Savaria, two hours after the escape
The AG soldier whistled to himself as he tore a wanted poster off the board. As was standard protocol when someone was captured or killed.
In this case, both.
Rorik, the “six-shot wonder” was supposedly killed whilst escaping a prison complex in the fifth sea. Apparently, Lieutenant O’Leary severely injured him before his allies dragged him onto a boat. The lieutenant said that his ribcage was close to shattered when he was carried onto the escape vessel, she thought that there was no way her son could’ve survived long enough to see a healer. Needless to say, O’Leary was practically inconsolable.
It didn’t help that Rorik had somehow injured the lieutenant enough to cause her to be stuck in the medical bay for the next week.
But frankly, that was none of the soldier’s business. He was set to run errands in Savaria for the AG and he was gonna do it to the best of his ability. After all, if the AG wasn’t around to protect those that needed it, who would?
Alalea, six days later
“So… What exactly is our goal here?” Kyra asked, “I thought you said that we weren’t running from the AG anymore.”
“We’re just laying low for a bit. Fighting the AG again would be bad for both our physical and mental health.” Rorik replied, “It’s never a good idea to end one battle and charge directly into another, your body and mind needs breaks from fighting so that it can learn and grow from past experiences.”
Mikhail snorted, “And when did you get so wise?”
“It’s something my father once said, he used to be a commander in the AG before being promoted to a more relaxed position behind an office desk.” Rorik said, “He had a way with words.”
The trio walked into the city. At first glance, Alalea looked like a bustling metropolis with a good luxurious atmosphere and fancy walkways.
And then you start to notice that the poor are being constantly abused by the guards.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Rorik shouted at two guards that were busying themselves by kicking a poor man by the gates.
The first guard sneered, “Showing this pathetic specimen why trash like him shouldn’t be walking around in the rich distri-”
They didn’t seem to have much more to say after Rorik punched their teeth in. Weird.
The other guard found himself getting kicked in the gentlemen’s area, shot, and thrown into an alley. While his friend was executed by Kyra.
Rorik picked up the injured civilian and ducked into an alleyway, motioning for the others to follow before anyone came to investigate the ruckus.
“So much for laying low.” Rorik muttered
“Well… Regardless, we need to get this guy to safety. Maybe a tavern or something.” Mikhail suggested.
Kyra wiped the blood off of her spear, “Whatever we do, we need to do it quick. I expect that the guards are going to be here soon, and we don’t want to be anywhere near here when they show up.”
“Let’s get him to the inn then, we can take a look at his injuries there” Rorik said as he finished reloading the pistol he fired.
The Second Shot, 10 minutes later.
“Okay… I have basic first aid training from my time as a recruit, but you’re gonna need to take the lead.” Rorik told Kyra as they put the man on the floor of their newly rented room.
“Aye, can’t believe that the barkeep bought our excuse for hauling an unconscious body in here.” Kyra remarked as she took some healing potions out of her bag. “Okay, he’s breathing, and his ribs look like they’re intact. Unfortunately, he took a lot of blows to the head judging by the bruises. He might have a concussion… Or twenty. You start cleaning and patching up his cuts, I’ll see what I can do for him.”
Rorik and Kyra worked on healing the man for two hours while Mikhail scouted around the city for places to purchase supplies, weapons, potions, and armour. By the time he came back with food, the two healers had done all they could for the man. All that was left to do was keep him stable while his body healed itself.
Tired, and still hurt from his close brush with death, Rorik lay down on one of the beds in the room and slept.
10:00pm
“Apparently guards getting murdered isn’t a common occurrence in the city.” Mikhail said as he took a bite out of his sandwich, “Everyone’s on high alert after they found the corpses. Some think that the AG sent spies to sow chaos in the city. We should stay here for awhile. I can go out to get food and medical supplies, but you and Rorik might be noticed in the city since you were both part of the AG at one point.”
“Well… There isn’t much to do here.” Kyra said, “So, tell me about yourself, where do you come from?”
“Me?” Mikhail chuckled, “Well, I discovered my innate ability for magic at the age of 10. I left my home on mainland at the age of 18 to sail the seven seas. I have a bit of a wanderlust, and it won’t be sated for awhile I think.”
“Hm… But what made you ally with pirates instead of the AG?” Kyra asked
Mikhail sighed. “There’s… A couple of reasons for that. I’ll tell you the main one. Three years after I left mainland, I was staying in a small inn on one of the islands in the second sea. By this time, I was able to overlap two magic circles to empower my spells. One day, a soldier belonging to the AG walked into the bar I was drinking in. They got a bit drunk, and started getting handsy with the other customers. I slapped him silly and went to the nearest outpost to file a complaint. The captain I talked to told me that the soldier in question was an upstanding member of the force, and that I was under arrest for assaulting a member of the AG. I escaped, and met Rorik not long after that encounter.”
“Wow, so what was the-” Kyra began before noticing that the injured man was waking up.
