29 Taking A Shortcut!

The weapon Lucas had used was a special weapon created by the Fomors. The purple laced poisonous sword is called the 'Venom Sword'. Although the shape of the sword is slightly longer than a broadsword, the special characteristics of the weapon is the shiny purple glaze that is filled over the blade of the sword. Although it is a top-tier weapon in the game of Mabinogi, it is not considered a weapon that end game players would use in the long run. However, in the setting of this world, this weapon was astonishingly powerful. Just a touch of its blade would render any human to have their skin melt from the outside in the affected area. The poison would also penetrate through the raw layers of the muscles, and it would be deadly if one did not treat it in time. In the worst cases, one's limbs would have to be amputated.

"Damn you Lucas! I will hunt you down when I get back to my father!" Caleb yelled with fury.

"Bark all you want, but you won't get anything out of revenge little boy! Don't forget who sponsors the Bea Rua Pub!" Lucas said with fervor.

Holding his corroded skin on his forearm, Caleb exited the pub while limping slightly as if the pain had made him a bit numb.

"Haha! What a coward! Don't come back here again!" Lucas called out with a wide grin on his face.

…

Two figures appeared out of thin air in the North most gate of Emain Macha. Filled with a riverbed and green grasses throughout, the road ahead would lead to Osna Sail, a rocky mountain ledge that led to Dunbarton.

"Phew, that was really a close one!" Baxtor exclaimed.

"Mr. Baxtor, is your back okay? Let me patch you up first!" Axel bent down and pulled out the bandages that Dilys had given him back in Tir Chonaill.

After a few minutes, Baxtor's deep cut in his lower back had been poorly but tightly bandaged by Axel.

"Thanks buddy! How about your cuts on both of your arms?" Baxtor asked.

"I'll be fine, it's not as serious as your injury. It'll dry up by itself if I leave it!" Axel replied.

"Hey let's at least patch it up just in case if it gets worse eh?" Baxtor said.

Axel nodded and let Baxtor take the remaining bandages to wrap around his arms.

"Alright, let's get out of Emain Macha right this second! That noble kid is going to bring the entire guard unit to chase us down at this point!" Baxtor said with a hint of nervousness.

This had really been one unlucky event after another. Just when he had registered a completely new identity as an adventurer, he had been harassed by a local noble of Emain Macha. At least for a long time, he would not be able to return to this town.

"Are we going to take Osna Sail to Dunbarton?" Axel asked.

"To be honest, normally I would not risk taking that shortcut across the mountain ledge, but desperate times call for risky ventures!" Baxtor replied.

Axel knew what Baxtor meant. Osna Sail had a huge number of Brown Dire Wolves, which were much stronger than the Black Wolves in the Tir Chonaill Pastures. Although they paled in comparison to the bears they encountered in Sen Mag Prairie, the strength of the wolves lied in a different area. Brown Dire Wolves were especially aggressive, and were able to sense an incoming target from very far away. Often, there would group up instinctively, which is completely different from the bears, as bears normally like to live in solitude even among the bear population.

"We'll take one step at a time then!" Axel said with confidence.

"Yep, knowing you, we can get out of any situation hahahaha!!!!" Baxtor laughed and coughed a bit as his wound acted up.

"Let's cut the small talk and hit the road. Let me hold you up Mr. Baxtor!" Axel said.

Baxtor leaned over Axel's shoulder and they set off.

…

Meanwhile, Caleb had already reached his residence in the noble district. Inside the Walford mansion, a tall middle aged man with slightly gray hair tied up in a ponytail was standing with his back facing his work desk. As he looked out the large bolted window, an unsettling knock sounded in the door behind him.

"Come in." he said calmly.

"Father, you have to kill that crazy bartender for me!" Caleb yelled in agony.

At this moment, the man looked over to his son and the veins in his eyes almost popped out.

"Caleb, what's going on! Your arm looks horrible!" Baron Walford asked in a rush.

"It's like this. While visiting the pub, I wanted to have the fortune teller Rua serve me, but this commoner stood in my way! After that, I proposed a friendly duel to him, but he flat out declined me! I wanted to teach him that no commoners can mess with us nobles! The two mercenaries I brought almost took care of him, but the commoner used some strange magic and disappeared from the pub. Then Lucas was mad about how I trashed the bar and he pulled out a purple looking sword and as I thought I had dodged his attack, my forearm had already turned into this state!" Caleb said quickly.

"Hmph! Unacceptable! Lucas, you think you can do anything if the royal family has your back? We'll see how you can explain the matter of letting a criminal escape after attacking my son when I report the matter to His Majesty!" Baron Walford barked.

Caleb smiled deviously. Now that his father had said the word, the two foolish commoners that had escaped along with the bartender Lucas would be dealt with in time. All he had to do was sit back and wait for the results.

"Get a medic here as soon as possible! Also dispatch a squad of soldiers to investigate those commoners! I'm going to head to the royal court to report this matter to His Majesty!" Baron Walford yelled as he flaunted his embroidered gold laced cape and stomped out the door.

…

Axel and Baxtor were slowly trudging along the rough mountainous ledges of Osna Sail. It had been darker than the abyss as it was already near midnight, and Baxtor had lit a torch for Axel to hold as he leaned on him to walk.

"So far so good yeah?" Axel said in a raspy breath. Carrying another person while traveling was quite the laborious task.

"I don't know Azel, it seems too good to be true! This is Osna Sail here! It wouldn't be strange if we were already marked by the wolves already!" Baxtor replied quietly.

"Hopefully they don't smell us out. We're really in bad shape here, and I don't think I can use that life saving skill anymore." Axel said.

Axel had already used his teleportation ability 4 times from the bear army predicament to the battle with the mercenaries in the pub. His mana pool was nearly dried out, and he felt a surge of mental exhaustion after his last teleport out of the pub. His health points were also at an absolute low, as any further encounters with monsters could spell disaster if he and Baxtor met any formidable foes along the way to Dunbarton.

"Damn, we should have brought some potions if I had known we would get in this mess!" Baxtor grunted.

"The world bullies us in strange ways, haha…." Axel replied awkwardly.

Just as they were about to take another step, a howl vibrated in the distance. From the darkness ahead, some discerning figures came out in the open.