Preparation

Date Sunday 24th

The night was uneventful, anyone who knew his identity didn't want to cause trouble for him and anyone who didn't know him didn't have any reason to cause trouble. Getting up from his bed, the Mage put on his chest armour and his cloak before double-checking his backpack.

He had enough rations for the journey to the next village, a spare set of clothes, a dagger, his notebook, ink and quill, a slate of stone and a weird knife.

Anything fragile was wrapped in cloth like the six other potions he carried, the dagger, the weird knife and the ink. The backpack was big but not too heavy, it had only been filled halfway.

He had read the Hunters orders after his meal last night, they wished to observe him before making a move to interrogate the Awakened. The Mage wasn't interrogated so he was confused when he woke up and left the inn undisturbed, he then spotted why.

A new addition to the square existed, a cross with a black skeleton staked by its hands and legs to it. It smoked underneath the sun, yesterdays rain clouds all but gone.

With his hood up, the Mage ignores the gathering crowd and shouting. He moves on his way, the market is slowly filling with stalls but a lack of customers, the gathering crowd making stall owners worry.

Whispers carried by the wind reach the Mage's ears, the Hunter's found a "Vampire" and decided to let the sun kill it. The Mage snickers before moving towards the crowd, wishing to see this "vampire".

After all, a necromancer would know if the skeleton belongs to an undead creature.

After spending a few minutes trying to get through the crowd, the Mage got close enough to see the skeleton and the Hunters surrounding it. They try to keep the crowd back to "protect" them.

Getting any closer could reveal the Mage however the Hunters are rookies. He could kill at least two of them before the other six reacted.

'They haven't staked the heart, the smoke was actually coming from some braziers not the corpse, the creature isn't dead but also can't regenerate.'

'Only a Ghoul would be like this given the circumstances, these Hunters must be stupid or not as knowledgeful as they tell others.'

The Mage gives another sweep of the group, 'I'm starting to think it's both.'

At the northern end of the village, a caravan entered.

He then exits the crowd before searching to stock up on some food.

A bakers stall smells nice with fresh loaves layout on their stall, after paying six copper for three of them, the Mage stuffs them into his backpack before wandering around town.

The town is small but lively with a few crop fields, a small church, a town hall, blacksmith and the local inn. It was a random town the Mage found while on his way southward and with the lack of a map, he can only hope that he wasn't lied to about the next village over.

After exploring for two hours the Mage found a bench near the road leading south and watched the village do its thing, the sun is in the middle of the sky with no cloud in sight.

Another two hours passed and he noticed nothing strange.

'Time to leave then.' The caravan is about to leave after stocking up. The Mage can't see what they carry but the caravan has a total of ten carriages, two armed guards per carriage and a one un-armed work per carriage.

The front carriage is the most decorated therefore the Mage approaches it.

He reaches forward and knocks on the door of the carriage, the gold and wood carriage looks expensive but doesn't increase the safety of the occupants.

The carriage opens to reveal a woman in a long purple dress, a man in a navy blue tailcoat and two butlers. A second glance reveals that one of the butlers is familiar.

The man in navy blue starts to speak, "Can I help you?" He has a slim build and a slight air of arrogance with pale blue eyes and black hair.

"I wish to know your destination." The Mage says without putting down his hood, 'It would be bad if these nobles are the financial supporters of the Hunters, killing two nobles would put a sizeable bounty on my head.'

"We are heading to-" The man starts to speak before the woman pinches him, "Ahem, as I was saying we are heading southward towards a settlement to deliver goods."

"I happen to be going that direction myself, could I travel with you until I reach my destination?" The Mage isn't hopeful but it is worth a try, 'I could just bribe a guard if all else fails.'

The man glances at the woman, "If you paid us a little money we can allow you to ride in one of the further carriages." She says in a soft voice, her brown hair is tied in a bun while she radiates an air of a businesswoman.

The Mage shows a silver coin at which the woman seems startled, "I'm sorry, I thought you were some vagrant." Spending anything about 50 coppers on a carriage ride is unwise but the Mage can easily make money, though nearly all of these methods are illegal.

She signals to the butler across from her to leave, he is plain looking but his grey hair adds a sense of wisdom to him. His face doesn't change at all as he is told to ride in another carriage, showing his experience in this line of work.

The other butler then shows a light bit of shock as the Mage sits down, he only takes his backpack off while keeping his hood up. The backpack is placed between his legs as he leans back into the fancy seat, the whole carriage is built for quality and comfort.

"Do you know this man Terrence?" The man in navy blue says while facing the butler, this butler is young and black, his build stocky and tall.

'I couldn't compete with him physically.' The Mage doesn't worry for he knows magic.

"Master, he is the man you had me talk to yesterday."