บท 4: Chapter 4 - Confrontations at Pinewallow

Locki was currently very conflicted. He watched as Kagura carefully followed him while she carried the bag with all their supplies. Her bone-thin legs trembled, shaking like a tree in the wind as she struggled to match his pace.

Yet, where any other child would have given up, she continued. Gastly floated nearby, using its body to stop her from falling over while she swayed back and forth. Locki was more concerned with her insistence to be of use to him, and he grew annoyed at how slow of a pace they walked at, yet at the same time, he held a startled sigh at how much talent she was exhibiting.

Most people would see magical talent as how strong their magic was and how much magic they had in general. However, Locki had many books that detailed quite the contrary. Instead of magic itself, talent was easier measured in how strong the body of the mage was.

Just like how different people had different body types. How some were naturally stronger than others. Mages who had impressive physical abilities were most often considered stronger because a stronger vessel let more magic flow through their body.

If Locki could compare magic and a mage's body, then magic would be a rushing stream of water while the body would be the pipes that the stream had to flow through. For someone like him with weak talent, his pipes were weak and crooked. He could put in effort to make them stronger, but that would take a phenomenal amount of time to just get to the starting point of other mages.

For Kagura, her metaphorical pipes were akin to metals tempered by a master blacksmith. She had so much talent that Locki felt pain just looking at her. Because even with her weakened and damaged body, she still was able to carry a load that he considered quite heavy for the entire journey to the town.

Locki felt both annoyed and impressed at the sheer determination and talent she displayed.

However, he rushed forwards as her body pitched suddenly and collapsed in front of him. He caught her with an exhausted huff, struggling with the sudden weight. Kagura's breaths came out in short, heavy bursts, and he carefully removed the pack from her arms. Her hazel eyes looked up at him from his arms before she closed them.

He sighed as he adjusted her sleeping body in his arms. With his charge now completely exhausted, he decided against immediately going to meet the ones who issued the mission. Instead, he wandered around the town with Gastly in his shadow, looking for an inn for Kagura to rest in.

The town of Pinewallow was a fairly small town, or large village depending on who you asked, like he had expected. He guessed that he only needed an hour or two to circle around the entire place, but the buildings and infrastructure were fairly well built and maintained. Cobblestone paths and clean stone walls were all he found throughout his scouting.

They were clear signs of magic being used, and he frowned as he found people milling about. It was odd. He felt there should be more discomfort and wariness in their actions with the information of a Vulcan pack nearby.

The maintained roads and buildings were another point of concern. He knew signs of magic being used, and the town reeked of it. Moreover, the cobblestone seemed to have the same technique used everywhere, meaning that it was done by a single person. However, someone proficient enough to keep a town in order would definitely be able to handle a Vulcan pack.

Locki wrinkled his face under the faceplate, glancing around in a way that didn't give away his suspicion. He was experienced in multitudes of scams that Evermont had, and he had developed a sixth sense for things that seemed more than they appeared.

Pinewallow stank of something lurking behind the scenes.

As that information set in his head, Locki turned straight towards the inn he had passed a couple minutes ago. He had looked around and found no other indication that there were other inns in the town– a fairly common fact for small towns, though.

The inn itself had well-maintained stone walls set in a wooden frame. Several levels could be seen, and he counted a total of six floors based on the windows of the place. The door was oddly replaced with an open stone arch that he made note of, seeing hidden uses of magic in its make.

"Oh! Another traveler, we're getting plenty of you'uns around here." In the inn, Locki took note of a wide room and stone floors. A couple of women eyed him as they sat at wooden tables in one corner, facing open windows so that sunlight could illuminate them. Near the tables, an elderly woman smiled in his direction behind a wooden counter.

That smile turned a little apprehensive as they took in his armored visage. He didn't blame that reaction; Locki knew just how intimidating his height could be, but that was basically the only thing threatening about him.

"A single room for one night." Locki said roughly. His focus was split between the women who were now looking between him and Kagura who was still asleep in his hands.

"That'll be-"

"Hey buddy, get two rooms. We'll pay for the girl's own one." One of the women stood up, making their way over to him.

Locki felt a little off balance at such a confrontation. He turned to face them, regarding the three of them. The two of them who sat at the table looked similar to his age while the woman who stood up looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

He zeroed in on her, presuming her to be the leader. And considering that the other two just glared at him from their table, he assumed that they shared the same opinions.

