The Abandoned Sorcerer

by Nefarious

  Joiroa nodded at Smith.

  “Does he understand the common tongue?” Smith asked, curious over the man’s appearance.

  “I have learned the simple parts,” Joiroa answered.

  Smith stared wide-eyed, before shaking his head in disbelief. “Wow, I think we need to sit down and talk someday. Anyway, back to the matter, how were your Awakenings?”

  “They went alright, as well as any other,” Kora answered.

  “Which Elixirs did you two drink?”

  “Djinn and Barghest,” Orion answered.

  The gentle smile across Smith’s face washed away at this, his expression tightening into a scowl. He seemed to be in thought for several moments, before turning back to the trio. “It must be serious then… What news did Jowler ask you to send?”

  “The Tribes have made some ground into the Zakari’s land, and the Metoles are leaving to the frontlines. Jowler’s left from Kajan for that reason, since the Horsemen will soon take over, and the Seekers there have gone to Petrosa for the time being. Then they’re going to Edge’s End for the Seeker’s Summit,” Kora explained.

  “And he said he’ll put a stick up your arse if we aren’t there,” Orion added, chuckling a little.

  Smith shook his head with a good-humoured smile. “That sounds like him. I guess that means you two have little time to become 5-stars. Though, that should be easy; I can only imagine what kind of monsters you are now. So, head outside and get going on a contract now, I don’t want Jowler handling me,”

  Minutes later, the trio, or more accurately, duo, were scouring the contracts board as Joiroa spied the other Seekers around with interest. They eventually agreed on one about a Lich, mainly because it was reported to be a week’s distance away.

  They spent the night at The Fat Munch, Orion paying for Joiroa’s room, before setting off at dawn with new horses.

  ****

  Orion gazed over the passing fields from his horse with relative disinterest, vaguely wishing to go back in time to Kajan. As tough and mind-breaking as the exercises had been, it had also fulfilled him in a way, taking his thoughts away from vengeance and head-hunting.

  “You two are of great clans?” Joiroa said out of the blue, bringing both of them out of their thoughts.

  “Yeah. Did Jowler tell you that?” Kora said.

  During their trip from Kajan to Visgamar and now this one, Joiroa had stayed quiet on the whole. While Orion’s curiosity had been piqued when Jowler had mentioned Joiroa was on a mission, he had kept off asking him, after all, he knew all too well how painful it was to talk about matters like that. He had only ever told Kora what had happened, and that was because he had been close to having a breakdown. If Joiroa’s wounds and former prison cell were anything to judge by, Orion knew it was best the foreigner opened on his own terms.

  “He told me you two were from famous, very large clans,” Joiroa explained.

  Orion laughed at this, Joiroa staring wide-eyed at him while Kora rolled her eyes at him. “Close but you missed the mark. My House is dead – I’m the last one,”

  The foreigner didn’t respond for a few moments as if taking in the meaning. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,”

  Orion waved his hand at Joiroa, gesturing it was of no matter.

  “Jowler told me you two could help me. I’m new to this… Empire place,” Joiroa continued.

  Orion laughed again, interrupting once more. “I think everyone figured that out!”

  Joiroa chuckled at this, “Yes, you all look sickly. But some of my people are sick in the head, seriously sick,”

  He paused, keeping the two Seekers on hook. “I was on a ship, the…” he pointed to the ground, then to the sky, “stars, travel, direction”

  “Navigator?” Kora said.

  “Yes, navigating. We were on a mission to find new ground, a new place to take control off. By Shale’s grace, we came to this Empire’s coast after a year at sea. But, but,” he stopped there, his eyes glazing over. “But one man, Shrien, he had other contacts, people he was promised to. He and others tried to kill the rest of us – I was one to escape, perhaps only one to escape. But something happened, because I was found by a Maegi who put me on a ship and spoke your tongue, demanding something off me. Then, you rescued me,” Joiroa said, a weight lifting off his chest.

