Chương 31: Two Small Problems

"What do you mean it's gone?!"

"I mean it's gone! The whole pouch is gone!" Shia said frantically, scanning the ground around them.

"I swear, I just had it a few minutes ago! I can't help but touch it every so often just to make sure it didn't fall off or anything, so I know I had it until recently!" Ah. So that's what happened. Sighing, Vin shook his head.

"You probably got pickpocketed. Someone must have noticed how frequently you checked on the pouch. Rule number one of exploring new cities; hide your valuables. First time I stepped foot in Detroit, someone managed to swipe my iPod without me even noticing. Never managed to make a playlist like that one again either."

"You think someone took it?" Shia said, causing Vin to take a step back from the sheer fury in her eyes.

"How did they manage to take my pouch right under all our noses?"

'To be fair, I can only really see what you see,' Alka defended herself.

'I'm pretty sure your focus is finally better than mine was when I died anyway.'

"Alka can only see through my eyes, and I didn't notice anything," Vin said, hoping to calm the panicking elf down.

"Look, we should be focusing on how to get the pouch back instead of blaming one another."

"You're right," Shia agreed, taking a deep breath.

"Should we ask a guard or something?"

"We're kinda not supposed to be here… remember?" Vin pointed out.

"For all we know, people living inside the citadel have to carry identification papers on them or something. Last thing we need is to lose the seeds and be thrown in holy jail or whatever."

"Of course," she muttered, face scrunching up in thought. Suddenly, her face lit up and she grabbed his arm.

"Whoever took the pouch couldn't have gotten far in only a few minutes. Can you use Sense Magic again like you did when you found my staff? Maybe they'll still be in range!"

"Oh ho, you want me to use my stupid spell to try and-""Vin…" Shia threatened, her grip tightening around his arm.

"Sorry! On it!" He said, deciding now was not the time to push the elf's buttons. Constructing the runic formation within his mana, he cast the spell, utilizing his Runic Recalibration capstone once more to adjust the detection spell to function like a radar pulse. Not wanting to risk missing the pouch, he recalibrated the rune that determined how much mana the spell took and dumped nearly a quarter of his entire mana pool into the spell.

He had a lot more mana than the last time he tried doing this, so he figured that should be plenty. Vin gasped for breath and dropped to one knee as the thick pulse of mana erupted out of him in all directions, silently traveling down the street and directly through buildings and people as it hunted for magic. Immediately, he realized he may have made a mistake, as dozens upon dozens of pings started coming back to him all at once; the sheer quantity overloading his brain for a moment.

If it wasn't for his enhanced focus being able to parse through all the different signals, he probably would have knocked himself unconscious. Resistance increased to lvl 2! 200 exp gained. Huh… I wonder if I just did the equivalent of sending a mental attack at myself.

"Vin!" Shia cried, crouching down to check on him.

"I'm fine…" He grunted, taking her offered hand and pulling himself back to his feet.

"Just didn't realize how far that spell was going to travel. Need to be more careful about recalibrating how much mana a spell can take."

"Did you find it?" Shia asked, her eyes shining with hope.

"I think so," Vin nodded.

"Along with what I can only assume are a bajillion enchanted gemstones based on the equal distances between each one. I forgot about all the lamp posts lining the roads, otherwise I probably would have sent out a smaller pulse. I also got a few other individual pings on people here and there, which is surprising to say the least. But I only felt one small cluster of items giving off magical signatures."

Taking the lead, Vin led them over toward the source of the signals, before realizing the fatal flaw with his altered spell. While it allowed him to pinpoint magical signatures at range, it did nothing to reveal mundane materials. Vin quickly found himself standing in front of a seemingly closed general goods store that was less than a hundred feet from where they'd been standing, staring at the locked door.

The polished, white stone of the building didn't exactly look all that fragile, but the wooden door was another story.

"Well… according to my spell, the pouch is twenty feet straight ahead, and about ten feet straight down. Probably in a basement or something."

"Stand back," Shia said, raising her staff and approaching the door with fire in her eyes.

"Wait wait wait!" Vin said, stopping the elf before she destroyed half the shop or something equally extreme.

"We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember?" Looking around, he already saw a few people throwing glances their way as they walked by. Thankfully the road was fairly sparse this late at night, but that just made whatever they were doing stand out all the more. Their only saving grace was the seeming lack of patrolling guards.

"Well I'm not just going to wait around for the thief to take the pouch somewhere else," Shia huffed.

"You got a better idea?"

"I'm not sure if better is the right word for it," Vin said, scratching the back of his neck. It wasn't his favorite idea, but at least it wouldn't draw attention to them specifically.

"Hey Alka... any chance you could go fly underground to the edge of your range before popping up? Maybe scare a few people? I'm hoping the screams will draw people's attention away from us while we break in."

'Bleh, I hate the feeling of traveling through solid objects… but fine. Just this once.' Vin felt Alka drop out of him, sinking into the ground and presumably flying a quarter mile away to the edge of her bound range.

"Alright," he turned back toward Shia.