The woman had long, green hair that he paid more attention to. There were small bumps hidden within his curls, suggesting some type of magic in place. His attention shot around their bodies before he found what he was looking for, a Magic Guild insignia. An "M" with a couple of ribbons that entwined around it.

He pursed his lips immediately. Mermaid Heel. A woman only guild that advocated strongly for female mages to join them. They were annoying at best, but downright antagonistic against men in worst cases.

Locki tried to keep the scowl off his face at the unnecessary attention they could draw. He could guess they were here to complete the same mission– a case that wasn't as uncommon as one might think. With plenty of Magic Guilds, there were cases where two separate guilds applied to the same mission. They would either work together or competitively.

In his case, he supposed that he needed to speed up his time tables.

"If you want her, wait till she wakes up." Locki said, moving over to sit at one of the tables. The green haired woman stared him down as he sat down at the table across from them, but the teenage members flinched at the sounds his armor made.

"Fine." the green-haired woman acquiesced. She shot worried glances at Kagura as Locki laid her down across two separate chairs. "How did she get in such a state?"

Locki tensed as she sat down across from him. The air was thick with enough tension as it was, and Gastly, sensing that something interesting was happening, wanted to come out. The young guild master rested his foot on top of the Pokemon, forcing it back into his shadow before it could make the situation worse.

"She is an escaped slave." Locki answered truthfully. He knew that lying in front of a mage was a dangerous topic, especially when he didn't quite know what her magic did. "I picked her up earlier today and offered her a place in my guild."

One of the girls at the other table sneered in his direction, but she quieted down when both he and the green-haired woman shot her a glance. The woman turned her attention back to him. "And what are your intentions with accepting her?"

Locki scowled behind his faceplate. This was just a plain interrogation, and he grew more annoyed at how pushy the woman was getting. "Are you the only one allowed to ask questions? I think that [I should be able to ask questions, too]."

The woman visibly tensed before relaxing. "Right, I suppose I was being too confrontational. I hope you can see it from my point of view. As you might have been able to tell, we are from Mermaid Heel. My name is Phe Copper." she gestured to the girls behind her, pointing to the one with short, brown hair first and the one with half her red hair shaved on one side next. "These are my proteges– Jingnan Chusa and Izzy Sushu."

Locki relaxed a bit, wondering if his magic actually helped him for once. He nodded in their direction. "Hello, call me L. I'm from Scarlet hand."

"I've…never heard of that guild before." Phe said, narrowing her eyes at him. "In fact, why don't you remove your helmet? Surely you have nothing to hide."

He knew he was being slightly unhelpful by not giving them his name, but he felt his caution was warranted. After all, his recently acquired Curse worked proportionally to the amount of information he had on the target. He would be a fool if he ended up against someone with a similar magic after knowing that it existed.

"I am not too trusting, Miss Phe." Locki said, pausing as he felt Kagura squirm next to him.

Both him and the Mermaid Heel members found the little girl trembling with hot tears coming down her cheeks slowly. She shivered, reaching out with tiny hands.

"Simon… Simon…" she whispered softly.

Locki frowned at the name. He assumed it was someone from her family; maybe someone also captured by the same slavers who took her. The guild master felt that maybe they were still trapped in wherever she had been kept. It certainly fit with her reason for wanting to grow stronger.

Seeing that the girl was stuck in her nightmare, Locki let the armor around his hand fold back into itself, letting only his right hand escape from his rune armor. Carefully, he let Kagura grab his hand. Her clammy fingers roughly clasped around three of his own, squeezing them hard enough that he worried they might break. However, he served his purpose as the girl stopped twisting in her sleep.

"Sorry about that," Locki said without meaning it, looking back up at the conflicted face of Phe. "Where were we?"

The teen felt a bit of satisfaction as the woman sighed heavily. "I apologize again, L… It seems I am a little too paranoid lately."

Locki pursed his lips, picking up on something more in that sentence. "Paranoid, hmm? How long have you-" he glanced at the old woman at the inn's desk who was paying unnatural amounts of attention to their table without turning his head. The teen had been keeping her in his sights throughout the conversation, and he noted several times where she had an odd glazed over look in her eyes. "I suppose we're probably here for the same mission, though."

