The hood pressed low over his face, Soren walked the streets, the weight of the bounty on his head settling over him like a stone. He knew he wasn't safe in this kingdom but now discovering there was now a bounty set out for him only made him more desperate to leave. Hunger gnawed at him and he knew he could not keep moving endlessly. He chose a small, run-down tavern off a side street. The sign swung slightly in the wind and the smell of stew and smoke drifted out. It was a risk but he needed food
Inside, the room was crowded with laughter, clinking mugs, and low chatter. Soren slid to a corner table, keeping his hood low and his movements calm. It had been far too long since he had a proper meal, but since escaping the castle he quite literally only had the dirty, ragged clothes on him as his only possessions making him look quite homeless. So how was he going to pay for this meal? Simple he would eat then escape as quick as he arrived here. He needed to limit his conversations and movements, the more people he interacted with the more he risked his capture
When the waitress came over, he gave a small nod and muttered the simplest thing on the menu, barely enough for a warm meal. She hesitated, glancing at his ragged clothes, but shrugged and turned to fetch it. As he waited for his meal, Soren's ears caught fragments of conversation from a nearby table. "Did you hear? There's a bounty out on some murderer," one man said, lowering his voice. "Personally issued by the king. They want him alive"
"Alive? Who would want to see a murderer alive?" another replied, shivering slightly. "The bounty info says that he's a rank 2 at that young of an age. How scary. Maybe that's why his bounty is so high''
"Do you think he's hiding here in town? Maybe even in this tavern?" a third asked, glancing around now he said as if drooling, ''With a bounty that high if we caught him we would make a fortune, imagine what we could do with that amount of money! Ten thousand gold coins for a rank 2, that's like ten years of my salary made in one mission!''
Soren felt a twinge in his chest. His eyes lit up softly and he now let his empathy magic activate allowing him to mildly sense the intent directed at him. One man at the edge of the table tightened his grip on an axe, and Soren could feel the hostility in the air before the man even moved
The axe came down in a flash. Soren barely had time to twist his body, the edge of the weapon scraping the floor where his feet had been seconds before. His heart raced, but he remained calm enough to let the magic guide him, sensing the next movement before it happened. Soren could feel it all at once. Greed, fear, malice. Every intent radiating through the room like sparks on water. He shifted his weight and dodged another wild swing from a chair, rolling under a table as the man crashed into a bench. He could see the pattern forming. They were not working together, they were turning on each other in desperation
A dagger flashed at him from a shadowed corner. He leaned back, his hand brushing the floor. A brief pulse of blood magic flared in his palm, enough to shove the man off balance and create a gap. He used it sparingly. Every burst took more out of him than he liked. Shouts and curses filled the tavern. "He's mine!" "No, he's mine!" People were colliding into each other, swinging wildly, knocking over tables and mugs. Soren stayed calm, reading intentions and moving before attacks could land. He ducked, sidestepped, twisted, and let their own chaos shield him
Soren gaze intensified, 'I should have been more careful. It was a mistake coming here. Shit how am I going to escape?' Sweat trickled down Soren's forehead ' I didn't think I would get found out so soon. Someone must have had there eye on me since before I went into this tavern! I'm surrounded this is not good'
Three men converged at once, charging blindly at him. Soren slammed his hands on the floor, letting a controlled pulse of blood magic throw them off their feet without serious harm. Splinters flew from the tables, chairs toppled, and the crowd screamed in confusion. He kept moving, fluid, weaving through the room, following the path that opened itself in the chaos
Soren could allow himself to use blood magic more freely in public as despite it being as hated as it was that meant that no one cultivated and practised blood magic. The only known practsioner being dead, which meant that only those who had seen or studied blood magic before would be able to recognise it
Soren quickly glances around trying to gauge the level of everyone attacking him. In this world not everyone was even qualified to awaken and sense magic to become a rank 1 mage so this meant that the average person would simply be a mortal in a world amongst magicians. However this did not mean that these mortals were any less dangerous even a rank 1 or 2 mage may fall victim to those who didn't possess magic. Only once one steps into the realm of the third rank do they slowly start transcending the realm of humans. Most people in this tavern were mortals, with a very few of them being rank 1, however there were far too many of them that he could handle and this also meant that fighting all of them would not only bring to relying on desperate measures it would also attract unwanted attention
Soren ducked under a swinging stool and rolled to the side, keeping his eyes sharp. The axe-wielding man had collided with a patron wielding a broken chair leg, both tumbling into the bar. Others jumped into the fray. "That's mine!" one shouted, trying to shove another out of the way. "I saw him first!"
"Step back! He's mine, you hear me?" another barked, swinging a cudgel at someone who had blocked his path
"You cheated!" someone shouted, swinging a mug at the man who had stumbled. "I had him first!"
"First? First doesn't matter when the king said alive! You idiots don't even care about the rules!" another yelled, pulling a knife
The room had erupted into chaos. Soren could see it all at once. Fear, greed, anger, malice, hesitation, panic. Every action mirrored in the next. He ducked under a swinging broom, rolled between tables, and let his blood magic push one man into another, causing them to tumble in a heap. He barely breathed, his mind calculating every movement
A young man with a dagger lunged at him. Soren twisted, letting the attack sail past his shoulder, and shoved him toward a burly fighter who swung a broken chair. "Watch it!" the bigger man yelled, swinging wildly. The two collided, exchanging blows, and both went down in a heap. Soren barely paused, moving toward the back of the tavern
Seeing all of this Soren was surprised. Everyone was fighting amongst themselves for the bounty, he couldn't have asked anything better for himself
'They are all stupid this is my chance'
Another man pointed a sword at him, but a shorter, wiry figure barrelled into him, yelling, "He's mine! Step aside!" The two clashed, grappling as swords scraped and chairs toppled. The tavern smelled of sweat, smoke, spilled ale, and blood. Soren's empathy flared again, showing him the thin threads of panic that ran through the crowd. Everyone was fighting, but not just him. They were fighting for their own survival and for the bounty at the same time
Soren crouched, hands trembling slightly from the exertion, and let his blood magic coil in his core
'Enough of this. Time to end it before someone actually hurts me.' He drew a deep breath, focused on the tension around him
''Rank 2 spell Detonation''
The force radiated outward from him in a controlled eruption, splintering tables, sending chairs and shards of wood flying, knocking several people off balance without killing anyone outright. Screams and curses filled the air
He didn't wait. Soren darted toward the door, the smoke and chaos providing cover. People stumbled over each other, blinded by the explosion and their own aggression. "Get him! He used magic!" someone yelled. "He's escaping!" another shouted. The tavern had become a battlefield against itself, and Soren vanished into the alley outside
He had use the destruction of the explosion to make his escape and Soren ran for his life hidden by under the guise of the night sky. The cold night hit him as he slowed to catch his breath. Behind him, the shouts, curses, and sounds of destruction echoed
As Soren slowed down his head began to heat up. 'I'm tired and hungry. All I wanted was a decent meal. When will I finally get that! What did I do to deserve all of this , I can't catch a break can I!'
As Soren finally came to a full stop, gasping for breath, his body instinctively spun around. The alley was dark, but he could feel it a raw, murderous intent cutting through the shadows, focused entirely on him. His heart skipped a beat, every nerve screaming. Someone, or something was coming for him