Legend of the Spellthief

With the unconscious goblin fomins tied up on the horses, the party made their way back to Gauntlet. Greeted by strange stares, the guards did not stop the group as they knew Marcus rather well and word of Logan had been passing the streets as he continued to work as a hunter or showed his prowess that was hinted at during his aid in the goblin invasion.

The stares continued on through the city streets, a few citizens feeling hesitant about throwing a dung pile at the unconscious goblins who represented the hardships they had been hit with in recent times. Though said bodies were attached to two adventurers, so the populace could hold back their hatred.

Reaching the G-Hall, Logan took the bodies into the adjoining component building, lumping them onto a cart that had already been set up. Leaving Marcus to keep an eye on the bodies, Logan moved into the hall, picked up four contracts from the board and took them to the desk.

“Hello, I gathered up four live fomins, they should fit the bill on these quests”, Logan announced.

The receptionist looked over the quests, one was to bring in a live monster for component experimentations, another was explicitly for a goblinoid for interrogation purposes, the third was for a monster who had drunk classed-blood, and the last was for a goblin fomin. They came from varying clients so there was little in the way of issues for the responding item being the same.

Logan didn’t have to worry much about the fomin talking about him during the interrogation either, as questions would cost money if a truth circle was involved, and none would really involve him in them.

Since the quests were for apprehension, which could only be handled by specialist adventurers, the reward was a bit higher than normal. Logan did go over what was necessary for two of the quests since fomins were relatively high-rank monsters, but bonuses didn’t come out of the adventuring halls frequently.

Taking up his pay and signet update, Logan met back up with Marcus to hand the Devout his 33 silver reward, Logan taking a 67 split. Before the pair could make a trip to the market to sell off the gear of the goblins, a humanoid came charging in their direction.

“Logan! Marcus” the man yelled.

Turning their heads to the figure the pair could recognise him as Gaemo, the human Fighter who was a fellow hunter. After helping, or causing and rectifying, an ambush with traitor adventurers, the pair were quite happy to see a friend though worried as the grey-haired man’s face was full of worry.

“Gaemo, what is it?” Logan asked as the man placed his hands on his knees.

“I need you two, I need your tracking magic!”

Moving to a private room in the G-Hall, Gaemo and the party sat in shaky silence as the hunter drank from a mug, clearing his throat.

“So, what do you need tracked?” Marcus asked as he looked at his older ally.

“A gang of bandits, known as Oni-Noni. They typically train in martial arts to complement their swordsmanship. Myself and another hunter took on the quest as it was a rather large force, but, one of their magi hit me with a spell that blasted me wide and then they all teleported away with my ally in tow”, Gaemo explained in a sort of rush.

“You found them once, why not again?” Logan queried.

“Their main base was rather easy to find, but they didn’t teleport to any other known location that they frequented.”

“How did they teleport exactly?” Logan asked.

“They had some sort of teleportation artefact, one of the missing items that were asked to be returned. I guess they used it when they were found out, or maybe they don’t know how to use it properly yet?”

“Alright, do you have the contract?”

“Yes, here”, Gaemo replied as he drew up the parchment and handed it to Logan.

“Eradicate the Oni-Noni Gang: This band of bandits has been moving through the countryside for far too long, recent events have pulled the royal guards away so the hunters must take this challenge on. Due to their increased training regimens and tome usages, the bandits are ranked 4 through 10, with gear befitting their ranks. Several items must be returned from the gang, but anything unlisted may be kept by the hunter(s).

Kill or apprehend the bandits of the Oni-Noni gang, which consists of around 87 members. If you apprehend the bandit leader, Oretessu, you will receive a bonus.

Reward: 400 silver, half if the listed items are not returned.”

“That’s a lot of marks, 4 gold plus their gear is also a huge income”, Logan thought to himself. “This is quite the sizable force. Just two of you were going to take them on?”

“I recently reached rank 15, my ally was rank 16. We could deal with many of the lower-ranked classed with ease, the 10s would give a bit of worry but we were both trained in Stealth.”

“Similar to how I took on the Qreil bandits”, Logan thought. “Will you go after them with backup?”

“If you can find them, yes. I was going to ask the other hunters, you included.”

“Logan?” Marcus asked as he looked at his friend who met his gaze.

“You fine to go help?” Logan confirmed.

Marcus gave a swift nod to his friend.

