Slipping into my boots, I left my front door and wrapped a thick leather cloak around me and pulled the hood over my head, as it was starting to get even colder as it slowly became winter.
My goal was an inn that sat near the red-light district of Novrad. I say red-light district, it was mainly where the drug dens and gangs hang about, with a smattering of inns and bunk houses. Though, if you value your live or valuables, you better avoid those places and pay the extra few coppers to sleep in a safe inn.
Entering the seedy street, I could feel the predatory stare eyeing me up. The filthy thugs, clung to the shadows of the alleys, but the ones that were more of a threat were the ones who pretended not to notice the lone stranger wandering the streets. As they were often the ones that were either more skilled, or were a part of a powerful gang, which wouldn't do anyone any good to mess with.
Grabbing the shadows around me, I pulled them over me, into a sinister cloak of blackness. As I turned my head to look at the skulking thugs, they immediately felt the cold shiver of shadows gnawing at them and did whatever they could to not look in my direction.
Continuing down my path, I was now free from the predatory eyes. 'I'm so thankful for the minds of non-casters.' I couldn't help but smirk at the instinctual fear of non-casters had towards practitioners.
A few minutes later, I arrived at an old building that looked like it was almost as old as the city itself, if the splintered wood and hanging wooden window covering, were anything to go by.
Opening the door to the tavern, I was hit with the smell of stale ale, meat, body odour and blood. The smells seem to imitate from every crevice and did everything they could to attack my senses.
The patrons inside stopped what they were doing and turned around at who just came inside. However, I couldn't care less for their hostile gazes and continued on to the stairs in the back. Even though, the half-drunk people watched me enter, they soon lost interest when they saw me walk further inside. They probably assumed that I was here on some dark business, as nearly all of the patrons were either gang members or wanted criminals.
The stairs creaked as I ascended. I was met with a dark hallway, that only had a what little light shone in from the window at the end of the hall. However, the stained wood seemed to almost absorb any light that peaked through.
Slowly walking down the hall, I heard several different sounds from each room I passed. Some were snoring, others weren't so child friendly. But ignoring those sounds, I arrived at a door that was at the end, right next to the flight of stairs that went up to the inn keeper's private quarters.
Placing my hand onto the wood of the door, I began to scan the door and the space beyond for any magic using my own mana. In my mind's eye, I felt a spark resonating a few feet away from me. But the information I got, didn't fit with anything that resembled a trap, so I knew that it was safe to enter.
Of course, my mind's eye hadn't developed as much as other casters, as mine couldn't form an image of the space I was sensing. But that didn't really matter at the moment, as I was already familiar with this room.
Sliding the key into the keyhole, it fit, and I twisted the key and pulled the door open. before I entered, I checked around for traps that wasn't magical in nature and found none.
The room itself was a plain inn room, only the small bed in the corner looked old and filthy, and cobwebs in the top corner of the room told me all I needed to know about the cleanliness of the room. Not to mention the smell of mould and stale piss that stabbed at my nostrils.
'How pleasant.' I grimaced as I stepped inside, careful not to step onto something foul.
Stopping in front of the bed, I took out my sword's sheath and flipped the mattress as I didn't want to use air magic as that would stir the air about the room and I really didn't want to inhale anything that had laid in that bed.
What I discovered, other than the stained mattress and skittering bugs running away from the sudden movement. Was a thick leather bag, lying on top of the wooden slats of the bedframe.
Picking up the bag, I heard several things clinking and clanging inside. As I opened the bag, I saw a few items twinkling in the low light and a thick leather book. The other items were a pewter bracelet, a glass vial with murky green liquid inside and two rings. One was a gnarled wooden ring, and the other was brass ring with a single garnet embedded on it.
The mana came from the wooden ring; however, I wasn't familiar with the particular scent of mana that leaked out of it. Which meant only one thing, I haven't come across this type of magic during this life.
[Wooden ring of bestial senses]
Increases your field of awareness. Your senses increase and becomes more sensitive. Beasts are less hostile towards you.
My intelligence stat was finally at the point where I can identify items. But putting that to one side for now, I read through the item's description and wasn't particularly impressed.
'Though, it was the first item I've found that was enchanted, and I suspect that it was enchanted with druidic magic.' I stored it away and looked over the other items, but they were normal jewellery, but I still took them with me.
And finally, the book. It wasn't trapped and was a normal book, from the outward appearance, that is. As I flipped through it briefly, I found that it was both a journal and a grimoire.
'I should be able to find some clues to his hideout here.' I placed the book inside my inventory as I heard the floorboards out in the hall began to creak. It sounded like someone was sneaking around outside the room.
'It seems that someone is looking for an easy mark.' It made sense to me that it would be a random thug testing their luck than an accomplice, considering that the sallow mage never had anyone like that to begin with.
Shrouding myself in shadows, I pressed my body into the corner of the room and waited for the skulker to enter the room.
A moment turned into two, until a new shadow slithered into the room. They were thin and clad in dark clothes. However, the thing that stood out to me was their smell, or lack of it. This was no simple street thug.
"Move and you'll die." I said in a low voice, as I stepped behind them and placed a dagger to their throat.
"…." They didn't reply, but I could see the very slight tensing of their muscles and it wasn't simply because they were scared.
"What did I just say." I warned again, placing the blade so close to their throat that a single trickle of blood began to run down the dagger.
