~North of Jay, Southern Losla Forests~
A mage hunter was standing near a bloody rock, using a communication crystal, he was relaying information back to his commander.
The rock itself seemed to be practically drowned in blood, as if a titan had slit its wrist and drained it's life out onto it.
The mage hunter couldn't help but stare at it as held the crystal.
This was a lone mage hunter from a group of five, as the others had split off in different directions as they searched the south and south-east areas of the Losla forests.
As a mage hunter, he had seen his fair share of blood from slaying monsters in dungeons himself, some dungeons filled with rivers of blood after armies of soldiers, mage hunters and adventurers worked together to conquer them - but outside of dungeons, it was unusual to see such a greusome display of death, and to anyone else - anyone but a mage hunter - it would have made them uncomfortable, to say the least.
Combined with the eerie quietness of the surrounding woods, it would have made anyone feel a little tense.
There was something about knowing that you would soon leave a dungeon which left all anxiety about it behind. The horrors within couldn't leave. You could sleep with a sense of safety.
Of course the outside world had its fair share of horrors, but were much rarer, and it seemed he had stumbled across one...
“Number two reporting. I found a large flat rock surrounded and covered in pools of blood. No corpses or tracks away from it. Just blood. Too much blood. Still liquid.”
Another gruff voice responded a moment later, “Continue scouting. Proceed southward as planned.”
“Acknowledged.” he stashed the crystal away and kept heading towards his target: the tip of the mountain range.
Before leaving however he noticed a strange white stone on the ground; easy to see against the dark grey rocks around.
Picking it up, it looked almost like it was melted.
"Strange..." He thought, flicking it away.
It was too small to report, so number two continued on his journey.
As a mage hunger, number two knew they were searching for a necromancer and knew it would require a squad of them to even hold its minions back - however, they now knew it was a human, and only around level nine at that.
Number two had been since commanded to only capture Jay, however, accidents happened sometimes.
Unknown to anyone else, perhaps even himself, number two was jealous of Jay.
Some random peasant in a poor town in the middle of nowhere got a class so strong that it forced him and the other mage hunters to leave the luxurious capital city of Astrata, and not only that, but now he had to march around aimlessly, alone in the wilderness?
His pride had never been so damaged.
He longed to march around the capital where peasants looked at him with both fear, awe, and hope.
Still, this pride is one of the qualities which made him a good mage hunter, pushing himself to act lofty and mighty, and to become stronger.
Of course, he wouldn’t kill Jay - he had his own neck to look out for, and it seemed they were now intent on capturing him.
A necromancer had one weakness, and that was when it was separated from its skeletons.
Apparently the upper ranks hoped to control it - to control Jay.
There were no other questions or comments from his commander, so he kept marching onward. It seems that the other four mage hunters tasked to search the south must have found their own oddities of nature.
This wasn’t too surprising though, as peculiar things were a common occurrence in the untamed, wild parts of the kingdom.
Little did he know that other mage hunters found more intriguing things such as an abandoned village covered with slime; another found a small hunter's shack covered in claws marks, with a hidden basement that was filled with bird skulls and pentagrams among other unknown symbols painted with blood and urine - so number two’s findings were low on the list of priorities.
With a sigh he kept moving, as it was his duty.
Compared to the insanely fast running speed with which these black armoured hunters were running through Losla, he could only travel long distances at a swift walking speed.
The armour itself was powered by the mage hunter’s own mana, and the faster he travelled the quicker it would burn.
Sure, he could travel a few hundred meters in seconds, but half of his mana would be used up. A sprightly walking speed was optimal, as it used up as much mana as he regenerated.
Compared to a normal soldier however, it was still an unimaginable speed to travel at; his energy consumption was also kept to a low level, while he could simply walk right through the vegetation as if it didn’t exist.
Most variants simply couldn’t escape, not due to their power or skills, but due to their slow travel speed.
Essentially, they had unimaginable endurance. It was only a matter of time before they caught Jay.
Or so they thought.
