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Vizjerei, the old fashioned hero Diablo/MHA

Reader mode
Please can you create an index of the characters?

Which clan was Strom from?
 
Chapter 22: Dealing with the aftermath
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 22:

    Dealing with the aftermath


    "You have a concussion." Isendra said.

    Her voice sounded like a mix of annoyance and concern as she continue to hold a small flame near his face. She kept a hand between his eyes as she moved said flame to either side of his face, probably to identify how is eyes dilated.

    "But I drank a potion." Izuku said.

    "Potions cannot heal every injury. They are excellent for repairing damage to the skin, muscles and even tendons, but the mind and spirit require time and care." Isendra explained. "Just as healing potions aren't a cure all for poisons and maladies of the mind."

    He supposed that made sense, but he wasn't in the mood to be thinking about things.

    All he wanted to do was sleep, or maybe die. He, along with the rest of the "heavy hitters" were sitting around a campsite just within view of the city they had burned down. The foot soldiers and mercenaries were now cleaning up after them, marching into the smoldering ruins with sword, bow and spear to double check that everything was, in fact, dead. They were then supposed to go in with mauls and the like to return the place to the desert sands.

    The small camp of warriors was quiet now, save for the hum of Isendra icing the back of his head with a weak, but precise, cold spell. The slow way to heal wasn't all that slow when magic was involved.

    Everyone else was visibly drained, dirtied and bloodied. Each was slumped in on themselves, or in Cassia's case, slumped against Strom. He made no objection to the public show of intimacy.

    Isendra finished her work on his skull and laid down beside him with her eyes closed. He noted her deliberate breathing and supposed he ought to be practicing such meditation techniques himself, but couldn't find it in him.

    Geglash's sacrifice was just too fresh in his mind. It wasn't even the gruesomeness of it that got to him, or even that he had been the one to end him. It was how peaceful, content and resigned he was in dying, even in such an undignified way. Somehow, in accepting it, he made it dignified and died on his own terms. Izuku felt like he should be proud in playing a part in making that dignity possible, and while he didn't feel such pride, he also didn't feel shame or culpability. This was all so very confusing.

    "Hey kid." A gruff voice approached from behind.

    Greiz, returning from his command of his men, sat next to him with a sigh. Izuku noted Isendra opened a single eye to watch their interaction.

    "I usually don't recruit those as young as you to work for me, except in a support capacity. Is this your first time dealing with an event like this?" The mercenary leader asked.

    Izuku nodded solemnly.

    Greiz hummed, and didn't seem to have anything else to offer. He looked about the camp at the other faces to see how everybody else was coping, and then nodded respectfully at Izuku. It appeared he was coping no better or worse than everyone else.

    "Wait, is that what I think it is?" Greiz asked.

    He indicated the worn wine skin Izuku had laying beside him.

    "Geglesh threw it to me before he died." Izuku told him.

    Every head in the camp turned to him.

    "He is dead? I had been hoping he was merely missing and has yet to show up." Said the scarred man.

    "Yes. I was the one to deliver him that mercy." Izuku confessed. "He was already going, and he told me without words to end it. So I did."

    He choked up a bit at the end there and the faces around him either hardened or softened in empathy and understanding at his words. Strom nodded at him. Isendra sat up straight next to him.

    "He threw this at me before he was caught as if it was the greatest treasure in the world." Izuku added.

    "To him, it was." Said Griez. "I can tell you that from my years of knowing and occasionally working with the man. May I?"

    He indicated that he wanted to take the wine skin and Izuku motioned for him to do so.

    Greiz took the wine skin, unstopped it, and raised it to his mouth. The moan he made was not one of pleasure.

    "By all that is holy! That tastes like somebody left curdled milk inside of a moldy burial urn, remains and all, in the sun for a month and then poured beer into it!" Greiz exclaimed about the taste. "Aden you have to try this!"

    He passed the wineskin to the scarred man, Aden, Izuku now knew. He too took a swig.

    "Oh geez! That tastes like puss from a frog demon, slathered it on some moldy bread, and soaked it in ale." Said Aden. "Quetz, you have to try this!"

    He passed it to the feral looking woman and she didn't even hesitate. She still made the face, that same face as Greiz and Aden, and added her own description.

    "Oh damn! That tastes like… I got nothing. Here, Cassia, you have a go at it." Quetz said.

    She passed it to the light-haired woman who, for the first time since Izuku had met her, was smiling in mirth. She drank of it.

    "Oh! By Philios' seed! That tastes… exactly like what I expected a kiss from Geglash would taste like." Cassia said.

    "You seem to have put much thought into the prospect of kissing Geglash." Strom said in mock jealousy. "Were he alive, I would fear for whatever it is we are sharing. Pass it here."

    Everybody laughed at Cassia's expense, including Cassia, as she handed her man the drink.

    And so went their ritual. Each person took a drink of the unholy concoction that the drunkard had resorted to in order to continue his malediction. Something so strong as to kill a normal man, but to get a man with Galgesh's impressive liver to survive. Each description was more absurd than the last, and somehow equally appropriate.

    Izuku understood it as a means of farewell to the man. The description wasn't of the drink, but as a substitute of a speech in remembrance of the man it represented. It was by far the strangest means of remembrance and mourning Izuku had ever seen, and yet, in the small time he had known the man, he felt it was appropriate.

    It finally came back around to Isendra and Izuku.

    She drank it first.

    "Hm." She said, smacking her lips. "Perhaps it's easier to go down at the bottom, but I think you all exaggerate."

    She took another drink of it and smacked her lips in appreciation.

    "Yes. You are all just weak. Izuku, what do you make of this?" She said, offering him the wineskin.

    At long last, he drank of it, and felt every but of his esophagus, lungs and nose burn as if he had inhaled lit aflame. He choked and coughed it up. This was nothing like the mead that the wonderful ladies of the sightless eye had plied him with months back. He hated this new drink, but did his best to come up with a description.

    "In the name of all the gods, this tastes like sour kraut sieved through a dirty sock worn by its owner for a month straight then tried to ferment it with vinegar. What IS this?!" He declared.

    There was a smidgen of confusion, and a shocked expression from one of the random mercenaries under Greiz at the first part of his declaration, but by the end of his declaration he had a good crowd of laughing heroes. From Isendra, who had looked concerned at the start of his declaration only to fall in with the cheers and jeers at the end to Cassia, who had done the same.

    Greiz and Aden reached out to pat him on the back and shoulder while others, especially and most importantly to Izuku, Strom, winked or nodded at him in approval. Sometime during all of this each person had retrieved their belongings and articles of food or drink and were holding them out in their hands, as if in anticipation.

    Greiz, noticing Izuku's ignorance as to what came next, took charge, took charge and raised a bottle of mead to the sky.

    "To Geglash! The least of us, and the most of us!" He declared.

    They all cheered, Izuku loudest of all, and then they drank and ate whatever they had. Izuku gagged on the hero of the day's drink as he did so but he did his best to hide it. The drink was even worse on the second tasting than the first.

    He choked and coughed up what little he dared swallow in favor of spitting back onto the ground, and Isendra snatched it away from him. When she then drank from it and didn't make the same face of disgust as every other person in the camp but, instead, one of appreciation, he realized she hadn't been bluffing. She actually seemed to enjoy the drink.

    What a monster his mistress was!

    It didn't take much of that to make her as sleepy as he was from even less of the stuff. He hoped whatever recipe produced such a concoction would never be rediscovered.

    A few minutes later the high cheer and good mood as a cover for mourning began to fade, and so did their energy.

    Izuku and Isendra were some of the first to lay down in preparation for bed, but others followed soon after. Many of them actually collapsed and fell asleep before them, but Izuku wasn't treating it as a competition. It was more like a gauge as to if his reaction and feelings to the previous hours of his life were normal. But all throughout the night they had proven to be so, and they continued as such as they fell into blissful sleep.

    This made him feel better than any hand holding, hugging or comforting words ever could. And when he fell asleep he suffered no nightmares, but instead silent, empty sleep. In which he embraced darkness.


    The next morning had them all preparing to leave, but there was still work to be done.

    The city they had reduced to ash was still visible to any passersby, and the risk of discovery or, worse, any missed corrupted was too great. As such, those with great magical power were sent forth. That meant Isendra, Izuku, Drognan and Strom.

    Izuku watched and followed the example of those older and wiser than him, which was everybody; by a seemingly insurmountable margin. Isendra and Drognan made space for Strom to walk forth at the now illuminated city ruins.

    The wild man stepped forth, surveyed the now burned and half buried walls, foundations and other ruine structures, and got to work. He rubbed his hands together then raised his hands over himself, and as they rose the earth shook.

    An earthquake overtook the land, and what little remained of the city came tumbling down along with the stone cliffs which enclosed them like a turtle shell. The earthquake shattered those cliffs and opened great fissures within the remains of the city. Those fissures then swallowed up what little remained.

    Izuku recognized the sinkholes as the great baths beneath the city and their foundation shattering to create pockets of air in need of filling by sand and stone and ash. They filled quickly, thirsty for the last remains of this tragedy and they left in their wake large, empty sinkholes of sand and rock that were easily spotty even from afar.

    When his work was done, Strom backed away and stumbled, only for Cassia to catch him with a tenderness would never have thought possible for her. She carried him away, with his mountainous frame pressed against her smaller, but leaner and similarly strong, body. Both nodded to Izuku as they passed until the midday light.

    "Shovels!" Greiz's voice called out over the harsh wind and rustling sand.

    His men, a hundred or more in total, rushed forth with shovels in hand. Faster than any tractor operator, they filled the new sinkholes with sand from the surrounding dunes. They utilized said shovels, along with burlap sacks, which they used to transport sand. By the end of the hour they looked out upon a flat wasteland of dirt and loose stones.

    "And now, to glass it." Greiz said, motioning to the trio or sorcerers left waiting.

    Izuku, Isendra and Drognan stepped forth. Together, they raised a firestorm upon the inconspicuous plot of sand and rock. Each focused individually on raising the heat and containing it to melt the sand in as uniform of a manner as possible. They maintained their concentration for what felt like an eternity, and when they all finally let loose – Izuku waited for signs from his elders to do so – it was to reveal a nice, flat slab of molten glass.

    They stood there in appreciation of the crimson plane they had created, and they waited for it to cool down into a wavy, blueish dance floor of hard silicone.

    "Is our work here done?" Cassia asked the question on all of their minds.

    "For most of us." Said Greiz. "I will leave men behind, swift ones, to watch. Ones who are capable of either eliminating the unlikely survivor or else fleeing to us with news of such in an emergency. The rest of us may return to Lut Golein."

    The collective sigh which escaped their collective lips could have caused a sandstorm. And so, they set off.

    They had already packed up before the sun rose fully, and so the only preparation they had was to put one foot in front of the other and begin their journey, or else saddle up.

    Izuku was exhausted from the exertion of glassing the city's remains, but not so exhausted as to sleep peacefully through the trip back. Not because he didn't want to, but because he was relegated to his camel for said trip.

    In place of sleeping he amused himself by watching the interactions of his colleagues. From his own mistress drooling into her horse's mane as she slept through the day's trip to Cassia leading the camel which carried Strom's unconscious body, and her strangely affectionate expression as she did so. He even made himself busy casting weak versions of the ice armor spell on all of the aforementioned so as to distract himself from the smell of his stead.

    Camels stink. They stink a lot.


