace asked, handing the slip to Gus.

“Worth 10 Tel,” Gus informed him.

“Not enough for healing. You want stamina, boy?”

“No! Val needs...! He ... He can die!” Rain insisted, pointing at Val's limp form.

Fuck! His brain is probably swelling or something. Isn't that what happens with concussions?

“He won't die,” groused Wallace, turning away with a harrumph and disappearing into the crowd.

Dude! What the actual fuck?

Gus placed a hand on Rain's shoulder, steadying him.

“Don't worry. I will get him a bunk. Wallace him, it will be ok. You and you, come on.”

Gus called out two of the gathered observers, directing them to lift Val. He started leading them toward the bunk room. Rain climbed painfully to his feet and followed the pair carrying Val’s limp form.

“In there.” Gus stopped Rain and pointed him to one of the consultation rooms as the two adventurers maneuvered Val into the bunk room. Gus left them to it and followed Rain in, closing the door behind him. Rain slumped into a chair, the fight having gone out of him.

Taking a seat across the oval table from him, Gus gave Rain a level look. He waited for Rain's breathing to steady out, then spoke.

“What happened?”

“He was fighting... something. I... the sewer was... the water...” Rain searched for the words he needed, failing to find them as he tried to explain the situation. “Stopped!” he blurted, seizing on the word as it came to him. “The water was stopped by a... thing. I... broke the thing. Water came out and... we fall in. Val hit his head. I carry him here.”

“What was he fighting?”

“I don't know. Dark.”

“OK. Wait here,” Gus said, getting up and leaving Rain alone in the room.

Gus said he would be ok, and so did that guy Wallace. They wouldn't just let someone die, right? Charging for healing? What the hell is that? Do I need to buy fucking insurance now?

Gus returned to the room, hurriedly shutting the door behind him. He had a worried expression on his face as Rain looked up at him.

“Rain, the Guild is here,” Gus hissed in an urgent whisper. “Don't tell him anything about-”

Gus was cut off as the door to the room slammed open violently, rebounding off the wall. A huge man wearing blue enameled plate armor was standing in the doorway. He had the symbol of the guild embossed in the center of his breastplate in gold, as well as a golden adventurer's plate hanging around his neck. His rugged face seemed strangely familiar for some reason.

“Is this the one? Gus. Move,” the man spoke and Gus leaped to obey. The man came into the room, standing before Rain and regarding him coolly.

“Listen, I didn't hit him, he fell,” Rain said, starting to grow a bit concerned.

The armored man looked at Gus. “What is he saying?”

“He brought in a man who was hurt, Wallace says he will be fine.”

“I don't care,” replied the armored man, turning back to Rain. “You broke guild law.”

“What? I don’t...” Rain was caught off guard, having no idea what the man was talking about.

“You used magic in the city.”

“What? No, I just...”

“You did. You caused a disturbance in the square. An angry complained to the Watch, and the Watch complained to me.”

Is this about yesterday? Gus said it was fine, and none of the adventurers... Rain gulped. No, wait, he just said that it wasn’t against the rules of the city and that I was an idiot. What is ‘guild law’?

“Guild Law? What...” Rain asked.

“The guild is only in the city because we have a with the Watch. You made them call me. Guild law is what I say it is.”

“I just... It was only purify...”

“I don't care.”

“But...”

“I. Don't. Care.” the man cut him off. “Pay the , or get out. 500 Tel.”

“Five hundred!? Someone took my money! I can't, I don't have...”

“Then you are from the guild until you pay.”

Rain turned to Gus for help. Gus jumped as if remembering something, then handed the armored man the quest slip which Rain now noticed he was still carrying. The man glanced at it and snorted, crumpling it in a fist and tossing it onto the table.

“490 Tel. Out,” he said, standing to the side and pointing to the door. “Move, or I will move you.”

He scrambled to his feet and tried to protest, but as soon as he started to speak the man grabbed him by his shirt collar, tearing it slightly and lifting him off the ground. He bodily hauled him from the room and across the quest hall. Rain was helpless to resist the man's massive strength.

When he reached the door, he set Rain down, then tore his guild plate off of the leather cord around his neck along with a significant portion of his shirt. The man violently shoved him out the door. Rain stumbled and fell backward down the stairs to land hard on the ground. Rain cried out as he felt his leg twist under him, sending a sharp pain shooting up his spine. The door slammed and Rain was left sprawled on the cobblestone of the guild square in the twilight of the slowly setting sun.

The square was deserted as Rain laboriously pulled himself to his feet, wincing at the shooting pain in his leg. His health had dropped noticeably, and his stamina was practically empty. He waited, hoping Gus or someone else would come out to help him, but nobody came.

He must be stopping them. What the fuck is that guy's deal? A 500 Tel fine, just because someone complained to the Watch? That is insane! Purify is harmless! I didn't even break a real law! I saved that guy, too. He would have died down there if I hadn’t brought him out. That asshole didn’t even care!

Rain slowly limped across the square, heading for the city gates. He had learned from Jamus that the Watch's punishment for vagrancy was hard labor and he wasn't hopeful about his chances of convincing an innkeeper to let him stay for free in his bruised and battered state. He was too exhausted to go back to the sewer and hunt slimes until he had enough Tel to rent a bed.

He trudged his way through the city, passing several patrols of the Watch as the sun continued to set. He kept his head down and tried to walk without limping, not wanting to catch their attention. The guards let him out without comment when he reached the gate. There was still a bit of traffic despite the late hour, but people seemed to be giving him a wide berth as he limped down the road leading away from the city.

Rain was in no mood to try approaching one of the other travelers to beg shelter for the night. His opinion of humanity was riding pretty low at the moment, and he just wanted to find a safe spot to rest and lick his wounds. His thoughts had cooled a little bit, but he was still fuming. The target of his anger had shifted slightly, however.

Idiot, idiot, idiot! I should have known that using magic like that was a bad idea. I got greedy and I brought too much attention to myself. Damn it!

He kept himself going with sheer stubbornness until he found a low hedge running along the road, marking the border of some farmer's field. There was no sign of the Watch, so he got down on his knees and peered under the branches. He wriggled himself under the hedge until he was hidden from the road. He didn't want to have to explain what he was doing out here if a patrol came around, so he pulled himself deep into the hedge and tried to find a comfortable place to curl up for the night.

Rain shivered from the cool air as he closed his eyes, thoughts spiraling in a dark vortex of anger and self-reproach.

My pack was in the guild. That asshole has my blanket.