Chương 12: Verdant steps

Kite stood with a thoughtful expression as he looked at the contracts board at the Adventure Society campus. One peculiar contract had caught his eye for a couple of days now, as it had remained untouched during that time, probably longer from the look of the paper. It was a contract from a village in the northeast. Apparently, the village claimed to be haunted with descriptions of spectral entities frightening or even hurting the villagers.

The contract even started out as a two-star job, but seemed to have languished long enough on the board for it to be downgraded to one star, but with the added requirement of needing a team of at least three adventurers if they only had the lowest ranking. Kite had done some research, and thought he knew why the contract had remained unclaimed. The village was quite remote and the listed pay was barely enough to actually get noticed by the Adventure Society.

While Kite had tried finding the most lucrative contracts, he had quickly become painfully aware of the political landscape of this branch; sect politics. Most local adventurers had either a firm allegiance or actual membership in one of the two sects close to gilded, the Victorious Sunset sect and the Descending Star sect. As the sects were ever at odds with one another, this created another level in the social landscape. One adventurer would rarely, if ever, work along a member of the opposing faction.

At first, Kite had hoped that being a neutral party would open more avenues of cooperation. He had been mistaken. If anything, most sect-affiliated adventurers seemed to despise the so-called outcasts even more as they had the temerity to not take their side in the competition for the best and most lucrative contracts. Kite had a good feeling about the contract regarding the haunting though. He could probably rope Dragonfly into coming along.

That only left the question of finding the third participant, but fortunately he knew where to start there as well. He reached out and took the contract. The mystery of it piques his interest by no small margin. And he did have a good feeling about it. Kite's goal waited at the end of a line of people in the administrations building. Behind a counter waited an elven woman, clearly from another part of the world. Most elven families in Hua-Xi had fair skin and hair color ranging from black to deep blue.

This woman's hair was a rare vibrant hue of green, which stood in pleasant contrast to her amber eyes. He'd had the chance to observe her several times when he stood in line to turn in a contract, and as so often before, she had a polite smile which never quite reached the eyes as she conducted most of her business. Therefore, Kite felt a slight sense of victory as her features softened somewhat as she turned to him.

"Ah, hello again Kite. Here to turn in another one so soon?

"Good morning, Adelaide. Not this time I'm afraid. I haven't got the movement powers for that kind of pace," he said with a smile as he produced the contract he'd taken from the board earlier.

"I'm here for this. More specifically, I'm wondering if the society can recommend a third participant for me to approach." Adelaide of Clan Riuzic was one of many functionaries in the Hua-Xi Adventure Society who served five-year tours of duty there on the behest of the continental council, so as to stay above local politics and feuding as much as possible.

It was hard to miss her frustration with the local culture, but she remained strictly professional in her outward dealings even when she was patiently repeating Adventure Society regulations to an adventurer who felt entitled to more preferential treatments. Kite had only seen her soften somewhat toward himself and other outcasts, as he figured they probably were a lot less of a hassle to deal with.

"Ah, the haunting. Glad someone finally accepted it. You need some recommendations, you said. I'm happy to be of service. Follow me, please," she said before quickly closing her counter before leading him toward one of many side rooms used for smaller conferences. The rest of the people behind Kite in line weren't very pleased with the development, and Kite could hear angry grumbling and a call of "the Descending Star sect won't stand for such treatment toward an initiate!"

before the door closed with a click behind them, quickly followed by a privacy enchantment humming to life. One would need to be a very perceptive silver ranker or above to eavesdrop on such a meeting. As they sat down in the comfortable chairs, Adelaide spoke first.

"I still do not understand why this place can't just have guilds like most other sane places on this world," she muttered before straightening and returning to her more business-like demeanor.

"So, a third participant. Shall I assume Dragonfly is your second?"

"Indeed! I'm surprised you remembered."

"I tend to keep an eye out for those of you who actually get the job done quickly and seem to value at least a modicum of pragmatism. Dragonfly has a lot of passion, but she is neither a fool or rude, so our professional relationship works quite smoothly. You should keep her close."

"She's quite fond of hugs, so no worries on that account," Kite said with a small laugh.

"But yes, I believe that the path towards the heavens has room for companions and will treasure them. Did you have another in mind for us?"

"I might. You 'outcasts'-" Adelaide began, her expression soured at what she felt was a needlessly derogatory term.

