Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 49 Oh It Won’t Be That Bad.

Isaac unlocked the door to their suite and Lenna followed him inside. Isaac froze only two steps in. His eyes wide as he tried to take in the entire room at once. There was a large bed with a curtain around it in the back of the room centered against the wall. On each side of the bed was a nightstand with an oil lamp on each. On the right there was a sliding door that was open and showed an empty closet. Next to that was a dresser both tall and wide.

To his left was an accordion door set up blocking the view to a bathtub that sat on a square, tiled, dais that sloped into the center where a drain was placed. The brass tub was about the same size as the one in the bathhouse they had been to. There was a hose that ran into the ceiling with a handle that could be turned to let out water. The hose was long enough that even though it hung against the wall it could easily be used to fill the bathtub. On a chair in the corner next to the tub was a cylindrical stone with runes carved into the top. Under it was a note.

“Woah.” Isaac whispered. “Lenna look at this place. The bed even looks comfy for once.”

Lenna smiled under her helmet. “It’s a bit like my old room.”

“Hells…” Isaac’s voice trailed off. “I need clothes that aren’t dirty before I go sleeping on that.” He stated and dropped his backpack in the corner.

—

An hour later Isaac and Lenna walked back into their suite with a few new pairs of clothes. They were of good quality which was necessary but unfortunate for their coin purses. They had spent a platinum piece on two sets of clothes for each of them.

Isaac took a few tired steps towards the bed. He took off his armor and tossed it on the ground. He started changing into something clean when Lenna cleared her throat. “What?” He asked, looking over at her.

“Do you have shame?” She asked.

Isaac tilted his head. “In this body? No. I basically made it myself.” He said and then continued changing. Lenna just turned around to face the door until he was finished.

He was unconscious within a minute of his face hitting the pillow. Lenna moved the stone off the chair and read the note. ‘A warming stone huh. Taking a bath without needing somebody else to heat it will be nice.’ She thought and set the stone and note down on the floor. She sat in the chair and watched over Isaac.

“Not yet.” She whispered and scoffed quietly. ‘I can’t believe he answered her with ‘Not yet’ the confidence of this man.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t think I like that he might be right.’

—

The next day, well at least for Isaac, the two of them got their free daily meal and headed off to find the Adventurers’ Guild. As it turned out the Adventurers’ Guild was the tall building Isaac had been wondering about on the roof the day before. It was a large rectangular building with batwing style doors and large wooden letters over the doorway that said ‘C.A.S.T’. On the doors the acronym was spelled out for them to read. ‘Coalition of Adventurers, Scouts, and Trackers.’

The two walked in and it looked much like Celeste’s dining area with a big mirror set up on the wall. There were two bars and close to forty tables of different types, sizes, and shapes. The same went for the seating. There were chairs, stools, and benches seemingly randomly assigned to the tables. The one bar was a normal one. It had alcohol and behind it was a curtain blocking the view of the kitchen.

The other bar had a receptionist behind it with a pile of papers and on the wall nearby was a cork pegboard with a bunch of bounties pegged to it. Isaac walked up to the bar with the receptionist. “Excuse me miss.” He said to the woman who was only about four feet tall and quite thin. Her pale olive skin, short black hair, and long pointy ears that pointed directly away from her head was all Isaac could see of her behind the stack of papers.

She looked up, showing Isaac her large blue eyes. “Hello. My name is Alice. You look new. Gonna stay for a bit?” She asked in a soft and friendly voice..

Isaac smiled. “I hope so. We are here to sign up with the Adventurers’ Guild? Did we come to the right place?” He asked.

Alice nodded and smiled back at him. “Yes you did. The Adventurers’ Guild merged with the Guild for Trackers and Scouts a while ago but jobs are still marked with a stamp on the corner for which ones are considered ‘Combat Heavy’. If you see a pair of crossed swords then those are the ones most adventurers go for.” She dug around for a form and handed it to Isaac.

“Actually the reason we are here specifically is that we want to skip the form.” Isaac told her and handed the paper back.

“Oh.” Alice replied. “I see. Um. I take it you came from Ben’s End then?”

“Perhaps.” Isaac replied.

“Alright. I will see if the Guild Master is available to test you. Wait here.” She told him and hopped off her stool. She went through a door that Isaac hadn’t noticed in the back of the room. He scanned the rest of the room but the patrons seemed really normal.

A few people in different types of armor with different types of weapons. Three people caught his eye however. Those three didn’t have a weapon and they either didn’t wear armor at all or had very light armor on. They didn’t look particularly strong either. Isaac could barely sense a higher concentration of mana around them but that was only because he was trying to.

