The way back

On their way to the road they guessed how much more money they would get, what they could have improved while fighting.

Still injured from their encounters, traversing through divers terrain proved difficult.

So when they reached the road, both of them sighed in relief, taking a short pause and hoping that a carriage would pass them.

And soon enough they sure were rewarded. In the distance a brown horse drawn cart rolled towards them, two persons riding it.

"Let's hope they are kind enough to let a bandaged up person and a child both with weapons and blood on their clothes ride with them."

Mikael frowned, trying to brush away some of the dried up remains, with little success.

"Forget it, not to mention our smell. Some of the stuff Bjorn used would be pretty handy."

The carriage soon was in reach, Mikael able to make out the person riding it.

"Maybe our chances are better than expected."

"Well, if this isn't our little customer. What are you doing here, and in this condition?"

Laurence asked, looking down from his position and at his companion.

"And this is?"

"Hi Mr. Laurence, Miss Horo. Nice to see you two again. This is my companion for some time, Sophia. She is a great person who has saved my life just recently, and I met her after accepting another around a week ago."

"We encountered some more trouble than we expected, thus we would like to travel with you, for a fee of course."

She added, her eyes wandering also between this gray haired guy and hooded female.

"Although you two smell quite bad, I think we can give you a ride, no?" Horo said, glancing at her companion as if it was already set in stone.

"No objection, our goods this time are not sensible against smell. If possible don't leave any stains tho, blood on fresh materials are difficult to sell."

"Understood" Mikael nodded happily.

He got up on the carriage, helping Sophia to sit down as she still was a bit shaky on her feet, especially when moving quickly.

"So, as we most likely spend a bit of time together, can you tell us what happened?" Horo asked, turning her head interested.

"Our travels are boring, rarely anything dares to attack us, nor do we search for adventures."

Mikael then began to tell their quest, their fight and the encounter with the Goblin magician.

Sophia added some of the details he forgot to mention, when she was not about to doze off.

When that story was told, he continued how he met Sophia and Leon, Bjorn and found the reason so much weird stuff happened in Nodans outer territory.

As he recounted some of his feelings he had and told that he may can use magic as he spewed out his story, Horo listened even more attentively, even beginning to ask in depth questions.

Things along the lines of "How did it feel?" "Did it happened very often" or "When did it start?".

'Maybe she tries to find clues how to use magic herself, what the conditions are.' he thought. In his curiosity he asked similar stuff Jenny, but gained not much, at least nothing he could tell Horo.

Jenny in the meantime fell back into her slumber, even slightly snoring as they bumped over sticks and stones.

The peace and calmness Mikael felt couldn't be described, it drawing him in as they traveled along, the sun slowly moving in the sky, obstructed by a white cloud every so often.

"You can also close your eyes, we'll wake you up should anything come around." Horo said, having taken back her usual place next to Laurence.

With Sophia asleep, Mikael dared not to slack off, but Horo's voice carried a unspeakable peace and certainty with it.

The next time he awoke he felt a foot in his side, Sophia outstretched in their bit of space that him only was granted a corner.

He looked upwards, the moon sharing now the heaven with the sun which slowly vanished behind the horizon, a orange-red filling the sky.

"I was about to wake you up. We are about to arrive." Laurence said, munching on a slice of bread with ham.

"You are quite the heavy sleeper. She kicked you several times as she once awoke, but you rolled over and continued. Then she gave up and also dreamed on." he shook his head, smiling as he couldn't believe their behavior.

"One can adapt to nearly everything." Mikael answered, standing up on the rocking of the carriage and joining Laurence, taking out a bit of meat himself.

As they passed the entrance, they were held up by Beron, who had guard duty tonight again.

Horo passed over some papers, and after he reviewed them, they got the okay.

As it was Mikael's turn, he was turned down.

"Just go through, for mothers sake. If I wouldn't know you two, my superior would degrade me.

It is quite often that we see hunter coming back from a mission drenched in blood, if it's theirs or not. And many haven't the patience to go over the procedure."

