บท 34: Departure

Within the mostly empty Theory Hall, three children had gathered before Instructor Piers. They were Thirteen, Ten, and Nine. No one else was within the hall, but currently another group of three waited just outside the door until it was their turn to be called in.

Thirteen and his friends each stood straight, with hands behind their back and serious eyes as they listened to Instructor Piers. Piers was a strict man and would glare at them for any sign of bad posture or frivolous attitude whenever he spoke to them directly. But if anyone who knew the three could see them now, that person would undoubtedly recognize the excitement barely contained within those 'serious' gazes.

"The last known location of Lukas of Junill is three towns south-east of here, in the outer circle of the town of Helbeck, where he was seen trying to enter the settlement's core."

Instructor Piers, with his perpetual semi-scowl, had just finished reading the exploits of a wanted criminal, and now offered the latest information available on his bounty.

The man was named Lukas, of the village Junill. As a commoner, he had no family name, but was instead identified by his place of origin.

Lukas of Junill was a man in his early 50s who had once killed a baron's son, along with half a dozen others in a drunken tavern brawl.

The man was an augmentor, a body cultivator who had surpassed the fundamental realm. It was known that he possessed prodigious physical strength, though his exact level of cultivation was unknown.

The bounty on his head was five platinum kings, the highest common denomination of coin, each worth 10 gold crowns. If he was instead captured alive, the baron promised undisclosed rewards, but that was not the task nor aim of the three.

They were required to track down, hunt, and kill this criminal. Anything after that, including supplying proof and redeeming the reward was not their business according to Instructor Piers.

Breathing in deeply, Thirteen felt his chest swell in excitement. 'Finally, we get to go outside. And not to the woods to hunt, but to towns, cities maybe!' Thirteen's mind was producing fantasies at an incredible rate, and he had to strive to maintain his stoic expression as he listened to Instructor Piers. The man demanded as much, though not in such direct words.

"I recommend you pass through the towns of Grondsil and Lanwick to reach Helbeck. From there, whether you can track Lukas Junill will depend solely on yourselves. Finally, I would recommend stopping by the library before you leave. It will take many days to reach Helbeck."

"Yes sir" They each replied, their excitement now threatening to bud a wide smile on their faces.

"Alright, head out and tell the next lot to file in." Piers instructed as he handed the bounty sheet to Nine, returning to one of the small desks where another paper awaited him.

When the three opened the door to the Theory Hall to leave, Thirteen noticed that both Four and Forty-five were in the next group that waited outside.

Stopping next to them, Thirteen gave them each a hug, with a slap on the back for Four "I'll see you later, don't get yourselves hurt."

"Back at ya" Four replied. "See you soon" said Forty-five.

After all five of them, Nine and Ten included had said their goodbyes, Thirteen told them to head in, and they separated.

'This will be the first time our group has separated in four years' he realized, as he shook off an uncomfortable feeling.

After parting with Ten momentarily, Thirteen and Nine returned to their dorm to pack what they needed. Thirteen quickly realized that he had more weapons than would be convenient for anything. The children kept each weapon they learnt, to allow them to train it in what little free time they had left. This meant that Thirteen had in his possession a shortsword, longsword, greatsword, spear, poleaxe, dagger, mace, handaxe, buckler, kite shield, chain mail armor, and gambeson. He had a cupboard specifically for storing it all, and even that was packed to the brim.

Of course, he had no intent to bring it all with him, but he needed to decide what he could and should bring, and what should be left behind. He started with the dagger, that much was obvious. Then his longsword, it was his favored personal weapon. He opted not to bring a shield, as he much preferred to two-hand a single weapon. This also eliminated the shortsword, though he decided to bring the handaxe as it was light and could do things his swords could not. He left the mace there, it was better against armored targets, whether human or monster.

Armor was a no go. He was better off maintaining his agility and flexibility in a small scale, personal battle like this. And honestly, he simply did not like wearing it. The gambeson felt okay to wear, but he liked to feel free and open when he fought. Besides, a gambeson alone wouldn't offer any great protection against a strong cultivator, especially if he turned out to be well armed.

That left his greatsword, spear and poleaxe. 'Two more' he thought as he looked at the three weapons. Honestly, neither of these three weapons were particularly suited to his task, and they were all very heavy and unwieldy to carry around. Worse still, he would stick out like a sore thumb.

But none of these things would be an issue for him. Deciding on the greatsword and poll axe, he retrieved them both from the cupboard before laying them on the bed.

Retrieving two black gloves from his bedside, Thirteen put them on on each hand. Once worn, he clapped his hands together, and then ran his right thumb along the side of his right index finger, from tip to base.

When he had done so, he felt a faint tingling from the glove, and proceeded to grasp the hilt of the longsword. Just as he grasped the blade, it vanished into thin air.

Clapping his hands again, Thirteen ran his right thumb along the side of his middle finger, from tip to base, before grasping the handaxe. Again, the weapon vanished.

He continued this process two more times until he had done so with all the fingers on his right hand, excluding the thumb. The only weapon that remained was the dagger which Thirteen sheathed at the back of his waist.

These gloves were Thirteen's first ever magical item. A very simple special artifact, capable of holding four items. It was designed for Augmenters like Thirteen. People who had no internal qi reserve to interact with magical items. To activate it, one could still use their Qi if they had it, or they could perform certain gestures like Thirteen had.

To store weapons, he would clap and trace a finger from its tip. To retrieve weapons, there was no need to clap, he simply had to run his thumb from the base of the finger to its tip.

Thirteen didn't much like wearing gloves outside of winter time. He preferred to feel his grip on something directly, with no fabric in the way. But he had to marvel at the abilities of the item.

Though there were two gloves, they were linked and still had only four slots. The index on the left held the same item as the index on the right.

After choosing his arms, Thirteen packed a large bag with the things he would need for the trip, and then left to find his equestrian Instructor to procure saddlebags.

An hour later, after he had finished preparing and even visited the library as Instructor Piers had recommended, Thirteen made his way to the front door of the estate. He had never once gone through his door before, as whenever they left the mansion, it was always to gather behind it.

When he did open that large front door, Thirteen found himself atop a series of four steps, looking at his two friends Ten and Nine who were currently loading saddlebags and performing final checks on the equipment of the nearby horses.

Breathing in deeply, Thirteen felt a strange combination of nerves, apprehension, and excitement about leaving.

Joining his friends in their final checks, they all soon pulled themselves astride the mounts, and, for the first time in four years, they left the estate.