Although, looking closer...
"Seriously, kid, where have you been? Although, it's probably a good thing you weren't around." Mira facepalmed, grumbling to herself, sounding like her father.
"Hey, kid! Heard you went off to Schwanz. Did you make it there and back? No, that doesn't make sense. It's good that you turned around and came back though." A guy in this thirties spoke up, with a quick hurry in his tone, but it's normal for him. I'm not sure what his name was. Something with a 'K'. He was basically town's news spreader, or gossip monger. "It's old Schroff, Trenn. It's bad, it's pretty bad kid."
Basically a busybody, the town's fool. There's always that one annoying person in each town, and he's Ackerheim's.
"Kaspar, shut your damn useless mouth!" Said Mr. Gerwin through gritted teeth, shutting Kaspar—Right! His name was Kaspar. I don't think I'll remember it—down. Mr. Gerwin looked at me with more sympathetic eyes, before he sighed. He came over and took me by the shoulders, gently guiding me into the room. "Come on, Trenn. Just... brace yourself."
And like that I prepared for the worst. He's in a vegetable state isn't he?
I entered the room to see a guard already there, making me blink a few times.
"Hey, what's a kid doing here?" Asked the gruff guard, scowling about everything.
"Leave him be. He's Schroff's apprentice, he should be here." Mr. Gerwin said back with a frown.
The guard just crossed his arms and looked at the only window in the room.
"Alarich, how bad is it?" Mr. Gerwin asked the town's herbalist, who ran the the local apothecary. He let go of me as he saw Schroff, looking discomforted by seeing the old hunter in his condition. No matter his attitude, Schroff was someone a lot of people knew and depended on, and thus someone a lot of people cared about, even if he didn't notice or seemingly care.
I couldn't focus on anyone talking once I saw Schroff for myself.
His face was pale, yet he was sweating while asleep. There was bandaged around his torso, yet I could see green lines, not fully spreading like veins under his skin, going around his chest, arms and neck.
"Green‑vein fever." The doctor, well, town equivalent said with a sigh of resignation. "I'm... sorry, I..." As he turned, he only now noticed me. "Trenn, my boy, I'm sorry you..." He began as he placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to be comforting. "I'm afraid, Schroff is gonna be with us for long. We should let him rest."
I looked at the guard who was looking back at me scowling, yet it wasn't irritation directed at me, but the situation. The people around me were all sorrowful and mournful and weren't explaining anything.
"What is it?" I finally spoke. "What happened? What's the cause? Is there a cure? If there isn't, why?" Whatever kindness could be found in my voice was long gone. Something cold snapped into my tone, making everyone be set on edge.
Even the guard looked at me surprised, like he was seeing someone he never thought was dangerous, suddenly appear so.
"It... It's poison—"
"I gathered that." I replied, cutting him off, as I almost snapped. "I don't need platitudes, I need answers."
"Boy, they're trying to be nice about your old man dying." The guard finally lost his patience
"Kolmar!" Mr. Gerwin shouted at the man.
"If the kid is his apprentice then he's in just as much danger." Kolmar the guard said back, no longer holding pleasantries. "He was attacked by an assassin. One of the damn Coalition rogues snuck into town and did the deed to any magic using fellas. That means, you're also in danger kid, and need to get out of here."
You know what? I liked this asshole. He got to the point.
"Thanks." I nodded to the guard, who looked at me strange at my reaction. "So he was poisoned." I addressed the herbalist. "You called it Green-vein fever. What is it? What's the problem with its cure?"
Alarich looked at me conflicted for a moment, before sighing and finally explain.
"The poison is called Verdant Bane. There is this plant that grows in damp caves called Frost-ivy. The milky sap of that vine is the main ingredient of that poison. A simple scratch of that vine can kill a person in a matter of hours, without them ever knowing why." Alarich sighed. "It starts with low fever, numb extremities, then..."
Schroff groaned. He let out a cough, making me almost think he was choking.
He blinked a few times as he took deep breaths, like he was drowning before.
Schroff looked around to see everyone before his eyes landed on me.
"You didn't get yourself killed. Good." He said, he like wasn't dying right now.