"You don't look like the typical thug. And I seriously doubt that you are an acquaintance of the owner of this room." They once again tensed at my words. But instead of preparing to act, it felt more like a revolution to my words. Then, as I was assessing them and deciding what to do, something entered my nose and almost made me stagger in sheer surprise.
"So, now all that is left to ask is, why is an elf this far west?" This figure froze in shock, but they weren't the only one who was shocked. I never expected to see one here either, it wasn't a part of the story that I knew and the only way I knew them to be an elf was by their smell. As I got this close to them, I started to smell the scent of grass and bark, which wasn't surprising for a spirit of the forest to have such a scent laced on them.
"…How did you know?" Were the only words that fell out of their mouth. It was an unmistakably female.
"The scent of the forest is out of place in a cesspit like this." I replied as I removed my dagger from their throat. Even though elves were an unfriendly and isolated folk, they are also reasonable and would try to avoid senseless violence where possible.
"…Then what are you doing here?" The elf asked before turning around.
I was right, the elf was a woman with bright green eyes and flawless features. It was obvious why many people swooned over the elves when they became part of the story in the future.
"A particular ghoulish mage came knocking to my home and tried to kidnap my housekeeper. So, I decided to destroy everything he had." I replied honestly and the elf just looked at me with vacant eyes.
"What about you. Why is a child of the forest here?" I asked. Curious as to why I never heard of an elf being here this early in the game. But then I realised something, this inn wasn't trapped, which meant that this elf might have been the reason for all those traps but that wouldn't fit with their personality type. All in all, something didn't fit here, and this elf held the key to my confusion.
"…." She stood in silence, it was obvious that she was in two minds whether to trust me, a human.
"…A lot of my siblings have gone missing. I have tracked them this far and thought I could find some clues in this human city." Even though elves and humans have an amicable relationship. It wasn't unreasonable to think that someone would kidnap an elf, either for their natural good looks, or for something more sinister.
"I see. Well, I collected everything of note in this room." I replied, as I produced the book and wooden ring as I would prefer to have a positive relationship with the elves than simple trinkets.
As soon as she spotted the ring, her eyes widen in surprise. I could tell that it wasn't a look of greed.
"Do you recognise this ring?" I asked.
"Yes, it belonged to one of the forest wardens, and a friend." She replied, as her eyes fixed onto the ring but glossed over as if recalling memories.
"Then it belongs to you and your family." I said as I handed it over to her. It was a little disappointing, as I could study it to learn about the enchanted magic inside. But I would prefer to make a positive impression if I had an option.
"Thank you." She chocked the words out, overcome with emotions. Her hand gingerly reached forward to receive the ring.
She held the ring with both hands, completely forgetting where she was or why she was here. However, clearing my throat pulled her back to this foul-smelling room.
"I can't say about you, but I am finished with this sty and would like to leave before I catch anything from being here." I said, looking around this sorry excuse of an inn room.
The elf looked at me, then the book in my hand, obviously conflicted with something.
"You don't need to look so concerned. You are more than welcome to have a read through as well. I'm just proposing a change of location." I was thinking that I would be seeing a doubtful and chilly look from her. However, all I saw was agreement.
"I take it you have somewhere in mind?" She asked, as she placed the ring into a pocket under her cloak and her demeanour returned back to a professional one.
"As it happens, I do. And I happen to know that there is tea." I smiled as I thought about a specific place, my home, of course. The elf just slightly tilted their head, intrigued to what I had in mind.
It took a little more than ten minutes of brisk walking to get back to my home. Inside, I took my cloak off and directing my guest to the kitchen and set about making a pot of herbal tea.
"By the way, I have realised that I have yet to introduce myself. I am Cain, alchemist, adventurer and otherwise perturbed citizen." I said as I brought a pot of tea and cups over to the table.
My guest stood at the foot of the table and listened to me speak.
"I am Zale, first guardian of house Mauilin." Her introduction was filled with pride, and I could see that she held herself back from falling into a salute, probably from all her training. However, I was more surprised that she was a first guardian at such a young age.
She, like I had, removed her cloak once inside, probably realising that it was useless to keep up her disguise as I already knew that she was an elf. So, I could see her long blonde hair, that hid her pointy ears that just peaked through her hair.
As elves had such a long lifespan and never lost their youthful looks, it was virtual impossible to tell their age, if you didn't know much about them, that is. There was actually one way of knowing their age, and that was their hair colour. Like humans, elves' hair gets lighter with age, but instead of the grey like humans, elves' hair would become platinum, which would seem to glow in certain light.
So, I would guess that Zale would be the equivalent to twenty-three in human years, but in elven years, I wouldn't even try to hazard a guess.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zale. Won't you join me for a cup of tea?" I offered, pouring two cups full of a steaming, herbal tea.
She hesitated for a moment, but soon accepted my hospitality. Sitting at the table, she lifted the cup to her mouth and took a sip and seemed to be pleased with the taste.
"Now, please don't take this the wrong way, but can you read the human language?" I asked as I placed the book onto the table and opened it to a random page. I knew that elves had their own language and rarely learnt any other languages.
Looking blankly at the open book on the table in front of her. Then, realisation spread over her face before embarrassment clung to her cheeks. "…No, I cannot." She whispered.
"No matter, I'll have a read through and let you know if there is anything of value in here. In the meantime, help yourself." I said as I uncovered the plate of cookies, I baked the other day, that I had off the side of table. Though, I was surprised they lasted this long with Oswin about.
Zale looked a little dejected but eyed the cookies with interest and greed.