  Orion pondered over the matter. It seemed Shrien, one of the ship’s mates, had another allegiance, due to which he had attacked the rest of the crew. Joiroa had escaped but had been caught by a mage later, likely the fat woman he had killed on the Saltrock’s ship. And if Joiroa’s ship had been searching for new land to colonise, it made sense Shrien and his men had made a violent ruckus in the area after the backstabbing, most likely attracting the Mage Guild’s attention.

  In turn, they had sent one of their own, who had caught Joiroa and possibly interrogated him ever since then. This was the version that made sense in Orion’s head, although he was still unsure on many parts, the biggest being where the hell was Joiroa’s homeland and how come the Empire had never heard of it?

  “Ok,” Kora said, her expression pensive. Orion figured she was trying to make a link between Shrien and Yhaoli, after all, the monster king seemed to have a talent spreading the idea of betrayal.

  “Jowler said you both could help me since you have wide power,” Joiroa said, explaining his point.

  “Wait, what do you want us to help you with? Killing Shrien and the rest of the backstabbers?”

  Joiroa’s red ovals seemed all the more brighter now, a hot anger rising inside him. “No, not for that. They attack us because they didn’t want to make any peaceful trade, instead they want to attack here,”

  “So we’ve got a year of time to prepare? I reckon we can do that,” Kora said, smiling at Orion.

  “No, no, no. They have a Maegi. He makes wide doors in the sky, really powerful. They let men skip land and water,” Joiroa said.

  Orion felt his body freeze over at this. The only things that could let people skip land were portals, and they certainly couldn’t be made by man. But what if they could be? He considered the possibility, his beginning in Visgamar suddenly popping back up. He had somehow travelled from the west of the Empire to the east in too short a time frame to be possible, even with portals.

  But if someone could artificially make them…

  Orion realised the reason’s Joiroa’s eyes had seemed brighter wasn’t due to anger, but rather fear, the same fear he felt now.

  43. 5-stars

  * * *

  They came upon the abandoned village at dawn, golden light cascading down the skies.

  After further questioning, the Seekers had gained a better picture of Joiroa’s problem. It turned out the Maegi would need a lot of raw materials to make the portal. Joiroa predicted this would take about a year, although that depended on Shrien and his party’s luck and haste. When asked about the materials needed, the foreigner had told the Seekers of many ingredients through gruesome description. Orion hoped this meant more of the Guilds would hear of Shrien’s party and wipe them out, but upon hearing a description of Shrien’s strength, he wasn’t so hopeful anymore.

  “We should look around,” Kora said, hopping off her horse.

  The other two agreed, following her.

  “Remember, when we run into the Lich, run,” Orion said to Joiroa.

  The dark man nodded; he knew he wasn’t cut out for violence.

  As they entered the village, the Seekers started searching for clues. By the rotten food they found in houses and the date listed on the contract, they guessed the Lich had been here for almost a month. That was plenty of time to set up a trap, and considering it was a Lich, it had definitely holed up somewhere with traps outside.

  They discovered plenty of blood tracks that led to nothing, but these were enough for Kora to catch the scent. She followed the trail the corpses had taken, leading them into the neighbouring forest.

  The forest was quite ordinary in terms of the aged trees
and the overwhelming variety of foliage around, but what immediately set it apart from others was the lack of sound. The wind breezed past but it carried with it no animal calls, chilling the party over. Still, this didn’t stop them from following the blood scent, and after trekking through the forest for an hour, the party came upon a cave in a hillside.

  Kora threw her pack off and transformed, the Cruorem signature three black talons across her neck and arched horns from hairline to ears becoming apparent. Her skin became red-tinted and her muscles grew thicker and more sinuous. Joiroa stared wide-eyed at her, his body tensing up. When she pointed at him, he got the cue and led his horse away with shaky steps.

  A few steps into the cave, Orion could smell the blood and rotten flesh as clear as day. It was humid inside and the stench was bad enough to twist and turn stomachs. It was also as dark as night but they knew the Lich’s lab would be lit up considering Lichs couldn’t see in total darkness either.

