To say everyone was on edge was an understatement. The night had begun ok, Aiden, Victor and I had grabbed an Inn while Little Fox and Thalia found a place we could have dinner, and Selene and Liora had gone for a walk for, some reason.
Then Victor suddenly rushed off and became a massive beast running through the road, we saw a massive red dome form that Victor shattered, and then Victor came back with Liora and Thalia both looking shaken up.
"Then he gave this ultimatum of Selene fights and if she ever losses they gang up to kill me."
Liora said, throwing her arms in the air, both to punctuate what she said, as well as keep her balance as we continued up the mountain path. The road was rocky and shifty as we traveled. Aiden and Selene stayed in the front while Liora, Little Fox, Thalia, Victor, and I stayed in the back.
The trail was rather thin, only giving us about a foot or so on each side before we hit the wall, or fall down the slope respectively. This however seemed more like a mute point compared to the attack.
"Just to clarify, they said they would be at the games?"
Thalia asked, turning to Liora and Victor. Liora had this annoyed look on her face, probably because she was made to be the proverbial damsel in distress in the situation, while Victor seemed to be bathing himself with his tongue and napping on the ballista post.
"Yea, plus he has this whole new team together, and for some reason most of them are beastkin. Selene only fought the tiger one, but he did like 300 damage with a swing of his weapon when he missed and hit the ground. Plus he regrew his arm when Selene cut it off."
Little Fox seemed alarmed at this as she turned to me and asked.
"Wait, people can just grow back limbs?"
I nodded as we all turned back to Liora as she continued to explain what happened after Victor arrived. Though my attention was elsewhere, because as it turns out Little Fox could speak common because she learned a skill and was observing us for a time before revealing it. In some senses I understand, while in others, I can't help but feel like that's ominous. Yet I had no room to judge because from what Aiden had told me, Little Fox had been worried I was on a murder plot for several days. So while she was still hesitant to talk to me, the fact she would talk at all was a good sign in my book.
We passed over another large bump that jostled everyone as we all had to shift back to our seats.
"There is just one thing that has be a bit worried about things."
The others turned to me as I silently looked up at Victor who gave me a small smile that while probably intended to be polite and kind, instead seemed ominous.
"Victor, first you talk about the red man troupe after showing up out of nowhere to save us and then volunteer to train us. Then you save Liora and Thalia while talking about fatebound, and rebellions, and betrayals. So I'm sorry if this is blunt, but why exactly are you here?"
Victor stared down at us with a cheshur smile as if intentionally trying to send shivers down our spines.
"Purrrhaps you furrrrget, but I am saving a rrrreturn trrrrip in staying. Has yourrrr alchemist ally not inforrrmed you of his... drrrream? The one rrrrright when I appearrred firrrst."
Victor's tail swishes lazily, as if thinking if he should fully engage with the questions asked.
"You are all prrrrro-... tégé. My prrrrotégé, yes. Why would I ignorrrre such clearrrr bloodthirrrst dirrrrected at you all?"
Victor had clearly stopped himself from saying something, pivoting away from a word half-spoken. A part of me wanted to ask him more questions, and yet the other part said that there needed to be a bit of a consolidation first.
Waiting until the sun was setting and we were all preparing to make camp, I tried my best to remain calm and unbothered as we set up camp. Aiden and Selene seemed unbothered, but aside from Victor, the rest of us were walking on eggshells. Always watching Victor out of the corner of our eyes despite his own noon chelaunce about the topic.
To make matters worse was that he suddenly vanished, his form dissolving into dirt around the time we set up the campfire.
"Crap, he's gone!"
I barked turning to Liora, Thalia, and Little Fox to see if they saw where he went. They however seemed just as panicked as I was.
"Uh, a-are you all looking for Victor?"
Selene asked walking over as she saw us all whipping our heads around.
"Yes, did you see where he went?"
I asked, more panic slipping into my voice than I would have liked.
"Y-yea, he told Aiden and I that he was going to go see if he could find a monster we could fight for training later."