"Löwenjunges and everyone else managed to take care of things at Schwanz." I said quickly, looking at Kolmar and speaking directly at him to get his attention. "I rush over to here when I learned at the army attacking Schwanz left for here 13 days ago. They had left a small company of a hundred at Schwanz, but those are done with."
"Wait, what?!" Kolmar shouted as other cried out in surprise.
"The army coming here, from what the Elves Shields at Schwanz could gather are five hundred strong. Three hundred and fifty, a mix of Warriors, Archers and Lancer, and a hundred and fifty Mages."
"Oh Goddess..." One of the girls muttered.
"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" Kaspar shouted as he ran out. Likely to shout out what he heard to anyone willing to listen.
"You sure about that kid. This isn't the time to—" The guard began.
"Yes. I am." I said with all the will of someone done with everyone's shit. "I flew over them on the way here. We have an hour before they reach us from the west gate. Maybe a little bit more."
The guard looking from me to the sword on my back. A realization came to him. The realization that he wasn't looking at a kid, but someone bloodied. And that likely explained why I seemed off to him. He nodded at me once, before turning Schroff.
"You heard your boy." Kolmar said.
"If he said it, it's true. Kid isn't a prankster." Schroff grunted. Kolmar held the old man's gaze, and nodded.
"Take care you old bastard." Kolmar said, about to head out.
"Ha! As if I need your luck, you little shit—GUH!" Schroff cried out. He suddenly started twitching, and his muscles contracted out of control. One hand held his chest, as if trying to grab his own heart. The other was stretched, frozen stiff.
He was wide eyed in pain, as his back arching like he was possessed. Schroff looked like he wanted to scream in pain, but his throat was locked up.
The girls screamed. I moved to try and grab him. Hold him so he doesn't hurt himself.
"No one touch him!" Alarich shouted, stopping me and Kolmar in our tracks. "Just wait and it will pass. Schorff, breathe. I know this is difficult but try and breathe. Focus on that."
Schroff pushed through the pain, through gritted teeth, as the muscle spams slowly lessened. Finally he could move both arms, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"You're gonna be alright?" Kolmar asked.
"Go do your fucking job, brat!" Schroff growled. Kolmar hesitantly smirked and walked out.
Mr. Gerwin seeing Schroff awake and... well-ish, took his daughters and left as well, to give us some privacy, giving Schroff a respectful nod on the way out, which the old man returned.
"Alarich..." Schroff sat up. Now the herbalist helped him, me as well. Alarich grabbed Schroff's arms, doing something that looked like a mix between a massage and what a chiropractor would do. "How long do I have left?"
"..." Alarich looked down, focusing on the arms in frustration.
"Alarich!" Schroff grabbed the herbalist's hands. "I'm getting seizures. I know what Green-vein fever is. How. Long?"
"This shit had stages." I growled out.
Alarich looked between me and Schroff, before sighing in surrender.
"Low fever in minutes after being poisoned. Numbness to follow. Muscles seizures in two hours. Fatal paralysis of the diaphragm can cause suffocation within six to eight hours." Alarich explained. "That is the normal case for Verdant Bane if made from the Frost-ivy in its natural habitat. Given the relative slowness with you, Schroff, you had numbness after an hour. Now seizures six hours in..."
"I have a day." Schroff concluded.
My ears began to ring.
"Tomorrow at sunset." Alarich sighed. "That's the best I can give you."
"Treatment." I said, almost shouted. "Every poison has an antidote."
Alarich shook his head, while Schroff... laid back his head on the pillow.
"There is one." Alarich. "Shineglow Moss, but there are no caves around that hold them. The last batch I had were sold out last week. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Alarich. Frost-ivy isn't found in the wild. No one expects this." Schroff said.
"I should have—" Alarich began.
"Baaah!" Schroff shouted and waved him off. "Enough with shoulds. Be useful and get me a paper and pen."
Alarich nodded and started looking into his bag.
"Trenn," He turned his head to me. "I'm sorry, I couldn't teach you everything as much as you wanted." He looked ahead with a resigned smile. "Not as good as a keeper of my tribe's teachings as I should have been. Still so much to tell you. Well, I kept some notes in my room, under the wardrobe. Just move the whole thing, or ripe it off if you need to..."
Schroff began to ramble, and all I could focus on was the rage beating in my chest and pumping in my ears.