"-tend to narrow the options down a lot though. The one I'm thinking of is a bit of an odd case. There has even been an incentive added by her temple for taking her along."

"So she's part of the clergy as well?" Kite asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Which one?"

"The goddess of Song, actually, if you'd believe it." He was indeed surprised to hear that, as Song's clergy rarely had that many active adventurers compared to Warrior or even Healer.

"Consider my interest piqued. But why would she even need something like an incentive to get someone to bring her along?" he asked, trying to deduce a reason but coming up short. Adelaide sighed.

"If you don't mind me saying, it is mostly due to the culture around here, as are most local problems if you ask me. This priestess has a collection of abilities that supports her allies while keeping herself obscured. Healing, enhancement and a bit of stealth all in one person. Very few of her abilities deal actual damage though, which leaves her quite vulnerable lacking personal defense." As she spoke, Kite began to understand the problem.

Among the often fiercely individualistic essence users of Hua-Xi, many hesitated in going to others for help. A few went so far as to reject abilities from others which would enhance them, as they held to the opinion that it ruined the purity of their path and the strength it contained. Combined with a lack of personal defense powers, some would even dismiss such an adventurer out of hand for having a path that was too weak to even associate with.

Kite had been raised too far away from the bigger cities and therefore didn't have that notion as thoroughly ingrained in him as most, and his training with Uncle Walker and Master Force had stamped out any remaining tendencies. They both valued survival a lot more than such, according to them, prideful nonsense.

"I can see the problem this would raise, yes," he said with a thoughtful look.

"But you'll meet her anyway? At least consider it?" Adelaide pressed.

"Yes I will. Dragonfly shouldn't be hard to convince, and my curiosity is quite thoroughly raised by now. Besides, a closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood. These last few months I have come to think that very few people, if any, should ever be dismissed out of hand."

"Then you show the beginning of a different kind of wisdom than many of your peers. I've actually tried several times to convince her to relocate to another land entirely. Her array of powers would have her practically courted by different teams in most other places. She could do so much better, but unfortunately she seems to have unfinished business here. But it is not my place to elaborate further. Go to Song's temple and ask for a Serene Breeze.

Tell them your errand, and I'm sure they will assist you," she finished while rising to her feet.

"If there is nothing else, I believe our business to be concluded""Thank you, Adelaide," Kite said while bowing with hands cupped. She replied with a wave over her shoulder as she, while returning to her counter, had the gait of a woman returning to the front of a war. As expected, there was a lot of singing going on inside the temple of Song.

As Kite was escorted by a young clergyman through the small temple complex, he was fascinated by how almost everyone they met were singing their own melody, but somehow still remained in harmony with every other song within earshot. The stone building had a lot of architectural peculiarities, with more care given to acoustics rather than aesthetics. He was led to what he assumed to be the wing of the temple housing the personal quarters of the clergy.

His guide stopped in front of one of the doors from where Kite thought he heard the sound of chimes.

"She's waiting for you in here," the young man gestured. Kite nodded and knocked at the door, his knuckles almost unconsciously rapping the door in concert with the music. The sound of chimes stopped, and a moment later the door slid open. He was greeted by a young celestine woman, clad in the sky blue silk robes of her church. She was almost as tall as him, with features more pretty rather than striking.

Her hair, cut just above her shoulders and with straight bangs, were the turquoise color of jade as it framed her face with irises matching her hair. Her aura struck him even more than her looks however, as it had a depth and nuance he had never experienced before. It was iron rank, but had qualities he hadn't even encountered in any bronze-ranker he had met so far.

"By the heavens, it's beautiful…" he said almost breathlessly before catching himself as her eyes widened in surprise.

"Your aura, I mean. Very nice. Much depth. My name is Kite. There is a contract. May I come in?" he quickly stumbled through in an attempt to escape how his mind had yet again produced his inner thoughts, with him noticing too late. A few moments later he sat on a small chair in the small room as his host sat on the edge of the bed, still regarding him in silence. He had given up almost immediately in trying to glean her feelings from her aura, as it behaved in ways he couldn't comprehend.

It was as if he stood before a real dragon after only seeing it in paintings before, realizing how flat and unexpressive his earlier experiences had been. As his hostess seemed to wait for him to continue, he cleared his throat.

"As I said earlier, my name is Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune. I hope you would acquiesce to simply calling me Kite," he paused, waiting for her reply. After giving him another long look, he heard a voice not unlike a wind gently rustling a myriad of chimes. It was light and rather pleasant, but with a certain otherworldly quality to it.

