5 Chapter 5: Where no cattails grew

"Excuse me, Master Vincent." Phyl said trying to get Vincent's attention.

"What is it? And stop calling me 'master' it's weird!" Vincent replied, turning his dead to see what it was Phyl wanted to ask him.

"As you wish master Vincent." Phyl said, Vincent groaned but Phyl continued speaking before Vincent could correct him.

"If I understood your plan correctly, you need more skilled members for the part, correct?" Phyl asked.

"That's right, do you know somebody?" Vincent asked he was a little concerned as to who a person like Phyl would call a companion…

"Not exactly, but I know of a place where we may be able to find some people," Phyl replied, he reached into his scarf, pulling out a piece of stained paper. "It's an invitation to an annual fighting competition, I have been there once, two years ago and there were many capable fighters present," Phyl said.

Vincent started to think about the fighting competition. The idea of the sport disturbed him, what joy could one get from fighting strangers… But surely there would be at least one person who could be considered hero material there.

"That sounds like a great place to look! Good work Phyl!" Vincent complemented the shorter man, who seemed extremely pleased with himself.

"Right, I'm back." Shiu said, dropping down from a small mound of grassy earth, she was off collecting wood for the fire as evident by the large pile of sticks she carried under her left arm, and less evident from the large tree trunk she was carrying over the right shoulder.

"Isn't that overdoing it?" Vincent asked, seeing the load she was carrying.

"I mean, I don't intend to catch a cold out here in the middle of nowhere," Shiu replied.

"Master, I hear someone coming close…" Phyl warned Vincent.

"Just one person?" Vincent asked.

"Don't worry about it, Master." Phyl said, "I'll take care of them…" Phyl drew his blade from the leather scabbard build into the leather bag he carried on his bag.

"Nononononono! Phyl, relax!" Vincent commanded.

"But master! It could be an assassin!" Phyl argued.

The cloaked figure entered the radius of the fire.

The figure removed their cloak revealing very clean and colourful clothing.

"Greetings, I couldn't help but notice your fire and I was hoping you would let me stay here for the night." the man asked with a courteous bow.

"No problem, feel free to sit down anywhere." Vincent gestured is hands around the fire.

The lavishly dressed man looked towards Vincent, "A demon!" the man cried, "Yes… that's me. Please calm down, I don't mean you any harm." Vincent assured the man.

Frantically looking around, the man spotted an outline of a person sitting by the fire, "You there, are you that thing's owner?" the man asked, Vincent didn't react, but he turned to where the man was looking, it was Shiu, who turned to face the man, seeing her ears the man's face turned red.

"How could I even assume that that animal was the owner…" the man thought to himself.

"Cat, where is your owner?" the man asked, any sincerity that was present on his face has faded away.

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Shiu asked, a grin appearing on her face as she stood up, she began making her way towards the insulting man.

"Shiu, no don't." Vincent pleaded.

She wanted to pound his face now, there is nothing more than she wanted than to get some well-deserved revenge for the insults this man was spouting, but collecting her thoughts Shiu sat down.

"That's right, know your place, both of you!" the man laughed, his jovial expression quickly vanished as he found himself swiftly thrown to the floor, as if in an instant, Phyl planted his dagger directly through the man's palm.

A short screech of pain escaped the man, turning back to see that he was being attacked by a human.

"What are you doing?! are you with these monsters?!" the man demanded, his fancy looking clothes dirtied in the dirt and leaves.

"I will not have you insulting master Vincent," Phyl warned with a dark expression on his face, it wasn't the sadism from before, but a more serious hatred.

"Ahem!" Shiu fake-coughed to remind Phyl that she was also in the party.

"Phyl, Shiu, please! I'm sure this man was brought up thinking the way he does, plus he hasn't harmed any of us." Vincent argued, a pleading look on his face, it was clear to both Shiu and Phyl from that look that Vincent didn't see himself as a leader of the group, something both of them just assumed he was.

Phyl sighed, he turned to the man on the floor and said "Your life has been spared thanks to the mercy of master Vincent, next time I shall not be this lenient." as he said this, Phyl took his dagger out from the man's palm and let him go.

Standing up, the man stumbled, before putting his bleeding hand under his other arm.

The man began heading back from where he came, a scowl on his face.

"Wait up!" Vincent said as he walked up to the man.

"What do you want demon? You've shown me your party's power, I will tell the villagers to stay away from here for a few days." the man replied.

"Your hand, you were hurt by one of my party members, that means I'm partly responsible. If you wish I would like to heal your wound." Vincent offered an outstretched hand.

"What are you doing, demon?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I would hate for your wound to get infected. Whatever village you come from most likely doesn't have the means to heal you." Vincent replied.

After a few seconds of thought, the man looked up at Vincent, "What do you want in return? I know your tricks, demon…"

Vincent sighed, this man wanted to doubt him, and he wasn't going to be talked down from it, "Consider it a favour." Vincent replied with a slight smile.