“Alright, we’ll help you. I can use my tracking abilities shortly. Want to meet back at the inn? I take it you’d want to head out immediately if they are close?”

“Thank you, both of you!” Gaemo beamed, “Yes, I can talk to the others at the inn, we’ll wait for you there.”

Gaemo held out his hand to shake both Logan and Marcus’s, as he did Logan had another window pop up that showed that Gaemo was inviting Logan to a party and a quest, to which he accepted.

The quest popped up in his windows as usual, and even showed where the gang were located. However, it would be too quick to just tell Gaemo right now, so he let the hunter leave without telling him.

“This will help our progression”, Logan said as he looked at Marcus.

“Our first goal is to save our ally”, Marcus responded with a sort of backlash in his tone.

“You’re right, Gaemo didn’t say who it was so I guess someone we haven’t met yet.”

“That is a possibility. So, how long to find their location?”

“Already found it, seems to be an area to the south, I would assume underground as my map shows a forest. No way a group that size would be in such a dense area, other adventurers would have spotted them.”

“A dungeon? Gaemo did say the gang might not know how to use the artefact properly”, Marcus theorised.

“Possibly, my ability isn’t noting it as a dungeon, but then I don’t know if it is or not, so that’s normal. If it was a false activation, the gang may be trapped.”

“Can you check if our ally is still alive?”

“Gimme a sec”, Logan replied as he opened up his quest log. The quest had been updated with the contract details and had sub-objectives attached to it through their conversation, one of them was still active and not crossed out, which normally showed that Logan had failed it, and it read, “Recover kidnapped hunter”, Logan looked back to Marcus, “They seem to be alive still.”

“Good, that gives us a clear goal then. I take it you cannot tell their location separately from the bandits?”

“No, I’d need to be closer, basically in their base, or prison.”

“Think we need to do much prep?” Marcus asked.

“Rank 4s won’t be much of an issue. I can overpower most with my rank, Gaemo will also run through anything in his path if he is rank 15 as he says.”

“He didn’t seem that strong when he helped us earlier”, Marcus pondered.

“Probably due to going undercover, can't exactly wear the best gear for that.”

“I suppose you’re right there. I wonder who else will be coming with us.”

“Any hunter will do.”

Moving away from the G-Hall, the pair finally sold off the gear they took from the fomins and previous foes, granting 70 silver to Marcus and 140 for Logan. Taking a trip to the church, the pair paid off half the debt for reviving Marcus and got a ring back for Logan’s teleportations. They were a bit shy of paying it all off by combining their funds, but this new hunt was going to allow them to fulfil it and then some.

Returning to the Meek Moat Inn had the pair treated to the sight of Gaemo in full-garb side-by-side with Sincollo, the saeben who was often found resting in front of the fireplace. His dark-grey fur and dark-brown skin hidden well under his leather armour that now had its metallic parts attached, making him look rather spiky. On his paws were metallic gauntlets and claws.

“The scouter is here”, Sincollo announced as he turned his head from Gaemo to Logan.

“Logan! Marcus! Good to see you get here so swiftly. How did the magic go?”

“All finished, I know where the bandits are”, Logan replied as he approached the new team.

“Great, I knew you were the man to ask. So where are we heading?”

“They teleported southwards, about a day and a half ride away.”

“Really? That’s just forest…” Gaemo responded with a puzzled look.

“We theorise they may be underground, possibly trapped in a dungeon if their artefact was misused”, Marcus added.

“Logical. The bandits may be versed in martial combat, but from what Gaemo spoke of they are not magically inclined, at least not far above an errant mage”, Sincollo confirmed.

“Shit. Over a day away, ‘and’ in a dungeon. Evén might be dead by the time we get to them.”

“That your partner for the mission?” Logan asked.

“Yeah. She doesn’t stay at the inn a lot, but we crossed paths when accepting this hunt. I hate this being our introduction to one another.”

“How are your ranks, Logan and Marcus? Mine is 16 but I worry you may be in danger if we are to be surrounded”, Sincollo asked.

“I am over 10, I haven’t had a reassessment in a while. Marcus should be close to 8”, Logan informed.

“Marcus will have to be defensive”, the saeben concluded.

“Don’t worry, I know how to hide from people well enough”, Marcus responded with a smile.

“Alright, with this kind of time-constrained situation I can’t find the other hunters. Sincollo and I should be good for it, you two are there to make it even easier. We all good to head out now?” Gaemo asked hastily.

