Outsiders

'I have a little under four hours of [Corporeal Illusion] remaining, and we're only about two hours away from Noelenwood. I'll be okay,' Zulu thought.

Zulu and Raya were still walking alongside the prairie river. However, their leisurely stroll was suddenly interrupted by a scuffling under the grass eight meters in front of them.

"Stop," Zulu said, holding his hand in front of Raya.

"What is it?" Raya asked.

"We have company," Zulu said, nodding towards a patch of rustling grass in front of them.

"But I don't see anything," Raya said, assuming the grass had just been swaying in the wind.

"Just trust me," Zulu said with a stern look.

Raya seemed to understand his seriousness and took a step back with a cautious gaze.

Of course, the only reason Zulu knew something was there for certain was due to his acute sense of smell; He was a fox after all.

Zulu was soon proven correct as a bolt of lightning flashed past his face, followed by a roaring thunder.

"Shit! Lightning magic?" Zulu said, surprised.

Raya screamed and dove to the ground, disappearing into the tall grass. This was her first time encountering magic released with the intent to kill her. It was lightning magic no less, which certainly didn't help her nerves.

'Okay, you wanna use magic? Two can play that game, pipsqueak,' Zulu thought.

The grass was only three feet in height, and the attacker was hidden beneath it, conveying its short stature.

Zulu circled around the mysterious attacker as lightning flashed in his direction every now and then. Coiled around his arm, a long snake of flame began to materialize.

'Not very accurate, are we? Also, the lightning is incredibly slow compared to natural lightning. Is this natural balance? Makes sense to me. It would be ridiculous if magic-produced lightning actually moved at the speed of light. It would be quite literally impossible to avoid,' Zulu thought, releasing his [Fire Snake] spell.

The fire snake soared threw the air at a brisk pace. It was not as fast as the [Fireball] spell, but where it made up for that was in its ability to track its target. Once the target was identified by the caster prior to the spell being launched, the fire snake would stop at nothing to burn them to ash.

The prairie was instantly set ablaze as the fire snake pinpointed the attacker and disappeared into the grass. A pained screech erupted as the fire snake struck its target.

As the surrounding grass was burned away by the flames, the assailant was revealed. It was a two foot tall black rabbit with beady blue eyes; One could not tell if the rabbit was naturally that color, or if its fur had been scorched by the flames wrapped around its body. Electricity warped around its body as it directed bolts of lightning at Zulu in two second intervals.

Zulu utilized his [Dash] skill to avoid the lighting bolts, and his stamina was being rapidly expended as a result.

'Just die you damn bunny!' Zulu thought.

Zulu dashed at the rabbit before pulling his right leg up and extending it outward with incredible velocity. His shin slammed into the side of the rabbit's head, knocking it into an unnatural angle. Its neck bent awkwardly as a snapping sound could be heard. The rabbit turned limp and fell to the ground, its body still aflame.

'Wow, that's a first.'

As Zulu thought that, an idea came to mind watching the burning rabbit corpse.

'I wonder…'

Zulu reached his hand into the fire and closed his eyes. The flames immediately scorched his hand and he yanked it out.

'So it seems my flames still do hurt me after casting. That makes sense. If I were to set a tree on fire, and the surrounding trees caught the flames as a result, would those new flames count as a part of my original spell, and in turn, be made entirely from my mana? This proves that not to be the case. However, I still want to try something else…'

Pressing his hand close to the burning rabbit, Zulu felt his mana in the flames and tried to redirect it back into his body. To his astonishment, the mana flowed freely back into his hand, and the fire quickly dispersed.

'Hmm, it's not perfect; I still lost some mana, but for the most part, I retrieved the majority of it. If I were to start a fire on a larger scale, I'd likely only be able to recover a fraction of the mana spent on the spell. I'm glad I figured this out. This will be useful for maintaining my mana supply.'

Raya picked herself up when she heard the thunder of the lightning cease. She walked up to Zulu with wide eyes.

"How are you unharmed?" Raya asked incredulously.

"I'm a mage remember. It wasn't that hard to mitigate the lightning," Zulu explained.