    The rest of their trip, aside from being uncomfortable for Izuku in particular, was uneventful and short on conversation.

    They did not encounter a single undead, corrupted, giant insect or cat person during their travels. Save for the harsh sun and winds, including a light sandstorm halfway through their trip, all was peaceful. After a week and change of this Lut Gholein and the sea beyond came into view.

    He felt all of the tiredness of the nearly three week campaign wash over him as they approached the city gates that late evening.

    Khaleen and his city guard were standing there waiting for them all.

    "You are to report directly to the palace." Khaleen told them. "Lord Jeryhn will debrief you before giving you leave."

    Izuku's exhaustion doubled with the man's order but he didn't complain, nor did anybody else. And so they marched through the gates. They drew quite a crowd of onlookers and among them was the easily spotted Myr, who was still cleaner than when he had first met her.

    She took one look at the state of him and his mistress and blanched, but meandered through the crowd to talk to them all the same.

    "I will have work for you tonight. I have to go meet with lord Jeryhn first." He told her.

    She nodded and scampered off in the direction of Elzix' inn.

    Izuku and his company rode the remainder of the way to the palace where they dismounted and handed the horses and camels back to the stablemen. Then it was a short walk inside to the gardens where they had all enjoyed a breakfast feast what felt like a lifetime ago. There, Jerhyn stood in front of his throne waiting patiently.

    "Greiz. You may report your mission to cleanse Dev'hamam when ready." Jerhyn ordered.

    "Yes sire." Greiz said with a bow. "We led a successful assault and left no known survivors. There was not a single wall or foundation stone left standing. We burned it all down, buried it and scorched the earth into glass. We would have gone so far as to salt it as well, save for the scarcity of the stuff."

    Somebody tried to chuckle at the bit of humor at the end, but it sounded hollow.

    "I see. And how was this achieved?" Jerhyn asked.

    "Dev'hamam was first enclosed by ice walls, compliments of the sorceress Isendra. Then it was bombarded with fireballs from her apprentice, Izuku, and our own mage Lord Drognan. Isendra added a flourish of her own with a meteor spell. We then stormed the city on foot and eliminated what remained, and there was much remaining in the great baths beneath. We then retreated and sent others in to double check that all were dead. We then rested for the evening as Dev'hamam burned overnight and, in the morning, got to work with pickaxe, hammer and shovel to bury what remained. This was aided by the mighty Strom who, by the use of his fissure spell, shattered any and all underground passageways burying them in further sand. Isendra, mage Lord Drognan and Izuku finished the work by scorching the earth into glass." Greiz explained fully.

    Jerhyn nodded solemnly throughout the explanation and, once it was finished, sat on his ill-used throne. He leaned back and placed his hands before him in deep thought.

    "Would you recommend anybody for distinction in their work?" Jerhyn asked.

    "Yes, sire." Said Greiz. "Geglash died in the act of saving the life of young Izuku, who then repaid by delivering him a swift death in favor of letting him suffer an undignified one. I would recommend both for any honors you can provide. But there were none among us who acted dishonorably, failed in their duties nor shirked them."

    Lord Jerhyn appraised Izuku at Greiz's recommendation. Under normal circumstances he would have wilted underneath the gaze of somebody so high-born and powerful, but he just didn't care anymore.

    "That was all much for one so young to suffer through, and to do so in such an honorable fashion is worthy of honoring. However, the events which transpired these last few weeks must remain secret at all cost, and I will be swearing you all to it. We will be going so far as to erase all mentions of the city of Dev'hamam from records and texts. It never existed." Jerhyn declared. "This means we cannot posthumously honor Geglesh for his sacrifice as it was, so we shall instead honor him for a fictitious one. Likewise I cannot honor the young man, save for the niceties I have the power to provide. Izuku Midoriya? You need not want for food nor drink nor work while you remain within my walls. Come to me for any of them, and you shall have all your stomach, mouth and back can handle."

    Izuku bowed his head in gratitude, but he couldn't make his face show it.

    "I would offer you all proper payment for the job well done, but as I said before, secrecy is paramount. As such I will instead be offering extra payment for all future work any of you perform for my city. Well above the going rates. I would also offer you a proper dinner tonight, but by the look of you none of you are well-rested nor cleaned up enough to enjoy such a dinner. As such, I shall dismiss you all with orders to relax and exemption from all duties for at least a week, should you choose to take advantage of such." Jerhyn finished.

    They all bowed that time and filed out of the gardens and palace doors beyond.

    The sun had nearly completely set during their debrief, and they trudged back to Elzix's inn with little light save for the last streaks of red on the highest of clouds.

    When they entered Elzix leapt up at the sight of them and handed them towels.

    "Here are the keys to your rooms. You can pay me in the morning." The man said. "Go. Enjoy your baths. You three may use my private washroom. It is smaller, but cleaner."

    "Three?" Isendra asked.

    Myr, who had walked up to them during all of this, stood straighter at his mistress' question. Isendra looked at the street rat suspiciously.

    "Izuku, who is this young boy?" She asked.

    He snorted Myr's expense that time, especially with the face she made at being mistaken for a boy that time.

    "This is a thief I rescued from a merchant's axe a couple days before we left on our mission." Izuku told her. "Also mistaking her for a boy, I hired her to do our laundry and shopping, paying her in gold, food and baths."

    Isendra nodded.

    "Would you be so kind as to wash our things tonight after washing my apprentice?" She asked Myr.

    Myr bowed and followed them to the private wash room. There they all disrobed and Izuku saw the full proof that Myr was, in fact, a girl.

    The young girl stoked the fires beneath the bath as Izuku and Isendra got in. They were so drained that the mere act of washing themselves was sluggish work, so he couldn't even object when Myr joined them in the water and began scrubbing him. Isendra enjoyed extra service herself.

    When they were all properly cleaned Izuku and Isendra changed into their bed things, which were the cleanest clothes they had left, and allowed Myr to drag away their packs of remaining clothes. She joined them on the walk upstairs where Izuku and Isendra parted into their separate rooms.

    Izuku decided to halt in the doorway and address Myr.

    "Tell Elzix I'll be paying for an extra room for you to sleep in this evening. And you will have a bonus in the morning, when we will need you to wash our bed things as well." He said tiredly. "Actually..."

    He reached into his coin purse and counted the coins to hand to Myr. Her shocked expression at what must have been the most amount of money she'd ever seen in her life then bloomed into a smile. A smile of broken and missing teeth, but a smile all the same.

    "Thank you Sir. Good night." Myr said before bowing and retreating down the stairs.

    Izuku finally entered his room and crawled into bed, where he fell instantly to sleep. It was the best sleep he'd had in some time, as the sheets felt like heaven as they did not smell of musty animals nor bump around like one.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Bellerophon said:
    I think you should've dropped this into the nsfw creative writing forum. It would've got far more attention because it's an excellent story!!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I planned on slowly moving this story over to that side as well. so I will be moving hopefully two chapters a week on Mondays and Fridays till we are caught up. Hopefully the mods don't mind me double dipping...
     
    Druid
  • Extras
    • Strom Wyald is what is known the the world outside of Scosglen as a Druid other than the magical teachings of his people and its history, he does not talk much of home.

    It is commonly thought that Fiacla-Géar was the father of their ways.

    He is talented and self taught from scrolls in Elemental magics but has little skill in animal summoning and less said about his skill in shapeshifting the better.

    Strom was Exiled officially from his lands due to his lack of skill in Animal Summoning and Shape Shifting as his masters did not know of his secret studies in elemental magics. due to the lack of mystical knowledge he was allowed to leave alive.

    The unofficial reason is that he found a scroll with the hidden history of his people that linked his people to Esu one of the Firstborn and Rival of Bul-Kathos who taught his people the Elemental magics which led to their banishment from the Barbarian tribes.
     
    Last edited:
  • Extras
    • Sorceress
  • Extras
    • Isendra is what is known the the world of Sanctuary as a Sorceress.

    Isendra is a member of the female dominated Zann Esu Clan. Athletic, affable, and self-assured, Sorceresses hardly seem like scholarly bibliophiles hidden away from civilization. They possess many of the same skills as the male members of the Mage Clans particularly like the Vizjerei, but excel at the use of elemental magic.

    The Zann Esu clan has a relatively neutral relationship with the Vizjerei clan, due to their hate for the servants of the "Burning Hells" and their love for elemental magics.

    Isendra was born in the year 1246. She was noted to be peerless in her magical ability, though had limited actual experience.

    She meets young Izuku in the year 1264 when she is 18 winters old.

    She hopes to one day be recognized as a metaphorical daughter of her lady Esu
     
  • Extras
    • Amazon
  • Extras
    • Cassia is what is known the the world of Sanctuary as a Amazon but to her people she is an Askari warrior

    Due to her experiences as a nomad, Cassia is fiercely independent, and is able to weather severe hardship and travel.

    In the wider world she has made a name for herself as a renowned mercenary. some would say her martial abilities are more than merely human. Her attitude and strong beliefs keeps most at a distance.

    Strom and Cassia met on their last escort job for a caravan company.

    She meets young Izuku late in the year 1265 when she is 23 springs old.

    She despises shopping.
     
  • Extras
    • So the party so far is... a Banished Druid, Mercenary Amazon, Genius Newbie Sorceress and her apprentice. Oh and "The Last Horadrim" Cain. I suppose running into the Paladin, Berserker, and Necromancer in act 3 would make sense. I wonder where the Assassin will come in.

    Heck, not even a party, just the player classes. They have only worked together once so far...
     
    Chapter 23: It Takes a village
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 23
    It Takes a Village
    ​

    Three days of quiet contemplation had passed for Izuku since his return to Lut Gholein. In that time all he could bring himself to do was sleep, contemplate and sometimes eat. He considered making the trip to the palace for some of the fresher food, but he lacked the energy and motivation to do so.

    Myr came through for him, bringing him meals and getting him down to the baths. But something about that fourth day of Jerhyn-mandated vacation made Izuku realize he needed to get out of bed and leave his room. It was probably the overcast and light drizzle as a respite from the constant heat, that or he was just tired of being tired.

    He exited his room and knocked on Isendra's door.

    "What is it, Izuku?" he heard his mistress call out.

    "I am getting ready to leave, I wanted to see you before going." He said through the door.

    "Then come in." She ordered.

    He did so, closing the door behind him. His mistress did not look like herself. She was unkempt and visibly unwell, with bags underneath her eyes and hair messier than he'd ever seen. She did at least appear to be eating and bathing, if not sleeping.

    "You bounce back from everything so quickly, but it takes me more time." She told him tiredly. "I need a while longer to find my balance again. Until then I do not believe I can provide you the usual guidance and training, but you have proven more than capable of teaching yourself. Go into my bag and retrieve Morena's journal."

    Izuku blanked on the name. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

    "Blood Raven." Isendra elaborated.

    Ah. Her. He did recall her book and, opening Isendra's pack, he recognized it readily enough.

    He picked the worn tome up gently and returned his focus to Isendra.

    "I want you to learn and practice the spell "holy bolt". Which relies on the presence of inner light and a great deal of mana to cast. Both of which you have in excess." She instructed. "Once you are finished with that, the town portal spell will be invaluable to you. We have not had the chance to use it recently, as our missions have been long ones, but in future tasks I am positive we will need to return quickly. Especially with such scrolls being in such short supply."

