Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

Fooda walked us back to the gate.

Considering he was one of, if not the highest-level person on the floor, by a lot, it was a good way to ensure that we made it there unmolested. I seriously doubted that the God's Venom had learned their lesson and probably would try to bring in help to get revenge. The good news was that they were a very small group hiding in the woods outside of Harror. There weren't any Adventurers in their gang, so unless they stumbled on a windfall of All, I doubted they'd be much of an issue in the future.

Still, it didn't hurt to be cautious, and Fooda wasn't doing anything important until the auction. In fact, it seemed like he felt better knowing that we made it through the gate safely.

It was past four when we stepped into the pavilion. All four of our CBs began to ding as messages came through. Something on the floor had disabled our ability to communicate with the outside, which was probably sending Gesai into panic mode.

I looked over the thirty-plus one-line messages from the concerned woman that all basically said the same thing. There were a few from Miel as well, though the ones from the Scarlet didn't sound nearly as panicked.

"I'm messaging Gesai." I started typing out a long response but deleted it and just put headed back. We could explain what we'd learned on the ride back to the palace, where we'd probably have to repeat everything anyway. I had a feeling that Ether was going to have some choice words for me, and the fact that she hadn't sent me a message let me know that she was either very distracted or very upset.

I hoped it was just that she was preoccupied with Astrid and Trent, but I had a feeling that I was going to get an earful even if Klix had forbidden me from taking her with us.

"I didn't think it'd block our communications." Jenne closed her CB's menu. "We should account for that when we go back."

"Back?" Aelin stopped at the top of the step on ground level and looked down at us. "We're going back?"

"We…" I stopped when I saw the look on Jenne's face. "We'll talk about it in the car."

Mention of a vehicle brightened Aelin's face. "I'm driving!" She took off towards the parking lot.

"This doesn't seem like the best place for a gate." I nodded at the empty picnic tables. "I feel like somebody would notice if a group like ours walked up from the spring too often."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"There probably aren't a lot of coins in circulation." Jenne touched her CB as she moved closer to me. There were even more people in the park than there had been when we'd arrived.

"Don't you think it's strange that the pavilion is empty?" Oz motioned at the rest of the park. Every other picnic table had someone at it, but the entire pavilion that we'd just left had been deserted.

"There's probably a low-powered fear spell that makes people not want to stick around." Jenne mused out loud.

"Or maybe the sulfur smell is strong enough that nobody wants to eat with the smell of rotten eggs permeating their food."

Oz smelled her arm and wrinkled her nose. "I'm going to have to shower for a week to get this smell off of me."

"There's a purification spell that I'm sure someone knows." Jenne coughed. "It is pretty bad."

The rest of our walk was in silence.

Aelin was standing outside the SUV and ran over to meet us when we got close.

"They're not here!" The blonde whined. "I've looked around, and they're not here!"

I looked at my CB and saw that there was a new message from Gesai. It simply read See you there.

"I think they went for a walk." I held up my CB so Aelin could see.

The brown woman grabbed my arm and turned it so she could read it better.

"There they are." Oz pointed at the other end of the parking lot.

Miel was walking casually, but Gesai ran over to us. The silver woman wrapped me in a hug.

"Ow!" I winced as she squeezed my wounded side.

The older woman pulled back and looked at me. "What happened?"

I pulled up my jacket to show her the makeshift bandage. It was coated in a soft green light before I could start my explanation.

"We got into a little fight. I got stabbed."

The redhead glared at me. "Getting stabbed isn't a little fight."

"It is when there are nine of them." Oz smirked. "And they were drunk Mundane. We cleaned them up easily."

Gesai opened the menu on her CB as the green light vanished.

"We didn't kill anyone." I assured her. "Don't worry. If we'd had Ren with us..." I stopped. The off-healer would have had her skills locked as well, so I wouldn't have been able to get healed until we left anyway. "It's fine." I slapped my side where the wound had been to emphasize my point. "See?" I gave her a hug. "Thanks."

"Aelin." Miel tossed the fob at the short woman.

The blonde caught the fob and squealed as she ran around to the other side of the SUV.

I opened the door and motioned for them to get in. "I can tell you about it on the way back."