"Right. Well, nice job. You burned him up pretty good," Raya said, looking at the small charred corpse.

"You hungry?" Zulu asked with a smile.

'There's no way I'm letting this Essence go to waste,' Zulu thought.

"No thanks. I already ate some rations," Raya said.

"Suit yourself."

'Great, that's more for me,' Zulu thought, 'Hopefully, she doesn't think too much of my monstrous appetite. Well, if she does make a big deal out of it, I'll just eat her as well.'

Zulu picked up the scorched rabbit and began gnawing at its body as he walked with Raya.

Raya laughed at this barbaric action and said, "You gonna eat that whole thing?"

"I'm hungry," Zulu said with a mouthful of meat.

"I can tell," Raya said with a laugh.

Like that, the pair continued their trek to Noelenwood along the river.

After two hours passed, a town with short walls could be seen among fields of wheat in the distance. The walls were a few meters in height and constructed with gray stones held together by mortar. The wall was less than half a mile wide with many wooden and thatch roofs peeking over the top from behind. The river wrapped around the wall and disappeared behind its curve.

'Judging by the size of this place, it should only have a few thousand inhabitants,' Zulu thought, 'Perfect.'

"Okay, the gate should be somewhere to the right. C'mon Zulu," Raya said, beckoning him to follow.

The pair left the side of the river and began walking towards the right side of the town's wall.

After a few minutes, Raya and Zulu arrived at a large wooden gate. Zulu kept his hood down in order to not appear suspicious; However, he left his gaze lowered. Two guards clad in leather armor stood atop the wall and raised their hands, signaling the two to stop.

"Halt! Identify yourselves!" One of the guards ordered.

Raya spoke first, "I'm a guard from Valewaren, and this is a traveler I'm escorting," She said, gesturing to Zulu.

"A guard and traveler, huh?" The guard said doubtfully, "Do you have a badge?"

Raya pulled a silver badge from her pocket and displayed it to the guard.

"Hmm, that is indeed a Valewaren guard badge. Okay, come on in," The guard said, "Open the gate!" He shouted to someone below him.

'Following Raya here was the right choice. I wouldn't have been able to even get in otherwise,' Zulu thought.

The wooden gates slowly broke apart, revealing the town that had been obscured. There were hundreds of wood and stone buildings that lined the main cobble street. These were likely the main shops the town had to offer, and just what Zulu planned to explore; He needed to find a light mage healer after all.

As Zulu and Raya entered the gate, the same guard spoke again, "Welcome to Noelenwood, but mind your actions, outsiders, or there will be hell to pay."

The pair simply nodded at the man and continued into the town. After entering the through the gate, Zulu pulled his hood up to conceal his features once again.

The cobble road was mostly barren with only the occasional townsfolk running some errands. It was clear that the town wasn't a popular tourist, nor merchant destination. The few people that could be seen shot Zulu and Raya irritated glances.

"Yikes. Seems we're not very popular," Zulu said, watching the wary townspeople.

"Don't be too surprised. Noelenwood is pretty isolated and known to be distrustful of outsiders. They've been instilled with fear of unknown people like us, I guess," Raya explained.

"Must've been raided by foreigners before or something," Zulu proposed.

Raya nodded her head, "That seems likely. Get attacked by bandits enough times and you start to despise outsiders altogether."

As the two walked along the road, Zulu thought to himself.

'I have over an hour to find a light mage before my [Corporeal Illusion] dispels. Now then, what do I do with Raya? Do I just tell her to fuck off? The nice way of course.'

Zulu turned to Raya and spoke, "Okay, you've fulfilled your debt to me. Thank you, you no longer need to guide me."

Raya seemed to remember their original agreement and flashed an expression of disappointment before replacing it with a smile, "Right, sorry. I'll leave you be now, but I won't be leaving town just yet. I'll grab some food and rent a room for the night. How about you?"

"I've got some personal matters to attend to here, and then I'll probably do the same as you," Zulu said.

"Great, how about I come with you?" Raya asked with a wide grin.

'Haa, she is clingy,' Zulu thought.

"No, that's okay. They're only some simply matters. No need to come with me," Zulu said.

"No, I insist. Afterward, we can grab some food together."