"Fine, but hurry it up…" the man said, reaching his hand towards Vincent.

"All right, this won't take long." Vincent said, "Vincent, you shouldn't use that, magic again." Shiu said, remembering the damage he took last time he used holy magic.

"It's all right, I can probably just use healing magic," Vincent said, as he turned to the wounded hand.

"Targeting Points!" Vincent called out his incantation, light blue lights appeared on his index finger.

"Target Points Area" this seemingly changed nothing, the man watched the magic intensely, Vincent wasn't sure if it was that he did not trust him, or if he was enjoying the light show.

Vincent pressed with his index finger on both sides of the palm, four times each, each point connected with the others to form a rectangle isolating the wound.

"What is this?" The man asked, seemingly amazed with the magic.

"It's just some logic magic, these skills let me isolate an area on which my magic will work, it's common etiquette for healers, I decided to use some of the more potent magic. In some cases, healing magic can even kill someone due to fast cell reproduction." Vincent said, he thought of it as an interesting piece of trivia, but to the man, it was another thing to fear in the world.

"say, I won't die from this?" The man asked nervously, his attitude towards Vincent changed quickly.

"No, with this small of a surface, and my expertise, the amount of nutrients synthesised for the process is just right, although you may fell some weak pain around where the wound was for a bit since the nerves were shocked pretty badly by the damage."

The man breathed a sigh of relief. "You know what, I may have been a bit impolite before, my name is Jacob." the man said, embarrassed on his face.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Vincent and my party members are Phyl, the one who stabbed your hand and Shiu, the one who almost stabbed you," Vincent replied, most people would relish that the man was proven wrong, but Vincent was just happy that the misunderstanding was cleared up.

As Vincent spoke, Shiu and Phyl eyed the man, while Shiu was looking for one dirty look or any other excuse to pound his face, Phyl looked for any signs of aggression, he knew Vincent wouldn't appreciate the murder of the man but if it was necessary, Phyl wouldn't have a second thought about slitting the man's throat.

"I really don't like that Jacob person, how can he just do a one-eighty like that?!" Shiu said in a hushed yet frustrated tone, Phyl nodded slightly in agreement, "Me too, he seems untrustworthy." Phyl added to which Shiu nodded.

"Right, that's all done now," Vincent said, wrapping the hand in a light green bandage.

"Thanks, and sorry about being rude earlier," Jacob said with a grin on his face.

"Yep, he's defiantly faking that smile." Phyl and Shiu said in unison. "We can't let Vincent do anything stupid, that man is definitely planning to take advantage of him. " Shiu said, her voice still low but her fists clenched, and her claws sticking out of her cat-like hand.

"Master Vincent would never fall for a trap like that." Phyl scoffed, without taking his eyes off Vincent who was talking to Jacob.

Vincent turned around to face his two party members sitting at a distance glaring at them, "Guys, Jacob said we could stay over at the town for today, let's grab our stuff and head out!" Vincent said excitedly.

"It looks like master Vincent fell for the trap…" Shiu said turning to face Phyl who looked like he was in a state of shock.

"Master, are you sure it's wise to follow that man?" Phyl inquired, was he really in a position to question the judgement of his master? He wasn't sure.

"You'd be better off dealing with whatever is waiting for us in the trap than trying to talk him out of it." Shiu said, patting Phyl on the shoulder.

The three grabbed their bags (Phyl insisted on carrying Vincent's bag)

"So, do you really think a village of Jacobs is a safe place for us?" Shiu asked with a raised eyebrow, it wasn't like she didn't know the answer, she just wanted to get Vincent to think about it.

"Sure, if one Jacob is on our side, why would the other so-called Jacobs no also be on our side?" Vincent replied with a simple smile.

Shiu was a little bit surprised by this reply, she was still worried, but this answer made her less sure of their demise.

"Master has a point," Phyl said to Shiu, assuming she was doubting him.

"I never said it didn't…" Shiu replied.

Before the bickering two appeared the large stone walls of what looked like a city, not a town, a deep moat surrounded the walls, at the centre of the alleged town, Vincent saw a large rock formation, like a mountain with a cliff on each side.

"Quite the impressed defences you have here," Vincent said to Jacob who was a bit ahead of them

"Aren't they? They were built hundreds of years ago!" Jacob said, he seemingly held great pride in his city.

"What's this town called?" Vincent asked he thought that perhaps he may want to return if it was nice.

"Mourdon, it used to be a dwarf city long ago, luckily we took back our long lost land!" Jacob replied.

Phyl's eyes widened as he heard the name of the town, "Master, it would seem that we reached our destination after all." Phyl said, looking at the old invitation to the fighting tournament.

"Really?" Vincent asked, his face lit up in excitement as he walked up to Jacob, "Do you know of some big competition going on around these parts?" Vincent asked.

