Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

“I promise I’ll follow you if you save my parents.” The little girl speaks with no insincerity behind her words.

Even though he just agreed to march into combat Bennett is relieved. Knocking out the kid and dragging her away just for her to hate him all her life… that would be a real pain in the ass.

“Don’t scream!” Bennett grabs the girl by her waist… and drops her onto the dirty road.

Then he proceeds to drag the cursing and flailing child through the mud thoroughly, smearing some into her hair, before ripping the edge of her skirt and sleeves.

“There, you look like a proper slum dweller, almost." He rips off a piece of his dirty cloak before tying it around her head like a makeshift hood. “And one last addition.”

Bennett grabs a medallion from his inner pocket, a special item the law strictly prohibits the ownership of and one that would earn him a hefty fine in the best case. He easily throws the thin golden chain around the fussy girl’s neck before adding the last strokes.

“Should be good.” He nods to himself, satisfied with the instant disguise he came up with.

[Labourer lvl 45]

Identify shows after using it on the girl, the most important detail to hide her identity.

“How much mana do you have?” Bennett remembers to ask before taking off towards the fight.

“Why would I tell you?” The girl huffs, hiding the medallion under her now dirty clothes.

“Because that little thing feeds on mana,” Bennett points to her chest. “I need to know how much time I have to save your parents.”

“Thirty-two and forty-six.” The girl begrudgingly answers after some more cursing.

She’s stubborn but at least not stupid. Bennett shakes his head. About sixteen minutes… pretty good.

“Hide somewhere, among other street rats if possible and make sure to look as miserable as you can! Oh and one last thing.” He stops and looks back at the girl. “These morons kept guessing who their target might be but they hit the nail on the head this time, am I right?”

“What do you mean kept guessing?” The girl asks after a few confused blinks.

“Families disappearing overnight, a house burnt down without anyone escaping…” The kid’s eyes widen as Bennet gives some examples. “They were far from subtle, desperate almost.”

The girl remains silent, refusing to reply but that’s more than enough of an answer for the old veteran.

Now I’m almost certain. Thank the Gods I got here in time.

“Hide well!” He murmurs one last time before leaving to put an end to the chaos in the city.

What better place to hide something than in plain sight? Her clothes are unrecognizable, her ears are hidden and Identify is deceived so the only thing that could betray her are her eyes and attitude. She might get caught but then again, there might be an enemy around he can’t deal with, life is full of mysteries.

Bennett rushes down the sidestreets to avoid the crowd of people flooding the main street and draw as little attention as he can, else he might have to silence some witnesses. His steps and armor make no sound as the inscriptions shimmer on the metal, muting any and every noise. Soon he passes by the collapsed husks of buildings either up in flames or covered by frost, the remnants of indiscriminate combat.

The wind guides him towards the enemy, a Skill he has relied on for decades, this time telling him to go around in a circle instead of rushing head first towards the sound of metal clashing with metal.

It’s not just the parents and the shadows fighting anymore, it's not just a stealthy kidnapping under the cover of the night… The parents were stronger than the average, maybe strong enough to survive until the number of guards bloated enough to put pressure on the cowardly bastards hiding behind their masks. Sadly, numbers are not enough. The guards and the parents both lack the personal power and experience to take down killers trained from childhood.

“Let’s wrap this up.” Bennett mutters as he hugs the side of the building and listens to the footfalls just past the wall he’s hiding behind.

He doesn’t need to hide, he’s a Warrior through and through but discarding the element of surprise would be foolish, especially since he aims to hide his identity.

Three judging by the movements and the wind, around twenty guards but… I can’t find them.

He quickly moves on without interfering, no lives saved by his hand, no blood spilled by his sword. Bennett is long past the age where he cared for every soul he passed, every life there was to save, and every crime there was to punish. Getting sidetracked and taking unnecessary risks has led to many deaths he deeply regrets and just as many failed missions… never again.

He leaves the small battlefield behind and follows the trail of bodies and destruction, stepping over shadows, guard and civilian alike before a blast of ice bursts out from one of the alleys along his path.

Maybe?