'Why don't we just get fucking married while we're at it,' Zulu cursed in his mind.

Zulu could only inwardly sigh at her stubbornness.

"Fine. Come on," Zulu relented.

"Yay! So where are we going?"

"I'm trying to find a light mage."

"So that's what it is! How come?"

"You know, I wanted to go alone because it's rather personal," Zulu said with a frown.

Raya seemed to register his displeasure, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine. Let's go," Zulu said, turning to walk away.

After searching the signs of various shops for ten minutes, Zulu and Raya came across a sign which read "Melinda's Healing & Cures." It hung above the building's entrance and beside it was an ingrained insignia which resembled a wolf.

"This could be promising," Zulu said.

The two entered the shop, triggering a bell to ring and alerting a gray-haired women, who stood behind a counter.

The wooden shop was small in size, only thirty square meters or so. It was crowded with shelves containing various glass vials and flasks which flaunted a variety of vibrant liquids.

"Welcome to my shop! Are you here for healing? Apothecary supplies? Or maybe even a cure for a poison?" The old woman, who seemed to be the owner of the shop, Melinda, asked.

Melinda was a woman of advanced age with dull brown eyes and countless wrinkles adorning her face. Her skin sagged and many of her teeth were missing. She wore simple gray robes and a silver necklace with a purple gem.

"Hello, and no, madam. Actually, I was wondering if you were able to rid curses?" Zulu asked, approaching the counter.

The Melinda's eyes widened in surprise, "What! You're cursed?!"

Raya also stared incredulously at Zulu; He'd been cursed this entire time and had not said anything about it. Now she understood why he was trying to find a town. What she didn't understand, however, was why he didn't just go to Valewaren; A large city would surely have more people capable of removing curses.

Zulu ignored their astonished gazes and continued, "More specifically, the Curse of the Vengeful."

Melinda retained her shock as she spoke, "That curse? Just who did you piss off to such a degree?"

"A crystal snake," Zulu said.

Melinda didn't seem satisfied by that answer and only watched him in disbelief.

"I killed its entire nest," Zulu further explained.

"That'll do it," Melinda said, sighing, "You can't just go around massacring beasts' families. They may be just dumb creatures in your eyes, but they still have emotion; Same as us. That's the best way to get yourself cursed, young lady."

"I see. I was not aware of that. Thank you," Zulu said, "Now about the curse?"

"The Curse of the Vengeful is fairly common among mercenaries and magic warriors, who slay swathes of magical creatures, as you did. Luckily for you, though, it's common enough that I'm experienced in purging it. Now I just need to see your Silver Wolf guild token and we can begin. Payment comes after," Melinda said, holding out her hand as if expecting something.

Zulu could only look at her with a bewildered expression.

'What the hell is she talking about?' Zulu thought.

"Um… I don't know what that is," Zulu said, scratching the back of his head.

"So you're not a member then?" Melinda asked.

"Seeing as I don't know what you're talking about, no."

"I see. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. My store is payed for by the guild, and one of the conditions is that I can only serve their members. Sorry, again. You'll have to find treatment somewhere else," Melinda said, raising her hands to gesture that there was nothing she could do.

"What!" Raya jumped in, her face darkening, "What do you mean you can't help her! You're a healer, aren't you? Where's your integrity?!"

"I'm afraid there's no integrity in my occupation, child," Melinda said.

"It's fine, Raya," Zulu said, holding a hand towards Raya, "Is there anyone else in the town who can remove curses?" He asked, watching the old woman intently.

"I'm the only light mage in Noelenwood, I'm afraid," Melinda said, shaking her head.

"I see. How far is the nearest town?"

"About a week by carriage."

'Fuck that! I'm sick of travel,' Zulu thought.

"Where is the guild?" Zulu asked.

"Big brick building at the end of the road with a large wolf sign. You can't miss it."

"I'll be back," Zulu said, turning to leave.

"As a member of the guild, I hope," Melinda muttered to his departing back.

Raya shot the old woman a glare before following Zulu out of the shop.

Under the warm light of the afternoon sun, the duo began their trip to the Silver Wolf guild house.