Wild Era, Ch 13: Yao and Naomi

Yao’s Perspective

In a plain room in one of the Blade and Shield’s inns, Yao was feeling anxious and furious as he looked across the table at Naomi.

She had two black eyes and half of her face was mottled black and purple to match. A chain of other bruises showed on her arms where she’d tried to defend herself.

He was in even worse shape.

His right arm and shoulder were broken in more than one place, one of his knees wouldn’t hold his weight, and his face was just as bruised as hers. He’d seen it in the cheap bronze mirror on the wall.

“They said this was just practice.” Yao hissed as he clenched his good fist. The other one wasn’t responding, so he tried to ignore it. 

They didn’t have money for a healer, and without classes their Constitution was slow to help them heal. Humans were durable in the Wild Era, but it would take a while, maybe a week or two. 

All they could do was hope that they healed correctly.

“The guards said they only guarantee our safety while we’re inside the building,” Naomi said as she twisted her hands on the table. “They told Kelin it would be outside too, but they said we aren’t paying enough now.”

“They know the money is almost gone,” Yao said, “so they don’t care anymore. They’re cutting corners.”

The Blade and Shield were better than some of the other local mercenaries, but they followed the money, and that was all. 

“If we hadn’t gotten away, it would’ve been worse,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry about your arm.”

“It’ll heal,” Yao said, trying to present a tough facade. 

At 15, he was a year older than Naomi and he wanted to tell her that he had the answers and it would be alright, but he couldn’t.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked as she looked around. “We only have a day left until the deadline they gave us. We have no money, and running messages isn’t enough to pay for this place.

“Not that we can do that right now, because as soon as we step outside the Wind Hunters will kill us. They’re waiting for us outside. They’ve made it a mission for their new recruits to clean up the witnesses.”

“We can’t leave again,” Yao said. “At least not in an obvious way. Maybe we can sneak out and get into the forest, outside of town. We could find a village if we’re able to avoid the monsters on the way. There has to be some work there. Or somewhere cheaper than this where the Wind Hunters won’t find us.”

“Maybe if we had some way to change our names,” Naomi said, “but anyone with the skill can identify us right now. I don’t know what it would cost to mask that, but it’s probably more than paying the Blade and Shield.”

“Kelin was giving them five silvers a week, but...” Yao looked toward the wall. He pounded his fist on the table as grief bubbled up. “We should have stopped him from taking that job! I told him it was too dangerous.”

“He wanted to help us,” Naomi said, looking away as she blinked back tears. “Now look at what happened.”

Yao clenched his fist again. He felt powerless.

They’d been trying to get information about Kelin when the Wind Hunters found them. He hadn’t returned from the mine three days ago. They’d waited two more days, but then they were too worried to stay here any longer.

This inn was in part of a city block in one of the moderately affordable areas of town, but it wasn’t far from the slums where Kelin’s old shack had been. 

They’d gone there to look for him. 

When they hadn’t found him, they’d asked the gate guards and anyone else they could find. 

They knew a few of the other mine workers, since the job was common in the slums around the orphanage, so they’d gone there next. That was where they’d found out that several other workers hadn’t returned. 

They’d eventually found a drudge who’d made it out and learned what happened. He hadn’t seen Kelin, but he’d told them the most likely outcome.

“The mining company didn’t even try to save them!” He pounded his fist on the table as his heart pounded in his ears. “Between the mana collapse and the beasts....”

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. 

They both knew what happened to someone at Level 9 in that situation. 

Yao forced himself to stop that line of thought. He looked around the room, trying to find something that would spark an idea.

“They’ve stopped giving us as much food,” Naomi said as she followed his eyes to an empty platter beside the door. It was all that had come today. 

They’d brought more for the first couple of weeks as part of the rent Kelin had paid, but this time it had been two small bowls of burnt stew without even bread to go with them, and half cups of watered-down ale. 

“As soon as the rent is due, they’ll kick us out,” she added. “None of them will care. They’re doing the minimum now.”

“The Hunters said we could join them and everything would be forgiven,” Yao muttered sarcastically, but he still considered it again. “Ironic to forgive us for the crimes that they did.”