    Izuku recalled how the spell had gotten Cain himself back to the rogue encampment in a pinch, and provided them with quick travel back to the place of safety at the end of missions before.

    "And if I learn both?" He asked.

    "I am sure that I will be well by the time you finish this work, but if I am not, then I also advise learning the mana shield spell. It should be within your capabilities with little risk of harming yourself and others as you learn on your own." Isendra said.

    Ah. So that was why she had picked out this spell selection for him. It made sense, without her there to supervise him it was difficult for him to cause untold elemental destruction with these, like he would if he tried to teach himself that meteor spell.

    "Good day, mistress." Izuku bid her goodbye as he exited. "Please, get some sleep."
    He returned to his room and donned his formal clothes. He did this partly because he was planning to go to the palace and wanted to look his best, but mostly because it was the warmest thing he owned. He could actively hear the wind from the sea through the shuddered windows.

    As usual, Myr was downstairs playing some game with Elzix involving dice and cards. She spotted him coming and stood up.

    "Good Morning Myr, I only need my sleepwear washed. I've worn nothing else for three days. If you could harass Isendra into giving you hers as well, that will be all I need from you." He said.

    She bowed dutifully before walking away. Maybe it was the improvement in her demeanor, but Izuku couldn't help noticing that she was wearing new clothes. Little improvements to life sure did pile up fast, didn't they?


    Breakfast at Atma's public house was wonderful.

    He loaded up on greens and beef and got to work on them, smiling respectfully at the teasing from Quetz. "It is rare to find such love of vegetables and roots in one so young." She had teased him, while trying to pile on her plate as well.

    He ate those too, but the vegetables were the real thing he'd been dying to sink his teeth into.

    Upon exiting the restaurant he found the weather had changed only slightly. It was still completely overcast, and the light drizzle was unchanged, but the wind had died down. It was honestly wonderful weather. Calling the occasional, flee-sized droplet a drizzle was overstating it. People meandered about doing their daily business the same as ever, if not in greater numbers to enjoy the rare chilliness and humidity.

    It occurred to him Cain may be among them, and the wise man may be of help with both of these spells he was practicing as they weren't elemental. If not, he could certainly be of help in other ways. He hadn't been practicing the mental magics as of late.

    He found Cain where Cain always was. Near the town square in sight of the docks. He was leaning against his staff and staring peacefully out at the churning sea. He didn't notice Izuku until he was upon him.

    "Ah. How may I be of service, young Midoriya?" He asked.

    "Isendra instructed me to study and learn some spells on my own, and I was wondering if you had experience with them." Izuku asked. "They are holy bolt and town portal."

    "Ah. Excellent choices of spells for the self-learner. Safe, and eminently useful. Let us go down to the beach and discuss them. See how far you can come along in learning them by day's end." Cain said in challenge.

    They walked down and along the pier until they reached an area of soft sand with a large boulder for the man to sit on.

    "Holy bolt is a wholly unique spell, normally known only to paladins of Zakarum and of a similar order in Westmarch. It is unique in that it can be used offensively against foulspawn, and to heal others. At the same time." Cain informed him. "I cannot cast a true holy bolt, but a simpler version is within many mage's means. It is formed from pure righteousness, and is baneful to undead and demon alike. You are not short on righteousness, though your obvious, and understandable, zeal of undead and demon could poison it. You will need to learn to parse these feelings to cast the spell efficiently."

    With that short preamble out of the way, he demonstrated the spell.

    A small star, as if plucked from the night sky, appeared between his palms, and he flung it forward like a firebolt. The golf-ball sized projectile flew over the waters of the sea, slowly fading into much smaller versions of itself that broke away, only to then vanish entirely.

    "It has two components. The first is a feeling of righteousness over evil, without hate or contentment poisoning it and your inner light." Cain said.

    Izuku blinked.

    Izuku immediately recognized this lesson for what it was. A lesson in the mind arts disguised as a lesson on casting this particular spell. He withdrew his notebook and wrote it down so as to meditate on it later.

    "Okay. Righteousness over evil. " Izuku said to himself as a chant.

    He focused mana into his palms with these ideas in mind, watching as it coalesced. But it did nothing after that.

    "Remember the breathing technique I taught you." Cain advised.

    Izuku stopped, practiced said breathing technique three times, and tried again. And again. And again. But no star appeared between his hands.

    "Who is casting magic inside the city walls?" A familiar voice called out from behind them. "Ah, I should have guessed."

    Mage-Lord Drognan actually sounded disappointed.

    "It is an approved spell." Said Cain. "He is trying to learn the holy bolt, and later the Town Portal spells."

    "Ah. Excellent choices for self-study. Safe and useful." Drognan said dryly.

    "I imagine you would struggle with the former, though it is a good primer for a mage trying to learn higher elemental magic." Drognan added.

    Huh. Izuku hadn't thought of that. But he did recall how Isendra had instructed him to meditate on the more abstract natures of elements for higher spells, and how he was being instructed to do exactly that with the holy bolt. This made sense to him.

    "Would you both be willing to share with me some of your insights on the town portal spell?" Izuku asked. "I am supposed to be studying from this journal, but it seems so vague and abstract."

    Drognan took the journal of Blood Raven and raised his eyebrows at Izuku, before handing it back.

    "It is both better and worse than my own in many ways. But instead of commenting on it, I should tell you that you must beware of your trust in other mages, even us." Drognan warned. "Many would kill for both the clan and individual spells of others. Many have tried to kill Cain here for his, not least of all because, despite having had so much time to do so, he has yet to take on an apprentice, yet at the ripe old age of Eighteen Isendra had."

    She was Eighteen when they met!? Isendra? Surely not.

    Cain scoffed.

    "Do you not see me training my apprentice right now?" The Horadrim sage asked with a hint of jest.

    Drognan laughed darkly

    "I have seen his apprenticeship contract, and the name Deckard Cain is nowhere on it." Drognan said, almost angrily. "And now I am haunted by the wonderful future that could have been if this delightful young man had been set on the path to becoming Horadrim, and my day is ruined."

    Izuku was beginning to suspect that Drognan did not particularly like Cain. Or at least didn't trust him. The latter was understandable, as Cain had just demonstrated how to lie to somebody by telling the truth.

    It was a skill Izuku couldn't see himself mastering, as he was a terrible liar… or, could he?

    "No apprentice has only one master. Today, both of us are his. If you are receptive to the prospect." Cain invited.

    Drognan seemed to chew on that for a moment, before looking out to see.

    "It is getting late, and cold. Let's go to the fire and teach Izuku in the ways of history and philosophy. These are the areas he is lacking most, I think." Drognan suggested.

    The wind had begun to pick back up, and the cold was getting to Izuku. He and Cain both stood up and followed the Mage-Lord back towards the town square.

    "The most famous Horadric mage in history was Tal Rasha who was once a powerful Vizjerei mage. He was both well meaning and accomplished, but he was the height of arrogance and that arrogance was his downfall." Drognan said. "The only one close to as famous is our own Cain here, for being the last of his kind." "For when Ba'al was captured he had shattered the soulstone meant to contain him, Tal Rasha offered to use a shard and himself as the vessel to keep Ba'al contained." Drognan informed Izuku

    Cain withstood this cattiness with a stoicism that was outright inspirational. It was, thankfully, a short walk to the bonfire in the town square and Izuku had withdrawn his own personal journal in search of a question to lighten the tensions.

    "What are the limitations of potions?" He asked. "Like mana and health potions in particular.

    "Ah. Well if you have met Lysander, he can create lesser health potions that can restore heal many combat injuries." Said Drognan. "But they, and most healing magics, are most effective at repairing most any physical injury."

    "And the brain is the most difficult of all." Said Cain. "As you found out with your concussion. They are also, understandably, not able to restore dismembered limbs, though they can aid in their reattachment."

    "Assuming you can find a surgeon able to reattach them correctly." Said Drognan.
    That sounding like a very big assumption.

    "They are also useless against magical maladies, and most poisons. Though they can outlast the effects of poisons, or else heal their damage. If you drink enough, you can use them to outlast the poison in many cases." Finished Cain.

    Izuku wrote this all down beneath his question brought about by the concussion.

    "Are there potions able to do those things?" Izuku asked.

    "Certainly." Said Cain. "Alchemists devise new potions all the time, some which have outstanding effects. I have seen one restore a woman's womb after it was cut out by a vile witch for some ritual or other. Never learned it's creator or of duplicates."

    "Alchemists guard their recipes zealously, or even the fact that they have such miraculous recipes." Drognan added, giving Izuku a pointed look. "As all mages, and mages in training, should do as well."

    The evening dragged along after that, with most of their discussion being about the history of the city which bored Izuku to tears. It wasn't until nighttime approached that Drognan got up to leave. He checked to make sure nobody was listening before leaning in to whisper only loud enough for Izuku and Cain to hear.

    "The events you saw during our mission are far less common than you likely fear, but they are not unheard of. Pray you may never have to suffer such horrors again." He said, before standing back up. "Elzix gained his sanctuary in Lut Gohlein through identical services, so he may be somebody to talk to about these things if you need any more people to lean on in these trying times."

    Cain smiled mischievously.

    "You mean the gossip about Elzix having something on you or Lord Jerhyn are wholly fictional? I never thought I'd see the day where gossip from the uninitiated and ignorant could be wrong." Cain said jokingly.

    Drognan laughed at that, and this time his laughter even seemed sincere. He waved a friendly goodbye and left.

    Izuku looked to Cain expectantly, who looked back at him questioningly. He had his usual serene, patient expression on his face.

    "You aren't going to ask me?" Izuku asked.

    "You will come to your decision in your own time. And I will continue to teach you what I feel comfortable teaching you until then. I am in no rush, despite having less life left in me than you do, so why should I rush you?" Cain asked.

    Izuku smiled despite himself at the kindness and understanding.

    "If we had had a peaceful month up until now I might have expected an answer by now, even if it were a refusal. But so much has happened to you, all of it unfair and confusing in the extreme. And in some cases, in need of far more consideration and care." Cain continued. "I will expect an answer eventually, even my patience is not infinite, but know that there will be no consequences to you if you refuse."

    Izuku nodded then, thinking better of his manners, bowed graciously.

    "Excuse me, Cain, I must go see my mistress." Izuku said by way of goodbye.


    The first thing Izuku saw upon returning to Elzix' was a beaten and bruised Myr. A black rage that boiled up in him was hot and ugly, and she saw it on his face as he approached.

    The look of fear on her own face was enough to make him let go of said rage, along with all of the questions which flooded his mind at her condition. The split lip, black eye and cut on her cheek all made her look more like a young girl than she ever had before. Something about the vulnerability in her expression.

    "Hold still." He ordered her.

    She obeyed, despite her body language indicating that she was a split second away from bolting. Skittish and afraid, she remained still as he raised his hands to her face and channeled mana through them.

    Righteousness? That came easy here. The utter uprightness of whoever did this to somebody so weak and hardworking as Myr, let alone a lady or, in this case, girl. The righteousness required no effort at all. Despite what Cain said as he channeled the spell.

    Cain's warning proved hollow, because the spell worked. He created a new star between his hands, and held it to Myr's face.

    The skin healed first, as it was the easiest. The muscle and fat beneath came after that. By then the star faded like the seventh sister, but ghosts of the wounds remained. Little divots in her skin, almost like dimples that were not quite scars, remained.

