Quinn carried a young girl on his shoulders. She was in a critical state, and the only think keeping her alive was the parasite... it was surprisingly versatile in its applications. If Quinn was a rather unsuspecting or weaker willed man, he would've found himself even completely dropping the idea of getting rid of the thing...
A bit of compromise isn't so bad is it?
Quinn shook his head, the facts were that this parasite was dangerous, and seemingly capable of acting out of his control. The former was tolerable, the latter was not. Quinn spent every waking second being conscious of its mana and controlling it to his will.
Even now, he could feel the parasite conform itself to the small girls body. She had taken several slashes to her body, and had an arrow pierce all the way to her heart, and it wasn't exactly a recent wound. Quinn had no idea how she had been able to keep herself alive for that long. Quinn thought the mark was hard at working keeping him alive with his torn arm, he was so very wrong. This girl had survived much worse. He was lucky the parasite could fit itself to anything, it acted as a temporary patch to her wounds while Quinn scrounged up materials to heal her.
Quinn settled in a small cave opening, he had multiple tendrils carrying various items and essentials from the bandits bodies. These bastards were prepared for a long haul, which was fair. The Shift had transpired two days ago, which offered at the very least two weeks of access to the dungeons. That was plenty of time to grab some good loot, or in this case steal it and get out. The other party members had been dead by the time Quinn arrived, only this girl was still alive.
Quinn let the tendrils order the supplies neatly. He shared some sort of sense with the organism, it was mostly touch, with the occasional smell or sight. Feeling the latter two required concentration. Quinn took some medical supplies, and pulled them next to him. Setting down the girl, he began to patch her up, dressings against small slashes, healing potions poured onto the larger injuries. The last one was bound to wake her up.
Quinn had long since cut off the jutting parts of the arrow that had pierced her heart. However, the part that remained inside her still remained, so it was time to use the parasite to help. Quinn moved part of it into the cut, the parasite wrapped itself around the smooth wood. Then slowly, he pulled out the arrow. Using more of the parasite to patch up the cuts left in her body. After what must've been an agonizing minute, the arrow exited.
Quinn brought a vial of red liquid to her chest, he popped the cork open, and poured the liquid all over her wound. Bits of her muscle and flesh reconnected. Then the skin grafted as well, all that was left was the slit the arrowhead had left in her leather cuirass. Quinn thought it was much to big on her, all the armor she wore was baggy on her tiny build. Quinn knew that all adventurers had to go through due processes in order to be validated to use dungeons, but Quinn thought this girl was still much too young to be here.
The girl jolted awake, panting heavily in a mix of pain and likely surprise that she was still alive. Quinn hurriedly gave her some space. She scanned the room, her eyes landed on Quinn, it was only then that she reached at her holster, but her hand gripped nothing but air. Quinn raised his hands, his voice gentle.
"It's okay, those bandits that robbed you are dead. I killed them, none of your party members survived. I had to leave your dagger behind for more pressing essentials."
The kid looked around, noticing the bandages on her wounds. She still glared at Quinn with suspicion, so Quinn decided that maybe the theatrics weren't working.
"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
"Sometimes people want you alive, for things worse than death." The girl muttered, Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't know a fate worse than death. Perhaps a shameful death."
The girl looked away. "What are you some noble? That's such a snobby point."
Quinn puffed his chest up. "Nobles are not snobby, they are... well noble." His confidence died with each word. "That's besides the point, I saved you to save you. I'm Quinn of House Ardanthe." Quinn stepped forward and offered a hand, the girl took it.
"I'm Mary of nowhere. Well, unless you count some no name village in the outskirts of Vireth as a place. I didn't know royalty was here." She added with a sarcastic tone, Quinn shook his head.
"Are you mocking me? You little brat." Quinn closed his fist and bounced it on her head softly. She slapped away his hand in response.
"Who are you calling a brat? I'm sure I've lived through much more hardships than you... do you know how hard it is to live fearing you may be taken or robbed or killed. All the while learning magic by hand? Not to mention, that stupid mark I hav-"
"You have a mark?!" Quinn asked hurriedly. Mary was confused at his sudden enthusiasm.
"Yes I do, it's on my back..." Mary unclipped her cuirass, and turned her back. "Right around the middle, it's not exactly pleasant to look at it."
Quinn shrugged, and lifted the hem of her shirt. Sure enough, her back had the same rigged mark. The runes that depicted "Enigma" spelled out clear as day. This one was not reversed however,
Quinn backed up. "I have my own, however I can't exactly say they're alike."
Quinn removed his leather tunic, and pointed towards the mark on his chest. "As you can see, mines reversed. What do you know about your mark so far?"
Mary shrugged, letting out a sigh. "The fact that nobody want's me around for it, who can blame them? I mean, seems like my rotten mark got this party killed. It's in the name, we are a baneful curse."
Quinn sat down. "Well, who knows. It seems to be a curse from the gods. I mean they talked to me about it."
Mary looked at him with a deadpan face. "What did they tell you?"
"They told me to struggle, struggle onto eternity..."
Mary shook her head. "Yeah, I stopped believing you the moment you mentioned you talked to the Gods. Why would they want to talk to someone like you?"
Quinn scratched the back of his head, he was rather upset he would have to pull out this card so soon.
Well, I suppose this is an exception. We do have the same problem after all.
"Well, I met them in the Shift. In fact, I survived the Shift."
Mary stared at him with shock, which quickly turned into laughter. Laughter so potent she rolled over onto her injured side and continued to laugh.
Quinn stood there, contemplating if he should leave this little brat for dead.
No matter how much they ridicule you, it is your job to protect the innocent. That is what a noble would do
Quinn had new found appreciation for stories of old where despite facing scrutiny and hate, heroes in the war of Kingdoms continued on despite it. Ridicule was truly a sinister thing, and this child seemed to be full of it.
Mary eventually settled, wiping tears from eyes, noticing Quinn was not laughing she had an expression of horror on her face.
"Oh god... this crazy bastard actually believes that terrible lie." Mary muttered, yet Quinn could still hear her perfectly clear.
Quinn's hand clenched into a fist, a forced smile plastered across his face. "I can hear you perfectly fine, by the way."
Mary gave him a smug smirk "That's the point noble blood, now stop lying and tell me the truth damnit. In fact, if you aren't lying, I'll work under you for free. If you are, then you owe me half of your treasure."
Quinn's mouth opened to deny the deal, then he pondered. He wasn't lying, and he would gain a free servant that at the very least had amazing endurance.
"Sure, lets agree on that." Quinn looked her over, then remembered he left something with her. He gathered the mana he felt in her and took it back into himself. She had a befuddled expression on her face.
"What did you just do?"
Quinn smiled softly. "I took back what was mine." At the same time, a bit of green flesh slithered into his body. "If you feel sick soon, don't blame me, I'm an unapproved practitioner."