As always, the true crime was powerlessness. If he was strong enough, he could have made his own rules.

“That’s not happening,” Naomi said, shaking her head. “We know where that ends. They kill people who even think about disobeying their boss. You saw what happened to Handers from the orphanage. He only spent three months with them before he was dead.”

Yao let out a sigh as he thought about their old friend. 

Handers had been a couple years older than them, but not as much as Kelin. He’d always been a curious type, quick to question and to spy on things if he wanted to know about them.

He’d taken the Wind Hunters offer of recruitment, but it seemed he’d been too curious about something. He’d kept in touch with Yao at first and told him that he’d been warned to mind his own business.

His body had turned up in the river a few months later, half eaten by wild monsters.

“We’ll be safe in this room for the next couple of days,” Naomi said, “but we can’t leave, can’t earn any money…as soon as the time runs out, the Blades will toss us onto the street, and then we’re dead. We’re stuck.”

“We’ll have to do something desperate,” Yao said. “Maybe we can at least get some revenge for Kelin before the end.”

At that moment, the door to their inn room rattled. It wasn’t locked, since the Blades had never given them the key.

“Who says you’re stuck?” A familiar voice rang out as the door opened and a man walked in.

He’d apparently heard the end of their conversation and he grinned as he saw them both there, but an instant later, his smile faded as he took in their conditions.

“Who did this to you?” The question was quiet and deadly.

It took Yao a moment to realize who it was.

“Kelin?!” he said, his voice half-strangled. 

Naomi shouted it at almost the same time, and they jumped to their feet as they stared at Kelin.

He looked completely different from just a few days before, from his clothing to his posture, almost like he wasn’t even the same person, but his features were as kind as they’d always been.

Right now, however, his voice was tempered by winter when he spoke. 

“Everything will be fine. Tell me what happened.”

There was a tone that Yao had never heard in Kelin’s voice and it sent shivers down his spine.

***

Kelin’s Perspective

Kelin’s mood shifted from frozen steel to heat as he sat across the table and heard the story the kids had to tell.

Their words were interrupted here and there as they demanded to know how he’d survived and where he’d been, and if he was really alright, but he promised he would explain it in a minute.

It didn’t take long, since he only needed to catch up on what had happened over the last few days.

Before long, he understood it all.

He’d been planning to ignore the Wind Hunters, despite what they’d done at the mine, but it seemed they couldn’t leave well enough alone.

It seemed he had some thugs to get rid of.

His young blood demanded he rip through them all immediately, but he set the feeling aside for later. He would take care of them in his own time, when the situation suited him, and when he was capable of doing it without harm coming to him or to the kids.

An old temper knew that revenge was still satisfying served cold.

Still, it was fortunate that Yao and Naomi were alive and not too badly injured. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to restrain himself.

“It will be alright,” he said when they were done telling the story. “I’ll deal with the Wind Hunters soon, but on my own terms. For now, let’s eat something decent.” 

As he spoke, he pulled out the food he’d brought from the street vendor and passed it to them.

“I brought you something better than the food they have here. Eat up. In a little bit, I’ll head back to the Adventurers’ Guild and pick up some escorts. There are some rooms there for rent and that will be the safest if we’re staying in the city. We’ll move there today.”

It would cost more, but he could handle that for a while now. He would just have to head into the local dungeons soon to keep his funds up.

As they started to eat, he pulled out the quartz disk from his spatial pocket.

“And while that’s happening, let’s work on your bruises. I’ll take a look at your arm too, Yao, to make sure it’s set correctly.”

They’d been beaten up, but it was more a blow to their pride than to their future. With his help, they would heal soon enough.

He ignited the Soulfire Sigil in the disk and set it in the air, where it flared to life and bathed the room in a healing light. It would help to speed up their recovery as well as his own that were still left from the guild assessment.

“What is that?” Yao asked as he stared at the symbol. “Did you change your class?”

“He must have specialized it, not changed,” Naomi said with a smile before she focused on Kelin. “I’m so glad you’re back!”