"I am Serene Breeze, or just Serene." Kite was absolutely sure that her lips hadn't moved as she spoke, but the air around her seemed to convey the words just fine.

"Well met on the path to power, Serene," he replied with a smile that couldn't quite hide his wonder at her peculiar way of speech.

"Adelaide of the Adventure Society sent me your way. I have a contract, one companion and the need for one more. And she seemed to think we would work well together." While talking, he took out the contract and slid it across the table. She looked at it briefly before looking back at Kite. He could feel her aura flutter slightly, but did not know what to make of it. Her expression seemed a bit downcast though as she spoke.

"Then she told you about my situation? My weakness?"

"She did, but I think she'd be affronted if she heard you talk about yourself like that. Adelaide seemed to regard them quite highly." Serene had shown a small but rather sad smile as he'd spoken.

"Adelaide is nice to say so. And she is probably the only one around here who has that sentiment," she chimed in a small voice.

"I for one must admit to have been very curious when she told me about you. And after meeting you, even more so. Would you mind telling me more about yourself? About… this?" he said while gesturing vaguely at the air around her. She looked at him apprehensively for a few heartbeats, before relaxing somewhat. Kite didn't know why her expressions changed as they did, which made him want to find out.

"You really are genuinely interested, aren't you?" Serene chimed after her scrutinizing of him.

"While your aura control is quite adequate, your curiosity is still written all across it. While there are some sub-currents of embarrassment, some nervousness and a bit of attraction, it has remained the dominant current of your aura through our conversation so far. Ah, wait. The embarrassment has grown substantially." Kite looked at her a bit aghast. He thought he'd composed his aura quite well in an attempt to give a good impression, while she had apparently still read him like a book.

"Uhm.. Wait. How… I mean, you are quite pretty but I assure you that my intentions were never-" He was interrupted as she waved a dismissive hand, her smile having grown slightly.

"Don't fret about it. It is almost always present in any interaction to some degree when speaking to a person of one's preferences. It is I who is the outlier in this situation, as I can pick up on it easier than most. But I believe it was I who derailed the conversation. You were asking about me?"

"Ehm… Yes, yes I was. Would you mind telling me more about yourself? At least as an adventurer?" Kite said, gratefully accepting the conversation getting back on track. Serene seemed to compose herself a bit as well, before she continued in the same chiming voice as before.

"I possess the wind, harmonic and renewal essences, as well as the divine essence of Song given to me by my goddess. So far, almost all of my awakened abilities are more supportive in nature which has led to quite a bit of problems so far. Most regard my path as weak, and without company I have few means to temper it properly. And before you ask; no, I do not view monster cores as an option. Suffice to say I have a reason for it, even though it leaves me at quite an impasse."

Kite had mostly nodded along as she spoke, but took that moment to raise a question.

"As I believe you've noticed, I find your aura to be amazing. If you don't mind me asking, is it a technique that gives it such depth? Or an essence ability?"

"The latter. In fact, four of them."

"Four aura powers? I didn't know that was even possible," Kite said, astonished.

"I've been told that is quite rare, but not unheard of. Three awakened on their own, and the fourth was a blessed gift from my goddess. She told me that she felt it was needed to bring me harmony."

"So that is why you can read people so readily?"

"Yes, although most other adventurers I've met don't take such a kind view to the matter."

"Have you gotten many chances to go on contracts?

"Some," she sighed.

"But so far rarely more than as a single occurrence with any given group. I tend to mesh poorly in the kind of environment where all participants are expected to be rather self-sufficient. It felt more like some kind of competition between them, to show that their path was the strongest, rather than the harmony that can be found in cooperation. Trust me, my goddess ascribes a rather high value to said harmony."

Kite sat, slightly fascinated, as it seemed not to take much more than questions asked with actual interest to have Serene open up a bit more, even showing some wry humor he wouldn't have expected from the initially reserved woman. After a short while he realized she had stopped talking and was looking at him. Fortunately, she didn't seem displeased. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"What you said gave me a lot to think about. Both about you and the lands we live in. About the path, really."

"According to your aura, the line of thinking didn't seem too unpleasant." Saving him from further embarrassed explanations, Serene continued.

"So, knowing all this, would you still want me to accompany you?"

"Absolutely!" Kite said without pause.

