06 – Investigator Liù

Closer to the city, the fields grew smaller and closer together. The patches of wild lands and forest left over from the expansion of the agricultural fields became a rarity, and the windmills were often accompanied by lone manors inhabited by wealthy farmers. This ring of land around the city was safer than the farther fields, and regular patrols accompanied the caravans and beasts of burden, animals which Ishrin had never seen before.

One patrol escorted them for a while, interested in how Ishrin got injured, but soon left them to their devices once they learned that the duo did not have money to spare for the ‘help’. It also helped that Liù had stayed hidden in her pocket all the time, and despite all the linguistical difficulties Lisette had shown earlier she seemed quite used to this kind of exchange with the soldiers.

“What tier was the spell you used to save me?” She asked, breaking a long silence.

“Tier 3,” Ishrin said with a shrug. “Not my proudest work, and the reason I’m like this.”

He almost stumbled when he saw her stop dead in her tracks. Since she was mostly carrying him at this point, he found himself without her support and had to brace not to fall down face first.

Raising his head, he saw that she was staring at him.

“Tier 3?” She asked, dumfounded. She shook her head. “That can’t be true. I know how spells work. I studied them before choosing to be a warrior. The one you used had to be at least Tier 5, if not 6.”

“Not really. I used a Tier 3 core to fuel it, so it can’t be more than that. Trust me I would know.” He laughed nervously, mostly due to the way she was looking at him up and down.

“Can you cast?”

“A weak Tier 1 spell maybe, and then I’m useless until we reach the city.”

“You already are pretty much useless. Will your pixie be fine?”

“Yes.”

“Show me a Tier 1 spell then. I already owe you, I’ll pay for your medical expenses.”

Ishrin nodded. Restoring a Tier 1 foundation required breaking it completely in the first place, so he might as well give it a little push. The ritual to fix it afterwards would not be very cheap, and he could only hope Lisette would be able to afford it.

With a snap of his fingers, he summoned a middle Tier 1 spell: Fireball. Just as the name suggested, a ball of fire appeared in his hand before he threw it. It sailed through the air, warping the wind currents and distorting light with its considerable heat, before exploding in mid air and displacing even more air. The heat could be felt from several meters away, and it was searing hot.

“That’s…” Lisette stammered. “That’s not a Tier 1. That’s at least a Tier 3. Just who are you, Ishrin?”

Ishrin said nothing.

“The pixie. You said her name is Liù? Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why did you call her that.”

Here she is again. Once we veer off of topics like war or spells, she goes all weird again.

Lisette, for her part, did not wait for a response. “Can she talk?”

Ishrin shook his head. The world was swimming around him after he cast the spell, but he could stand on his own feet.

“She’s still young. Maybe in a couple of decades she will, who knows? I want to teach her to say my name so she can call me when she needs me.”

Lisette paused.

I made it sound like the pixie was going to be the one needing me and not the other way around, despite the obvious power gap. Which, to her, must be strange.

She recovered quickly though. “A couple of decades? That’s a long time.”

Her tone was more analytical than surprised. Ishrin didn’t mind.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Of course not.”

That’s a lie, and a bad one at that.

“Maybe it is a long time for some people. It isn’t for me.” he yawned. “Oh, this reminds me… I really need a hot bath and a nice bed. Would you be so kind to help me to the city and take me to an inn? I sure hope you have money, cause I’m broke.”

“Of course,” Lisette helped him stand. “Here. If we make good time, we should reach Noctis before dark.”

***

They reached Noctis well after dark, but not too late that the inn didn’t accept any more people. Ishrin was too exhausted to really take in the sights of the place, but he did note its defenses and the main road so that he could move around in the coming days.

Much more awake then he was, the pixie Liù looked around with curious eyes.

Liù was a pixie born in the elemental plane of Light. She didn’t remember much of her life in the realm of elemental light, though, except boredom. It was very boring, with nothing to do all day but just kind of float around doing nothing. The place was also flooded with light everywhere, the kind of blinding white light that was so different from the substance colors were made of, and from the shadows and the dancing darkness of the material world.

When Ishrin summoned her, she eagerly responded to the call, and then he named her, and she could swear that something changed within her in that very moment. It was like she gained clarity, her thoughts became words and concepts, no longer mere constructs of all-encompassing light that was everywhere and meant nothing, but thoughts that were complex and had feelings attached to them.