Bennett picks up the pace but stops at the corner just in time for a salvo of ice spears to fly past, right before his eyes. He draws his sword and rounds the corner quickly assessing the situation…

Two of them, weak but fast, and that couple pinned in the corner should be…

Before anyone in the alley could as much as move Bennett raises his sword to his head, the tip pointed towards one of the shadows, and a burst of light leaves his body. He moves towards his target faster than the eyes can follow and drives the blade through his throat before slicing the head off clean. He grabs the dagger falling from the clutches of the headless body and throws it at the other assailant as a distraction.

The remaining shadow is distracted and the old warrior takes a simple step forward, swinging his sword clearly out of reach but as the slash reaches its halfway mark the the blade bursts into light shaming even Solaire and grows in length…

Walls, trees, the body, everything in the path of the light is bisected, leaving a searing edge where the radiant sword passed. Just as Bennett is about to relax his instincts make him move and he raises a shield just in time to stop the burst of icicles raging toward his back.

“Stand down, I’m not here for you… your lives.” He swallows the word ‘daughter’ before making a blunder.

“Who are you?” The mother demands holding her unresponsive husband in her arms.

“No enemy but not exactly an ally either.” Bennett admits and walks closer to inspect the wounds.

The woman keeps her hand up warily but her face betrays her false bravery. She saw him murder two dangerous opponents within seconds and if she has a head as good as her daughter then she already used Identify.

They’re strong, by civilian standards. The fact they’ve survived is praiseworthy on its own, although the father is just barely hanging onto his life.

Bennett reaches into the depths of his cloak yet again, this time a small vial of green liquid appears in his hand. He throws it to the woman who uncorks the potion and examines the smell before pouring it into her husband's mouth.

“Wake up you big moron.” She starts slapping the man, keeping one eye on Bennett and the surroundings. “We need to find my daughter.”

Bennett chuckles at the little charade before getting to the point. “Actually… she’s the one who begged me to find you.”

The woman instantly drops her husband whose eyes are barely cracked open after the potion sealed his wounds. She grabs her spear and points it towards Bennett without a hint of fear in her eyes baring her teeth like a wild beast.

“Where is Elyssia?” She growls.

Elyssia, so that’s her name.

“Safe, for now,” Bennett tells the parents the half-truth. “but I think it’s best you leave now, this country that is.”

“You saved us so I’ll refrain from attack right away and will let you explain yourself.” The air cools around the woman as fury boils behind her calm facade. “I know I can’t win against you, but as a parent, there are some things I cannot allow. Now speak!”

Instead of indignation, Bennett feels amusement in his chest and respect towards the resolve this barely significant fighter of a woman shows.

No not, fighter, I’m facing a mother.

“You know what she is, why she’s special,” Bennet stabs his sword into the ground to show he means no harm. “and so you must know they came for her and will keep pursuing until it’s no longer worth it.”

“So why should we flee Valeria?” Asks the recovered husband, leaning against a wall with a dagger hidden behind his back.

“I- no we will take her in, and keep her safe from-” Bennett quickly pulls his sword out of the ground and throws it with a spin toward the corner he arrived from. A man no different from the ones lying at his feet appears just to be impaled through his chest and pinned to the wall behind him, dying immediately. “From them.”

Barely over level 300, they sent the expendable one. We’re far from Sereban so that explains why this whole operation was so sloppy.

“Who is this ‘we’ and why not just take us in as well?” Asks the husband again, the calmer one of the two.

Bennett just flicks a small red and gray emblem over to the man, shaped in the form of a red shield with a gray rim and in the middle there’s a fist striking down on two crossed swords.

“The Fist of Krieg.” The woman mutters as her eyes fall onto the masterfully crafted piece of metal.

“We are mercenaries, not charity.” Bennett nods with his arms crossed and nose held high. “We could employ you but every mission would leave you two exposed to these scum and you’d only become a bargaining chip in exchange for your daughter. And let me be clear right now, we would not give her out and I doubt you wish for her to grow up as an orphan.”

