Chương 7: Ashdust Thief?

"Is that... a bear?" Isa was visibly taken aback by the black bear sleeping on the ground. His fur was wet, stained with the mud that made him look like a particularly wild beast.

"He's not dangerous."

"Really?" The alchemist approached Fur. The tack-tack noise of her staff hitting the stone floor woke him up. The bear growled dangerously, glaring at her.

"He's just been tamed, so his feral side comes out sometimes," Liesel said. She leaned against his side, patting his back, which calmed the bear.

"I have never heard of a domesticated... Moonblessed," Isa's eyes lingered on the half-moon patch on the moonblessed's forehead.

"How did you come here?" Liesel asked.

"I hitched a carriage, and they should be returning tomorrow morning. I was planning to take it back. You can leave if you want." Liesel nodded. It was still barely past afternoon. She could make it back to the city. The storm, however, hadn't calmed down.

"I have to wait out the storm," Liesel said, though she was already wet. The alchemist had a spot on the second floor. Somehow, Liesel had missed a door in the darkness when she initially searched. It was somewhat cleaned. Well, the dust and moss on the wall and ceiling were still there, but the cobwebs had been cleared. It had a makeshift fireplace. Isa started the fire by pouring two liquids on the wood. She looked up, raising a brow. If she was gauging Liesel's reaction, there was little to see.

"You can sit there. It's going to be a cold night." Liesel walked over to the open window. It was missing both window doors.

"Yeah. Cold is not the only worrying thing. Demons don't drown, you know."

"Now that you mention it... I never considered that. It's safe here. I have been visiting here for months. Nothing moves here, except for maybe fish in the water."

"I will check on Fur."

"Are you worried he might run away?"

"Not really." Liesel shrugged. She was somewhat worried about what he might do when no one was around him. Auram was basically stuck to him the entire time before. Fur was out in the storm, watching the water. When Liesel got closer, she noticed Auram was sitting on his head, but her glow was gone, which hid her wholly in the darkness. He had caught a couple of fish.

"He's bored," Auram said.

"I can imagine. But he will have to learn to be bored, because that's going to be ninety percent of his life from here on." Liesel shrugged. She wasn't sure if a bear could be assimilated into a domesticated life, and eventually she might have to send him back to his forest. That would take weeks. Maybe on my way back to the Ruins. She was now beginning to question her decision to displace him from his natural habitat. That was something future her would have the fortune of dealing with.

Auram had a uniquely strong material sense, as well as awareness of her surroundings, which Liesel didn't need to wonder about.

"Do you think it's dangerous if she sees me?" Auram asked.

"Yes."

"Even though she worries about what humans classify as a d emon?"

"Auram. It's not the intentions that matter, but the knowledge that you are here. She seems to be a capable alchemist, but she is one without the Archetype Skills. This is the last time we see each other. No need to bare more of ourselves than necessary."

"Yeah... I was just curious what her reaction might be to seeing a spirit."

"Probably with curiosity, but that means nothing. Your fear shouldn't be from one person in particular, but our society's manifested intents. For all we know, you can wander around in the city, and they'd treat you like a Moonblessed—with awe and reverence. But if there's one minister, or the Chancellor himself, who thinks you will make a nice piece of jewellery or just a curious lamp, that's it for both of us."

"Sorry."

"You should leave for now. I will watch over him." --- --- Liesel decided to sleep by Fur's side. It might be a habit she had developed, or worry that he might be gone by morning. And her body was still adapted to sleeping awkwardly.

"Lis!" Auram plucked a strand of Liesel's hair, which jolted her out of her thin sleep.

"What?" Liesel mumbled, blearily staring at the glowing form of the spirit. She rubbed her hair.

"I feel someone up there." Auram gestured in the direction of Isa's secret spot. Liesel climbed to her feet, picking up her cursed sword.

"You stay with Fur."