Phe took the chance to change the subject happily. "Maybe. Are you here for the Vulcan pack as well?"

"Yes, I intend to look for them tomorrow." Locki said. He caught the innkeeper flinch while she assumed no one had their eyes on her. Like that, the uneasy feeling he had the entire time started to make sense.

Now, he felt this mission looked much more difficult.

[Urgent! Guild Quest "Rank" has been updated]

"Fuck…" Locki cursed under his breath. At this point, he wondered if that old hag, Lon, was trying to kill him or the information was just that fucked.

"Are you going to include your… guild mate with you?" Phe asked, keeping her eyes on the sleeping Kagura.

Locki was going to answer affirmative, but paused purposely. He had seen Kagura's [Earthland Magic – None], and if her strength wasn't any indication of talent, then that would certainly be it.

Normally when a mage unlocked their Magic Container, they gained an intrinsic understanding over what people called a mages' "magic affinity." This was basically tied to the specific magic that a mage could use immediately and have the most success in learning. For example, a mage who had a fire magic affinity would normally be able to use more fire, elemental or offensive magics.

This coincided with a specific phenomenon that was also called "magic mutability." It was how different from their affinity a mage could potentially dabble in. For some, they could only cast fire magics, and others could branch out to wildly different magics without a problem. It was the same with Locki. His magic mutability was phenomenally low, leading to the situation where he was forced to use only support-type magics.

That was why a mage who had no special affinity was perhaps the most potent. They basically were a blank canvas, and as such, they could learn any and every magic they could get their hands on. Blank Mages, many books called them. A highly sought after mage in any and every case.

And Kagura was one such Blank Mage. They were rare, but not as much as one might think. Instead, they normally appeared as mages that learned a bunch of different magics since they didn't have a restriction.

That was a mistake.

Locki had read over tonnes of excerpts of Blank Mages. With as much talent as they had, most of them wasted it by trying to branch out too much. Many of them failed to realize the absurdities that Blank Mages could be. It was why Locki had vehemently refused to teach Kagura any magic just yet. Because, while it was true that Blank Mages could learn all magics, the bigger thing to focus on was that they could color their own blank canvas themselves with colors that never existed.

Essentially, Blank Mages could create their own magic.

Now, as Locki grew increasingly clear that this mission was a trap in and of itself, he knew that protecting Kagura was almost impossible when he was in danger himself. The best option was to use the Tier 2 Gold Prism and hope that whoever he summoned was strong enough to help him.

However, that option relied too much on luck for his taste. There was a question whether they would stay and whether they were strong enough to help. Instead Locki found himself switching his gaze between Kagura and Gastly who was still in his shadow.

His summoning of his ghost Pokemon was a bit enlightening on their apparent nature. The ball of gas had bonded to him, for a word. It wasn't quite as deep as a mage's familiar animal, but it was similar enough to what he read about that the differences could be waved over.

Locki had no illusions on Gastly's strength. The little ball of poisonous gas was a terrifying enemy all things considered. It could go intangible, release plumes of noxious gas, presumably hypnotize its opponents and hide in 2D shadows. The amount of different abilities it had was enough to send a chill down Locki's spine if it weren't for its happy-go-lucky attitude.

All that meant was that whatever Pokemon were they were a potent partner who were strong in their own right. If he could combine that with Kagura's potential as a Blank Mage, Locki was fairly sure that the girl might create her own magic.

It was a shot in the dark, and quite frankly, Locki was worried what would happen on the off chance of failure. Still, with his uncertainties of the situation, he felt that this was the best consideration he could offer for Kagura without actively putting her in a steel box or leaving her to Mermaid Heel.

He shot a glance to the seemingly oblivious girl mages across from him and their leader. Locki hoped he was just being paranoid about them not having any clue, but he'd be shooting himself in the foot if he assumed they knew this was a trap and then they didn't.

With that in mind, Locki stopped his staring contest with the fidgeting Phe.

"I am thinking of leaving her here while we finish the mission." Locki said easily after a lengthy pause.

Phe sighed as the ghost of a smile came across her lips. If she did know what was happening, she'd pick up on what he meant. "Then perhaps we should leave our proteges here while we take care of the mission? While this would be a good way for them to build experience, I think that we should split the work, okay?"

