[Hanako] Chapter 13: Start of a Journey

[Throndir]

Panting hard, the man somehow managed to still parry and block your attack.

"No... no! No!" He yelled loudly, swinging his blade at you. He managed to hit, dealing some damage to you.

[Asta]

Spurred on by the pace of combat Hanako didn't bother with words, but answered the slaver's desperate protest with a flurry of blows. Lashing at him with as much speed and power as she could muster, seeking any angle left unguarded.

Full-round attack, Longsword:

Rolled 1d20+11 : 20 + 11, total 31

Rolled 1d20+6 : 5 + 6, total 11

Damage:

Rolled 1d8+5 : 1 + 5, total 6

Rolled 1d8+5 : 2 + 5, total 7

[Asta]

Confirm Crit:

Rolled 1d20+11 : 3 + 11, total 14

[Throndir]

You attacked again and hit, though the second one missed. The slaver responded by swinging his blade again towards you. He managed to score a hit.

[Asta]

Ignoring the blows struck by her opponent, Hanako continued to hammer away at him savagely. The prowess afforded to her by her status as a hero was only as good as what she could make of it, and though it gave her an edge, if luck favored the slaver it could very well be her that ended up drowning in a pool of blood. The situation was simple, attack and kill to live.

Full-round attack, Longsword:

Rolled 1d20+11 : 7 + 11, total 18

Rolled 1d20+6 : 12 + 6, total 18

Damage:

Rolled 1d8+5 : 6 + 5, total 11

Rolled 1d8+5 : 5 + 5, total 10

[Throndir]

After the second swing, the man fell to the ground, unconscious, and dying. There was yet no notification that appeared about levels however. Though, as you recall, the last times the slavers died, they were either brutally killed by a murder loli, or were already extremely wounded from previous blows.

[Asta]

When the man dropped to the ground under the weight of her blow, she didn't stop. She didn't stop after plunging her sword into his defenseless back. She didn't stop after she repeated the action again, and again, and again until exhaustion and waning adrenaline caused her to cry out in a primal howl and then promptly throw up.

He wasn't even the first man she had killed today, but a mix of righteous fury and the thrill of battle had made Hanako blind to the gravity of her actions up to that point. Killing a man was different than fighting a troll or a beast, his profession might have been reprehensible in her eyes but he was still a person; one with ambitions and hopes, perhaps a family. All of that gone with the swing of 85 centimeters of steel. His comrades had begged for mercy and she had denied it, and now was the time to deal with the reality of the situation. After a moment's silence to reflect on her choice, she wiped the blood from her sword and the sick from her mouth, rifled through his pockets for valuables and anything of importance then trudged back to where Trudy and Kari were probably waiting.

Mechanically, Hanko performed a coup de grace.
Perception for searching the body:

Rolled 1d20+5 : 13 + 5, total 18

[Throndir]

Hero point earned.

You leveled up.
You have gained a new title 『Summoner Slaver』
You have gained +2 MAG
You are now level 35. Spend your unallocated points.

Perception: 18
Searching the body, you found a couple of things.

-52 gold pieces in Refedorian mint
-31 gold pieces in a foreign mint
-11 silver pieces in Refedorian mint
-81 copper pieces in Refedorian mint
-Rations 1 lb
-Shortsword
-Chainshirt
-Dagger
-Longbow
-Arrows (16)
-6 vials of unidentified liquid
-Arrows with same liquid above on the tips (6)
-Set of cheap clothing
-Silver ring
-Pouches/sheaths/scabbards/holders/quiver containing the above

The moment that you received the new title and notifications. All sorts of knowledge seemed to imprint itself into your mind. But it was more than that. Horrific images of a desolate landscape of grey skies, and grey lands, with spires of jutting rocks and lava filled your mind. Not only that, mental images of large grotesque creatures similar to the demons in Refedoria cruelly dismembering humans, or even eating them alive with their sharp teeth filled your senses. It was a rush of all sorts of imagery.