She was reborn. And the world was marvelous, and splendid. It was full of color and interesting things she had never seen before. Solid things, things she could touch. Ishrin’s long, dark hair that he always kept tied in a ponytail. His sharp, angular features and narrow eyes.

Scary things too, that she found out that she could destroy if she used her power. Her power, the light, made her feel safe. The first time it happened it almost scared her more than the creature who was trying to eat her, when the ray of light erupted from her body and blinded her, she thought she had been sent back to her realm. She wanted to cry; she didn’t want to leave Ishrin yet. Things in the material world died, she learned later, and when she thought back to that moment, she realized that if Ishrin had died he would have not come back to summon her again. This almost made her cry again, and she was very thankful that her instincts guided her well.

When she opened her eyes after she attacked the creature, blinking away the tears, she found it dead and was so surprised and happy and awed. Then she did it again, but after using her power she was so tired and heavy… but then Ishrin did something and the monster exploded! It vanished! It was so strange and eerie. Perhaps she had underestimated just how powerful and resourceful her summoner was. And to think that he did all that to save that hateful woman with a permanent scowl on her face… Liù hated that woman. How dared she not be grateful to Ishrin, who risked his life and clearly hurt himself to save her!

Well, Liù was even more angry at her now. Because the woman led them to a city called Noctis - she overheard them talking about it - and then showed Ishrin a place to sleep! Luckily they separated at least. Lisette, that woman, said that she needed to do something at a place called Guild and thanked Ishrin before going her way. Liù still thought Lisette was being an ass, but Ishrin seemed to like her for some reason, so she tried to put Lisette out of her mind.

At least Lisette showed gratitude towards Ishrin when she offered to pay for his stay at the inn. It was not enough to make Liù forgive her for always scowling and staring at her, but it was a good step in the right direction. Weirdly enough, at least from what little intuitive knowledge the pixie had gained about the human world, the innkeeper refused to let them pay.

He looked at Lisette, another weird thing considering that she and Ishrin were surely much more interesting, and then at them, then back at Lisette. He nodded with a knowing smile, winking.

“I can’t have an adventurer of your caliber pay to stay at my inn.”

To which Lisette said nothing and simply bade them farewell. For once, Liù appreciated her no-nonsense attitude that she showed in these circumstances, although she changed her mind again when she mentioned that she would be back in the morning to ‘repay’ Ishrin for his trouble.

What this repayment was going to be like, the pixie had no idea, but Ishrin seemed quite eager to get to it.

Then they went to their room, some time passed, and a very terrible thing happened. Ishrin was sleeping again! The first time it happened, Liù was also tired and sleepy herself, and had no trouble sleeping to pass the time. This time around she was very much awake and not tired at all! She was bored out of her little mind.

They had taken a nice long bath before bed. Liù learned what water was and how to heat it with her light, and then found that she loved to play in it when it was very hot. She also loved to play with the small clouds of steam that rose from the water, but she didn’t like how cold it felt to be wet and out of it, so she stuck with making soap bubbles from underwater. But it didn’t last nearly as long as she would have liked! Now Ishrin was asleep! What was she supposed to do?

“You are free to roam around, if you want.” Ishrin had said. “Just don’t get into any danger.”

She didn’t want to leave her summoner’s side. Not really.

She looked at his chest rising up and down with every breath. Pixies didn’t need sleep, she found out, and were very easy to get bored. Well, perhaps she could do some exploring. Yes! Why not keep an eye on that strange woman adventurer, see what she was up to!

Liù flew out the window, a small ember of light like a firefly in the dark overcast night. She flew above the thatch roofs and the stone roofs, and eventually found the wooden building that was the guild. It was right at the end of a large road that went all the way from the main city gate to the guild. It was not hard to find at all, even with her limited knowledge of human architecture. She flew inside from the open window and hid. Lisette was chit-chatting with another woman, no doubt plotting something evil. The woman was not human like Lisette and her summoner were, but had long fluffy ears like those of a fox and slitted golden eyes. Her tail and fur were a bright orange.