    When it was all done, and the light had faded, Myr finally listened to her legs and ran away. She really could be skittish, couldn't she? She even forgot to thank him. Not that he minded.
    She didn't actually go far, just around the corner to the showers. He could see her peeking out at him.

    "Next time you see her, tell her I paid for her to have a room." Izuku loudly told Elzix. "And dinner, for her and us. If she would kindly bring them up."

    Elzix nodded with a look of approval as he took Izuku's gold.

    "I want you to know." Said Elzix, quietly. "And I'm not alone in this opinion, but with every further moment I am in your present I increasingly respect you as a man, not a boy. I'll send her up when she calms down."

    Izuku nodded in thanks, then turned heel and walked up to his room.
    There he waited and contemplated. He had cast a spell which made no sense. There was no rhyme or reason to it.

    There was no stitching of skin involved in that spell, yet it had stitch skin. There was no fusing of muscle fibers or even understanding of the muscles and fatty tissues of the face, and yet it had fused them. Despite the connection to these subjective, esoteric feelings and perspectives he had to delve into in order to cast said spell, he had no understanding of it. And that scared him.

    Fire he understood, at least as he had wielded it thus far. The oxidative process of fuel being burned thus producing heat and light. Ice he understood. Lack of heat and energy, the slowed motion and expansion of water. This was how he had used it thus far. It was clear now that the way he had done magic so far was wholly removed from the true nature of magic, and that it's true nature was far beyond his ability to understand. Possibly now, and forever.

    What an unbelievable journey lay ahead of him. It was so exciting. And even more terrifying.

    He could add a new thing to the list of things he missed from home. The simplicity of his place in the world, not only as a quirkless loser, but as a human being in a world that was mostly understood. A world of heroes and villains, science and technology, and civilized people. People who now regarded women as equal, especially with quirks existing, and where being enraged by violence against women was highly encouraged.

    He missed his home so much. He wanted more than anything to be home where he could give his everything to those he loved there. He wanted to give his mother a hug. He wanted to give back to the society that had given him all of his hopes and dreams and studiously obtained knowledge. He wanted to, by the standards of Isendra and Cain, become the richest, most powerful man in the world. The one who helped protect most amount of people.

    He craved the warmth of his mother, the innocence of childhood, when he was still blind to evil and to his own potential. He began to descend back into his memory castle, focusing on Isendra's instructions to contemplate the nature of things, and once again delved into true fire, but the day's events overtook it.

    He sat straight up, breathing intentionally as Cain had taught him, and looked at his hands. He dived deeply into all he was feeling. Righteousness. Desire to give of himself. Candles lit, on a snowy day, to drive away the cold and darkness.

    A spark erupted in his lands. White flames, cool to the touch and so small as to barely light a which. Righteousness upon evil. Kindness to the downtrodden. Self-sacrifice and charity to all. The warmth of a mother's embrace and compassion towards loved ones and strangers alike. They all flared into whatever this spell was, it began to grow into a flame like that of his mother's candle.

    "Izuku?" A timid voice called out.

    He clasped his hand into a fist and the flame was gone.
    "Yes, Myr?" He asked as all of his feelings and focus fled from him to be replaced by confusion and disorientation.

    "I brought you dinner." She said, peeking shyly around the door.

    "Oh. Thank you. Please, bring it in." He invited her.

    She did so, coming into his room and closing the door behind her. She was wearing a dress, or perhaps it was a nightgown? Either way, it looked wrong on her, and not just because it was clearly originally far too large for her and cut down to her size without the skill of a proper tailor. It hung off of her so loosely as to make him even more concerned over her thinness than he usually was.

    "Um. You can leave it on the desk. Do you have my clean bed things?" He asked, trying and failing to hide his confusion at her appearance.

    "Yes. I left it on your nightstand.

    He turned to see that she had, in fact, left them there earlier.

    "Okay. Thank you. That will be all." Izuku told her.

    She tilted her head to the side questioningly.

    "Are you sure?" She asked, shivering.

    "Um.. yeah?" He said, no longer fighting his confusion. "Please go?"

    She turned around and left. This time she did not close the door behind her.

    Not understanding what just happened he got up, closed it himself, ate his dinner in quiet confusion and went to bed.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Hurm, there is a lot to unpack in that update. Interesting that Izuku was able to use the healing effect of the Holy Bolt, even with his black rage... Myr being afraid is understandable. People fear that which they don't understand, and mages are not known to be... stable.
    It would be interesting if Myr is taken as Isendra's apprentice if Izuku chooses to be taught by Cain. One can not have two masters after all... Not really.

    I am also somewhat surprised that Cain is not well regarded by Drognan. Respected? To be certain, but not liked. I wonder why? Is it something Cain did, or did not do? Or perhaps it is Cain's reputation? Hard to tell. It could even be that Drognan just doesn't like the Horadrim.

    Isendra needing a bit more time to recover from scouring a town is understandable. Kids bounce back faster, but then, Isendra isn't exactly old, now is she? Hopefully she recovers well. The Horadric artifacts in this desert need finding after all...
     
    I wonder who beat Myr? Was it Isendra? On one hand I don't think she would do such a thing, on the other hand if Myr "harassed" her for her clothes at a really bad time and she was super emotional about something, maybe... But I really hope that's not the case.
    I also think it's clear Myr was expecting to Izuku to request "other" services from her. Goes to show that while Izuku is growing up fast, he isn't fully acclimated/grown the way another boy around his age might be in this world. Not that Izuku would take advantage of Myr regardless, but the fact that he didn't know what happened there shows he hasn't grown up as quickly as might be expected for a native his age.

    I like that Izuku still maintains some innocence in this world though, it keeps him as a more vituous figure compared to the grim world he finds himself in.
     
    grime said:
    I wonder who beat Myr? Was it Isendra? On one hand I don't think she would do such a thing, on the other hand if Myr "harassed" her for her clothes at a really bad time and she was super emotional about something, maybe... But I really hope that's not the case.
    I also think it's clear Myr was expecting to Izuku to request "other" services from her. Goes to show that while Izuku is growing up fast, he isn't fully acclimated/grown the way another boy around his age might be in this world. Not that Izuku would take advantage of Myr regardless, but the fact that he didn't know what happened there shows he hasn't grown up as quickly as might be expected for a native his age.

    I like that Izuku still maintains some innocence in this world though, it keeps him as a more vituous figure compared to the grim world he finds himself in.
    Click to expand...
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    Nono, Isendra beats her ass later for the harassment. This one she didn't deserve.

    And you're correct, that is what I was instructed to insinuate and I'm happy to hear that I succeeded.

    And I agree. I am trying to maintain as much of his innocence as possible for as long as possible. It will not survive.
     
    NonsensicalRants said:
    Nono, Isendra beats her ass later for the harassment. This one she didn't deserve.

    And you're correct, that is what I was instructed to insinuate and I'm happy to hear that I succeeded.

    And I agree. I am trying to maintain as much of his innocence as possible for as long as possible. It will not survive.
    Click to expand...
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    It makes sense Myr would do that, either at the behest/insinuation of some "well meaning" person advising her or entirely on her own behest since her survival and quality of life depends on Izuku's good will, and unfortunately that means Myr probably feels the need to prove her value beyond menial tasks like washing clothes.

    Ofc Izuku won't understand this not only because of his innocence, but because from his perspective Myr's pseudo maid services is basically a full-time job, he wouldn't consider that to Myr, it isn't and she's doesn't understand why he isn't demanding more of her since he's being so generous, so assumes he means to "take advantage" of her in other ways.
    Beyond the obvious implications, it's rather tragic because, if Izuku does figure out she's making herself "available", he might potentially assume it's because she has a crush or wants to be his girlfriend, and while she may develop feelings for him later, at the moment it's purely and reluctantly/fearfully transactional. Hopefully he doesn't, because that will lead to a very unfortunate can of worms, though I don't think Izuku is that foolish or willfully ignorant, so once he figures it out I don't think he'll be under any illusions as to her intentions and fears.

    Of course, it's also worrying because we don't know if this is a learned behavior from Myr, or simply her imitating older women in similar positions as her and fearfully assuming she needs to do the same to keep her position. Hopefully it's the latter and not the former or else Izuku should go full punisher lmao.
     
    grime said:
    It makes sense Myr would do that, either at the behest/insinuation of some "well meaning" person advising her or entirely on her own behest since her survival and quality of life depends on Izuku's good will, and unfortunately that means Myr probably feels the need to prove her value beyond menial tasks like washing clothes.

    but because from his perspective Myr's pseudo maid services is basically a full-time job, he wouldn't consider that to Myr, it isn't and she's doesn't understand why he isn't demanding more of her since he's being so generous, so assumes he means to "take advantage" of her in other ways.

    Beyond the obvious implications, it's rather tragic because, if Izuku does figure out she's making herself "available", he might potentially assume it's because she has a crush or wants to be his girlfriend, and while she may develop feelings for him later, at the moment it's purely and reluctantly/fearfully transactional.

    Of course, it's also worrying because we don't know if this is a learned behavior from Myr, or simply her imitating older women in similar positions as her and fearfully assuming she needs to do the same to keep her position. Hopefully it's the latter and not the former or else Izuku should go full punisher lmao.
    Click to expand...
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    Bit of Columns A, B and C

    Some Maids and others in lesser positions of society historically have used Marital Bed warming as a way to entice their Patron to keep them on for better or for worse.

    As a Street rat not a Orphan. as she is of unknown and potentially dubious origin in medieval times her means of having her next meal were Mercy, Theft, and unfortunately if she is not able to find work in the respectable trades her choices become either to become a Mercenary if able, or the route many women have gone down throughout history being a "bed warmer" in a brothel or otherwise in this case to her Patron Izuku.

    But there is another factor that is influencing her although relatively benign can very easily twist the minds of those affected. Especially those benefit of the light of hope or to those who have a isolating factor they can rely on for whatever reason.
     
    Chapter 24: Actions have consequences
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 24:

    Actions have consequences​


    Izuku woke up feeling much more refreshed.

    He got out of bed and changed out of his All Might shirt, which fit him less and less with every day, into his dress clothes.

    Before heading out he gave his pajamas a worried look. It would be wise to destroy the last proof of his otherworldly origins. With him growing out of his old clothes he had fewer excuses to keep them. But he feared that, when the day comes where he decides to burn it away, that his last ties to earth and Japan would be gone.

    With every passing day this new world felt more real than his old one, and his old life felt more and more like a dream. A fiction he hallucinated.

    He left his room, and with great effort completely ignored the door to his mistress' own room. She wished to be left alone, and so he would abide, and that required him to not even look at her door or else suffer worrying.

    He descended to the main lobby of Elzix' place to the strangest sight.

    Elzix was teaching Myr how to sweep and mop. And she was wearing yet another dress.

    "Oh, hey Izuku. Meet my new daughter, Myr. She'll be working around here from now on." Elzix said as soon as Izuku walked by. "Showing her the many cleaning duties I get up to. We now offer laundering, all proceeds of which go to her."

    Izuku nodded. It was an unexpected, but beautiful development. Myr remained focussed on the sweeping as if she didn't hear their conversation. Still curiosity was getting to him.

    "Is there paperwork and fees you have to do to adopt here?"

    "Oh yeah. I'm technically still waiting on Lord Jerhyn or Drognan to get back to me, but I have already begun the process." Elzix said. "Thank you for bringing us together."

    "And the clothes?" Izuku asked.

