Touch of Fate

"So, I've been meaning to ask, what's the deal with your raging thing?" Mike questioned while the group was running. They were currently skirting the defensive line in order to make as much progress as possible before having to worry about fighting.

Brenden gave him a look, as if saying 'you're asking this now?'

"Its one of the skills I picked up after changing my class. If I let myself get really angry, I get an increase to Strength and Endurance, and I can ignore pain and several kinds of conditions for the duration. The downside is that I have a hard time controlling myself while I'm in a rage."

"So its basically a double-edged sword. Does it get better as the skill ranks up?" He asked, now genuinely curious.

"More or less, but I've heard that even at higher tiers, you'll never have full control of your actions."

"Tactical choice." Tal cut in, succinctly pointing out that the inherent value of such a skill was largely dependent on the circumstances in which it was used.

"Are....(huff)....you....(huff).....guys...(huff).....serious?" Sera was able to squeeze out between heavy breaths. She was red faced and dripping with sweat.

The group had been moving quickly for the last 30 minutes, running at a punishing pace. Sera, who originally had a fair amount of pride in her stamina after years of running from her pursuers, soon had trouble keeping up.

[What in the hells are these people? Why can they maintain this pace so easily? Are all adventurers like this?]

Mike called a halt for a quick break, and the Oracle collapsed onto ground, utterly spent.

He crouched down next to her, and used a trickle of mana to help her recover her stamina.

It seemed like his mana reserves and mana recovery rate had improved significantly. Even in the short time since they left the barricade, his mana had refilled to approximately 50%. That said, spending it in this manner would be something of a waste.

Watching Sera slowly recover, Mike couldn't help but wonder if there might not be a better solution.

"Are you sure you can't just tell us where to go? We can find a safe location to stash you until the situation has been resolved." He asked.

"I already explained this, I don't know exactly where the ritual site is, only that its located somewhere near the docks. I can show you the path we need to take to get there, but I'll need to actually point it out."

"We can't continue like this, though. Its taking too long." Brenden commented while keeping a wary gaze on his surroundings.

Mike considered their options. "Welp, there is one solution."

"What's that?" Sera asked distractedly, while standing and dusting off her skirt.

"Alright we're going to be moving quickly." He looked over at Brenden and Tal, "So be ready."

"Wait, what was the solution…..EEEP." Sera was interrupted mid question, when Mike swept her up into his arms with a smooth practiced motion.

Considering the number of times that he'd done it in the last hour, this was to be expected.

"REALLY? You're going to do this again?!" She started squirming almost immediately.

"Yep."

Mike took off running. "Now hold still, and be ready to direct us when we come to a turning point."

"Ugh!" She complained, resigning herself to the indignity.

The group traveled west for a few kilometers, until the Oracle told them to cut to the northwest around a major confrontation between a small army of armored figures and the demon horde. Judging from the banners, the soldiers weren't part of the local military.

"It looks like the Count has brought in mercenaries to help with the defense," Sera was commenting.

She had long ago made peace with her circumstances. Although it was a little uncomfortable, part of her was enjoying the experience of moving so quickly. It was a bit like riding a horse.

"I'm surprised he was able to get them here so quickly, but I guess that's to be expected of The Serpent."

"That's an ominous sounding name. Is the Count in these parts disliked?" Mike asked. He had fallen into a comfortable rhythm, and only barely felt the need to breathe more quickly than usual. His enhanced attributes making the whole process relatively easy.

Sera looked at him incredulously, "Have you not heard of Count Graveston of Wyrport? The Serpent of Almir? The genius tactician that led the Allied Navy to victory over the Boneship Armada of Lacot?"

He just shrugged in response, nearly losing his grip on her in the process.

Once she had stabilized her position again, Sera continued. "You can't tell me you've never heard of him, he's a national celebrity. He famously inherited a minor barony in his youth, beating out several family members to do so. Within a decade, his military accomplishments and political maneuvering had brought him into the position of Count. His domain now spans the majority of eastern Almir."

She lowered her voice down to a conspiratorial level, "Some say that he is making preparations to seize the throne."

"I did not take you for a politics nerd."

"Hey! This kind of stuff effects all of us, it's silly not to pay attention."

She blushed slightly, "Besides, there is nothing cooler than a cold-hearted and ambitious man rising to the heights of power using only his wits."

He gave her a disappointed look, but a reaction from his Detect Hostile Intent skill prevented any further discussion.