She also noticed that Lisette had changed clothes. Her raven black hair was hidden in a black hood, and her torn armor was now a sleek dark leather adorned with gold. Her eyes seemed to shine in the darkness.

“He saved me. He used a Tier 6 spell, Melina. One moment he was there, the next moment he was in front of me and the Sycoraptor exploded. It literally exploded.”

“Tell me more about it.” The other woman said.

Lisette talked for a while, but Liù couldn’t really understand much.

“It seems like he used a spell to slow down time. Or outright stop it.” The other woman, Melina said. “He claimed it was a Tier 3 spell?”

“He did.”

Melina shook her head. “There is no known Tier 3 spell that can do that, Lisette.”

“I know!”

“And even if that were true, he could never cast it at Tier 1 himself. Are you sure he was as weak as you claim?”

“Yes. He even damaged his own foundation. He tried to hide it, but I could feel it. I didn’t know what to say to him, so I pretended I didn’t notice.”

“You did good. Anything else?”

“He had a fairy with him.”

A fairy? Liù was outraged. She almost flew in Lisette’s face and gave her a piece of her mind, but she held herself back.

She didn’t like being called a fairy. She was a pixie! Also, she was right to be suspicious of this woman! Her tone of voice was completely different than when she spoke to Ishrin! She was cold and emotionless, and sometimes she would turn around to stare at whoever tried to eavesdrop on her conversation with a snarl on her face. Liù hid behind the table every time the woman looked in her direction. Who knew what she could do to her if she caught her without Ishrin. Liù shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Surely, this demonic woman would do all sorts of bad things to her.

“A fairy, you say. How powerful do you think it was?”

“I couldn’t tell.” Lisette said mechanically.

“It’s okay. You did good. You said he asked for some things, right?”

“Yes. He said he needed Tier 2 healing items and a single Tier 4 core.”

“If he really saved your life, it’s more than fair payment. I’ll take it from your tab.”

Lisette nodded. “I don’t care about money.”

“You care about power. And he might just be the key. You will go back to the inn tomorrow, and give him what he asked. Then you will stay with him and observe what he does with those materials. If they really can heal a broken foundation, I want to know it.”

“Will do.”

“Anything else? Did you figure out where he came from?”

“No. He talked about some strange things, but you know that I find most things strange.”

“It’s okay Lisette. Don’t worry.” Melina said with a soft smile.

“You must give him B-rank, at least.” Lisette said suddenly.

Melina sputtered. “What? Are you seriously asking me to just give away the highest rank ever seen in Noctis beside me to a Tier 1 stranger?”

Lisette nodded. “He is powerful enough. I will show you tomorrow, if Ishrin agrees…”

“Why do you care?” Melina asked.

Lisette stared at her, saying nothing.

“Fine.” Melina conceded. “Why do I have a weak spot for you? You know there’s protocol, right?”

“I will ask him to do the test.”

“The fairy too.”

Lisette nodded, and the two went to the back. After a while, Lisette emerged with her usual scowl on her face, and left the guild.

Liù chose not to follow her. Too dangerous. She emanated a strange aura, and the way she looked at the other adventurers as she left was outright scary. Everyone looked down at their meal or at their mug before their eyes met hers, and the small group of people at the door parted before her and let her pass through as if an invisible hand had pushed them away. Murmurs followed. The three people sitting at a table closest to Liù began to discuss what they had heard of the story, and she moved closer to better listen to them.

“Was she the C-ranked adventurer who came to Noctis last week?”

“Oh yeah, rumor has it she’s Tier 4” a guy in heavy armor said. There was a pendant with the letter D dangling from his neck. “It’s her.”

A third guy shrugged. “What a bitch. I bet they only gave her the rank because she slept—”

“Shut your gooddamn mouth Goddard!” the first man said. Liù couldn’t see his face or pendant. “I don’t want trouble, and you’re looking for it.”

“What are you talking about?” The guy said. There was a letter E with a plus sign on his pendant. “She can’t hear us.”

“She came here looking for something, what if she decides that something is you?”

“Well, I would gladly show her—”

The first guy made a gesture with his hands, and the man fell silent. He sighed loudly, shooting glances at the windows with a scowl on his face.

The woman was dangerous. Everyone feared her. But… she was also trying to help her summoner? Liù was confused.