A Host and Freeloaders

Support my main contracted novel and winner of Writing Prompts #26 - The Legendary Mage!

Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!

https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!

* * * * *

Barely half a minute after Sam knocked out Shanzi, she encountered the other 4 hunters. Her Mr Handsome was nowhere to be seen, but she figured she could ask the hunters where he was after bashing them up a bit.

Compared to the earlier battle, it was boring - despite it being 4-on-1, they were nowhere nearly as skilled or as fast as her earlier opponent.

She made short work of them, knocking 3 of them out. The 4th man she left conscious to question.

But before she could question him, her ears perked up.

She turned and saw Mr Handsome running at her, ready to punch her. Running… slowly. More like a slow jog. And making enough noise to wake up the entire neighbourhood. Sam punched the 4th man, knocking him out, and stood up to face Mr Handsome.

Then Sam's jaw dropped. Mr Handsome had laboriously ran for 8 seconds to cross the 40 metres between them - but now he was on his hands and knees panting.

"Are you… Are you ok...?" She leaned down to help him up, a look of concern on her face.

Looking pale and wan, he looked up at her and nodded. Then he punched her. In the face.

"That didn't even tickle!" She giggled. Then she punched him back. In the stomach of course, not his face.

To her surprise, it felt like she had hit jelly - barely any impact sank in, and he didn't even flinch - he was smiling smugly. So she punched him again. Hard.

She felt a bit more of an impact as he stumbled back a step, but still she felt almost all the force dissipate.

(Ohhh so that's what's happening...)

She hit him in the stomach again.

Despite her punch looking much lighter, his expression twisted in pain; he curled up in pain and rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach.

When he could struggle to his knees, he checked his armour - despite the pain, it was unscathed. Then he was hit by a wave of dizziness and he puked.

(Wh-what...? How did she bypass it...?) He stared at her in fear, like he was gazing at a gigantic behemoth from the depths of the ocean.

She was coming closer, smiling sweetly. Was it his imagination, or was the 9 year old's smile a little... Sadistic...? No, no... It had to be his imagination... It was just the pure smile of a child... Just the pure smile of a child… Not a serial killer…

The thoughts fled his mind as she hit him again. Hard.

* * * * * * * * * *

Six men were laid out unconscious on the floor, lying in a row.

This was the sight that met Lucius when he reached home. Flabbergasted, he questioned the girl; and was bemused to hear what had happened. It was a good thing he had set down the isolation barrier that suppressed noise. Nevertheless, it was a good thing the shrine courtyard was big, secluded and far away from the other buildings.

He told the girl to go fetch the priests and ask them for a favour, "Let the injured men pay for themselves."

"Oh, wait a moment." He stopped her as she turned to leave. He tapped lightly on her necklace to dispel the isolation barrier. "Take good care of your things, kay?"

He watched as she ran off, her "Yes grandpa!" bringing a smile to his face. He was glad she didn't ram into him for a bear hug.

He groaned and could barely stop the trembling that came from transcending the limits of the human body. His heart felt tight, he could barely breathe. He managed to hide it from her - for now.

He blinked a few times, holding back the tears. He wondered if he could last through the next half dozen or so winters until the girl got married.

Lucius sighed. Some day, she'd fall in love with a man and, *ahem* kill him with her bear hug... He'd better be a dragon in human form or something, or with a defensive divine equipment... Hmm...

Lucius' gaze wandered over to the gandharva prince...

Nah.

Lost in thought and reeling from the battle, he struggled over to lay down on his bed. Then he started snoring.

The gandharva prince lay in bed, his eyes wide open, his body drenched in cold sweat. He had felt a sudden sense of crisis, as if a great predator had locked on to him. Then it went away as quickly as it came.

He checked his body's condition. This was the first time he'd gotten any injuries since his grandfather gave him the Leaf.

He had always been weak. Zero talent in divine arts, with the constitution of a mosquito and the courage of a chicken. His father would erupt in anger every time he saw him; with accusations of, "Are you even trying?", "How can you shame me so?" and, "If you weren't my own son, I'd wonder if you were even a gandharva."

Only his grandpa and uncle showed him care, showering him with love and gifts, and helping him learn the magics of the lesser races instead.

He was so weak hearted he had even fainted from the fall from the tree... (How did I even convince myself to climb it in the first place...)

Satisfied that the injuries were just bruises, Visayah began to worry.