Locki narrowed his eyes at her offer. "Sure. Should we keep them all in the same room while you take me to see the mission giver?"

"Yes, I had assumed you already met it. He's a rather well-spoken man for the village, so I had thought you already met him before looking for lodging."

Like that, Locki breathed an internal sigh of relief at her words. Phe definitely had her suspicions, or else she wouldn't have used the word "it" instead of "him," so he felt that she was at least not completely blind to the situation. He felt like her earlier questions were also probing if he was secretly in the Vulcan pack as well.

"Should I just include your guild member in the same room as the others, then?" The innkeeper took the moment to speak up.

Locki inclined his head in her direction. Phe nodded her head. "Sure, let's do it."

"Great! Its great that we can have another proficient mage to ease the mission." Phe said happily, clapping her hands to gather the attention of her guildmates. "Say, how about we all go to plan right now? Or did you want to rest before?"

Attack now or wait, Locki mused internally. The woman certainly knew how to hide her intentions from Vulcans. He knew that they wouldn't be able to Take-Over everyone in the village, so they probably only targeted the important figures or locations that were the most important.

In addition, Vulcans weren't that smart. Unless it was a lone Vulcan that was leading a pack to take over a town, which Locki felt was the worst case scenario.

"I guess we should rest first. K is clearly exhausted, so I want her to get a good rest."

"Ah, I.. did not think of that." Phe apologized.

Locki waved off the mage of Mermaid Heel, gathered the key to his room and took Kagura with him. Behind him, he could tell that the woman had begun doing the same for the girls.

They acted separately, hoping that they didn't seem too coordinated. Locki kept himself together as he unlocked his room, set down the sleeping Kagura and promptly collapsed on the stone floor. His heart was pounding in his chest as blood rushed to his head.

He felt his armor retract into the bracer on his arm as his fingers ran through his hair. His breathing picked up as smog began pooling out of his shadow. Gastly bumped against his chest, causing him to jump in a panic.

"Fuck, shit, dammit…" Locki cursed as silently as he could.

He had kept himself up by sheer willpower, but that quickly waned as he learned more and more about his situation. Locki wanted to punch something and scream.

"This is 'not that hard.'" Locki mocked Lon's words. "Fuck… this is too much for a first mission. Vulcans are such bullshit."

"Gas…" Gastly bumped into his chest as the teen hugged the poison gas ball tightly.

"Okay, I'm okay." Locki let out a shaky breath, taking out a small notebook and pen to write notes for Kagura. He had no idea when she would wake up, so he didn't want to take the chance that she would miss him before she woke up.

With his warning written, he pulled out the Tier 2 Gold Prism. He looked deeply at Gastly that hovered nearby, and felt this was the best decision he could make at the moment.

[Do you want to use "Tier 2 Gold Prism" to summon a random Guild Member?]

[Warning! Guildmaster must get the summon's approval before their presence is cemented into the world]

[Targeting system locating nearby nodes]

[One dimensional node found]

[Would you like to use "Member – Gastly" as a node?]

"Are there more fart bubbles like you in there?" Locki asked, staring hard at Gastly. The Pokemon sent its tongue at him, forcing him to dodge. "Right right, well, as they say… fuck it."

The Gold Prism disappeared, and immediately the light Lacrima in the room began flickering. Locki ignored his surroundings as he stared at the air that rippled violently this time. Gastly backed up, bumping into Locki as the two watched whatever was coming through.

Suddenly, the point of a blade poked through the air, appearing as it had just stabbed through some barrier. It sliced downwards, tearing open a large opening in the air to reveal what Locki could only call an infinite darkness. In the distance, he saw waterfalls flowing sideways and islands floating upside down.

In the middle of the tear to the foreign dimensions, a katana floated point-down alongside an ornate red sheathe. A long, red and gold tassel extended from its handle, wrapping around the sheathe like a hand. In the middle of its hilt, Locki found a bloodshot eye staring right into his own.

"Wha-"

Before Locki could speak, the point of the katana was at his throat. The sharp edge poked against his adam's apple, drawing a bit of blood as he swallowed. Gastly was then floating in front of him. The ball of poison was no longer laughing or chuckling. It actively hissed in the direction of the katana.

