BXBX NOVEL Chapter 202: Omen
"The Water Mage got away," Henry said while Louis watched him with wide eyes still deep in awe at his ability to cast a water spell.
"As long as she\'s not coming back, I think we\'ll be fine," Louis said.
"I suppose," Henry answered but he didn\'t sound convinced.
They had worn masks just in case of this very situation that an enemy lived to tell the tale but Henry found himself wondering how helpful a mask was when he was the only person using a Guns in Alvareen City.
With what the Mage had witnessed and lived to report, it wouldn\'t be all that long before he attracted unnecessary attention.
\'That might complicate the Quest,\' he thought and managed a chuckle in spite of himself, \'Well, I suppose we\'ll see."
Henry looked at his and Nyx\'s Stat screens next;
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[Name: Henry Morgan]
[Level: 27 (341/8000 Exp)]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Gunslinger]
[Title: Death\'s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner, Dungeon Raider <Novice>]
[Hit Points: 270/270]
[Mana Points: 30/380]
[Strength: 31]
[Agility: 76]
[Stamina: 35]
[Perception: 43]
[Skills:
{Marksmanship Lv. 5 <Active Sub Skill: Quick Thinking> <Active Sub Skill: Reload> <Active Sub Skill: Guiding Shot>}
{Taming Lv. 2 <Active Sub Skill: Bonding>}
{Insight Lv.3}
{Raider\'s Intent}
[~Arcane Tapestry~:
Read exclusive chapters at mvl
Imprinted Spells: -Shocking Grip-. -Extra Arms-.]
[You have 6 Unallocated Stat Points]
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[Name: Nyx]
[Creature: Shadow Mare]
[Breed: Valaeren Night-Mare]
[Level 12 (1640/5000 Exp)]*
[Hit Points: 20/215]
[Mana: 225]
[Strength: 95]
[Speed: 180]
[Stamina: 90]
[Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.2} {<ShadowScape>}]*
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Nyx trotted over and Henry reached out instinctively to pat her neck before taking out a Healing Potion which he handed out. The horse grabbed it between her teeth and tossed her head back to down the contents of the potion bottle in a second.
[Nyx has recovered 200 Hit Points]
[Nyx\'e Hit Points: 215/215]
"Well done," he told her and gestured at Orson\'s corpse, "You took care of him nicely."
Nyx let out a hmph and shook her mane with pride,
"-Of course I did,-" She said, "-Fool expected me to bleed out. His mistake.-"
Smiling at that, Henry walked over to Orson\'s body and ripped the Command cuff off his wrist before walking toward the cages. Andor stood up and followed him while drinking a Healing Potion to mend his injuries. Louis did the same and walked over too.
The occupants of the two cages that had spaced between their bars were watching him with wide eyes. There was still fight in those eyes. Mostly rejuvenated by the massacre they had observed to have happened to their previous captors.
"Who are you?" One of them asked with his eyes on the command cuff Henry was holding.
"We\'re not here to hurt you," Henry said and he looked down at the cuff and said, "Release."
The cuffs of everyone inside the cages snapped loose and hit the ground of the cages with them all still starting wide-eyed and uMaude if they could trust this bunch.
Andor walked to the latch on one of the cages and pulled it free so its doors swung open for them all to spill out and he stepped away to do the same to the second cage.
The slaves stepped out.
"Why— why\'d you help us?" The most outspoken of the bunch asked.
Henry opened his mouth and wasn\'t exactly sure how to answer that but Andor stepped in and said in a deep somber voice,
"Because it was the right thing to do."
"But you have your face hidden," said the outspoken man.
"Seems like an odd detail to worry about when you\'ve just been freed," Henry said.
The man looked abashed but Andor raised his hand and pulled his Mask off.
"We have nothing to hide from you," he said earnestly, "Go in peace."
The man nodded to Andor and then glanced at Henry as though waiting for him to follow suit.
With a sigh, Henry raised a hand and pulled his mask off.
"There you go," he said with his Hat casting a shadow over his face.
The man nodded and looked at Louis who pulled his mask off as well.
"You\'ve done us a great service," the man said in a grave voice, "But the enemy will return. They\'ll try again."
"Do you want us to shelter you?" Andor asked.
Henry had no idea how they had the means for him to even make such a suggestion but he said nothing.
The man shook his head.
"I was not seeking more help. I was merely making a statement I know to be true. We will try better to keep safe. The next time they try to cart us away like animals, they won\'t have an easy time.
Thank you."
The man bowed low and so did all the captured people with him. Andor bowed too and Henry and Louis followed suit.
"Before we go," the man said and straightened up, "I must offer one advice. Beware of that cage."
The man pointed at the one cage they had not opened yet; The one without any openings and looked like it was made of thicker metal than the other two. Its locks looked complicated and that might have been why Andor had left it locked for now.
"Why?" Henry asked.
The man\'s eyes got dark and he cast a subtle glance up at the sky and shuddered,
"The one in there is not one of us. I think you\'d be much better off to just leave it as it is."
"And let the one inside starve to death?!" Andor asked with his eyes wide and his tone showing how much he thought that was preposterous.
"Not everyone— Not everything should be allowed to live," the old man insisted with a hard voice.
Andor looked so disappointed. It was clear that, although he\'d only known the man for a few minutes, he had begun to respect him. To hear him so callously dismiss the life of another just after he was set free changed Andor\'s perception of him.
Henry saw his hands ball up into fists and stepped forward to take charge,
"I\'m afraid we can\'t just leave— whoever it is in there. We freed you. We\'ll free them too."
Louis said nothing. His eyes were on the thick cage now and after staring at it for a full minute, he shuddered.
The man shrugged,
"It\'s your neck," he said in a somber voice. He sounded like he pitied them, "Please, can you at least wait till we\'re far enough away, first?"
"Of course," Henry said with a nod.
The group rummaged around through the fronts of the three Cages and grabbed rations and camp supplies their captors had kept to themselves. Now stocked and fairly capable of surviving the wild they were heading into, they began to run as one toward the very end of the ridge.
They moved with purpose as though they knew exactly where they were headed. Or maybe they just wanted to get as far away from the Cage as they possibly could.
"-Nyx, round up Louis and Andor\'s horses, please.-" Henry said as he leaned against a cage and watched the group get far away.
"-Those wimps that ran away? Hmph! Cowards.-" Nyx said but she was already trotting away and letting out neighs and whinnies that sounded like calls. Henry knew she\'d have no problem bringing the two horses back.
He smiled and considered reminding her that she once ran away at the sound of danger too but ultimately decided not to.
It took the group almost half an hour to be completely out of sight and that was only because they eventually turned a corner.
"Alright," Henry said as he stepped away from the cage he was resting against and stepped toward the cage with the complicated locks.
"Magic," Andor announced. He had been observing the locks before Henry got close.
"Louis," Henry said automatically.
The mage\'s brows furrowed and he stepped forward,
"Are we sure we should be opening this?" He asked, "I think that man\'s warning might be worth a listen."
"Worth a listen at the cost of a life?" Andor asked, "Nonsense!"
Louis sighed and got to work. Andor was being so much more vocal than usual that he just couldn\'t find it in himself to argue.
A bunch of clicking sounds began to ring out in the clear night as Louis fiddled with the magical locks and as it got closer to being opened, Henry began to feel uneasy.
He didn\'t know why but he looked up at the sky.
The night was truly here now and the moon was full but its luminous rays shining down did not feel comforting.
It seemed more like an omen.