"As soon as you hear screams and Alka draws their attention, let's bust our way in. You got a plan?" Seeing Shia's nod, the two of them waited for their cue. They didn't have to wait long, as less than a minute from Alka's departure they heard a number of far off screams shatter the silence of the night.

Just like he'd hoped, the dozen or so people nearby all turned toward the source of the screams as they tried to figure out what was happening, and a few even began to cautiously head in that direction as if to help. Not needing any encouragement, Shia held her hand over the handle of the wooden door and silently cast what Vin recognized as Decay. In moments, the portion of the door with the lock built into it rotted away, and Shia managed to grab the metal lock before it could fall and clang on the stone floor.

Cracking the door open, she ushered them inside before closing it behind them. Vin could only hope nobody walking by noticed the fist sized chunk of wood that was suddenly missing from the shop's front door and went to investigate. Looking around, Vin took in the interior of the general goods store. It was like someone had imported a Goodwill into a fantasy world.

The shelves were lined with so many random knick knacks and banged up weapons that Vin wouldn't have even known where to start searching if he hadn't received a magical ping from his spell. Everything from dried potion ingredients to common smithing supplies could be found here, and Vin had to tear himself from the displays in order to search for the basement entrance.

Thankfully, the trapdoor to the basement wasn't actually hidden, and the two of them quickly found themselves behind the shop counter, standing over the trapdoor as they came up with their plan. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Let's try and go in quietly, and then surprise the thief," Vin said, gesturing to Shia's staff.

"Maybe err on the side of containment over killing if at all possible?"

"Fine," Shia frowned.

"But if they look like they're getting away, I'm not going to hold back." Nodding, Vin opened the trapdoor as silently as possible, gesturing for the elf to take the lead. Once Shia was partway down, he followed after her, careful to leave the trapdoor open in case they needed to make a quick getaway. It wasn't a long way down to the basement, and within moments Vin was standing beside Shia at the foot of the ladder.

The basement was more of a cellar, turning out to be little more than a storeroom filled with crates and even more pieces of random assorted junk. Shia was already scanning the room for the thief, her staff held up and at the ready, but the dim light coming from the one weak gemstone in the ceiling was barely enough to see by. Vin was about to point to the corner of the room where he'd detected the pouch when a blur of movement shot across the ground. Without hesitation, Shia cried out " Entangle!"

and a few small branches launched out of her staff toward the blur. Vin was surprised to see her focus her magic on the staff at first, before realizing there wasn't really any other nature to target within the stone cellar. Luckily for them, the room was small enough that the staff was able to reach the blur before it vanished amongst the junk, and the two of them marched over to see what they'd snagged. Trapped within a tangle of small branches was a large rat, which Vin could have sworn was glaring at them.

What was more surprising than the angry rat however, was the fact that it was wearing a tiny saddle on its back, equipped with stirrups and some pouches.

"Uh, Shia…" Vin said, pointing at the saddle.

"Are you seeing what I'm see-" He was interrupted by a painful prick in his ankle, and he spun around just in time to see another, even smaller blur, disappear behind a nearby pile of crates.

"Ow!" He yelped, leaning down to rub his ankle. Whatever had pricked him hurt far more than any bee sting he'd ever experienced.

"What the hell are we fighting?"

"Whatever it was, it got me too," Shia said, checking her ankle and squinting into the dark cellar.

"Maybe the thief has some sort of control over rodents? That would explain how they got my pouch. A rat is small enough it could have slipped past us without our noticing." A sudden thought struck Vin, and he glanced back at the captured rat once again, eyeing up the tiny saddle carefully strapped to its back. No way…

"Shia," he said, wondering how to voice his idea without sounding crazy. But before he could get the chance, he felt his legs begin to wobble, as though they had both suddenly fallen half asleep. Resistance increased to lvl 3! 300 exp gained.

"Wha…" Was all he got out before Shia dropped like a sack of rocks beside him, crashing to the floor in a heap. Leaning heavily against the ladder, Vin managed to stay standing, if only barely. His body didn't hurt per se, but his muscles felt as though he'd just finished up the most intense workout of his life as they screamed for him to lie down and rest. Thankfully, it seemed whatever had caused Shia to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut didn't seem to be hitting Vin as hard.

"Damn, that's some endurance stat you have on you," a quiet, mocking voice called out from across the room.

"That or you're oddly strong against poisons, but I'm willing to bet the former." As Vin watched, their attacker finally revealed himself, stepping out from behind the pile of crates. Vin found himself staring at a man armed to the teeth. The stranger had short, wild blond hair and wore a leather vest equipped with a bandoleer of daggers across his chest. His belt looked like it had more pockets than not, and each one seemed full to bursting with different tools or materials.

Their attacker had a hard glint in his eyes that spoke of surviving hardship and a past riddled with tragedy and woe. He looked like a seasoned adventurer, prepared for anything and everything that might befall him. Like someone who had fought tooth and nail to survive up until this point, and he would continue doing so until life finally threw an obstacle simply too big for him to handle. Vin felt like that was an apt analogy. Mainly because… He was approximately six inches tall.