I felt a vein on my forehead pop out as I felt a pang of annoyance spread through me as I briefly imagined punching Victor before remembering the massive form thing he did.
We finished setting up the campfire as we all sat down to eat the dinners we had brought as I made sure to sit next to Aiden. We ate in silence for a moment as I wanted Aiden to be done with his food so he couldn't pretend to be eating to stall answering, but luckily for me, he seems to have been rather hungry as he devoured his dinner at an almost record speed. I gave him a moment to digest before I turned and asked.
"Aiden, level with me here, what exactly happened that day at the Dukes party?"
Aiden paused with his waterskin half way to his lips. He shrugged in his shoulders and said in a nonchalant tone.
"What is there to know, one moment I was standing there, the next I woke up in bed and we had been saved 3 days ago."
I stared Aiden down as I thought through the ramifications of what I was about to as I took a breath to center myself and said.
"You're lying, something happened. You need to tell us what you saw."
Around us I heard everyone pause as they turned to us, Liora and Thalia seemed curious, while Selene seemed worried, like she knew what I had just done. Aiden turned to me with a serious look as he asked.
"What made you so convinced I'm lying?"
I returned Aidens gaze as I said.
"Victor told us you saw something, the entire reason he is even here helping us, and as a party we have a right to know."
Aiden took a moment as he placed his elbows on his knees and said.
"Its not anything you want to know, can we leave it at that?"
I stood up as I said sharply.
"No, we need to know what happened."
Aiden took in a sharp hiss of a breath as he said.
"Jax, I'm not withholding it because of greed, I'm doing it because its knowledge that is inherently dangerous to know."
I stepped forward and said.
"Fine, we acknowledge the risk and are willing to take that risk, so tell us what happened."
I saw a look of anger flash on Aidens face as he jumped up and yelled.
"Damn it, I'm not hiding it because I want to, the knowledge actively has a curse and Im trying to avoid activating it!"
I stared Aiden down, a part of me saying to just shut up and take that knowledge and let it stimmer, but the other part wouldn't let me. Adventurers as a job are known to run into strange, and obscure situations, it's why people joke that Murphy's law was made by an adventurer named Murphy.
Yet in the past month we had been exposed to nobility, seen Red himself, gone through perilous stuff beyond the norm, and even seen things we can't explain. Be it the looming death threat over our head, or the curiosity boiling with other factors I stepped forward, getting in Aiden's face.
"We are a team, you're supposed to trust us here."
Aiden threw his hands in the air and yelled.
"FINE, you want the truth, the truth is that we are nothing more that entertainment for th-"
Aiden was cut off from speaking by a silent hand that was placed over his mouth. The figure was a taller woman, wearing a set of worn cargo pants and having a wrapping of bandages or something similar over her chest in place of a shirt. A sword hung from a sheath at her side. Her skin was covered in dozens of scars as a length of straight purple hair flowed down her back. Yet despite all of that, what was truly terrifying was her presence. The feeling of natural power was unlike anything that could be felt from an actual system user, if anything they felt closer to the feeling of a powerful monster.
"We can't have you saying that, alchemist. You could have gotten everyone here killed."
She said in a voice that seemed to carry power with it as we all froze, unsure of what to do.
"Everyone here. Everyone from where you have been. Just pretty much.... Well. Too many people.."
Said another voice from behind the woman. We turned to the voice as a young looking boy stepped out. He couldn't have been taller than 5 ft, with several bandages on different points of his body with some only partially hiding what seemed like burn scars. His voice was meek and timid, like that of a child unsure of if they should be talking before adults, and yet it carried a weight of power that almost dared to make anyone interrupt. As we stared he seemed to glance over all of us, but not in a timid or worried way, instead it was a precise scan, like a doctor assessing damages on a patient before they can begin treatment. Yet despite it being only a glance, it felt like this young boy could even delay death if they could get to a wound in time.
"W-Who are you?"
Selene asked after taking a moment to work up the courage before the two new people who nobody even had a guess had been there for who knows how long.
"we are... Well it's not really that simple, just know we are here to help, got a spot by the fire?"