"Please be careful. Whatever it is, it's very strong." She rushed up the stairs. The rain had only grown worse, but at this moment, it helped hide her footsteps. She stayed at the side of the open door and peeked inside. A binding spell was tying down the alchemist with phantom chains. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Where is it?" the thief hissed as he dropped a vial of nectar. He flicked his eyes in her direction. He bashed his shoe on Isa's feet.

"Get on your knees if you want to live."

"Are you looking for this?" Liesel gestured at her sword as she stepped into the room. She activated her meager three-foot-wide Materiality sense. It activated in a sphere shape, equally distant in all directions. It could sense Materiality the same way as feeling a very hot object hovering a few inches away from the skin.

"I am not here to kill anyone," the thief said. He wore a mask on his face, naturally.

"Just sit in the corner, and it won't get ugly."

"If you beg for mercy, I will not use your skin as fishbait," Liesel said. She pushed Materiality into the tips of her fingers, clenching the sword. The thief threw a dagger in her direction, a trail of darkness following behind it. Liesel pushed Materiality into her sword, gathering it in the tip. She could see the smirk on the thief's face even behind the crudely designed mask. The dark shackle was one of the basic skills of the Assassin Archetype.

As the dagger penetrated her Materiality sense, she burned the Materiality, Enforcing her arm. She slashed her sword. Instead of burning the Materiality to strengthen her sword, she pushed it into the dagger as it made contact. The blade knocked the dagger away to the side. Usually, the darkness exploded into binding shackles, but it was a low-tier skill because of how easy it was to disarm.

So long as there was a tiny amount of external Materiality to disrupt its formation, the entire enchantment skill collapsed quickly. Liesel enforced her feet and lunged forward, catching the thief by surprise. Perhaps he thought she was almost as strong as Isa, which wouldn't be far-fetched, given Liesel's Materiality pool was infinitely closer to the alchemist than the thief. He used his short sword to defend, and he was more agile. Easily shrugging her sword to the side, he punched her in the gut.

Liesel enforced her gut at the moment of contact and cancelled the enforcement, shaking off the impact. She had not practiced doing it there, so it was slightly off. The pain spread like burning lava in her nerves. Her gut shook. She wove the Materiality and enforced her arm with it. As he tried to stab her, he was a little too close for her to swing her sword. She jammed the butt of the sword on the side of the ribcage. The man grunted in pain and stumbled to the side.

Liesel weaved Materiality into her right foot, stomped on his left. Unweaving the Materiality, she Enforced her arm and struck the mask with the sword's hilt, driving the handguard into his cheeks. He fell on the floor, eyes rolling into his brain. She lowered her sword onto his red, bleeping cheek, cutting a line as she settled on the neck. [Materiality -32 Materiality: 4/40] Liesel's mood sank.

"I don't have a rope."

"What?" Liesel exhaled in frustration.

"I don't have a rope to tie you down. Use your skill to bind yourself, or this sword will sever your head from your body. And you will die. As I am not feeling generous enough to waste my Materiality on performing a Soul Severance, you will die in misery over the course of the next hour. Do you understand now?" Liesel pressed the sword as he tried to move.

"That was my last dagger," the thief said.

"How can you not have more?" Liesel looked at Isa.

"You can undo her shackles first." Liesel kicked him when he tried to stand.

"Crawl." His eyes mooned. He clenched his jaw, and when her sword pressed, he started bobbling towards the alchemist like a newborn duckling.

"Why do you want ashdust?" Isa asked as the thief neared her.

"Move." Liesel pressed the sword. Undoing the shackles, the thief started moving towards the dagger on the floor. He enchanted it with his skill and stabbed his arm, grunting in pain. The shackles shot out from his dagger, wrapping around his body. Liesel stepped back, just in case she was caught in them.

"Now, you can answer her question." Liesel walked over to the wall and leaned against it. Her stomach was burning in pain, and she had to try hard to keep her face impassive. Despite her training to disassociate from the pain, she was feeling it from a strike by nobody. There was a failure in it, too. The thief was a young man, naturally. Probably, his first adventure.