Kelin had seen how tense she was when he entered, but she was much more relaxed now that he was here, as if she trusted he would take care of things somehow. 

“And how did you make it out of the mine, and get those clothes?” Naomi asked, her words beginning to tumble over one another as she asked all the questions she’d been holding back. 

“And you’re not Level 9 anymore, are you? You look different...stronger now, and a lot more confident. What happened?”

“What specialization did you get?!” Yao joined in, nearly jumping in his seat as he looked at Kelin expectantly. “Is it a healing one? Is that why the thing there is glowing and feels like healing magic?”

“Alright, alright,” Kelin laughed as he held up his hands. “One at a time.”

Neither of the kids had ever seen much healing magic or they would have known it for sure, based on how their bruises were already starting to turn lighter.

Since they didn’t have a strong innate regeneration, the sigil couldn’t help them as quickly as it could him, but it still had a basic area of effect. 

They would be feeling better soon and the breaks in Yao’s arm should be gone in a day, maybe less. For Kelin, it would have been less than an hour.

“Kelin...you seem different than before,” Naomi said hesitantly a little while later. “It’s a good difference, but you’re much more confident and it seems like you know exactly what to do. Your accent is even different...you sound educated and cultured, like a noble or something. What happened? How did you survive the mine and change so much?”

“She’s right.” Yao nodded in agreement. “That’s a big change. What happened?”

He didn’t seem as concerned about it and was busy filling his stomach, but there was a wisdom in his eyes that held a current of deeper thoughts. 

Yao and Naomi were both too intelligent to not notice the difference, and although it was obscured by their happiness at his return, it had only been a matter of time.

Kelin had been expecting the question.

He raised his hand and a series of runes flashed in the air, swiftly turning into a privacy ward that faded into the surroundings.

He wasn’t expecting the Blade and Shield to spy on this room, but he wasn’t going to take it for granted either.

Yao and Naomi stared at the runes and then at him, looking uncertain.

He smiled at them as he motioned them to relax.

“Don’t worry,” he said as he explained the runes. “It’s just a ward to keep out prying ears. I have some things to tell you.”

He’d been debating what to tell them, but he’d come to a decision now that he’d met them again. They were good kids and they deserved to know the truth. He wasn’t going to start off this life by lying to the two people who trusted him the most.

He would just leave out the most sensitive details.

“I almost died in the mine,” he started, “but just as I was about to kick off, I awoke memories from a past life, one where I was much better at magic than in this life. And that let me put things together and turn it around.

“That sounds crazy, I suppose?” he asked, grinning slightly. “But it’s what happened. That knowledge let me survive the mana saturation there, and to start killing some of the monsters  that came to investigate.

“I’m not sure why it happened, but maybe it was because the mine was completely full of mana or because of something stubborn in me that didn’t want to die. I’m still me, otherwise I wouldn’t have come back for you two and I wouldn’t be helping you now. I just remember a long, long life before this one.”

He looked at both of them, seeing how his words landed, but they seemed to be taking it well enough. They were just staring at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry too much about it, since it will be good for us,” he said, “better than before. I’m still going to help you both. It’s just that instead of the Kelin who was only a few years older than you, you can think of me as Kelin who is much older than that and who has done a lot more. That’s why I’m acting differently now.

“I know a lot more ways to use magic and how to be a good adventurer, and I can help you both train to do the same. You can become stronger in this life than you ever thought you could. If you listen to me, things will only get better from here.”

He was tempted to tell them about the Chaos War, but without some points of reference, it wouldn’t mean much to them right now. They could worry about it after they reached Level 300 and were able to leave the world on their own.

He paused as he looked at both of them, his tone turning serious.

“I’ve told you all this to be honest with you, but I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone else. I’ve never heard of something like this happening before and I don’t want to get any attention for it. If that happens, I might have to run. As far as anyone else is concerned, I just specialized my class, lucked out, and managed to survive.”

“I promise,” Naomi said quickly as she looked at him with a new light. She seemed relieved more than anything. “I thought you might have been possessed by a ghost, maybe a noble one.”