"Minus." I spoke to the elf mage. "Do you have a solution?"
"This time isn't going to be for free, nor would it come cheap." Minus replied.
"I accept." I replied right away.
"I might have you kill someone for me. Would you be willing to go that far?" She asked.
"If it's not someone I know or care about, then fine."
"I will not aid you directly nor will I solve your problems for you, young Trenn. I can however, provide you a chance."
"Good enough. Anything!"
"Hmm," Minus hummed in amusement. "I can work with that."
I felt something pass through the magical link and find purchase in me, like a hook in my soul.
I made sure not to show any reaction. It wasn't painful anyway, just very uncomfortable.
"Shineglow Moss, like the human potion-maker said, is found in damp caves. And since none are around, they are imported for the most part to this region. However," Minus began to explain. I could feel her smirk. "There is one place in which it should still naturally grow, in the mountains of Froststaub, there should be a tunnel that goes all the way through the mountain. There you will find it."
I remembered then the fluorescent moss found in the Death Tunnel. My eyes widened as I realized what I must do.
"Of course, from what I remember some powerful monster resides in that tunnel. An old Einsam that showed skill past what it's kin could demonstrate. It's age made it wise, so you should be careful against it." Minus said, and the hot and cool, of rage and fear danced in my belly and chest. "Of course, there's still that army coming you must worry about. However, I suppose if you bring the old human here to Hochfeld where I'm staying I could looking after him."
Even though Minus was speaking using the link, so she should sound clear as day, it felt like it was buffered by a wall.
"It's fine." I said, to both Schroff making him pause, and to Minus. "Please don't worry." I smiled at the old man. "I'll take care of everything. I'll be back."
"Eh, boy!" Schroff tried to call out, but I was already outside the door.
I stop thinking about this in complex terms. Things needed to die in order to save my mentor.
An assassin.
An army.
A monster.
Plain and simple. Find them. Kill them. Return before sunset tomorrow. The end.
Finding from Mr. Gerwin that Kolmar was there when Schroff was ambushed was easy enough.
Same with finding the guard, as I already felt his mana signature and followed him.
"Kolmar." I called out.
"Huh? Kid," he acknowledged me with a nod. "Something happen? Schroff, okay?" He said with a glare, not aimed at me, but just the whole situation.
"He's sleeping." I said back to calm down his nerves that something bad might happen. He nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly but still mostly tense. Mentally on duty. "I wanted to ask you, you saw the assassin, right?"
"Yeah, sneaky skinny bitch. Just sudden came out of nowhere, in the middle of the street, while Schroff was with me and the other guards on our way to the mayor's house to organize on what to do in case the Coalition tries to get here in a couple of days." He sighed with a growl. "From what you said, turns out we don't even have that."
"The assassin, you got a good look at her?" I asked, sure he probably had an idea on what she looked like. At least he should be able to point out what she was wearing.
If the attack was a few hours ago... No, that's stupid, anyone competent would just change clothes. But if I know a general look for her, that can narrow down the search when I look for people with above average mana levels compared to however old she looks.
"Kid, I get that you're pissed about old Schroff, but let it go. And hide that you're a mage of Schroff's apprentice. It seems the Coalition is sending these assassins to take out any mage in a town before their army reaches them. Meaning, you're a target too." Kolmar said, a rough edge in his tone, even while giving advice. "Besides, there was this weird thing about her where Schroff's magic stopped working when she got close. Your magic ain't gonna help you any better than it helped Schroff!" He said harshly, almost looking like he regret saying that for a second.
But I didn't care. He told me enough.
During the past months where I went to fight the Ancient Einsam in its tunnel, I learned a few things. My mental resistance and defense improved. As did my mana detection along with the use of the danger sensing spell.
I fought it almost everyday. Rope was always strengthened with magic, and I focused on that connection, to make sure that I always know the way out.
Yeah, in a sense I was playing with a monster outside of it's strike zone, but that didn't mean the battles weren't hard.
Most importantly, the one skill I improve on the most was mana reading. To tell what the ebbs and flow of mana were, their fluctuations and changes. All of that lead to me being able to read a magic I was exposed to long enough that I could copy it.
Not perfectly but good enough. I think, hope, with time this would be a more instantaneous ability.