“Gaemo, this is the first group-hunter quest for these two. They have their own splits.”

“Right, all even here. We don’t care what you are, put in the work, get paid. Good? We may call dibs on items relevant to our classes, or give a bit more to those who go the extra mile.”

“I can get on board with all that”, Logan replied.

“Same, guess I will have to pull out all the stops with my healing”, Marcus added.

“Well, you’ve already done a lot having located these guys”, Gaemo said, “Let’s mount up and go, unless you need to do something before we go?”

“Well, mind if we get an advance on our part of the pay? We need to pay off a debt and it’d get me one of my Dimensional Jaunt rings back”, Logan asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine”, Gaemo responded as he pulled out his coin pouch.

Taking a short trip back to the church and paying their debt in full, Logan and Marcus met up with the other hunters at the gates before setting off on their journey to the south. Gaemo and Sincollo informed the party about their skills and specialities, and entering a party with them revealed a bit more about their stats.

“Gaemo: Fighter 15, 244/244 HP.

Sincollo: Fighter 16, 254/254 HP.”

It was a wonder how much health Cassius had hidden away if these people had a hundred more than Logan.

Logan was only a little happy that it would take over a day to reach the location of the bandits, his spell reserves were getting low and he wanted to be at his peak if he were to take on close to a hundred foes. The party had two carts set up to ferry over goods and bodies, but wouldn’t overly slow them down.

Checking over his partner’s gear his theory that Gaemo had weaker gear when they met outside the naegren cavern seemed correct, his weapon would do much more damage now than it had then. If Gaemo was at his highest power he was sure he could have killed the ambushers in a single hit.

Gaemo and Sincollo both were also well versed in sneak attacks. While they didn’t get a Backstab bonus they had to take any advantage they could get as hunters. Classed beings weren’t to be trifled with, especially if they were close to your level. A monster only had so many skills, whereas a classed being could have any number.

With the topic of classed beings, Logan did ask how a band of 87 bandits had gone so long without being apprehended or dealt with. It came down to a lack of hunters able to take them down and the monarchy being too absorbed in other affairs. Adventurers typically didn’t go after humanoids either, they were normally the ones being hunted by bandits.

It wasn’t that they were hidden, which a lot of the time they were, but that no one was on hand to deal with them. If you took the right paths you’d also be away from the sight of such a large band too. Out of sight, out of mind, except for the complaints that mounted from the deceased’s relatives or the merchants who had their wares stolen.

With so many miles separating the settlements it would take too long to send out squads of guards. This compounded with the recent goblin wars, and seeing the approach of the Ice King, it didn’t look like they were going to get a rest any time soon.

A night of rest allowed Logan to refresh his absorbed MP, as usual, this becoming quite the practised morning routine. It held very little risk of being discovered, with Echo Radar searching quite a distance as well as the trees blocking vision from anything past 450 feet.

Logan prepared at least 1 Gaia spell, taking his usual 3 Necromantics to 2 slots. Gaia did amazing work at cutting off hallways or hiding away Logan’s abilities, and if their next quest was to be underground it would work even better with Wall alterations. With his rings back, Logan also had his default 5 casts of Dimensional Jaunt, with 1 being from Signature Spell.

Meeting with the team, Logan was asked to check on the location of the bandits and the situation with Evén. Taking a few minutes to himself Logan came back to inform them that nothing had changed so far.

A half day’s ride displayed no real sign of large ruins or castles that the party would have expected the bandits to be holed up within. Instead, an underground facility became the most likely, as they had theorised before. A luxuriant forest would do well to hide smaller numbers, but even the thickness of the trunks couldn’t hide close to a hundred humanoids and their wares.

The echoing clicks of Logan’s fingers were joined by the chirping of birds or distant yelps of foxes. Whatever this part of the forest held, it certainly wasn’t an abundance of monsters or adventurers.

“Logan, anything?” Gaemo asked as he did his own scouting atop the trees.

“No, they should be here though. No floating fortress I wager?” Logan replied cheekily upwards.

Gaemo leapt between the sturdy arms of the trees as he peered past the canopies. “Negative. Though that would be quite the retreat.”

A window then popped up in front of Logan as he continued to walk through the grassy forest floor, “The kaevock is resonating.”

“What?” Logan thought as he placed a hand into his bag.

