Chapter 38 - Blood in the Air

The voice behind the door led Althaea to pause in confusion, she did not expect a member of the Inns staff at this time.

"Is anybody inside? If so I'm just letting you know we will be entering quick to do some cleaning." The voice continued remaining sickingly sweet though Ava felt she can sense some impatience behind the tone.

Althaea seemed to feel the same as she walked cautiously to the door muttering an incarnation under her breath.

However it seemed the unknown visitors was done with waiting as the door burst open with alarming voice as chips of wood went flying everywhere.

Fortunately Althaea was able to cast her spell, "Water Barrier!" She mumbled as a dome of water surrounded her and Althaea, thick water Qi gathered until a dome was formed protecting them from the sharp pieces of wood that effortlessly rebounded from the barrier.

"Be careful you idiot! You could've harmed the kid." The sweet voice said sounding annoyed.

"Nothing the healers can't take care of, besides that Elf witch protected her in time." A deep dark voice sounded as she quickly determined what smashed their room door into pieces.

A large mountain of a man ducked under the doorway as a giant of a human appeared who's head almost touched the 8ft high ceiling.

Intense fluctuations was felt from him as he clearly resembled a Warrior.

He wore heavy-dense looking plated armour that covered him from head to toe as he lumbered into the room bringing with him a ridiculously sized looking Mace.

A wolf crest hanged from his right shoulder-cauldron, it resembled a gang sign of some sorts.

Althaea face turned gravely serious as she took in her opponent. As a Mage she was straight away at a disadvantage against a Warrior in close-quartered combat like this one.

Even if she was more powerful compared to her adversaries, the current environment suited her enemies far more. Not to mention her schools of magic were not particularly destructive.

The large man eyed the protective barrier surrounding them as he whistled in appreciation, "Nice barrier, might take me a few swings to crack this one open."

That was when they heard a large commotion that seemed to happen further away from the room as loud clangs of weapons being struck sounded.

A petite women squeezed past the large man as the sweet voice from earlier sounded from her lips as she said, "Hurry up and grab the damn child, we can only distract the others for so long, that old man is even stronger than we speculated."

Althaea eyed the women with even more wariness, she can tell from the dexterous smooth movements of the women she belonged to a class of Warriors that was a Mages worse nightmare, being a fighter that excelled on speed and movement she was likely an Assassin.

"Damnit this was meant to be a peaceful trip to the academy! Why do people have to always caught death at the glimpse of a High…" Althaea was about to finish but the big man already sprung into action swinging the large mace behind into the Barrier.

The Barrier trembled but held as Althaea cursed saying another Incarnation hurriedly.

That petite women behind the big man had also moved as a light shone from her hands as her daggers lit up with Fire Qi striking the barrier at another angle letting out a sizzling noise as the clashing Qi types interacted.

It was that time the big man had already brought up his weapon for another swing nonetheless Althaea was not a Magus without skill as she had already casted another spell.

"Wood Burrow." A sudden number of roots that magically appeared out of no where coiled around them as she felt herself incased in a protective covering of wood.

"Hold on tight little one, wood and water may not be the most destructive elements, but for escaping, protection and healing there is no superior!" Althaea whispered as she suddenly felt them dropping as they seemed to pass through the floor of the Inn quickly reaching the bottom floor before seeming to stop.

"Shame I can't go further but that big brute had me pressed for time and I never had to bring a person let alone a child with me before…" Althaea mumbled with dissatisfaction but she was already grabbing her hand, making a swift move for the exit as a the sounds of fighting in the Inn seem to increase.

Althaea and her were already at the dining area they had ate at previously, the exit of the Inn was in sights however that was then they were able to take in the scene of the dining room.

It was filled with dead bodies as former patrons of the Inn who they had ate with not long ago laid prone with slit throats, the stench of blood filled the room.

Looking at the dead bodies it was clear they made little resistance and their deaths was swift showing a large imbalance in power.

The Inn owner seemed to have met the most gruesome fate as his expression was a mixture of horror and recognition before he died, he was hung from the wall by a discarded cleaver of some sort that was deeply in his chest, it could already be guessed he met this fate from recognising who these people were.

Ava felt like she was going to vomit seeing the horrific scene but Althaea was already scanning her surroundings seeming to suddenly notice something she was already chanting.

Nonetheless it seemed she was too late as a blur too quick for the eye to see shot out from under the bar as a gleaming light was directed towards Althaea.

Althaea maintained a calm, collected look even when the knife was mere inches away from her throat yet at the moment it was about to make contact a cracking noise sounded, as the amulet hidden around Althaea's neck activated causing the bright gem to dim when a transparent barrier protected her from the strike.

The hooded assailant eyes widened in shock as he saw Althaea eyes turn dark.

"How dare you make me look bad in front of my apprentice!" She said furiously, before saying, "Water Whip!"

A large snake of condensed Water Qi appeared that flung towards the Assassin with tremendous force.

Even a water mage would have some offensive spells and a Magus of Althaea's rank when casting such a spell the Water Qi would be incredibly dense and powerful.

The Assassin eyes were filled with alarm as he tried to evade, but it was no use as the snake-like whip formed by the spell was like a viper as it harshly struck the Assassin sending him flying like a rag doll as he crashed into the wall leaving a hole behind as the force sent him crashing through into the streets outside, the prone assassin seemed to cause a commotion outside the Inn as the screams of pedestrians was heard.

A warrior of lower rank would find such an attack forceful never mind an assassin who exchanged their bodies durability for agility.