Jay was no normal variant. Not only did his skeletons carry him, he used no mana or energy doing so. He even travelled while sleeping as he was carried at a jogging speed by his undead escort, comfortably sitting on his throne.
Their only hope of catching him now was if he decided to slow down…
Otherwise, the mage hunters would need to resort to more drastic measures to neutralize this threat.
~Eevulen, The Lofty Pig~
Eevlen, a regional trade hub city north of Tolgard, which was north of Losla.
The lofty pig was a tavern in the poorer side of Eevulen, a little degraded over time, but it still stood, managing to somehow draw in customers.
The customers, however, were questionable to say the least, as the lofty pig was unofficially where the miscreants of the city came to drink and plot.
The pub was favoured by the miscreants for two reasons: the owner kicked out eavesdroppers, hating them for some reason to do with a treasure, and he really didn't care how drunk people got - as long as they could pay.
Hushed conversations, gossip and paranoid squinting stares always filled the old tavern, giving in a quiet but tense atmosphere - though it was relieved by the occasional drunk who somehow always had enough money to drink, even during the daytime.
Many would drown their sorrows in drinks, wether they be the last surviving member of their party, rejected from others, tired of fighting, or simply wish to escape some far too vivid memories.
Three adventurers sat at a table - two of them were fresh, having only touched a mana conduit this year, while the third had become a mentor of sorts, as they had received their class in the previous year.
While two of them were fresh, they were considered high level for their age as they were level fifteen - this was thanks to their ‘mentor’ power levelling them in dungeons.
So far, it was an easy ride for them, but they also had to repay their monitor by helping with other tasks in exchange: bounty hunting, debt collection, information gathering, and distribution of some questionable substances and items.
Vanderby, the mentor, was hiding a greedy grin behind a stern expression.
Vanderby whispered, “Three hundred thousand gold, and for a level nine adventurer. We’d be stupid not to go for it… besides, I heard there are more mage hunters coming. We have to move now or forget about it.”
One of the fresh adventurers wore a slight frown, “Van, I don’t know about this one… We’ll have to go through Tolgard…” his face slightly scrunched up in disgust.
“Relax, Linc. We can just walk around Tolgard if we get enough supplies.” Vanderby said, looking out of the window.
Gazing further up the street was the vendor area, filled with glistening gold covered merchants buying and selling.
A certain fat merchant was grinning as he set up multiple booths for the incoming divisions of mage hunters, making sure his stores were all well stocked.
While he did give a fifty percent discount to the mage hunters he had also doubled the prices on everything, making young adventurers like the three of them a little more desperate than they usually were.
The other fresh adventurer followed his gaze before she spoke up,
“How about we just hunt along the way. It’ll take more time but we’ll save money at least.” a dark-hair girl suggested.
Vanderby scoffed, “Who cares about money? Once we catch this guy we’ll never have to work again. We could probably even afford a house in the capital - at least on the outskirts anyway.”
The girl, Estra, pursed her lips, shrugging as she went back to her drink. She knew what Vanderby was like - once he had an idea, he stuck to it. There was no talking him out of it.
“Besides, with your ability, we have a good chance.” Van smiled at her, “and if we catch him alive, the reward is double.” he added, whispering a little louder.
Linc looked around, making sure no one else was listening in before whispering again, “What do you think our chances are?”
Vanderby looked at Estra for a moment, and with a cunning smile he leant closer, “Thirty percent.” he said with a nod.
Linc pulled his head back as if he just heard something crazy,
“Thirty? Only fucking thirty?”
Vanderby shrugged, “Look, it's still a pretty good chance… almost one in three, and It could change our lives forever. Plus, with her skill I really like our chances.” he said, trying to sound reasonable.
Linc shook his head, though with a sly smile he looked up at Vanderby.
“You’ll owe us if this doesn’t work out?”
Vanderby smiled, seeing that they were in agreement - at least in his own mind they were.
“Of course.” he shrugged, finishing his drink, "But I won't need to because it will work out."