Just like in previous times when you suddenly knew all about slavery, and then all about contractual, binding, and accord magicka. This time around, you seemed to know an art of magicka called 'demonology'. However, unlike the previous times, having this 'imprinted' in your mind, you felt like you knew almost everything about demons. You also knew the exact arcane circles, chants, and steps to perform in order to summon demons, along with binding them to your will. It was beyond the superficial knowledge as well, it felt as if there was a tangible connection with you and demons themselves.

As the imagery continued to fill your mind, a notification appeared amidst the chaos.

Darkness attribute unlocked.
You have gained a new title 『Wielder of Darkness』

[Asta]

Hanako grabs all the money, the ring, the vials, the chain shirt, and any pouches needed to carry the smaller items.

"Fuck!" Hanako exclaimed as the images flooded her mind. "That was different."

Visions of hell aside, her interest was piqued by the "unlocking" of the darkness element. If she wasn't mistaken, that was a form of magic that Kari frequently made us of. Likely only tangentially related to necromancy, which she was in the process of slowly learning, but never the less a potent and dangerous element to add to her arsenal. She would have to experiment with it later.

She continued to trudge onward through the woods hoping to find all was well with her companions.

[Throndir]

When you headed back towards the site of the attack, you noticed that both the collared slavers who had thrown up their hands in surrender were tied against a tree. Trudy was there with her rifle on hand, having it pointed towards the two. Lastly, there was still one last slaver without a collar that Kari's skeletal troll seemed to be holding tight.

"Hero! Thou killed thy prey?" She noticed your wounds, then beckoned you closer. Once you were close enough, Kari examined the wounds.

"Mayhaps I shalt show thee part of mine magic... There are multiple ways to heal thy wound. One such way requires stitching up thy wound with magic itself, reconnecting and damage tissued together. However, that way takes some time and concentration. The quicker way... I shalt show thee." Kari said as she looked at the wound, then slowly looked towards the bandit with a dark look.

The skeletal troll tightened it's grip on the slaver as the slaver tried to squirm, but only yelled in pain. Next, Kari created a glowing set of arcane circles around the slaver with one hand, while on the other hand, she manifested a smaller arcane circle that moved when she moved her own hand. With that free hand she then had it hover your own wounds and you watched as the slaver slowly started to drain of color as his skin paled, while your own wounds started to seemingly regenerate itself.

The slaver continued to get paler and paler, but Kari didn't seem to care about the fact she was slowly killing the man. Trudy, a distance away, seemed to shiver from seeing it, but didn't really say anything. By the end of the process the slaver was near death, while you were uninjured.

"Ahh... tis lucky this slaver survived. I suspect just a tiny bit more and he would have died." Kari shrugged.

[Asta]

"Brutal but effective. I may need to learn that sometime." Hanako said, raising an eyebrow at her freshly healed wounds. She gestured to the two tied to the tree, as well as the nearly dead man that was in the grip of Kari's minion, "Have either of them spoken since being captured?"

[Throndir]

"They did... They both said they were recently captured by the slavers. They claim to be adventurers... But that's a rare profession in these days due to the demons. Most have already left the country, or tried to, or are simply laying low. Humans who can fight back, are usually enslaved quickly. I still tied them up though, I wanted to wait until you were back." Trudy explained.

"They said the slavers had a camp up to the north, about half an hour walk too. Along with other slaves they've caught in the last run. Apparently they were on their way back to Elstergen, but they thought they could get one last set of captures... That man in the fancier clothes was their leader though." Trudy said, pointing towards one of the corpses. They were still scattered about, telling you that neither Trudy or Kari has had time to go through them yet.

[Asta]

"Thanks Trudy, nice work." Hanako replied, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

She turned to one of the two tied to the tree. "You'll answer my questions truthfully." she said, imparting the weight of her slavemancer blessing to make it a command. Once she was sure her target had been appropriately subjugated she began to question him.

"Is the information my friend just told me correct?"

"Is he working with the slavers?" she pointed to the drained man held by the skeletal troll.

"How many slavers and slaves are at the camp to the north?"

"What would you do if I let you go?"

[Throndir]

The man was affected immediately and it was obviously evident. For each question he answered with a blank look on his face.

"I am an adventurer."

"As far as I know he is a slaver or a hired mercenary."

"6 slaves, and 2 slavers."

"Get stronger."

[Asta]

"Get stronger for what?"