I weaved my mana into a find thread, activated Jilwer, jumped (damn everyone being taller than me), and before Kolmar could react I tapped his forehead.
"W-what the hell, brat!?" Kolmar said out loud, frowning in annoyance.
The link formed, I couldn't control what I saw, or brought out. Not and I'm not sure if I wanted to practice this, but I primed the guard with the conversation we just had. So naturally the image of the assassin was up front in his mind.
"This is what she looked like, right?" I said, weaving my mana into an image of the woman.
"Oi! Wait, the hell?" Kolmar shouted thinking the assassin reappeared before taking her ghostly still appearance and realizing it's just a fake image. "By the Goddess, kid, how did you...?"
"Right. You recognize her. It's her?" I asked one last time to be sure before I hunted.
Red hair, a black cloak covering her black clothes. All made of hardened leather meant to work as light armor, rather than clothes against the cold. She had a round-ish face that had lost it's fat and innocence and brown eyes.
"Y-Yeah." Kolmar said. "Creepy mage shit." He said under his breath.
Another notable detail, the assassin wore necklace with a shining—
Oh.
That's how she shut down Schroff's magic when she ambushed him.
Hmm, okay then.
I cast mana detection with full sight through it.
Pétze, the Rogue POV:
Spoiler: Pétze, the Rogue
The red haired assassin jumped from another building, finally landing on the streets below.
Evading the town guards was easy work that didn't require much effort. The problem is still the mission. She had managed to get all the mages found within Ackerheim. All are already incapacitated, and within a day dead.
She even managed to get the tribesman whom the Elves Shield had an eye on, according to the intelligence gathered by Vizegraf Gierig spies that masqueraded as merchants passing by these towns.
The problem was the tribesman apprentice. The boy was sadly gone, acting as a child wills, running off the moment he heard about Schwanz's fate. Pétze hoped it meant he escaped, or someone else in the Coalition's troops had gotten to him
She might be a rogue who did the dirty work of nobles, but that didn't meant she could always stomach killing children. But this world wasn't one for kindness, kids were going to die in this game between nobility, the rich and the elite that nothing could be done about it.
Elves. Demons. All were an excuse used by Vizegraf Gierig and his low ranked nobles supporting him to discount the royal family and their supporters. The royal family always had an unofficial wish to aid elves whenever they could, due to that old elf bitch who was supporting and training their knights.
Honestly, it was all so stupid. Yet in the end, it didn't matter to a 'lowly' thief turned rogue like her. She did the jobs as they came.
Pétze felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on ends. Someone used mana detection. As a rogue she trained extensively to sense when a mage was trying to sniff her out.
Yet she was suddenly faced with an odd problem. Mages generally are sensed as they use mana detection. Part of her Anti-Mage training was to use that habit to hunt them down, while appearing as something ignoble. She would lower her mana level to that of a mouse, a skill that she perfected faster than any of the other Coalition trained rogues.
It's why she was usually the vanguard sent out to towns ahead of time to scout, or more likely take care of any element that could cause trouble for the Coalition army.
Why can't I sense them?
That brought Pétze up short, and sent her instincts looking for danger into full alert.
A mage that can extend their mana detection over a whole town, while remaining hidden? How? Was there some old monster hidden in this town?
Could it be that the elf mage Vizegraf Gierig said they were hunting could be here in—
A streak of thin light zipped through the air, moving between in sharp zigzags between buildings, till it headed straight for her head.
Pétze tried to dodge, only noticing the thin sharp Zoltraak ray right when it was in her sight about to pierce her between her eyes. Yet she wasn't fast enough.
Then again she didn't need to be.
The brooch on her collar gleamed in the moonlight, as the magic spell disengaged and broke into nothing before the magic-nullifying crystal.
Pétze smirked at seeing a mages, proud magic power be vanquished before the crystal given to all the Coalition assassins.
She was about to run further into the town's shadows to hide, when she felt the air displace behind her with a wheeze.
She turned to see a sword thrown at her with blitzing speeds about to take her head.
Pétze ducked as the blade passed over her.
She tried to sense the mage that did this, her mana detection was one of the things she prided herself on, making her on of the best mage hunter around. All those proud mages were nothing before her, for she knew all their tricks—
She didn't sense him until saw him. Right there a two feet in front of her.