"I must admit to be very interested in getting a better feel of you- I mean for what you can do. But I must ask; do you want to? Come with us, that is?" She giggled slightly, with a sound like someone gently drawing their hand along a series of metal wind chimes.

"When an earnest young adventurer comes seeking assistance from me, how could I reject him? When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, if that works out. As you saw, it is not a quick journey to get there. The mountains are more numerous to the east, after all." Kite didn't know what had sparked the unexpected laughter, but felt pleased that she seemed happy with the arrangement.

"Then we meet tomorrow morning at the jobs hall on the seventh peak." As the door closed behind Kite, Serene remained on the bed. She took a deep breath, humming on the exhale as the song of wind and chimes once again filled the room. This opportunity felt like one of the good ones. While most contracts had left a sour stain in her memories, there were some which had been quite acceptable. This one definitely felt like one of them. What put her most at ease had not only been his words, but his aura.

From the start, it had the calming movements of earnestness and genuine interest, but what really surprised her was how well he had took it when she had taken more control of the conversation as she revealed just how much she could see of his emotions. While self-conscious and embarrassed, he hadn't been rattled by it. This pleased Serene, and it was why she accepted such an unusual contract and long journey together with the relative strangers. Kite hadn't shied away as he lost control.

He had continued as he was and tried to do what he could to go on. He neither submitted or tried to wrestle some modicum of control back, instead simply accepting that she could see some of his emotions and moved on.

"Is that what it really means to trust one's path?" She thought as she continued to sing, feeling a faint melodic answer from the goddess which merged seamlessly into her song. After four days of traveling eastward, Kite still had quite the good feeling about this endeavor. Dragonfly had, at first, been a bit hesitant to bring along a person with such an unusual path. They had discussed it over food, and as Kite described the priestess he could see that her interest was further piqued.

In the end she had acquiesced.

"Master always tells me I have to continue practicing flexibility lest I become complacent. And worst case scenario, there are more monsters left for the two of us," she had said with her typical grin as they had gone their separate ways. She had been even more impressed than Kite as she had met Serene and heard her speak, and the three felt well on the way of becoming fast friends a couple of days into their journey. Presently, their small campsite for the night was embroiled in a fierce struggle.

Serene sat on a fallen log, calm and humming. Kite and Dragonfly sat on opposite sides of her. While they were all still, their auras were not as Serene's was under assault by the combined forces of both auras of her companions. If seen, it would have looked like two fluids trying to mix with a third in roiling attempts to pierce or encapsulate their target. At the moment, as well as the previous night when they started this practice, Kite and Dragonfly were failing quite thoroughly.

"You did better today," Serene chimed happily as the two others were splayed out on their bedrolls, lost in the fatigue emanating from their souls.

"You… are a monster…" Dragonfly panted as she pointed an accusing finger at the other young woman.

"Indeed," Kite muttered through gritted teeth, albeit with a smile.

"It's like trying to wrestle with a cloud. I've practiced a lot with Uncle Walker, and his aura is more like a wooden wall. It's solid and I always get the feeling I'm simply not strong enough to break through. With yours, I feel like I'm just barely out of reach of grasping it, but then it moves as if it had more dimensions to choose from and I'm left stumbling."

"That's it! That's how I feel too!" Dragonfly exclaimed.

"Sometimes I envy your way with words, Kite. It feels like the best words are never the ones to come out when I talk."

"What you lack in eloquence, dear Dragonfly, you make up for with passion. And gratuitous amounts of force."

"Heh. Yeah, I do, don't I?" During their journey, the trio took the time to stop at the villages they came across. If it had any appropriate notices posted on their board, they took the time to complete them. This let them get a better feel for Serene's powers. Kite and Dragonfly were fairly used to fighting alongside each other, due to both training and completing contracts together.

While it was not the legendary, instinctual teamwork of epic tales, they at least had a feel for each other's rhythm and could usually perform acceptably in tandem. Their power sets were both rather self-sufficient and rather in line with the norms of Hua-Xi.

As they knew beforehand, Serene's set of abilities were of a different kind entirely, which had only been proven in the battles they had fought together so far and the same held true during the skirmish currently being fought along the top of one of the smaller cliff peaks. Kite had his barrier raised before him and was currently channeling mana into it continuously to keep it up beneath an onslaught of wind blades. Dragonfly stood behind him, axe in hand and waiting for her moment.