    "A young lady should dress like a young lady." Said Elzix. "But they're my wife's. My widow's. I had to cut her clothes up to fit the girl, but I'm keeping the cutoffs to reattach them as she grows into the outfits. It makes for good learning, no reason not to add tailoring and clothing repair to my list of skills. Or hers."

    Yeah, you might want to hire a professional for that one Elzix.

    "But I think I'll avoid modifying any more clothes in the near future. Leave most of my wife's things un-butchured until Myr grows into them."

    Smart man. At least he was wise enough to recognize his own faults. Myr was still focusing on her task.

    Izuku then excused himself and left, making a beeline towards the public house.

    The good food he'd had yesterday hadn't reached his depressed mind to give him the pep in his step, but he hoped it would today. The friendly greetings and respectful nods of the Greiz's mercenary guards and workers as they entered by themselves was enough to lift him up, seeing the breakfast hall full again was just the cherry on top.

    He found a free seat near the back and requested more vegetables and other breakfast items in addition to the standard meats

    Before he could take his first bite two people joined him, and they were exactly who he was expecting to hear from today, though not this soon. Without so much as a "by your leave" Drognan and Fara took their seats and filled their plates and ate in silence.

    Izuku didn't voice his confusion, but he also didn't try to keep it off of his face. He ate his meal with the new, quiet company until Drognan eventually decided his torture was over.

    "How did you feel after casting the spell last night?" Drognan asked.

    It took Izuku a moment to realize he meant the holy bolt and not whatever that flicker of white flame was, then paused to think on it. How had casting the spell made him feel.

    "I didn't really feel anything of the spell." Izuku admitted. "A little angry I guess? But it was a steady, smooth anger. And it wasn't from the spell, but fuel for the spell."

    "What was it that made you need to cast the spell in the first place?" Asked Fara.

    "My hired servant." Izuku answered. I returned to Elzix to find her injured. Beaten. I wasn't skilled enough to heal all of her injuries in one go. So I had to cast it a few times."

    Far frowned during his explanation.

    "It is hazardous to cast such holy spells on underlings, especially ones of the opposite sex. Holy spells require your inner light as a qualifying component, and pull upon light magic for purification. This can have seldom spoken of consequences to those that are healed." Fara warned him. "Such magics can inspire feelings of safety, like a warm blanket on a cold night, the security of a kind parent or protection of a city guardsman."

    Izuku found the term "warm blanket" particularly concerning because of its connection to his fire meditations. He had to wonder at how universal these abstract principles of magic were among people.

    "When cast on others, this can create emotional confusion in them. It can create a mistaken sense of worship, obsession or even submission. All paladins, crusaders and members of the priestly orders are warned, repeatedly, to be aware of the potential misuse of holy magic by this means." Fara continued. "Many holy men found themselves the subject of unintentional cults by the villages they healed, who came to worship them. Some have done so intentionally, and all holy warriors, the militant ones and peaceful ones, are trained to identify such monsters. Do not become one, or I will end you."

    Izuku had lost his appetite and pushed his plate away after she uttered the word "obsession" and by the end of her speech he was already feeling sick with worry for Myr and her off-putting behavior. The death threat at the end was wholly unnecessary. His own internal morals were enough to consider the side effects abhorrent.

    "I think the death threat may have been unnecessary." Said Drognan. "Though I have to admit, I had hoped Cain would have broached this topic instead of leaving Fara and myself to teach you this aspect of Holy magic. I have to wonder what he is playing at to deliberately circumvent warning you of this potential misuse."

    Izuku didn't have to wonder at all. It made perfect sense for Cain to deliberately leave details like that out.

    He was trying to entice Izuku to become an apprentice of the Horadrim. Specifically in the mental and spiritual arts. Maybe he would even force the issue

    But he may yet have to deal with Myr and the damage he might have done to her.

    "You primarily practice elemental magic. Light or Holy magic is purely conceptual and works on different rules." Drognan interrupted his train of thought. "Higher elemental magics incorporate similar rules, but they are not the same."

    "We have piled the young man with a sufficient amount of warning. I believe we should give him time to chew on all of this information.Said Drognan "Among other things he is dealing with."

    Izuku shared a glance with Drognan. Yeah, they were both still recovering even if they were doing better than before.

    "I'll have more questions about Holy magic later. But thank you both. I needed to hear all of that." Izuku excused himself.

    Breathing rapidly he desired to get away. Exiting the public house he took a stroll, with no intention of stopping. He walked to the pier. He walked to the city walls then outside and around to the main city gates, where he was let back in. He walked through the shopping district. The only place he didn't walk to was Elzix's place, wanting to leave the trouble waiting there for later, possibly never.

    He walked in a daze. In fact, he didn't think about anything, save maybe the soreness of his feet from walking so much after four days of being sedentary.

    He eventually turned the corner to his normal choice of dining place, and seeing that it was finally getting dark, he returned to Atma's public house. As he did so he noticed Strom and Cassia, arm in arm, coming down the street from the opposite direction.

    Crazy how people makeup so fast?

    Ignoring them, he approached the front door and was immediately drawn to the notice board beside it.

    The town bounty board. There were many listing many many monster people selling some rare items or minor jobs. One Monster bounty caught his eye; this might be what he needed to let loose all of these uncontrollable and indecipherable feelings of late. Or just a fight in general.

    Only this one was inside of the city, and its content seemed to be pointedly designed for him in particular.

    Radament the Limb Thieving Mummy

    Location: The ancient, abandoned sewers beneath Lut Gholein

    Wanted for: The slaying of Atma's son and husband, and many city guardsmen.

    The bounty was listed in two parts. One by Atma, one by Jerhyn himself. Which made sense, as it sounded dangerous.

    Izuku heard a low whistle from behind him, and turned around to see Strong and Cassia, still arm in arm, had snuck up on him.

    "That is a sizable bounty." Strom said. "But it's a job I wouldn't recommend anybody take alone, not even one as formidable as you, young Midoriya."

    "Would you accept our company on this mission? It is clear in the look you gave it that you are determined to take it on." Cassia said, much more kindly than he had ever heard her speak before.

    Izuku nodded in acceptance without hesitation. Going off alone was something he had sworn to Isendra that he wouldn't do. A three man team with these two, both of whom he respected and one of whom he particularly liked, was far superior numerically to his usual two man group with his mistress. Even she would admit that.

    "It just seems like something important, a potential danger to the town and the only thing close enough for me to let my frustrations out." Izuku confided in them.

    Cassia barked out in laughter.

    "On the latter, young man, we are agreed. The night time brawls aren't doing it for me." Cassia told him. "The sailors don't have it in them to hit a lady as hard as I desire. What part of my appearance makes them think I'm some prissy noble, I'll never know."

    This time Izuku snorted at her self-deprecating humor. Not to mention Strom's raised, suggestive eyebrow when she used the word "brawl", as if to suggest he knew a different way she'd been relieving stress.

    "First thing in the morning?" Izuku offered.

    "Ehhh, let's wait until the second bell." Strom told him. "I know most people don't like to do much fighting on a full stomach, but I need a proper breakfast first, and I need it to settle."

    Izuku could not fathom eating before a battle, or even the night before in anticipation of such. In fact, all desire for Atma's cooking had already vanished.

    "Dear, you know we are going into a sewer, yes?" Cassia warned Strom.

    "Which I am positive will smell like freshly washed and aired linen in comparison to the swamps of my homeland. It shall not make me regret breakfast." Strom boasted.

    Somehow, Izuku believed him.

    "Shall we split the reward three ways?" Izuku offered.

    "Four." Said Cassia. "Your mistress is entitled to one half of all income you bring in, don't you know."

    That gave Izuku pause. He went over the words of his contract with Isendra and knew no such clause existed.

    "There was no such clause in my apprenticeship contract." Izuku corrected.

    "Contracts do not usually restate the law of the land, nor can they contradict them. All apprenticeships, regardless of contractual wording, are beholden to certain regulations. They cannot have clauses that go against them and prospective apprentices are expected to know them." Cassia told him, more patiently than she normally would have.

    Izuku understood exactly what she meant. That made sense. In the modern world no contract, no matter how well written, understood or agreed to, superseded the law. Couldn't write a contract agreeing to being a slave, or agreeing to be murdered. Or agreeing to work a job that didn't follow safety regulations.

    "Alright. Four ways between the three of us, plus Isendra." Izuku said.

    They shook on it and parted ways.

    It was dark out and Izuku's legs were killing him. He wanted to be well and truly recovered by the next day so he went straight back to Elzix's.

    He made it up to his room without incident and changed into his pajamas. He was out for the night as soon as he wrapped himself in the covers.


    He must have been more exhausted physically and mentally than he thought, because when he woke up the next day it was to discover he was not alone in bed.

    Myr had sneaked in sometime during the night and crawled in beside him. She was thankfully clothed in that far too large nightgown, but the infringement on his privacy and boundaries was still unwelcome in the extreme.

    Thankfully she wasn't wrapped around him like Alexis had been, so he was able to crawl out of the covers without disturbing her pretty easily. She remained asleep as he changed into his proper armor, both sets, and even as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

    The awkwardness of telling her off was something he really wanted somebody else to do. So he penned a quick note to Isendra.

    Dear Mistress.

    I casted the holy bolt spell several times to heal Myr and now she seems not only obsessed with me but is really crossing boundaries that I worry about. She sneaked into my room and my bed while I was asleep.

    Please help?

    After sliding the note under his mistress' door he headed out.

    It was a short walk to the palace where he asked a pair of guards where the entrance to the sewers were. It was probably something he should have asked the night before, but only the first bell had rung so far so he ought to have time to make it there before the second one went.

    Once he was informed to head down to the pier and down to the stone causeway beneath the pier, he walked the long distance to sea and spotted the entrance readily enough by who was gathered around it.

    Strom and Cassia had beaten him there, and were conversing with a quartet of Greiz's men. Izuku recognized one of them as having been in his group of riders on the trip to… the place they weren't allowed to talk about.

    "But we do have permission." Said Strom. "Lord Jeryhn himself said we get priority for any work we want, that includes bounties."

    "That's what the last pair said, and they still haven't come back." Said the mercenary.

    "Last pair?" Cassia asked.

    "A skinny, scarred man and the burliest woman I've ever met in my life." Said the mercenary.

    "Quetz and Aden have already gone inside?" Izuku asked.

    They all looked up to him as he announced his arrival.

    "If they haven't come back that's even more reason for us to go in. They are strong and valuable to the defense of Lut Gholein." Cassie told them. "When did they go in?"

    "Last night." Said the guard.

    "Then they are likely in trouble. Let us in immediately." Said Strom. "Or face Lord Jerhyn, Drognan and Your Mercenary captains' wroth."

    The guards wisely stepped aside and pulled the locks on the door, which held the bars blocking it in place. It swung open and the smell was immediate.

    Strom didn't so much as flinch at it. Everybody else did.

    "We will be locking the entrance behind you and let this be on your head." The guard warned them.

    They all nodded in understanding and marched forth into the darkness and filth. The darkness grew as the door slammed shut behind them and the bars were put back in place.

    All was black. Izuku raised his hands and cast a simple light spell, foregoing fire out of fear of methane or other flammable gasses.

    "Stick close together. Midoriya, you stay between us, your light leading our way." Cassie ordered. "I will stay near the front, where I can keep dangers at bay with my trident while you elementalists throw your fire and lightning from back there."

