Witch of Fear [Mild horror, Isekai High Fantasy]

“Have you heard? Prices of metals went up again.”

“Again? That’s the third time this month. Bloody Manus. You think a fight’s brewing again?”

“Maybe, maybe. It has been twenty years since the last war ended. We’re due for another one. You’d think those blasted humans would’ve learned by now to stay on their side of the mountains. My son, may Nusraura embrace him, died holding the line.”

“Didn’t we lose one of the border forts?”

“Only because of traitors and incompetents! The Empress should’ve replaced Sentinel Lord Andxus already.”

Autumn listened in on the hubbub of the Guild space as she munched on a bun filled with shredded beef and spice, a local staple. She didn’t know what a Manus was but given that it sounded like they held control or at least a large stake in metals, it was highly likely they were dwarves.

It was slightly concerning to overhear talks of war both past and future, especially as it appeared humans and demonfolk didn’t get along.

Finishing her quick meal, she turned to Nethlia. The demoness practically shoved an entire bun in her mouth before leading Autumn into the bustling guild hall that was just as packed as last night. Sliding into an empty booth on the second floor, the two settled into a renewed discussion about the future of their party.

“So, how many members were we thinking again?” Autumn asked.

Across from her, Nethlia sipped away at a mug of foamy gray-colored beer. Dusk beer, as it was called. Autumn had one too nestled in her hand. It was a cheap beer, at only a few copper served at the massive bar downstairs. Its signature color came from the Duskwheat that this region was famous for.

While she wasn’t very experienced with alcohol, after a few sips, she could tell this beer wasn’t the best. It wasn’t likely drunk for the taste. It seemed to satisfy the thirsty horde below, though.

“Hmm, five or six, including us, anymore and it becomes difficult to coordinate unless you know each other well.”

“A best distribution to maximize our talents would be a DPS, a tank, a DPS controller, a recovery support, and a tactical controller.” Autumn rattled off.

Nethlia stared blankly across the table.

“Dee Pee Ess was me right?”

Autumn blushed.

“Oh right, sorry. You’d be the attacker as a berserker. A tank is someone who can take a lot of hits, either by using armor or dodging. A DPS controller would be a mage or some sort, some kind of ranged caster. Recovery support is a healer and a tactical controller would be someone who would coordinate allies and interrupt enemies, so that be me.”

“Your dad taught you all that? Must be one hell of an adventurer.”

“He…was. He was one of the best.”

Nethlia startled, almost spilling her beer.

“Shit, sorry. Me and my big mouth.”

Autumn relaxed her white-knuckled grip on her tankard. Taking a breath, she raised her eyes to meet Nethlias. A small fond smile of remembrance graced her lips.

“It’s ok, he passed away a few years ago. It was cancer. He was great, taught me a lot even when I didn’t want to listen, you know?”

Nethlia nodded as Autumn’s words spilled forth. A bubbling laugh escaped the witch’s throat.

“He ran his own guild, not like this one. Smaller, maybe a hundred or so, but only like ten or twenty committed members. They raided dungeons, fought dragons and lich-kings, or so he told me. He could have been making things up to make me laugh, but he knew his stuff.”

“Sounds like a hell of a guy.”

Autumn smiled.

“He was. It was how he met my…my mother. She was an adventurer too, but far more casual. Long story short, they fell in love and had me, the best and worst thing that happened to them.”

Autumn blinked back tears.

“I’m sure that’s not true. The last part, that is.” Nethlia’s glowing eyes shone with sympathy. “I don’t know them, but I’m sure they’d be proud of you and happy you’re alive.”

Autumn sniffled as she rubbed her watery eyes upon her robe’s sleeves.

“Enough about me. We were talking about team members.”

“If you’re sure? We can talk some more if you want.”

Emotions and tears were packed away as Autumn resolved herself.

“I’m sure.”

Nethlia sighed before taking a large gulp of her gray beer. With a clack, she placed it back down on the table.

“The way it works is you can either group up like we did or you can submit a form to the Guild. Then, if another team needs another member, they can head on over to one of the receptionists and ask for a copy. After that, it’s up to the adventurers to see if they are compatible.”

“Sounds handy.”

Nethlia shrugged.

“Well, the Guild’s been around for thousands of years, so I hope they know what they are doing by now. Anyway, I’ll be right back. I’ll just grab a few different copies.”

Nethlia swiftly retreated from the booth, and before long, returned with pages of parchment in hand. The forms landed on the table as Nethlia joined Autumn on her side so that they both could read at the same time.

Autumn took a sip of beer to calm herself.

Quickly flipping through the pages, Autumn noted that there were two options per role they had defined. Some could fit into other roles, but it didn’t seem optimal to her. After dividing them up into neat piles, Autumn turned to the tanks.

On one page was the magic image of the minotaur she had seen last night. On the other was one of the bunfolk. Glancing down at the information, Autumn’s eyes lit up when she got to the filled-in races: Taurus and Lepus, respectively.

Autumn turned to Nethlia after looking over the sheets.

“The Taurus is a tower-shield user. Do you think that’d fit with our dynamic?”

Nethlia hummed as she pondered.

“I don’t know. If it’s sized to him, then it’ll be massive. Taurus can move quickly once they get going, but it’s that initial moment that’s killer. Add on all that weight. On the other hand, he’d make a brilliant cover.”

Autumn picked up the Lepus’ sheet.

“It says here that they’re a chevalier.”

“That means knight, right?”

Autumn was confused for a moment before realizing once again she had slipped into another language.

“Right. Do you think they’re a noble or something?”

Nethlia shrugged, unconcerned.

“If they didn’t write it on their form, then it doesn’t matter. The Guild is open to all unless you break the law.”