Serene was positioned further behind them, albeit that he found it hard to focus his attention properly on her. Even so, the chiming, melodious humming which filled the air was a clear sign of her presence. Further along the somewhat oblong top of the cliff was a pack of galezards. They were serpentine creatures with pale, blue scales with long legs and talons ideal for climbing. Their back, tails, legs and snout sported long frills of a deeper blue.

The whole creature had around the same mass as a full grown man, but spread long and thin. Galezards were pack hunters and mainly fought by projecting razor-sharp blades of compressed air to slice their foes to bite-sized chunks. Kite was holding up surprisingly well as the eight monsters kept up a steady stream of projectiles. This was due to many factors, but most of all were Serene's fourfold compounded aura.

Her aura awakened from the wind essence passively but noticeably increased the movement speed of herself and her allies. From the renewal essence came an aura which restored health and stamina to allies, while the aura of the harmonic essence reduced enemy damage resistances. Finally, the aura from the divine essence of Song increased the effect of aura powers for all allies within range.

All of these effects were soon going to be put into use, and as Kite's own aura effect was increased, each wind blade was severely weakened before it even hit his barrier. Kite's aura power, named Discarnate Erosion in the Magic Society index, followed the theme of his other abilities in that it affected magical phenomena.

While the aura wasn't spectacular, it was a constant hindrance to Kite's enemies as all hostile magical effects inside the aura started to erode, be it attacks in transit, enemy afflictions or even the enhancements on the enemies themselves. This further helped Kite bring a battle into his own pace, but in this particular battle it was mostly the erosion of wind blades that was noticeable as the empowered aura broke down a significant amount of their integrity before they struck his barrier.

The galezards were keeping up the barrage as they slowly advanced on the stationary pair. The storm of projectiles had scoured the clifftop of all plant life taller than moss or grass, except in an uneven furrow behind Kite's barrier. As the monsters reached a, to Kite, invisible threshold the pair heard a soft voice on the wind.

"They should be within range now," chimed Serene"Then may the heavens witness me!" Dragonfly shouted enthusiastically as she leapt into the air. At the same time, a spell chant could be heard woven into the humming melody." Carried by the heavenly wind" Dragonfly's leap was an ordinary one, but as the spell was completed a fierce and directed gust of wind flung her towards the enemy in a low arc.

The galezards weren't slow on the uptake, and as she was about to fly into a fresh wave of wind blades, Kite let his own barrier drop. He chanted a quick"Ward" as his panoramic gaze took in enemies and ally alike. Another barrier appeared before Dragonfly and soaked up the cutting projectiles as her arc took her downward straight. Meanwhile, Kite had already activated the charging power of his belt as he rushed towards the pack as well, halberd already in full swing.

As a furious melee ensued, the trio's tactic had gained them a distinct advantage as both Kite and Dragonfly could arrive almost simultaneously with great impact instead of being separated. The galezard pack was thrown into chaos as the adventurers tore into them, wide swathes of flame searing monsters all around Dragonfly while Kite focused on finishing off wounded individuals and keeping a barrier on himself and his companion.

Through it all, Serene's song debilitated their enemies while her allies were boosted in turn. When needed, she applied small bursts of healing as well. A handful of minutes later, Kite and Dragonfly stood among the fallen galezards as the pulse of battle settled to a slower rhythm. Serene came into more focus next to Dragonfly, still humming as she stopped obscuring her location with her aura. Kite had known that her aura skills were in a league of her own, but after seeing her in battle his amazement had risen.

Serene could control her aura to such an extent that she would be harder to notice for all beings who couldn't penetrate that aura shroud as their gazes wanted to slide over her and focus on other, more pressing things. Combined with this was an ability from the sound essence which let her manipulate sounds, both in strength, timbre and origin. Therefore she could suffuse her song through an area, giving it no clear origin and leaving her even harder to pinpoint.

Kite suspected that creatures of their rank would need extraordinary aura senses or some other kind of special perception to easily detect her as long as she refrained from overt, offensive action.

"Well done, as before," Serene chimed.

"I must say, our little plan worked rather well."

"It was great!" Dragonfly exclaimed.

"You should have seen the looks of those galezards when I dropped down on them!"

"I don't think their eyes or facial structure are that expressive, Dragonfly. I think Uncle Walker once told me that they communicate through moving those frills," Kite commented, amused.

"Well then you should have seen the frills of those galezards when I dropped down on them!"