    Izuku didn't know who put her in charge, but he assented to her battle plan.

    "Please do not use fire down here. It is more likely to kill us." Izuku told them.

    Cassia and Strom both raised eyebrows at him, but refrained from asking him what he meant. They seemed to trust him enough to accept his judgment and abide by it.

    Into the sewers they walked, long out of view by grime and slime from sea water and the filth. The long tunnel was broken up by many a turn, with jagged hallway after jagged hallway. The only decoration on the walls being human filth and ocean life.

    The passage eventually opened up into a large, circular antechamber.

    Human skeletons littered the ground, each charred like overdone barbecue ribs. Holes in the wall like those of a morgue pockmarked the walls.

    "You bury your dead in your sewer?" Izuku asked, disgusted by

    "No. The sewers just happen to connect with the ancient catacombs of the Vizjerei." Said Cassia. "The sewers make up the top layer and runoff does not flow into the ancient burial areas, but instead through the outer walls to a compost area, where they produce mint."

    "Why mint?" Strom asked.

    "The Vizjerei discovered that it purifies human waste, preventing dysentery." Cassie told them. "And turned the waste into potable soil quickly. They are very thirsty plants."

    Izuku mentally translated that to "mint kills E. Coli" and moved on.

    "How many layers deep are the catacombs?" Izuku asked.

    "Three from what I was able to gather." Said Cassia.

    "With this being the first?" Strom clarified.

    "Indeed. Two more to go." Said Cassia.

    "Then let us find the stairs." Said Strom.

    The stairs were not difficult to find. They were just at the end of the opposite hallway, which was much shorter and cleaner for it was raised in comparison to the chamber they just left which itself was raised above the sewage tunnels.

    Breathing dry air would have been novel were it not for the scent of rotten bone and ash that wafted up the stairs to them. It was a marked improvement over the sewage and sealife, but not by much.

    "Wait." Strom said suddenly. "Get back."

    Izuku didn't see or hear anything, but a moment later he sure did feel it.

    There was a rumbling from below. A cave in? No. An explosion.

    "Behind me!" Izuku ordered.

    He reached out just as the stairwell filled with red light and he filled the entrance to the stairs with a single, solid wall of ice, as thick as he could manage. It did not turn out to be thick enough, as it did shatter from the force of the blast and knock them all on their backs, but the heat and force wasn't enough to harm them. Save maybe their eardrums.

    The steam from the vaporized ice wasn't so hot as to scald them and the water from what melted cleaned their feet and the hallways floor. The trio splashed around as they stood back up, reaching out for one another to steady themselves and each other.

    "What in the world could that have been?" Cassia asked as the thick steam vanished and the warm glow beyond the stairwell faded.

    Izuku had an inkling, but didn't share it. Instead he took point and was the first to descend the stairs, an ice blast on the tip of his staff as he did so.

    As was par for the course for delving into the deep places of the Sanctuary, they were immediately confronted by undead of several sorts. Said undead were burned to a crisp by the fiery explosion that just ripped through these tunnels, but they lumbered towards Izuku and his companions all the same.

    Izuku couldn't quite tell what they were, so bad was their burning, but he delivered ice bolts to their center mass all the same. They went down easy, mostly because they were already slowed down from being melted in place and damaged to the point of being brittle. But supercooling something that had already been super-heated had similar destructive effects to the reverse and so they fell before him.

    Strom and Cassia cleaned up behind him, stomping on or spearing any of the half destroyed, but still wriggling, skeletons and other things he didn't recognize in their current state.

    They finally examined their surroundings and found themselves in a similar tunnel to the ones above. A few meters in front of them it forked into three directions.

    "I think we should go this way." Strom said, indicating the leftward passage.

    "Why?" Asked cassia.

    "The burn marks are more severe on the ceiling and walls of this tunnel. So the explosion likely originated down there." Strom explained.

    Izuku compared the hallways and confirmed Strom's observation. The blast had come from that direction, and he was certain said blast must have been by Quetz or Aden. And that if they had survived it, it wouldn't be for long.

    "You lead. We'll follow." Said Cassia to Strom.

    He did not lead them far, for in less than a minute they entered another chamber like the one upstairs. Like that one it was filled to the brim with the charred and shattered remains of undead. Along with two charred but alive human beings.

    "Oh, thank every god there is." Said Quetz coughing as they entered.

    Izuku, Strom and Cassia rushed towards their collapsed forms. Upon reaching them they all cringed at the damage to their bodies. They were as charred as their enemies where their skin had not been protected by their armor. Armor that now melted to their skin.

    "We need help." groaned Aden.

    Izuku nodded. And indeed, the charred and cracked skin of their burns were already peeling off of their hands and forearms.

    It was a miracle that they were still alive at all.

    "Free advice, don't use any fire based magics or enchantments. There are fumes down here that will catch and explode. Hence our current predicament." Aden added before passing out.

    Strom and Cassia looked at Izuku approvingly, his reasoning for making the same warning earlier now clear as day to them.

    "I can aid them." Said Izuku. "I recently learned how to cast the holy bolt spell. It can heal people just as well as it can destroy undead. But there is a risk."

    "If you're about to give us the usual spiel about them getting all doe-eyed over you after hitting them with holy magic, save it." Said Strom. "They will deal with the consequences, if they survive."

    Izuku approached them and began to cast it all the same.

    This time he circumvented righteous fury in favor of trying to reinterpret righteousness in a way more suited to these two. He not only cared for these two people, but respected them. And so, he focused on their righteous actions. How they had answered Lord Jerhyn's call to wipe out the infection, how they had lent wisdom and friendship to him in the aftermath of such, and most importantly, how they deserved to continue on and how much they were needed.

    It was a far more successful holy bolt than the night before, though he didn't have x-ray vision with which to see any internal damage being undone in Aden's skull and neck. The size and brightness was such that it had to have been a more proper casting. And so, he then cast it again and again and once more for good measure.

    This took him well over ten minutes, as he had to ground himself emotionally and envelop himself in the concepts of the spell each time, but the work was well worth it. The scabrous coating of charcoal on his skin in places peeled off completely and the rigid, pained expression became more relaxed.

    Strom and Cassia stood guard at either side of Izuku's patients, but none of the defeated that lay around so much as twitched and no new foes entered their chamber.

    Feeling sufficiently secure, he repeated the entire process on Quetz, who he had put off for looking less battered than her smaller, male companion. She was a rather sturdy woman, so he doubted hitting that wall did much to her, but he was just as thorough in his castings as with Aden. Four whole castings, these ones slightly faster than his earlier ones.

    "I'm still not comfortable moving them." Warned Strom. "But we need to get them back to town for Drognan or Fara to work on them."

    Izuku considered their options. Even if they had a stretcher handy, carrying them out the way they came would take too long and risk further injuries for the pair.

    "Time to try out the town portal spell." Izuku declared.

    "You can cast the town portal spell?!" Cassia demanded. "Those Scrolls have been so rare these last months that I worried I'd wear my legs to stubs from all the walking to and fro by the end of this seige."

    "It is a very intensive spell and very new to me." Izuku warned. "But Isendra and I did the prep work of tying it to the town square."

    "That's true for most casters. Don't compare yourself to Drognan. He's a freak of nature to portal people back from a two week's distance." Strom consoled him. "Now, let's see that pretty blue portal of yours.

    Izuku obliged.

    He walked a few paces until he neared the center of the chamber and put his hands out.

    Feelings of home, of the safety of protective walls and guards standing over, of food available and beds made. He filled his heart with these things and pushed his hands and mana out.

    He saw the bright blue light even through his eyelids, and knew he'd succeeded even before opening his eyes.

    "Alright. I'm getting Aden first." Said Strom.

    Cassia took a defensive stance next to the portal. Izuku didn't bother telling her that no enemy could go into the portal or come out of it, for it was keyed to Izuku and those who were friendly to him.

    Strom managed to lift the thin man with ease and did so without twisting or moving any limbs or joints. Carrying him in that sitting position the two walked through the portal and Izuku followed.


    It was like walking through an open door that you could not see the other side to. There was no change in pressure, or feeling of movement, or of being crushed through a wormhole. Just continuity from one place to another. The only jarring thing about the experience was the sudden change in brightness and temperature as they appeared on the warm, sunny ground of Lut Gholein.

    They were just outside of the busy town square. Drognan was there, looking at them as they appeared. He probably felt the portal as soon as it was cast and came running.

    "Fara can take him. She and I can help him from there." Drognan said after a quick glance at Aden. "What of Quetz?"

    "I'll be bringing her through next." Said Strom and the three of them made their way into the town square proper.

    People got out of their way as they went and Fara saw them coming. She swept an arm over her table of goods, sending everything to the ground.

    "He needs to stay in this position until you determine he does not have a spine injury. The same will be true for Quetz." Strom told her.

    She nodded and slid the table to the stone wall beside her cabin.

    "What precautions have you already taken?" Fara asked, looking pointedly at Izuku.

    "They have likely consumed and poured healing potions on themselves, and I cast four holy bolts on him." Izuku explained. "A similar amount is true for Quetz."

    She nodded and then frowned at the mention of the spell used but began examining Aden.

    He didn't have time to stay and watch, or to learn, because Strom tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for them to go back. They did, returning less than a minute later with who seemed to be incoherent as they brought her back to town.

    When they returned to Fara's place it was to find Lysander had set up two cots and was examining Aden, who was resting on one of them. Good, his back and spine were fine then.

    "We should be fine here." Said Drognan. "Based on what Aden managed to inform us, Radamant has been softened up for you. I am confident that you three can finish the job. Go do so now."

    Izuku and Strom bowed and hurried back to the portal, neither comfortable leaving Cassia by herself. They arrived to find her unharmed and unbothered. Izuku willed the portal to close.

    "That spell took out more from me than I thought it would." Izuku said.

    "That you can even cast it is impressive. But we should leave the praise to your mistress for when you see her next. For now, shall we end this evil?" Cassia invited.

    They all agreed and turned away from the hall they entered the chamber through, considering the only other hall connecting to it. Izuku wished they could have asked Aden and Quetz for directions before leaving them, but they should be able to manage just fine all the same.


    This story was Cowritten/Beta'd by NonsensicalRants You can hire NonsensicalRants to write your stories, all you have to do is provide him with a rough outline and contact him on his patron.

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  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 25: A deluge of undeath
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter 25:

    A deluge of undeath​




    Cassia took point, her spear directed at any potential threats in the darkness enveloping them. Strom and Izuku kept close to her, at the ready to annihilate anything that might threaten her.

    It wasn't long before they encountered one of those things. Mummies, which he should have expected to see in the underground burial chambers of an ancient desert tribe, came as a bit of a surprise to him. Five of the ancient undead meandered around the chamber they entered, but none took notice of them. They just wandered about, leaking dust and sand from their creaking joints as they moved.

    "Izuku, if you would be so kind." Cassia invited as she backed away.

    Izuku stepped forward and slung five, well-aimed, ice bolts at their legs, thoroughly kneecapping them. With the support of their lower bodies gone their frail bodies crashed to the ground and shattered like pottery. A plume of dust and a green vapor erupted from those shattered remains and they all stepped back, covering their mouths.

    "So do you reckon the Vizjerei booby trapped their dead before burial, or Radamant did so after reanimating them?" Strom asked.