  Minutes later, when he glimpsed the dim light in the distance, Orion felt an adrenaline rush, his body trembling with anticipation. This was a 5-star monster, something neither of them had considered fighting before their Awakening, but six months later and here they were. He had fought alongside Kora for long enough to recognise she was similarly excited.

  They sneaked into the Glubber’s lamp-lit cavern but straightened as they noticed the Lich staring at them, or at least they assumed it was staring their way since it didn’t move. It was hard to tell as it was eyeless, and in fact, fleshless. The Lich wore dirty robes over its skeletal form and had a sword in its hand.

  “It looks as if Fexa has finally heard my prayers,” it joked, “I asked for new subjects and here they come, as clueless as possible,”

  Orion smirked at this, an ice barrier sprouting around him and Kora. Just in time too as hundreds of projectiles barraged into it, chipping at it but failing to break through as the barrier grew thicker. Orion hadn’t moved from the start – he simply commanded the ice now.

  “Oh my, forgive my theatrical side,” the Lich said, its ribcage heaving up and down as it faux laughed. “If I’m right, I spy with my eyes a young Zakari, and, a Vampire? What is this beast you command, young Zakari?”

  The ice barriers shattered, and Kora sprinted, leaping to strike at the Lich. However, she rebounded of a golden barrier before she could snap the Lich’s bones. There were crack-marks across the barrier but the Lich seemed unconcerned as it pointed at Kora. Toxic liquid sprayed at where she stood and it followed her as she ran, never quite hitting her as she moved faster.

  Meanwhile, Orion yawned and looked around the cavern. He noted several skeletons and other ghastly Frankenstein monsters in the corner, sneaking through a sapphire pool towards them. It seemed the Lich had wanted to swiftly deal with them through the projectile trap, and if that didn’t work, through its creations sneaking up on them while they were distracted by its barrier.

  He lifted his left hand at them, it vibrating as he focused on the skeletons. The one he had in his sight began to tremble, then dropped into the water, splashing loudly and ruining any chance of sneaking up on Kora. The Lich and Kora turned just in time to see the skeleton explode, bone shards shooting across the cavern.

  “GET OFF THEM, ZAKARI!” the Lich roared.

  Orion had no clue what the monster expected from such a request but he carried on anyway, slowly exploding its creations even as the Lich ordered them to sprint and kill him. When they got too close for comfort, he made the surface under them into ice, several spears sprouting from the ground. His ice had gotten much tougher than before his Awakening and it showed as the spears trapped the creations to the spot. While a few managed to wriggle out, he no longer cared as he turned to the Lich.

  The Lich had been bombarding him with spells and curses all the while dancing with Kora, only to fail each time as his ice barrier blocked any attempts at his life. Bending down, Orion placed his left hand on the ground and focused, feeling the earth’s pulse wash over him. He pinpointed the Lich’s position and released waves towards the area, the ground around the Lich rapidly rising until it swallowed him, momentarily trapping him.

  Taking a deep breath, Orion created several ice spears that shot towards the Lich. Each of them deepened the cracks Kora had made until one broke through, piercing through the Lich’s bones. As the monster rushed to restore the barrier, more and more spears flew in, quickly toppling the Lich into a pile of bones.

  Orion shook his head in disbelief while wiping the sheen of sweat off his forehead. “Just magic – I’m surprised I actually did it,”

  Kora walked up to the pile of bones and crushed the glowing core under her feet, sending the Lich to his second grave. “You got lucky it was such a bonehead,”

  He chuckled, then felt bad about laughing over such an easy shot. “You’re just jealous I did him in,”

  “I didn’t even use my skills,” Kora said, “Besides, it’d have been different if he had blood,”

  “Pfft, sure sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he said.

  For some inconceivable reason, she didn’t find this funny as she threw the Lich’s skull at his face.

  He barely dodged this strike at his life. “Stop desecrating the dead and sweep up his core,”

  ****

  Smith inspected the shards dumped on his table. “Well, I guess you two really are monsters now,” he eventually said, digging in his drawers until he came out with two golden badges.