"Heads up, we got enemies incoming."

Judging from the angle of their approach, he guessed that the demons would be trying to drop on them from above.

"Two to our right, from the rooftops."

In almost complete silence, a pair of vaguely humanoid demons jumped from a nearby building, dark iron halberds leading the way. They were naked save for a coarse, red fur that covered them from head to toe.

Without any further prompting, the adventurers leapt into action. Mike sped up, getting himself and his cargo out of the way.

Brenden took a hard right, and started running up the building in an impressive display of agility. Once he had reached the height of about 2.5m, he pushed off from the wall, sword already in motion. The demon never had a chance to dodge as the beastman blew past it, cutting it in half.

Tal was much more efficient, simply summoning a spike of hardened earth directly in the creature's path. The demon impaled itself, and could only futilely scrabble at the ground before the last of its life ebbed away.

The trio fell back into a loose formation, still running towards their destination.

After making sure that no other demons were in the area, Mike spoke, "So, I get that he's done some pretty impressive things, but does this Serpent manage his realm well?"

Sera stared at him for a few moments in blank incomprehension, "Your still continuing the conversation? Like nothing happened?"

He shrugged again in response, nearly dropping her a second time.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

-----------------------------------------

The trio continued in this way for another half of an hour. Luckily, the route the Oracle led them on bypassed the majority of the demons. Occasionally, the group would spot large concentrations of them, but so far they had been successful in avoiding major confrontations.

"We're nearly there." Sera announced when they were running past a series of warehouses. "Any moment now, we should be seeing-"

"Quick! Hide." Brenden pushed them into the shadows of a nearby building.

Almost a soon as they did, a troop of demons marched out around a corner. The majority of them were skinny grey-skinned humanoids with horned heads. They were armed with a motley of rudimentary weapons.

The group was led a corpulent demon carrying a barbed whip, that it used to drive the group forward. Each stroke of its arm elicited a pained screech from its demonic charges.

They waited in the shadows for the sounds the horde to fade.

Mike set Sera down and unlimbered his sword. He made a 'stay here' motion with his hand, and stealthy moved up the corner they came from and poked his head around it.

A large mass of demons of different sizes and shapes were hanging around a particular warehouse. As Mike watched, another troop, similar to the last, marched out of the open warehouse doors and started heading his direction.

He hurried back to the rest, and waited with them until this next group passed. Once they were clear, he turned to the others.

"Alright, it looks like there is a warehouse up ahead that's being guarded by a large horde of demons. Some of which looked pretty dangerous."

He glanced between them. "I think I might be able to level the place."

"Wait." The Oracle held up a hand. "Hitting the ritual site with enough magic could cause a number of things to happen. It could simply destroy the spell, but it could also force it to completion."

"Might explode." Tal added her own insight.

"Or it could explode with enough force to level this district. I would recommend we take a more discreet route."

"What did your visions suggest?" Mike asked her.

She grimaced slightly. "That's the problem, they don't. I can more or less see up till this point, but everything afterwards is foggy. I'm sorry." She lowered her head ashamedly.

[I guess it would have been too much to ask for.]

The group lapsed into silence for a moment before Brenden spoke.

"We need a distraction."

Mike nodded his agreement, "Something to draw away the majority of the demons and let us sneak in. If we are lucky, we can get close enough to end the ritual before they even know we're there."

He paused, lost in thought, and was about to speak again when Brenden broke in once more. "Let me do it."

"Are you kidding? They'll swarm you. You're strong, no doubt about that, but you lack the means of dealing with large numbers. I should be the one to do it."

"No," Sera broke in. "We'll need you to deal with the caster. I don't mean to insult your friends here, but he's easily a high Tier 3 mage. The only one with any real chance against him is you, Mike."

"Right, so I'm the best choice. Good talk." Brenden stood and started walking towards the warehouse until Mike caught his arm.

"I'm not going to let you get yourself killed for this. We can find another way!"

The beastman shook him off. "When? We need to stop this now. We can't afford to wait any longer. They could be finishing this ritual any moment now."

"Calm." Tal said, getting between them. "Can do." She said while pointing to herself.

The two men looked at her blankly for a second before simultaneously launching into denials. They were interrupted, however, by a cackling burst of laughter from above.

A shadowed figure stood on the roof of a nearby warehouse. A figure with a pair of long, curving horns.

It spoke in a sultry, feminine voice. "This looks quite fun. You don't mind if I get involved, do you, boy?"