12 Chapter 11: Convergence

In contrast to Lanzhou, Waneya appeared to be a proper city. It was the Empire's capital and as such, required the glamour and prestige befitting of that rank.

Mordain and Krajek drove the carriage up to the city gates. A somewhat long line of people and other carriages waited to be screened to enter the city.

The pair chatted away until it came to them and were hailed by the guard.

"Morning. Resident or traveller? " The guard asked in a routine manner.

"Hello. We're travellers looking to buy and sell things here. We have a permit, here. "

Krajek handed the guard the permit from the Merchant association. The guard checked the seal to make sure it was genuine.

"You bringing anything in with you? "

"As a matter of fact we are. There was an incident, we were attacked by a manticore you see. Our poor driver didn't make it, we thought it'd be best to bring him to the association you know, for burial and all. We also have the manticore corpse in the back. "

Krajek pulled open the cloth separating the front to the inside of the carriage, revealing the manticore corpse and the driver.

"Uhhhh... " The guard is speechless but eventually let's them through.

Ushered through the gate, they head down the main path until the road forks and they must choose. Seeing a passerby, Mordain grabs his attention.

"Hello sir. We're looking for the Merchant association, where could we find them? "

The man points at the road heading east and continues on.

A short amount of time later, after weaving through the packed streets of Waneya, they arrive at the headquarters, a large building much more grandiose than the previous one and five stories high.

After entering and showing their permit, the duo is escorted to meet with the local Merchant Association's leader to discuss what happened on the road.

They entered a small office quite well maintained but not screaming decadent luxury. A short woman sat a table readying some tea. The woman gestured for them to sit and their escort left, closing the door on their way out.

"I hear you have some bad news?" The woman asked, with a tone that implied she was already aware and only wanted to hear what their version of the story was.

"Yeah, we had set up camp for the night and a manticore jumped us. It got the driver first, there was nothing we could do for him sadly. We managed to kill it and we headed back here. The rest of the trip was largely uneventful."

The woman sipped her tea, watching Mordain and Krajek intently. She set down her cup and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, it can't be helped. Such are the dangers of the road. Now you'll excuse me if I have some skepticism regarding your claims. A manticore, really?"

This time, Mordain took the lead.

"Truly. It's in the carriage downstairs. We were thinking of selling it, my cousin has an alchemy shop in town and is ready to give us 12 gold pieces for it."

The woman's eyebrows raised, prompting her to try and reconsider. The greed was apparent in her eyes, manticore blood alone sold for more than 10 gold pieces according to Mordain.

"Let's go see then. If it's really a manticore, I'd also like to make an offer."

They proceed to go back outside and show the corpse to the Merchant association leader.

"Well, you were right. What a shame for Bertrand. We'll advise his next of kin. Regarding this manticore though... You needn't go to your cousin, I'll offer you the 12 gold pieces. "

Krajek decided to play along to increase the price.

"Well that's a good offer but we do owe him a favor. Plus we'd like to get some potions for the road and I'm sure he'd give us a discount. "

"Hmmm.. I can do 20, since you were nice enough to bring back the driver and carriage. I'll also upgrade your permit to the highest level. "

Both pretended to consider her offer for some time.

"Alright, you drive a hard bargain but it's a deal."

They went back inside and finalized the trade. Krajek's coin pouch was much heavier now and they resumed their travel.

"So, there's some mages here that could help me you think? "

Mordain nodded positively.

"Yes. The council is located here. We must head to the heart of the city. "

The two set out and began the long walk. The city was huge, as befitting a capital, and the streets were packed. It was hard to make any headway as vendors occupied the side of the road and all pedestrians stopped to gawk and talk.

Finally, Krajek saw an opening, a large empty spot with only a single person in the middle, like everyone was giving that person some room.

He squeezed in, moving fast and apologizing as he bumped into people when suddenly a large pressure pushed him and knocked him some feet away.

"You filthy peasants! How dare you touch me. I'll reach you a lesson you'll not soon forget! "

The man wearing a robe lifted his hands and a flaming orb appeared above them and he hurled it at Krajek, searing his clothes and burning him slightly.

(What the fuck. This guy's nuts. He's going to kill me.)

The mage then created another orb of fire and sneered at Krajek.

'Ting!'

A sword bounced harmlessly off the mage's invisible shield.

The mage turns around, seeing Mordain on the other side readying up another two-handed swing.

"Know your place!"

He launches the flaming orb at Mordain who manages to feint left and dodges it but the mage already had another spell readied, lightning arcing between his hands, waiting for Mordain to finish moving.

'BANG'

From behind the mage, on the ground, Krajek pulls out his gun and fires wildly in it's direction.

The first round hit the mage's barrier and is dissipated instantly. The next 2 rounds also suffer the same fate but on the third shot a loud sound like glass being broken reverberates through the air. Rounds 4,5 and 6 all hit the mage and he falls down backwards, an expression of shock etched unto his face.

Krajek gets up painfully and goes to check on Mordain who's on the ground panting only a few feet away from him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Mordain nodded.

"It was only a graze, you seem to have been hit directly?"

"Oh yeah, I bought a ballistic vest at the same time as I got the gun. Absorbed most of the impact, might have third degree burns though. We should check on that guy, I don't think he's dead, I was shooting pretty erratically."

Looking over the mage, Krajek notices he has trouble breathing. A round lodged itself into his right lung, the other into his left arm and the last seemed to be a gut shot. Blood fills the mage's mouth and he is unable to speak but the fury in his eyes is evident.

"Nasty way to go. I don't think he'll last more than a few hours, best I can do is grant mercy."

"Wai--"

Krajek pointed the gun at the mage's head and closed his eyes, firing a single shot, the mage going limp instantly.

Mordain stared for a few moments before grabbing Krajek's arm. A faint blue light emanated from the mage's body and found its way to Mordain.

"Do..you realize what you've done? Healing magic would have saved him and us! Quick, we must run before the guards get here."

Following the fight, the crowds dispersed as fast as they could, pushing everyone forward to try and get away but a few figures could be seen trying to run toward the scene of the battle. Looking from afar, four of the figures were wearing some kind of heavy metal armor and another was a woman with red hair.

Being unable to pass through the crowds, she took to the air and was upon them almost instantly. A heavy pressure pushed Mordain and Krajek to the ground where they lay unable to move.

The guards follow not long after and they pick up the pair forcibly after giving them a solid hit on the head, knocking them out.

"Thank you Miss Aexia, I don't think we could have caught them without you."

The mage woman seems to be quite upset, raking her hands through her hair and pulling.

"Arggh, I needed you alive Esteban, why do you always have to get into trouble like this."

Aexia noticed a small black shape laying on the ground and picked it up.

"This is the weapon they used to kill him? Seems so...foreign. Maybe...yeah they could be related to Zankas. Hey! When is their trial?"

"Uhmm...likely tomorrow? The Emperor doesn't wait long on those that kill mages."

"Got it, thanks. I'll get to the bottom of this one way or another."

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Hey, thanks for having read all the way up to here! To be honest though, I'm not sure if I want to keep writing this. I just don't feel its very good.

There's this other side project I was thinking about doing, it's a bit more game genre maybe? Like some of these I've seen on here and elsewhere, where the users have to use actual skills or spells out loud and with statistics(Levels, HP, ect).

Should I keep doing this or try that one out?