“Ok, getting back on track, they’d be a more mobile defense. Static vs reactive defensive. The sword and shield combo is nice. Any thoughts on which you want?”

“No, not yet. Let’s keep going and decide at the end.”

Next up was the DPS controller or mage. One option this time was a bit more contentious. The dryad Autumn had spooked before. The other was a Manus with no gender given. It turned out Autumn’s hunch was right as a bearded dwarf glared out of the page.

“Let’s just keep it professional. We would ignore the issue but we need to go over this properly, alright?” Nethlia softly asked.

Autumn gritted her teeth. The smell of the Feywild still clung to her nostrils like it had burned the memory into her nose. Taking a deep, calming breath, Autumn cleared her mind of intrusive thoughts.

“Alright, hit me.”

Nethlia blinked, confused.

“Uhh, why do you want me to hit you?”

Autumn wanted to facepalm.

“It’s a saying where I’m from, nevermind it, I’ll just read it. Let’s see, she’s a druid. Will we be traveling where we might need or be able to utilize natural magic a lot?”

“Hmm, it’s mostly cultivated farmlands around here. In the far north and northeastern regions of the barony, you can find a fair number of differing temperate rainforests all along the coast. At the most northern tips, you can find some deep swamplands and along the western and southern coasts, there are some decent hills. Other than that, two large forests border the barony to the south: The Great Covert and The Wild Entanglement, but I don’t imagine we’d be ever going there.”

Autumn tried to wrap her mind around the geography. It sounded to her that this barony was situated on a peninsula of some sort.

“Does the Scribe’s Guild sell maps?”

“They do. They’re rather expensive, but I see your point. We should buy one later.”

Autumn breathed a secret sigh of relief.

“What about the Manus? It says here that they’re a runecaster. Do you know much about that?”

“No, not a lot. I’ve never really heard of one leaving their mountains. Given the name, they’ll use runes, most likely carved into some sort of singular use object, but I might be wrong.”

So their options were either a preparation caster who’d have an arsenal of runes or an adaptation caster who’d see them through nature. It was a tough decision without the added complication that came with one choice.

Turning to the recovery support or healer roles, Autumn saw a familiar face on one page.

“Hey, isn’t that the alchemist girl? What was her name? Pyre?”

Upon the scribed sheet lay the image of a flaming-haired girl that Autumn had seen just yesterday. What were the odds of that?

“Hmm, alchemists are rather expensive to maintain, but if they have good recipes, they are well worth the price. They’d also be great at identifying potions or ingredients we come across. What concerns me is how young she looks, but she is a copper-rank, so she must have some experience.”

Pyre had looked only a little younger than Autumn in all fairness, maybe a year or two, however long that was here. She wondered for a moment why she hadn’t been subjected to that kind of scrutiny when she joined up. Maybe it was the hat and the weight of her magic or, most likely, it was the massive berserker vouching for her.

“Who’s our other contender?” Autumn asked.

“A priestess of Nusraura.”

A red and white-robed Inferni solemnly gazed up out of the page. Ever since she had first heard the name, Autumn had been both fascinated and fearful of any sort of religious organization. After all, witches and churches historically never got along.

Nethlia continued.

“As a devotee of the Goddess of fire, we can expect she is well versed in fire-based prayer alongside healing. Nusraura also holds aspects of war and rebellion, so her followers are more martial focused, but that’s no guarantee.”

So it came down to divine casting vs alchemical preparations. Both had their positives and negatives.

As Nethlia spread out the two sheets for their pick of the role of rogue, a shocked gasp that turned into an uncharacteristic squeal escaped her.

“Fiery brimstone! It’s her!”

Stars seemed to twinkle in the berserker’s eyes as she gazed with admiration at one of the sheets. Staring past the awestruck warrior, Autumn got a glimpse of a face, wild hair, and a cheeky grin upon cherry red skin.

“Liddie ‘Kraken Eater’ Eastoft.” Autumn read out loud. “It says here she’s a pirate? Is that allowed? Also, I think I saw her yesterday.”

Nethlia whipped her head over to Autumn to stare in disbelief.

“You did! And you didn’t tell me?!”

“We were in a rush and I don’t even know who this is!” Autumn defended herself.

Nethlia’s disbelief grew into astonishment.

“You don’t?! She’s a hero of the empire.”

Seeing Autumn’s continued ignorance, Nethlia regaled her with her tale, condensed as it was.

“Back during the last Inferni-human war, she was a privateer who helmed her ship to raid military and merchant ships who were delivering supplies across the seas. Entire fleets sank before her until she ran into a ship killer, the Kraken. The story goes that she was eaten alive as her ship sank. However, rather than be content with dying, she ate her way free of its belly and pierced its heart with a blade she found inside its stomach.”

The tall tale made Autumn look again at the parchment. She couldn’t help but have doubts but it was the kind of thing they said Greek heroes to have done so who knows?

“Is that how she got her nickname? Kraken Eater?”

“Yup, and given a bestowed name as well.”

Nethlia looked in admiration, awe, and desire.

“Bestowed name?”

“It’s an Inferni thing. We are only given one name when we are born and if you prove yourself and bring honor to the Empire, the Empress will grant you another. It’s a great honor.”

That look of desire flashed upon Nethlia’s features once again.

Autumn picked up the last page. It bore a striking resemblance to the gnome that had gifted Autumn a gold.

“Illusio Illusionist?”

Cocking an eyebrow at Nethlia, who remained enthralled by the pirate’s image.

“Is there any point in going over this one?”

“Huh?” Nethlia gave Autumn a confused look, not having paid attention.

A sigh left Autumn’s lips.

“Alright, let’s choose.”