“Mages?” Isaac asked Lenna.

“Yeah. Four of them.” She replied.

“Four?” He asked. “Where’s the fourth?”

“In the corner on the left. Table has three warriors at it. The guy in the back. Cleric to a war deity.” She explained.

Isaac saw who she was talking about. A large man in heavy armor with a mace at his hip, his helmet on the table, and his shield slung on his back. “Damn.” He looked at Lenna. “What is the difference between someone like him and a paladin when it comes to combat?”

“War clerics are much stronger casters. They don’t have auras and can’t infuse their strikes with mana. Weaker melee attacks but stronger spells.” Lenna explained.

“I see.” Isaac thought that that sounded better in a team like the man looked to be in. He was a combat healer who could also kick ass. Isaac however was glad to have Lenna instead. He didn’t need a combat healer. He needed a one woman army who could heal in a pinch.

A minute later Alice came back and hopped back up onto her stool. “He’ll be ready in a few minutes. He’ll take the two of you to the arena and test you the hard way. My partner should be off of her lunch break soon and I’ll go with you to officiate the test.” She took a deep breath. It looked like she had run down the stairs and then began a speech immediately afterwards. “Any questions?”

“I take it the specifics will be explained on the way or at this arena?” Isaac asked.

“Basically just don’t try to actually kill each other and only use the training weapons that are at the arena.” Alice told them.

“What about magic?” Isaac questioned. “I have some… spells… that are nonviolent but I have one that is absolutely lethal.”

“I would ask you to not use the lethal one.” Alice told him. “The others are fine”

“Understood.” Isaac replied. “What about Lenna’s fireball? That is probably survivable.” He said then looked at Lenna. “Right?”

“I didn’t die when I fireballed myself.” Lenna said neutrally.

Alice’s eyes went wide. “Um… Well… I… Uh, I think that should be fine… I’ll ask the Guild Master just to be sure.” She stammered out. Just as she had finished, the door she had disappeared through earlier opened up again.

Out walked a tall but thin man. His skeleton was thin but his muscles were toned to perfection. Some of them could be seen under his pale blue toga. He wore tan baggy pants that were tucked into a pair of leather boots. The boots looked like they were thinned and lightened wherever possible but they still maintained their structural integrity. His toga was tied closed with a silken rope. Hanging from the rope was a sleeve that was about a foot long and looked like it was waiting for a scabbard to be set inside it.

In his hand was a sword as big as he was. The long slightly curved blade was at least five feet long and the handle was another foot. It was in a cherry red wooden scabbard that had a golden viper striking at a pink flower on it. He was a pale skinned man with green eyes and blonde hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail. He looked to be in his forties and he walked with power and grace. The floorboards didn’t even seem to notice his steps as he approached.

“Guild Master.” Alice said and gave him a slight bow.

He gave her a nod and reached a hand out to Isaac. Lenna was a step behind him as she usually was. “I’m Edward, The Blade Master.”

Isaac took his hand and shook it. “I’m Isaac. The dark mage.” He said with a smirk.

Edward raised an eyebrow. “A mage?” He glanced at Isaac’s shortsword and dagger. “Can you use those?”

“Sort of. I’m still learning.” Isaac told him. “But that isn’t what most people should be worrying about.”

“I see. Why don’t you want to be Identified, Isaac?” Edward asked.

Neither of the men had let go of each other’s hand. “I have an ability that could kill you before you could draw that sword. That’s why.” Isaac told him. Isaac’s smirk had turned into a grin and the swordsman smirked back

“Warlock?” Edward asked.

Isaac shook his head. “No. I heard warlocks get their power from someone else. I assure you, this is all mine.” Isaac said and flooded the area in shadow mana.

The entire hall dimmed. The patrons stopped mid conversation or mid bite and all eyes went to the encounter. Isaacs shadows poured across the floor and they seemed to cling to him which hid his form entirely except for his eyes which he specifically guided the shadows around. Edwards smirk faded at the display. He didn’t have mana and thus he couldn’t sense it but he had fought mages before and a display like this was the stuff of extremely high level illusions.

Isaac chuckled deeply and darkly. “What’s wrong?” He asked in his deep gravelly tone that had scared the Ori-Masa all those days ago.

“I haven’t fought a high level shadow sorcerer before.” Edward confessed. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”

The shadows all poured back into Isaac or simply faded away. “Oh it won’t be that bad.” He replied with a smile back in his normal voice.