Ch22 - Disgusting Humans!

CRASH

The window next to the duo smashed, glass shards flew in all directions.

A rock, the cause of the broken window, lay on the floor, its jagged edges glinting in the sunlight that streamed through the shattered window.

Ryan and Eleanor quickly jumped to their feet, startled by the sudden intrusion. Their eyes darted toward the broken window, searching for the source of the disturbance.

A tall, slim man stood outside, a black mask adorning his face. "Disgusting Humans!" He shouted, before hurling another stone at them.

Ryan quickly ducked out of the way, but Eleanor was slightly too slow; the stone grazed her ear, blood trickled down the side of her face.

Why is she not using her magic?

Eleanor winced as she felt the sting of the stone grazing her ear, but she remained surprisingly calm.

Freddy, the innkeeper quickly dashed over, and muttered under his breath, a high-pressured stream of water flew out of the inn, flinging the assailant into the ground, however the assailant quickly jumped up and dissapeared into the crowd, blending seamlessly into the bustling street.

As the commotion settled, Freddy hurried over to Ryan and Eleanor, concern etched on his face. "Are you two alright?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.

Ryan nodded, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "Yeah, we're fine. Just a bit shaken up," he replied, glancing at Eleanor to ensure she was okay.

Eleanor nodded in agreement, though she winced as she touched the grazed area on her ear. "I'll be fine, just a scratch," she reassured them, though her voice betrayed a hint of discomfort.

Freddy sighed, his expression grim. "I apologise for the disturbance. It's my fault you were hurt on my property," he explained, his tone somber.

Ryan furrowed his brows, his mind racing with questions. "Who was that guy? And why did he attack us?" he asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

Freddy shook his head, his expression troubled. "It could have been anyone in this town, but if I had to guess, it was one of the guards."

Eugh, that guy… guess it's not safe enough outside to go check my attributes.

"Thanks for the help Freddy, the food was great too, we'll be going back to our rooms now." Eleanor sighed.

No! I haven't finished my meal yet! Ryan thought, staring longingly at his plate of food.

Freddy responded, "That's probably for the best," Freddy's voice became silent, "You both should stay hidden until Deuteros takes you away. And one last thing, be prepared to leave Elerea soon, there's a rumor that Eleven battalions are marching to Elerea in preparation for another invasion, so Mayor Deuteros may move you out sooner than expected, but don't worry, I'll warn you if his carriage comes early. Now go."

Eleanor walked up the rickety staircase, followed by a sulking Ryan, looking longingly back at the table and Freddy who was clearing up the shards of glass.

Ryan and Eleanor quickly walked through their hallway and were now outside their room, pushing the door open.

"Why didn't you use magic to defend yourself against that masked elf?" Asked Ryan.

"It is illegal for humans to know magic in elven kingdoms. Not even the mayor could protect us from everyone if we used a teir one spell, infront of another elf." She explained.

Now inside their room, Eleanor hurled herself on the bed, "We won't be going out at all today, or tomorrow unless it's to leave this town. So instead, we will meditate." Said Eleanor, before happily closing her eyes and entering a lotus position.

I can see mana around me much more clearly now, she is like a vacuum. Before, he imagined it as a blue flowing energy, but now he could see mana itself, purple and orangey-red energy was being sucked into her body.

Ryan followed suit, closing his eyes, entered the lotus position and bringing in whitey-yellow energy.

A while later, Ryan opened his eyes. It was deep into night-time now and the moon's rays filtered through the window.

Wow, that was a very productive session, I can clearly feel my mana capacity has increased severely. I think I could cast three or four lux spells before I run out.

Suddenly, the once peaceful and quiet roads outside became filled with footsteps and horses trotting.

"They're down this alleyway sir!" Shouted a familiar voice.

It's the guard from earlier! Who is he speaking to?

Ryan scrambled off of his sofa, and silently rushed over to Eleanor to wake her up from her meditating. That guard is definitely speaking about us!

Ryan shook Eleanor awake, and in a stupor, she asked. "What are you doing Ryan?"

Ryan informed her, "You remember that guard from earlier? I think he is outside, with some friends."

The footsteps and horses were close now, only a few meters away of the inn.

"Is this the correct inn, guard?" A gruf, new voice asked.

"Yes this is the spot those two humans are hiding at." Responded the guard, his voice loudly permeating throughout the street.

"Crap, we need to go Ryan." Eleanor whispered, quickly jumping up, causing a loud creaking noise to echo out of the room.

"What was that! If you woke them up with your loud voice I'll murder you right where you stand!" The new voice viciously said.

"It's four in the morning, they are definitely dead asleep! Now be quiet, we need to quietly interrogate the inn owner for the room number and then apprenhend them before they cause trouble." The man said, dismounting his horse.

"Okay, what the hell do we do?" Ryan quietly asked Eleanor.

After a moment of thinking, Eleanor decided, "Once they enter the inn, we quietly climb out of the window and jump onto the neighbouring roof. We need to push the table infront of the door to buy us enough time." Eleanor tip-toed over to the table laying beside the door, and urged Ryan over.

As quietly as they could, the duo pushed the table infront of the door, careful to not make enough noise to alert the people outside.

The door was now blocked, "Great, now come over to the window, I'll peer out and check whether they have all come inside by now." Eleanor slowly peeped her head out of the window, and after a quick surveillance, turned around and gave a thumbs up to Ryan. Eleaor then began climbing out of the window of their room, onto a ledge and swiftly jumped out of Ryan's view.

Ryan hurriedly tiptoed over to the window, peering out to find a smiling Eleanor on the next-door roof. Ryan who could now hear murmuring outside the room door, climbed onto the ledge only a few inches wide. With his legs shaking, he closed the window behind him, so that the intruders wouldn't know how they had escaped their room.

I really, really hate heights.

Ryan threw himself off of the balcony.