B4 Chapter 428: Briefings and Plans, pt. 1

Kaius sighed in relief as they turned another corner and were presented with a narrow side street that was undeniably part of the Delvers’ Quarter.

It wasn’t the casual opulence of magic and the runic inscriptions baked into the fountain. It wasn’t the foundations of half the buildings, or the quality and size of the buildings themselves, which tended toward being twice as wide and half again as tall as those in the middle-class neighbourhoods they had walked through. Nor was it the general lack of crushing crowds — the quarter might have been busy, but it lacked some of the manic fiasco he’d seen elsewhere in the city.

It was the simple fact that fewer people were staring at them.

Oh, they still got looks. Even without anything else, Porkchop was of a size that was impossible to ignore. There was also their youth and blatant strength, which made them stand out even in an area well used to people comfortable with violence.

Despite that, he didn’t have dozens of eyes on him every which way he turned.

Here in the Delvers’ Quarter, people were a little more surreptitious with their ogling. Oh, there was still just as much curiosity as anywhere else, but there was also an unspoken creed among delvers and the communities that popped up around them and their free-flowing wealth: give people a little peace during their short stays in cities and settled lands.

He wasn’t so lucky in the rest of the city. And it was him more than any of his teammates — excluding maybe Porkchop.

He’d known it would happen the second he’d accepted Eirnith as a skill, but having glyphs branded on his temples — with splayed and looping lines stretching down his cheekbones and back behind his ears — was eye-catching. It drew a different kind of stare: one where people looked at his face but not at him.

It was too obvious: their eyes always refocused when they noticed he’d caught their looks.

Much nicer when people waited for them to pass before they started craning their necks.

They weren’t far from the Dusty Stables, or the Guild Hall only a few short blocks from it.

While the Delvers’ Quarter was nestled close to the walls of the city’s eastern gate — where the people it was named after could easily come and go — the Dusty Stables, and by extension the Guild Hall, sat at quarter’s very centre. It wasn’t the largest segment of the city, not by far, even if it often felt like it because of how densely it was built up.

Ten more minutes of walking and they’d be back home.

As they wound their way through the streets, Kaius took the quiet opportunity to consider his actions with the boy Niles. A small smile at the corner of his lips.

It was nice to use his power and ability that way. While he had little interest in sacrificing all of his time to such ends, he’d had a few hours to spare and he considered them well spent.

In many ways, it felt odd that just that little slice of whimsy would no doubt end up being a defining moment in that orphan’s life. When had he become the kind of lucky encounter that he’d once had: like meeting Porkchop, or finding that rare natural treasure in the Depths?

He’d have to visit the Guild this evening and give Ro a heads-up to expect the boy. Plus, he needed to stow that blade he’d used to teach the boy where Niles could get access to it.

As much as Niles had tried to hide it, Kaius had caught the veiled disappointment when he’d taken the blade back. It wasn’t that he didn’t consider it worth it to give it to him — an Uncommon artifact was a trifle to their current wealth.

It was more that he knew Niles was living rough. He didn’t have the strength to defend a treasure like that.

It would be interesting to see what the boy could make of himself. At sixteen, he still had years until his class, but with an Unusual longsword-mastery skill and a minimum of two highly useful legacy skills?

After spending the afternoon with him, Kaius was certain that Niles had the drive. He might just make something of himself. Still, even if the boy’s steel softened as he grew older, it was no sweat off Kaius’s back.

He meant what he’d said about sharing the blade skill. When he shared Lesser Regeneration and Uncanny Dodge with the Guild it would be trivial to get the boy to help them spread Vesryn Blade Drills alongside them. Someone, somewhere, would put it to good use.

With the growing threat of beasts and future phase changes ahead, let alone unknown dangers such as Tyrants, the world needed as many power houses as it could get.

It wasn’t long before they turned the corner and caught sight of the familiar rise of the Dusty Stables down the street.

As soon as they had a dead shot to the building, Kenva tilted her head, interested.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I think I can hear Ro in the Stables. It’s a little muffled by the buildings and the crowd — maybe some inscriptions in play — but it sounds like her tone of voice.”

Kaius raised an eyebrow. What was she doing at the Stables? Did she need to meet them? He couldn’t think of any other reason she’d be there than something that required his team’s attention.

Once they were within a couple of blocks, Kaius heard it too.

With his senses honed and focused on the Dusty Stables, he caught the tail end of a laugh. It was definitely Ro’s.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“You’re right. Have you been able to make out what she’s talking about?”

“No,” Kenva replied. “Hensch must have some sort of privacy formation built into the inn. I can hear the two of them talking, but everything’s garbled and muffled. I can’t make out a word beyond recognising the voices.”

“Well then, I suppose we’d best find out for ourselves,” Porkchop said with a chuckle.

Hurrying down the street, they bounded up the stairs and into Hensch’s common room. A team was there nursing light beers for an afternoon meal. One of them froze as they entered. He was dark-skinned with strong, robust features unfamiliar to Kaius.

Beneath his coat, Kaius caught a flash of grey and orange that retracted into the shadows.

Porkchop snorted beside him. “That’s the two we were telling you about.”

Kaius gave the man a smile and a nod before a clap drew his attention — Ro standing by the bar, talking to Hensch.

“Ah, just the group I was looking for. Had a nice day out on the town?”