    It was a good question. Honestly? It could be either. Maybe both? If Radamant, the resurrected Horodric mage, was willing to violate his dead brothers now what's to say he and others of his kind wouldn't have done so in life?

    "Anyways, those ones need to be fought at a distance." Strom said the obvious as the poisonous plumes faded away like cooling steam.

    They continued on, with Izuku remaining at the rear with ice spells at the ready. As they wandered through the maze of passages they dodged sewage seeping down from the ceiling, rat nests the size of elephants and a whole lot of reanimated skeletons.

    Each was crimson like dried blood, and Izuku nearly had a heart attack when the first one launched a flaming arrow much like the sister rogues could hurl. Fortunately, no gas explosion resulted and the trio cut them down quickly, but after that Izuku kept the ice nova and ice wall spells at the ready.

    "Actually, are you guys okay with me casting ice armor on you?" Izuku asked. "In case there's another explosion and I can't get an ice wall up in time?"

    "That is a splendid idea. Please, do." Said Cassia as Strom nodded vigorously.

    He raked his hands over their bodies, meticulously coating them in a thick layer of ice and being careful to leave their joints unaffected. It added a few minutes to their mission but if it saved their lives it would be worth every second. He finally did the same to himself and they continued on.

    They came upon a large staircase similar to the one that brought them down from the sewers and knew it would lead to the third and final floor of this place. Radamant would be there. Unfortunately, said staircase was barricaded with rubble leaving nothing but the ceiling visible.

    "Aden and Quetz must have sealed the way behind them to keep the upper levels and Lut Gholein safe until another team could go down." Cassia said.

    Brave they may not have been for fleeing their battle with Radamant when things got too dangerous, but dumb or lazy they certainly were not. Their recognizing their own inability to finish the job not only saved their own lives, but may very well have already saved many more and certainly made their jobs easier.

    "What do you think? Can we get away with blasting it all open?" Strom asked.

    Izuku considered it.

    "Well, I could preemptively surround us in an ice wall and then we can try to firebolt and fissure it all into nothing. But if there is an explosion it might still injure or kill us, or worse, cause a cave in and trap us." Izuku reasoned.

    Strom sighed.

    "Yeah. I didn't think it would be worth the risk either, but I wanted a second opinion. Alright. Time to put these arms of mine to good use. You two keep me safe." Strom said.

    He went to the blockade and put those arms of his to good use. He dragged the solid boulders, pieces of shattered columns and coffins around like a child moving furniture in a living room. He struggled, he grunted, and he even broke a sweat despite the inherent chill the ice armor Izuku had given him but he got it done all the same.

    He finally revealed the staircase down to find the ceiling had been deliberately caved in, so as to form a solid mass of stone and brick. Even Strom wasn't dragging that around. So instead of trying, he drew what looked to Izuku like Mjolnir itself, so grand was the hammer, and he got to work smashing the last barrier blocking the stairwell.

    One strike turned to two strikes turned to ten. All the while he worked, Cassia stared at him appreciatively, even fanning herself off flirtatiously as if the man could see her. Was there a point to flirting if the person you're flirting with can't see or hear you doing it to them? Was there some enjoyment in one-sided flirting for the flirter? People are weird.

    The stone finally gave way to the might of Strom's obviously enchanted hammer cracking it in twain. He lifted it for a final strike, only for the stone to shift, and shift towards him. He backed away quickly in order to avoid being crushed by the tonnes of stone, only to then raise his weapon again as a flood of the crimson red skeletons from before spewed forth from the now clear stairwell.

    Izuku lunged towards Strom and released an ice nova, taking extra precaution not to harm or slow down his retreating ally. The skeletons, each of whom seemed to be carrying duel firebolts in their hands, were frozen in place and their fire spells extinguished as Strom scrambled to the side of one of the boulders he had dragged away earlier.

    Cassia had run forward to be next to him and together they laid waste to the dozen or so skeletons that had been frozen in place. They tore through the enemies like fragile icicles with both hammer and trident, but dozens more replaced them. And so the horde bashed against them like waves upon a cliff.

    Izuku began his drinking game. Cast a few ice nova, take a swig of the watered down mana potion, and repeat. He should have had a shot glass ready. It was so routine, but the horde seemed endless. The stairway was soon blocked again, this time by the pile of bone meal and splinters that remained of their enemies, yet more pushed through. Like moles pushing up dirt, they exploded forth again.

    They had laid to waste at least a few hundred by now, if not more, and it was clear to Izuku that Radament wasn't the one to defeat Aden and Greiz, it was the numbers. But Izuku, Strom and Cassia had an advantage that those two had not. Aside from being a three man team, they had the entirety of the enemy forces funneled into a stairwell to annihilate, instead of fighting them in chunks while running around the maze of sewers and catacombs. Three vs hundreds, like the three hundred Spartans versus the thousands of Persians under Xerxes.

    Remembering how the western world's Thermopylae had ended, he took the chance to reinforce the barrier with an ice wall along with the side passage ways. This would prevent anything from sneaking around through passages unknown and pincer attacking them.

    The battle of attrition had slogged along with each minute feeling like an hour, and they had to retreat not for their own safety, but just to let the enemy have enough space to filter in through the mound of defeated enemies. By the end, their backs were to wall further back and they were left panting and exhausted, but uninjured.

    "I grow more Impressed with Aden and Quetz the deeper we go." Strom said between panting breaths.

    Izuku and Cassia nodded in complete agreement.

    They waded through the mountain of the dead forcibly put back to rest and swam through the powdered remains clogging up the stairwell into the deepest layer of the catacomb sewers. From there, they met no resistance other than some more mummies wandering aimlessly.

    Aden and Quetz had kicked the hornets nest, as it were, and drawn all of the enemies they would have faced to the stairwell. Now all that was left was to find Radamant, but all they found was dead ends, living spheres of ooze and rats nests, with the occasional mummy to put out of its misery.

    Then he saw something, something quick and very much alive, out of the corner of his eye.

    "Wait!" Izuku called out to his companions.

    They stopped and looked at him, following his line of sight around a corner in the opposite direction to where they were headed.

    "What?" Said Strom.

    "Something is there." Izuku said.

    And he advanced towards it, under low hanging columns that they wouldn't have made much notice of, but which he saw a new passage. He was able to enter by only lowering his head, but Strom and Cassia had to crawl through.

    He recast his light spell to find the small room empty, save for a dead body beside a passage entrance opposite the columns.

    Cassia and Strom advanced on the corpse to examine it while Izuku looked suspiciously around the room. He reached out with his mana, in the same way he had used in the past to repurpose other peoples spells to fuel his own, and was left confused.

    He couldn't feel any magic in the area, per se, but where he thought he had seen somebody out of the corner of his eye he felt something. Not the mana of a spell being cast recently but the whisper of it, a strange absence as if a spell MIGHT have been cast recently, which was such a strange and new phenomena to him.

    "Strom, Cassia." Izuku said.

    "Yes?" They said at once.

    "Is it possible to cast a spell in such a way as to not release mana, that way it can't be detected afterwards?" He asked.

    Their heads both snapped up in fright at his words.

    "There are those who specialize in assassinating mages and they learn to do exactly that." Said Strom.

    "It takes decades of practice to do so, but yes. Mage assassins specialize in doing exactly that." Cassia said. "If you are feeling what I think you're feeling, my condolences to your mistress for having such a talented apprentice, but also we should tread carefully if not outright retreat. If a Mage Hunter is down here then they may be hunting Radamant as well. Or worse, us, and we would lose such a battle."

    "I think that we are still alive should be evidence enough that we are not the target." Strom said.

    Were these guys really that deadly?

    "Well. Maybe that guy was their target?" Izuku asked.

    "No. This corpse is over a week old." Said Cassia. "And if you are feeling even a hint of a masked spell, then we would have missed the caster by moments, minutes at most. Do you still feel it now?"

    Izuku reached out again and, sure enough, the feeling was gone.

    "No." He said.

    "Then we should advance on to find Radamant. We have scoured the rest of this maze, knowing our luck, you were just short enough to spot or feel this area and it leads right to him." Strom said.

    Knowing their luck, he was probably right. The dead body was also a good sign, as terrible as that was to say.

    The tunnel converged into a tight crawlspace that let out into a torture chamber. Bodies of men, and men alone, were strewn about on stretchers where they had been hacked to pieces and skinned. The location of their missing limbs and body parts was self-evident, as they all formed a single mass in a vaguely humanoid shape.

    Radamant the Fallen had fashioned for himself a new Frankenstein's monster of a body from the still living body parts of his victims, and it was falling apart. He groaned and weeped with every step and tears fell from his eyes constantly.

    He had yet to notice them enter and he was desperately trying to sew the muscles of his thigh, or somebody's thigh, back together with shaking, mummified hands.

    There were other undead in the room, already defeated and destroyed possibly by the fallen mages' own hands. Radamant was alone. Radamant was broken. Radamant was pitiful. They took pity on him.

    Already wounded and spiritually defeated by his abysmal state of undeath, the fireball which engulfed him elicited more screaming and crying, while Strom's Maul and Cassia's trident broke him as easily as any other mummies. He was finished with moments, as Izuku froze him solid while the other two rained blows down on him. Cassia shattered his skull with her spear, and Strom shattered his torso. It was done.

    They just stood there after that, staring at the monster, the pathetic monster.

    "Was he the victim of… something?" Izuku asked.

    "Yes." Strom and Cassia said at once.

    "What?" Izuku asked.

    "That's what we need to find out." Said Cassia. "But that weeping was not over physical pain. I've seen men cry like that, but only from disgust and horror at things they were made to do. I would stake my reputation in saying he was not willingly committing these acts, or entirely in control of his actions."

    Izuku nodded, and glanced around the room. Then he sighed.

    There were so many bodies, and surely one of them was Atma's husband, and another her son. He did not look forward to collecting the bodies and bringing them home.

    "Open a town portal, we are leaving." Said Strom. "We have done our job, others will come and recover the dead and valuables. Let us go."

    Izuku was confused at the strange order, as he wasn't above such work and had done it before, but he obeyed.

    He withdrew Blood Raven's grimoire and found the page for the town portal spell. He passed his fingers over the runes as if they were braille, and focused on the emotions and sensations which fueled the transportation magic. It took just as long as the last time, but the blueish-white oval appeared.

    Strom and Cassia walked through and Izuku stepped forward to do the same, only to wheel around.

    There was nobody there… but there was. He was certain of it. The feeling of curious eyes drilling into the back of his head was unmistakable.

    He recalled Cassia and Strom's warning of Mage hunters and backed away through the portal as quickly as he could. He closed it behind him, not wanting the potential – and possibly fictional – enemy from following him through. Only afterwards did he remember that only those who are friendly to the caster can pass through a town portal.

    Strom and Cassia were cleaning themselves off in a basin set aside with a sign specifically designated for washing fish guts and blood off before going back in town. It seemed like the right thing to use after battling through sewers and catacombs of undead, so he joined them.

    He was tempted to share the feeling he'd had before coming through the portal, but he knew it was more paranoia and was stupid of him to wait behind at all. They were already aware of the mage capable of hiding their magic, whoever it was.

    "We shall go to the palace and debrief with Jerhyn first, and leave informing others to him." Said Strom as they finished up.

    Izuku nodded and they were off. They received a few looks as even after that short wash they looked like they were fresh from battle, but nobody stared at or interrupted them.

