A tense silence hung over the group. “What did you just say?” Charlie said, staring at Wrench as he stared down at the dead bodies.

 

“After they came to the shop, and I thought you attacked the shop owner, I then went up the road to have some strong words with the owner of the gun store. Looking into it further, it turns out his son was the man who had groped your leader,” he said, gesturing to the Chiefess.

 

“When she had understandably retaliated, he thought she was with me, and thus why she acted so violently. This is what lead him to tell his father, who told the town lord, who in turn ordered the men to try and kill you,” Wrench turned and looked down at Charlie.

 

“I am very much at odds with the ruling class of this town. Thus, when I attacked the shop owner… well… I mean… Sorry… I gave him a strongly worded punch, he thought that when his son got attacked, it again must have been linked to me. Since we have had trouble in the past, he thought this was all some plan of mine. So again, sorry,” his voice was solemn and calm.

 

Emotionless, yet full of regret. Staring at the mam, Charlie simply studied him. All ears of the women pricked up as they sat at attention. Looking to a side room, Nolkonoe began to growl. Through the door, came a familiar, and gentle face. Standing in the doorway stood the Night Elf girl. Growling, Nolkonoe stood as she saw the knife in her hands. Gulping, the girl stood back.

 

Placing a hand onto Nolkonoe, Charlie had her sit back down in her chair. Still glaring, she tried to relax while Charlie kept an assertive hand on her. None here were fit to fight, let alone fight such a beast. Alone, this man had killed forty mercenaries. Even though he didn’t look to have the same weapons on him as he had that night, Charlie could identify a few items around the room which could have been quickly converted into weapons.

 

“H... hello again!” The girl said, her ears drooping down as she tried to give her best smile despite her fear. Glancing from Nolkonoe to the elf girl, Wrench made the small gesture of standing between the two. It wasn’t much but asserted to the elf girl he would protect her.

 

“Sorry about her, I am not sure what has gotten into her,” Charlie said, taking his hand off Nolkonoe as he copied Wrench’s decision to stand between the two.

 

“Do you have a history together?” Wrench asked in a cold, metallic voice as he turned to the elf girl. Seemingly calmed by his presses, she nodded.

 

“I was buying goods from her shop,” Charlie added, “Nolkonoe here the ran inside and dragged me away,” Charlie leant closer to Wrench. 

 

“I don’t believe their species like each other that much,” Wrench nodded at his words. With an understanding now being clear, the two relaxed while Wrench walked to the elf girl

 

“What do you need?” He asked.

 

“Well, I came here asking if anyone wanted something to eat?” She said with an innocent smile. Nodding, Wrench didn’t even need to turn as he heard Nolkonoe growl her disapproval.  

 

“I think they are fine for the moment,” Wrench said, before turning the girl away and walking with her back into the dark room.

All the wolves stayed on alert until the scent of the woman disappeared. But... why? Nolkonoe stared at the doorway. There was no scent, and she couldn’t even hear their footsteps. It was as if they had vanished into thin air. On the door, she saw a blue mechanical cog. At its centre was an owl, with lines of red over its beak.

 

Returning, not until Wrench was in the room did his footsteps seem to be heard again. As if some charm was placed over the room which prevented all sound and smells from coming from the room. As he walked behind the counter, there was an awkward silence as he began to pick up several glasses and place them on the table. Taking a bottle, he then began to pour drinks.

 

The sweet smell of whatever wine he was using drifted over the room, making Charlie feel safe enough to break the silence.

 

“I didn’t know elves were so welcomed here. I thought the Empire would be hunting them,” Charlie began. After pouring the first drink, Wrench didn’t lift his eyes as he began to pour the second, all while answering him.

 

“They aren’t. She is only alive since I said so,” he continued.

 

“Also, their blood isn’t as valuable as their kind,” he said, gesturing to the wolf women scattered around the pub.

 

“Their blood?” Charlie questioned, knowing why their magic blood was valuable, but not understanding the true value.

 

“Do you know how magic works boy?” The man began, pouring a second, then the third drink before Charlie responded.

 

“No,” he said. Placing one of the drinks under his arm and lifting the other two with his hands. Carefully he carried the drinks over and placed them down on the table in front of them. Passing one to Nolkonoe, he offered the next to Charlie while keeping the other for himself.

 

“Well then, allow me to begin,” Wrench said, as he began to explain how magic worked.

 

Wrench’s explanation of magic:

 

Magic is like smoke. It floods around us. Also, like smoke, a source is needed to create that smoke. These sources are usually deep underground. So deep we can’t access them. So, people who use magic, need to use the smoke that leaks up through the cracks of the earth and into our world. Because of this, some areas have more magic than others. This raw magic is harnessed into crystals, which magic users usually have if an area is poor in magic.

 

These crystals are vital as once the smoke of magic in an area is used, then it is gone permanently. Taking this into account, it makes magic stores such as crystals incredibly valuable. And the places where these crystals are mined are even more valuable. That is the basics of magic. People use the magic around them, and it is best to think of it as a point system. For example, it takes ten points to make a fireball about the size of a hand

 

Certain spells take more magic, so they must use more smoke in the area. For context, humans have a limited store of magic in them, which means they can’t create magic, only use it and store it in crystals. This store is a small ten points. But then there are the elves. Their kind has a store of two hundred. This means they can make magic from the area and store it within themselves. They also regain one point of magic each hour.

 

Meaning they can use far more magic than any human ever could. Lastly, there are the species of the people who are in the Chiefess’s tribe. Their kind has unlimited magic, hypothetically that is since one tail is equivalent to one thousand points of magic. This increases with every number of tails they get.