Vin openly gaped at the tiny man who stared back defiantly at him, seemingly daring him to make some sort of comment. While Vin tried to figure out what to say, he received two new System notifications. New sentient race discovered! 8, 000 exp gained. Level up! Explorer lvl 15. +3 Attribute points to spend. +1 Passive point to spend. Well that proves I'm not dreaming at least. Clearing his throat, Vin nodded at the stranger.

"Hello! I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here-" The stranger interrupted him with a snort, shaking his head.

"You giants… always so quick to resort to force, before pivoting just as fast to begging when that fails you. Why should I listen to a word you say when you came into my home and attacked me and mine?"

"We didn't intend to attack you, we were just looking for an important pouch that was stolen from my friend here," Vin said, gesturing to the crumpled Shia.

"But seeing as we found you here as well… You're spewing a lot of big talk for a common thief, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the stranger said, shaking his head with a shrug.

"Here I was, going over my inventory for opening the shop tomorrow, when two giants broke in and attacked me. If that inventory may have included a fallen pouch I discovered on the ground while taking a nighttime stroll, then so be it. That's no excuse for breaking and entering after all. Who do you think the guards are going to believe?" Vin hesitated, trying to find a hole in the man's logic. They didn't exactly have any proof that the small stranger had stolen from them.

Unless this city had some sort of magical truth detecting spell, it really was just their word versus his. The stranger seemed to realize he had Vin stumped, as he smirked triumphantly.

"I guess that only leaves us one choice then," a strained voice sounded from the ground. The tiny man's smirk vanished as Shia slowly began moving, leaning heavily on her staff as she pushed herself to her feet, shaking all the while. She glared at the stranger, clearly having been conscious for the entire conversation.

"Shia? How did you...?"" Neutralize Poison," she said, spitting on the cellar ground.

"Unfortunately, the spell takes a while to clean out the entire system, but it does its job."

"Gods damned mages," Vin heard the man grumble under his breath.

"That's what I get for not wanting to waste one of my lethal poisons." With a twirl of his fingers, two new daggers, each only about the size of a bee's stinger appeared in the stranger's hands.

"Look, I'd really prefer not having to waste my more expensive poisons on the two of you. Why don't you both just cut your losses and walk away? You might be able to stop me before I stick you with this toxin, but is it really worth the risk?"

"My legs are feeling a bit shaky at the moment," Shia admitted, giving the tiny man a wide grin. Vin couldn't help but notice how the stranger's seemed to falter in surprise for a moment at the sight of Shia's teeth.

"... So what if I just did this instead?" A small pulse of magic from Shia caused her staff to retract its branches, pulling the rat toward her. Snatching the rodent from within the tangle of branches, Shia gripped it tightly, preventing it from escaping.

"Removing that poison took a lot out of me," she said, grinning wickedly at the small man.

"Thankfully, it looks like I have just the thing for a quick pick me up!" Adjusting her grip so that she held the rat by the tail, Shia dangled it above her head, licking her lips as she made eye contact with the stranger. Vin was surprised to see that even with the rat's frantic attempts at escape, not once did it utter a single squeak. Slowly lowering the rat toward her gaping, razor filled maw, Shia only got about halfway before the stranger sheathed his daggers and threw up his hands.

"Alright, you've made your point! Put Reginald down and I'll give you back whatever it was I took from you!"

"Reginald?" Shia snorted, before shaking her head. While she did stop lowering the rat toward her mouth, she made no move to release it.

"You've got the situation all wrong, pipsqueak. Bring me my pouch, and then maybe, maybe, I'll let your little pet go." Vin could tell the man was seething, but surprisingly, he did exactly as instructed. Disappearing into the back of the cellar for a few moments, he quickly returned with Shia's pouch. It was somewhat comical watching the man struggle to drag a pouch larger than he was behind him, but he managed.

Walking right up to them, he tossed the pouch at her feet, staring up at her defiantly with his arms crossed.

"There's your stupid pouch," he said, squinting at the giant before him.

"Now let Reginald go or so help me, I'll cut my way into your stomach and do my best interpretation of a rabid Nagolian howler."

"No clue what that is, pipsqueak," Shia said, tossing the rat across the room and snatching her pouch off the floor. The stranger tracked the rat as it flew, his eyes wide with horror before watching the rodent land safely on a pile of old linens Shia had clearly been aiming for. Seeing his rat was unharmed, the man let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his wild hair.

"Gods damned giants and their freakish strength," he muttered, turning back to glare at the two of them once more.

"Alright, you got your stupid pouch. Any other demands you want to make while you're here?" Shia ignored him for a moment, busy sifting through her pouch. Everything must have been where she'd left it, because she let out a sigh of relief before tying it back onto her belt. Turning her attention once more to the small man, she grinned, sending a shiver through the stranger as he stared up at gleaming rows of teeth nearly the size of his own limbs.

"Demands? No, I don't have any demands…" she said, crouching down to better look the tiny man in the face.

"But what about a job offer?"