"Of course, there is the annual fighting tournament in the arena," Jacob replied pointing to the large rock formation in the centre of the city.

As the group made their way through the front gate, Phyl and Shiu were shocked by a large number of guards, they all stood armed to the teeth wearing heavy looking plate armour.

"These guys seem on edge…" Shiu commented Phyl replied with "Of course there are, strong fighters from around the world gathering here for the competition…"

"Smart-ass" Shiu commented quietly, "Stop being such a brat…" Phyl replied.

"A BRAT?!" Shiu roared, she grabbed Phyl by the collar, "How old are you, you sadistic midget?!" Shiu demanded with murderous intent in her eyes.

"Guys, please. You're making us look bad." Vincent said trying to calm the two.

Shiu crossed her arms and with a point said "Huh…he started it." to which Phyl replied quietly "Brat…"

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" Shiu cried as she performed a spin kick to Phyl's 'sack of treasure' .

Phyl lay on the ground in a foetal position in severe pain, "Shiu!" Vincent said angrily as he stomped his way back to help Phyl off the ground.

The three were swiftly surrounded by armed guards.

"You are under arrest for causing public disorder!" the man roared with a shaking grasp on a sword, he looked like he was on edge.

Seeing this Vincent realised that he would surely be able to explain what happened and get out of prison shortly, so there was no need to cause trauma to the poor young guard, "All right, lead the way." Vincent replied.

The guard was seemingly caught off-guard by this, "Uhm… okay… I will…" he said with a shaky, squeaky voice, and so without breaking eye contact, he led Vincent and his party to the barracks where they were put behind bars.

The city looked poor but well kept, all the big roads were surrounded by large shops made of stone and marble, with occasional brick houses, the roofs were all clean and in great condition, made from tiles in many colours although they all seemed washed out and not very vibrant.

However, in the streets and alleys, you could see the real town, with many peasants dressed in rags and many poorly built improvised houses of wood and scrap material.

"How's the town doing lately?" Vincent asked the guard leading him, "W-why would you care? C-criminal!" the boy asked.

"I'm just interested," Vincent replied with a shrug.

"Uhm… it's doing fine… although the taxes were increased again to pay for the tournament." the boy said in a sombre tone.

"You guys pay the reward for the tournament with your own money?" Vincent asked, he wasn't sure how these things worked, but he assumed that it was money from the local lords.

"It's complicated… the lord of this town believes that by increasing the prize money, more people will come to the tournament and we will make money off inns and shops… this has been dragging on for years with the taxes endlessly growing." the guard said, his weak grasp of the blade turned to a rock hard fist around his blade.

By the time they made it to where they were heading it was already fully dark, "What a nice night…" Vincent thought to himself.

They reached a large stone building made from massive stone bricks, with man tiny openings in its walls, persuadable windows, the inside halls were lit with torches and aside from one or two bends, the building just had one long corridor with prison cells on each side.

"Here we are… p-please don't try anything!" the guard commanded, although it was really more of a plea.

"All right, just make sure to get us out soon," Vincent asked.

Looking around his cell, Vincent found three beds, a 'window' consisting of four small holes, not big enough to fit a fist through and a rug.

Shiu laid down on the bed next to the window, and the guards dropped Phyl onto the other bed.

"S-sorry… we have a shortage of beds at the moment…" the guards said looking at Vincent with genuine fear.

"Don't worry about it, do you think I could get a chair in here?" Vincent asked.

"I'm s-sorry… are also in the middle of a chair shortage…" the guard said almost crying.

"It's all right… I guess I'll just sit here." Vincent said, sitting cross-legged on the rug.

"M-may I please leave?" the guard asked, he was clearly terrified of Vincent.

"Are you new to this job by any chance?" Vincent asked, judging by the cowardly demeanour he wasn't used to dealing with criminals… or scary looking people.

"Y-yes, sir! I was h-hired a few days ago!" the man shouted out as if he was commanded to do so.

"All right, well, you need to be more relaxed in these situations." Vincent said, "Keep in mind you have a wall and bars separating us from you." he added.

"Y-you're right…" the man said, he looked embarrassed at the idea of cowering before a prisoner.

"Don't feel embarrassed, it's only natural to be afraid of criminals, but you have to be brave for the other citizens since they rely on you!" Vincent said.

The guard was becoming more motivated by the second, "You're right! I will not be afraid of the criminals! Thank you mister demon!" the man said with a quick bow before he left.

"Good luck!" Vincent called out after him.

After a few minutes of silence, Shiu spoke up, "What the actual hell was that?!"

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked surprised.

"You just gave a pep talk to the man who helped arrest us!" Shiu said outraged.

"He was just doing his job!" Vincent replied cheerfully.

"If it wasn't for your temper we wouldn't be in this mess." Phyl groaned out.

"Shut up you!" Shiu warned Phyl.

"This… is going to be a long night…" Vincent sighed.