"Buki" Village

The next morning Mathias had sat down at a table with Jerma and Lennon, looking at them and causing the latter to fidget.

Jerma "Did you need something Mathias? Shouldn't we get going?"

Mathias "We should, but I just want to know why you intend to come with me? Surely it can't be out of the goodness of your heart. Even if it was, I'm about to head into a dangerous situation where a monster is likely to appear."

Jerma shrugs, "I just wanted to get away from dad, plus the opportunity to travel and earn a bit of gold while doing it? I'd be a fool to refuse."

...

Mathias sighs, "Fine." he says, tossing them a couple gold pieces each, "Lets get moving, and remember to listen if I say something."

The trio leave Piana, heading east while travelling along the river. The weather was good, the air was cold but the sun warmed them enough to make up for it, making the journey relatively comfortable.

Occasionally people would pass them, most looking no worse for ware, while others were dressed in ragged clothes and seemed injured.

The last people they come across even warned them that bandits seemed to have set up camp near the road, harassing travellers before moving on to avoid the Holy Empire catching them.

After a day of riding Mathias turned towards the river and spotted something in the water... It seemed to be swimming towards them, but as it reached the middle of the river a boat faster than any other he'd seen before raced towards it.

Atop it rode a single masked person wielding a sword, the monster in the water leapt out and tried to grab them but found itself split in two in a flash, surprising Mathias. He turns towards Jerma, "I thought you said most monsters were extinct?" he asks.

Jerma nods, "They are... It's just that some seem to be artificially created, I've heard tales that say that Drowners are birthed from the corpses of drowned men. Whether that's true or that they're just really good at hiding I think we'll never know."

Mathias "And who's that masked man who killed it? I've never seen a boat go so fast before..."

Jerma "Them? Most just call them "Masks"... I think their official name is Prospects or something similar. They're known as the God King's immortal warriors, not much else is known about them as they are notoriously difficult to converse with. It's usually them dealing with monsters in the north, I know other states have separate units for that kind of things, most of them are trained in Ichor though.

Mathias nods at her as he watches the Prospect dissect the Monster and drive his "speedy-boat" away.

The group ride until nightfall again, setting up their tents and preparing to rest for the night... Mathias rests his head on the bundle of clothes he was using as a pillow, just as he's about to drift off to sleep he hears and explosion outside.

*Bang!*

He realises that something had triggered one of his elemental wards and teleports outside to comfort it...

"AHHHRGHH! ME-LEG!" a man shouts from the floor, their left leg entirely missing.

Mathias looks around and spots around ten other men, all wearing makeshift armour and wielding unkept weapons. They seemed to be bandits, he hoped they were otherwise he'd just destroyed this man's leg without any reason.

The flash of light that signalled Mathias teleportation wasn't unnoticed, the others started shouting curses at him and threatening to kill him for what he'd done to their brother... Even if none dared to approach anymore.

Jerma and Lennon climb out of their tent and freeze when they spot the men surrounding them, looking to Mathias fearfully.

Mathias summons his staff from his inventory and addresses them, "You will leave of die brigands, I hold no tolerance for your kind."

"Fuckar! Think you're gonna get away with-"

*CRACKLE!*

A bolt of lightning is unleashed from Mathias hand, as soon as it hits teh first man it bursts into a spiderweb of lightning, hitting the others and allowing their smoking corpses to hit the ground, all twitching from the amount of volts traveling through their bodies.

Mathias sighs and casts another spell which reduces their corpses to ash, deciding to not give them the dignity of being buried. Usually he'd just leave them lying there as a message to other bandits, but their corpses would likely attract animals... That and the stench of their rotting corpses wouldn't be pleasant to sleep next to. "You two enjoy your night." he says, replacing the elemental ward the bandit had set off and going back to sleep.

Lennon "J-Jerma... Are you sure g-going with him is a g-good idea? H-he just killed ten men and didn't bat an eye..."

Jerman shrugs, "He killed ten scum, scum that'd kill you and molest me if given the chance. They got what they deserved." she states, heading back into her tent.

Lennon takes one last glance as the pile of ashes before returning aswell, his feeling on Mathias taking a fearful turn.

The group continued on their path, following the river as it curved and started heading north. The village of Buki was apparently on the western side of the Buina river in between the Kestral mountains and the Buina... It was primarily a mining village that transported goods to Daevon.

They reached the Buki village at high-noon, immediately noting that no one was present. It was slightly creepy in all honesty and reminded Mathias of his own world where abandoned villages were greater in number than the inhabited ones...