Producing the kaevock from his inventory, the cylindrical tumbler lock that looked similar to the interior of a door’s lock mechanism, Logan felt the device vibrate in his hand as some of its circular partitions were slightly rotating.

“This is a first. The kaevock was taken from a dungeon and was referred to as a relic. But wasn’t it just for tomes?” Logan continued to puzzle in his head.

Moving around with the kaevock in his hand, Logan used the device as a sort of detector for an entrance, following it when the vibrations got harsher. Eventually, Logan stepped onto a more solid patch of mud, the kaevock rotating hastily as it locked itself into place, an etched spike jutting out from the bottom of it as if it were a key.

Kneeling down, Logan carefully poked the floor with the key end of the kaevock. This caused the floor beneath him to shake a little as he heard a satisfying click and rush of magical wind. Jumping back, he was just able to dodge the floor opening up beneath his feet to a chasm. Two halves of the floor retreated to the sides as if they were shifting panels in the floorboards of a house.

The sound of the opening earth alerted his companions who turned their heads and heels towards him.

“Find something?” Sincollo asked directly as he walked over.

Logan quickly placed the kaevock into his inventory-bag before turning to his allies, “Yeah, the entrance. It’s underground as we had thought.”

Gaemo jumped from a tree arm to the floor, popping up into a slight jog towards Logan and the entrance, “Good work! I’d swear you were a Rogue with those skills, though I guess your tracking magics are quite potent.”

Looking into the entrance the party could see that the light of the sun beamed down quite a ways, illuminating a stone staircase that went diagonally into the earth. The light eventually died out, which would mean the party would require their own light sources as they got deeper or the entrance closed behind them.

“Light Ally”, Logan spoke as he brought his sprite back into life.

“That might give us away, though I suppose your summons would do the same. Keep them at the back and use these instead”, Gaemo responded as he pulled out two oval pieces of glass, “Place them over your eyelids.”

Taking the advice of his ally, Logan dismissed his sprite and placed the two pieces of glass over his eyelids. He felt the glass melt a bit within his fingers and when they touched his eyelids they formed a waxy coating before absorbing slightly into the edges of his eyes. Opening his eyes back up showed that the glass had formed a small visor in front of them, bestowing a form of night vision for the Spellthief.

Blinking rapidly as he tried to adjust to the green overlay he now saw the world in, Logan’s sight got used to the new ability as the hue adjusted to that of his normal sight. Looking into the staircase revealed even more, though if he looked into the bright outdoors he did feel a bit uncomfortable as it was much brighter than normal.

The rest of the party did the same as Gaemo handed out more of the glass, when they were all able to see into the underground they proceeded downwards with the elementals protecting the rear. Their crackling of flames and electricity was quiet enough if they stayed back, as well as the light they produced was rather faint considering they were made up of energy.

Through descending the stairs, the entranceway stayed open to the outside elements, allowing the wind and light to rush into the interior. This was probably for the best, as who knew if the underground had any harmful chemicals in the air or that the entrance could be opened from the inside.

Taking the stairs to their final step took a few minutes, the light of the sun had since left the dark stairwell to only be visible in the parties’ night vision. Slightly green-hued stone walls that had been carved to a smoothness commonly found within decadent estates. A distinct lack of any sort of cloth or tabards made it hard to distinguish if this place was royal in any form, but it was certainly man-made.

As the party moved onwards they could hear distant muffled explosions accompanied by scraping metal and bludgeon blows on stone. Stopping in front of a large stone double door, the party gave it a once-over before attempting its large handle that fit a giant’s hand rather than a humanoid’s.

With a groan Gaemo spoke up, “That’s not budging, must be locked. Logan, think you can get this one too?”

“Sure, lemme check”, Logan replied as he changed places with the Fighter.

“Identify”, Logan mentally commanded. His sight returned nothing much in the way of valuable information. Running his hands over the door led him to a rather large keyhole, though it didn’t go all the way to the other side, it stopped mid-way into the door.

A window appeared beside the lock as Logan fumbled with it, “The kaevock is resonating.”

Taking the device from his inventory-bag, Logan placed it into the keyhole. The circular partitions of the tumble rotated until locking in place, a satisfying click emanating from the door, followed by a short coarse noise as the rocks weathered against one another. This signalled that the door had been unlocked and juddered a bit out of place.

“Quick work as usual”, Gaemo praised.

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