A boy younger than ten, blue hair, wide intensely focused blue eyes. She saw him mid-dash, arm pulled back for a punch.
Her last thought before his attack reached her, was how pitiful his efforts were. How pitiful his life was, as it was about to end at her hands. He was a young boy and no matter what magical strengthening he had, all of it would vanish the instant he was an inch away from her body.
The boy might have thought himself clever, but she didn't understand the mechanics of the crystal—
CRACK!
Pain.
Pétze could barely think. The boy punch forward, wind wrapping around his fist from some wind magic effect. Yet the wind didn't dispel. The crystal should have worked, she felt the magic spell giving the boy his speed vanish.
Yet even so all that force still hit her without lowering. How? If he had a body reinforcing spell it should have also shattered.
Pétze tried to move, spin with the momentum, react to start counterattacking.
...Ah.
She realized in horror that she can't move her body below her neck. She couldn't breath.
Her neck had broken. She was going to die shortly.
The woman rogue skipped across the ground from the sheer force of my hit. She flopped down on the ground as she came to a stop.
I extended a hand, and recalled my enchanted sword with a bit of telekinesis.
The assassin was down. I felt her neck break, yet the second the familiar heaviness of my sword returned to my hand, I cast Jilwer once more and was at her side in an instant.
The range of her magic-nullifying crystal seemed to be about an inch. Cool. I don't need to touch her.
Her eyes were wide as she saw me. Mouth trying to move and form words.
I didn't wait to see what she had to say, I stabbed her in the head.
The assassin laid dead in the middle of the street. I only now noticed people running and screaming around me.
"Trenn! Boy!" Kolmar as he and two other guard had reached me. "What the hell are you... Goddess." He muttered.
"Kid, put down that sword and—" Said one of the guards.
"That's the assassin that got to the mages, idiot." Kolmar shouted.
"Yeah, I'm sure of it." The other guard said as he went to inspect the corpse.
I pulled my blade out of her head, and stepped aside. While the guard examined her, I used her cloak to clean my sword.
The guard pulled out a badge with the symbol of the Anti-Elf Coalition on it. A sideway outline of an elf with an X over it. The outline looked suspiciously like Frieren. Brazen of these fucker to use the elf that was part of the Hero's Party as their rejection emblem.
"She's with the Coalition." The guard confirmed.
"Is she the only one?" As the other guard.
"No one else in town were hiding their mana like her, or had a brooch like this." I said as I grabbed and ripped the brooch with the crystal from her clothes.
I instantly felt my mana go... not out of wack, but sort of like it can't solidify anymore. Yet it flowed more easily. Interesting but not something to look at now.
"Kolmar." I said.
"Yeah, kid." He replied, addressing me with more focus and an undercurrent of wariness. "There aren't any assassins within the city. The army should be an hour away. You guy should focus on either evacuating everyone, and travel to Hochfeld, or wall up everything."
"Heh, kid, that's cute, but why the fuck are you acting like you're in charge." Said the first guard who tried to arrest me, or whatever middle age equivalent of it.
Kolmar dope slapped him.
"Trottel, he took out a fricking rogue all by himself. Shut it." Kolmar said.
Oh! They have a Trottel here too.
"Kid. Trenn." Kolmar said in a gentler tone. "You avenged old Schroff, you should go and stay with him. The mayor gave the order that we surrender to Coalition army. We're not an Elves Shield base, and we don't have the manpower nor the time to evacuate anyone." He said. "They won't slaughter simple civilians, their fight is with the Shields, not people."
"...That's hilarious if you believe that."
"Huh?" Kolmar was thrown off by my reply.
"Anyways, please give this to Schroff, or keep it with you till I return." I threw him the brooch and he caught it while looking at me confused. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be back in a few hours." I said as I started to fly up.
"Wha—Wait, kid, where are you going?" He called out.
Assassin killed. Next objective.
"Slaughter an army."
I blasted up into the night sky.
===
AN: Why yes, I did introduce a character with a picture just to kill her. Last edited: Sep 19, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Lucidum, Callidus, Sasha1 and 775 othersSilver W. KingSep 18, 2025Reader modeNewAdd bookmark Threadmarks kinglugiaA Randy AvianSep 18, 2025NewAdd bookmark#1,832Absolute menace!