"Gas! Gas!" His little ball of poisonous spite glared at the other Pokemon with more rage than he had seen in the entire time he had seen it. Unbidden, Locki remembered all the times he cursed the little Pokemon and how its description changed so easily.

He felt his heart twist a little as he watched the Pokemon ward off the murderous sword.

"Hone…" the katana's voice didn't echo like he thought it would. Instead, it was sharp and ringing, almost like when his armor unfolded.

Though, despite the language barrier, Locki could still tell what it wanted. The Pokemon wanted a companion. Someone who matched its desires, and as he looked at the screen that popped up, Locki felt that he gained a better understanding of the Honedge.

[Honedge]

A ghost/steel Pokémon who inhabited the sword of a wayward ronin. Has inherited the desire to serve a lord who matches its dreams.

Best Abilities: [Swords Dance], [Slash]

Mood: [Determined]

Bond: 0%

"Hone!" Honedge enunciated again, angrily.

"Gas!" Gastly retorted.

"I feel like I am losing my mind." Locki moaned. He looked at the angry Pokemon, wondering if he should even let it near Kagura in the first place. "Look Honedge, you want a lord to serve, right?"

Honedge twitched in his direction. Locki felt his words were being understood behind that angry eye. Feeling a bit guilty, Locki tried not to think of the times he ignored Gastly after he thought it couldn't understand him.

The teen shook his head as he addressed the murderous Pokemon. "I am assuming I don't fit your criteria."

"Hone!" the Pokemon gave what Locki thought was acknowledgement.

"And, if I am getting this right, means you will kill me?"

"Hone!"

Locki sighed. Because of course not all Pokemon are like Gastly. Honestly, his luck was shitty in the first place, so he should have seen this coming after getting possibly the only Pokemon that might be nice. If they were all like Honedge, Locki pitied anyone who ran across them.

"Can you.. You know, not do that?"

"Hone!"

"I… have no idea what that means." Locki said sincerely. He looked in Kagura's direction for a moment. While this was his decision in the first place, he didn't trust the murderous ghost sword for a moment with her. He knew he was only taking care of her for a little while, but he'd be damned if he let the sword near her without some assurances.

He scrapped his plan about getting Kagura a Pokemon for her Blank magic, but that didn't mean he'd give up on Honedge. He had used a Tier 2 Gold Prism on it after all. If it was going to be a murderous little bastard, then he was going to turn that on his enemies.

"How about this, okay? You [join my guild]– not me!" Locki hurriedly added as Honedge looked about to take a go on his neck. "You join me, and I promise to find you a lord who matches your preferences. I doubt you'd find anyone back in your…" Locki looked at the odd and confusing world behind the Pokemon. "Home?"

"Edge…" Honedge seemed to debate on his words for a second before it sheathed itself. The floating katana hovered over to him and bumped his right hand, right over the Scarlet Hand tattoo on his palm.

Behind it, the world slowly disappeared as if it hadn't been there in the first place. Locki let out a breath he had been holding as he looked at his newest Member. Honedge was a much more intimidating Pokemon than Gastly, and from how close he came to meeting an unfortunate end, Locki felt it reassuring that it was on his side.

Tentatively, at least.

Locki offered a look at Gastly, finding its tongue lolling out of its mouth like a dog. He paused for a moment before bringing a hand to pat its round body. "T- thanks… gods that feels so weird to say."

Finally, Locki laid down in the floor and wondered how the fuck he got into this mess. A knock on the door interrupted his moment of rest, and the voice of Phe sounded out from the hallway.

"Are you ready, L?"

Locki scoffed. Not at all. He doubted he'd be ready for a normal Vulcan pack, much less this anomaly he found himself in. "Yeah, let's go meet the leader."

The young guild master felt that he was thinking too conservatively. Honedge had once again informed him of how shitty his luck was. Based on that, Locki was fairly confident that they were facing the worst case scenario no matter how unlikely that sounded.

After all, the facts were weird in the first place. A Vulcan pack that had Taken-Over two mages and so close to such a small town would have caused such a town to run for the hills. Instead, the town was still inhabited and accepting incoming mages who wanted to complete the mission. With how long the Magic Council took to update some missions, he was fairly certain that no one would have noticed anything wrong for another month or two. By then, the Vulcans would have Taken-Over a ton of mages to be considered a veritable threat or disappeared entirely.

This mission was a trap from the beginning.