The road stretched out ahead of them, wide and dusty, cutting through open land that slowly replaced the crowded streets of the city behind them. Soren walked a few steps behind Rin, his hood pulled low over his head as the morning light spread across the countryside. Neither of them spoke for a while. The sounds of the city had already begun to fade, replaced by the quieter rhythm of wagon wheels creaking along the road and the distant calls of birds somewhere above the fields
Soren glanced back once
The city walls were already some distance behind them now. Tall stone towers rose above the walls, guards still moving along the battlements, but from here they looked smaller. The tension that had been sitting tightly in his chest since they approached the gate eased slightly, though it didn't disappear completely
They had made it out
But that didn't mean he was safe
Soren shifted his gaze forward again, watching Rin's back as she walked ahead of him. The large war hammer was still strapped across her shoulders, the metal catching faint flashes of sunlight as she moved. Around them, the road was busy with the usual travellers heading in and out of the city, merchant carts loaded with goods, a few adventurers moving in small groups, and farmers guiding animals along the roadside. At least what Soren thought could be animals some of the creatures that these farmers where dragging along looked far to bizarre for Soren to recognise. Some of the farmers herded what looked like red sheep with massive demon like horns and elongated necks and some other creatures resembled massive cows with six legs and a reptile like tail and skin
However for now, they blended in with the groups of people leaving the city
Soren kept his pace steady and his eyes moving, scanning the people they passed without making it obvious. Anyone could be a problem. A guard who recognized him. An adventurer who had seen his bounty. Even a traveller who simply looked too closely. Everyone was a threat
Soren looked at Rin
"Explain it," Soren said, voice low, but there was no room for negotiation. "That hammer of yours. That attack earlier, how did it stop me?"
Rin's eyes flicked toward him, lips parting, but she hesitated. He tightened his hold in his mind just slightly, enough for her to feel the invisible pressure. "It's… an artifact," she muttered
"An artifact," Soren repeated, his tone sharper now. "Don't give me half answers. Explain what they are. I want details''
She swallowed, her movements small and measured, trying not to provoke him. "It… it's made from materials with inherent magic. Minerals, metals, monster parts… anything that stores magic particles naturally"
Rin's jaw tightened. "The energy in the monster's body can be infused into the artifact. That's why mine my hammer can do what it does"
Soren's eyes narrowed beneath the hood. "Rank. Tell me about rank. People have ranks what about the weapons?"
"Rank one is more common," she said cautiously, "rank one and two those are common among adventurers who can afford them. Rank three artifacts are very rare very few people have them and Rank four is almost unheard of. Only the best craftsmen can make them, the materials have to be perfect too"
Soren's grip in the air tightened almost imperceptibly. "And they can conflict with the user?" His voice was flat but deadly. "Wrong pathway, wrong user it backfires, doesn't it?"
"Yes…" Rin admitted, shifting uneasily. "That's why most people stick to artifacts that match their magic. Otherwise it can disrupt you, harm you, or they use artifacts that have a low power output that are mainly used to assist the user"
Rin kept walking beside him, forcing herself to look calm, but she couldn't stop thinking how strange he was
'He doesn't even know the basics of magic artifacts? Everyone knows that, I knew that bounty was too high to be true now I've gotten myself involved with a crazy person who can kill me when they want'
Soren's eyes stayed locked on her, his tone firm but controlled. "I need a map. Show me the important points of this region, quickly." Rin hesitated, then carefully pulled a worn leather-bound map from her pack, spreading it across a flat stone as her fingers traced the jagged lines of mountains, rivers, and scattered towns. She muttered a brief explanation of the Western region, the massive central mountain where the three rivers began, the way the waterways fanned out to the north, south, and east, and the dangerous monster habitats that dotted the lands between the settlements. Soren absorbed the information quickly, his mind already working. He would need to travel southeast to reach the border of the Eastern region, threading a path between the densest clusters of monsters while avoiding main roads. Every town, river crossing, and stretch of wilderness became a piece of the puzzle as he planned, balancing speed, cover, and survival in the back of his mind while his gaze never left the map
'What the hell! This is one region of this world why is it so big'
The problem was that Soren basically had to travel from one end of the region to another which meant it would take him quite a bit of time for him to reach to eastern region and during this whole journey he would be hunted throughout. He would ask more information from Rin for his journey but who is to say once he lets her go she wouldn't go report back this information meaning now his pursers knew where he was going
After nearly two hours of walking, the forest around them had thickened, the canopy above muting the sunlight and the air growing cooler and heavier. Soren stopped abruptly and grabbed Rin by the collar, his eyes burning as he leaned close. "This is where we part," he said, his voice low and dangerous, every word measured
"My magic will undo itself the moment I'm out of its range, and you don't know how far that is. If I turn back and see hoards of people coming, or if I let you go and you try to capture me, I'll fucking explode every last part of you! So just leave me be and forget any of this ever happened"
Rin froze instantly, her hazel eyes wide, and she swallowed hard, the weight of his words pressing down on her. Her hands, still sore and stiff from the earlier fight, trembled slightly as she instinctively took a step back, lips parting but no sound coming out. Every instinct screamed to argue, to flee, but the threat in his gaze made her stiffen in place, powerless to resist. Only when Soren released his grip, stepping back, did she move reluctantly, keeping her distance, clearly shaken, and slowly straightening herself as she walked away, casting uneasy glances back, fully aware that crossing him would cost her far more than she could bear
Soren didn't wait to watch her go. The moment Rin took a few cautious steps back, he melted into the shadows of the forest, moving silently but deliberately. Every crack of a branch beneath his boots, every rustle of leaves overhead, made him tense. His senses stretched outward, scanning the space around him for any hint of pursuers, for any trace that someone might have followed
'I've escaped the worst part now I've ran away from that monster, the King Rael Stormguard. I don't know why the king didn't act personally or why he hasn't disclosed that I can use blood magic on my bounty, but all that matters is that I'm safer now that I've left the kingdom'
'Now its time for my journey to the East'