About an hour ago, he felt something change. His heart was uneasy, his neck tight. It had to be something important, but he didn't know what it was.

He looked at his phone and the clock icon beside his messages. Was the server down? Earlier when the signal was poor, he still managed to get a single tick...

He had tried to contact Miesu, his parents, his grandfather, his classmates, his VRMMORPG guild mates... But it seemed there was some server maintenance or downtime - he couldn't even send messages through, much less ask them if everything was alright.

He winced in pain as his bruised ribs ached again. Then he began to shiver when he remembered what happened earlier.

He wondered where he had gotten the courage to confront the ogre in human skin.

He looked over to where Shanzi laid; wrapped up in bandages. The strong smell of medicinal herbs wafted over – but one scent stood out – longevity grass.

Longevity grass was stinky, but it was a rare and precious life-saving herb. It was usually guarded by the apex creature of a 10,000km radius. He was moved – the girl may be their adversary, but she generously gave up what was essentially a second life to save Shanzi…?

Maybe the world he knew… Was not the world he thought he knew.

Visayah lay down just… Thinking.

* * * * * * * * * *

"From now on, call me Stefan."

"Prince! No, king! This cannot be!" The quartet of gandharva hunters objected strongly.

"I am no longer your prince or king! I have never desired to be, and even if I were, I am one no longer! I hereby abdicate the throne and appoint Shanzi as my heir! I. Will. Be. Free! I will forge my own path!" His eyes were burning fanatically with passion.

The sound of a spoon dropping could be heard, then the splattering of food onto the table.

*Thwack*

"If you don't want to eat it..." Sam's voice rose to a crescendo. "DON'T WASTE IT!! Give it to me!!"

Shanzi rubbed his head where Sam had smacked him with her spoon, mouth still agape and food splattered on the table where he had dropped his own spoon. His eyes flitted between Sam, the quartet and his prince.

"If there are no objections, then it's settled. I, Stefan, will find a teacher and apprentice myself as a mage." With those words, Stefan licked his plate clean.

Gandharva Hunter #1 opened his mouth, then promptly closed it when he saw Stefan glare at him.

Then he glanced over at Shanzi and asked, "Shanzi, what will you do?"

"…" Shanzi looked up, before answering, "We need to find out what happened to our people after the continent fell – and why all hints of divine bestowal are gone. As soon as everyone is recovered, we should leave for home." He ate a mouthful of thin broth and bit off a piece of bread. "But once that's done…"

He paused, looking to be torn two ways.

"I… I want to follow Sam, as her disciple."

"Okay! I accept you as my disciple. What does a disciple do?"

Smiling at the girl, Shanzi spoke, "A disciple follows and learns from his master. His master has to take care of her disciple, treat him well and guide him as a teacher." Turning back to the quartet and Stefan, he coughed in embarrassment and said, "Okay, then it's settled." He too ended his words by licking his plate clean.

The quartet silently finished up their food, heads bowed and eyes staring at their plates; thinking.

*Ahem*

They heard a cough; belatedly realising that they were making themselves a little too much at home in their host's place.

"Ah, youth. How it makes my blood boil to see the beginnings of the dreams you have!" Then Lucius smiled a dangerous smile. "Only to see the little sparks snuffed out--" Lucius held up his palm and emphatically *puffed* a gust of air. "--Snuffed out like a candle in the breeze. And..."

He cracked his knuckles. Somehow he made the everyday sound seem very menacing.

"...No more political speeches at the breakfast table."

"Now, it's time to work. Get your butts off to the forest and bring back some food!"

"Yes sir!" The 6 gandharva and Sam stood up, saluted Lucius and scurried off to pack and go hunt for food. At least, the 6 gandharva did. Sam just went out to play with them (I wonder what happens if I pull this string… Oh! Did all your fruits fell into the river? Oh no! They're ruined? Oh no!! Oh well. I wonder who's missing dinner tonight…)

With the noisy bunch gone, Lucius turned to his last guest, who was still eating noisily. Lucius' eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Dhrtarastra. When will you stop freeloading?" His voice was calm, civil - but dripping acid.

Dhrtarastra looked up at Lucius. He met his gaze with his blind eyes.

Then he looked down and continued eating.

* * * * *

"Ahhhh!!"

The townspeople stopped and looked up as they heard a scream and *thud* of a body landing hard on the ground.

Then they continued walking. It was just another morning and the daily flight of the freeloader.