So they went through, Mikael waking up Sophia who now looked better than this morning when she first awoke.

Laurence and Horo stayed at the same place like last time, so Mikael parted with them there.

"I stay not far from the Guild, so you got me still a bit at your side." Sophia said, scratching at her bandages.

"First I want to check is this wound. Hope for yourself that it is as bad as you told me, or else I won't forgive you wasting a third of my precious potion."

Thinking back to the charred flesh and skin, he once again insured that it was quite necessary.

"Then I see you tomorrow. After I exchanged the proofs of subjugation and hand in our mission, we split the profits." he said.

They set their meeting on the ground floor, around the time the first bell would sound.

Mikael only ate a bit of his warm meal, as he had to tell first the innkeeper and then Emily again why he came in so dirty and the story behind it.

'If nothing else it improves how I report tomorrow.' he thought, taking of his dirty clothes.

On recommendation for some coppers Ann the Innkeeper prepared a hot tub and some soap.

Although it was quite late and a bit chilly outside, Mikael sunk into the water, exhaling in bliss.

'Now a beer would be great, a cold one.'

After he scraped down all of his sweat and blood, he could see in the shine of a dim lamp all the smaller cuts, scratches, burns and bruises he sustained.

'Mother, I got littered by them. Hope they won't stay.'

None of these wounds bled, only when he moved too much or scratched at the wrong place.

After that he washed his clothes in the water, changing onto some cheaper spares he had bought.

Hanging them out wasn't to his satisfaction, as most of his stuff had some metal sewn-in or was of better quality.

'That one day I'd have to worry about that...'

He sneaked to his quarter, his clothes in hand and wrung dry as best as he could.

There he put up a rope that was included in his usual equipment, stretching it across the small room.

'Hope that is okay. Are just some clothes anyway. And the floor won't get soaked by that bit of water.'

Albeit still tired despite resting around the day, he began to inspect his equipment, as he was taught.

He oiled up the mail parts of his gloves and which he wore underneath his clothes, looking for major damaged parts.

He cleaned his weapons, sharpening his knife with a portable grindstone.

He sewed together parts of the torn pants, around the leg area where the Kobolds often stroke due to their small height.

After another hour of maintaining and smaller repairs, he used a bit of a candle he got cheap from Ann, skimming through his book again, memorizing its content.

As he got tired of it, which he got quite fast, he laid on top of his blanket, staring at the ceiling.

Lifting his arm, staring at his fingers opening and closing, he thought back to the time the red Goblin awoke his magic.

'It felt as if he used the air around us. But he also could have used is mana and that was just an effect it produced... A Goblin that used magic, how did it even manage to do it, discover the way to make a fire from nothing?'

He tried to somehow feel the same sensation as when he stood before another person that could use mana, but it just didn't worked.

His mind was full of theories and test he'd like to make, but the mystery remained.

'Mr. Simon might teach me, or someone of his friends. Maybe if he hears how my sense worked in battle, he can already draw a conclusion if I can use magic or not.'

Excited again, it was even more difficult for him to sleep, so Mikael stood up, making some moves and strikes with his hammer until his sweat rolled down his arms and forehead, feeling every muscle in his upper body.

'Many of these monsters were small, so they attacked my legs often.'

With his result of playing back the battle in his mind, he began to make squats, springing up and down as quiet as possible and did every move he could think of to strengthen his legs and hips.

After another hour and a lot of sweat a violent knocking sound came from the wall, followed by a deep manly voice.

"Stop making so much damn noise or I come over and cut of your legs. Some people need their sleep Mother dammit!"

'That should suffice' Mikael concluded as he sunk into his bed.

Shortly before entering a deep sleep, he ever so faintly perceived a similar feeling he got prior, but not from the outside, more from within himself.

Still, due to his exhaustion and the late hour, the tiredness made thinking hard for him, so he only felt it and the next moment opened his eyes, welcoming the new day.

His first thought as he jolted awake and rubbing his eyes was:" I hope that wasn't just a dream, else I might become crazy..."