Witch of Fear [Mild horror, Isekai High Fantasy]

Incense smoke lingered in the air as it covered the heady stench of ales and beers within the Drunken Devil Inn. Patrons crowded the bar, so much so that Autumn had a hard time finding their next team member. Eventually, with the help of Nethlia, with her height and ability to push people out of the way, she pressed her way forward to the front.

The bar here was much simpler than the Adventurer’s hall, just a long wooden thing overflowing with mugs of beers, ales, ciders, and whiskeys.

At the bar sat a heavily bearded individual drinking a rich silver whiskey that was almost translucent from a carved stone bottle. At only four-feet-tall, they were almost as broad as they were tall. A thick mane of dark hair blended down with a braided beard that hung down to their waist, leaving only a thick nose, ruddy cheeks, and a set of piercing icy blue eyes free.

Beads of bone carved with blocky runes made of crushed gemstones had been woven into the braids of their beard and hair.

Unlike anyone else Autumn had seen so far, the Manus wore some sort of steel chainmail armor overtop of leather and silk. A thick woolen robe draped across their form, protecting that steel from the elements and wayward eyes. A belt of heavy leather girded their waist to hold on to a patterned steel mace, the head crafted to look like a large gemstone. Thick leather boots capped in a steel toe dangled above the ground as their owner sat on a stool not meant for their kind.

Metal was a rare thing around these parts. Just today, she had heard the price had gone up again. Who knows how much steel armor would cost?

Approaching the bar, Autumn opened her mouth to inquire if they were Edywn Brawnbeard, the silver-rank runecaster they were looking for, but before she could do so, she was interrupted.

“Ah recognize ye, ye’r that dunderheided witch gawking at everything.”

Even with her ability to understand every language, she still had a hard time telling what the Manus was saying. Even so, she recalled almost crashing into a grumpy Manus the day before when she was distracted by the disappearing gnomish fellow.

“Sorry about that. Are you Edwyn Brawnbeard?”

“A’m, whit’s it tae ye?”

In their seat, the surly Manus had swiveled to face Autumn taking in the witch and Nethlia looming behind her. They didn’t look intimidated much, only wary in the same way Liddie had been. Autumn had to wonder if they looked like debt collectors.

Pushing the thought away, Autumn smiled at them as best she could.

“I’m here about forming a team. You registered an application at the Guild, we just wanted to ask a few questions and tell you we’re hosting a meeting this afternoon.”

“There’ll be free whiskey and beer,” Nethlia added.

That seemed to attract Edwyn’s attention as a bushy eyebrow disappeared into their mane.

“Ye shuid hae led with that.”

After polishing off their current bottle of whiskey, Edwyn hopped off their stool and began making their way out of the inn, swearing in whatever language their people spoke at those in their way.

“C’moan, ah ain’t missing oot oan free whiskey!” they yelled back at the bemused pair.

Nethlia and Autumn shared a look before exiting the inn as well, not before collecting Liddie along the way, much to Nethlia’s excitement.

The last member of their team was awaiting them as they returned to the Adventurer’s Guild. They had been staying in the northeastern sections of the city that comprised the noble districts and high-end establishments. Rather than crossing half the city and dealing with the increased scrutiny, they had used a few of Nethlia’s guild credits to hire a runner to pass on an invitation.

Nelva Blondus ‘la Brave’ was a Lepus knight. Not including her ears, the dark-skinned woman stood roughly around Autumn’s height. They had dark gray hair cut short down to her chin on the sides and back while her fringe was clean and straight. They equipped their muscular and lithe body with Agoroth horn plate armor over iron chainmail and a silken gambeson. At her side, a masterfully crafted iron sword hung and slung over her back was a bone and wood kite shield.

Without her helmet on, her heart-shaped face was visible, and warm bronze eyes held a touch of nobility to them. As she entered the private room Nethlia had rented, she greeted them warmly.

“Bonjour, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Nelva saluted, one armored fist meeting her breast as she bowed slightly.

Nethlia was the first to respond.

“Welcome, come in. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, otherwise help yourself to some drinks or snacks.”

Alongside the private room, Nethlia had purchased a fair few drinks and snacks for the meeting. On the central table stood carafes of purple cider and glasses, a small barrel of Duskbeer, and stone bottles of Caskbringer brew whiskey. For food, she had ordered a variety of crispy meats, cheeses, and roasted vegetables already pierced with toothpicks.

Food softened any atmosphere, not that Autumn expected any sort of conflict. So far, everyone they had met seemed receptive to the idea of working in a team with them. Now it was just hashing out the details and letting everyone meet.

Before too long, the rest of those they had contacted trickled in.

Nethlia sat at the head of the table while Autumn, Edwyn, Nelva, Liddie, and Pyre occupied the sides, awaiting her to speak. She had overcome her awestruck nature for the moment, but every once in a while her gaze would flicker over to the relaxing pirate.

“Welcome everyone, seeing as we have introduced everyone to one another, let’s get this started, shall we? First, are there any objections to me being the captain?” Seeing as there wasn’t, she carried on, “Second point then, loot distribution.”

Everyone around the table perked up at the mention. Autumn wasn’t immune either, as she was currently broke.