“I promise too,” Yao said a moment later. His attention was locked on Kelin now, like he was trying to search his face for answers. “You can really use magic now? Not just basic elemental things?”

His words turned hopeful.

“Will you show me?”

Kelin raised his hand and summoned a stream of fiery golden light, swiftly weaving it into a series of basic runes above the table. As each rune appeared, different things happened in the room. 

Gusts of wind played across the table and turned into a dozen colors. Then the table levitated into the air, followed by globes of light that appeared and affixed themselves to the wall, and finally the illusion of a fiery dragon appeared and flew across the room, before it turned back on burning wings and landed on the table as a burst of magical fireworks flared from beneath its wings.

Then everything dissolved into sparks that flashed as they slowly faded away.

Both the kids stared with open mouths. They were used to basic elemental magic, but illusions and light spells were things they hadn’t seen much of before.

“I know you’ve always wanted to be a mage, Yao” Kelin said with a grin. “I can help with that.”

Then he turned to Naomi.

“And you wanted to be a fighter, or maybe a mage too. I can find you a trainer at the guild for the first one, and show you what I know, or I can teach you about magic. Your choice.”

“I think...if you’re a mage and you’re as good as you say...” Naomi said slowly, “I’d be crazy to turn down your offer. Nobles pay gold for those sorts of lessons, or even platinum or mana stones.”

Kelin didn’t correct her that whatever the local mages were teaching the noble kids, it wouldn’t be able to compare to what he taught her. Right now, she wouldn’t understand the difference.

But one day, she would, and then she would look back and realize the wisdom of that choice.

“Good,” he said with a grin. “Then perhaps I’ll get two apprentices in this life, after all.”

“Yes!” Yao shouted excitedly as he pumped his hands in the air, ignoring that one barely worked.

“Absolutely, yes,” Naomi agreed. “When should we start?”

“Let’s settle things here and get you in slightly better shape before we go walking across the city,” Kelin said as he pointed to the Soulfire Sigil. “Then I’ll add a few obscuration wards to this room before I head back to the guild to find some escorts. We should be safe enough there. The Wind Hunters won’t dare to attack the guild or anyone under their protection, especially when it’s just a task they gave to their new recruits.”

He could have tried to sneak the kids there himself, but he wanted the Wind Hunters to see the guild escorts when they showed up, and to see that the kids were with them. It should help to make them back down for a while.

That would be long enough for him to take care of a few things.

After that, the three of them spent several hours catching up, going over everything that had happened in the mine, his clothes, their plans for the future, and more.

He shared almost everything with them, only leaving out his former name, his Law of Wildfire, and just how powerful he’d been. 

It was a possible venue for vulnerability in the future if someone caught them and made them talk, which was why he didn’t reveal anything too critical, but he wasn’t going to live this life in fear. 

Yao and Naomi deserved to know what they were getting into, as well as what they could learn from him.

Eventually he took some time to add temporary defensive and obscuration wards to the room, ones that would fade naturally in a day or so. 

Then he pulled out the fresh braggan tail and started roasting it over a fire rune that he set up. He had to be careful since it was a wooden room, but he took the opportunity to begin explaining the basics of runes and of Fire magic to both of them, mixing it in with an impromptu lesson on how to cook monster meat.

The wards conveniently kept the smell of roasting meat and their voices inside the room, but no one from the Blade and Shield came to check on them, which was no surprise.

Since their healing was going slowly, by the time night came around, he decided to defer the trip to the guild until morning.

He’d stayed in this same room with them in his previous life, since he couldn’t afford two. The straw bedroll he’d slept on was off to the side, across from theirs.

At least it was softer than the mine.

Yao and Naomi fell asleep quickly with full stomachs for the first time in a long while. The orphanage had never been good about large portions. 

Above them, the Soulfire Sigil continued to shine, slowly healing them. He had already refreshed it several times.

As he lay down on his old mat, Kelin crossed his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the line of the wood grains and the rough beams that had been used in the inn.

He spent another hour working on the wards before he let himself fall asleep, and when he did, Gaius was still on watch.