Ava stared at the limp assassin in shock as she looked back up at the innocent face of her Master who showed no emotion from seemingly killing a man.

"Let's get out of here apprentice, it will prove too troublesome to deal with those two by myself without the old man, being a Mage has its downside you know… some classes excel in certain situations." Althaea said in a lecturing tone deciding it was a good time to teach her things even now.

Ava just nodded obediently wanting to get out of this mess as soon as possible.

She already resolved herself to violence the moment her Mother was killed in cold blood in front of her.

Nonetheless that didn't mean it felt good being hounded and chased whilst not having the ability to fight back, being helpless in such a situation was not a good feeling.

'It would be good to remember this experience. Cultivation to the top is filled with tribulations and difficulties, even my former Master path was built upon mountains of blood. Having talent can be a blessing or curse depending on what you make of yourself, if you can't stomach such things there is still time to keep yourself mediocre enough that you won't be worth the effort.' Cense decided to say at this point giving Ava some time to ponder on his words.

Ava thought over this whilst walking with Althaea to the exit and responded, 'Maybe it would be easier to just settle down and live like an ordinary person, but my Mother did that showing when a truly powerful person is around you never have true freedom here. Therefore I will grow strong to the point I have no one to fear, then I can truly live in peace otherwise it will always be to the whims of a powerful person, even I already understand I can't compare this world to my previous, I need to push to the point where I can go no further only then I could ever dream of finding a quiet place for myself.'

Ava couldn't find it in herself to relax right now, not when all this mess was caused just by trying to go to the place that will enable her to deal with such problems.

This was reinforced even further when the thundering sound of heavy clanking was heard behind them.

The massive man had already followed them in fact he straight up smashed a hole in the floor to get to them.

His imposing figure made the large dining area look small. His shoulders heaved up and down showing his frustration and anger.

"Hand over the child… I ain't put in all this effort into capturing her for that person, you know how much that little runt is worth to the right people? We can't survive in this place under that righteous Emperor, but soon as I get my hands on that little brat I will…" The large man dramatically proclaimed before he was interrupted by the female assassin from earlier who elegantly followed.

"Shut up you dim wit! That old man will get here any minute now and you won't stop yapping you absolute big buffoon…" The female assassin started shouting coldly as she was growing incensed by the man.

The big man decided it was best to keep quiet as he hoisted his big mace in the air ready to give the little mage another whack.

Althaea grew wary as she saw the big man looked like he was about to charge.

Nonetheless it seemed there was no need as the seemingly impressive big man was sent flying out of no where as the sound of a loud clang was heard.

The big man was sent flying like a cannon ball as he crashed through the Inn leaving behind a hole twice the size of the recently disposed assassin leaving behind a large thump as he crashed onto the cobbled streets.

Luckily no pedestrians seemed to be in the way with the area being long vacated soon after the assassin was left there, but the big man clearly left a far bigger impact as sounds of exclaim and shock was heard in the distance.

Turning to the direction the big man was sent flying she saw a slightly disheveled Arwen who for the first time she saw him had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"How did you guys get a sealing formation? Even as low levelled as it was I can't believe someone would supply one to kidnap a child under the protection of a Druid." His words seemed to stifle the atmosphere as the female assassin began shaking.

"I can tell you who the culprit is! Just don't leave us to those dogs of the Emperor." The female assassin already seemed to lose it, she had no qualms betraying someone for improved perks after all she was a cut throat who had ascended in status through betraying and killing people, she has no true loyalty.

'That idiot had us go against a Druid! He must have known, all he said was it was some high status old man, with the sealing formation this should have been an easy job' The women thought as sweat began pouring from her brows in panic.

The cost of offending a Druid in that blood thirsty Emperor's territory was so terrifying that she grew incredibly flustered at the thought of what awaited her.

Although not having personally met the Emperor, him and his followers were well known for their brutality, he was known as Acadian the Dread for a reason.

The number of powerful experts and influential people far stronger than she was ended up being tortured horribly to set an example of belonged to backgrounds far more impressive than she and her crew ever were, yet look how they ended up.

She wouldn't be concerned if she was left purely to the Magistrate of the City, but offending a Druid was far worse a crime than she believed she was committing. It was to the point where she would definitely be presented to that fiend of an Emperor followers.

Seeing the shaking assassin talk of revealing the culprit so readily even made Arwen surprised.

Going by the quality of the groups abilities he believed they would be far more difficult to get information out of, most people who knew they were captured by a Druid wouldn't be too fearful about being caught by them if they belonged to a member of the intelligent races, since Druids did not believe in torture.

'Maybe she had a change of heart.' Arwen thought believing his reputation had an impact in the scene before him.

"Alright tell me what you know, actually wait for whichever person comes here to investigate this mess, best we let the City and it's Guards know." Arwen decided to the female assassin who nodded so readily Arwen appeared delighted how easy it was.

'I thought I lost my touch with my charm since interacting with that ridiculous Royal Clan, looks like things are going up!' Arwen thought thinking about his new apprentice as a grin appeared on his face.

He was dissatisfied that his apprentice was once again put in danger, yet now he was about to catch the culprits so easily, therefore he couldn't help but find his mood improving from earlier when he realised someone had dared to make an attempt to kidnap her in front of him.

'Looks like I got work to do…' Arwen thought as he awaited the guards to come.

Xandas has also soon joined them, visible wounds were on his body indicating he had a clash with some of the other assassins and warriors upstairs.

He was clearly delighted at seeing Ava was fine and went over to comfort her, they then did not have to wait long for a large group of guards to arrive.

It was time to see who put these people up to this after all.