 

What makes them so valuable, is that the empire could easily enslave them, and use them like cattle. They will create magic in their blood naturally, and then they will place that magic into crystals for the mages and soldiers to use. Thus, why do the people of the Chiefess’s tribe need to keep their forms hidden? There is a bounty of three hundred gold (three hundred thousand coppers) for just one of her kind.

 

Thus, the blood of these natives is incredibly valuable to the Empire and even more to the Merchant Union.

 

End of Wrench’s explanation.

 

 

Charlie stared at the wolf women. Each was on edge. This man seemed to know more about their species than even they did.

 

“Lastly. One of the reasons you are even alive is because this area has a very low amount of magic wind, thus those men couldn’t use their powers to the most of their ability,” Wrench finished, only now lifting his mask slightly and taking a drink.

 

“W…Who are you?” Charlie said, staying at the man as he casually used his free hand to continue drawing and adding features to the drawing of a mechanic hand.

 

“I told you my name,” he responded, still not even glancing down as he continued to draw with machine like effectiveness.

 

“I mean WHO are you. What is your job? Your status here?” Charlie continued. For a moment he was silent as he took another sip of his drink.

 

“I am a factory worker, now boy, I will escort your group to the ext of the town. A month from now you shall return, and I will have a new hand made for your friend. Due to how her kind heal, make sure the wound is fresh, as the nerves and cells in her arm will simply try to remake her hand, but when they can’t it may cause a tumour and give her some physical defects and health problems. My hand will help to combat this as well as become a mesh for her blood and magic to wrap around and reform into something new,” Every single word Wrench said went over the head of the Chiefess and others, but Charlie seemed to know what he meant as he gave a smiling nod in thanks and agreement.

 

 

“I see,” Charlie said, doing his best to keep in mind what he had said.

 

“Alright then, so drink, then. I will escort you to the gates and make sure you leave safely,” Wrench said. These words, they drank their drinks before standing. Some warriors carried the dead, while the huntresses with their bows stayed on alter. All of course had already used their magic to hide their true forms.

 

Before long, the group reached the city bounds. Here, they met up with the rest of the group. Gathering their things, they placed them onto the back of the Desert Claimer which was carrying the storage boxes. Behind the creatures, Charlie stood and watched as all war prepared. He also made a mental note that it seemed all the mercenaries that once guarded these walls seemed to have disappeared.

 

“Want to see a magic trick?” The metallic voice of Wrench said, turning, Charlie stared at the man. Flicking his wrist, he produced a small pepper book. Handing it to him, he began to walk away.

“I heard you were fighting the Region Lord of your area; I think you might need this!” He said as he began to walk away.

 

“How did you know!” Charlie yelled after him. Simply, he flicked his wrist again.

 

“I have eyes everywhere!” He yelled back. Before Charlie could speak further, Klipesia was already by his side. Lifting him, she carried him to the Desert Claimer where the Chiefess and Nolkonoe say ready for them. Glancing down at the book the man had given him, Charlie read the title.

 

“Sons of Sek,” Sek? Sek is the god of war in some old pagan mythologies in the area of the Western Realm.

 

Luckily they were far from any church, otherwise, if a priest had seen him with this he could have been killed. Simply possessing this kind of book is seen as heresy by the members of the church. Placing the book into his jacket, Charlie stilled wanted to keep the book hidden from the prying eyes of the natives.  

 

Despite now being with them for so long, he wasn’t sure how accepting they were of other faiths. Let along if they even knew of the god Sek. This movement didn’t slip by Nolkonoe though as she leaned back with a smile. Without the need to exchange words, both knew that he was trying to hide something.

 

Deciding that since it was Charlie there was a low chance of it being anything malicious, Nolkonoe stayed silent. Once everyone was in place, the Chiefess ordered the Desert Claimers forward. Silently, Wrench stood on the battlements. Lifting his leg, he flicked droplets of blood onto the wall.

 

“I hope you have enjoyed your time in Labtraon,” he muttered, glancing down to the dead body of a mercenary at his feet.

 

“Y…You monster!” a man barked through coughs of blood. Unconcerned for the dying man, he looked down, before again flicking his foot to try and kick off some of the blood. Turning, Wrench stared down at the mercenary crawling toward him.

“Oh dear, sorry, it seems I missed one,” a foot planted onto the back of the dying man. Pushing him down, a knife was placed against his neck. He looked up, into the soft eyes of a night elf girl. Blood flowed onto the ground as the elf girl jumped up. Looking to Wrench with a wide smile, she leapt forward. Pushing her head against his arm, he sighed and patted her head.

 

“Good job. Now go back to the others. I want the rest of this vermin gone in the next hour,” Wrench said as he glanced along the battlements to the flayed and deformed bodies of the mercenaries.

 

“What about the boy? You saw his eyes, didn’t you?” the night elf girl said nervously, tugging on his sleeve.  

 

“I saw it. But yet it seems like he isn’t using the power for his gain. That or he doesn’t know about it. To be honest, I am more curious to see what he can potentially do with the power,” Wrench said, before turning and leaping from the twenty-foot-high stone wall. Falling onto the ground with a thud, he simply stood again before beginning to walk into the town.

 

“Where are you going?” the elf girl yelled after him while stabbing her knife down into a mercenary who still had the strength to attempt to crawl away from her wrath.

 

“I’m going to go have a chat with the town lord,” was all he said, taking his worker's wrench from his cloche. With a bright smile on her lips, the girl held her dagger against her chest.

 

“Yes sir! Then I will go and make dinner for us and the family!” she said excitedly while her ears perked upwards. Muttering to himself, he simply continued to walk, his mind occupied on the thought of the demon dwelling within that boy.