The man groaned as he sat up. He blinked for a moment before a look of alarm crossed his face. “Where am I? Who are you?” He asked
“Easy buddy, you had a bit of a run-in with the city guard. We did what we could for you, but you need to rest for awhile” Kyra said calmly
“My daughter, did she get away?!” The man frantically asked
“Shit.” Mikhail cursed, “we didn’t see anyone other than you and the guards. OI RORIK! GET UP!”
“BAH!” Rorik jumped in alarm, “Whuzzap?”
“It seems our patient here had a kid with him when he was jumped by the guards” Mikhail quickly explained before turning back to the man, “Can your daughter use magic? Rorik here is extremely sensitive to magical auras.”
The man hesitated, “Y-yes, she can use a little bit of water magic. She was showing it to me just before we were attacked. I was so proud of her… My daughter’s name is Ava. I don’t ha-”
By the time the man finished, Rorik was already out the door. He ran out of The Second Shot and reached out with his magic sense.
Rorik was almost blinded by the intense energy he felt coming from within the main castle, the aura radiated heat and smog. He focused his sense, searching… There!
He felt a small, almost unnoticeable amount of water energy emanating from the other side of town. But it was starting to fade, which didn’t bode well. Cursing, Rorik jumped onto the rooftops and frantically jumped from building to building trying to get there in time.
“Is this where the whelp went?” The guard asked Reginald
“For the last damn time, stop calling the kid a whelp. If you scare her off… Well, I heard that Drake is looking for some target practice…” Reginald warned.
The guard shuddered at the veiled threat.
Reginald sighed, “Yeah, this is where the scout said the kid went. The alleyway stops against a wall, we have her cornered. Remember, Do. Not. Scare. Her. Got it?”
The guard nodded and skulked into the alleyway, there he saw a small shape huddled against the ground. He took a careful step towards her with his hands empty.
BANG
The girl screamed as a bullet struck the ground where the guard was about to step. Reginald came running around the corner to see what happened. When he arrived, he saw a man in a long coat holding a pistol to the guard’s head.
“I wouldn’t recommend moving.” Rorik said.
Reginald drew his swords, “I don’t know who you are, but we need that girl, so back off!”
“And why do you need her? You’ve already severely injured her father, isn’t that enough?” Rorik asked.
“We didn’t do anything to her father! As far as we know, she doesn’t have one. What we do know, is that she is a homeless child with magical potential. We wish to give her a better life.” Reginald explained, “Now please step away sir.”
Rorik turned to the child, “Your name is Ava, right?”
She nodded
“Your dad sent me to get you. I helped him fight off the guards.” Rorik said, trying to reassure the child. He then turned towards Reginald, “And why, pray tell, were your guards after them? Can citizens not walk around the city without being mugged by the people supposed to protect them? Really, you people are scum. You act like you make the world a better place, yet you’re no better than the AG! This guard here is only alive because I don’t usually take lives liberally. The two guards this morning weren’t so lucky.”
“It was you!” Reginald shouted, “Are you a spy from the AG?!”
“Would a spy have admitted they killed two guards? Or would a peacekeeper admit they killed a couple of tyrants? Which is more likely?” Rorik asked.
Reginald’s face contorted in shame, "Look… I’m not proud of wha-
BANG
Rorik dashed to the side as a bullet flew right past his face. He swiftly hit the guard with the butt of his gun before picking up the kid and leaping onto the rooftops. As he did, beams of light shot past him as a light wizard gave chase.
How the hell did he dodge that bullet? Drake thought to himself as he reloaded his rifle, I had a clear shot.
Rorik swiftly turned around and shot the light wizard in the leg, causing them to fall off the roof and hit the ground below before grabbing another pistol and shooting the sniper on the walls.
Drake sensed the bullet coming long before it hit, what he didn’t sense was the blast of lightning that came after it. It hit him head-on and launched him off the wall. He heard a crack coming from his chest when he hit the ground, signifying that he had a couple of broken ribs. Groaning, Drake activated his S.O.S rune just before he lost consciousness.
Rorik jumped off the roof and landed in the streets, “Your father is waiting in room 6 in the Second Shot, GO!” he said to Ava as he turned to face his last adversary.
Reginald charged forwards with his cutlasses, Rorik sidestepped the attack as he drew his own blade. The two clashed, Rorik was too fast for Reginald to land a proper blow and Reginald was too experienced for Rorik to outmaneuver him.
Rorik cursed as one of the oversized blades cut his face, narrowly missing an eye. He charged forward at blinding speeds with his hand wreathed in light magic.
The punch that followed sent Reginald flying down the street. He jammed one of his blades into the side of a building to stop his momentum.
“You’re fast.” Reginald said as he leaped into the air, “But lets see you dodge THIS!”
Reginald swung his swords so hard that they created a huge swirling blast of cutting force. Rorik Leaped right through the blast, grunting as the attack tore up his skin. He scored a heavy blow against Reginald’s midsection and blasted him with light, before using divine shower to finish him off. Rorik landed on his feet as Reginald’s unconscious body crashed into the ground behind him.
Rorik sheathed his sword, and began walking towards the Second Shot.