"There's a quest to collect ashdust. It's worth its weight in gold." He gestured with his chin to a device on the window.

"I was tracking creatures afflicted with ashening. It can sense the Ashened Materiality."

"If you are..." Liesel paused, "The ash dust shouldn't have guided you here. How did you even know she had the ashdust?"

"I told him when he said he was going to kill me," Isa said. She pulled her skirt over her knees. Her knee was ashen grey, smooth like porcelain, and probably locked into being straight for life. Liesel blinked. Isa smiled sadly, gesturing at her knee.

"It's just a tiny spot." Liesel nodded. The Ashening Curse took root over years, sometimes even decades, and then it spread throughout the body. Isa may have a few years, or even a decade, but not much more than that. She could reach her thirties if she were fortunate.

"You don't have to pity me. I will find a cure for myself." Isa smiled. She climbed back to her feet with some trouble and in a practiced manner. Knowing that it was not some accident but a lifelong curse, Liesel felt a little worse than the punch in the gut.

"Thanks. I was sure I was going to die." Isa said. That would have been a fortune bestowed by the Divines, and I took it away, Liesel shrugged.

"I'm just doing my job. Should I kill him?" Isa did a double-take at her words.

"Kill him... like kill him?" Liesel nodded.

"Yes. He tried to kill you, so you can repay the favour if you want."

"I don't think that's right." Isa shook her head.

"We should hand him over to the authorities." Liesel nodded. She checked out the device, which was extraordinarily built, and it required Materiality to activate it, which Liesel was not going to waste her precious Materiality on. She stripped the thief of his gear, everything except for the undergarment. Isa seemed more disappointed losing her vials of liquids than what had happened to her. She was stabbed in the shoulder, but she had a recovery potion to patch it up.

"Are you sure it is wise to let him be free?" Isa asked, staring at the thief sitting in the corner.

"He can undo those chains any time he wants."

"He lost to someone far weaker than him, and then tied himself up to save his life. I doubt he has enough dignity to accept defeat, but he most certainly lacks the spine to wager on his life again," Liesel looked at the thief.

"And I want you to try. I don't think you're worth the effort of bringing you back to the city. If you do, I promise you will not even feel your death. I will use the Shade Severing Strike." He didn't say anything, only staring at her blankly.

"You have a twisted sense of humor," Isa huffed.

"Why do you need money?" she asked the thief. The thief explained, in a raw, angry voice, "Because everyone needs money. For everything! You are going to die anyway, so why shouldn't I end it a few years early for an unbelievable sum of money?"

"Who is asking for the ashdust?" Liesel asked.

"I don't know."

"What's it used for?" Liesel looked at Isa.

"I have never heard of any use for it. Everything it touches becomes the same poison."

"Well, maybe someone buying ash dust at the price of gold means it is useful for something else," Liesel uttered. I wonder if the Seer would know something about it. She felt this was a matter deserving attention from the highest power in the city, if not the province. At the same time, she was already tangled in a worrying quest, and burying herself in another trouble seemed like a bad idea. They couldn't really sleep at night. By morning, the storm was gone, and the water level had gone down significantly.

It was neither fun nor easy to bring the man to the only road in the middle of the marsh. They managed to find a carriage, and it was a lot faster than Fur, so that was where Liesel parted ways with Isa. The carriage had mercenaries who would watch over the thief. There was a military outpost at the edge of the marsh, which would take in the criminal and then transfer him to Saffron City. They also gave a few coins for it, which would be pocketed by the mercenaries or the carriage master.

Isa regarded Fur with dismay.

"As much as I'd like to know how it feels to ride a bear, I can't."

"Maybe next time," Liesel said.

"I need to get a custom saddle for a giant bear."

"I know a smith. He can also appraise your sword."