    They reached the palace and the guards, clearly recognizing them, rushed them through. They were led to the gardens and Jerhyn was waiting there, with Aden and Quetz sitting on cushioned chairs and being tended to by Fara and Drognan.

    They all acknowledged the three newcomers as they entered, though Aden and Quetz remained seated. Jerhyn motioned for them to speak.

    "Radamant the Fallen is no more." Said Strom.

    The entire room breathed a sigh of relief.

    "We left the bodies and all the treasures there." Strom added.

    "That is fine. You have all done enough. I will send a cleanup crew to recover the dead and eliminate anything you may have missed." Jerhyn said. "Any treasure they find is to be split between you five, in accordance with your negotiations with one another. I trust you all to fairly divvy it all amongst yourselves."

    They bowed in gratitude to his confidence.

    "Do you have any pertinent details you would like to share?" Asked Drognan.

    For some reason, Cassia and Strom turned to him to answer that one. Okay.

    "Radamant was broken. Spiritually, I mean. He wept in horror at his own actions and seemed to be trying to rebuild himself using the pieces of his victims, but was failing." Izuku explained. "I think, and my companions agree, that Radamant was not in control of his actions nor willfully malicious."

    "Hmm. Then we must ask ourselves, who was?" Said Drognan. "The mystery of the horrors facing the world grow evermore. As does our need for Cain's wisdom and guidance, which he seems so reticent to share."

    "With respect, sir, based on the destruction these horrors have wrought, his reticence may be more for our safety than to satisfy his stubbornness." Izuku said out of turn.

    Drognan raised his eyebrows at Izuku, clearly shocked that he'd lip off to an elder at all, let alone risk doing so in such a setting. He still nodded, slowly then quickly, at his reasoning.

    "Perhaps you are correct. Yes. The knowledge he has which could help us combat this evil can also be used to recreate or reinforce this evil." Drognan reasoned. "We have to trust in him to instruct us, if not reveal everything to us."

    "That is an inordinate amount of trust to ask from anybody, and even with his reputation and status I struggle to place such in him." Said Jerhyn. "But for now, we will abide. For now, you are all welcome to remain here to bathe and eat."

    Everybody bowed, but Cassia and Strom refused.

    "Izuku, stay here and take up his offer. We have an errand to run." Strom told him.

    Izuku shrugged. He had been planning to do so anyways, if for no other reason than to avoid any chance of meeting Myr in the bath. And so, he let the nearby harem girl lead him underground to the royal baths, before promptly shooing her away, annoyed at her giggling and insistence on aiding him.


    Cassia entered Elzix's inn with Strom close behind her, and like the last time she entered the owner descended upon her with the rage of a mother hen.

    "What did I say last time you were here?" Elzix demanded.

    She raised her hands in a calming motion.

    "I am here on peaceful business with Isendra, with concern for her apprentice that she needs to hear. Strom will keep me in line, although this once I think I may not need it." Cassia consoled.

    Elzix glared between the two of them. Then he glared at them some more.

    "If I hear so much as a raised voice, you're out." He relented.

    Cassia bowed and thanked him.

    She and Strom walked across the entrance hall and dining room to the thin hallway that connected to the baths on the right and a cramped staircase on the left. Ascending the latter they had to contort themselves to dodge a small shape rushing past them.

    It looked to be a small girl, or possibly a cross-dressing boy, in a far too large dress. She had the distinct shape of a hand print emblazoned on her cheek. Cherry red, like it had been planted there recently.

    They ignored this smidgeon of drama and entered the upstairs hallway to find one of the bedroom doors opened. Walking back inside was the object of their ire.

    "Isendra." Cassia said.

    The bedraggled and night-gowned woman turned to look at who called her and her expression became instantly dour and bored.

    Cassia once again raised her hands in peace.

    "We have news of your apprentice that we need to discuss." Cassia said. "Strom will do most of the talking."

    Isendra sighed but motioned for them to enter her room. They did so, making sure to stand away from her bed and clothing, as well as the rugs, so as not to stink up her living quarters with their smell of filth and battle.

    Isendra closed the door behind them and entered, before sniffing and going to open the windows. Cassia did not take offense.

    "What has he done to impress everybody now?" Isendra asked.

    They both snorted at the borderline hubris of her statement, but Cassia recognized that such hubris was valid. Damned, if that boy wasn't scary.

    "A lot, actually, but we came here with concerns." Strom said.

    "That he is more at peace in war than when at peace?" Isendra said. "And I'm assuming you took him down to fight Radamant and that said Horodric mummy is gone?"

    Wow. Correct on both accounts.

    "You are aware of this issue?" Cassia asked.

    "I am." Said Isendra.

    "And what are you doing about it?" Cassia pressed.

    "Everything I can. So far the only thing that works is to feed his mind, or else numb it with work." Isendra told them. "The only time he is happy is when he is learning a new thing, or else tinkering with knowledge. Tearing it apart and putting it back together. I give him as much of it as possible and it keeps him preoccupied. Manual labor also puts him at ease, or else regular martial training."

    "Do you have enough of any of those things to keep him occupied for long?" Strom asked.

    "Not by myself. But between Cain taking him aside for history, geography, politics and religious study and the wide open world of jobs he can work, especially in a port city with ships in need of sailors, I hope to keep him preoccupied until he naturally matures and heals spiritually from time." Isendra explained.

    Ah. She was hoping to let time heal all wounds, and to keep him numb while it does the job. That did seem like a viable strategy, possibly the only one available especially as it ties him to the locale.

    If times were different she would demand she end the apprenticeship and leave the boy to an adoptive family, or revamp his apprenticeship to a more academic one. But the needs of the world were such that any warrior, let alone mage, had to be put to the horrible task of fighting these horrors. When said mage was as obviously a prodigy as Izuku Midoriya it would be inexcusable to excuse him from these duties, no matter how much he clearly needed such exemptions.

    "It sounds like you need help in this." Said Strom. "I can certainly handle the labor angle. If he ever gets even the slightest bit mopey, send him to me, I'll have him out to do hard work and be beside him for it."

    Cassia nodded with stroms words.

    "I can help him with any and all weapons training too, save those Strom is more suited to wield. Until such time as our paths split, this is a noble thing to keep us occupied as well." Cassia offered.

    "You make it sound like such a task is more healing for us than it is for him." Isendra accused.

    "It could be. Children can do that to even the most traumatized warrior." Said Strom. "In fact… I can think of a few people who deserve to be roped in on this. Both as punishment, and as reward."

    Isendra raised an eyebrow.

    "Well, I would be delighted to hear such suggestions… Just as soon as you both get a bath and change of clothes." Isendra agreed.


    This story was Cowritten/Beta'd by NonsensicalRants You can hire NonsensicalRants to write your stories, all you have to do is provide him with a rough outline and contact him on his patron.

    Prices:

    $25 per 1000 words, with some wiggle room.
    $25 per 500 words for Adult material or for original fiction/nonfiction, meaning anything that is not fanfiction.
    Prices subject to change in the future. Check with him.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • does anybody ever come from the MHA side to this again? some kind of expedition, maybe when izuku is a bit farther away and they trace his steps and see his achievements? maybe showing hes an outlier and anybody else doesnt nearly adapts as easily as he does. they want to catch up to him but hes always a few steps ahead.
     
    So what the hell's happening with Myr? I'm surprised Izuku never bothered to investigate or question to discover who beat and abused Myr earlier, it seems out of character for him to ignore that, although his personal discomfort and general business could've distracted him.

    But now we see Myr running with another sign of injury, a red handprint, though obviously not nearly as bad as before, could it be related? I'm starting to worry it really is Isendra beating her, since the way it was written it seemed that she came running from where Isendra was.

    I really hope it's not the case because I really like Isendra and her interactions with Izuku.
     
    grime said:
    So what the hell's happening with Myr? I'm surprised Izuku never bothered to investigate or question to discover who beat and abused Myr earlier, it seems out of character for him to ignore that, although his personal discomfort and general business could've distracted him.

    But now we see Myr running with another sign of injury, a red handprint, though obviously not nearly as bad as before, could it be related? I'm starting to worry it really is Isendra beating her, since the way it was written it seemed that she came running from where Isendra was.

    I really hope it's not the case because I really like Isendra and her interactions with Izuku.
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    Teh slap to the cheek was Isendra, the earlier beating was not. And her slap to the face was to literally slap her out of her magically induced obsession with Izuku. That is the actual treatment for the side effects of the healing bolt spell in this new canon. A slap to the face.

    And Izuku stayed out of the first beating because other people are now responsible for her. He's leaving it to her new father. He isquickly learning to respect the boundaries of this new society.
     
    CILinkz said:
    does anybody ever come from the MHA side to this again? some kind of expedition, maybe when izuku is a bit farther away and they trace his steps and see his achievements? maybe showing hes an outlier and anybody else doesn't nearly adapts as easily as he does. they want to catch up to him but hes always a few steps ahead.
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    Sadly, no. I tried to steer it that way, but the commissioner said absolutely not. I even wrote a chapter where the nighteye agency believably figured out what happened to him and sent an ectoplasm clone through and that was going to be a side story for a while. But demons invaded MHA and heroes/villains invading Diablo aint heppening.
     
    NonsensicalRants said:
    Sadly, no. I tried to steer it that way, but the commissioner said absolutely not. I even wrote a chapter where the nighteye agency believably figured out what happened to him and sent an ectoplasm clone through and that was going to be a side story for a while. But demons invaded MHA and heroes/villains invading Diablo aint heppening.
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    Will Midoriya eventually return to MHA? Or is the entire story just going to follow Diablo plot?
     
    grime said:
    Will Midoriya eventually return to MHA? Or is the entire story just going to follow Diablo plot?
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    I really hope this story does go back to the MHA world. It will be interesting to see what a fully trained Mage would do to the place. Especially since Izuku can prove his abilities are not a quirk, and therefore don't fall under that draconian law.
    It would be an adjustment for Izuku as well, he would have to return to a modern mindset, and not just kill any villain that comes his way.

    And then there is the whole... You know, Burning Hells thing. Izuku would have to make certain that he doesn't leave any sort of way back to Sanctuary from his world. They are not ready for an invasion from Hell. Or for Sanctuary's version of Heaven to come knocking either.
     
    zebrin said:
    I really hope this story does go back to the MHA world.

    It would be an adjustment for Izuku as well, he would have to return to a modern mindset, and not just kill any villain that comes his way.
    .
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    grime said:
    Will Midoriya eventually return to MHA? Or is the entire story just going to follow Diablo plot?
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    Yes Grimes, the plan is for Izuku to find his way back to Japan at his worst moment when he has accepted death and plans on taking as many demons with him as possible.

    Oh yes Zebrin there will be a definite adjustment phase.


    Plus Izuku will due to stress and a few years of hard labor will make him more physically attractive to some of the ladies plus he will be economically attractive as well. So he better watch out ;)
     
    Magikuser said:
    Yes Grimes, the plan is for Izuku to find his way back to Japan at his worst moment when he has accepted death and plans on taking as many demons with him as possible.

    Oh yes Zebrin there will be a definite adjustment phase.


    Plus Izuku will due to stress and a few years of hard labor will make him more physically attractive to some of the ladies plus he will be economically attractive as well. So he better watch out ;)
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    I decided to avoid responding so you could field that one, didn't expect you to get so spoilery. Also, financially? Will he be taking a bag of holding full of gold coinage back?
     
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