“I propose we set up a party account with the Guild to house our funds, besides what we carry with us. 30% of any gold received as a party, whether it be from contract or sales, will be deposited within to be used for anything that the party would need. This will include potions and ingredients for our spellcasters and crafters, weapon and armor repairs, basic food, lodgings, etc. Any Items found will be distributed fairly to those who need them. We can discuss this as and when needed.”

Nethlia paused as she looked around to see if anyone had any objections.

“Any questions before we move on?”

Pyre raised her hand in the silence.

“Are we renting a party room in the hall or are we all sticking to our lodgings?”

“I think we’ll stick to our own for the time being. To that point, we’ll all meet up at sunrise to go over training. As we live close to you Pyre, Autumn and I will pick you up. I have enough guild credits stored to rent out some training rooms either in the hall or down on the grounds outside the city. Next question?”

Autumn spoke up next, as there was something on her mind. Given that the party would travel together for at least the near future, she thought it wise and fair to explain the dangers.

“It’s not a question but more of a…warning? I have additional information that I should make you aware of if you wish to join our team. Without going too far into details, I believe I’m being targeted by some fae creatures. We’ve already been attacked by redcaps once before.”

Liddie whistled in surprise and admiration.

“You must’ve done something interesting to piss them off.”

The missing fingers on Autumn’s hand twitched in a phantom pain at the remembrance. Shadows flickered beneath her black hat, enshrouding her eyes in darkness.

“I escaped them.”

“That’ll do it.”

“So what does that mean?” Pyre asked.

“A’ it means that we keep edgy fur danger,” Edwyn grumbled into their drink.

Pyre just looked confused, unable to parse their accent.

Clearing her throat, Nethlia called for attention.

“Does anybody else have any hidden dangers we might wish to be aware of? I’m not asking for secrets or anything like that. I just want to know if we need to be wary of anyone, place, or thing.”

The atmosphere turned awkward as everyone cast about the room. Nobody besides Autumn either had beings after them or simply didn’t wish to disclose it. Autumn understood the sentiment. She too was weary of revealing what she did, but it felt right to do so.

That brought to mind her other secrets: her world-hopping and her abilities. She’d have to tell them about her magic anyway, but not yet. Telling others she could read their emotions without their consent might turn them off the party before it even began.

Liddie ventured a hand into the conversation. “I’ve just got a few human bounty hunters after me. The Letorum and Eaglmund Empires never rescinded their bounties after the war.” Her gaze flickered over to Autumn, the only human in the group, “that’s not a problem is it?”

All eyes swung to Autumn, making her instinctively shrink in her seat.

“N-no…I’m not from those nations.”

Liddie smiled.

“That’s a relief. I wouldn’t like to be hated by such an…interesting girl.”

Nethlia cleared her throat once more to wrangle the conversation back on course. While the meeting so far had been short, it still was a lot to get through, especially for those not inclined to such, even ones as casual as this.

“One last point of order: a name. Does anyone have any good ideas, even if only temporary?”

The group pondered for a while in silence. They didn’t know each other well enough yet or have a central theme or a goal they shared, so the ideas they gave tended to be either generic or didn’t fit. In the end, they settled on the temporary name of “the Dusk Wolves.” It’d probably change as they established themselves, but for now it worked well enough. With only a brief stopover to the registration office, their team was finally formed.

Before they departed, Nethlia got a small deposit from the other members to acquire camp supplies and other provisions, as well as checking in on Kira: the unofficial seventh member of the party. The Agoroth was living well within the city’s stables.

Nethlia had to practically drag Autumn away from the Cerberus puppy that she had found. It was simply adorable. Its three heads were far too much weight for its little body and so whenever it tried to run, it just ended up tripping over its fluffy paws.

The next few days proved to be both busy and hellish. In the early hours of the morning, before the sun had even crested the sky with any hints of gold or pink, Nethlia dragged Autumn from the comforts of her bed and out into the harsh coldness. She had pushed Autumn to her limits in warm-ups and drills till the sun came up. After a quick breakfast, they were off and out of the district.

True to her word, Nethlia collected a sleepy-eyed Pyre and ushered them to the Guildhall, where she had booked one of the training rooms.

Autumn had thought that Nethlia had pushed her before, but this was on a whole new level. She ran the group through drills from combat exercises to teamwork-building challenges. She didn’t even spare her idol. On the contrary, she seemed determined to push Liddie even harder than the rest. The pirate could keep up with Nethlia somehow despite being nowhere near as big.

As she was the tactician of the group, it was up to Autumn to learn how to coordinate the group in a combat situation. That’s where her newly learned spell, “Mind Whisper,” came in handy. It allowed her to send orders at the speed of thought to anyone she could see. The biggest advantage of it was nobody else could hear it, so they would catch enemies unaware as the battle lines shifted.

The group formation was rather simple: Nethlia and Liddie would take the front while the casters would hang back. They would station Nelva between them so that she was ready to quickly defend either group from attack. 

Most of Pyre’s potions were meant to be used before or after a battle. Only her Alchemist’s Fire was useful during but the girl swore she’d be researching more combat potions.

Edwyn had a vast quantity of runes based around combat and even some that could serve other means in a pinch. Being a silver rank, they had more experience than Autumn and Pyre, who’d just started their magical and alchemical journeys.

Under Captain Nethlia’s harsh training regime, they were forming up to be a formidable team.