  The golden badges had the number 5 engraved on them and a button on top. When the button was pressed, they let out lightworks showing the Seeker’s logo, the silhouette holding a sword. 5-star Seekers weren’t the sort to lose their badges and considering the other guilds couldn’t craft them, it made them effective identification.

  “Are you two going to try a 6-star contract now?” Smith asked.

  Orion looked at Kora. “Naa, I don’t see any reason to. I’m thinking of splurging all the money I’ve made on some quality stuff, then leaving for Edge’s End,”

  She nodded.

  “Good kids. I better see you two go for 6-star and 7-star eventually though. Maybe one of yous will also be the first 8-star in a century,” Smith said.

  They talked for a few more minutes, before the eye-patched Seeker shooed the trio off.

  Downstairs, Orion took half the money he had in his account from Maya, got back at her for all the times she had teased him, then left the building with Kora and Joiroa. It was while walking across Hexham’s road they spotted a thin and tall man seemingly waiting for them. He walked up to them and faced Orion.

  “Are you Jax Whyte, sir?”

  “What of it?” he replied.

  “My Madame would like a word with you…”

  44. Setting up guilt

  * * *

  “Madame Rischei?” Orion asked, curious what such a problematic big-wig would want with him.

  “The same,” the thin man replied.

  “Did she also ask for a certain female Seeker by the name of Kora?” asked Kora.

  “She didn’t,” the thin man said.

  “Right,” Orion glanced over Kora and Joiroa and nodded at them. “Lead the way,”

  ****

  Lying with his feet up, Orion waited as the serving maid dropped plums the size of berries into his mouth. In truth, he wasn’t sure whether to call her a maid, after all, she wore a translucent veil over her torso, her full-figured breasts in clear view. She wore a cloudy short-skirt and dark leggings. The rest of her body was bare to see, her skin smooth and tanned.

  The thin man had led Orion to this most reputable building, which was obviously a brothel, and obviously a deliberately chosen location. He had passed by many a girl and man on his way up to the top floor, multiple naked girls teasing him along the way and even some who had just finished pleasuring their customer.

  Even now while sitting on the recliner sofa, he could tell the maid was teasing him, at times accidentally hiking up her skirt and once e
ven swallowing a plum in the most peculiar way he had ever seen. Still, he would be lying if he said it didn’t arouse him, and he knew just as well as her that he had pitched a tent in his trousers. Yet she ignored it and never went past teasing him – she had been ordered to frustrate him, not pleasure him.

  “Jax, please come in,” a honey-like voice called from behind the door. He figured it was Madame Rischei and yet he couldn’t make any sense of it as he remembered her voice to be artificially sweet, not this alluring.

  The serving maid smiled and helped him up, accidentally loosening her veil and skirt, her goods in clear sight. She sweetly smiled as if it was off no matter while he frowned at her actions, simultaneously feeling his bulge growing.

  Walking through the door, he was relieved to see the Madame wasn’t in similar attire. She was dainty and wore a dark jacket and skirt pair. She wore makeup on her face but even that couldn’t hide her age.

  “Take a seat,” she said. She sat on a chair with another in front. The room had sunlight beaming through the window and a bookshelf to the side and portraits on the wall, but was otherwise bare.

  Seating himself, Orion didn’t try to hide his boner. He knew her eyes had already taken a full inventory of his body and had planned everything from the start.

  “Oh my, you look uncomfortable. You could relieve yourself with one of my girls, you know? Any of my girls,”

  He shook his head, forcing his face into a passive expression.

  She smiled in response as if already seeing through his tactic. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you here?”

  “Yeah, it’s about time you told me,” Orion said, biting harder than he meant to.

  “Calm, Tiger. Prematurity is never a good sign in my industry,” she said.

  “I insist,” he replied, realising his boner wasn’t going down even as his anger flared up. Had she laced the plums with something? Should he have been more careful?

  “Well, I can’t deny such a forceful man. It’s simple, a business deal. See, I want to know what’s happening at the Seeker’s Summit,” she said.