"Weren't the frills rather busy creating all those wind blades?" Serene half-whispered to Kite in a gentle breeze.

"Just let her have it. One should not disturb the happy carp in the water, lest it remembers you once ascended as a dragon," Kite replied, his voice filled with mock wisdom. After a total of two weeks' travel and some delays fulfilling contracts, they reached their destination. It was midday as they came upon the village named Verdant steps. It was, like most settlements in the autumn lands, built around the plateau on the top of a cliff peak.

This particular peak had many adjacent cliffs of differing height around it, and the village had spread to them as well. This created a kind of winding set of "stairs", consisting of clifftops filled with houses and gardens. The ratio between woodlands and stony peaks had also shifted quite a bit in favor of said peaks, it almost felt like walking in a rather wide corridor at times as the passed between the small mountains.

The trio was rather weary after a long time on the road, and looked forward to sleeping under a roof again. As they ascended the stairs leading up toward the gate, Serene stopped them before the final stretch of stairs.

"It is concerning. I can feel only a few people and there are certain spots ahead which my aura can't penetrate. Not to sound too prideful, but this is not a common occurrence unless something has been specifically shielded," she said in a low, windy whisper. Her companions both nodded, and they ascended the last part in a more wary, perceptive manner. The gates were closed as they reached the entrance at the lowest plateau.

As with most villages, this one had a wall with a heavy wooden gate as a barrier toward the winding path leading down the cliff. Not many monsters could scale the rather steep sides of the cliff peaks, and the small wall would deter most of the ones who would find their way up the path or at least act as a buffer which gave the villagers more time to retreat into their houses and defenders the time to repel the threat. As they stood before the gate, Kite raised his voice and called out.

"Greetings! We are adventurers from the society, and have come regarding the contract you sent to Gilded." They remained there for a minute, then two.

"Shall I scale the wall and see what's taking them so long?" Dragonfly whispered, a bit impatient.

"No need," chimed Serene.

"I have felt some movement inside. Their auras are afraid, but I sense no hostility. They keep moving in and out of the blank spaces where my senses cannot reach. Ah, here they come. Three people. All anxious but with some hope." A few seconds later, Kite and Dragonfly could pick up the people as well, albeit that their senses couldn't even come close to the level of detail that Serene could perceive. After some latches were opened and a crossbar removed, the gates swung open.

The small group which came to meet them consisted of two women and one man. The man had a normal rank aura, and was of upper middle age with streaks of gray in black hair kept in a neat bun. He looked gaunt and hardy, like many of the people Kite knew from his childhood.

"Adventurers! It has been so long, we had almost given up hope," he stated a bit gruffly but Kite could see his shoulders relaxing slightly.

"I'm Village Elder Sprout. This is Chief D efender Scythe-" he stated while nodding to a woman at his side in her thirties. They could feel that she had absorbed at least one essence, maybe two.

"-and this is Iris. I believe she can make her own introduction," he finished as he gestured to the other woman, younger than her companions.

"My name is Iris of Clouded Skies, but please call me Iris. I am a journeyman ritualist of Gilded's Magic Society," she greeted with a formal bow. The woman was a quite short elf with dark blue hair and a myriad of freckles beneath round glasses. Her short, slender form wore simple Magic Society robes and Kite could sense that she had essence-magic as well, albeit not the full set. The trio of adventurers all made introductions before Elder Sprout waved them through the gate.

As they entered Kite saw that the village was quite sizable, probably twice as large as Starberry peak. However, there was little to no activity in the village commons or in the small yards even though it was only early afternoon. All movement Kite could spot came from within the houses, which increased as more and more curious faces appeared behind curtains, windows and cracks of slightly open doors.

"We'd best head inside. There we can talk properly. Ain't safe out here any more," the village elder stated as he led them through the village and up to one of the bigger houses next to a small plaza around an old tree. Kite knew a gathering hall as he saw one, the communal space used for important gatherings and festivities. As they approached, he noticed Serene looking much more intently at the building.

He could soon make out oddities on the ground around the building, as someone had formed a series of interconnected diagrams around the whole building, with some additional ones painted along the walls. Those on the ground were traced out in salt, and as they were about to pass Iris spoke up.

"Please step carefully around the diagrams," she asked politely as she bent down and straightened one of the lines slightly smudged by the wind.

"I have made redundancies, but we will want as much magic as possible to be gathered within them before the spirits return again."

"Spirits?" Kite asked as they carefully made their way through the formations.