“So you’re expecting us to just leave her in your hands?” The mother finally finds her voice, albeit maybe a bit too loud. “You’re glorified bandits who leave widows and orphans in their wake for a pouch of gold while exploiting the loopholes of the law.” Bennett feels his blood boiling at the accusation but this is far from the first time he heard words like these. “Tell me, what makes you better than them?” The woman kicks the corpse at her feet. “What guarantees you won't train her like a dog to be your little weapon in the future, huh? Why would anyone agree-”

“Because it’s the best option.” Bennett finally has enough and silences the woman in a commanding tone. “We’re not like these worms because I’m here at the request of your daughter, because I offered her a solution and she took it. I could’ve just dragged her and spared myself the hassle, instead, I’m here reasoning with idiots who are too angry to think for a second. There’s no easy way out of your predicament, no peaceful path and you should’ve realized that by now if only you stopped shouting and looked around you.” Bennett berates the adults as if they were children.

“So what, should we just abandon her?” The husband speaks again, now walking towards Bennett. “Bow our head to fate and make another child?” He chuckles at his own terrible joke. “I believe you have no children of your own to be asking a ridiculous thing like this.”

“No, I don’t.” Bennett raises his hand and his sword pulls itself out of the wall before slapping into his palm. “But I promise this is only temporary and we will find a solution. Your daughter has little value to us as a combatant, we have enough of those, and that won't change for at least a few decades to come. She will be trained according to her age and allowed to act on her own as long as she doesn’t endanger herself. Krieg would be dissatisfied otherwise…”

The words fail to reassure the parents who remain hostile and wary of him to no surprise.

“Then why? You’re not a charity, you said it yourself, so why offer her protection?”

“Those screams,” Bennett thinks back to the blood-chilling cries in the middle of the night. “most children choose Blessings with little practical use, like the ability to never go hungry or to no longer need sleep. Wasted potential is what they are,” He smiles bitterly. “barely more than normal people. Your daughter on the other hand… she choose well. Considering she’s a Mage we might be able to learn from her but more importantly, she will draw the attention of those in high positions, exactly what we need in times of peace. We’ll give her opportunities you’d never be able to and all we ask from Elyssia to do her best and join us to bolster our fame.”

The parents finally ease up a little, still rattled by the event of the night but no longer blind to straight facts. They can’t protect their child, they failed to do so already, and now resignation has started to set in just as Bennett’s patience begins to run short.

“Resistance is futile, either I take her now or you make a run for it as a brave little family and I secure her after the shadows orphaned the poor girl.” Bennett keeps on softening the parents’ resolve with words cruel yet truthful. “Stop being delusional and face reality, you can’t protect her, you can’t even protect yourselves…”

“Can we at least say her goodbye?” The father finally asks, earning a gasp and stink eye from his wife, both of which he ignores.

It’s good that one of them is an elf, they’re much more liberal in raising their children and more reasonable due to their age.

“Go home and pack your belongings, I need to take care of something.” Bennett instructs before returning to where he left the little girl quite a while ago.

While retracting his steps Bennett notices the change in the atmosphere along his path. The fighting is over and people are hurrying along to fight the flames and rescue those stuck under the rubble.

The last shadow is gone.

They move in groups of six so one probably managed to escape, unless the guards finished them off.

Arriving back in the slums where he left the little girl, Elyssia, Bennett begins to search high and low, calling her name while cursing his lack of foresight.

“What if she just ran off?” The old man mutters.

She’s just a child after all, what did I expect?

Just as he’s about to give up the search he hears the silent sound of sobbing from one of the alleys where in a well-hidden alcove he finally finds what’s been looking for.

[Labourer lvl 45]

The girl is sitting in a corner with her knees pulled to her chest and her head buried behind them as she cries quietly, doing a pretty good job acting like a street rat. And she’s not alone. Another kid around her age lies unconscious on the ground with a swollen face and blood pouring from his nose.

“Elyssia,” Bennett calls the girl’s name and she finally looks up. “did you beat-”

“He deserved it.” She sniffs while rubbing a few bruises of her own. “He tried to mug me when I was looking for a spot to hide.”

“So you beat him unconscious?” Bennett chuckles and raises an eyebrow.

“Maybe?” The girl pushes herself up and marches into the old warrior’s face. “So, tell me did you...hold your end of the bargain?”

Bennett nods solemnly. “They are tired but still breathing.”

“Thank the Gods.” The girl collapses on her knees smiling with her puffy red eyes. “Can I see them?”

You should be thanking me you ungrateful brat.