"The contracts mentioned a haunting, so I assume that it has been confirmed?"

"They've been appearing for weeks since the contract was posted. And as no one deigned to show up to help us with it, we've now lost good people," Elder Sprout stated in clipped words.

"Hush, Sprout. At least they came at all." said Scythe, the village's defender, as she laid a calming hand on his shoulder before turning to the adventurers.

"But no one here would say that help coming sooner wouldn't have been appreciated."

"If this was before the mine started to dry up they would've been here before the final hammer strike had fallen when we nailed up the contract…" Elder Sprout grumbled as he opened the door and let them inside. A little while later, the two trios were seated around a small table in what turned out to be Elder Sprout's kitchen. They had each received a bowl of vegetable soup which they ate while the villagers and Iris filled them in more on the situation.

"So the spirits have started actually hunting? And during the daytime as well?" Kite asked as he put his bowl down.

"That's unfortunately right. When we sent the contract, there were only sightings during the night outside the village. But in short order it became worse. First, the spirits became more numerous. Then they were seen closer to the village. Then some showed up inside the village one night. Scythe managed to drive them off. And then it only became worse. We lost two people. If not for Iris and her formations, we would have lost a lot more," Elder Sprout finished as he nodded to the younger woman.

"What's a Magic Society journeyman doing out here by the way?" Dragonfly asked while gesturing with her spoon. The woman in question cleared her voice.

"Well, I was commissioned to come here by the village. They wanted a geological survey, and since I'm proficient in such rituals I was sent here. I've been staying here for quite some time now, but I'm no fighter. My salt essence is mostly useful for rituals."

"Don't sell yourself short, Iris. As Sprout said, if it wasn't for your formations then the spirits would have entered our houses at will and we would all be dead or fleeing for our lives," Scythe added with a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of formations are they?" Kite asked curious.

"Simple aura-blocking formations. The spirits seem to navigate mostly by aura senses. It's been a tight fit, but we've managed to find places to sleep for everyone in just a few houses. I would be incapable of keeping the formations intact on any more," Iris answered abashedly. Kite had guessed at something along those lines, as Sprout's home had been filled to the brim with bedrolls and villagers.

Apparently, daylight hours were usually quite safe but as soon as midday had passed, there was an increasing chance of the spirits appearing even before darkness had fallen. After nightfall, going outside of the formations almost certainly meant being attacked.

"Can you tell us more about the spirits? It sounds like they have started going berserk already, so they might be nearing the end of their lifespan," This time it was Serene who chimed in. She usually remained reserved during the interactions with villagers during their journey, as her strange voice often made people wary of her. That had been the case here as well, with the exception of Iris who had drowned her in questions borne from scientific curiosity while they had eaten.

"According to their looks and behavior I believe that they are called mourning revenants, or mourners for short. At least that's what the Magic Society index says, and the ones I have observed match the descriptions. They're assessed to be in the upper end of iron rank and usually manifest alone and in areas with a heightened death affinity. That's where these spirits deviate from the description. We've seen at least four at the same time here in the village at night.

And this area has no places with higher death affinity that I have found so far, and I have charted it quite thoroughly as a part of the geological survey." She took up a white, thin stone slate which Kite recognized a similar index as the one he owned, where she read:"Mourning revenants navigate and hunt prey using aura senses. They can exude sprays of ghostly tears which slows and debilitates their victims, and their tendrils inflict necrosis on touched flesh.

As most spirits, they are incorporeal beings and therefore immune to non-magical attacks and vulnerable to disruptive force damage."

"I could barely damage them when I faced off against the first one which came into the village," Scythe admit with a frustrated frown.

"I only have three damaging powers, and while it was enough to chase it off it's not even close to facing down those numbers."

"Isn't it weird though…" Dragonfly mused.

"Master always told me that a berserk monster stops at nothing. It's kill or be killed against such a foe. Why would it have fled, if that was the case?" The others nodded, concerned.

"There is a lot we don't know here," Kite stated as he rose.

"I would suggest that we take a look around the village to get acquainted with the area, make a plan and see if we can face off against the spirits when and if they return. We need to think this through properly though, so we can properly lever our paths against such numbers. If we succeed, we can take it further and see if we can find something to indicate why such an anomaly has occurred." Both his companions gave him nods of ascent. Dragonfly looked eager as usual while Serene looked more thoughtful.

And with that, began making plans.